“Todd,” Maria yelled breathlessly. “Where have you been? I’ve been calling you!”
“I’m sorry, baby. This guy was snooping around—"
“I wasn’t snooping around!” the stranger said. “I heard someone screaming. I came to see what was wrong!”
“You just happen to be in the neighborhood, is that it?”
“My wife and I have taken refuge in the silo next door. We were trying to get out of our rain soaked tent.”
“Didn’t anybody tell you an asteroid is due this way within a few days?”
The old man looked at Todd. “You mean a few hours, don’t you?”
Todd stiffened.
The old man looked down at Maria. “You kids don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?” Todd said.
“The asteroid is coming tonight…in just a few hours.”
Maria squealed and clutched at her stomach. “Another one…another one is coming, Todd!”
Todd quickly moved to her and helped her back to the sleeping bag.
“Oh I see what all the hubbub is about,” the old man said cheerfully. “You two are having a baby.”
Maria sent him a black look. He frowned and retreated slightly.
“Todd…oh my God, Todd, it’s coming again!”
“Try to breathe, baby, like I told you.”
“Do you know what I should do…I should go get my wife—"
“Maria threw her head back and screamed against the pain.
“Pant, Maria. Pant like this….” Todd was panting animatedly, trying his best to coach her.
“Allow me to introduce myself, my name is—"
“Mister,” Todd yelled, “we don’t have time to socialize right—” Another scream pulled Todd’s attention back to Maria.
“Todd,” she screamed, “it’s coming, check me, I know it’s coming!”
Todd rounded on the old man. “Turn around.”
What? Oh… of course. The old man dutifully turned and faced the man door.
Todd quickly checked Maria. “You’ve dilated a little more, baby but—"
“My wife should be here,” the old man said, still facing the door, “she loves babies…she had three of them herself you know….”
“Go away!” Todd hollered.
“I think it’s finally easing up now,” Maria said softly.
“You kids need my wife—”
“Yes, YES!” Maria shouted through her teeth. “Get your wife, bring her back here, we’ll watch TV… play video games!”
“No reason for sarcasm, young lady,” the old man said. “I merely thought she might come in handy…her being a medical doctor and all….”
Todd and Maria glared up at him.
“What?” he asked, turning back to face them.
Todd jumped to his feet. “Medical doctor… medical doctor? Why didn’t you say your wife was a doctor?”
“Well excuse me,” the stranger said indignantly. “I tried to tell you, but you two haven’t exactly been open to input.”
Todd stared at him, nodding his head. “Yes…a doctor would be good. Don’t you think, Maria?” He looked down at her and shrugged. “Don’t you think a doctor would be good?”
“Yes please,” Maria said. “By all means…go get her.”
“Do you know something,” the old man said, grinning. “This could be fun, it’s been a long time since Gladys and I have—”
“Please hurry,” Todd said.
“Oh, of course. You‘ll love Gladys….She still thinks she’s a kid—"
Todd pointed at the man-door. “Could we talk about this later?”
“Oh…yes…I’ll…I’ll be right back.” The old man sauntered to the door and disappeared into the dark rainy night.
“Todd,” Maria said breathlessly, “do you think he’s telling the truth?”
He knelt next to her. “I don’t know. He might just be a lonely old boy in need of attention. Sometimes people come up with problems so they can call attention to themselves… be a hero for a while… They think that’s the reason a lot of folks bounce checks. They can be—”
“No, I mean about the asteroid; about it hitting in a few hours.”
Todd shrugged slightly. “I don’t know. I’ve lost track of the days.”
“My husband tells me you kids are in need of a doctor,” a voice behind them said.
Todd turned to look. “Yes, yes, thank you, we’re really happy….Are you really a doctor?”
“Not only am I a doctor, I’m a damn good one.”
