The Sky is Falling Read online

  Once out of class, Anna smacked him on the arm.

  “That was so gross, Jeremy. What is wrong with you?”

  “I had to do it. She dared me.”

  “She didn’t!”

  “In her own way she did.”

  “Well, maybe. So what do you think about Jasper’s?”

  “Maybe. I told my Dad that I’d help him out at work, so if we finish quickly enough, I’ll go.”

  “I’m counting that as a yes. Better not disappoint,” Anna teased.

  Jeremy and Anna kissed, and they went their separate ways—Anna to U.S. Government, and Jeremy to AP Biology. AP Biology was Jeremy’s least favorite class because he knew nobody in it. He drifted in and out of paying attention, and one time he had to shake himself awake to keep himself from falling asleep.

  “Jeremy!” Mr. Del Piero yelled. “Are you with us?”

  “Yes, Mr. Del Piero,” Jeremy replied, coming out of a deep daydream about those books like The Lightning Thief or Harry Potter, where the unsuspecting high school student is surprised to learn he actually possesses superpowers. Jeremy liked to pretend he was one of those guys.

  “As I was saying,” Mr. Del Piero mused, “the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction occurred around sixty-six billion years ago. We know this event is what caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, but we don’t know what exactly caused this event. The strongest evidence, however, is that there was a large impact event on the surface of the Earth that caused massive volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and drastically changed the temperature of the Earth, which caused almost all prehistoric species to die. There are also other theories . . . ”

  Jeremy fell back asleep, unable to hold his eyelids up any longer. When the bell rang and Jeremy woke up, he happily realized it was fifth period, which meant that he had a ten-minute break. And since he had two free periods it was the end of his school day!

  It was strange, there were only ten minutes in between classes, but somehow almost the entire school found the time to socialize. It had always fascinated Jeremy.

  Jeremy walked past the Goths, the Jocks, the Hipsters, the Stoners, the Rednecks, the Druggies, the Drama Kids, the Nerds, the Christians, the Muslims, and many more. Jeremy was a little in with the Nerds, the Jocks, and the Drama Kids. There wasn’t a real “Cool Kids” group like in the movies, but Jeremy was cool by association from his girlfriend, Anna. Anna was the queen of the school. She was also the actual Homecoming Queen, which helped, but she had that cool aura about her—the kind of contagious kindness that is usually absent from the beautiful people of the world. She had won two genetic lotteries—brains and looks. Some of her friendliness leaked off on Jeremy, as boyfriend to the Queen, but he was much too nerdy to truly be one of the cool kids. His best friend, Dustin, was a Drama Kid, which automatically made him weird and crazy. Dustin was a true friend, loyal to the last lion.

  As if on cue, Dustin walked over and fist-bumped Jeremy.

  “She’s pretty cute, huh?” Dustin said, motioning at Karina, a girl in their grade who was friends with Anna.

  “Yeah, I guess,” Jeremy answered.

  “See you at the party tonight?”

  “I don’t know. I have to work.”

  “Then come after, it’s not like there’s anything going on on Tuesday anyway.”

  “Good point,” Jeremy replied.

  They fist-bumped again, and in a flash Dustin ran over to Karina, who sat with a few friends under an oak tree.

  Jeremy walked down the steps out of the school, then to the parking lot, where he pulled out his lanyard. He swung it from his fingers.

  Jeremy was almost six feet tall, and his doctor said he’d get to six-foot-two. He couldn’t wait for that. He privately hoped it would happen before basketball season, but knew in his mind that it wouldn’t. He climbed into his Subaru Outback (which definitely downgraded his cool) and began to get excited. He had been waiting for this for an entire week.

  Jeremy’s father, Earl Genser, was a well-established independent contractor in the Houston area, and a month ago he had secured perhaps the biggest job of his career. Genser Lighting specialized in commercial lighting systems, but without that “hospital” feel. Jeremy’s dad had let his son work on the electrical systems since he was a boy, and Jeremy had gotten more than a few nasty shocks from it. Nevertheless, he’d always enjoyed the work. Because of his father’s tutelage, Jeremy had been admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Holy Mecca for Nerds.

