Dark Star Rising Second Edition (Pebbles in The Sky) (37 page)

An elderly gentleman, who had to be in his eighties
, stepped into the living room and held out his hand. “General it is good to meet you.  I understand you are not talking to reporters or anyone else for that matter, so I appreciate you seeing me,” he said as he shook the general’s hand.  “Do you mind if I sit down?  Unfortunately, my knees and hips are not what they used to be when I was a younger man.”  Mrs. Walden cleared a place for the man on the sofa and he slowly sat down grimacing in discomfort as he did so.  She started to leave them but the man motioned for her to stay and sit.  “Actually I want to speak to both of you, so please stay my dear.”

The General could not place the man; he looked familiar but he just could not put a name to his face.  He sat down beside his wife and said, “I am sorry; you have me at a disadvantage.  I think I have met you before, but I cannot remember your name.”

The old man laughed.  “You probably have not seen or heard of me for about sixteen years.  That was the last time I did anything that would have caused my name to be mentioned by anyone I am afraid.  I have been in retirement and somewhat of a recluse since then.  I think the last time I spoke in public was at the funeral for our late President Montgomery.”

The General was frustrated, he knew he should know this man, but just could not make the connection. His wife saved him.  “Elliott Dewy, your Elliott Dewy, you were the Chief of Staff for President Montgomery.”

The old man nodded and laughed. “Her two terms as well as for the president before her also.  I am afraid that age is catching up with me, I started losing my boyish good looks quite a few years ago.”

Recognition came to the General at last.  “I remember now, I was at the funeral for President Montgomery, you gave the Eulogy.”

“Yes I did. Paula Montgomery was a remarkable woman, a very good President, as well as an old friend.  I miss her terribly.  She was a true believer in doing what was best for the citizens of our country and managed to keep her head clear of that quagmire that is our capitol.”

“And that General, is why I am here.  I am the last person living that was on the senior staff for her administration.  I want to see her legacy survive
. And most of all, I want to see the country that she loved so dearly survive the cataclysm that approaches.”

“Mr. Dewey, the scientists have assured us that the world will not end when the approaching dwarf passes us.  We are in for some hard times but the human race will survive,” General Walden said.

“General, you misunderstand me; I am not talking about the survival of the human race here, although that may also be at risk.  I fear for the survival of our country and what it stands for.”

“What do you mean
, Mr. Dewey?” asked Mrs. Walden.  “What can we possibly do to help you that has anything to do with the late President Montgomery?”

Mr. Dewey looked closely at them.  “Who do you think is going to win the presidential race in November?”

“That pompous asshole Senator Gonzales pretty much has it wrapped up,” said the General.  “Neither of the other two candidates has a chance.”

“I take it that you do not approve of the Senator?” asked Mr. Dewy.

General Walden grunted. “Hell, he is about as crooked as they come.  He has so many lobbyists lining his pockets that they could never be sorted out.  It will not be easy taking orders from him after he is elected.”

  But I am willing to bet that you would though, right?” asked Elliott Dewey.

The General nodded.  “Unless he tries to declare martial law, then I will resign as I said.”

“That would please him immensely
, General,” said Elliott.  “Then he could replace you with someone that would eat out of his hand and not get up and make very patriotic speeches on TV that make him look like the snake he really is.”

“Off the record, I believe you are right Mr. Dewey,” said the General. “He is the worst possible person that could be elected president for the next few years.  His type of leadership would guarantee that all that is great about our country would be lost during the passing of the Dwarf.  First, he would declare martial law, then he would extend it, and then extend it again, and soon the constitution would be shelved for the good of the people. Before you know it, we would find ourselves with a dictator.”

“You are right General Walden,” Elliott said.  “None of the other candidates have a chance of beating him.  I am afraid that all of the things that Paula Montgomery believed in when she started preparing our country for the coming of the Dwarf Star will be for naught.  I can foresee this country falling into civil war if he is elected. If that happens, our Space Borne Defense Forces will be recalled and all those preparations for protecting our planet will be lost.  Then, all it will take is one good size asteroid to wipe the entire human race out.  Catastrophe is our destiny if he wins the election.  You can see it just as well as I.” General Walden sat quietly in thought and said nothing.

“There is an alternative though,” said Elliott. “What this county needs is a leader to see it through the encounter and the years immediately after it.  We do not need a politician who has his nose up every lobbyist’s ass in New Washington, but a true leader.  We need
someone who believes in our constitution and all that makes this country great. That leader is you General Walden.”

“There is no way I am going to run for president,” said the General as he stood and walked over to the window to look out.  He pulled the curtain back and pointed at the small mob of people out in the street with their Walden for President Signs.  “Just look at all those kooks out there.”

“Those people are not as big a bunch of kooks as you think them to be General.  Those are people who are afraid and know what this country needs.  They know they do not want Senator Gonzales and his cronies in power.  They can recognize what a real leader looks and acts like.  This country needs you General, and needs you badly in order to survive intact as we go through the encounter.”

“I am not a politician,” said the General.  “I know nothing about running a country.  Give me a damned division of armor and an enemy I can see and I will win that battle. I can do that, but that is not the same as running a country.”

Exasperated, Elliott spoke up. “General, if you gave a command to a pilot of a fighter jet to shoot down an enemy bomber, you are not telling them how to do it.  Do you know how to fly that jet, or how to launch that missile?  Do you know how to build that plane or missile? Of course not, you are being a leader, which is what you are trained for and very good at.  You give an order and the people under you with the technical knowledge, experience, and know how follow those orders and it gets done.  Being President is the same way.  You do not personally have to do everything.  You have a trained team to help do things just as you have a general staff to help you control different commands and resources under you in your present position as Chief of Staff of the military.  It is not exactly the same, but the same principles apply.”

