TWENTY-FIVE
Even though all the lights on board had been turned off, per the curator's urgent instructions, the bridge deck was awash with starlight. They headed for Finn's telescope near the empty helipad.
A shooting star arced across the blackness of the sky then disappeared. If Peri had the energy, or believed in such things, she would've made a wish. Instead, she observed the way the starlight played on Finn's features, painting them in stark relief. She worried about his shoulder.
Without revealing what was clearly a big deal, Dr. Vadini insisted the tablet be brought outside with them. Perspiration gleamed on his face, and his hands shook with excitement as he instructed the three men carrying the tablets how to position them on the table brought outside with them. "This one and this one at the top. Sí, just so. Now Blackstar's tablet in the middle, and the other two below it." He stood back, arms folded to ensure they'd been positioned as he wanted them.
Dr. Vadini adjusted them slightly, matching up the top and bottom edges.
"All right." Jonah stuffed his hands into his front pockets as he looked over the doctor's shoulder. "We’re all out here. The tablets are all out here. Tell us what the fifth tablet says, Doctor."
"There's no text, right?" Peri asked around a yawn. In the center; a series of small randomly spaced holes looked as if a pencil-point had pierced the gold-covered marble. "Just holes?"
"There is a little text here." He brushed the faint, decorative border around the outer edges. "Instructions on the positioning of the perforations." Drawing in a deep breath, Dr. Vadini traced a white-gloved finger along the left-hand edge of the new tablet, and read, "In the eleventh month when Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter align-"
"They align once every ten years, and have done so for hundreds of years." Finn adjusted the knobs on the massive telescope. "We'll be able to see them clearly, even with the naked eye and of course through this they'll look as though we can reach out and touch them. The timing is excellent. This configuration is best viewed just before sunrise, so we have a couple of hours to enjoy them."
"The five planets may very well align every ten years, signore, but five hundred years ago, Blackstar predicted this event,” he said, pointing to the tablet, “would occur exactly as it has unfolded. Tomorrow night. It is not happenstance that the two of you found the seer when you did. Nor was it a coincidence where he was found."
Dr. Vadini's eyes gleamed in the semi-darkness. His hand rested on the new tablet as if it were a helium balloon about to drift into the sky if not anchored. "Blackstar prophesied this event. This night. This month. This year. Above all. You, signore Gallagher, and you signora. Two stars converge, one red, one black." He indicated where the words were on the tablet Finn had found. "The two of you - You are the red and black converging stars."
"If you say so." Despite all that had happened, Peri saw by Finn's small frown that he was still having a hard time believing everything wasn't coincidence. Or a well-hatched plot.
The air was dead still on the top deck, no sign of the high winds they'd experienced earlier. The black dome of the sky was studded with crisp, white stars. The air smelled fresh and salty, and of the strong black coffee Finn's staff had set up nearby. Everyone was mainlining the coffee now that the adrenaline rush had dissipated, and exhaustion was evident on the faces of all of them as they hung around to hear how Dr. Vadini was going to interpret the last tablet.
Peri inhaled deeply. On a night like this, anything was possible.
"The stars look like diamonds scattered on black velvet." Bria leaned both arms on the rail as she stood beside Nick looking out over the water.
The ocean, black, tipped with gleams of reflected silver from the stars, lapped the hull in a soothing lullaby that made Peri not want to talk. She wished she and Finn were alone. She'd give anything right now to spread a blanket out on the deck, and lie there in his arms, gazing up at the stars. Until her eyes slammed shut.
She wouldn't trade the view of the night sky for any amount of diamonds. Far from diminishing her, seeing this many stars made her feel as powerful as a pagan goddess. Lifting her arms to the heavens she swirled around until she felt dizzy. With a laugh, Finn captured her in his arms.
"'Raise the compendium to divine the truth'," Dr. Vadini quoted. "You need to look at the sky through the holes in the tablet, signore."
"What are we supposed to be seeing?" Rydell asked over the head of his sleeping baby. Addison was curled up on a lounge chair, fast asleep and missing all the fun.
