Pilgrimage (The New World) (31 page)

As of the first day of April, children would need to walk or ride their bikes to school. Parents would need to prioritize what was truly needed with the use of their cars or trucks, and complete those tasks as of the last day of March. After that, people who still wanted to report for their respective jobs would need to find alternative means to get there.

Ross knew he was asking the American people to give up a large piece of their personal identity by not allowing them to drive anymore, but it needed to be done for the greater good. The OPEC nations had just announced they would be jacking up the price of oil again, as if they needed another reason, and Ross had emphatically stated to Congress that, “The new price levels were beyond ludicrous!”

It had been decided that the United States would purchase no more oil from the cartel after the end of March, and that would put a strain on the oil producing capabilities here in America. Ross knew it was a drastic measure, but the country had been held hostage by those vultures for more than half a century now. There had been rhetoric on Capitol Hill for the majority of that time frame about America gaining its energy independence, and Ross had been involved in some of those discussions, but no real significant steps towards that end had ever been taken. Now, like it or not, those steps had been thrust upon the nation. Ross wanted to grant America such independence, even if it would only be for the last few months before everything on Earth would drastically change.

Ross wondered why those nations really thought the best way to prepare for the problem at hand was to rape and pillage the entire world for a commodity that was not only finite, but would become completely worthless very soon. What good would it do them to have all that cash buried in a hole in the sand, while a few thousand feet of water rushed uncontrollably over their heads? As far as Ross was concerned, they were idiots with myopic thinking who would pay the ultimate price. His desire was to create a new policy that the United States would no longer allow any of those people, who were responsible for the recent price hikes, entrance into the country.

Meanwhile, the Earth had now rotated far enough around the sun that the asteroid was no longer visible to all the astronomers on the planet surface who had been studying it since the day it was located. Earth was very close to the same position that it had been when the alien had informed Ross of the impending doom, and it would be several months until the astronomers could fixate on the asteroid again.

Fortunately NASA, and other global space agencies, had launched several probes towards the menacing rock during the previous few months. That was done in an attempt to ascertain vital information such as its overall size and composition, but it would be sometime before the probes telemetry would send back useful results.

ON A GLORIOUS
warm and sunny day in May, Ross found himself back at Annapolis to give the commencement address for the Naval Academy graduating class of 2022. One such graduate felt incredibly honored, as the President of the United States repeatedly glanced over in his specific direction during the proceedings. What he didn’t know was that Ross was not looking at him so much, as he was looking at the chair to which the young man sat upon.

Ross had done the same thing five years prior when he had given the commencement address to the class of 2017 during the first spring of his presidency, as that was the location of his seat when he had graduated from the academy in 1972. Could it really have been fifty years, he thought to himself, since he threw his cap into the air while following the customary tradition of all Midshipmen upon graduation? In some ways it seemed like only yesterday, but it had indeed been a long and fulfilling journey since that day many years before. Ross felt saddened by the fact that this could possibly be the last group of stellar young men and women to graduate from the academy, and then realized that same sentiment should be applied to hundreds of colleges and universities throughout the country.

The day in Annapolis, along the shore of Chesapeake Bay, had been a pleasant and much needed diversion from many of the trials and tribulations that Ross now faced. Over the previous few weeks, there had been several reports of mass looting in many of the cities and towns throughout America. In response, with the urging of his Cabinet, and then the help of Congress, Ross had implemented an increased level of military presence in some areas to help keep the peace.

It was now approximately ninety days until the impact of the asteroid, but the leading scientific minds of the planet had only been able to narrow down the specific time to a four day window during the final ten days of August. The looting was a definitive sign that the downhill slide of humanity was beginning to take hold, and Ross knew it would only get worse. Everyday life had become quite challenging for many families who lived in rural areas, because the “no personal driving mandate” had now been in effect for roughly seven weeks. Those who lived in the cities had an easier time of getting where they needed to be, but there was also a growing faction of those who no longer cared about anything.

Another interesting event that seemed to be taking place in many areas throughout the country was that of relocation. Reports were coming in from the inner cities and suburban areas of thousands of homeless people relocating into the dwellings of those people who had left them vacant to build, fortify, and then seek refuge in the shelters. Although some neighbors in the more affluent areas complained bitterly to the local law enforcement about the intrusion into their protected and sanitary world, most just accepted the shifting of classes. In most cases the former homeless were not the ones responsible for any of the looting; they were just using an available space for a much needed upgrade.

Armed with some new information that had just been discovered about the incoming asteroid, Ross decided he would address the nation in a few days to cover the homeless situation, and give the people a progress report on the shelters. During the time leading up to the televised broadcast, he made his intentions well known to the members of his Cabinet and Congress. A new nationwide provision would be announced that allowed the homeless to remain in the places they had relocated to, and law enforcement would be instructed to leave them alone. There were much more important things for local police to monitor, and Ross knew that his other news would create some social unrest.

