End of Days (16 page)

“It’s an unwise man who does not provide a backup plan,” Fitchett said.

“But two backups?” Billy asked.

“That’s because I’m a
very
wise man. I build in a certain redundancy in everything. I always have a backup plan,” he said. “But you’d know about that … always making sure you have an alternative.”

Billy did understand. He had lived his life always looking for the alternate route, whether it was to escape, or to obtain something, or to defeat somebody.

“Within this facility are separate living accommodations for over twelve hundred people, with the potential to expand to sixteen hundred as time passes.”

“I don’t understand … where will the extra people come from?”

Fitchett laughed. “Births. You have to remember that the projections call for the surface to be uninhabitable for a minimum of twenty years.”

That thought came as a sobering reality. So this was the old man’s plan: to create a compound, a complete environment, that would house his “chosen” ones—and the generation to follow—after the asteroid hit. Billy knew that survivalists talked about going underground until the planet’s surface stabilized; he just hadn’t thought of it needing to be for that long. What would it be like to live underground for all that time? If he didn’t leave, he realized, he might be finding out.

“I’m going to show you everything,” Fitchett said. “There’s a medical facility, as well as an entertainment complex with copies of every movie, television show, CD, and book ever made. We have a school that has databases of all known information and a record of all languages. In our museum we have accumulated artifacts of cultural and societal significance from around the world. In fact, we have some of the world’s greatest pieces of art, including the
Mona Lisa
and—”

“Even I know the
Mona Lisa
is in Paris,” Billy snorted.

“It
was
in Paris. Now in its place is a very good forgery. We have had, shall we say,
assistance
in moving treasures to our museum. Among the people who will be taking residence underground when the asteroid strikes are the director of the Louvre, his wife, and their young daughter. We offered
them sanctuary, and they offered the preservation of some of the greatest pieces of art the world has ever known. Those will be maintained for future generations of mankind.” He paused. “There
will
be future generations.”

Billy believed him. Billy wanted to believe him.

“There is a separate technological archive that contains schematic drawings and plans for every known mechanical device in the world, details of all patented items, and samples of the most significant inventions, from the chariot to the cement mixer, from the first cars and airplanes to hovercrafts and jets, computers, duplication machines, printing presses, and all the mechanisms needed to recreate a functioning society.

“There are full sports and exercise facilities for those who will live here, stores, facilities to repair and replace all components, and storage areas. And of course we had to plan for a significant agricultural capacity. We have over twenty-five acres of land under intense cultivation—enough capacity to feed the entire colony. Soil was brought from the surface, and the lighting is, of course, all artificial. But before we go on, I need to show you the very cornerstone of our project. This is one of
the
most impressive parts.”

Billy could scarcely imagine what might be more impressive than what he’d already seen, but he’d started to learn not to doubt Fitchett. Wasn’t that what Christina had said?
They never make mistakes
.

He hurried to catch up to Fitchett, who moved very quickly for an old man.

“Are you religious, Billy?”

“I used to go to church with my parents … you know … before.”

“And do you remember any of the Bible stories? David and Goliath? Or Jonah and the whale? Adam and Eve?”

“I remember some of them.”

“How about the story of Noah and the Ark?”

“Yeah, I know that one.”

“Tell me what you remember,” Fitchett said.

“Well, it’s about a man named Noah, and God told him he was going to destroy the Earth by flooding it.”

“Yes, a deluge from above,” Fitchett said.

“Forty days and forty nights,” Billy said. “And that’s why Noah was asked to build an ark, to save himself and his family.”

“And the animals, which were innocent?” Fitchett asked.

“Yeah, that’s right. They came on board the ark, two by two, a pair of every type of animal.”

“Exactly!” Fitchett agreed. “What an incredible story.”

“But you don’t actually believe it, do you?” Billy asked.

“Of course not. Do I look like a member of Judgment Day? The story lacks both science and logic. It would have been impossible with the technology of that period to build an ark sufficiently large to hold all those animals and the food they would require during a voyage of that length.”

“Well, it is just a story,” Billy said.

“But even stories have to be credible. And having only one pair of animals would not provide the genetic diversity necessary to reproduce a species. A pair would be nothing. In order to do that, you would need approximately
fifty
breeding pairs.”

Billy laughed. “So you think it’s not credible that he could build a boat big enough to hold a pair of every animal, but you think it should have been
fifty
pairs of everything, so the boat would have had to be that much bigger.”

“Much bigger. Fifty
breeding
pairs, or one hundred individual samples, are necessary to repopulate. Noah could not have had the space. But we do. And it’s all right behind these doors,” he said as he patted the heavy wooden door.

Billy looked up at the doors before them. A sign read “The Ark” in large letters. He had a vision of hundreds of animals being contained there. Lions and tigers and elephants running around and … that made no sense. They at least had to be in cages. Separate cages.

Fitchett opened the door and Billy held his breath. There was no sound. No smell. They stepped inside. It looked much more like a library than a zoo. No, not like a library, like a room full of gigantic dressers, ten drawers high, lining the walls and stretching out into the distance as far as he could see.

“In these drawers are one hundred samples of the DNA of every living organism, every example of flora and fauna on the entire planet.”

Billy touched one of the drawers. “In here are lions and tigers.”

“And all other forms of life. Our goal is not simply to ensure the survival of human life. We aim to guarantee the survival of
all
forms of life on Earth. When the planet can once again support their existence on the surface, then we shall make the waters teem with living creatures, and let
birds fly above the Earth, and let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds.”

“I … I think I know those words,” Billy said, but he didn’t know from where or why.