The older, slightly overweight woman moved towards them and kneeled down. Todd moved aside as she put her hand on Maria’s forehead. “Aren’t you a beautiful girl?” She looked Maria up and down. “I know it hurts, honey but it’s worth it. I’ve had three children…all natural.”
Todd stood and backed away. “Can I get you anything? Is there anything I can do?”
“Blankets!” the woman said sternly, looking up, “lots of blankets and boiling water! I’m not sure what we’ll use them for, but that’s what they always say in the movies isn’t it?” She grinned and giggled loudly.
Todd looked down at her, blinking.
“Just kidding, dear,” she said, looking around Todd. “Louis, you might want to take…I’m sorry, what’s your name, young man?”
“Uh…Todd, Todd Riley.”
“You might want to take Todd for a little walk. I need to check…I’m sorry, what’s your name, honey?”
“Maria…”
“I have to check Maria to see how far along she is.”
“It’s ok,” Todd said, “I’m a…I was a medical student. I’ve been caring for her. Her water has broken. As you can see we have antiseptic wash and she’s dilated about seven centimeters….”
“Oh, that’s good,” the old lady said. “You’ve been in good hands then.” She grinned and giggled.
“Gladys,” Louis said, standing behind Todd. “You’re scaring the kids.”
“Oh for the love of Pete,” the old lady said. “Why does everything have to be so serious? It isn’t as if women haven’t been having kids for millions of years.”
The old man pushed his hand towards Todd. “I don’t think we’ve met.”
“She’s getting ready to have another contraction,” the old lady said. “Could you please give us a hand, young man?”
Todd quickly moved to Maria’s other side and knelt down.
“Get in behind Maria,” the old lady said. “Support her shoulders and push her forward as if you were trying to sit her up.”
Todd moved in under Maria and pushed forward. Maria groaned against the pressure. The old lady pushed her hand under Maria’s lower back, made a fist and pressed as hard as she could.
“Now, honey, try to relax. Todd here will do all the work for you…won’t you, Todd.”
Todd nodded like a child, then felt silly.
“You won’t have to do this much longer. You only have a few more contractions to go. Everything is going perfectly.”
Maria groaned as the contraction began.
“Push her forward now, Todd,” the old lady said. “Now pant like a puppy dog, Maria. That keeps you from pressing down too hard. We don’t want to do that yet, we want to give your body enough time to make a path for the baby first…ok?”
Maria nodded, panting.
“That’s right…just keep panting….Oh no honey, don’t tighten up, just keep panting. Hold her up, Todd… yes, that’s right….Ok, the contraction is starting to go away. Just a few more…now relax. Todd, you can let her lie down now.”
“Thank you so much,” Maria said breathlessly. “That was so much better…Thank God you’re here.”
“Oh you’re so sweet,” the old lady said. “You were just having a little trouble coping with the anxiety, that’s all.”
“Is there anything we can do for you?” Todd said. “Anything at all…we have guns, water, food, flashlights, sleeping bags—”
“Did you say
food?” the old lady said.
Her old husband quickly moved forward. “Do you have food?”
“Yes,” Todd said. “We have lots of—”
“We haven’t eaten anything but bugs for the last three days,” the old woman said.
Todd jumped to his feet. “Oh, you’re gonna’ love this.”
~~~
“I must be put in command…now! We have no time left! In forty five minutes the American—”
“We know, General,” the president of the State of Israel said.
“And yet you continue to let this man stand in the way of our preemptive strike!” the General bellowed, pointing at the Prime Minister.
All one hundred and twenty Knesset members of the Israeli plenary turned to look at the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Yael Ben Judah held his hands out and shook his head. “The European Union has demanded that our enemies stand down or face dire consequences. The EU is stepping in, filling the American void. We must give them a chance to—”
“The enemy will not listen to them! They have acquired the military might of the United States, but are in utter turmoil. The enemy knows this!”
