Blue Planet Rising (Pebbles in the Sky Book 2) Read online

  Benjamin Greco stood again and offered his hand to the President again. President Walden reluctantly stood and shook hands with him. Jerry Thornton opened the door and came in to show Benjamin the way out. President Walden just stood watching the old man leave. “How will history judge Benjamin Greco?” he asked himself. He then wondered how history would judge his own presidency and the actions he had taken while leading his country. He found he couldn’t answer either question.

  Chapter 22

  September 26th, 2046

  Houston, Texas

  The Elpis expedition landing crew assembled for their daily training session. Yesterday they had spent the day reviewing and practicing on mockups of emergency escape and aid procedures for the transfer ships that they would make the trip to Elpis on. Today’s training was an information update on the latest information that NASA and JPL could provide on conditions on the planet.

  Peter Rockwell and Robby Tully entered the briefing room where the crew had assembled. Robby went up to the computer display control station to set up his presentation while Peter sat on the edge of a table at the front of the room. He looked over the assembled group.

  “Well guys, in about seven weeks you’ll be going up to Space Station Alpha to acclimate to the lower gravity that you’ll experience on the transfer ships. You’ll receive your final physical exams here on Earth prior to departure. We want to make sure that there are no known medical issues that would require treatment that won’t be available to you while you’re on your trip. I want you to know that you’ve come together very well as team and I foresee your trip to be very exciting and productive.” He looked behind him and Robby nodded that he was ready. “I’ll let Robby update you on the latest information that we have from the Elpis satellites as well as the instruments that we have in place at the alien artifact site.”

  Robby pulled up an image of the planet from space. An electronic pulse could be heard beeping in the background. “This is this morning’s image from the small weather satellite left in orbit by the David Honstein when it last left Elpis over three years ago. The signal you hear is the same beacon that was first detected emitting from the large building at the artifact site. The sequence hasn’t changed in any way since it was first detected.”

  “As you can see from the image, the cloud layers are really starting to break up. The planet is starting to develop some very Earth-like weather patterns. With no axial tilt to speak of, there’s very little to speak of in the way of seasons on Elpis. The area you’re going to land in has perpetual late spring like weather. High temperatures are in the low eighties and the lows in the low fifties. From every analysis we’ve been able to run, the atmosphere is breathable by humans. Afternoon rain storms are pretty routine in your designated landing site near the artifact site. The climate will make it feel like you are on a early summer vacation except for the fact that you’re going to be very busy with your research and exploration.”

  “Have there been any visible signs of change or movement at the artifact site?” asked Commander Kristy Nichols.

  “Unfortunately, we don’t have a high resolution imager in orbit. As far as we can tell from the images sent by the weather satellite and the old ground robot that is still at the artifact site, nothing has changed around the artifact site itself.”

  “However, if you look at the medium resolution images of the general terrain on the plateau, you will see some big changes. Here, and here, you can see major rivers have formed with a feeder basin of smaller streams. There’s wide spread erosion as is evidenced from the muddy river water. Here at the mouth of the rivers, you can see a delta of silt is already forming. At the moment, there’s nothing to stop the erosion. There are no plants or grasses to keep the soil in place so every time it rains more soil is washed away. You can also see the small ice caps at both poles. Those are still shrinking, though at a much slower pace. We believe they will eventually end up melting completely. There are some minor tidal influences upon the sea from the sun, but the tides are quite small since the planet has no natural satellite like our own moon.”

  “Are there any signs of plant life on the planet? What about along the ocean coasts? What about the impact sites of the seeding probes?” Brianna asked

  “There’s nothing we can see in the ocean.” He brought up some more images. “In these shots, you can barely make out what are probably the impact areas of the seed probes. The resolution is not good enough to make out anything for sure, but these may be areas of plant growth around the suspected probe impact areas.”

  “If there’s no plant life and no photosynthesis, where did the oxygen come from?” asked Master Chief Sims.

  “That question is still stirring a debate among our planetologists” admitted Robby. “The theory at first was that the planet had always been frozen and that cosmic radiation had disassociated the water ice into oxygen and hydrogen. The lighter hydrogen gas escaped into space and the heavier oxygen froze onto the surface. When the planet approached the sun, the frozen gases melted and formed the atmosphere. There’s no way that we know of that plants utilizing photosynthesis could have evolved under those circumstances.”

  “The latest theory is that early in its history, the planet was warm and had an atmosphere and may have harbored primitive life. It then drifted or was thrown into a faraway orbit of its mother star and everything froze. When it came here, it melted again as it approached our sun. It’s hoped that you can find the evidence on the ground there that can answer that debate.”

  Robby continued showing various images of areas of interest. “These deeply eroded river gorges would show a geologic timescale of the planets history. There’s a bay near where the airship from the first expedition went down that might be deep enough to harbor some of the planets deep sea life forms if that was indeed what the airship saw on the rocks at the water’s edge.”

  The male expedition members started joked among themselves about going fishing and what they were going to use for bait. After a long discussion, the group finished up and broke for the day.

