Read Online 2084 The End of Days by Derek Beaugarde - Free Book Online
Authors: Derek Beaugarde
Ads: Link
first.
“Eh, before Ewan does his spiel, Jill, ah just want to say that we did not just rattle down to London for a birl on the London Eye and catch up wi’ old friends. What you are about to hear is priceless. In fact, Jill, ah take that back – what you are about to hear has its price, if you know what ah mean?”
“Look, guys, I’m in the press business so don’t try and teach your granny to suck eggs. If you have a genuine story then I am prepared to discuss a price with my boss. The final say lies with him.”
Although, fat chance of a big pay out, Jill thought. Buckley was as tight as a duck’s arse when it came to paying for any story never mind an exclusive. Ewan spoke up at last.
“Gary, let me tell Jill what we have come down for, okay?”
“Okay – but, Jill – you get nothin’ for nothin’!”
Ewan waved his hand agitatedly for Gary to shut up.
“Jill, we’re here to see you because something has come into our hands - information - which has potentially global ramifications. And I’m talking global, Jill –“
“I’m listening…”
“Well, the first thing that came into our possession was an email from a high-ranking Israeli astrophysicist. He is working on a joint US – Israeli deep space astronomy project…“
“Do you mean Nimrod?”
“You’ve heard of it?”
“Boys, what kind a journalist do you think I am - a buckin’ Mickey Mouse one?”
“Sorry, Jill - yes, it is the Nimrod Star Hunter 2 programme. Well, for some unknown reason this guy in Tel Aviv punched in some erroneous digits and he sent the telescope spinning to view the wrong part of space. Shall we say inner-space rather than deep-space? A very costly budget mistake on his part…”
Jill looked at Ewan contemplatively.
“Do you have the email?”
Gary interrupted again.
“Course we do – but that comes along with the money!”
Ewan was irritated.
“Gary, let me do the talking. We can trust Jill totally on this. As Gary said, we do have the email. I wasn’t so sure if there was enough collateral in the email for you to make a story out of it. However, Gary’s view is that - because the Yanks are so intertwined with the Israelis, not just on this SH2 project, but economically, politically and defensively – then if a screw-up like this could happen on this guy’s watch, who’s to say the same thing couldn’t happen in some Israeli Nuclear bunker? What with the Israelis sitting nuke to nuke across the fence from the LOIN and the US having played it softly-softly all these years to maintain the peace in the Middle East? You know what I’m saying or is that just a load of old tosh?”
Jill pursed her lips thoughtfully and looked at Gary.
“No, not really, I think Gary’s got a point. There are the bones of a story in there…”
Gary was triumphant.
“See, ah told ye Ewan!”
Jill continued.
“But Ewan, you said that was just the first thing?”
Gary nudged Ewan excitedly. He also quickly glanced at his monitor. The Bloodhound programme still showed all clear.
“Tell her, Ewan. Tell, Jill!”
Ewan bent down and pulled out some papers from his satchel, which was placed on the floor beside his seat. He glanced around furtively. Everyone around seemed engrossed on their laptops. Ewan pushed the papers in front of Jill and she could see that they were what looked like grainy large black photographs. Jill could not make anything much of the pictures and gave another puzzled look towards the boys.
“You’ll need to help me out here, guys. Is this our global story?”
Gary gave Ewan an excited prod to gee things up a bit. Ewan spoke slowly and deliberately.
“Jill, this is a set of still photos taken from the Nimrod SH2 during the two or so minutes when it was misdirected by our pal in Tel Aviv. I have studied the footage about a million times in the last few days and from what I have interpreted I am fairly excited –“
Jill looked down at what just looked like a mass of black on
“Eh, before Ewan does his spiel, Jill, ah just want to say that we did not just rattle down to London for a birl on the London Eye and catch up wi’ old friends. What you are about to hear is priceless. In fact, Jill, ah take that back – what you are about to hear has its price, if you know what ah mean?”
“Look, guys, I’m in the press business so don’t try and teach your granny to suck eggs. If you have a genuine story then I am prepared to discuss a price with my boss. The final say lies with him.”
Although, fat chance of a big pay out, Jill thought. Buckley was as tight as a duck’s arse when it came to paying for any story never mind an exclusive. Ewan spoke up at last.
“Gary, let me tell Jill what we have come down for, okay?”
“Okay – but, Jill – you get nothin’ for nothin’!”
Ewan waved his hand agitatedly for Gary to shut up.
“Jill, we’re here to see you because something has come into our hands - information - which has potentially global ramifications. And I’m talking global, Jill –“
“I’m listening…”
“Well, the first thing that came into our possession was an email from a high-ranking Israeli astrophysicist. He is working on a joint US – Israeli deep space astronomy project…“
“Do you mean Nimrod?”
“You’ve heard of it?”
“Boys, what kind a journalist do you think I am - a buckin’ Mickey Mouse one?”
“Sorry, Jill - yes, it is the Nimrod Star Hunter 2 programme. Well, for some unknown reason this guy in Tel Aviv punched in some erroneous digits and he sent the telescope spinning to view the wrong part of space. Shall we say inner-space rather than deep-space? A very costly budget mistake on his part…”
Jill looked at Ewan contemplatively.
“Do you have the email?”
Gary interrupted again.
“Course we do – but that comes along with the money!”
Ewan was irritated.
“Gary, let me do the talking. We can trust Jill totally on this. As Gary said, we do have the email. I wasn’t so sure if there was enough collateral in the email for you to make a story out of it. However, Gary’s view is that - because the Yanks are so intertwined with the Israelis, not just on this SH2 project, but economically, politically and defensively – then if a screw-up like this could happen on this guy’s watch, who’s to say the same thing couldn’t happen in some Israeli Nuclear bunker? What with the Israelis sitting nuke to nuke across the fence from the LOIN and the US having played it softly-softly all these years to maintain the peace in the Middle East? You know what I’m saying or is that just a load of old tosh?”
Jill pursed her lips thoughtfully and looked at Gary.
“No, not really, I think Gary’s got a point. There are the bones of a story in there…”
Gary was triumphant.
“See, ah told ye Ewan!”
Jill continued.
“But Ewan, you said that was just the first thing?”
Gary nudged Ewan excitedly. He also quickly glanced at his monitor. The Bloodhound programme still showed all clear.
“Tell her, Ewan. Tell, Jill!”
Ewan bent down and pulled out some papers from his satchel, which was placed on the floor beside his seat. He glanced around furtively. Everyone around seemed engrossed on their laptops. Ewan pushed the papers in front of Jill and she could see that they were what looked like grainy large black photographs. Jill could not make anything much of the pictures and gave another puzzled look towards the boys.
“You’ll need to help me out here, guys. Is this our global story?”
Gary gave Ewan an excited prod to gee things up a bit. Ewan spoke slowly and deliberately.
“Jill, this is a set of still photos taken from the Nimrod SH2 during the two or so minutes when it was misdirected by our pal in Tel Aviv. I have studied the footage about a million times in the last few days and from what I have interpreted I am fairly excited –“
Jill looked down at what just looked like a mass of black on
Similar Books