  Jeremy raced home, excited to work for his father.

  “Hey, Jay,” his father said when he opened the front door. “It’s a big day today, and since you are now eighteen, I have a surprise for you.”

  “Is it a new car?”

  Earl laughed while folding up the newspaper he was reading. “Wishful thinking, son. But, I have decided to pay you the standard hourly rate for your services. Now that you are of age, and have proven yourself a good lighting contractor, I will let you work for standard pay, instead of the usual pay.”

  Jeremy smirked. “Usual pay? You don’t ever pay me anything!”

  “As I have always said: room and board. You’ve been living under my roof for eighteen years and—”

  “Yeah, yeah, Dad. I know.”

  Earl laughed boisterously. He was not a skinny man, nor a tall one. Jeremy guessed he got his height from his mother, a black-haired woman of six-foot-one.

  “Well, Jay,” Earl put an arm around Jeremy, “now you become a man.”

  Jeremy had thought he was a man long before his father told him, but then again he was pretty sure most eighteen-year-old boys thought the same thing. Jeremy hopped into his father’s Dodge Ram and they sped off into the Houston traffic for the Johnson Space Center.

  Jeremy walked around the glorious main lobby in awe, even though the JSC had seen better days. Private competition from companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin were threatening NASA, but it still held much of its former glory. There were odes to NASA’s various missions, like a scale model of Columbia, the command module of the Apollo 11 mission, the first manned ship to the Moon. Scientists were everywhere, all looking on their phones or speaking into them or reading from pieces of paper. It was amazing they didn’t all run into each other. Maybe the scientists had eyes in the backs of their heads, or maybe on top would be more appropriate, since so many heads were bent down to their phones.

  Jeremy was put to work immediately by his father, who put him in charge of the most onerous part of the job: climbing into the attic area above the ceiling and running the wiring to and from each lighting fixture.

  “Why me, Dad?”

  “Because you are skinny as a twig, Jer, and none of my guys can fit as comfortably as you.” Another boisterous laugh came from Earl.

  Jeremy sighed. At least he would get to watch scientists from above. Maybe he would even try to scare a few. He tried whispering, “God is watching,” to a few passing underneath, but he didn’t speak loud enough for them to hear him.

  Jeremy was still stuck in the ceiling at around six p.m. when his father called up to him.

  “Alright Jeremy, good work today. I’m impressed!”

  “Thanks, Dad!”

  “Come down and we’ll go grab some burritos before we head home.”

  “Sounds good.”

  With that, Jeremy climbed down from the thin ceiling and stepped precariously onto the ladder. Suddenly three scientists, two men and a trailing woman, ran past the ladder. The sudden gust almost caused Jeremy to fall, and his father yelled, “Hey, watch it!” The scientists paid no attention. In fact, it looked like they hadn’t noticed anything at all.

  “That was weird,” Jeremy said as he stepped back down on the ground.

  “Engineers. They aren’t really good with people,” Earl said, putting his arm around his son, “That’s why you’re going to do so great at MIT, Jeremy. You know how to talk to people.”

  As with all of his father’s compliments, he could only say t
hank you and try not to get red in the face, which of course he did anyway.

  They drove up the Gulf Freeway and stopped off at Rodrigo’s, a Mexican restaurant known for its spectacular burritos. Jeremy wolfed down his burrito like only a teenage boy can (under thirty-nine seconds was his record without vomiting). Then he drove home and showered as quickly as possible before heading out for the night.

  Suri looked at herself in her bathroom mirror, thinking about what she should wear. Normally it didn’t take her this long, but today was an important day. The Secretary of State, Nicholas Brighton, would touch down in Houston in under two hours. It was her job, along with Robert and Dr. Goldberg, to brief him on the comet they had found, Comet J312. After that, they would have a video call with the President of the United States, Victoria Chaplin. Just two years ago, Suri was a senior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, living in Boston, and very much ignorant of what she should do with her life. Now she was about to meet Nicholas Brighton and—albeit virtually—the President of the United States.

