Russell Moran - A Climate of Doubt

“When I talk to you on the phone, Bob, I can’t believe that you’re not Phil Duncan,” Nancy said. “You sound exactly like him.”

“Thanks for your compliment on my acting ability. I had to think fast when Bartholomew called me. I repeated your story about visiting your sick grandmother. He’ll be calling tomorrow to get an update on when we can do the satellite tests. I knew that you had to be here. Since Duncan and his friends have been arrested and taken into custody, we saw no reason why you couldn’t be here. Congratulations on your wedding, by the way.”

“Thanks, Bob. So, you want us to assist the new Moonwalker astronauts on a full satellite test.”

“Yes, and I expect that Bartholomew will want to speak to you. That’s why we flew you here. We couldn’t come up with a story why you can’t help with the satellite tests.”

“Hello, Bart, Phil Duncan here,” Colombo said. “We’ve scheduled the satellite test for tomorrow. Nancy Mullin and Bill Cranston have returned from New York, and they’re ready to assist with the tests.”

“Are they nearby, Philip?”

“Yes, they’re down the hall.”

“I want to talk to them. Tell them that I’m Frederick Smith, a securities analyst with Goldman Sachs, and that I have some questions.”

“Phil, Nancy,” Colombo said out loud over the speaker phone, “I have a Mr. Frederick Smith on the phone. Please come to my office.” He handed her a note that read, “It’s Bartholomew Martin on the phone. He’s posing as a securities analyst with Goldman Sachs, and they’re considering a substantial investment in Rosetta.”

“Hello, Ms. Mullin and Mr. Cranston, Fred Smith here from Goldman Sachs. Phil Duncan said it would be alright if I asked you a few questions. First, let me say that I hope your grandmother is in good health, Ms. Mullin. Phil Duncan told me that you had to fly to New York to be with her. Is she okay?”

“Yes, she’s improved quite a bit in the past couple of days” Nancy said as she rolled her eyes. “Thank you for asking.”

“Now for a couple of questions, if you don’t mind. At Goldman Sachs we like to be very cautious when making a sizeable investment. Do you know the two gentlemen who are in control of the space station Moonwalker ?”

“We haven’t met personally,” Nancy said.

“I understand that you and Mr. Cranston will assist them on satellite tests tomorrow, is that right?”

“Yes, it is, Mr. Smith. We’ll be coaching them and helping with the satellite controls from right here in Billings.”

“Thank you very much folks for taking the time to chat with me. Now I would like to go over a few things with Mr. Duncan.”

“You folks can go back to what you were doing,” Duncan/Colombo said loudly before he hit the speaker off button.

“So, it looks like we’re good to go for tomorrow, Philip,” Martin said. “I’m glad they’re back on the job. I will call you tomorrow after the tests so we can compare notes.”

The following day would see a satellite test as never before.

“ Moonwalker, Moonwalker , this is Home Base, come in.”

“Read you loud and clear, Home Base. This is Dave Hardy. Am I speaking to Mr. Duncan?”

“You guys can call me Phil. Bill Cranston and Nancy Mullin are here with me. They’re here with me to help you with the satellite tests.”

“Hello, Dave, Nancy Cranst…I mean Mullin, here with Bill Cranston. We’re going to go through a full test of the 20 satellites including tests of their retractable solar panels. Each of the satellite tests will take seven minutes for a total of 140 minutes. We’ll then test the solar panels, which have given us some difficulty recently. That will add another 100 minutes to the operation. Are you guys ready?”

“We’re ready, Nancy, testing satellite number one.”

The satellite tests were done, and the crew prepared to test each of the solar panel arrays.

“When you get to the third solar panel test,” Nancy said, “be prepared to hit the override switch. As far as we know the fail-safe mechanisms on 17 of the satellites are not functioning, so be prepared to hit the override. It’s identical to the one on Stargazer, except that the one on Moonwalker works. Let me know once you have identified the switch.”

The first two satellite solar arrays went smoothly. The third malfunctioned as they expected.

“Okay, hit the override switch Dave.”

“From my readout here,” Bill Cranston said, “it looks like the override isn’t working—or hasn’t been thrown.”

“Dave, please confirm that you have activated the override switch,” Nancy said. “Dave, can you hear me?”

“Yes, I can hear you, Nancy. We’ve been ordered not to throw the override switch.”

“Ordered by whom?” Duncan/Colombo asked.

“I’m sure you know the answer to that question, Mr. Duncan,” Hardy said. “The satellite solar arrays are now on their own.”

The panels on each of 17 satellites slowly turned toward the sun, reflecting its warming rays away from earth and into space. The temperature in Billings went from 65 degrees Fahrenheit to 35 degrees in ten minutes. The skies darkened, silently announcing an approaching snow storm.

“The temperature here is now 35 degrees,” Nancy said. “It’s essential that you hit the override switch, or we’ll soon be in the middle of a blizzard.”

“I have my orders, Nancy,” Hardy said.

“I spoke to the person who you said gave the orders,” Duncan/Colombo said. “He mentioned nothing about the maneuver you’ve activated. I’m the CEO of this company and I’m ordering you to reverse the solar panels now.”

“No can do, Mr. Duncan,” Hardy said.

“Bob,” Nancy said to Colombo after she turned the voice transmission switch off. “Why can’t you call Bartholomew and see what you can find out.”

“I guess nobody told you Nancy,” Colombo said. “No one has Bartholomew’s number, not even Duncan as far as we know. We have no way of contacting him, not that it would do much good anyway. He’s going to do what he wants to do and fuck the rest of the world.”

“But can’t you impersonate Martin, Bob? I heard you do it once and your imitation was as good as your Duncan act.”

“It won’t work, Nancy. Bartholomew Martin has communicated with those astronauts and if they ask a question about a prior conversation with him I wouldn’t know what to say. Besides, they would identify Duncan or Rosetta from caller ID.”

“Al Roker here for NBC Weather. You don’t need me to tell you what’s happening. We’re being socked with yet another arctic cold blast and snowstorm. The temperature outside our studio is 19 degrees, having fallen 41 degrees in 10 minutes. Prepare for another blizzard folks, a mid-September blizzard.”

“Bellamy here, Mr. President. To put it bluntly, sir, none of us thought this could happen because of the recent actions we took at Rosetta.”

“Rick, how the hell can this happen even if Duncan and his men are in custody? We removed the bad actors. What more can we do?”

“Mr. President, somebody near Tehran is calling the shots, I’m afraid. Bartholomew Martin was never directly involved in manipulating the satellites, but I believe he is now. Our guy at Rosetta said that the astronauts on Moonwalker flatly refused commands to override the solar panel deployment. The astronaut, a guy named David Hardy, said, and I quote. ‘I have my orders.’ Bob Colombo, our Duncan impersonator, told me that the astronaut said that he, Duncan, knew who was giving the orders. As of right now, sir, we have absolutely no control over the situation. We can only hope that Nancy and Bill Cranston can figure something out.”