"Spectacular shooting stars, for one thing," Finn told Peri’s brother as he adjusted the complicated knobs on the telescope and looked through it. "Not only are we able to observe this rare juxtaposition of the planets, but the Graphton Meteor Shower peaks tomorrow. As you can see, we're observing a spectacular show of hundreds of meteors per hour as they vaporize on entering the Earth’s atmosphere."
"I've never seen so many falling stars." Teal’s head tipped back against Zane's shoulder as he leaned against the rail. "This is breathtaking. Is the meteor shower what Blackstar wanted us to see, signore Vadini? "
"No, it-"
"This shower is unique,” Finn interrupted, his tone dry. “It has a cyclonic peak of about every thirty-three years. Unusual, but anticipated. I doubt Blackstar knew about a meteor shower five hundred years in the future."
"Why are there so many falling stars tonight?" Peri asked.
"We see meteor showers, shooting stars- every year at this time, but the Graphton comet makes its way around the sun every thirty-three years, leaving a trail of dust rubble in its wake. When the Earth’s orbit crosses the trail of debris, pieces of the comet fall toward the Earth’s surface. The Earth's atmosphere causes the comet's debris to ignite into burning balls of fire."
Peri loved watching Finn's expression as he talked about his passion. The stars.
"That sounds ominous." Bria frowned
"Is that what the tablets say, Doctor? That a meteorite is going to hit Earth?"
"No," Finn assured her, before Dr. Vadini could speak again. "Anything heading this way will burn up in the atmosphere. None will make landfall.," He tugged her closer by curling a strand of her hair around his fingers. "Hundreds of scientists, and many other assorted professionals, and God only knows how many amateur astronomers, watch the sky 24/7. We're safe from space debris."
"Seek the High Altar to discover the answers written in the stars," Dr. Vadini quoted, clearly undaunted. "This was of course done." He threw a pleased glance at Finn and Peri. "In the eleventh month when Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter align. If you look here along the edge." He ran his gloved finger reverently across what looked like decorative border that matched that on the other four tablets.
"Blackstar gives us an exact measurement from the horizon. And here it says; If not stopped, oceans will rise, mountains will topple, the mighty and innocent alike will perish. Raise the compendium to divine the truth."
"And you think Blackstar predicted a meteorite would strike the Earth?" Finn wrapped his arm around Peri's waist, tucking her against his side. "Sorry, not happening. Comet crumbs are usually the size of a pea. If a near earth object were to come our way, we'd know about it years in advance. Trust me, there's absolutely nothing threatening us. We have thousands of astronomers watching the skies, being ever vigilant, and we have so many failsafes, nothing can enter the Earth's atmosphere without being spotted years before it hits and becomes a danger."
"Please, signore. I entreat you. Pick up the tablet. Hold it up to the sky. See for yourself what Blackstar prophesied."
"Sure. But let's wrap this up. Everyone needs some shut-eye. It's been a hellishly long day." Finn reached over and plucked the long tablet from between the others.
When his injured arm dipped, Peri braced the bottom of the tablet with both hands. They shared a smile that sliced her heart.
Dr. Vadini's hands hovered under the tablet as Finn raised it to eye level. "No. The other way- Sì," he said as Finn rotated it. "Like so."
"What do you see?" Peri demanded, trying to see through the holes as he was doing.
"Intriguing," Finn murmured, shifting his left hand a few centimeters to slightly reposition the heavy tablet. "Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn line up perfectly. It's as if. . ."
"As if what?" Nick demanded.
Peri wished to hell she could read the word bubble she imagined she saw over Finn's head as he stared intently through the unevenly spaced holes in the gold tablet.
"As if someone spaced these holes purposefully, and with intention, in concert with the planets." He sucked in a breath, narrowed his eyes. "God damn- Take it," he instructed Jonah, standing closest to him. Jonah grabbed the heavy tablet with both hands before Finn turned to his telescope.
At the concern in his voice, Peri, like everyone else straightened, moving closer to him as he adjusted the telescope to peer intently through the viewfinder.
She tried to peer around his arm to see what he was seeing. Of course, she couldn't see a damn thing. "What is it?"
"Asteroid," he told the assembled group as he made small adjustments to the telescope. "It should be hiding behind the moon, but it's visible tonight. There are ten to fifty thousand asteroids out there. This one shouldn't damn well be where it is, but God damn it, it's exactly where the hole indicates it would be. Heading straight for Earth."