  As Robby and Peter were getting ready to leave, Peters PA notified him of an urgent message from Admiral Ellis, the new officer in charge of the Space Force. It was a “for his attention only” message so he stepped aside to read it. He felt his body go cold inside as he read the message. He went over and showed it to Robby.

  …

  The operators of the giant phased array radar system at the Farside Lunar base were feeling the very same emotion at the moment. The computer had just detected a very large object that was assumed to have originated from the Oort cloud. Computer projections indicated that the object was projected to intersect with the orbit of Earth in seven years and two days. All the large radio telescopes that had come back onto line on Earth were also locking on to the object trying to get additional information and narrow down its trajectory. Just when the nightmare of the brown dwarf had started to fade, it seemed that the dwarf was taking one last shot at Earth by flinging a large Oort Cloud object toward the inner solar system.

  At the Farside lunar base, and from the base at Phobos, massive antennae and radar range finders were being trained on the object. Megawatts of radar pulses were being sent out beyond what used to be the orbit of Jupiter at the interloper. In just a few short hours the mystery object would reveal many of its secrets to the equipment operators and computers of Space Force.

  …

  Sixteen hours later Peter and Robby were on a teleconference with Admiral Ellis. The Admiral was briefing them on the findings so far. “This thing is big. Approximately forty kilometers in diameter and God knows how much mass. The radar images aren’t very sharp, so at this point I think we’re looking at a very large and previously unknown comet. We have the trajectory down pretty accurately, and unless we do something about it, this thing will most likely hit Earth. It may just be a big snow ball, but it’s big enough so that it could probably wipe out all life as we know it. Unless we deflect it, we have seven
years, one day and seventeen hours before civilization on Earth is wiped out.”

  “It’s much too big for the thruster probes to change its course,” said Peter.

  The Admiral nodded. “Computer simulations show that if we start with the first one in eight months, that it will take thirty four sequential detonations of the five hundred kiloton fusion warheads like those that we have on fixed missiles at Phobos to deflect it into the sun.”

  “How many of those missiles do you have at the Phobos base?” asked Robby

  “Only five,” said the Admiral.

  Robby whistled.

  “How many do we need to just make it miss Earth?” asked Peter.

  “Assuming we detonate one missile a day for seventeen straight days starting in eight months, and assuming that it does not break apart, we can make it miss the Earth. That will give us a reprieve for at least this trip into the inner solar system. Then, in twenty one years it will be back, and again on a probable intercept trajectory with Earth.”

  They were all silent. Robby was looking at the various projections on his portable computer display.

  “We need to notify the President and get permission to make some more of those missiles as soon as we can,” said Peter.

  “We are already working up a briefing for him and the other Alliance Heads of State,” said Admiral Ellis.

  “Wait a minute, wait a minute,” said Robby. Let me check something here, I might have a better idea than dumping it in the sun. Let me borrow your portable Peter.” Peter slid his portable computer over and Robby had it mate electronically with his own. Each of the two portables was using its thirty two processing cores to crunch numbers in parallel together. After three minutes the computers completed the trajectory projection that Robby was working on. “How about this solution?” asked Robby as he showed Peter the display.

  Peter followed the trajectory simulation on the screen. Each one of twenty seven simulated fusion warhead blasts was depicted. The simulation ended with the comet impacting on Mars. Peter transferred the simulation to Admiral Ellis. He watched a slow grin spread across the Admiral’s face.

  “What’s the best way to turn a cold dry world into a warmer and wetter one?” asked Peter.

  “By dumping a twenty mile wide block of ice onto it that’s traveling about eighteen times the speed of sound,” said Robby.

  “The boys on Phobos base are going to have quite a show if we do that,” said the Admiral.

  “We need more information on the comets makeup,” said Peter. “Can we send a manned ship out there?”

  “Our ships don’t have the operational range. We might get one out as far as the asteroid belt, but there will be logistical issues. We have two of the transfer ships going on the Elpis expedition and the other one doing routine supply runs to Phobos. Let me do some investigation and I can answer that better,” said the Admiral

  The Admiral signed off and Peter and Robby hurried down to the computer center to get access to the mainframe computers there.

  Chapter 23

  December 7th, 2046

  Deep Space, Beyond the Asteroid Belt

  The comet designated C/2046 E13 tumbled slowly in space. It had slept for billions of years out in the Oort cloud with a myriad of its brothers. Occasionally, a chance alignment of the planets and some of the larger Oort cloud objects would give a nudge to one of its siblings and send them on a trip toward the distant fire in the center of the solar system. Sometimes the voyager would re-emerge from its deadly encounter with much of its volatile mass burned off, then after a short period in the dark cold reaches of the solar system it would again turn inward. It would continue this series of journeys until it either was burned away by the heat of the sun or suffered an improbable collision with one of the inner planets. Many of its comrades had been captured and consumed by the giant gas planets Saturn and Jupiter. But with those two gate keepers now gone from the solar system, there was nothing to impede journeys into the inner solar system.

