Imagine (Fuzed Trilogy Book 2) Read online

  Elizabeth added, “Spirituality, too, and wars are at an all-time low.”

  Josh gave a small shrug. “Not surprising when we’re all facing our own mortality. Time will tell if war’s obsolete or it’s just a timeout.”

  “The United Nations is actually effective and doing good things,” she said optimistically.

  He looked at her. “Is that why you decided to work for the U.N.?”

  She smiled. “In part.” Her smile faded as she looked back at the horizon. “Guess in a few minutes, we’ll find out if there’ll be anyone around to help or be helped.”

  Nodding, he lifted his phone and said, “Hal, switch to the live BBC broadcast.”

  After a couple seconds, they heard, “... five minutes. We just received confirmation that the last laser strike fired successfully, although there were some ... technical problems. We won’t know if that will affect the outcome until it enters the atmosphere. All commercial aircraft are now on the ground. The U.N. verified that evacuations are complete for those under the comet’s flight path, living in coastal areas and near earthquake fault zones. If you’re within 500 kilometers of the comet’s flight path or in a designated risk area and could not or would not leave, authorities recommend you take cover immediately.”

  Elizabeth glanced from the phone to Josh with obviously raised eyebrows.

  Josh pretended to focus on the phone as the broadcast continued, “We just received reports that the comet is now visible to the naked eye from on board research vessels in the Atlantic. The picture on your screen is live from a ship near Tobago.” There was another pause. “I’ve just been told the world’s cellular communication systems and Internet servers are powering down in 30 seconds to protect them from the electromagnetic pulse. Authorities strongly recommend that everyone within 5,000 kilometers of the comet’s flight path unplug and shut down all electronic equipment, including your cell phones, until the comet passes. This is Jim Cantore, reporting from Manizales, Columbia.”

  Josh turned his phone off.

  Elizabeth pointed northeast over the ocean. “Is that it?”

  Barely visible, just above the horizon, was a tiny red dot. Although the comet’s surface was as dark as fresh asphalt, this close to the earth, it dimly reflected the sun’s rays.

  Shooting stars began to lace the dusk sky as the cloud of debris surrounding the comet reached Earth’s atmosphere. The largest left ghostly green tracks.

  As the comet approached, it appeared to double in size every 30 seconds. With the orange-red cast of a lunar eclipse and a tenuous white halo surrounding it, it began to look like a sinister eye with an angry red pupil. The eye seemed to be watching them ... measuring humanity.

  Josh put his arm around Elizabeth’s shoulders. Despite the tropical temperature, he felt a shiver run through her body.

  As it grew to the size of a full moon, the evil eye transformed into an ominous red orb, right off the cover of a science fiction novel. Jesse had hinted that human eyes might have seen a close approach like this in the distant past, long before the pyramids. Josh suspected that the handful that survived the encounter were probably responsible for many of humanity’s legends and myths.

  The meteor shower increased in intensity. Brilliant flashes illuminated the horizon as comet fragments began to explode in the atmosphere. Josh realized the larger fragments could release energy equivalent to a small atomic bomb. Even if everything went right, standing 10 kilometers from the flight path of a 15-kilometer-wide comet might not have been one of his best ideas.

  Now appearing three times bigger than the moon, the comet hit the earth’s atmosphere. Its surface instantly superheated to incandescence, transforming the twilight into daylight. Even with sunglasses, the new sun was too bright to look at. Countering the visual spectacle was utter and eerie silence. The sonic shockwave lagged far behind the hypersonic mountain.

  Jim Cantore checked his watch while his camera operator, Steve Spencer, pointed his camera toward the northeastern horizon. Spencer and the rest of his slightly crazy Weather Channel crew were the best in the world. The other two members of the team — his producer and the satellite operator — were inside the broadcast van behind him. Actually, it wasn’t a van; it was a massive, heavily armored SUV. When word got out about their plans, a South African company called Paramount donated one of their Marauders. State-of-the-art in personnel protection, it could shrug off automatic weapons and high explosives, but if the comet broke up in the atmosphere, nothing would protect them.

