posted 06-16-99 02:25 PM ET     

Part One

June 17, 2001 9:47 AM

General William Westland Jr. sat gazing down at the photographs spread out on the table before him, but not really seeing them. He was thinking about his early days as a combat infantryman in Vietnam. He�d sometimes wondered if he would be able to see the bullet that killed him. It had seemed only fair that a guy should see the bullet with his name on it. Now he wasn�t so sure.

He dragged his attention back to the photographs. He picked up one photo that had a small white arrow pointing to a small white dot. The dot was unremarkable. Seemingly identical to hundreds of others on the photo. Smaller than many, in fact. But that small white dot was the bullet with the Earth�s name on it.

Westland shifted his gaze across the table to Dr. Jordan Blake, from NASA. �Are you absolutely sure that this thing will hit?� he asked. Blake looked away and then back. �Yes. We have checked the orbital information every possible way. It is confirmed.� Westland looked back down at the photo he was still holding. In 87 days 14 hours and something under 30 minutes, that small white dot was going kill everyone and everything on the earth. He shook his head and looked back at Blake �You said this thing was almost 20 miles in diameter. How in the hell did you miss something this big?� he demanded accusingly. Blake leaned closer. �General there is an awful lot of room out there. That�s why they call it �space�. This is the result of an asteroid collision on the other side of the sun about three years ago. Some cosmic billiards. The object is now in a retrograde orbit. It has looped around the Sun and is on it�s way out. It�s going the wrong way on a one way street and it is going to hit the earth head on.� Westland sighed. �Sorry, I know that this isn�t your fault. The Boss isn�t going to like this. No one is.�

June 17, 2001 1:15 PM

The �Boss�, the Democrats referred to him as King George the second, was waiting for them in the oval office. As General Westland and Dr. Blake walked into the oval office, President Bush stepped out from behind his disk to greet them. �Bill, how are you?� he asked warmly. The two men truly liked each other. General Westland�s father, Major William Westland Sr., had commanded an armored battalion for Patton in Europe and knew George Bush Sr.. Both men were working hard to fill the shoes of there fathers. General Westland had delayed retirement to take the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff position as a personal favor. Westland respected Bush for the honor and integrity that he had brought back to the office of President. �I�m doing well Mr. President.� responded Westland �Did you get the stains out of the carpet yet?� he said with a wink. The President grinned at the inside joke and turned to the puzzled NASA scientist reaching out to shake his hand. �Dr. Blake, what is so important that it can�t wait until the Cabinet meeting next week?�

As Dr. Blake began his presentation, the smile quickly faded from the President�s face. �Do you know exactly where it will hit yet?� he interrupted quietly. Blake glanced at Westland and then back at the President. �We can not be 100% sure at this point, but our best estimates indicate a mid-Atlantic impact point. The resulting tidal wave will be several miles high.� The President� face was pale as he turned to General Westland. �Bill, can we nuke this thing?� he half asked half pleaded. The general looked down refusing to make eye contact. �We don�t have anything with enough delta-v to get there in time to do any good.� �What about the Russian heavy lifters for the space station?� demanded the President. The General shook his head. �Maybe in another 50 years or so we could have done something.� His voice trailed off. �Jesus.� said the President quietly. �We have to evacuate everyone off of the east coast. Get as many people west of the Appalachians as possible. We have to warn Europe, South America and Africa. We�ve got almost three months we can get everyone out!� �Sir.� Dr. Blake interrupted. �The tidal wave is just the start. There will be major seismic events and tremendous initial temperature increases. Then the debris cloud will blanket the earth for many years causing a global winter as well as poisoning the atmosphere. Without sunlight, life in the oceans will die too. Even deep sea life around Black Smokers will be disrupted by the seismic activity. There will be no life on the earth. This is it. The Terminal Event. The ones who die initially will be the lucky ones.� There were tears in the President�s eyes. �Jesus.� he repeated softly. But this time it was a prayer.