The World Game (7 page)

CHAPTER 18

Over Yellowstone Park. 25th June, 7.34 am central

The string of nuclear tipped missiles marched down through the atmosphere, nose cones glowing with the friction heat of re-entry, the first warhead thirty seconds from impact.

“This is VacAir Flight 67 out of Baltimore en route to Casper Natrona International Airport. Do you read me Casper Natrona flight control?”

“VacAir 67, this is Air National Guard. There is an emergency situation. You are required to hold your position until advised. Please circle at your current altitude. What is your fuel situation Flight 67? Over.”

“Air National Guard, we have fuel for 20 minutes holding. We are at the end of our flight from Baltimore. Over”

“Flight 67, we anticipate a hold of not more than 5 minutes. Over”

“Thank you National Guard. What is the nature of the emergency? Over”

Before the National Guard could reply, the aircraft shuddered and the pressure dropped. Oxygen masks fell from the ceiling and loose papers whirled away towards the back. There was a rending and screeching of tearing metal interspersed with the muted cries of frightened passengers.

The pilots fought for control of the airplane, but the Iranian missile, the first in the stick coming down, had sheared off the tail plane and the whole rear end of the craft. It plunged to its doom with no survivors.

The missile was entangled in aircraft debris, undamaged externally, but no longer aerodynamic. It began to tumble out of control and did not burn up, but it did hit the ground off target and sideways, making a kinetic energy crater thirty feet deep, cracking its casing that was designed for nose impact and coming to rest, leaking radiation and fuel, in its crater.

Fifteen seconds later the second missile impacted 1000 feet away, drilled down its 400 programmed feet and exploded. The surface effect of the nuclear blast was muted by the depth, but the bubble formed by vaporization of rock, mud and water was instantly blasted full of magma from a side plume unknown to the Iranians. A huge, hot magma swimming pool awaited further warheads with the pressure buildup below pumping the super volcano far more than ever anticipated. This was a disaster of unimaginable proportion, and end of life on earth, but that life just didn’t know it yet.

Approaching the secret launch site in Iran, the AMD missile was seconds from detonation, the first time an Anti-matter Device had been used, let alone used in anger. There was no warning. The missile was under the radar and moving too fast.

The Iranian silos were poised to spew out their messengers of death, with the lox vapor roiling out of the openings. The roar of multiple launches and plumes of billowing white exhaust gases were overwhelming, making the arrival of the AMD insignificant.

The AMD detonated.

There was no overpowering blast, no blinding flash, no mushroom cloud. Just a “pop” that no one was around to hear.

A silvery ripple, like a mercury spill, but without a source of liquid metal, started as a spherical shape at the detonation center and rapidly expanded outwards into an all consuming pancake at around 500 miles an hour.

Every thing beneath the consuming edge turned into a smooth and reflective silver surface, flat, featureless and formless. Matter, the missile silos, the missiles and the people inside met anti-matter and became pure energy that was sucked into the earth surface, uniformly raising the potential in the region by  millions of volts. A lightning show began with small discharges flashing evenly spaced throughout the expanding region. The rapidly increasing lightning strikes were running out of cloud cover to balance potential and the growing earth charge had to seek other means to distribute itself. The recently uniform potential had nowhere to go but outwards as it repelled itself from the center of the glassy plain. The edges of the ripple now glowed with the building energy of millions of volts. Long, continuos tendrils of electric arcs probed ahead of the wave looking for a resting place. The silver front had become an anti-matter energy tsunami devouring everything in its path. Nothing slowed it down.

In Wyoming two of the first three warheads had penetrated the makeshift air shield and detonated, all seven remaining having been taken out by military aircraft missiles. But just the one warhead had really been enough to tip the instability of the magma plume.

The initial nuclear rock-vapor bubble was now filled like a ripe pimple on the earth’s face, one touch and it would spurt out the pus of magma to relieve the pressure. But this was no acne pimple volcanic release. The magma from far below, with the pressure of the whole planet forcing it out, was gradually rising up its main pipe and forcing more molten rock through smaller secondary arteries. The two extra warheads that did get through simply accelerated the process a little, widening the open wound to allow the earth’s heartbeat to pump out the red hot, bloody magma that should have been deep down inside the planet.

