The Twins Paradox by Alan Gasparutti (best contemporary novels txt) 📖

“He’ll probably take some Generals along to assess our resources.”
“You not have resource to destroy asteroid?” queried Mr Boritzov.
“No, I didn’t say that,” replied the President. “They do have resources at NASA but we have to assess what are the best resources to use in this instance, and to plan how best to use those resources. Can you help us in any way?”
“We have rockets. We may find undiscovered nuclear bombs,” hinted Mr Boritzov.
“I don’t know if nuclear missiles will be of any use on this occasion,” said the President. “Do you have anything else which may be of use?”
“I speak to Russian Space Federation,” replied Mr Boritzov.
“You’ll have to excuse me as I must go now, but please keep me informed, Mr Borisov,” the President requested.
“Boritzov,” said the Russian President. “Call me Boritzov.”
“Oh yeah, yeah, sorry about that, Mr Botritzov,” said the President. “You can call me George. It's been nice talking to you but I must go now. Good day.”
The president then went to his secretaries.
“Get me the Vice President and my Secretary for Defence,” he ordered.
“Mr Bilton was trying to call you, sir,” replied one of his secretaries. “He's on his way here now, sir.”
“I'm afraid we haven't been able to get Mr Luddolmans as yet,” said another secretary. “He's in Florida at the moment, sir, and his mobile's engaged.”
“Well keep trying,” the President told her. “When you get him put his call through to my office. And if anyone else asks for me, tell them I'm otherwise unobtained.”
“You mean otherwise engaged, sir?” queried one secretary.
“Or should that be unobtainable, sir? queried another secretary.
“Yeah whatever,” replied the President. “Just tell them I'm busy.”
The President then went back to his office. He was rather anxious and deep in thought when his phone rang.
“Mr Luddolmans is on the line, sir,” said a secretary. “’Putting him through now, sir.”
“Hi, Fred,” said the president as he picked up his phone. “I need you to go to Houston, Texas, tomorrow.”
“I presume it's about this asteroid,” asked Mr Luddolmans. “I've just had some man from Houston on to me about an asteroid. Is it true?”
“I'm afraid it looks like it,” said the President. ”What's the earliest you can get there?”
“I can get there this evening, but I would prefer to take a military leader,” replied Mr Luddolmans.
“That's fine by me,” said the President. “Just be there by tomorrow morning.”
“Is this asteroid public knowledge?” asked Mr Luddolmans.
“Not yet,” replied the President. “As far as I'm concerned, I'd like it to stay that way.”
“I think the Russian President may already know about this,” said Mr Luddolmans.
“I know, I know,” replied the President. “I spoke to him earlier, and asked this to be kept secret.”
“Is Gordon Bear aware of this?” asked Mr Luddolmans.
“No,” replied the President. “I don't think we should involve Mr Bear just at the moment. If word gets out about this in the UK, it will spread to France, and all over Europe, and all panic will break loose. Besides, this ain't something we need any public relations exercise for.”
“What should I say to my Generals, then,” queried Mr Luddolmans.
“Tell them what you have to, but don't say too much,” ordered the President. “They'll find out from NASA what's going on. I've ordered NASA to maintain silence over this.”
“Okay George, I'll get on to my Generals right away,” said Mr Luddolmans.
The President had just put the phone down when there was then a knock on the door of his office door. It was the Vice President, Ray Bilton.
“Hi Ray, I presume you've heard about the asteroid,” the President asked to him.
“Yeah, NASA contacted me earlier,” replied Mr Bilton. “I tried to contact you but you were engaged, so I decided to come here straight away. I've not mentioned this to anyone.”
“Good, Ray,” replied the President. “I've ordered NASA to keep me informed of any developments,” the President told Mr Bilton.
“I think we should order NASA to contact you each morning as soon as they receive any update on the matter,” suggested Mr Bilton. “And they should then update me each evening on the day's events, too.”
“That's fine,” agreed the President. “I've ordered complete secrecy regarding this. Only a few people are aware, including Mr Boritzov. I've asked he maintain silence too.”
“Does Grizzly know about this?” asked Mr Bilton.
“No,” replied the President. “I don't want Gordon Bear or any other European leaders to know about this.”
“How about the European Space Agency?” asked Mr Bilton.
“If the European Space Agency find out they can inform Gordon Bear and the others,” said the President.
“Have you put together a strategy yet?” Mr Bilton then asked the President.
“No not yet,” he replied. “That's why I'm glad you've come here, so we can discuss how to proceed and put some sort of a plan together.”
“I think we should continue our current schedules, as it may seem odd if we both pull out of arrangements,” suggested Mr Bilton.
“Agreed,” replied the President.
“Can Russia help in any way?” asked Mr Bilton.
“I doubt it,” muttered the President. “Mr Boritzov isn't too sure either, though I've asked him to check on what the Russian Space Federation can muster.”
“How do you think we should react, if and when this does get out?” asked Mr Bilton.
“I think we should remain quiet about this until it's all over,” said the President. “That way no-one will blame us if we fail.”
“I shouldn't think there'd be anyone left to blame us if we fail to destroy the asteroid,” replied Mr Bilton.
“What bothers me is that the only publicity we seem to get is bad publicity,” said the President
“I don't think we should worry about publicity, George,” replied Mr Bilton. “It might even do our reputation some good.”
“Oh yeah, I can see them in Damascus and Tehran cheering the US and waving the stars & stripes,” the President said sarcastically.
“I don't think we should worry about how the Middle-East reacts to this,” suggested Mr Bilton. “Tehran would probably claim the asteroid was a missile from Mohammed, and was meant to destroy the US.”
“Yeah, and wouldn't it be good if we could destroy Mohammed's missile,” the President sniggered.
“Let's forget the Middle-East for a moment, George,” said Mr Bilton. “If this does get out perhaps we'd better just say we're looking into the matter. Perhaps we'd better bring Grizzly' in on this, see what he suggests.”
“If this gets out Gordon Bear will know anyway,” said the President. “I don’t think we should worry about Europe.”
“I think we should maintain good communications with the media, and with the embassy in London,” suggested Mr Bilton. “We can then get an early warning if London, or the Europeans, get to find out about this.”
“Agreed,” said the President.
“Do you think we could cope with any after-effects from the asteroid?” asked Mr Bilton.
“What sort of after-effects do you mean, Ray?” queried the President.
“This asteroid's huge, George. Even if we destroy it, there's always the possibility that some scattered fragments will hit the Earth at some later date,” said Mr Bilton.
“Hhmmmm,” muttered the President as he thought for a moment.
“This sound as large as the meteorite that killed the dinosaurs,” said Mr Bilton. “A 100 foot boulder smashing on the planet would probably be enough to wipe us all out.”
“We're going to have to divert the asteroid, and hope it doesn't break up as a result,” said the President. “I think we still have some underground bunkers from World War 2 scattered about the US. Some people could go into caves, and we can then seal them off before any fragments smash into the planet.”
“We could, but the people would then need cat's eyes to see in the darkness of the caves, as no light would be able to get in,” replied Mr Bilton.
“Perhaps we should forget that option for now,” agreed the President. “Let's just hope our boys can divert the asteroid onto another course.”
“Do you know how many underground bunkers we have throughout the US?” asked Mr Bilton. ”I know I've got a special bunker.”
“No idea, George,” replied the President. “Fred Luddolmans may have a better idea of that.”
“What’s Fred up to at the moment?” asked Mr Bilton.
“Fred Luddolmans is going to be busy over the next week,” said the President. “I'll ask all district authorities about any underground bunkers and where they're located. I'll arrange to send a copy to Fred's department.”
“Is Fred going to Houston?” queried Mr Bilton.
“I've sent him to meet NASA scientists about this tomorrow to discuss our resources and what would be the best course of action,” replied the President. “I believe he's taking some generals with him, too.”

