Fred Hoyle - The Black Cloud

“My God, he looks shockingly dissipated,” thought the Astronomer Royal.

“My God, the whisky treatment seems to have fixed him,” thought Marlowe.

“He looks even more unstable,” thought Herrick.

“Well, well, are all those reports finished?’ said Kingsley.

“All finished and waiting for your signature,” answered the Astronomer Royal. “We were wondering where you’d got to. Our plane is booked back for tonight.”

“Plane booked back? Nonsense. First we race over half the world through all those damned airports, and now that we’re here, enjoying the sunshine, you want to rush back again. It’s ridiculous, A.R. Why don’t you relax?”

“You seem to forget that we’ve got very serious business to attend to.”

“The business is serious enough. I’m with you there, A.R. But I tell you in all seriousness that it’s a business that neither you nor anyone else can attend to. The Black Cloud is on its way and neither you, nor all the King’s horses nor all the King’s men, nor the King himself, can stop it. My advice is to drop all this nonsense about a report. Get out into the sunshine while it’s still with us.”

“We were already acquainted with your views, Dr Kingsley, when the Astronomer Royal and I decided to fly east tonight,” broke in Herrick in measured tones.

“Am I to understand that you are going to Washington, Dr Herrick?”

“I have already arranged an appointment with the President’s secretary.”

“Then in that case I think it would be as well if the Astronomer Royal and I were to travel on to England without delay.”

“Kingsley, that is exactly what we’ve been trying to tell you,” growled the Astronomer Royal, thinking that in some ways Kingsley was the most obtuse person he had ever met.

“It wasn’t exactly what you told me, A.R., although it may have seemed that way to you. Now about those signatures. In triplicate, I suppose?”

“No, there are only two master copies, one for me and one for the Astronomer Royal,” answered Herrick. “Would you sign here?”

Kingsley took out his pen, scribbled his name twice, and said:

“You’re quite sure, A.R., that our plane to London is booked?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Then that seems all right. Well, gentlemen, I shall be at your disposal at my hotel from five o’clock onwards. But in the meantime there are various important matters that I must attend to.”

And with that Kingsley walked out of the Observatory.

The astronomers in Herrick’s room looked at each other in surprise.

“What important matters?’ said Marlowe.

“Heaven knows,” answered the Astronomer Royal. “Kingsley’s ways of thinking and behaving are more than I pretend to understand.”

Herrick left the east-bound plane at Washington. Kingsley and the Astronomer Royal flew on to New York, where they had a three-hour wait before boarding the London plane. There was some doubt as to whether they could take off because of fog. Kingsley was greatly agitated until eventually they were told to proceed to gate 13 and to have their boarding cards ready. Half an hour later they were in the air.

“Thank God for that,” said Kingsley, as the plane headed steadily to the north-east.

“I would agree that there are many things for which you ought to thank God, but I don’t see that this is one of them,” remarked the Astronomer Royal.

“I would be glad to explain, A.R., if I thought that the explanation would commend itself to you. But as I fear it wouldn’t, let’s have a drink. What’ll you have?”

The U.S. Government was the first official body to learn of the approach of the Black Cloud.

It took Herrick some days to get through to the higher strata of the U.S. Administration, but when he did the results were far from disappointing. On the evening of 24 January, he received instructions to present himself at nine-thirty the following morning at the President’s office.

“A very queer state of affairs you’ve come up with, Dr Herrick, very queer,” said the President. “But you and your team at Mount Wilson stand so high that I won’t waste any time doubting what you’ve told us. Instead I’ve called these several gentlemen together so that we can get down to settling what’s to be done about it.”

Two hours’ discussion was aptly summed up by the Secretary of the Treasury:

“Our conclusions seem to me quite clear, Mr President. Any really serious economic dislocation is likely to be prevented by the two favourable factors in the situation. Dr Herrick assures us that this — er, visitation is not expected to be prolonged much beyond a month. This is so short a time that, even if the fuel consumption rate rises enormously, the overall quantity required to maintain ourselves against the period of extreme cold remains very moderate. There is accordingly no serious problem in building up adequate fuel stocks — it is even possible that our present stocks might be sufficient. A more serious issue is whether we can transfer supplies fast enough from stock to the domestic and industrial consumer; whether we can pump gas and oil fast enough. This is something that must be looked into, but with nearly a year and a half in which to prepare there will surely be no difficulties that cannot be overcome.

“The second favourable factor is the date of the visitation. We should have much of our harvest in by mid-July, which Dr Herrick gives as the likely beginning of the emergency. The same favourable situation applies the world over, so that food loss, which would have been really serious had the period of cold occurred in May or June, should also be quite moderate.”

“Then I think we are all agreed on what immediate steps are to be taken,” added the President. “When we have decided on our own dispositions we shall have to consider the more awkward problem of what help we can offer to peoples throughout the world. But for the moment let us put our own house in order. Now I take it that you gentlemen will all be wishing to get back to various important matters, and there are a few questions that I would personally like to put to Dr Herrick.”

When the meeting had broken up, and they were alone together, the President went on:

“Now, Dr Herrick, you will understand that for the time being this is a matter that must be treated with the closest security. I see that, in addition to your own, there are three other names on your report. These gentlemen, I take it, are members of your staff? Can you also let me have the names of any others who may be aware of its contents?”

Herrick in reply gave the President a short account of the circumstances that led up to the discovery, pointing out that it was inevitable that the information should have become common knowledge throughout the Observatory before its importance was realized.

“Of course, that is natural enough,” remarked the President. “We must be thankful that the matter has not gone beyond the confines of the Observatory. I trust, I earnestly trust, Dr Herrick, that you can assure me of that.”

Herrick remarked that as far as he was aware there were four men outside the Observatory with a full knowledge of the Black Cloud, Barnett and Weichart of the California Institute of Technology — but that was practically the same thing — and two English scientists, Dr Christopher Kingsley of Cambridge and the Astronomer Royal himself. The names of the last two appeared on the report. The President’s manner sharpened.

“Two Englishmen!’ he exclaimed. “This is not at all good. How did it come about?”

Herrick, realizing that the President could only have read a synopsis of his report, explained how Kingsley and the Astronomer Royal had independently deduced the existence of the Cloud, how Kingsley’s telegram had been received in Pasadena, and how the two Englishmen had been invited to California. The President softened.