Chapter 2

December 19, 2023

The focus meeting at Lunar Development Corporation headquarters was for only the most senior officials from Operations, Research and Development, Media Relations, Security, and Legal, along with the Board of Directors. Chester Kirkwood started the meeting by closing all the shades and making sure the doors were locked. Next, he turned on the White Noise Generator, a product produced by one of Lunar Development Corporation, Inc.’s subsidiaries. It was supposed to render any listening device useless because it constantly generated a “static field “in the room it was used in. Even though the security team had completely swept the room just minutes before, Chester didn’t want to take chances. The White Noise Generator also rendered most recording devices unusable as well. That would make the chance of any leaks resulting from this meeting minor.

“Sir, you realize that we made a complete and thorough sweep for any electronic surveillance devices and made sure that any that were discovered were neutralized? “ One of the security team members reported, taking Chester’s behavior as a show of distrust.

“Yes, and I’m sure that you did a bang-up job, but I want to assure ourselves of as tight of a security net as possible. Now, I will call this meeting to order. Please, let’s all observe common courtesy and not talk at once. Number one, what have we learned about both the meteor and its survivability? “What exactly do we know about this meteor? How big is it? What is its path, and can we prevent it from hitting Lunar Estates? I want answers, people!” he shouted.

Chester Arthur Kirkwood, who was the founder and CEO of Lunar Development Corporation, was also the chairman of the board for Lunar Estates. This was the colony on the moon. He also headed up a myriad of smaller industrial companies that he had taken control of to accomplish his dream. Which was doing what the government and NASA were too gutless to do: leave Earth for good? His ultimate plan was to declare the moon colony a sovereign state and make himself a ruler. He smartly kept this to himself, and the last thing the board and Wall Street needed to hear was that the man who gave them the moon had a Napoleon complex.

“Sir, we don’t have all the data in yet. We still have plenty of time to study the situation and come up with a resolution with little or no side effects on the colony.” Replied, Jamison Parker. Parker is the head of the assembled teams of scientists and astronomers who, among many others, were hired by LDC to study the problem. The entire team packed the seldom-used auditorium at the company’s main headquarters in Houston.

“I don’t care about the damn colony that can be rebuilt. The pounding we’ll take in the press will be bad enough, but the reaction on Wall Street could put us out of business. We need to make sure the evacuation procedures are adequate. I don’t think any of us wants a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit on our hands. Do we?” asked Mr. Kirkwood, all the while looking at his legal staff and his public relations people. “I want suggestions on how to rid ourselves of this problem as quickly and as easily as possible. I think we all know that whatever the cost is, it would be a bargain at twice the price when you consider the ramifications of failure. Research, you guys can start us off.”

Jamison Parker started by saying, “Well, sir, we know approximately the size and speed. In round numbers, it’s 10 miles in diameter, and we can assume its weight from that figure to be close to 500,000 tons. It is traveling at 25,000 miles per hour; its ETA to the impact zone is 10 and a half years from the first reported sighting. That, of course, was early June of this year. The impact Zone itself is some 300 miles from the colony itself. This is especially disastrous because most of the colony is underground, and the resulting moonquake will be more of a hazard than if it were at or above ground level. Of course, that is a moot point when you consider the concussion of the shock wave that will occur very shortly after impact. So, what we are faced with is two separate but equally devastating problems.

“Legal, you’re up next.”

Albert Holbrook, Chief Consul for Lunar Development Corporation, Inc., stood up and started his report: “From a legal standpoint, we cannot be held responsible for any damages due to acts of God; however, there is one precedent to go by. That precedent is gross negligence. The survivors or their surviving family members could contend that we did not adequately anticipate and defend against this foreseeable incident and, therefore, should be held legally liable for all damages, deaths, and injuries incurred from it. This may be used against us. So, we need to be able to prove, by the preponderance of the evidence presented, that we did indeed try to foresee and protect from this kind of disaster. Of course, we can point to the construction techniques and stress tests...”

“I should have known better than to let a lawyer start to ramble.” Kirkwood interrupted.

“Media Relations, I want recommendations on how to control the press coverage this is going to provide. I especially want to find out how to keep our stock from plummeting, understand?” Kirkwood asked pointedly.

“One last subject: How is the field research coming?” Samantha Andrews, Parker’s assistant, stood up next to and delivered her report on Lunar Development Corporation, Inc.’s rather unusual research tool: a video game called “Lunar Survivor.”

“Well, sir, in the six months that “Lunar Survivor” has been out, it has become one of the most profitable and possibly the most popular games of all time. To date, there have only been one thousand winners. None of them won using the strategies we anticipated. The highest-scoring wins involved doing everything wrong. For example, one winner decided to use an available space plane to crash through the orbital station. In another scenario, the person took his oxygen and then blew up the emergency substation. Others included gratuitous violence, which I would rather not go into here. However, the conclusions remain the same: conventional thinking does not appear to bring about a successful resolution. “We are also looking at a home version to be used with Internet television systems that are out there.”