The shock wave of the nuclear detonations and the upsurge of magma had set of another reaction that no one had ever anticipated. There was enough of a jolt to the North American tectonic plate to set off a domino effect against the Pacific plate subduction. As the Northth American plate slid beneath the Pacific plate, the formerly balanced forces were now in turmoil, like flicking one end of a large rug and smashing up into the Pacific plate edge. Earthquakes unknown in magnitude were firing off around the Pacific Rim of Fire and immense tsunamis were racing towards the shores of every continent. Islands vanished with cities and populations, in a blink. They just were not there any more. The Yellowstone eruption was like a growing, suppurating, flesh eating bacterial infection on the Earth’s face.

The anti-matter front was expanding outwards at the speed of a jet liner, to devour Russia, Europe and Africa while the super volcano and its earthquake support cast demolished the Americas and the Eastern Pacific. Two cataclysmic forces, each in itself capable of total planetary destruction, inexorably racing towards each other. Mutually assured destruction.

CHAPTER 19

Aboard Carver’s Transport. 25th June, 8.55 am

Janine Carver had cut the news feed from earth, or whatever remained of it among the static screens and whistling speakers, as stations shut down, or were simply abandoned in the haste of flight from danger.

The cadets were strapped in and with no windows in the transport hull, unable to see the fireworks on the surface that were clearly visible. The cadets were totally stunned by the limited information they had been exposed to, sombre and silent. Fuller was observing them constantly on the cabin camera to make sure no one freaked out and headed for an air lock. He periodically took a look at earth at a sharp angle behind the ship from the co-pilot position. Janine had been pushing the ship to its speed limits on the magnetic rail. It was capable of double the regular acceleration, but she had to consider the novice passengers. At one and a half G’s, they were well into the deceleration phase and the transport was two thirds the way up the Skyhook, about eighteen thousand miles from earth, their acceleration couches turned about to keep them sitting comfortably. They were well into zero gravity space.

“What happens if this anti-matter stuff hits the Skyhook?” he asked Janine.

“We become a real space ship. No drama in that because we can release at any time. The question is, where do we go? Back down to earth or head for Space City?”

“I think we need to wait and see what is really going on. We need information and options if we are going to survive. This is so far beyond war as we understand it. No one really knows what an Anti Matter Device event will cause.” Janine stopped for a moment as she adjusted a communication channel, then continued, “It was postulated that an AMD event would initiate a self sustaining energy wave that would destroy everything on the surface of the earth. Our guys put their money on energy dissipation and damping by large bodies of water and atmosphere, so they went for it. I guess we are going to find out if we move off to Space City.”

“Sounds to me like you’ve answered your own question. We go on. That is in our emergency protocol directive anyway. Complete the mission.” Fuller scratched his head. “Although protocol be damned. We save our skins first.”

He looked out at earth again and shook his head in despair. “What have we done to ourselves? Is this the end of humanity? Look at our home. By God, look there... New Zealand is half gone. How can it be possible? The tsunami’s can’t possibly have reached there yet. Oh! Look! Hawaii has vanished. Oh Lord! Millions of people, just gone. Look at California. The West coast is missing. This can’t be. Look, Alaska is drowning in front of our eyes. Oh God! What have we done?”

“John?” Janine looked at him, tears in her eyes, “we have to carry on. Think about it. We may have the most precious cargo of any ship in the history of humanity. We have the survivors and the means to survive - for a while anyway.”

He shook his head in despair. “We can’t help them down there, that’s for sure.” He looked up at Janine. “I need to go and talk to the cadets. My gut tells me we should disengage from the Skyhook sooner than later. We have enough reaction mass to get to Space City. If a shock-wave hits the Skyhook it could flick us off like a swatter whacking a fly. I’ll leave the final decision to you.”

“OK go talk to them. I’m watching the comms from earth base. The moment I see anything change I will release. The longer we can hold on to the hook the more margin for error later.”

Fuller looked thoughtful for a moment. “I have an idea.”

“OK, what?”

“Stop the deceleration and reverse it. We are not in a standard situation so our detachment vector and release can be brought forward.”

“You’re right John! I’ll do the calculations now. An early hook detatchment at higher velocity uses Skyhook magnetic energy and reduces reaction mass use which is one of our biggest concerns under the circumstances. I’m on it!” Janine’s eyes sparkled with intelligence and excitement.

Fuller paused and looked back at the cadets. They were all preoccupied with their own thoughts. None looked his way. He leaned over and planted his lips on Janine’s. She responded with warmth. And then got down to the math.