“The people of this country see you as a strong leader and that is what they want and need.  They are afraid General.  It is not that evident yet, but you wait until the Dwarf becomes visible to the naked eye and they can see it in the sky.  Then, you will see how afraid they are.  They need a leader that they feel they can trust and get them through this.  Whether you like it or not, right now you are that leader.  You are in this place and at this time to do this.  You can call it pre-ordained if you are religious, or fate, or just plain luck, but the time is now and the person that can do this is you.  There is no one else.”

Dana Walden got up and walked over to her husband and put her arms around him.  “Hans, you are that person.  The man I married was not afraid of anything.  He had strong ideals and always stood by them.  When I married you I promised to stand by your side.  It does not matter if you are in the military, a construction worker, or the president.  As long as you stick to your ideals, and be the man I fell in love with, I will stand with you.”

General Walden hugged his wife and gave a big sigh. “I would not even know where to start to run for president.”

“You do not need to know how General.  I am too old to get into politics again, but I do know some very trustworthy people who share the same values that President Montgomery, you, and I share.  They would like nothing else but to see the work that has been started seen through to completion.  They want this country to come though this ordeal intact.  We are going to be living in a brave new world in a few years General, and we need a brave leader to guide the way.  Did you know that an election campaign fund was started by some anonymous donors last week in the hope that you would run?  The fund already has over seven billion dollars in it.”

The General looked dumbfounded. “You have got to be kidding me!”

“No General, I am not.  That shows that there are lots of people who sincerely want you to enter and win this election.  You give me the word General, and I can start the ball rolling to organize you a staff and get your election campaign rolling. All you have to do is resign your position and retire from the military.  Then, you can announce you are entering the presidential race and we can enjoy watching Senator Gonzales start sweating.”

             
General Walden looked his wife in the eyes.  She nodded and gave him a hug.  “All right Mr. Dewey, let’s do this,” the General sighed.

Chapter 43

December 4
th
, 2038

Houston, Texas

Peter sat in his observation seat at the back of one of the JPL control rooms.  This particular control room had been set aside and set up for the control and tracking of the Elpis Probe.  The probe was being launched today toward the approaching Brown Dwarf and would settle into an orbit around the planet Elpis as it was entering the solar system.  The probe was probably the most sophisticated unmanned satellite that mankind had ever launched.  What made it so remarkable was its propulsion and shielding systems.  Using a very compact, but extremely powerful fission powered VASIMR thruster the probe would reach a maximum velocity that would give it the distinction of the fastest object that man had ever created.

The probe would not win any drag race as it would only accelerate at about a hundredth of a G, but it would keep up that acceleration for almost one and one half years before it flipped around and started using its thruster to decelerate.  At mid-course turnover, it would be going almost four percent the speed of light.  That speed is what dictated the other special feature of the probe.  It would be projecting a strong energized electromagnetic field ahead of it.  At the speed it would be traveling, an object as small as one millimeter across could destroy the probe if they collided.  The probe projected a shield about one hundred meters ahead of it that was theoretically able to deflect objects up to a millimeter across.  Anything larger than that would most likely penetrate and destroy the probe.

Robby Tully, one of the computer geek twins of the Brown Dwarf team who had been advancing up the ranks of JPL, was in charge of this particular probe mission.  It was his baby, and he was pacing back and forth behind his mission controllers as the probe neared launch time.  The probe was going to be released from a orbital tug near space station Alpha and as soon as the tug was clear her thruster would be lit up.  There was still about twenty minutes until launch time so the mood, though professional, was relaxed.  Bobbi Tully, Robby’s twin sister sat back in the observation room with Peter.  This was her brother’s
show and she did not want to intrude upon it.  She had just returned from maternity leave and had missed a great deal of the final mission preparation, so she was not a part of this mission team.

“So Peter,” said Bobbi.  “How you think this secessionist talk is going to affect us here in Houston.”

“What do you mean?” asked Peter.

“Well, since Senator Gonzales lost the election to Hans Walden, he is really pushing for Texas and several of the other southwestern states to secede from the United States and merge with Mexico to form a new country.  We are in Houston, which is part of Texas, you know.  We could wake up one day being Mexican instead of United States citizens.”

Peter frowned.  “That would not be good for the United States.  A very large part of the industry from the northern states has been re-located here and a lot of the overseas companies that have moved back to the states have set up shop here as well.  I really hope that he cannot convince any of the states to attempt to secede.  That would probably start another civil war because I do not think that President Walden would let them leave without a fight.  These southwestern states are just too important to our country.”

“Ten minutes to thruster ignition, all monitoring personnel standby,” was announced across the speaker system.

“It really bothers me,” said Bobbi.  “I want my only child to be a US citizen.  I do not want to have to move to another state to ensure that he will remain an American.  I really have started to like it here in Texas.”

“Having to move would probably be the least of our worries,” said Peter.  The country, without Texas and the rest of the southwest, would be too small to afford the space program.  Who would finance the Space Force and ensure that our planet is protected from rogue asteroids after the encounter?  Somebody needs to put a sock in that Senator’s mouth.  I do not know if you could consider his rhetoric treasonous or not, but it sure is stirring the pot in the wrong direction.”