Judgment Day (63 page)

CHAPTER 133 ORBITAL DESTRUCTION

However, if a spacecraft is launched with sufficient velocity (some 17,400 miles an hour), it will not plunge back to Earth but will go into orbit, where the pull of gravity balances the tendency to fly off straight into space . . . Inertia keeps gravity from winning, and gravity keeps inertia from winning . . . As long as the satellite maintains the same velocity, it will continue to orbit Earth at the same altitude.

—
WE REACH THE MOON
, JOHN N. WILFORD

W
hen the
Atlantis
turned back toward New Hope, Micah set
ML
course to rendezvous with
Exodus
on the far side of Earth. With
^ ^ ^ Covenant
safely away, he had time to think about the next move. The Daniel Option had to be put into effect, but Mark was somewhere on Earth, and Micah had no idea of where. The Fellowship Council had agreed that everyone in the Fellowship was expendable. Even Moses never stepped foot in the promised land, but the people he led prospered there. It would be a bitter pill to swallow, but getting their people to the new world mattered more than any individual, even Mark. Still, Micah wasn't ready to give up on finding him.

In the shuttle
Jacob's Ladder
, Micah found
Exodus
orbiting where planned. The sphere
Jesus Wept
was docked with
Exodus, and
Micah maneuvered
Jacob's Ladder
into position, docking on the dorsal side. Don Pell had flown the sphere out of the compound, and Jared Carter was the pilot of
Exodus. A
half-dozen other men were with them, two of them pilots.

Micah explained what needed to be done, giving each man and ship an assignment. Then they recharged the life-support systems in the
Jesus Wept, and
inspected the damage
Jacob's Ladder
sustained in the collision with
Atlantis
. Working quickly, they soon separated the ships, Micah now flying
Jesus Wept
, Don Pell in
Jacob's Ladder, and
Jared Carter back in the pilot's chair of
Exodus
.

The communications platform they orbited near was automated, but regularly visited for service by the Fellowship. It carried a quarter of the Fellowship's contracted broadcast signals. With Micah directing, Don docked his shuttle with the platform, engaging the hatch locks. When anchored they began to push, moving the platform toward Earth. Computers on the station struggled to keep signal locks, but the station was designed to be stationary, and soon all signals were lost, knocking out network, cable satellite television, and long-distance telephone service from widespread parts of the world.

Following Don and the platform to the edges of Earth's atmosphere, Micah waited until Don released from the platform, then flew ahead, finding the next target, a U.S. military satellite. There was no docking ring in the satellite, it having been orbited by rocket, but Micah didn't need to dock to disable it. Angling his sphere for a near miss, he sheared off one solar panel, and sent the satellite into a spin. Turning, he could see spurts of gas as the satellite tried to stabilize itself. Making another pass, he took off the remaining solar panel, the satellite once again tumbling, its dish receiver bent and useless.

With
Exodus
following at a safe distance they worked their way around the Earth, selectively destroying every intelligence and communications satellite and station in orbit, except one—the original satellite orbited by the Fellowship. Military and civilian communications networks were systematically shredded, ground stations rerouting repeatedly, until the limited land lines were overloaded. They hesitated when they reached the international space station Freedom, but the abandoned station could be easily reoccupied and refitted, so they pushed it Earthward. There were almost three hundred satellites in orbit, Micah and the others ignoring weather and research satellites. Finally, they had disabled or destroyed all the pretar-geted satellites, leaving only one of the Fellowship's orbital platforms. Now
Jacob's Ladder
docked with the last platform and began to push it, not toward the Earth, but along its orbital path toward New Hope station.

CHAPTER 134 COLLISION

The third and best known of the Newtonian laws of motion states, simply, that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

—
WE REACH THE MOON
, JOHN N. WILFORD

K
ent Thorpe was frustrated. New Hope station was captured because of his genius, but Ira Breitling had gotten away. Now Thorpe was W stuck in the sphere, unable to pursue Breitling and reduced to a spectator while others examined the secrets of the station and captured ships.

Along with the Fellowship space station they had captured one of every kind of Fellowship craft. The Ark-class ship
Prophet
was the big prize, which came with two spheres and a shuttle. They also had
Genesis, a
deep-space cruiser, and one of the newest Fellowship shuttles,
Mary's Gift
. Communications from the action on the ground was confused, but as far as Thorpe could tell they had captured at least one more shuttle and another sphere.

Waiting for orders to take
Atlantis
to Earth, Thorpe could only listen passively to the calls over the radio and watch his monitors. His part of the operation was over. The station was in sections now, but they had troops in both sections. Once the damage to the connecting locks was repaired, the sections could be joined again. Perhaps, Thorpe thought, using Fellowship spacecraft, the segments pushed out of the middle of the station could be recovered.

As Thorpe monitored the transmissions between troop commanders, someone suddenly broke in, ordering radio silence. Then the troops were ordered to evacuate both segments of New Hope station, and get to the captured ships.

"What's happening?" Thorpe demanded. "Why are they abandoning the space station?"

