Government Men by Gary J. Davies
****
Across America and around the world, Dannos and the Ra were on the lips and minds of nearly all of humanity. Most of the VISICOM channels were full of replay and analysis of the Bates news conference, of the saucer sightings and the destruction of the Ra Mother Ship, of unicorns, aliens and ghosts, and especially of Dannos.
There was a resurgence of science. Long forgotten astronomers, physicists, geologists, weapons experts, and other scientifically and technologically competent people were wrenched from retirement homes, schoolrooms, and Burger King grills to assess what would happen when Dannos struck Earth. Hundreds of VISICOM channels and other conveyances of information were replete with views visual and abstract of Dannos tumbling through space towards its deadly rendezvous with Earth.
Scientists were having almost as much trouble as laymen conceptualizing the exact effects of ten-million-million tons of iron slamming into the Earth at roughly a hundred thousand miles an hour, but the unprecedented consequences could be understood in general terms by all. Dannos would easily punch through the Earth's crust, pulverizing and vaporizing it, and shattering the Earth for many more miles.
The shock would be tremendous, causing world-wide quakes of magnitudes never before experienced in human history. Thousands of cubic miles of Magma would shoot up from and then seep from the Earth's open wound, as well as from volcanoes shook into activity, while atmospheric debris and water would rain down in deluges that would bury entire continents in meters of dust and mire. Firestorms and deadly gasses would ravage the globe. Giant ocean waves would inundate much of the land and strip it down to bedrock. The energy released would melt the polar ice-caps in the short term, while the blanketing effects of fine particles in the upper atmosphere would then bring world-wide Arctic temperatures that could last for years or even centuries. An ice age would result.
Both because of and despite all the media hype, the reality of the coming planetary catastrophe was slowly sinking into the consciousness of many, while just as many denied the whole business on grounds that were religious, philosophical, totally irrational, or some combination thereof. Many people went on with their normal routines, though most were just going through the motions. Others quit jobs or spouses that they had hated for years and went on last 'flings'. Top corporate executives and other VIPs could be found at fishing holes, bowling alleys, and brothels.
But the mass panic, rioting, and suicides that governments feared simply didn't materialize. Instead, packed Churches stayed open twenty-four hours a day, and vacations, marriages, and the sale of toys and luxury items shot up several hundred percent, as people rushed to complete their lives in record time, hang the expense.
Jigs Airlines was a flurry of activity, but not with vacationers. All Jigs commercial flights were halted, and dozens of aircraft were ordered to stock up with camping supplies, prepare for long flights, and to simply stand-by at airports across America and much of the world. Where they were going and why was a complete mystery, but compared to the other strange things happening this was back-page news.
The hottest news of all was of a small team of people, ex-people, and non-people somewhere in the Great Smokies National Forest in North Carolina that were reported to somehow be working to save the Earth. Armies of reporters, denied access to the Smokes by stubborn cops and Jigs pseudo-cops, descended on relatives, friends, and anyone at all who knew or claimed to know Latanna, Barns, the Thermans, Winnebago, Hank, Mel and Jane, Oscar, Norma, Sandra, Janet, Elizabeth, Don, Gus, Johnny, Dooley, or Geronimo. B-Team members were becoming household names thanks to VISICOM.
The very hottest name of all was that of the mysterious Team leader, Narbando T. Bates. Interviews of his landlady, barber, dentist, insurance agent, coworkers, grade-school teachers, and others suggested that Bates had kept his full talents well hidden until now. There were also subtle hints of scandal from an exotic dancer in the DC area, and from a convenience store operator who claimed to have recently sold Bates politically incorrect, counter-reactionary music by The Fuming Right.
Of greater concern to the public and to world leaders was the growing issue of how Bates and his Team planned to save the Earth. Nobody seemed to know how Dannos was to be stopped, with of course the exception of Bates and his Team, according to President Elizabeth Wright and John Ryan, her Chief of Staff.
The President and Mr. Ryan continued to reassure the public while skillfully evading the issue, by telling the press that the Team's plans were top secret. Thus they avoided revealing to the public the real secret. Government leaders didn't have the slightest idea how Dannos was to be stopped, and worse yet, Bates and his Team didn't either.
****