Panspermia Deorum (26 page)

They decided
against going for a swim. Julien asked them to return with him to
his office.

“This
explanatory sequence takes a bit of swallowing. However, even if it
is absolutely true we can’t just back off and do nothing. Look,
what we have already agreed still stands. We work together on
whatever we can in the VB Aerospace deflection programme, but we
now have even more cause to bury your involvement in the Soyuz
deception. This is our last roll of the dice and we have a little
less than two years to refigure how to prepare for a multi-fragment
situation, whether we cause it or it just develops without a
strike.”

*

Sophie didn’t
feel any different. She wanted to know when the magic bullet would
flip her to Sophie MK 2. Eugene was now the one whose patience was
becoming frayed. Elise and Geraldine were almost as bad as the
patient in wanting to know what they should look for and what they
should not say to her during the coming days. Eugene decided to
lecture them together.

“This treatment
isn’t comparable to lancing a gumboil or physiotherapy prior to
fitting a prosthetic limb, it’s a bloody genetic modification. It
will, like all genetic structures, react to environment. It will be
a gradual process in some ways, but what we can reasonably expect
is a moderation in response to certain stimuli experienced by
Sophie. She should feel less depressed when some of those stimuli
come her way, and that can happen relatively quickly. Other things,
such as not wanting her own way all of the time should take longer,
and we can help by not pandering to her every comment, even the
current one of not feeling any different. Sophie, you were worried
about waking up a different person, well you have, but you also
have a part to play in how different that will be. Think of it as
one of your artistic creations, not perfect first time around, but
more blank canvas to work with. Go with the flow a little and see
where that takes you. Stop obsessing, I can see by the cynical
expression on your face that you know what I mean. That’s progress,
speaking of which, I really have to get back to the research
centre. There are some unpleasant things I have to take care of as
soon as possible. Chin up, sis, and don’t relapse into leading mum
and auntie by the nose, you have to redefine your default attitudes
to a lot of situations. I want a new painting for my quarters, get
started with it.”

“Ok Dr
Frankenstein, I hear you, even if I’m not feeling well.”

“Yes you are,
no bullshit, no violins, and no excuses. You owe me one.”

“What subject
matter did you have in mind?”

“Whatever is in
your mind right now would be fine, see, that wasn’t so hard.
Surprise me.”

She asked Elise
to wheel her to her studio and give her a couple of hours of
uninterrupted solitude. Sophie had to admit she was calmer inside,
but fearful that it would only be temporary.

A week on, she
had unveiled Eugene’s surprise and the feeling of giving was
matched by his appreciation. He said all the post-op tests were on
target and she should begin to participate in wider circles of
friends, to reach out from the family, starting with Reuben.

“He will be a
good barometer for you, Sophie. He’s good for you, totally laid
back but not family. Go and see him. He’s been asking about
you.”

T
he lawyer had come and gone, and although he was
utterly confused by the instructions he’d been given, there was one
above all others which he would respect. There would be
consequences if he ever disclosed anything which did not appear in
the official paperwork. The sale to a foreign competitor had to be
perceived as a result of pure intransigence by the Russian state in
terms of acquiring the company. Bondarenko felt the anarchists,
mafia, and the rest of the populous would buy into this because it
was true. He also expected it would trigger an obligatory cull by
the heavyweights in government, apportioning blame to others in the
lower levels of the pecking order. They would have to spend much of
their time distancing themselves from such accusation by
sacrificing ‘irresponsible’ subordinates. Blood-letting could
always be relied upon to assist in smoothing over public
unrest.

Julien was less
interested in the reaction of the Russian populous than extracting
the entire truth from his new henchmen.

“Well
Gentlemen, that takes care of step one. How about giving me the
full story?”

“What? What do
you mean by that?” said Bondarenko.

“Actually, I
was talking to Ivan.”

Kolorov feigned
confusion.