  This made her very anxious, and she looked through her supply of clothes for the right pantsuit. Her normal clothes choice of jeans and a geeky T-Shirt would be a bit informal, so she really only had a couple of options. She dug in the back of her closet to find something respectable, settling on gray pleated pants, a white blouse, and a matching gray blazer.

  She decided not to make lunch, and coffee was out of the question, since her heart was already beating out of her chest. Taylor Swift was playing on the radio: “Bad Blood.” Her heart didn’t stop beating fast even when she sat in the typical Houston traffic, listening to Taylor’s melodic voice coupled with the angry car horns outside.

  Robert had told her to meet him in his office when she arrived on Monday, and they would go over their brief before the Secretary of State arrived. The JSC looked a bit different than when she had left it on Friday. There were more security guards, and people with earpieces and expensive-looking suits were stationed everywhere. They spoke in hushed tones and stood stoically.

  “Good morning,” Suri said when she walked into Robert’s office.

  “Suri, good morning. Your work on the comet was very well done. I am impressed.”

  Robert looked like he hadn’t showered since Friday. His white hair was even more unkempt than usual, and papers were strewn all around his desk.

  “Are you ready for the presentation?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Suri said nervously. Even thinking about having to speak publicly made her feel nauseous. She continued, “Do you think maybe you could do my part of the presentation? I mean, I’m not too comf—”

  “No. You will do it.”

  The finality with which Robert spoke made Suri smile and for some reason made her a little less nervous.

  “Okay.”

  “Suri, you’re competent, you are a decent communicator, and most of all, you are smart. We are dealing with professional politicians here. You’re much smarter than them. We just have to get them to understand that we need money to do our jobs. From now until twenty-eight months from now, we have a new job: save the world.”

  “I don’t think you’re helping my anxiety, sir . . . ” Suri stammered, but Robert ignored her.

  “Kind of exciting, isn’t it? We, right now, have the ability and the skills to save the entire world. It’s not often that the work of astrophysicists is life-and-death. It actually never is, except now. Now all we need is someone to believe in us. Just think of it as that. Some people are coming, and they want to give us money.”

  “Um, okay.”

  “They just also happen to be the leaders of the free world!” Robert exclaimed.

  “Now you’re definitely not helping.” Suri grimaced.

  At that moment, one of the expensive-looking suits walked in the door, mentioned that they were due to be in the general conference room in ten minutes, and walked out. After a little more preparation, Suri and Robert headed out.

  Suri watched Robert walk purposefully under a construction ladder on the way. A balding contractor standing on the penultimate step swore at him for jostling the ladder.

  “You know that’s bad luck!” Dr. Goldberg, NASA’s Chief Scientist, called. Dr. Goldberg was a few paces behind them as he tried to catch up.

  “Any luck is good luck,” Robert replied.

  “Don’t they always tell you to imagine everyone naked in the crowd, to make public speaking easier?” Suri wondered aloud, trying not to freak out.

  “If it helps,” Dr. Goldberg said, smiling.

  Robert was a man on a mission. He had not felt this alive in a long while, though it felt now that he alternated between aggressively attacking the end of the world, and finding it hopeless. He spent the better part of Friday night and Saturday morning drinking himself into a stupor, but on Sunday he had awoken with a fire in him. He had spent long hours devising a strategy. Walking under the ladder was just a personal “screw you” to God. We won’t let bad luck stand in our way. Not even a comet can stop the human race. We will overcome, he thought. We must.

  He walked into the conference room, Suri in tow. Everyone was already inside, and stood up to greet him. The Public Relations rep, Daniel Atkins, nodded his hello. Various other heads of NASA’s different departments nodded as well. The Director of NASA, Nate Goodrich, stared solemnly at Robert, as if he was somehow far away from the crisis.