  While waiting to go live again, Cantore said to his camera operator and producer, “The President sent his personal thanks to us via our CEO this morning.”

  Spencer, looked at him curiously, “But we haven’t covered the comet yet.”

  Cantore smiled. “Actually, our real mission is already done. World’s been on the brink of panic because many think the deflection effort isn’t real or it failed. They’re certain the governments are lying to their people. The President believed that having the best-known TV meteorology team in the world reporting from under the comet’s flight path would reduce that fear. He arranged for our exclusive coverage in the evacuation area.” He paused. “And our highly promoted presence here has already saved lives.”

  Spencer nodded, but with a wry smile, added, “Kinda hope the deflection effort was real.”

  Cantore smiled back. “Yeah, me too.”

  The producer gave him his cue. As the camera’s record light came on and swung toward him, he said, “Reporting from Manizales, Columbia, this is Jim Cantore. We’ll be able to see the comet appear over the horizon any second. They fired the lasers to stop its rotation and ‘poke’ it into the best possible entry attitude.” He hesitated. His mission to reassure the world was over, and he was free to tell them what he really knew and call it as he saw it. Blowing out a lungful of air, he continued. “But ... even with the perfect entry attitude, the comet will unleash titanic forces when it hits the atmosphere. It’s so big that the bottom of it will be 15 kilometers — almost 10 miles — deeper in the atmosphere than the top. That thicker air means the bottom will slow down faster than the top, which will try to rip it apart.”

  With a small smile, he said, “Even if everything goes as predicted, standing under the comet’s track is ...” he shrugged, “risky, but you can see we’ve taken precautions.” He tapped himself on his combat helmet. “And we’re wearing Kevlar body armor, ear and eye protection. We also have ...” he nodded back toward the van. The camera swung around. “An armored Marauder broadcast van with EMP-hardened electronics.”

  Spencer swung the camera back to him. Cantore recognized each of his team by name, and then continued, “We’re volunteers, and regardless of the outcome, know that we’re doing what we love and I’m very proud to be a part of this team.”

  He looked back over his shoulder, and the camera followed his gaze. “We positioned ourselves 800 kilometers — 500 miles — inland from where the comet will cross the northeastern coast of South America. We’re right under the point scientists believe the comet will finish its trip through the atmosphere, and hopefully, head back into space.” Pointing over his shoulder, he said, “We’re on top of a hill overlooking the city of Manizales to our east. Normally, it has a population of a half million ... not today. Today, it’s empty, completely evacuated.”

  The camera panned down and slowly zoomed into a valley with the city at its center. The camera view lined up with one of the main avenues. Although the sun had set, there was enough light to see buildings lining both sides of a deserted street. The camera zoomed back out and panned up, centering on the northeastern horizon. The inactive 17,000-foot volcano, Nevado del Ruiz, nicely framed the picture to the south. The timing was perfect. There was an obvious brightening in the sky as if another sunrise was starting.

  Too late, Josh realized he shouldn’t have come here and definitely shouldn’t have brought Elizabeth. Why was he here?

  Jesse had brought him back from his fa
tal crash to initiate the greatest engineering feat in human history. After his rogue program proved deflecting the comet was possible, Josh needed to disappear. Humanity had to work together, and there could be no doubts or loose ends. After he recovered from the gunshot wounds, however, watching the deflection effort on TV was like sitting on the sidelines during the championship game. He had to see the comet with his own eyes. He had to be here.

  No ... no, that wasn’t entirely true. If he were honest with himself, his presence here was more of a childish act of bravado. His bullet scars reminded him of his modus operandi. His engineering mind would try to figure things out, but if that failed, his fallback plan was to light the afterburners and see what happened. It was one thing to risk himself; it was entirely different and very selfish to put someone he loved at risk.

  Now five times the size of the sun, the comet didn’t look like it was skimming the atmosphere — it was coming right at them.