“I’m talking
about the period after Alexei was shuffled off to his not so safe
house. He wasn’t there to hear the full extent of your reasoning in
authorising Kuznetzov to return. You see, Ivan, I can’t figure out
why you destroyed the nuclear strike force and then did nothing. I
know it has to do with your own survival but I just can’t make the
link.”

Kolorov shifted
uneasily in his chair, gesturing in Russian. All of a sudden
Bondarenko began to mentally retrace events around that time.
Julien probed again.

“I can imagine
that you had some moral conviction with respect to saving Laika’s
crew, but it would have to fit with other concerns you might have.
That decision alone would not have calmed all of the turbulent
waters. Need I remind you that the money won’t be transferred to
accounts in your homeland? It was for your own protection that new
accounts were set up here. My bank will not action the transfer
until they receive ratification of the asset registry from your
lawyer, and he can’t do that by anything other than a fully
certified bill of sale. I can still opt out of our little plot, so
please think hard about my question. You see, I’m puzzled as to why
you didn’t turn around the missiles and save them for a last ditch
strike just as we are doing. I could even understand you taking the
risk of allowing them to carry on as planned, despite what
Kuznetsov had found. I can only conclude that she had decided to
come home anyway, disregarding Malenkov’s orders, and that meant
you had to deal with what she would reveal when she got back.
Forgive me, Ivan, but you are running low on credibility. What do
you think, Alexei?”

“I am trying to
recall the order of events at the time, but you are right about
Kuznetsov. She was in a strong position with what she discovered
and she could not be prevented from returning home. That was all
made easier by me killing Malenkov. After my own disappearance I
only have second-hand knowledge of what exchanges took place
between Kuznetsov and Ivan. What else did she find? Only the two of
them know.”

“Ivan,”
murmured Julien, “do we contact Kuznetsov?”

“You can, but
she would only tell you what I have explained. She agreed to that
if I was prepared to forget any insinuation of mutinous actions on
her part. Even though Malenkov was pig-headed in his handling of
the fiasco, the captain is obliged to go down with the ship if it
is for the greater good. She is now a senior advisor to the Russian
government in their fight against the anarchists. She won’t
talk.”

“Well then,
that just leaves you. When you hunt with sharks you need to be
aware that you can be hunted by sharks. I’ll have no hesitation in
biting off your balls. You have two minutes to fill in the
gaps.”

Fresh coffee
was brought in and a comfort break preceded a nervous outburst by
Kolorov.

“It is a lot
worse than you can imagine. The asteroid has a far greater orbit
around the sun than the Earth. If we hypothetically accept that it
could have polar axial rotation, it fits with Kuznetsov’s data. The
spin at our north and south poles confers less relative change of
position to the sun than at the equator, hence seasons of constant
day or night. The tilt of the ‘poles’ of the asteroid is such that
in its long seasonal shift, we could not observe these regions from
our vantage point. When Kuznetsov approached its trajectory from a
different observational position she could see what we could not.
Yesterday I mentioned two cometary bodies which were embedded in
the parent. These are not observable by our equipment, as they are
at the rear and in one of the ‘polar’ regions of the asteroid. The
problem Kuznetzov discovered is manifold in its implications.
Although the cometary fragments are clinging on to the rock, the
amplitude of movement is increasing and it looks like they will not
survive the journey to our atmosphere. Then there is the legacy
they will leave. If they dislodge themselves, the fault lines they
created upon their initial impact, are highly likely to open,
according to Kuznetsov. In fact it seems that they are actually
acting as the cement which is holding the entire asteroid together.
The calculations which Alexei and I did together before he went
AWOL showed that by our nuclear intervention, we would indeed
deliver a multiplicity of marauders without any quantification of
what that would mean. On the other hand, if the cometary chunks
squirm loose on their own, and because they are fizzing around the
‘rear pole’ they would not be expected to be slung into a very
different trajectory to the main body. However, the threat of the
parent then splintering of its own accord remains as a probability
rather than a possibility. I took the decision to let things
develop until we could at least make an educated guess if the
asteroid was likely to make it in one piece, beyond other areas of
gravitational or collision influence. To sit tight until it had a
clear path, a considerable distance Earth-side of the asteroid
belt. The call I made about not bringing the nuclear warheads back
was a political one, advised by ‘influential’ people whose names I
would never disclose. It was a risky task, apart from admission of
failure, how would we dock them safely? It would have caused
consternation about the real agenda possibly being Russian
aggression, opportunism with the threat of an extinction event as
the justification. All bullshit of course, but world wars have
ignited with far more benign provocation. Anyway, detonating the
warhead gave them the way out, entirely accidental neutralisation
of a salvation mission. A brave attempt gone wrong was a preferable
outcome to these people; preferable to the alternative of being
strung up in Red Square. I immediately began work on creating a
second strike force, and that is being done as we speak. It is
happening in a secret location and you may want to preserve it.
Actually, it may already be too late. Because, even as we speak, it
is no longer possible to observe the cometary chunks the way
Kuznetsov did. Now you have my complete bundle of deceptions out in
the open. Perhaps you wish that this pile of shit hadn’t fallen
into your lap.”