Ross thanked the American people for their collective hard work and sacrifices, and then presented them all with the newest round of bad news. It was difficult for him to relay such horrendous findings, but it had to be done. Although the asteroid wouldn’t come back into view for several more weeks, the size and composition had now been determined by the probes and verified by the leading scientific minds around the world.

The hope was that the makeup of the asteroid would be soft rock that had very little mass, but the opposite was true. Large quantities of iron had been detected which would make it much more dense than the Moon, but that was only part of the problem. That density would be less likely to burn up as it entered the Earth’s atmosphere, and the impact itself would have a much harder punch to it.

Ross then informed the people that the size of the asteroid was roughly one-tenth that of the Moon, which was itself about one-fourth the size of Earth. Knowing full well that knowledge of fractions had become a thing of the past for most Americans; Ross did the math for them. With the most serious tone he had ever used while on television, Ross spoke of the reality check that had just slapped everyone in the face. He leaned closer to the microphone on his desk in the oval office and said to his constituents, “That means the asteroid is a full one-fortieth, or two and a half percent, of the size of this precious little blue marble that we all live on!” To put that into proper perspective for everyone, he added, “That could easily be compared to the size of Australia.”

In terms of size compared to other asteroids that had impacted Earth throughout millions of years, this thing was enormous. It was in no way a water balloon either, as this particular asteroid containing a high concentration of iron was like a Nolan Ryan fastball coming straight at the Earths head. The only difference between the two was that a batter might have a chance to duck out of the way of the baseball, but orbital mechanics of planets were considerably less flexible. He concluded his thoughts on the subject by saying, “The efforts of the shelters will now have to be stepped up to a new level, and we all have precious little time to work with!”

Suddenly everyone in his Cabinet and Congress understood why he was pulling local police away from the homeless situation; because it became evident they would indeed be needed to maintain order in other places. Before signing off, Ross apologized in advance to the American people for changes and restrictions to their everyday life that would undoubtedly occur over the next several weeks, and told them all he would speak to them again soon.

When the lights on the cameras turned off and he heard the words “and we’re out” from the production crew, Ross punched the button on his phone to summon Mrs. Patterson at her desk in the next room. Within seconds she entered the oval office, and Ross stood to whisper instructions into her ear. He was calling an immediate meeting of his Cabinet, and he wanted them all in attendance within the hour.

The discussion of the group would center on two main topics. First would be the implementation of food rationing throughout the nations grocery outlets within the next week, as the recent news about the asteroid would undoubtedly create an additional increase in the new level of looting and hoarding. Along those same lines Ross also wanted to implement a level of martial law that would prevent price gouging by store owners. The military presence would ensure that everyone had a fair chance to purchase food and water regardless of their economic standing, and would also provide an added level of safety to the store owners themselves. Second on the agenda would be a discussion of the monetary system and its inevitable collapse. It would only be a matter of time before it took place, and then most currencies around the world would become nothing more than worthless scraps of paper.

Suddenly Ross felt the small piece of strange metal in his pocket get very hot, which compelled him to glance over at the emblem on the necklace hanging from the desks reading lamp. The alien had given him the small trinket at Camp David during their most recent of encounters when he had informed Ross about the impending asteroid. He had been informed that a drastic change in the objects temperature would signify that a non-stealthy public visit by the alien would soon occur. Ross had carried the item around in his pocket every day since then, but had never really expected it to change in temperature. Now it was so hot that it was becoming uncomfortable to the touch, and Ross needed to use the handkerchief in the breast pocket of his suit to remove the item and drop it on his desk.

The following morning Ross and Patty were awakened by a phone call from his White House Chief of Staff and within a minute after the call a secret service detail began pounding on their bedroom door. Patty groaned as she climbed out of bed, and moved towards the sanctuary of the bathroom before Ross allowed the team of agents to enter. They informed Ross that he needed to be escorted down to the secure bunker beneath the White House immediately, because there was an aerial threat closing in on Washington D.C. It was a slow moving target, but the trajectory of the object suggested it was headed very close to the White House. The military defenses had been unable to shoot it down, or even alter the course, because it seemed to weave away from anything that was aimed at it.

With that Ross looked at the bedside table to see the small metal object glowing brilliantly again as it had done on his desk the previous day, and informed the men he would not be going into the bunker. He knew they had a specific protocol to follow, but he assured them that anything that could weave its way through the defense perimeter of Washington D.C. at a slow speed probably also had the capability to get to the bunker if they so desired. No member of the secret service detail, or anyone else for that matter, had any way of knowing what was about to transpire, but Ross did. He was still in the dark as to the content of the upcoming meeting with his old alien friend, but it had become obvious to Ross that the object heading towards the White House was an alien scout ship.