  Cantore knew the networks were broadcasting video of the comet from research ships in the Caribbean. While waiting for them to switch the final live coverage back to him, he realized in the next few seconds, he and the human race faced extinction. Yet, he felt surprisingly calm. Early in his career, he was covering a hurricane off the Carolina coast. A woman came up to him, and her words left a lasting impression. She simply said, “We know it’s going to be really bad here, but you’re going to get us through this.”

  The producer cued him.

  Cantore took a deep breath and said, “We’re uplinked to a dedicated geo-synchronous satellite, and I’m being told that this broadcast is being followed by billions of viewers.” He glanced at his watch. “Right now, the comet is approaching the coastline. Its transit through the atmosphere should only take a little over a minute.”

  Just then, the bright burning ball appeared above the mountain range — show time. “There it is! It looks like a time-lapsed sunrise.” He shook his head. “It’s closing on us incredibly fast. This is truly amazing! It’s already bigger than the sun and growing.” Cantore saw Spencer adding progressively stronger filters to avoid blinding the camera.

  “I can’t believe this! It’s strangely beautiful and terrifying.” The camera had to keep zooming out as it grew. Cantore took another deep breath and said, “Hate to say this, but ... it looks like it’s coming right at us.”

  Josh was sure it couldn’t get any bigger, brighter or closer ... but it did. Now 10 times bigger than the sun, the deflection effort must have failed. He could feel the comet’s intense radiant heat as Elizabeth buried her face in his shoulder.

  Looking at the ground behind him, he saw their shadow shrink rapidly toward them. As it disappeared under them, he kissed his wife’s head, and said, “I love you.”

  The world watched in fascination. The intellectual mind, driven by computer simulations, said the comet would fly on by. The primitive mind, driven by the eyes, told a different story. During the longest seconds in human history, almost every conscious mind shared the same thought. Were the scientists wrong? Could governments have decided it was best not to share they’d failed? For interminable seconds, billions of people: Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jew, agnostic and atheist, shared the same prayer.

  3

  IMPACT

  Holding his breath, Josh followed their shadow as it began to grow again on the opposite side.

  A loud boom broke the silence.

  Elizabeth looked up. “Was that the comet?”

  He shook his head, as the booms continued. “Just fragments blowing up in the atmosphere. The comet’s shockwave is still a couple minutes out.” Shading his eyes, he looked up to see the blinding ball transiting overhead at ludicrous speed. The comet dragged a huge, burning-white tail that bisected the sky. Squinting, he realized he was seeing multiple tails. The comet was coming apart!

  Blocking the comet’s light with his hand, Cantore said, “It’s impossible to look at but I can feel the heat on my skin.”

  Spencer zoomed all the way out, rotating his camera upward to follow it.

  Cantore added, “We’re seeing flashes on the horizon from meteor detonations.” He frowned. “It’s on top of us!” Glancing at his watch, he added, “It should have left the atmosphere!” On the repeater monitor, near Cantore’s feet, the burning ball completely filled the screen. He shook his head and said, “God help us.”

  With his camera pointed straight up, Spencer peered around the viewfinder and said, “Look!”

  The blazing orb was dimming.

  Cantore, looking up, yelled, “It’s leaving! It’s leaving the freakin’ atmosphere! My God, we’re going to make it!” Its blinding incandescence was gone. Still bigger and brighter than the moon, it moved across the sky at phenomenal speed. He jumped and did several enthusiastic fist pumps, repeating, “We survived!”

  Narrowing his eyes, he added, “Wait! It’s not a comet ... it’s three comets. The atmosphere tore it apart!”

  The camera zoomed in and confirmed three brightly glowing objects were separating and heading out on slightly different trajectories.

  Realizing what that meant, Cantore said, “If that happened seconds earlier, I wouldn’t be here to report it. Neither would many of you.” As he said that, they were overwhelmed with multiple deafening booms.

  Elizabeth pointed back toward the ocean. “What’s that?”

  Turning around, Josh saw a single cloud near the horizon. As he watched it, it grew. It looked like a waterspout hugging the surface of the ocean, but it was moving rapidly toward them. “That is the comet’s shockwave.” Narrowing his eyes, he added, “We might be a tad closer than we should be. Probably a good idea to get on the ground and cover our ears.”