"Holy shit," Peri said, reacting to his ominous tone. "It'll burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, right?"
Finn looked grim as he reached for his phone in his back pocket. "Not one of that size, no."
Finn held up a finger for everyone to hold their comments as he contacted his assistant on the phone. "Come up to the helicopter bridge right away," he instructed Walker after the phone rang once. "On your way, get California on the phone. We have a critical situation. Bring in all relevant leaders of our allies for a teleconference call in ten. Add the usual suspects as well." Every one of his competitors in this race to Mars. "We'll need every brain we have on this. Keep everyone on mute until I’ve talked to Halperin.”
Yeah. This was serious enough that all world leaders had to be notified immediately. The world was in jeopardy – not just one country or another.
Finn never thought he'd be the one instigating the call. He rang off, but kept the phone in his hand. This hellishly long day and night wasn't over yet. The cool, salty air was dead still, and for several moments the near silence throbbed in his ears in time with his staccato heartbeat. The rapid pulse shot knives into the fucking hole in his shoulder, which had suddenly become the least of his problems.
The lights of the police boats, disappearing in the distance, as they returned to base with Núñez's body, winked against the darkness.
"You’re scaring the living fucking crap out of everybody, buddy." Logan, jaw tight, suddenly looked alert. "Give us the shorthand facts, and tell us what we need to do to help."
"The facts are simple. Despite the complexity of the language that sets forth the facts,” Vadini responded to Logan, but had eyes only for Finn. “Blackstar foretold that signore Gallagher will prevent the annihilation of our planet."
Simple his ass. While Finn appreciated the man's unwavering faith in him, Vadini didn’t understand the astrophysics of what needed to be done – if it could be done.
"You can do this, sí?" Vadini asked when Finn didn’t say anything.
Finn slid his arm around Peri's shoulders, tugging her against his side. The faint scent of lilies calmed his racing heart. His chest ached with intense emotion, as she rested one hand over his heart.
“Did it suddenly appear out of…thin air? Where did it come from?” Peri's eyes said she was counting on him to have all the answers.
"As we do for all NEOs- near-Earth objects, they'd been keeping a close eye on this asteroid for years before it hid behind the moon. We couldn't see it, but we knew its path. This isn’t that fucking path. Something knocked it out of its regular orbit, and it's visible now, and traveling at approximately forty-three thousand miles an hour, give or take." Unprecedented and alarming.
Walker arrived on the helicopter deck and strode to the large gathering near the telescope. He held out a phone for Finn. “Dr. Halperin.”
"Brock," Finn said by way of greeting. "DW17C is visible and off course." After the lead scientist at the launch facility in the Mojave Desert sucked in a shocked breath, Finn shot off the coordinates like bullets. "Yeah, impossible as it may seem, you can see how it dramatically veered off course. Not fucking impossible. How long until impact? I need solid numbers and our team's best/worst case scenarios. Is the possibility of deflection or obliteration even on the table at this time? Good man. I'll observe in real time." He handed Walker back his phone. "Set up the conf-"
"Done."
"Anyone who wants to come downstairs and observe, follow me."
"Hell yes," Zane said. "If this is doomsday I want to be at ground zero facing the fucker head-on."
"Not fucking funny, bro." Jonah, standing behind his new wife, circled Callie's shoulders with both arms as if protecting her from whatever the fuck was going to rain Armageddon on their heads. "What's actually happening here?"
"A thirteen-mile wide asteroid has been knocked out of its orbit and appears to be heading for the Earth." Finn figured they could all take the unvarnished truth.
Peri's arm tightened around his waist. "Okay, that is really, really freaking terrifying."
"What are you thinking?" Rydell asked, looking up at the starry sky. He'd woken a sleeping Addison and was helping her to her feet. "Clearly something catastrophic since you put in a call to World leaders."
"This is a situation that warrants immediate attention from decision makers. If none of them have contacted me, as yet, then they aren't aware of the situation. And that's extremely troubling. We aren't the only ones with telescopes and knowledgeable people. Someone else should’ve seen this before now."
