President Simpson then took the floor and thanked all the participating countries for their work and efforts and said that he was hopeful this disaster could be averted. The President and the Russian President were scheduled to address the United Nations later that day so that they could inform the countries of the world on this gigantic endeavor being launched in a little less than four months. The President would then broadcast a speech to the entire world bringing them up to date on where the asteroid was and what was being done to avoid the apocalypse.

  THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECH AND AFTERMATH

  That afternoon President Simpson addressed a Full Session of the United Nations and laid out the plan for trying to avoid the apocalypse in June. He told the assembled delegates about the seven rockets that were being readied and how they planned to strike the Super Asteroid with a variety of nuclear devices and two devices that were much more powerful but also untested. He explained the series of events that would begin May 1 and how the Space Shuttle Atlantis was being readied for a last ditch effort if everything else failed. He also explained how preparations were underway to relocate aspects of government to underground cold war bunkers even though most scientists had already said that such efforts would be fruitless if the Super Asteroid struck the earth with its full force. Life as we know it would be either non-existent or we would be hurled back to the Dark Ages if anyone survived. The Russian President made a short address via teleconference to the assembly and told about Russia’s efforts and that people could only hope that the upcoming missions were a success. The President concluded his address by telling the delegates that their countries should prepare for the worst and hope for the best. President Simpson would address the world later that day in an unprecedented speech outlining the efforts being made to save the world from an apocalypse never before seen in modern times.

  At 6:00 pm that evening the President of the United States read a prepared speech to the people of the world outlining the crisis and the efforts being made by the nations of the world to save mankind from possible extinction. He assured the people that everything that could possibly be done, was being done. He explained what the four nations involved were trying to do as far as launching rockets toward the massive asteroid and what they hoped to achieve. He talked about the Space Shuttle Atlantis and its mission should all else fail. He outlined how the scientists, military and astrophysicists were working around the clock on the best possible solution to the problem. He also warned the world that if this venture was unsuccessful mankind could face whole or partial extinction. He outlined possible scenarios that could materialize even if the asteroid was diverted from its present course and that drastic changes could occur to our climate and the oceans. He told people to prepare for these latter possibilities and to begin assembling a sort of disaster kit should it be needed.

  He concluded his speech by asking the people of the world to pray that the venture to divert the asteroid was successful and to keep the faith in their governments.

  Following the President’s speech the people of the world sat and let the President’s words sink in. Most had thought that the initial forecast of a rogue asteroid striking the earth was just hype and that, like most pictures of doom foretold by governments, it would never come to fruition. They believed it was another one of the cases where the government cried wolf and the wolf never showed up. This prediction, however, now appeared to be the real thing and although many people came to grips with the news, many did not. Some people went about their daily business like it was just another normal day. Others thought that something positive would happen before June and that the threat would disappear or at least things would improve. They could live with a natural disaster here and there and if cell phones and Direct TV stopped working for a while, so be it. Other people flocked to their places of worship and prayed that the asteroid would be stopped and that mankind would be saved. Others made amends for wrongs they had done throughout their lives and asked their maker to forgive them and take them to heaven when the world ceased to exist. Others wondered how their God could let something like this happen. Yes, there was a lot of bad and evil in the world but wouldn’t an all-forgiving God stop short of erasing the world and all of man. Then there were the opportunists who didn’t believe this would really happen and thought it would be a great opportunity to earn some quick and easy dollars. Construction companies began to advertise failsafe bunkers for the apocalypse and guaranteed that it would work or your money back. That seemed like a safe guarantee. Others began to horde goods and foodstuffs hoping to make a killing when these items sold out and were no longer available. Some called people asking for donations to various charities and churches, who would help mankind when their services were needed. Other people turned to a life of crime and began to rob businesses to get supplies or just because they believed the police would no longer care what was happening, since the end was near. Other shady people began to exploit the vices of people. Speakeasies began to pop up in people’s homes; prostitutes began to advertise their wares and guaranteed a fun time to be had before the end. Drug dealers began to run out of supplies as many people reverted to drugs as a means to take their minds off what was in store for mankind in June. There was order and there was non-order. Terrorist groups continued to do their thing and attacks in Europe and in the United States began to increase as the terrorists thought this would get them to heaven and with the end near, there wasn’t a lot of time to get things done.

  The days and months began to tick by and every night the national news had updates or gloomy forecasts about how things would fare out in June. Comically the Presidential Election Campaign had continued throughout 2016 as if nothing was happening and candidates continued to give their speeches while states held their primaries. An election was actually held in November and, even though the turnout was the lowest ever recorded, a winner was finally announced. The Republican candidate had won the White House and everyone thought it would be business as usual. Finally the U.S.Congress and Senate stepped in and declared that the inauguration of the New President would be pushed back to November 2017. It was argued that it made no sense to change the administration right in the middle of this crisis. President Simpson would stay at the controls of the American Government until the crisis was over or the world had ended. If things went as planned, the new President would be inaugurated in November 2017 and would serve his normal number of years as President. Although the newly elected Republican President wasn’t happy with this decision it was a done deal as far as the American Government was concerned. Most of the American populace agreed with the verdict although several Republicans believed that their elected President should be overseeing this crisis.