"Houston has picked up something on radar. Something big and it's coming toward us."

"Us?" Thorpe said. "You mean the station?"

Thorpe typed instructions into his computer, calling up an echo of
Atlantis's radar
. Now he could see the object Houston had spotted. It was in the same orbit as New Hope station and it was closing fast.

"Mr. Thorpe," the commander of
Atlantis
cut in. "We've been ordered to intercept the object."

"We have no weapon," Thorpe protested.

"Mr. Thorpe, move
Atlantis
to intercept, or be arrested when we land!"

Thorpe was insulted by the commander's tone, but he complied, making a mental note to mention the commander's insolence to Fry.

Reluctantly, Thorpe adjusted the fields around
Atlantis
, moving toward the onrushing object, the radar illumination indicating it was a quarter the size of New Hope. The object was accelerating, and
Atlantis's
speed quickly cut the distance between them. It appeared on the monitor, three modules joined together, rows of antennae on the Earth side of the mini-station. Docked to the station was a shuttle and a sphere flew nearby. The intent was clear, they were going to ram New Hope station.

"There's another docking ring on the top of that communications platform," the captain said. "Dock with it and stop them from ramming New Hope."

"Yes, sir," Thorpe replied sarcastically, knowing it was useless. The sphere moving
Atlantis
didn't have the power of the shuttle moving the station. Turning, he brought the shuttle up behind the still accelerating platform. As he expected, the sphere changed course, putting itself between
Atlantis and
the communications platform.

Now chasing the platform, Thorpe could see New Hope ahead of them—collision was inevitable. Thorpe continued trying to catch the platform, but the sphere kept interfering until New Hope loomed dangerously close. Then the Fellowship shuttle dropped away from the communications platform, letting it coast the rest of the way. Not waiting for orders, Thorpe adjusted his gravity fields, and
Atlantis
veered off. As Thorpe flew
Atlantis
to a safe distance, he watched the pending collision with sick fascination.

The ship
Prophet
was free of the station and pulling away, as was
Genesis
, but the shuttle
Mary's Gift had
been docked at the end of the station where the communications platform was aimed, and was now caught between the platform and the station. The radio traffic was intense, orders shouted back and forth, men near panic.

The platform collided with
Mary's Gift
, driving it into the New Hope segment it had just separated from. In a classic example of Newton's laws, the shuttle was driven into New Hope, the platform wall crumpling, the hull of the
Mary's Gift
ruptured. The force of the collision put the New Hope segment into motion, sending it into its other segment, which still contained some of the men who had captured it. The collision ruptured joints and modules. Atmosphere exploded from the station in a spray of ice particles, spreading in every direction. Glinting in the sunlight, the escaping atmosphere turned space into a kaleidoscope of twinkling lights.

The speed of the communications platform more than made up for its lack of mass, and the chain reaction the collision created tore the station segments apart, modules separating, connecting tunnels twisting and coming apart from torque far beyond design specifications. Silently, in slow motion, the station tore itself to pieces, the state-of-the-art space station soon nothing more than tons of space junk. Mixed among the wreckage were the bodies of men, women, and children.

CHAPTER 135 ASTEROID BOMBS

Science
magazine reported in July that Asteroid 1986DA, orbiting the sun, might just be composed of 10,000 tons of gold and 100,000 tons of platinum. The asteroid is about a mile wide and shaped like a canned ham. If the suspicion is true, the asteroid is worth $1.12 trillion.

—
THE OREGONIAN

M
icah flew the sphere
Jesus Wept
through the asteroid belt, Jfctaking direction from Don Pell in the
Exodus
. Carefully, the men on
Exodus
vectored Micah toward the target asteroid. Micah slowed, approaching carefully, the oblong asteroid rotating slowly. Matching the speed and rotation of the asteroid, Micah crept up to the space rock, until the lights of the
Jesus Wept
illuminated the surface.

The surface was flecked with crystals and twinkled under the bright lights of the
Jesus Wept
. Flying the sphere along the asteroid, Micah searched the surface for the drive they had attached to the asteroid over a year ago. Finally, he found the malfunctioning drive bolted into a crevice. Maneuvering over the unit, he paused the
Jesus Wept
, then extended the manipulator arm holding a particle gun. Having performed this operation a dozen times in the last few days, Micah expertly inserted the gun into the fitting of the drive, a green light and a chime indicating connection. Then Micah injected particles, hoping to activate the drive.

"That did it," Don Pell said over the radio. "The computer is shaping the field."

ASTEROID BELT

Acknowledging Pell, Micah removed the particle gun from the fitting, then backed the
Jesus Wept away
from the asteroid, letting Don and Jared finish running a diagnostic on the drive from
Exodus
.

"We're sending it now," Don said.

Of the hundred asteroids they had prepared for this day, nearly two dozen had failed to respond to remote commands. Of those malfunctioning units, they had managed to activate a dozen drives manually. They had destroyed the drives they could not repair lest the enemy find them someday. Now, with the last asteroid on its way toward Earth, Micah could think again of Mark.