"Would it make any difference?" Logan asked. "Is anyone ready for something like this? Think tanks speculating opinions, but anyone have what's necessary to destroy or deflect this fucker?"
Finn dragged clean sea air into his starving lungs. "We're going to find out."
“Just how bad are we talking, here?” Nick asked.
“It’s big enough to take out half of South America on impact, cause global earthquakes, tsunamis several hundred feet high, and set off major volcanic activity. The dust cover would do the rest. Think the last of the dinosaurs, then double the destruction.”
“Jesus," Jonah said harshly. "Don’t sugar coat it.”
Finn didn't bother trying to rationalize. Bizarrely, the coincidences kept piling up. Yet a child had seen these events unfolding more than five centuries years ago. It was now hard to find fault with the message of the tablets. He indicated they take the outside stairs to the third deck where the Blackstar Group's business offices were located. The same deck the authorities had used just an hour earlier to interview the principal players in what had gone down at Peri's home.
Was he reading too much into the shift of the asteroid? Perhaps his calibrations on the telescope were off. . . No. No, they weren't. Halperin's equipment in California made this telescope look like a Tinker Toy. He'd confirmed the unexpected shift. Not wrong. Terrifyingly right. Yet his people hadn't noted DW17C shift either. Was it possible that he'd observed the shift of trajectory at the exact moment of change? What were the astronomical odds of that?
"If it's near enough to see with the naked eye," he told them as they walked across the deck to get to the next set of stairs, "it’ll be too late to do anything about it."
Peri, almost glued to his side, frowned. "You just saw it through the holes in the tablet. That was with your naked eyes, right?"
"No, I didn't see it through the holes. But when there were two holes through which I saw nothing, I looked through the telescope, positioned it to see the section of sky indicated through the top hole. That exact coordination was the last known location of DW17C, an enormous asteroid, a million miles from Earth. It wasn't there. But when I adjusted the telescope to look where the second hole in the tablet indicated- There it was. Knocked off its orbit. I believe that it was hit by another asteroid hundreds of years ago, and can only be seen now."
"Jesus. Thirteen miles wide?" Jonah asked. "How soon?"
"To give you perspective, the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs was about six to eight miles across. That event wiped clean thousands of square miles from the impact site. This will be worse, much worse.”
He paused to look at each of the people gathered around him. His friends. The people he cared about. The woman he loved. Each looking at him like he had the fucking solution to save mankind. Fucking hell. The weight of his friends, his love, the whole damn world sat on his aching chest.
Finn sucked in a fortifying breath. “If the asteroid hits earth,” he continued, “all life will be obliterated. Our entire solar system will be changed forever." The doors to his on-board control room stood open, the white light of the wall-sized monitors flickered, bathing the room in a surreal day-light glow.
"How long?" Nick asked as they entered the room. Finn didn’t answer right away. He had to gather more information to answer that ominous question accurately. This was the place to do it. From this room, he had made video conference calls, observed all aspects of the Blackstar Group across the globe, and watched his divers when they were salvaging. Now, from here, he had to figure out when mankind would be obliterated.
Crystal clear, giant, rear-projection wall screens took up most of the four walls, now showing the interior of his Mission Control in the Mojave Desert as if they were inside the room. It was one in the afternoon in California. All the monitors there showed various locations for the Mars launch schedule five months from now. All activity brought to a screeching halt as everyone scrambled to change course.
"My people will give us their educated predictions, Nick." Letting everyone else find a seat, Finn reluctantly released Peri and pulled out a chair. "Sit here, darling." He thought better on his feet. He'd stand.
The image of the President of the United States flashed onto a side screen. The image split to show several Presidents and two Prime Ministers, the rest he knew, would follow. Walker would already have informed them of the dire situation and brought them up to speed before connecting them.
"Right now, you know what I know. Asteroid DW17C has changed course over the last few minutes, with a new trajectory toward Earth. If you would hold your thoughts until I've spoken to Dr. Halperin, I'd appreciate it."