“You said you know the Bible stories, so you might have heard them before. Genesis, chapter one, verses twenty through twenty-four … of course I’m paraphrasing God.”

Then it hit Billy. He understood … at least a little part of it. “The kids—like Christina—they’re just like those animals. That’s why they’re here … to repopulate the Earth.”

Fitchett nodded.

“The children are amazing specimens. Not only are they brilliant, talented, and skilled, but they are unfailingly polite, quiet, respectful, and compliant—they will basically do whatever they’re told to do. They were genetically screened—they have virtually no genetic weaknesses. They are as close to human perfection as can be developed. In essence, they are
very
different from you.”

Billy’s eyes widened in shock.

“Don’t look so surprised. They have been raised, in most cases from birth, in our facilities, in the collectives. They have been screened, nurtured, schooled, and trained according to a very detailed schedule to develop their skills and, ultimately, to repopulate the planet with superior human beings.”

“But like you said, I’m not like them,” he said. “Why am I here? There’s nothing special about me.”

“Really?” Fitchett asked. “That boy you knocked down in the dining hall, do you know what his specialization is?”

“No.”

“He is trained in mechanical engineering. There is very little that he doesn’t know about mechanics, including how to repair and craft mechanical devices. He is fully trained, incredibly bright, highly skilled, and those skills could be invaluable. How long do you think he would survive in the world you came from?”

Billy laughed. “He wouldn’t make it through the day.”

“But
you
made it through the day, and through many days and years. Do you see what I’m getting at?”

Maybe he did. “Are you saying my skill, my specialization, is that I know how to survive? Is that why I’m here, to be one of them?”

Fitchett shook his head. “You are
not
here to be
one
of them.”

Billy felt a rush of fear. Had he been shown all of this simply to be thrown out? Had he somehow failed, or somehow even convinced the old man that he had nothing special to offer?

“You are not going to be
one
of them because you are going to be their
leader.”

“What?” he exclaimed.

“They need leadership. In trying to give them the best of humanity we somehow failed to give them some essential parts of humanity. Somehow I was so occupied in the mechanics of the process that I failed to fully understand the fuel that drives those mechanics. We were so focused on giving them only the best that we separated them from those interconnected parts that drive the best. Whether we label it aggression or tenacity, or simply the stubborn determination
to survive against all odds, they seem to be lacking those qualities. Once the asteroid hits, anything can happen, and we can’t predict what will be needed to survive. That is your specialty, and none of them possesses that to a degree sufficient to ensure their survival.”

“I’m in here because I survived being out there?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“But lots of people survived … lots of people were out there. Why me?” Billy persisted.

“You not only survived, you created a little society in which kindness and caring were present. That’s the kind of leadership they will need.”

“I can’t lead them.”

“Yes, you can.”

“But you’re the leader … aren’t you?” Billy asked.

“I will be among a group of over a thousand adults who will also be in the complex when the asteroid hits, but the time of my leadership will end. You have to remember that I’m eighty-four years old.”

“Really?”

“Judging by your reaction you thought I was either much older or much younger.”

“Younger. Like, I knew you were old. I just didn’t know you were
that
old.”

Fitchett laughed. “I’ll take that as a compliment. I am here now. I won’t be when humanity returns to the surface of the planet. That will be under your leadership.” He placed his hand on Billy’s shoulder. “And I know you’ll be the leader they need.”

Sheppard followed along at the end of the group, trying to be inconspicuous. As they made their way through the gigantic spaceship, the only sounds were the voice of the guide explaining its features and the click of their feet against the metal floor. The mood was solemn, as though they were attending a funeral, when in reality it was more like a birth, or at least a rebirth. Sheppard also got the feeling that the hushed words and careful steps were a reaction to what surrounded them, as though they were afraid that if they spoke too loudly the devices would somehow be activated and they would all be incinerated. There was no danger of that, of course, and they knew it—they had been told about all of the safeguards that were in place. But still, the mind played its tricks.

It was intimidating enough to be in close proximity to even
one
nuclear warhead, let alone this many. It was almost beyond comprehension to think that they were standing on
one of the decks of a spaceship that held fifteen hundred thermonuclear devices. That was the entire payload of the ship, its entire cargo, with the exception of the mechanisms necessary to arm and activate them.

There had been a tremendous debate before it was finally decided that this ship, and the others like it, would fly unmanned. Many wanted the comfort, the familiarity of the human presence piloting the ships and then arming and activating the explosives. Others wanted the ships manned by their own countrymen—to have the glory of being the nation that saved the world. Countries had been battling for too many centuries to completely put aside their parochial positions and support a world movement.

Ultimately they’d had to confront the sobering reality that not only would these astronauts be sent on a suicide mission, but they would be more vulnerable, more frail, and more prone to error. In essence, they would be less able to execute the mission than the cold certainty of computers. Besides, the computers wouldn’t need the life-support mechanisms and supplies necessary to keep humans alive for a three-month journey. All of that constituted weight that took away from the payload—hundreds of thousands of kilograms that could then be devoted to carrying warheads.

In the end, sentiment gave way to scientific reasoning. Humans were a detriment. Humans
weren’t
necessary. How ironic—people in the ships weren’t necessary to save humanity on the ground; they could only get in the way.

Sheppard recognized many of the other people in the tour group. Aside from the obvious, the president and
vice-president of the United States and the leaders of the House, there were prime ministers and presidents and dictators from other countries in the western hemisphere. The United States was the only nuclear power in the hemisphere, but each of these countries had participated in making this mission a reality. All countries, with all the means at their disposal, had worked in concert to save the planet. They all had a right to be here to represent their people, to see the end result of their efforts. Well … not the end, but at least, hopefully, the beginning of the end.