I, Judas the 5th Gospel by Bob Mayer Read Free Book Online Page A

hit Jupiter producing fireballs that we could see here on Earth.
    “There are only two options. Vaporize it or divert it. The first is more difficult than people realize. You can’t just lob a nuke at it. Comets and asteroids, whichever this is, are very fragile. Yes, the explosion would break the object apart, but it wouldn’t vaporize it. In fact, it would simply break down one really big threat into a lot of smaller, but equally deadly threats. Instead of one major impact, we’d end up with dozens of smaller impacts that in sum would equal the single impact, but over a wider area of the planet’s surface.”
    Pierce glanced at some notes inside a binder. “A proposal has been floating for several years at Livermore called the cookie cutter approach. A lattice of wires and tungsten bullets—” he paused and sighed. “There’s no point talking about something that can’t be done in the next three days.”
    “What can be done in the next few days?” Brunswick asked.
    “Divert the Intruder via standoff thermo-nuclear bursts,” Thornton said. “It’s the only option given how close this thing is and how little time we have. We send a nuke up and have it explode in the vacuum of space some distance away from the Intruder. The heat from the radiation vaporizes one side of the object. Given Newton’s Third Law of Motion, every action must have an equal and opposite reaction, the asteroid should be pushed in the opposite direction from the vaporization. The standoff would keep the Intruder from breaking into smaller pieces, and give it what my people call a ‘gentle push-off.’ Because the Intruder is coming so fast and is so close, one blast won’t do it. We’ll need a sequence of blasts, one after another, each one slightly altering the Intruder’s path until it’s angled enough to bounce off the upper atmosphere.”
    “How many?” Brunswick asked.
    “Twenty, at least,” Thornton answered. That brought a moment of silence as all three considered the logistics involved.
    “Are the assets available?” Pierce asked. “The lift capability that can be launched that quickly? I know we have enough nukes.”
    “The United States has six Atlas five and four Delta four launch vehicles that can be used. The Russians have a variety of launch vehicles. NASA is still trying to get the exact number that are in working condition, but best guess right now is about ten working among their Soyuz, Zenit and Proton lifters.”
    “Twenty.” Pierce did the math.
    Thornton shook his. “And that’s if the numbers are right for the Russians. Their space fleet is in pretty bad shape. We doubt they can get ten off the ground in twenty-four hours, which is the limit for our launch window if we’re to catch the Intruder far enough out to make a difference.”
    “So we need at least an additional five, if not more, for a little margin,” Brunswick said. “India has four GSLV—Geosynchronous Satellites Launch Vehicles—available and ready. The European Space Agency has three Ariane Five’s it says it can have ready.”
    “So that’s twenty-eight, giving us room for the Russians and possible failures,” Brunswick said.
    Thornton nodded. “Yes, I think we can get the launch platforms needed. But,“ he paused. “Contrary to what our companion said.” He glanced at Pierce. “The nukes are the problem.”
    Pierce shook his head as he realized what the issue was. “We’d have to give India the four nuclear warheads.”
    Thornton nodded. “We know India has plenty of nuclear weapons. Our best guess is somewhere between eighty and a hundred warheads. However, they refuse to part with any of them for this. They feel doing so would make them vulnerable to Pakistan.”
    Pierce leaned forward. “The world faces annihilation and they’re still worried about their petty border differences? Over terrain only a goat could live in anyway?”
    “You can argue about it all you want,” Thornton said, “but it’s a real