  Comet C/2046 E13 had not had its orbit perturbed for over a billion years. Then, the brown dwarf had coasted through the solar system. Its strong gravity field had scattered and tossed the Oort cloud objects within its reach. Some had been captured by the dwarf and others had been thrown off into interstellar space. Some of the objects, such as itself, had been turned inward.

  Twelve other comets had been detected so far and catalogued by the instruments belonging to the dominant intelligent species from the third planet since the brown dwarf had left the solar system. Those that posed no threat were simply given designators and allowed to go their way. Comet C/2046 E13 was different, though. Electromagnetic pulses and ranging lasers of significant magnitude were probing it, seeking its make-up and trajectory. It was determined that its trajectory would cause Comet C/2046 E13 to swing around the sun and impact the third planet. The comet had enough mass so that the collision would destroy the comet and wipe out most of the advanced life forms on the third planet. Thus, it had been determined by the intelligent species that inhabited the third planet that an impact of this magnitude could not be allowed to happen.

  The missile had been fired over two months ago. Behind it, at twelve hour intervals, were twenty six more just like it. Then one week behind that first wave were five more missiles, insurance so to speak, in case of un-expected results or a failure in the first wave. The missile approached the comet traveling at nearly one thousandth of the speed of light. As it approached, its targeting radar was sweeping out toward the comet. Approximately a tenth of a second before it would have impacted, the five hundred kiloton fusion warhead exploded. The flash of heat and radiation washed over the comet vaporizing some of the ice and frozen volatile gases that made up its mass. About eighty percent of the energy of the blast was dissipated into space, but the remainder hit and pressed against the comet. The mass of the vaporized ice was negligible when compared to the total mass of the comet, but that rapidly expanding gas cloud of vaporized volatiles also pressed back against the comet. The entire event gave a tiny nudge to the comet, slightly altering its course.

  By itself, the one missile had little effect, but with the explosions from the missiles that followed, the comets course was slowing changed. After the last missile exploded the comet was on a slightly different trajectory. It would no longer impact the third planet. Its trajectory would now pass that blue and white planet and intersect a smaller red hued planet orbiting farther out in space. The planet Mars was going to have a violent visitor in about six and a half years.

  Chapter 24

  January 27th, 2047

  Space Station Alpha

  Peter stood looking out the observation port with Admiral Ellis. The anti-vertigo medication was finally helping him to get over the stomach churning dizziness caused by the coriolis effect of the stations rotation. In his thirty plus years with NASA and JPL, this was Peter’s first trip into space. All of the remote images and video were nothing compared to the actual act of being in space and looking out into the universe without an atmosphere to blur the stars. Hanging in space about five hundred meters away, were the transfer ships David Honstein and the newly completed Colonel Mike Pierce. The crew habitation rings of both ships had stopped spinning as the ships prepared for acceleration. Both ships would be leaving shortly for their ten week journey to the planet Elpis.

  “You know Admiral,” said Peter, “Since I was a little boy I’ve dreamed of the stars. A hobby of astronomy became a career, and now I’m the director of NASA. I had never dreamed of being an astronaut, just studying the stars. Now, standing here looking out at the universe, it makes me realize just how small and insignificant we humans really are. Hell, our sun is just a speck of light in the immensity of the universe. While it may appear big to us, it’s really nothing when you look out at the universe like this.”

  “I was a polar opposite from you,” laughed Admiral Ellis. “I really didn’t have any interest in looking through telescopes. I wanted to fly, and to become a
n astronaut. Now, the only thing I get to fly on is a shuttle back and forth to Earth or an occasional tug or shuttle to the moon. They won’t even let me take a transfer ship to Mars. This command crap is really for the birds. I want to be on one of those ships going to Elpis.”

  “Those men and women on the landing expedition are going to have an extraordinary adventure.,” said Peter. They’ll be the first humans to walk on another planet. Add to that, the exploration of an alien artifact, and possibly the first step in colonizing another planet. You and I are witnessing history in the making. I envy them because they are the ones making it.”

  “While I’m here Admiral, I wanted to congratulate you first hand on the operation to deflect that comet. That single event justified the whole existence of the Space Force. You turned the extinction of life on Earth into an opportunity to help in terraforming Mars. It’s going to be very exciting to see what happens when that giant snow ball hits the Mars in about six years.”

  “Just what are the effects the planetologists are predicting from the impact besides lots of dust and heat?” asked the Admiral.

  “The consensus is, that they’re not sure,” laughed Peter. “Some computer models show a quick rise in temperature for a few months and then a fast cooling due to the dust in the atmosphere. Other models show that the heat will melt the carbon dioxide at the poles. Atmospheric pressure will rise and the carbon dioxide will act as a greenhouse gas and raise the temperature even more. Add in all the water vapor from the comet’s ice and the potential for some geological activity, and it may heat things up even more. Those models show temperatures rising above freezing in the equatorial region for at least several years, maybe even decades. That will melt even more frozen CO2 and release more water vapor. If it plays out the way we think it will, Mars may have some temperatures above freezing for at least a hundred years. The atmosphere will still be very thin and not breathable, but it’s a start. If we can steer about three or four more comets that size onto the surface we may actually get a big jump on terraforming the planet.”