  Directly in front of Nate stood the “cash cows”—the people Robert would have to win over. Nicholas Brighton, the Secretary of State, looked intimidating. He was six feet tall, but seemed to take up the whole room with his aura. He was fit, and though his black hair was graying, he still looked like he would play basketball with the best of them. His bodyguards stared, unblinking, directly forward.

  On the television screen sat many people Robert recognized but had never paid much attention to. Among them were: the White House Press Secretary, the Speaker of the House, six members of the president’s Cabinet, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Diaz.

  “Please be seated,” said Secretary Brighton. Everyone took his or her seat, Suri sitting next to Robert around a big conference table.

  NASA Director Nate Goodrich spoke up in a detached tone. “Allow me to introduce Dr. Robert Miller, director of the Astrophysics Department. He is leading a team of astrophysicists who specialize in looking at the farthest reaches of our solar system.”

  Secretary Brighton shook Robert’s hand and said, “Nice to meet you, Dr. Miller. Thank you for taking the time to meet with us. Who is this with you?” Secretary Brighton asked. “Director Goodrich failed to introduce her.”

  “Ah, yes. This is Dr. Suri Lahdka. She has been working alongside me in our department, and has been working specifically for Kuiper Search 15439. She found the comet first.”

  “Hello, Mr. Secretary,” Suri said.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Doctor. I, on behalf of the United States of America, would like to thank you for your service to NASA.”

  Robert noticed there was a person who was very obviously not present at the meeting: The president, Victoria Chaplin.

  “Where is President Chaplin?” he asked.

  “She is in a meeting with the Prime Minister of Australia, and it would have been irresponsible to cancel it last minute. We will fill her in. Please begin,” Secretary Brighton responded.

  A little deflated, Robert got out his computer, hooked it up to the projector, and set up his presentation catered specifically for the politicians. The first slide came up with some preliminary statistics, and Robert began his rehearsed speech.

  “As of Friday morning, Dr. Suri Lahdka found a previously undiscovered comet, Comet J312, in the Kuiper belt, a region of the solar system beyond the orbit of Neptune. We believe that some time ago, this comet came into contact with a large cosmic body, which altered its orbit. When we discovered it on Friday and ran our model to determine its new orbit, we found it is on a deadly collision path with Earth.” He
paused. “Due to its size, it is capable of exterminating all life on our planet.”

  Robert looked up, expecting to see a room full of the oh-my-god-we-are-all-going-to-die faces. Several people swore under their breaths, but the politicians either had already done their gasps or they were used to dealing with literally “Earth-shattering” news. A few of the NASA employees gasped and covered their mouths. The Public Relations rep, Daniel Atkins, yelped out loud.

  “The comet is around forty kilometers in diameter, or twenty-four-point-nine miles. This is an extinction-size comet. All life on Earth will be destroyed, aside from perhaps small microbes living in sedimentary rocks, and organisms living near or under the ocean floor perhaps. Certainly, all of humanity will be wiped off the face of the Earth, within seconds of impact.”

  Robert looked back at Suri and exhaled, and the Secretary of State finished scribbling on his notepad. Again, Robert thought the politicians should be turning pale from the news.

  “Where exactly did this meteor come from? Was it just shooting through space and came into our solar system?” Secretary Brighton asked.

  Robert looked over at Suri, who briefly felt her heart jump into her throat. She swallowed it back down, and answered. “So the meteor . . . Well, first of all, it isn’t really a meteor. It’s a comet. A meteor is what we call a shooting star. It’s the light phenomenon we see in the sky. A comet is a relatively small icy body in space, which is what we are dealing with. Anyway, outside of the solar system is basically empty space, so everything close enough to the Sun ends up orbiting the Sun. So, past Neptune, around the same distance away from the Sun as Pluto, there are a lot of comets in the area known as the Kuiper Belt. So, what probably happened, is that this comet, Comet J312, collided with another comet which drastically changed its orbit. We are lucky to have found it at all—comets are hard to spot. Anyway, when Earth reaches its perihelion—the point when it’s closest to the Sun—Comet J312 will hit Earth.”