A Twist in Time (15 page)

Jose’s only answer, his only possible answer, was “Yes, Sir.  Whenever you are ready.” 

* * *

The two generals left the party early.  They shook every hand and smiled the whole time.  Then they got into their rental car for the drive back to the Las Vegas Strip.

“Remind me again why we wanted to stay out on the Strip,” Ted said as he yawned.  

“Delusions of grandeur. Hubris,” Fred replied. 

“Well, maybe we’ll have time for a little poker.” 

“Sally gave you a hundred bucks to blow on the tables?” 

“Something like that. So, what did you and Doctor Dunnan talk about? “

“My God, she made me feel old and fat and slow.  What a woman.”

“But…?”  Ted asked.

“But, she knows some of the right people in Japan.  I want to talk to Jose, but I’d say we should brief her in fully.” 

“The time transport aspect?”

“Yes,” Fred replied.  “She can’t help us talk to the Japanese without knowing about the ability to shoot through time. I’m sure the Japanese understand the time transport capability, at least theoretically.” 

“As this knowledge and capability proliferates, it gets more and more scary.”  Ted observed.  “Suppose some political group in Japan wants to take out Admiral Jack Fletcher just before the battle of Midway or something?” 

Fred shook his head, “No targeting data.  I couldn’t do it, so I doubt they could. But, damaging the Little Boy or Fat Man bombs as they sat in those loading pits next to runway Able on Tinian? The pits are still there on the island and well marked.  Yeah, I could do that,” Fred said to the dark night.   

Ted let that idea sit.  He took a breath and said, “I suggested to the Chairman that we openly publish the protocol and software used to look for cross-time events.” 

“Ha! What did he say to that?” 

“He didn’t dismiss it out of hand.  He’s worried about what this administration might do with the time transport capability.” 

“Yeah.  Me too.”  Fred Landry said as the lights of the Vegas Strip came into view. “Me too.” 

* * *

“How did you and General Landry get along?” Jose asked Rae after the two generals left the party to drive back to Las Vegas.

“He is very nice. Smart and pleasant.” Rae replied.  “He certainly knows who is who in the Japanese science community.”   Rae stopped and stared at him for a moment.  “Is there something going on?” she asked.  Ever since she returned from her interview at UNLV, she had the strangest feelings when she was around Jose.  He even
smelled
different to her.  He was more attractive, stronger, and a little frightening.  She didn’t understand it and the scientist in her spent a lot time analyzing her feelings with no answers. 

“I know they have some discussions going on with the Japanese and they might want you to get involved, but I really don’t know anything beyond that.” Jose replied. 

“Can we get out of here?  Maybe go somewhere and talk?  Rae asked, surprising herself.

“I live here. It’s my party.” Jose replied.

“Oh yeah, yeah.  I knew that.”  Rae looked confused, turned, and wandered away toward a crowd of warrant officers and wives.

Chapter 15: "Sky Rocks"

Sunday, November 8, 2009  0500 Pacific  

Las Vegas, Nevada

And

TDA Detachment 1,  Boulder City,  Nevada

Excerpt from the Personal Narrative of Mr. Jose Valenzuela 

Recorded May 2014

UNCLASSIFIED 

"The fact that the two generals were there when the rocks appeared added a little to the tension, but it also allowed us to show our stuff to the senior leaders.  Overall it was a very good thing for all of us.”

Ted Arthurs knew from experience that his body wouldn’t let him sleep in when he shifted between Atlantic and Pacific Time zones.  When he and Fred got back to their hotel on the Strip at about 9 PM he skipped the casino, fell into bed, and woke up a little after 3 AM.  At 5 AM he was in the hotel gym pulling on a stack of weights, ravenously hungry, and contemplating whether he was going to have breakfast or lunch.   

His iPhone, protected from sweat in a plastic baggie in the front pocket of his shorts, vibrated on his twenty-fifth repetition of the overhead pull.  By the time he got it out of the baggie and swiped the screen the call had gone to voice mail, but Ted saw that it had come from Jose Valenzuela.  Ted tapped the screen to return the call.

Jose started without preamble, “Sir, we have an asteroid-related event that has triggered our Op Plan thirteen.  Since you are in town, I thought you’d like to see the crew in action.”

“I’ll be in as soon as I round up General Landry.” He said.   Fred Landry was in the hotel lounge drinking coffee and reading the news on his laptop when Ted called him.  After Ted grabbed a quick shower they met and headed for Boulder City. 

Jose greeted them at the door of the Boulder facility.  “I didn’t know if you had breakfast, so I had one of the crew stop for bagels on the way in.” 

“Bless you,” Ted replied.  Fred Landry laughed. 

“Dr. Dunnan will brief whenever you’re ready.” 

Ted said, “Brief first, bagels later.” 