*

Two days on and
the money had been transferred and the reaction of Soyuz having a
foreign owner was percolating throughout Russia. Julien had been
looking for inspiration following Kolorov’s final soul-bearing
act.

Bondarenko was
keen to get on with whatever was to be done and suggested to his
new boss that it might be better for him to help in brainstorming
the mind-boggling complexity of addressing the new situation with
all things asteroid. More imprecise juggling of equations and the
new variables therein.

“Kolorov knows
the Soyuz operational stuff much better than I do, but by his own
words he has virtually given up on the asteroid, so why not let him
get on with putting the skids under the company.”

“That would
have been my leaning if we had more time, Alexei, but his latest
revelations changes everything. I still don’t trust him. I want you
to find out where this secret nuclear force is being assembled. I
won’t be letting Ivan out of my sight, so I’ll keep him busy with
our scientists in looking at anything we can do to obtain more data
on the composition and cohesion of the asteroid. I have to share
his assertions with some of my team if we’re to have real unity in
defeating a common foe. That’s what we have, even though this new
unpredictability we are supposed to believe comes from the lips of
a pathological liar. The ripples of fantasy have already emerged.
One of the juniors asked if we could ride the asteroid with a
device which sends data back. It has been done before about twenty
years ago, but we don’t have enough time, yet I suppose that’s the
kind of lateral thinking we need to channel into our discussions in
the next few weeks. See what you can get out of Ivan about this
secret missile construction location, then I’ll consider how best
you can use your time with us.”

*

In the face of
missing a trick, Julien took the agonising decision to move over
fifty percent of his technical staff to the think tank. His
reasoning was as simple as the problem was complex. The constraint
of time was absolutely dominant. He would not flinch from the
continual monitoring and the resulting endless calculations of the
big picture. Any minute changes in the asteroid’s path was still
crucial in choosing the launch time of his vanguard of deflection
missiles. However, he accepted that could be all undone by the rock
cracking up of its own accord. There would be a cut-off point in
terms of time if alternative feasible means of mounting a
counter-strategy to such bad fortune did not materialise. He also
took the unprecedented step of informing all observatories and
governments of the refocus of resource without touching on
political overlays. He was championing for togetherness in sharing
all observations all of the time. He closed this request with a
promise to spell out his intentions for Soyuz at a later date.

Meanwhile,
Bondarenko had to resort to sacrificial blackmail to get Kolorov to
cough up the location of the emergency assembly of the second Soyuz
asteroid killer force. He threatened to fly to Moscow and confess
to the murder of Malenkov, and having been forced to shoot Kolorov
during the same incident to give him an alibi. It had leverage, if
only in the sense that Bondarenko had already proven to be much
more ruthless than Julien.