"What can you tell me?" he asked, as Brock Halperin walked into view on the center screen. In his sixties, Halperin had the deep chest of a Brahman bull and the tenacity of a honey badger. The man rarely left his precious lab, hence his pasty white skin. The dandelion-fluff of his white-blond hair surrounded his head like a halo. Finn had hired him, one of NASA's top scientists, to run his space lab six years ago. Halperin was brilliant, tireless, and fearless.
"The point of impact is a direct hit to South America." Halperin gave Finn a pointed look, as he signed, without looking at it, something someone stuck under his nose and nodded at someone else off camera. He was like a conductor, not in the least distracted by handling questions, and requests from his staff on site as he talked to Finn. And aware that half a dozen Heads of State were in on the video conference.
"In fact, twenty nautical miles from your location." Cocking his head, Halperin narrowed his eyes. "That doesn't seem to surprise you."
"It doesn't, and one day, when I tell you why, your brilliant scientific brain will explode."
"I look forward to that 'one day'," Halperin said dryly. "Do we knock this thing out with a nuclear explosive? At NASA we did blast deflection studies for nuclear explosives, as you know. Might be the only strategy to effectively deflect something of this magnitude into a different trajectory and steer it away from Earth's orbital path. I think everyone would agree that this is an appropriate time to ignore the ban on using nuclear explosives in outer space." Halperin held up his hand, talked quietly to one of his techs, then returned his attention to his monitor to look at Finn
"Nobody will give a flying fuck about the illegality of it." Finn stroked his hand absently along the length of Peri's hair down her back. "My concern is, if the result of sending up a nuke fractures the asteroid instead of deflecting it."
"Quite," Elon Musk, up on screen, said briskly. "The smaller pieces would still negatively impact the earth. Not a good idea."
Branson's light flashed. "Sending up nukes would be like sending a flamethrower to get rid of a moth instead of a flyswatter. Both would do the job, but the flyswatter and the person holding it can be more precise because we could control exactly where to hit the asteroid. Head it in the right direction."
"I agree," Finn said. "No nukes."
"Agreed," The President of the United States interjected. "We’ve anticipated this possibility for decades, and are still studying methods we would use in the unhappy eventuality that we are attacked from deep space. But it's as expensive as hell, which is why we've privatized most of our space programs.
In other words, ‘I'm scared as shit, it's all yours Finn.’
Finn met the eyes of Branson, Bezos, and Musk. "I understand, Mr. President."
The President of France lit his screen to indicate he wanted to speak. "I concur, monsieur Gallagher," he said, his features conveying the seriousness of the situation. "We have neither the expertise nor finances to get the job done within the time constraints."
"I agree," the Prime Minister of England added. "You gentlemen are years ahead of any government program. Clearly, we do not have years. I hope to God you have a solution to this dire situation. I'm going to go and kiss my grandchildren now. Keep me apprised of progress." Her portion of the screen went dark.
"Who else has a spaceship ready to launch today?" Finn addressed the other three men in the competitive manned space flight race with him. He enjoyed the neck and neck competition. They challenged each other to be first to take passengers to the moon. Of course, he enjoyed it more because so far he was miles ahead of his competition. Still, they kept him on his toes.
"We're a year out," Musk said.
Branson, never one to show his hand, merely said, "At least that."
Bezos shook his head. "Not even close. Are you saying you're capable of sending up a ship right now? Today, Gallagher?"
Finn nodded. "We are." He'd kept that information top secret, they'd had no idea how close he was.
There was a trio of Fuck!
"How soon can we launch?" Finn asked Halperin.
"We have her on the launch pad now, prepping for next week’s Mars test. At your word, we'll have her in the air in three hours."
"Word."
Halperin nodded to someone out of camera view. Above each screen in the room where Finn stood, a large digital clock started counting down the hours, minutes and seconds to launch. "We're calculating the coordinates necessary to make impact to knock DW17C off course. We're removing all safety checks. Have that info to you within the hour."
Using the latest iteration of a rocket that had taken almost a decade to build and test, and cost multi-billions, as a kinetic impactor, suddenly seemed like a good fucking investment.
"Gentlemen, if I may, I’d like to confer with the experts privately. We'll keep you apprised of our progress every step of the way."
The President of France rubbed his jaw nervously. "When should we alert the public? Too soon and we instill panic and pandemonium."