Delayed Report

It was 9.45 am at Houston Lakeside Airport. Fred Luddolmans had just arrived and was walking through the Arrivals lounge when he saw Air Commander Clint Williams, whom he had instructed to meet, ahead. The Air Commander noticed Fred Luddolmans too, and walked over to greet to him.
“Hi Clint, glad you could make it,” said Fred.
“Hello Mr Luddolmans, pleased to meet you once again,” replied the Air Commander. “Is anybody else coming to meet us here today?”
“Yes, I've also ordered Major General Cornelius Smith to meet us here,” said Mr Luddolmans. “He won't be here for a while, as he's flying from New York.”
“There's an arrival due from JFK soon,” said Clint Wiliams.
“Oh he shouldn't be on that plane,” said Fred. “General Smith is flying from New York State, Buffalo, to be precise.”
“I see there's a plane' due in from Buffalo at 10.15,” Clint Williams stated as he looked up at the arrivals board.
“He should be on that flight,” Fred replied.
“Shall we go somewhere quiet for the moment?“ suggested Clint.
“Do you know where we can find a quiet room around here?” asked Fred.
“I'm not sure myself, but there's an airport police office around the corner,” Clint pointed out.
“Good, good, we'll see if they know somewhere we can wait,” replied Fred. “If we can't find anything else at least we can get an interview room to ourselves.”
Fred Luddolmans and Clint Williams went to the police office. As Fred was asking about a quiet room, his mobile rang.
“Hi Mr Luddolmans, it's Professor Marshall here,” he heard on the other end of the line, before asking him to hold for a few seconds.
Mr Luddolmans then asked Clint Williams to consult the police while he spoke to the Professor.
“Thanks for calling Professor,” said Fred. “I'm at Lakeside airport at the moment with one of my military staff. Is someone from NASA coming to meet us here?”
“I'm about to come there myself,” replied the Professor. “Are you expecting any more personnel?”
“I'm expecting one of my Generals on the next flight from Buffalo,” replied Fred. “It's not due in until 10.15, though.”
“Okay, Mr Luddolmans, I'll be there at about 10.30,” said Professor Marshall.
“Before you go, Professor, have there been any further developments with the asteroid overnight?” asked Fred.
“There are no significant developments yet,” replied the Professor. “I'm waiting for the latest report from the space station. I hope to receive it in the next 30 minutes, so I'll tell you more when I see you.”
Mr Luddolmans then went back to the police office to meet Air Commander Williams. They then went into an interview room, where Fred explained why he had called him and Major General Smith to NASA HQ.
“I'm sorry sir, but I’m not sure I'm really the person you're looking for,” said Clint.
“You've flown many fighters, and various wars and