  The Pope and several of the religious leaders around the world asked their people to keep the faith and said that God would not abandon man in his hour of need. They said that peoples’ prayers would be heard and that the world would be saved.

  The month of April began with tragic news that there had been another series of terrorist bombings in Paris, Brussels, London and New York City and that hundreds had been killed and over two thousand seriously injured. The news agencies had a field day in covering the horrific events and the daily coverage of what the Super Asteroid was doing got second billing. It appeared that a series of coordinated bombings by ISIS had taken place in these cities and the carnage was significant. Following the bombings at each location, groups of heavily armed terrorists converged on the bomb sites further killing people and engaging the first responders and Police who responded to the scenes. After over six hours the authorities had finally declared that all the terrorists at the bombsites had been killed although it was unknown if others might be lurking in the background. People around the world were infuriated by the acts of ISIS and countries vowed to eliminate this threat by all means possible once and for all.

  Meanwhile the countries of China, India, Russia and the United States made their final preparations for the start of the May 1st rocket launches against the “Mother Asteroid.” Word from scientists and the International Space Station was that it was still maintaining its original course although there had been a very sight change in course following a collision with another large asteroid in space. It was now less than 30 days before the fireworks started in earnest.

  T-MINUS 48 HOURS

  Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida-The Falcon 9 rocket sat on the launch pad ready for its launch on May 1st. It would be the first of seven rockets equipped with nuclear devices to make an assault on the Super Asteroid. The Falcon 9 was a two-stage launch vehicle manufactured by SpaceX and initially intended to resupply the International Space Station. It had recently made history by being the first rocket to not only launch and make its supply run but to then land on a floating platform in the Atlantic so it could be reused again. It was powered by liquid oxygen and rocket grade kerosene and could carry a payload of almost 29,000 pounds. On this trip it would be carrying a specially manufactured Neutron Bomb that had been designed by the military and America’s scientists and would be the equivalent of a small thermonuclear weapon that used an intense burst of high-energy neutrons for its destructive power.

  Vandenberg Air Force Base, California-The Antares rocket sat on its launch pad in California and would take off about three hours after the Falcon 9 rocket was launched from Florida. They would arrive at the Super Asteroid within one hour of each other and deliver the initial one-two punch at it. The Antares rocket had also been manufactured by a private company and was initially designed to carry a payload of about 11,000 pounds to the International Space Station. Both the Falcon 9 and Antares had a history of successful launches however, on October 28, 2014, the Antares suffered a catastrophic problem and both the rocket and its expensive payload were totally destroyed when the vehicle exploded minutes after what appeared to be a successful launch. This required the manufacturer, Orbital Sciences Corporation, to go back to the drawing board and redesign the vehicle that had since been 100% effective in its missions.

  Yeasty Cosmodrome, Russia-The Soyuz Rocket stood majestic on its launch pad and was one of the most frequently used and reliable launch vehicles in the world. It had been used over the past several years to resupply the International Space Station after the United States had terminated its Space Shuttle program. The rocket would carry the Chagan nuclear warhead that was the second most powerful nuclear weapon ever developed by the Soviets. Russia would launch their weapon against the asteroid on May 3rd, two days after the Americans.

  Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China-China’s Long March 2F Rocket was one of the most successful rocket systems manufactured by the Chinese. On June 11, 2013, it had put Chinese astronauts into orbit and had completed over 200 missions without a single failure. It could carry the maximum payload of any rocket and so it was chosen for this special mission. The rocket would carry a nuclear warhead package weighing close to 1,200 pounds but with an explosive yield much less than the Russian and U.S. Weapons, but still extremely potent. China would launch its rocket the morning of May 5th, four days after the initial assault began.

  Salish Dhawan Space Center, Andhra Pradesh-India’s workhorse rocket, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle stood on its launch pad in northern India and reflected against the afternoon sun. It was the pride of India’s space program and had been used to place satellites into space for this developing nuclear nation. It had been launched successfully over fifty times, however, the vehicle sitting on the launch pad that day had been hastily gotten flight ready and some technicians worried about its performance on launch day, which was set for May 8th. India also had a stockpile of weapon’s grade plutonium and could muster together over one hundred nuclear weapons if it needed. Its primary threat was from Pakistan and the Indian Government had vowed to protect their nation at all costs.