“Thank you all for coming. I hope to have more frequent meetings with positive reports on how to solve this situation. Until next month, I declare this meeting adjourned.” With that, Mr. Kirkwood got up and left the room, closely followed by everyone else.

Meanwhile, in a closed-door session, the president, along with members of his cabinet, was discussing the problem in greater detail. The Secretary of Defense started by saying. “We know for certain that this meteor will impact the moon. Every computer simulation we’ve run shows that the results will be cataclysmic. So, I am proposing a plan that would blow it up in space before it can threaten Earth; I suggest we use our massive nuclear arsenal for something that may save lives instead of destroying them, a great political coup, sir.” He said as he sat down.

“Yep, sounds like the military blew it up!” Replied another stranger in the back of the room.

“Okay, let’s get back to businesspeople.” The president announced.

“who’s next?”

“I am.” answered the man in the back, who sat in the corner by himself. He had been silent until this moment. Mr. President, gentleman, what I am about to tell you is above classified; it is above Top Secret. The only reason I am giving you this information at all is because of the meteor.” As he said this, he hit a button on the remote, and the lights dimmed, and a picture was projected onto the wall behind him.

“As you can see, gentleman, this is a picture of a moon base. It is the property of the CIA; we built it twenty years ago, but that is not important at this time...”

“What do you mean that is not important? Why have I not been informed of this? After all, I am The President.”

“You have not been informed because up till now, there has been no need for you to know. That and the fact that a president is a very unpredictable entity; they change too fast from one to the next.” the stranger’s clipped reply. “Now, as I was saying, the station was built twenty years ago as a super-spy station; it has multiple uses; with its cameras, we can see right into Beijing or, as you can see, the furthest reaches of space.” He pushed the button again, and what appeared next was horrific; the picture showed a meteor, a very detailed look at it. This was taken a year ago, a full six months before any civilian telescopes were able to pick it up, and that includes both the Hubble and Hubble II. Suffice it to say we have the latest and greatest that technology has to offer.”

What you see before you, is the single greatest threat to this planet man has ever seen. And begging the general’s pardon if you think you can wave your magic wand and blow it out of the sky. Think again; you would need to be in a very close range to be effective. The range is so close that by the time it’s in range, you lose the advantage of blowing it up. Because then you have multiple incoming meteors, or missiles if you will, and they will hit Earth instead of the moon.

“So, what do we do, let it hit the moon?” asked a junior member of the staff.

“Sure, if you want a 150-foot tidal wave to take out the entire east coast, or would you like the idea of another ice age, or my personal favorite, the destruction of life as we know it.”

“All of the simulations we have run show if that thing is not stopped, that at its current speed and course, the worst-case scenario is the moon loses up to a third of its mass. This would mean the Earth would move ever so slightly from its established orbit, and since the moon controls the tides, the possibilities are endless for just how bad it will be.

A silence fell over the room; no one wanted to be the first to speak. The implications were inconceivable, such as the death of a planet because of a single errant meteor. The mere thought defied reason and the impact it would have on the planet. The next question was how we could stop the impending doom.

The Mallorys spent Christmas Day with Edwin in the hospital, with him complaining and demanding to be released. He was looking better; he no longer needed the respirator for breathing. Additionally, he was able to get about with a cane for short distances. He still tired quickly, but his doctors were pleased with the progress he was making. But, to be safe, they kept him an extra week in aid to help with his recovery. They learned from previous experience that Whitten didn’t follow doctor’s orders very closely.

Mr. Whitten was released from the hospital on New Year’s Day. The Mallorys went to the hospital to pick him up, but he had already sent for his driver. In his place was an engraved invitation to join him at his estate for a new tradition, News Years Dinner.” They were at first upset, but they took it in stride.

They arrived at Edwin’s estate a little before 5:00 in the evening. Mr. Keith Watts, Mr. Whitten’s butler, opened the door and showed them to the study. Edwin was in there waiting for them to arrive, as were Harrison and Mrs. Lucas. Harry had a whiskey sour in one hand and an unlit Cuban in the other. The reason it was unlit was that Edwin wouldn’t allow anyone to smoke in the house. He hated the smell of it. Edwin was sitting in his wing-back chair with a snifter of brandy, which was highly unusual considering that he usually drank scotch and soda, and then, not until later in the evening. Grace, Mrs. Lucas’ first name, had sherry, and it appeared to have been untouched. She didn’t drink very much, and when she did, she nursed the drink, so it lasted a while. This is not to say she didn’t like the taste of alcohol, and she enjoyed it, especially wine and occasionally champagne.

This entire scene was a bit shocking to the Mallory’s, especially for Blaire, who had known his routine since she was just a little girl. They entered the study and were immediately greeted by both men. Harry stood up, went over to Blaire, and gave her a big hug. He gave Ian a firm, hardy handshake, turned to Sean, and introduced himself. Although Sean had seen him at the estate before, he never spoke to him.