Micah flew his sphere to the
Exodus and
docked. Then they set course for Earth, passing the still accelerating asteroid a few minutes later.

CHAPTER 136 ECOTERRORIST

Until the masses overcome their addiction to materialism, someone must be the champion for our animal brothers and sisters.

—PERSONAL DIARY, TOBIAS STOOP

S
o far Tobias had been little more than a nuisance to the Fellowship colony on planet America. Stealing food and sabotaging equipment, he had forced the Fellowship into posting guards and diverting precious resources to repair and replacement. However, for the most part, their rape of the planet continued unabated, frustrating Tobias. He needed to be more than a pinprick, he needed to wound them deeply.

He knew the terrain around the Fellowship colonies now, the gullies, ravines, and caves. He had created a cozy home for himself in one of the caves, furnished with stolen items. He had also experimented with local vegetation, discovering that some were edible. The price of that knowledge was severe stomach cramps and diarrhea. He knew how to prepare and preserve the fruits and roots of a half-dozen local plants and had a quantity hidden away in his cave. Most of his food supply was still stolen from Fellowship fields and storehouses, but within a year he expected to be self-sufficient. Hidden in his cave, Tobias had survived the winter on planet America, and had confidence that he could survive indefinitely on his own.

He was ready now for more drastic action—fire would be his weapon.

The Fellowship structures were either log or wood-frame construction—vulnerable to fire. There was some risk to the environment, but stopping the Fellowship would more than compensate.

He'd left his cave the day before, traveling through the forest, avoiding the crude Fellowship roads. He spent the night in a tree, tied to the trunk so that he wouldn't fall out when he dozed off. Just after dawn, when the nocturnal carnivores had returned to their lairs, he climbed down and continued toward his target, an established farm. He had scouted the farm before. There were six buildings, three loaded with hay and animals brought from Earth, the other buildings living quarters. He would burn the barns and the dormitories tonight.

Reaching the farm, he found a place to hide, and settled in to watch the comings and goings until dark. Soon he realized that something was different. He'd scouted the farm many times, even stolen from the kitchen, so he knew it was normally a busy place. Now, however, the farm was quiet. There were no animals in the pens; no workers weeded the garden or chopped wood. No children played in the yard; no one carried garbage from the kitchen to the burn barrels. Most telling of all was that there were no dogs. He'd hidden near farms before, and dogs always found him but paid little attention, since they were community dogs, attached to any and all humans.

Curious now, Tobias crept through the fields, pausing every few yards to study the buildings, half expecting a trap. Close now, he could see the garden was overgrown with weeds and that part of the fence had been knocked over. Farmers would repair a fence immediately to protect their crop. Creeping to the edge of the garden, Tobias paused. Animals had been eating in the garden, the crop destroyed before it had a chance to mature.

Tobias studied the windows in the dormitory—no movement. Stealthily, he crept up to the nearest and peeked inside—no signs of life. With the same stealth, he checked each of the other two living quarters, finding nothing.

Now throwing caution to the wind, he entered the buildings one by one, finding no one, nor any personal belongings. There was no equipment in the barn, no tools in the sheds, no ax by the woodpile. The farm had been abandoned. Puzzled, Tobias walked through the empty buildings, seeing that every tool and piece of equipment had been removed. Even the toilets were gone. Puzzled, but pleased, Tobias gathered kindling and built fires in each of the buildings. This farm would never be reoccupied.

When each building was in flames he hurried back to his hiding place, watching the fire reclaim the land for the planet. Dusk came, and the flames still licked the darkening sky. He hoped the flames would last. Night fires were beautiful. As he watched, he heard a snuffling sound behind him. Tobias turned slowly. An animal the size of a badger stared at him from the top of a boulder, sniffing the air. The furry animal was a dusky gray, with faint white stripes. Its head was triangle-shaped, the eyes dark marbles. The back legs were longer than the front, and well muscled. Tobias guessed it could jump like a kangaroo. Tobias had never seen the animal before, but its coat was loose as if it had been hibernating and hadn't eaten in months.

Tobias heard movement behind him and he turned to see two more of the animals come around a tree, both smaller than the first. These too snuffled, perhaps smelling a human for the first time. Tobias looked back to the first animal, to see it had come off the rock and was now twenty feet away. Suddenly the animal hissed, baring a large set of fangs. Tobias had been to this farm many times before but never seen these animals. Too late, he understood the dogs were keeping the predators away.

The largest animal lunged as Tobias turned to flee. Needle-sharp teeth buried into the back of his leg, Tobias collapsing. Then the animal began shaking his head violently, tearing out a chunk of muscle from Tobias's calf. Tobias screamed as a second animal hit his other calf, shredding it as well. Pounding at the animals ripping at his legs, a third hit his shoulder, biting clear to the collar bone, snapping it. His legs useless, one arm crippled, he flailed at the beasts as they tore away chunks of his flesh. Tobias fainted briefly, then woke when his stomach was torn open and his intestines pulled from his body. Pain too intense to be comprehended wracked his body. Tobias lived a few minutes longer as his body became part of the food chain of the planet.