CHAPTER 20

Aboard Air Force One. 25th June, 9.00 am

“Mr. President.” Chuck Hanes touched the slumbering President’s arm to gently rouse him. He gave him a short moment to shake away the cobwebs of much needed sleep and handed him a steaming mug of coffee. The President rubbed his eyes with his free hand while he took a sip of the reviving brew.

“What have you got for me Chuck?” he yawned, the last tendrils of sleep dissolving away into heightened alertness. “You’re not looking happy!”

“We may have a problem Mr. President.”

“Oh, cut the Mr. President crap again. Tom. Here I am Tom, OK?”

“Aw. OK. Tom.” He stopped to gather his breath and thoughts. “We have a potential problem about to arise that has never been seen on this planet and you are going to have to deal with it.”

“What could be worse than what has happened so far Chuck?” Tom looked Chuck in the eyes.

“How about the end of the world? That is the problem.”

Tom raised an eyebrow. “End of the world huh? I make the right decision, whatever it is, and the world goes on. I make the wrong one and no one knows about it anyway. So hit me with it.”

“Our science advisory board at NASA has been monitoring the progress of the anti-matter wave front. It is not dissipating at all and it appears that it will totally engulf the globe. That’s the good news.”

“What! That’s good news. I don’t want to hear...”

“So while we have been watching the wave front from satellite live cameras the analysts noticed that whenever the wave front reached areas of caverns or active volcanic fissures it actually penetrated into the earth’s crust and created voids that could not hold the energy charge. They witnessed huge explosions, greater than any seismic activity ever recorded and then the wave front kept penetrating into the newly exposed regions. Where this activity is most advanced the mantle of the earth is being undermined and detached. The wave eats away underneath but does not move back up. We are getting country sized segments crashing in on the voids and feeding the trapped wave. They don’t know when, or even if, this process will stop.”

“So what can we do about it? I don’t see any decision here.”

“That is not all.” Hanes looked grim. “The scientists are trying to predict what will happen when the wave hits the Yellowstone magma plume discontinuity. It is so deep and wide now that they fear the wave will penetrate to the core of the planet.”

“Now you are going to tell me the planet will explode?”

“Something like that Tom.”

“So what can I do? What can anyone do?”

“You have one decision to make Tom. Go down with the planet or save yourself while you can.”

Tom gave Chuck a wry look. “It was my decision to set off the AMD in the first place so I am responsible for this whole mess. A bit heavy to have the fate of humanity and the world on your shoulders. Sounds a bit melodramatic but dammit! I do have that responsibility. Do I run or do I die with my decision and our home?”

“Tom, it is a no brainer. We have to save as much as we can, survive as long as possible. That is our charter. That’s the duty of the President of the United States. Survive and rebuild.”

“Eight billion people wiped out Chuck. How do I live with that. The President of the United States, the greatest mass murderer in history.” He shook his head and tears ran down his cheeks.

“Tom, we may not survive this at all. You have to try.”

The President shrugged and sighed. “How do we survive Chuck? What magic have we got?”

“We have a Skyhook Transport in emergency transit to Space City. We divert it and rendezvous in low earth orbit. Air Force One can’t make it to deep space on its own.”

“What happens to Air Force One?”

“Autopilot to attempt to land back at Andrews. If there is an Andrews.”

The President gave a defeated shrug of his shoulders, the weight of the world visibly pressing him down. “OK Chuck. We survive. Do it.”

Hanes rose to organize the directives to the Transport. Air Force One was already on its way to low earth orbit and rendezvous with a Space City shuttle. He glanced out of a window at the visible rim of earth and stopped suddenly in his tracks, sucking in a breath of shock. “Tom, look. Look out the window!”

The President lifted himself on one elbow to get a view through the nearest port. “Good Lord! What is that?” A silver grey rim covered the edge of the horizon. Featureless and visibly rolling over the earth’s surface, leaving a blank, gray face in its wake. On closer examination flashes of sheet lightning and tendrils of high voltage plasma could be seen, even against the direct sunlight.

“That is the anti-matter wave front Tom. That is the end of our planet as we know it.”

“What have I done?” The President was crying, tears streaming, as he clenched the arm rests. “What have I done? What have I done.” He repeated over and over, his voice diminishing to a whimper as he buried his head in his arms.

“Tom?”

The President looked up at Hanes, eyes red and face wet with tears. His expression morphed into the hard, decisive visage Hanes was used to seeing. He sighed a gasp of relief. The President was back. “I’m good now Chuck. I’m good. I will handle this... Like a President.”