Read Online 2084 The End of Days by Derek Beaugarde - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Derek Beaugarde
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your Israeli muck up his co-ordinates but in doing so he actually stumbled onto something new and he doesn’t even know it?”
“You’ve got it in one, Jill.”
“So what have you called this new heavenly body - the Sinclair-Mackintosh Comet?”
Before he had stopped to think Ewan replied.
“No - Schenkler’s Comet –“
Gary dug Ewan painfully in the ribs.
“Too much info, Ewan –“
As Ewan rubbed his sore spot Jill came back at them.
“Look, guys, if there is a story in this, which I am now happier that there is, then I need to know everything. Okay? So who is Schenkler? Let me guess – he is your Israeli friend…?”
“Well, Jill, Gary and I thought – well, in a way Schenkler was the first to discover the comet. We thought we would give him his place. Look I know you’re pressed for time, but there’s more to it. Have you got a couple more minutes?”
“Go on, Ewan, you’ve got me hooked now.”
“Okay, so we have definitely found a new comet. Using Schenkler’s limited piece of footage I have been able to construct a computer simulation model of the comet and its trajectory. As I’ve said its core is composed mainly of rock and ice. The core is roughly one and half times the size of Pluto – 1.515 actually, so it is quite sizeable. It has a tail of ice particles extending in towards the Sun’s gravitational pull, something in the order of one and a half to two million kilometres from its core. Here’s the thing – using the model, which as I’ve said is only based on Schenkler’s limited photographic data, I have computed this comet is going to pass Earth spectacularly closely in late May 2084. It will shine even brighter than the Moon in the night sky!”
Jill, ever the optimistic journalist, hit back with the 64,000 dollar question.
“Is there any chance this thing could hit Earth?”
“I would certainly need a lot more data than 2 minutes. But on my computer model the parameters of proximity of the comet’s core to Earth in 2084 are going to be between 3.8 million kilometres away and 1.5 million kilometres as a closest approximation. So it does not look like it will collide with Earth – but it will be spectacularly close. There is also a more than good probability that the planet will suffer some pretty extensive collateral damage as we are going to be pretty close to the tip of the comet’s tail. Earth’s gravity is likely to attract some pretty hefty meteor showers probably starting around mid-February 2084.”
Jill picked up the photos, her ice-blue eyes now sparkling with excitement. She was already dreaming up the banner headlines – SCOTS ASTROLOGER DISCOVERS NEW COMET – NEAR MISS WITH PLANET EARTH IN 2084!
“Well, why didn’t you tell me that in the first place? I think we really do have a story now, don’t we? Look, I really need to go. But I’ll put this past my boss – and, yes, Gary – I will talk money with him. In the meantime you guys put everything you’ve got together and I’ll be in touch by mobile – no later than the day after tomorrow. One last question though? How did you come by all this info? Was it a reliable source within the field of space science that passed this data on to you?”
Ewan and Gary looked at each other, then Gary slowly raised his hand as if asking Jill for permission to speak.
“I, eh, guess that’s where ah come in, Jill...”
Jill’s journalistic nose informed her immediately to the situation.
“Oh, don’t tell me – not hacking?”
“Ah’m afraid so.”
“Who have you hacked, Gary?”
“NASA…”
Jill jumped up angrily.
“Sorry guys! I can’t touch it. My boss would crucify me –“
Gary stood up and placed calming hands on Jill’s shoulder to make her sit down again.
“Just listen for one sec. We have a plan, Jill. We know you can’t go straight to press with a hacked story - especially one from NASA. What we do is give you all the stuff as an exclusive to your online Bloid. You have
“You’ve got it in one, Jill.”
“So what have you called this new heavenly body - the Sinclair-Mackintosh Comet?”
Before he had stopped to think Ewan replied.
“No - Schenkler’s Comet –“
Gary dug Ewan painfully in the ribs.
“Too much info, Ewan –“
As Ewan rubbed his sore spot Jill came back at them.
“Look, guys, if there is a story in this, which I am now happier that there is, then I need to know everything. Okay? So who is Schenkler? Let me guess – he is your Israeli friend…?”
“Well, Jill, Gary and I thought – well, in a way Schenkler was the first to discover the comet. We thought we would give him his place. Look I know you’re pressed for time, but there’s more to it. Have you got a couple more minutes?”
“Go on, Ewan, you’ve got me hooked now.”
“Okay, so we have definitely found a new comet. Using Schenkler’s limited piece of footage I have been able to construct a computer simulation model of the comet and its trajectory. As I’ve said its core is composed mainly of rock and ice. The core is roughly one and half times the size of Pluto – 1.515 actually, so it is quite sizeable. It has a tail of ice particles extending in towards the Sun’s gravitational pull, something in the order of one and a half to two million kilometres from its core. Here’s the thing – using the model, which as I’ve said is only based on Schenkler’s limited photographic data, I have computed this comet is going to pass Earth spectacularly closely in late May 2084. It will shine even brighter than the Moon in the night sky!”
Jill, ever the optimistic journalist, hit back with the 64,000 dollar question.
“Is there any chance this thing could hit Earth?”
“I would certainly need a lot more data than 2 minutes. But on my computer model the parameters of proximity of the comet’s core to Earth in 2084 are going to be between 3.8 million kilometres away and 1.5 million kilometres as a closest approximation. So it does not look like it will collide with Earth – but it will be spectacularly close. There is also a more than good probability that the planet will suffer some pretty extensive collateral damage as we are going to be pretty close to the tip of the comet’s tail. Earth’s gravity is likely to attract some pretty hefty meteor showers probably starting around mid-February 2084.”
Jill picked up the photos, her ice-blue eyes now sparkling with excitement. She was already dreaming up the banner headlines – SCOTS ASTROLOGER DISCOVERS NEW COMET – NEAR MISS WITH PLANET EARTH IN 2084!
“Well, why didn’t you tell me that in the first place? I think we really do have a story now, don’t we? Look, I really need to go. But I’ll put this past my boss – and, yes, Gary – I will talk money with him. In the meantime you guys put everything you’ve got together and I’ll be in touch by mobile – no later than the day after tomorrow. One last question though? How did you come by all this info? Was it a reliable source within the field of space science that passed this data on to you?”
Ewan and Gary looked at each other, then Gary slowly raised his hand as if asking Jill for permission to speak.
“I, eh, guess that’s where ah come in, Jill...”
Jill’s journalistic nose informed her immediately to the situation.
“Oh, don’t tell me – not hacking?”
“Ah’m afraid so.”
“Who have you hacked, Gary?”
“NASA…”
Jill jumped up angrily.
“Sorry guys! I can’t touch it. My boss would crucify me –“
Gary stood up and placed calming hands on Jill’s shoulder to make her sit down again.
“Just listen for one sec. We have a plan, Jill. We know you can’t go straight to press with a hacked story - especially one from NASA. What we do is give you all the stuff as an exclusive to your online Bloid. You have
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