  They hit the ground. Lying on their stomachs, elbows propping up their heads, they watched it approach. The shockwave looked like the wake of a humongous speedboat. Kilometers wide with curtains of spray thrown a hundred meters in the air, it cut a path toward them moving faster than a jet.

  They cupped their hands tightly over their ears as it hit the coastline. Hammered by the loudest, longest sonic boom in recorded history, the ground shuddered as their bodies vibrated. It felt as if they were inside a subwoofer at a heavy metal concert. If they had been standing, the pressure wave might have knocked them off their feet. The vibration amplified the ache from Josh’s gunshot wounds. He felt all three bullet entry points: shoulder, lower stomach, and a few inches above eunuch.

  They watched a cone of water vapor and dust rise over the land as the shockwave raced inland.

  Tearing his eyes away from the receding comets, Cantore looked back at the horizon. “Steve, swing back around.”

  The camera returned to the eastern horizon and tracked what looked like a dust storm moving toward them insanely fast.

  Cantore said, “Here comes the shockwave.” As he said it, the wall of dust and vapor crested the far side of the valley and rushed down to the city below. The camera zoomed in just in time to catch a line of exploding windows ripping through the city toward them. With enthusiasm, Cantore said, “What a spectacular illustration of the sonic power of a shockwave!” Joining his photographer in a braced crouch, he said, “We’ll broadcast as long as we—”

  Josh and Elizabeth were still on the ground when they felt the shock-induced vibration morph into a full-blown earthquake. As the ground shook, they heard rock in the nearby cliff pop loudly as it fractured. Pieces of the ground less than 10 meters away broke off and fell toward the ocean.

  Cantore, the consummate professional, rolled, but hung on to his microphone. He saw Spencer lying on his stomach, still videoing. The bone-shaking sonic booms were replaced by a strong earthquake. Never missing a beat, Cantore continued to describe what they were experiencing, hoping the shockwave hadn’t damaged his mic. Cantore nodded toward their armored vehicle. Spencer swiveled his camera toward the huge SUV. Rocking and rolling on its giant tires, the hydraulically stabilized satellite dish countered the vehicle’s motion to maintain the
uplink.

  Finally, the quake subsided. Josh and Elizabeth removed their hands from their ringing ears and heard another sound. It was the whooshing sound of surf ... but they were 100 meters above the Atlantic. Standing up, they crept carefully toward the broken cliff edge. Feeling the cool spray of the ocean, they looked down to see building-sized waves crashing into the coastline.

  Cantore was now having fun. The world wasn’t going to end, and broadcasting under insane conditions was his specialty. Into the silence following the earthquake, he said, “The comet’s shockwave pounded us as it crossed South America, but its tiny gravitational field reached far below the surface. As expected, the tidal force — ripping across the planet at hypersonic speed — is triggering earthquake faults. The faults would have slipped eventually. The comet’s just smoothing out Earth’s age-induced wrinkles at a massively accelerated pace. The booms you hear are sonic shockwaves from fragments hitting nearby or exploding in the atmosphere. The destruction is horrific, but today ... today, humanity will survive.” He wrapped up with, “The Millennium Comet changed the world it grazed, but our world also changed the comet. Neither will ever follow the same trajectory. From Manizales, Columbia, this is Jim Cantore.”

  Coverage would now switch to global damage reports, but as he looked back across the valley, he saw a huge plume of gray smoke rising from the top of Nevado del Ruiz. Patting Steve on the back and pointing toward the mountain, he said, “Looks like we’ll be adding volcanic eruptions to our resume.”

  Like a finger brushing across the surface of a desktop globe, the comet’s gravitational pull changed the length of a day by a fraction of a second. The result was a cascade of earthquakes circling the world as huge meteors continued to detonate in the atmosphere. The impacts created massive fires, and the earthquakes woke volcanoes and created tsunamis that inundated coastlines.