Dr. Rae Dunnan faced the group gathered in the unit’s multi-purpose training and break room.  “At about midnight our time the network of the Planetary Science Institute reported the discovery of a near Earth asteroid.  The Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson made the initial discovery.  The Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts did some initial track estimates that brought the object pretty close to the Earth in about twenty-four hours.  The NASA Near Earth Program sent out a limited distribution notice a few minutes later. The operations team here at Det 1 initiated our Op Plan Thirteen and called me.  After I checked the data, I called Major Valenzuela and activated the full Op Plan.“

“Interestingly, we just heard that when others turned their telescopes on the first object, they found a second object close behind.  We don’t have any visuals other than some specks of light, but a double encounter like this is  rare. The first object seen is designated 2009 RX30 and the second is designated 2009 RF12.  Based only on reflectivity, and subject to change when and if we get better optical and maybe even radar data, it appears that RX30 is about twenty meters in diameter and RF12 is perhaps just a little smaller.  That doesn’t seem very big, but depending on the grazing angle and the type of rock, the impact could be the equivalent of several kilotons.”

Rae looked at her audience for any questions and then continued, “The NASA Near Earth Object Catalog uses Lunar Distance to categorize objects.  The average distance from the Earth to our Moon is about three hundred eighty four thousand kilometers. An initial estimate from Cambridge says that on the near side these rocks could come to about one tenth of the lunar distance.  That would be about thirty eight thousand kilometers or a little over twenty three thousand miles.  NASA is waiting for more data, but at this time I don’t think these objects pose a danger of a direct strike on the Earth.  I’ve got to emphasize that the margin of error of all of these numbers is pretty big and that the numbers need a lot more work.“

“So it will be a busy twenty-four hours?” Ted said rhetorically. 

“Actually, General, there isn’t too much we can do here until we get better tracking data from the Minor Planet Center and NASA.  Then, we might need to act quickly if these numbers change,” Rae replied. 

“What if the Internet connection goes down?  What if there’s a fire or flood in Cambridge?” Fred Landry asked.  “Do you have the computer power and programs you need to track the objects here?”

“I’d say we have the processing power, but not the specific software designed to take the data in the formats used by the observation reports.  There is a lot of database and referential material.  It takes a lot of data storage” Rae replied. 

“Storage is cheap,” Landry observed.  

“Major Valenzuela, as I remember Op Plan Thirteen there is an annex for exercising the system against real world targets, right?”  Ted Arthurs asked.

“Yes Sir.”

“Dr. Dunnan, would you please help us by giving us some simulated tracking and timing numbers for these two rocks that shows them hitting the Earth?  I’d like to exercise the crew up to the point of actually shooting.”

Rae nodded and looked impressed.  “Yes, General, I can do that.  Maybe thirty minutes to double check everything?” 

“Major, lock and load.” Ted said with so much bravado he made Fred flinch.

Ted briefly smiled at his own words and then turned to Fred and quietly said, “If you’ll observe the crew, I’ll talk to Jose for a moment.” 

Ted motioned for Jose to meet him in Jose’s office.  When they were together, Ted asked, “What do you think about reading Dunnan into the time shift capabilities of The Project?” 

Jose only hesitated for a moment, “The upside is that we all wouldn’t have to tip toe around her.  Also, she is smart and talented.  You never know when she could supply the solution to a problem.  The downside is that her NASA bosses can’t know. “

“There are probably still a few senior or retired NASA types who remember about time shift,” Ted supplied.  “But no, no one in her chain of command at NASA can know.  Will she keep her mouth shut?”

“I think that if you lay it out as a legal requirement to having the knowledge, she’ll comply.  It sure would make my life easier.” 

Ted frowned for a split second.  The thought ran through his mind that Jose was talking more about his personal life than his professional life, but he decided to let it go.  “I’ll talk to Fred,” He said.  “Let’s see how your crew is doing.” 

Using simulated track information, the crew of The Project’s Alternate Site developed a plan to place dense depleted uranium spheres in the paths of the two space rocks. The two generals were impressed by the crew’s obvious smoothness and training.  They carried the exercise to the point of turning the two keys, but stopped before the first launch.  Rae Dunnan was an integral part of the planning and she impressed them with her capability and professionalism.   

During the after-action debrief, Ted Arthurs and Fred Landry each discussed what they saw and added a lot of praise. Rae Dunnan checked the latest real world tracking data on RX30 and RF12 and received an update from NASA saying that both space rocks would miss the Earth by at least two tenths of the distance from the Earth to the Moon.  Forty thousand miles was good enough. 

Later, in Jose’s office, Fred Landry took the lead.  “Rae, we have some information we’d like to give you, but it’s special access code-word classified.  This means that you can’t, under Federal law, discuss it with anyone who does not already have clearance.  Specifically, it means that you can’t tell anyone, even the folks you work for at NASA.”

Rae nodded.  “How can you tell me if I’m not cleared?” she asked. 

“General Arthurs is the clearance authority.  Can you live under those rules?” Fred persisted.

Rae rotated her gaze between the two generals, “NASA is a very strange place right now.  Everyone is planning an escape strategy. The new administrator is a political hack.  I am thrilled to be here and, as long as I have no moral problem, I can keep secrets very well.” 

Ted nodded slightly and Fred smiled.  He went on, “Somehow, I suspect that what we are going to tell you is already in the back of your mind.  You’ve got the physics to understand.” 

Rae cut him short, “So, you really CAN warp time!  Time as well as three dimensional space?”