"Hold off on that. The fewer people who know about this-" He didn't need to finish. In this case, ignorance was bliss if this thing went sideways. "I'll let you know if it becomes necessary." Finn sounded a whole lot more confident than he felt. There were so many fucking ways this was FUBAR.
The group of World leaders reluctantly signed off.
There would be no need to alert the public if things didn't go as planned. They'd know when a fucking thirteen mile wide, flaming rock landed on their house and shoved it miles deep into the Earth's crust.
"Gentlemen, I'm sure you all have thoughts and theories as where best to target the asteroid," he addressed his competitors, now we’re all in this together. "We have a rocket. Now we must know precisely where to hit DW17C to have the most impact. Literally. Let's reconvene in one hour with a consensus."
The wall monitor went dark as the men went to consult with their own teams.
"How long until the rocket achieves impact?" Finn asked Halperin, knowing he, and his fellow scientists, were already calculating, velocity and area of impact. In the background, he could see various computer monitors spitting out information. That same information was being relayed to Finn's computers on board Blackstar and showing on a side screen.
"Fourteen hours, plus the three readying the launch."
Finn scrubbed his rough jaw. "Keep me apprised every step," Finn paused, "Brock. I'm damn glad to have you at Blackstar."
"Big bucks and this kind of excitement? Hell, happy to be here." Brock Halperin disappeared from view. The cameras panned out to encompass the entire Mojave control room, which was now a hive of activity as his staff readied themselves for an early launch.
"Jesus," Rydell Case said. "This is surreal. The time frame is- Terrifying."
"Seventeen hours and this should be over." Should. There was no need to tell them that the kinetic impactor may very well not be effective in changing the orbit of such a large asteroid.
Peri looked up at him, eyes large in her pale face, freckles standing out as if they were floating above her skin. Dark circles made her eyes look more blue than jade, her hair was a wild, flaming tangle down her back. All she needed was a flaming sword in her hand, and she'd be the warrior woman foretold by Blackstar.
"Now what?"
"Now, my love, on the off chance the world really is going to end, we're getting married."
Halfway out of her chair, the blood drained from Peri's head. "Marr—What's this? An Armageddon proposal?"
Cupping her jaw, Finn smiled. "If there's a scintilla of a chance that happens, I want to make sure we're bound together for the time we have left."
Her brother strolled over to narrow his eyes at them.
"Whatever you have to say, Rydell," Peri told him, keeping her attention on Finn. "Hurry up and say it. We might not have tomorrow. I refuse to die fighting with you. And would you please hurry up about it? I'm being proposed to right now."
"I just want you happy, Magma. I love you. Always have. That’s all that matters. If the world's ending, I'm not wasting time being mad. I have no beef with Gallagher, if you love him, he's family. But just because you seem to have embraced the damned Cutters, doesn't mean I have to. But my love for you will never change.”
Peri turned to face Ry. Linking her fingers with Finn's, drawing strength from him. A united front. She held her brother's gaze. "It might when I tell you a secret I've never told a soul."
"Never happen."
"Before you tell anyone else anything," Finn said, putting a finger under her chin, turning her face to him, "answer my question." His face was serious, his eyes intent.
Peri turned to wrap her arms around his neck and peppered his face with kisses, each one punctuated with, "Yes. Yes. Yes." Marriage had never crossed her mind. She'd never wanted it, or not wanted it, it had just never been a thing for her. Now she wanted to marry Finn with every fiber of her being.
"Okay, everyone let's get ready for another wedding," Callie said cheerfully clapping her hands. "The priest I brought with me is still on board, I think."
"No, he left with the police," Bria told her, sending a worried glance Peri's way. "But I'm sure Finn's captain can marry them."
"What secret, Magma? What could you possibly have kept hush-hush from me that would matter now?
The women were trying to defuse a tense situation, but their cheer actually made Peri feel bad. Mouth dry, she pushed out the words she’d sworn to herself she would never utter out loud. To anyone. Of course at the time she hadn't known the world was about to end.
Maybe she should just shut up and take the secret to her grave. And maybe not. Locking eyes with her brother, tightening her fingers between Finn's, Peri said, "Mom had an affair with Daniel Cutter."