“Please!” the Prime Minister hollered over his adversary, “Honorable members of the plenary hear me! There are no fewer than fifty nuclear tipped Russian warheads aimed at our families, friends and acquaintances! The moment the order is given to attack, the Russians will launch their weapons. They will have no reservations! They know the American asteroid impact will render their weapons useless just the same as it will ours. They’re waiting in anticipation for the slightest hint of aggression on our part—"
“Mister President,” the General roared. “How can you stand by and let this…this coward….”
“That’s enough from you, General,” the president of the State of Israel shouted over the tirade. “As of right now, you are dismissed!”
“You…you’re all cowards!” the General raged. “You have no business being where you are! I’ll show you who is dismissed!”
The General reached into his uniform and pulled out a side arm. He managed to fire three rounds into the Prime Minister before the Israeli security forces cut him down.
~~~
At the Maui, Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance, Miles Draper was back on the satellite phone with David Arno at The Wales Comet and Asteroid Information Network.
“Still clocking her at over sixty k, David. It should be entering the atmosphere in about twenty minutes. Is that what you have?”
“Pretty much, I’ve got it coming in a little higher because of the speed but I have the same figures round about.”
“Send it down, will you, David?”
“Will do.”
~~~
“General Quarters, General Quarters…” the voice boomed amidst the clanging gongs. “This is not a drill…all hands, man your battle stations…set condition Zebra.”
Eric had solemnly watched the change of guard ceremony and had remained on deck hoping to have another glance at the president before he left the ship. A contingent of military officials was quickly making its way towards the large group of civilians.
“Ladies and gentleman," the familiar Lieutenant said as he approached, “the Admiral has asked us to explain what is about to happen. Soon you’ll all be asked to go below. It is important to know that the next few hours may be a little…frightening.”
The Lieutenant stopped talking and gazed into the group for a moment. “Dante657 has been picked up on our ground-based radar.”
The crowd shifted and murmured amongst themselves.
Eric looked down at his family and back at the Lieutenant.
“The Admiral will be turning the ship hard to port with orders to face her due west. This may be a little uncomfortable for some of you.” The Lieutenant stopped for effect, then continued. “We’ll be turning the ship into the direction of the impact in anticipation of possible tsunami activity. Strange as it may seem, the open sea is the safest place to be in the event of a tsunami. A tidal wave hundreds of feet high at the coast would most likely pass under us undetected. Dante will be traveling east to west, directly overhead. It will not be visible in the night sky until it enters the earth’s atmosphere somewhere over the Middle East in around…thirty minutes.”
Eric noticed the Lieutenant was standing at an odd angle. He realized the ship was starting to list dramatically to the right. He reached out frantically and grabbed hold of a nearby railing.
“Daddy, are we tipping over?” Sadie whined, hanging onto his leg.
The Lieutenant stopped talking and looked out into the crowd. “No need for concern,” he said. “The ship is turning. The deck will appear to shift approximately thirty degrees against the horizontal sea. The effect might make some of you a little nauseous.”
Eric looked out over the Atlantic. For as far as he could see in the light of the bright, full moon, huge ships were coming about, their wakes churning behind them, mirroring the movements of the mighty flagship.
The Lieutenant continued, undaunted by the surrealistic happenings going on beneath his feet. “Because of the distance, we will more than likely not be exposed to a flash. However…the data is sketchy, the earth has never had an impact of this magnitude before. You may hear a noise, probably a series of loud, clicking or crackling sounds. We’ll be powering the ship down moments before the impact in an effort to lessen the effects of the electromagnetic pulse and ionizing radiation. All hands will clear the deck in anticipation of the fireball which will reach us approximately thirty seconds after impact. Anyone or anything flammable on the ships deck will be burned.
Within eleven minutes after the impact, the fireball will light up the sky, however…debris and aerosols will block most of this light. The dust will blot out the moon and the stars. We can expect to be in total darkness. The ship will then be pelted by heavy fallout from the blast…From that point on folks, the world as we know it will cease to exist.”
