Jack McDevitt - The Moonfall

Eckerd, who headed Health and Safety, knew about the director's heart problems. Chandler wondered whether he had pursued his knowledge to its logical conclusion: that it was far less difficult for Chandler to play the hero than it was for the others. And that hard reality chilled him. Still, it did not ease his smoldering anger. With or without the heart problem, he would have done the right thing. He knew that.

After the chaplain called, Chandler simply put out an amended list, inserting the chaplain's name directly above his own. That bumped everybody else, except Evelyn, up one slot. Then had come the shocker: The vice president was staying!

Chandler had his doubts that Haskell wouldn't change his mind. But he'd duly inserted the name, scheduled Benning for a flight, and moved the others up another notch. Benning had told him that he shouldn't think for a minute that this would get him and Hampton and the corporation off the hook. She was going to sue everyone in sight.

He wondered what they'd do if Haskell did change his mind. Call her back and tell her she was going to get to stay after all?

Excerpt from an interview with Dr. Olive Ellsworth of the Anglo-Australian-Observatory in New South Wales, conducted by Connie Hasting. Ellsworth: The section we've highlighted is the impact area. It's on the far side, about a hundred miles west of Mare Muscoviense. It'll be coming in at roughly four hundred fifty-five kilometers per second, which is a slight decrease in velocity since we first saw it. That's due to the gravitational influence of the Sun, of course. Hasting: And it's the center of the comet that we have to worry about. Right? Ellsworth: Yes, Connie. It's the center, the nucleus, that will do the damage. Hasting: And the coma is the part that glows? Ellsworth: The coma's a cloud of gas and dust. When a comet gets near the Sun, it begins to heat up, and we get a coma. And a tail. Or, as in this case, sometimes two tails. Hasting: How big is the coma? Ellsworth: This one's about three hundred thousand miles across. Hasting: Three hundred thousand miles? That's pretty big. Ellsworth: Actually, it's smaller than you might expect from an object this large. That might be because of the composition of the comet: There simply may not be that much material to burn off. Or it may be that its passage through the solar system has been so quick, the Sun hasn't had time to work its way. Probably a combination of the two. Hasting: In these pictures it has a pair of tails. Ellsworth: Yes. The ion tail, this one, is about six million miles long. Hasting: But when I look at it in the sky, all I see is a large fuzzy patch. Ellsworth: The tails are running in front of it, so they're not easy to see for an earthbound observer. Hasting: The tails are in front? Ellsworth: Oh, yes. Comets' tails always point away from the Sun. The solar wind causes that. (Displays images.) These were taken from the Venusian probe. Hasting: It is lovely…I wonder if you can tell us what's going to happen tomorrow night? Ellsworth: Let's look at the graphic. You understand, this comet would be less destructive if it were moving at the velocity comets usually move in the solar system, at thirty or forty kilometers per second. But this is going much faster, and consequently it will hit the Moon very hard. You'll observe, it's approaching the Moon now. Hasting: (Nods.) Ellsworth: Here, it breaks through the outer lunar mantle. What's actually happening is that the area where the comet impacts is being vaporized to a depth of several hundred miles. Hasting: It almost looks as if it's splashing in. Ellsworth: Oh, yes. Splash is the right word. That's how craters form, you know. The material melts under the impact. This comet is unlike anything we've seen before. • • • SSTO Rome Flight Deck. 11:10 P.M.

At Skyport they'd corrected the programming glitch. John Verrano rode his spacecraft into lunar orbit on a dime. He opened a channel. "Moonbase, this is Rome."

"Go ahead, Rome."

"Rome is on station and ready for business." Moonbase, Director's Office. 11:11 P.M.

It was, of course, the story of the age. Keith Morley of Transglobal was outraged when his link with the news desk was severed by the Moonbase commcenter. Jack Chandler had said yes, yes, he understood how Morley felt, but they couldn't give Morley an open channel because there just weren't enough circuits available.

"Circuits, hell!" Morley complained. "You're going to lose some people and you don't want me blowing the coverup."

"We're not certain yet we'll lose anybody."

Morley didn't care much for Chandler. He was the perfect bureaucrat, evasive, deskbound, a man who thought in terms of constraints and methodologies. From whom it was next to impossible to get a direct answer.

"What does that mean, Jack? Do you expect to lose some of your people?"

Chandler ran his hands through his thinning hair. "Yes," he said. "We do."

"Why are you sitting on it? Do you think it's going to change anything tomorrow night because you don't tell anybody?"

Chandler leaned forward, braced his elbows on his desk, and set his chin on his hands. "We're not sitting on anything, Keith." He glanced at his phone. "I'll call the commcenter and see that you get a link, if that's what you want."

"Of course it's what I want." He took a deep breath. "How many people are going to be killed?"

"Possibly none."

"Right. We've been through that. If you lose some, how many is it likely to be?"

"Six," he said.

Six. Well, it wasn't as bad as he'd thought. Assuming the old bastard was telling the truth. "Names?" he asked. "Who's getting left?" He did not take out his notebook, of course. He'd been in the business too long and knew that you never, ever conducted an interview with a notebook or recorder.

Chandler rattled them off. Himself and Hampton. Hawkworth, Eckerd. Pinnacle."

"The chaplain?"

"He offered to stay."

Morley called up his image of Mark Pinnacle. "Did he say why?"

Chandler shook his head. "No. I didn't think to ask."

"Okay. That's five. Who else?"

"Charlie Haskell."

Morley did a double take. "You're not serious. He left this afternoon, didn't he?"

"No. He stayed off the flight."

"But he was directed out."

"He's still here."

Morley started for the door. "Can you arrange for me to talk to him?"

Chandler shook his head again. He was very good at saying no. "I've no control over his appointments, Keith."

Damn. Either this was legitimate and Haskell was really going to try to ride out the comet, or something was going on. Either way, it was a huge story. But Morley's throat caught when he thought about his options. Nevertheless, he needed only a moment to make up his mind. "Jack, I'd like to stay, too, if you don't object."

Chandler's eyes widened. "You don't mean that," he said.

All of Morley's instincts told him there was no way the vice president would hang in if there weren't a way out. Politicians don't do things like that.

And it was a hell of a story. Pulitzer, Morley was thinking. Maybe posthumous. But a Pulitzer.

Crandall: Hi, Jason from Coos Bay. First Caller: Hey, Frank. Cheers from the white beach capital. Crandall: Thanks, Jason. What's on your mind? First Caller: What's the straight stuff about the comet, Frank? The media always lie, and I keep hearing conflicting stories. I'm looking out my window now at the ocean. What's going to happen tomorrow night? Crandall: Don't know, my man. I don't think anybody knows for sure. First Caller: Should I get out? Crandall: That's your call, Jason. First Caller: What would you do? Crandall: Ol' Frank'll be on top of a mountain tomorrow." (Laughs) "Seriously, Jason, I'll be right here in Miami, doing my routine, and hoping for the best. I think the media have a tendency to be very careful what they report. Everybody has to look out these days, and I'll tell you why: There're lawsuits everywhere. So we're all supercautious…We have time for one more call before we go to commercial… Harry in St. Louis, hello. Second Caller: Hi, Frank. Say, I'd like to change the subject. Crandall: Go ahead. Talk about anything you want. Second Caller: I was wondering if you've noticed the Cardinals have started the season with six straight wins. Crandall: Yeah, they're loaded with pitching, and it looks like they've got a serious team out there this year… SSTO Berlin Flight Deck. 11:59 P.M.