  Kennedy Space Center, Florida-The mighty Saturn V Rocket rose 384 feet into the air and stood impressively on its launch pad. NASA had developed the rocket for interplanetary travel in the coming years and the older version of the mighty rocket had carried man to the moon. It had a powerful thrust fueled by liquid hydrogen and oxygen and had originally been designed to someday carry humans into orbit around an asteroid or possibly to Mars and beyond. The Saturn would carry a powerful but untested “Salted” nuclear device that was reminiscent of American’s fission-fusion-fission weapons. The idea of a cobalt bomb was nothing new and some scientists had researched the possibility of such a weapon as early as 1950. The British military had also considered such a device back in the 1950’s and tested a very modified version of the weapon that was considered a failure and the project was quickly abandoned. American scientists and military experts believed that the current weapon on the launch pad would be able to deliver a crippling, if not totally destructive blow, to the Super Asteroid. The Americans would launch their Saturn Rocket against the Super Asteroid on May 17th, if the previous five assaults were unsuccessful.

  Yasny Cosmodrome, Russia-Sitting down range from the mighty Soyuz was the pride of Russia’s new era of space exploration, the Proton, UR-500, launch vehicle. It was initially designed for both official space projects by the Russians and as a commercial vehicle that the Russian’s could offer to other countries for such things as satellite launches and other space projects. It was originally built and launched in the 1960’s and continued to be improved upon and used by the Russians for their space flights given the fact that it was one of the most successful launch systems they had ever developed. It had been initially designed to be used as a weapon of mass destruction and could carry a nuclear warhead in the 100-megaton range. It could reach every country in the world and was considered a very serious threat to not only the Americans but also most of Europe and China during the Cold War Era. Once the Cold War ended the Russians had shifted its use to space exploration, however, a few were kept on hand as a nuclear deterrent. The Proton would carry the Tsar Bomba or RDS-220 military nuclear warhead. The Russians had tested this weapon just once and it was believed to be the most powerful nuclear weapon ever designed, built and tested by man. It was a three-stage hydrogen bomb that had the explosive power equivalent to ten times that of all the bombs and explosives used in World War II combined. The explosion could generate a heat wave that was capable of causing third degree burns to people over 60 miles away from ground zero. Even the Russians believed that this weapon was too powerful to be used in any military confrontation although it was a prime candidate for the attack on the “Mother Asteroid.” The Russians would be the last to attack the asteroid on May 24th.

  Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida-The Space Shuttle Atlantis had been taken out of mothballs and was now space ready. It would be moved onto its launch pad following the American’s initial launch on May 1st. The Shuttle would be equipped with SRBs that would hurl it into earth’s orbit and then separate from the mother ship. The Shuttle would then propel itself toward the International Space Station, where it would dock and await developments concerning the asteroid and other rocket launches. If the initial seven assaults were successful, Atlantis would return to earth and land in California at Vandenberg Air Force base. If the initial launches and impacts were all a failure the Space Shuttle would detach from the International Space Station on June 6th and fly toward the Super Asteroid, which at that time would be entering the earth’s solar system. The Atlantis had been equipped with six new nuclear SAM air-to-air missiles codenamed “Genie”. The missiles were an entirely new generation of missiles that had been developed especially for this mission and would be equipped with tactical nuclear warheads. The shuttle would also carry a cobalt nuclear device in its cargo bay which, would be armed as a last resort if the asteroid was still unscathed by all previous rockets and missiles. The Shuttle would then move on a direct collision course with the asteroid in a last ditch effort to accomplish the mission of nudging it off course from a direct impact with the earth. The Astronauts on board had taken this mission even though they realized it might be their very last. They believed that saving the earth was a higher priority and they wanted their families and mankind to be able to survive this assault by the Super Asteroid.

  Everything was in place at T-minus 36 hours and crews at first two rocket launch sites began the fueling of their rockets, last minute checks of the engines and launch systems and military technicians began the tricky task of arming the nuclear devices so that they would be ready for their rendezvous with the Super Asteroid.

  At T-minus 60 minutes all systems were go at Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base. Systems were checked and double-checked and at T-30 minutes everything appeared ready for launch. The effort to save the earth and mankind was about to begin.

  WE HAVE A LAUNCH

  The initial countdowns started about 70 hours before the scheduled launch. Personnel from NASA and the military loaded the nuclear payloads and began the fueling of the propellants that would launch the Falcon and Antares Rockets on their way to the Super Asteroid. The communications center at Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base began their last minute checks on the systems of both rockets and ran diagnostic checks on all their sensors. Launch personnel had been monitoring the weather for the launch window and so far everything was a GO for a launch on schedule. The areas around both vehicles were completely secured by additional military police so that no one could attempt to interfere with the launch. Some intelligence chatter had been picked up from ISIS about a possible attack on either the bases or the rockets once they were airborne. Fighter jets and heavily armed helicopters patrolled the corridor around both bases and a no fly zone as well as a no trespassing zone on land had been set up days before the launch.

 

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