“We won’t be seeing the sun again for a few…years. The Admiral wants you to know that the ship will be under martial law after this point. Criminal activity will not be tolerated.”
~~~
“This is absolutely delicious,” the old man said, gulping down his Country Captain Chicken MRE. “And isn’t that amazing, Gladys, how it heats the food up like that…I think I remember reading something about it once.”
“Oh, oh,” Gladys said between bites. “Louis is about to dazzle us with his vast knowledge.”
“That’s right,” the old man said. “They use a magnesium iron compound…I remember now.”
“You’ll have to forgive my husband, kids,” Gladys said, accidentally slurping her food. “He’s a certified Mensa Genius and it’s vastly important to him that everyone knows about it.”
“Really?” Maria asked faintly. “You’re a Mensa Genius?”
“Allow me to introduce myself,” the old man said grinning. “I’m Louis Fasbender.”
“Louis Fasbender, the physicist?” Todd yelled.
“Yes, Todd,” the old man said. “I never did catch your last name.”
“Riley,” Todd said stammering. “I can’t believe I’ve met two Nobel Laureates in one lifetime.” Todd looked down at Maria. “Do you know who this is?" He looked back at Louis. "I was able to catch your lecture on string theory at UCLA. I couldn’t believe how well you explained…Louis Fasbender!” he repeated, shaking his head and staring at the old man. “Why didn’t I recognize you?”
“I’ve looked better,” Louis said. “It’s probably the beard.”
“I’m sorry to pull the attention away from my humble husband,” Gladys said, “but Maria’s about to have another contraction. Everyone take your place. Louis, Push on the small of her back. It’s getting close now…I’d better be on the receiving end.”
“Maria’s contractions are getting harder,” Gladys said, after the contraction had finally abated. “She’s dilated to ten. The baby wi
ll be coming any time now.”
Maria squeezed the doctor’s hand. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Gladys grinned. “You’d have done this just as well with or without me, honey.”
“Why are you folks here?” Todd said. “People with your credentials wouldn’t have had any problem finding a way off the mainland.”
Louis and Gladys looked at each other before Gladys finally spoke. “We started to leave. It didn’t take long for us to realize there was nowhere to run. The planet will never be habitable, at least not in the way we know it, not for a long, long time. Louis is the former head of the U.S. Aeronautical Space Administration. He had the bright idea that he wanted to die watching the impact first hand.”
“Right here is the best place to be,” Louis said. “All those people out there fleeing, those poor folks will starve to death. Here, on the other hand, we’ll simply pass from life to ionized dust particles, just like that.” He snapped his fingers.
Maria started crying.
“Oh look what you’ve done, Louis,” Gladys said. “You’ve upset Maria.”
“I don’t want to die!” Maria said crying. “I don’t want my baby to die. It’s not fair. Do you know who my baby is? Do you have any idea who this child is?"
“Sweetheart,” Gladys said softly. “Try and settle down—"
“Todd!” Maria wailed, “I’m gonna tell them. Somebody in this world should know who my baby is before we all die.”
“Maria, I don’t think—"
“This is Jesus!” Maria yelled. “This is the clone of Jesus Christ and he’ll never even be born.”
“Maria,” Gladys said. “You’re getting too upset. You need to relax…please.”
Todd looked at the couple sheepishly. “She’s getting a little…delirious. She’s so exhausted. She’s been in labor for hours.”
Louis and Gladys looked at Todd curiously. “Where was the child conceived?” Louis asked.
“What? Do you mean, where are we from?”
“Yes, where are you from?”
“We were students at UCLA…then we went to Nash….”
Louis and Gladys looked at each other before returning their attention to Todd. “Was the child conceived at Vanderbilt University?” Gladys asked.
Todd jumped to his feet. “If you people are Vinces I swear I’ll kill you now!” He jerked the pistol from his pants.
“Todd!” Maria shouted. “Stop it! What’s happened to you?”