George was fixing his tie, getting ready for work and he was quite confident. After his long explanation of the Big Bang Theory, he was in his office when he thought of an escape plan from the asteroid.
He was halfway out the door when he noticed a tiny stain, just above his breast pocket. He sighed and wondered if he has to wear a bib every time he drinks coffee. The stain was small and faint, the size of a nickel, so he decided to leave it. As long as he slouched, no one would see it.
George walked towards his Chevy and breathed in the sweet scent of morning air and pine. Then, he kicked up his engine and began to hum “Three Little Birds”
A few weeks ago, Susan had discovered an asteroid coming straight at them. Steve had informed the people around him, but it was Susan who called George.
"George? Is that you? I'm so glad to have reached you. Bad news, we are in an asteroid's path. It's barreling towards us. And it's very, very big. Can you think of anything about it?"
Comets and asteroids constantly come and go, but never was a problem.
"Why do you need me? What should do?"
"For starters, we need you to give ideas, but keep this in your mind, this is not that same asteroid a few years ago, you know, Varta?"
Varta was a pretty big asteroid that raced right along their atmosphere, barely missing them.
"We'll need your help to locate and find out the speed of the asteroid. But you'll have to keep monitoring it. Also, can you get a few graphics of it?"
They discussed for a few more minutes, and it was decided. George will do his part. Ever since then, he was busy with the asteroid. Now, he was relieved it was going to be over.
George walked in the big glass doors and went through all the security examinations.
Today is going to be a great day, he thought to himself.
He walked towards Steve’s office, knocked three times, and heard a gruff reply.
“Come in,” Steve grunted.
George entered with confidence and said, “I’ve found a solution”
This instantly made Steve sit up.
“Tell me about it.”
And so George began.
“Well in the galaxies, solar systems, etc., there are many planets like ours. C49, B36, and M02 are the closest three. All of which flourishes with plant life, water and surprisingly, animals too. They also have an ozone layer like ours. We can send spaceships to either of them, C49 being the closest, one-by-one”
Steve started to interrupt, but George put his hand up.
“Please, let me finish. Obviously, we humans can’t survive the transition from one galaxy to another on a regular basis. This case, we will freeze the bodies under -196°C to preserve them. You know Cryonics?”
It was more of a statement than a question. Still, Steve nodded.
“Well, we'll use that, but we give the process a twist. Cryonics is a process that freezes the body, so the cells stay alive even though the brain dies. Nonetheless, someone will still have to be there to unfreeze them.
“So, who will take the job to be the one who unfreezes everyone, but has his own risk of dying? There comes starvation if there’s a lack of food supplies. That person may just as well develop ASPD, Antisocial Personality Disorder. With no one to talk to for a couple hundred years will affect their behavior, making them impulsive. They might try to suicide, or worse, ruin the spacecraft. Who knows, they might even −”
“Yes, I know, I know! I know what ASPD can do! Can you please get on with your idea?” Steve cut in.
George cleared his throat and continued.
“Well, none of this needs to happen. As I said, we will twist the process so that after a certain amount of time, the bodies will automatically unfreeze. It takes a couple hundred years to get there if we use a very fast spaceship, so we probably should set the timer to few thousand years just to be careful. Even if we do arrive earlier, the spacecraft will be designed to hold off any living creature that tries to disturb us. Lastly, the scientists will make sure that the process of cryonics won’t erase our minds”
Finished his explanation, he sat back.
“I don’t know … it seems risky. What if on the way, the spaceship encounters another asteroid?” Steve asked.
“Oh, it won’t. We’ll design the spacecraft with something similar to a force field that prevents objects from hitting us”
“It’s still risky. What if it malfunctions? What if − is that coffee?” Steve peered at George’s shirt, just above the breast pocket.
Come ON! George thought.
As he sat back after his explanation, the creases over his shirt had undoubtfully unfolded, revealing his stain. He was about to explain when someone knocked.
“Yes?” Steve called.
The door opened and in walked Joe Chipman. He had brown disheveled hair and big blue eyes that seemed to be full of excitement.
“Steve, after a few minor calculations, the asteroid, Theio, is in the open! We can totally change its course of direction!” he cried.
Steve stood up.
“That’s it! We can send something there, possibly a Wubble, to lightly bump it and change Theio’s direction. We don’t have to run! We could even fuel power the Wubble there, then use some ions to slowly push the asteroid away!”
“But are you sure it would work?” George reasoned. “This asteroid is very fragile, and cracks very easily. Only when it breaks through the ozone layer would it burn up and harden. If it breaks, then we’d be in for a meteor shower. You want that?”
Steve and Joe knew not to question George’s reasoning, for he is usually correct.
“Yes, but this is far more simple, and we might be able to stay. We don’t have to leave!” Steve said. “Besides, it won’t, uh, shouldn’t break if we start with a small force, then gradually increase the force,” he turned towards Joe. “Joe, tell the engineers to start creating a Wubble. And tell them to hurry!” Steve commanded.
George had no choice but to go along.
A Wubble is a ball of rubble (tires, erasers, etc.) melted and reformed then coated around an ellipsoid metal which contains an operating center with an engine. The engine has two settings. First, it is powered by fuel, and then changes into an ion-powered engine when it reaches the asteroid. Even the slightest push can send the asteroid hurtling in a total different direction.
The operations are done at the base, located in S.P.A.C.E.’s laboratory. There, they control the direction, the speed, and the changing of the two engines.
The Wubble was used only once, against another threatening asteroid, but it had failed. When they thought they were doomed, the asteroid luckily changed direction by the gravitational pull of a neighboring planet. That was before when “technology wasn’t so advanced” but now it’s different. Now, it is guaranteed to change the direction of the asteroid, and guaranteed not to break the asteroid.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
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