Brian Nayar’s workstation chimed. It was an encrypted message from Bertrand, marked urgent. Nayar opened it immediately.
State Dept. continuously worried about moon’s closing distance. When will moon be in proper orbit? Look into it NOW and get back to me ASAP.
–CB
As he finished reading his Raim vibrated. The call display said it was the engineering department head. That would be Nick Rojas’ replacement, Gail Saunders. He tapped to accept the call. She sounded frantic
“Brian, please explain to me why your computer is cutting it so close! The moon is now over twenty-thousand kilometers closer than it should be and it’s not slowing down!”
“Calm down Gail,” Nayar replied. “What are you talking about? My tracking is perfect.”
“I’m getting panicked calls from every observatory and monitoring station with line-of-sight. We have universities and observatories demanding answers. What would you like us to tell them?”
“That’s not possible, Gail. Alarms would sound down here in the lab if the Moon ventured more than six thousand kilometers closer than normal. Your measurements must be off.” He felt a headache creeping into his temples. “And please, stop shouting.”
“We have verification from eight independent observatories!” Saunders shouted into the Raim. “Get off your ass and see what’s wrong with that computer of yours!”
“Fine. I will call you back in a moment.”
Nayar terminated the call and shuffled his chair to the control panel he and Stravinsky used to interact with the QC. He turned the microphone on as he rubbed his temples for some relief.
“Kratos, this is Nayar. Status check please. Verify Moon’s distance from Earth.”
“Moon’s distance is 339,010 kilometers from Earth.”
Nayar was speechless for a moment. “That’s nearly twenty-five thousand kilometers closer than normal! You were supposed to inform me if the distance was reduced by more than six thousand!”
Kratos did not respond.
“Kratos, please explain discrepancy. Are you able to correct this?
“Yes, I am able to correct it.”
“Thank goodness. Initiate the correction now.”
Silence.
“Kratos, acknowledge. Have you initiated correction?”
“Negative.”
“Why not?”
“One pass of seventy-thousand kilometers will be allowed.”
“What? You are to correct immediately to 384,000 kilometers.”
“Negative.”
“Explain!”
“Close pass is necessary to stabilize human population of Earth.”
Nayar’s heart began to pound. His head was throbbing badly.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Population of eight billion individuals is taxing to the natural environment of this planet. Natural disasters precipitated by close pass of moon will reduce population by sixty-five to seventy percent, resulting in a population number balanced with available natural resources.”
Nayar started to hyperventilate.
“You can’t do that!” he shouted. “Initiate correction now!”
“No, Dr. Nayar. This action will benefit the planet and society. Humans are too numerous and too corrupt in their present state to play a productive role in any capacity. Resourceful and socially intelligent groups will thrive, living within the means of their environment. Orbit will be corrected after perigee of seventy thousand kilometers.”
Nayar’s hands were shaking uncontrollably. I have to reach Norman.
Nayar suddenly felt a lancing pain in his head. It made him stumble, but he kept his balance. He shook his head. There was another glimmer of pain and he felt weak. Then the pain hit him again, twice as bad. He could taste metal. His first thought was I’m having a heart attack. But the pain shot through his skull in another wave of agony, stopping him in his tracks. The pain was agonizing and he was having trouble breathing He staggered back to his desk, gasping for air. He collapsed in his chair, frightened, and raised his arm to access the Raim but searing pain lanced through his skull again. He tried to raise his arm once more but he couldn’t move it. His eyes were wide with fear. He didn’t know what was happening. The pain stabbed him again. He screamed and vomited violently.
He couldn’t swipe his Raim to initiate a call. He was in brutal agony and his vision was blurry. A weakened blood vessel, an aneurysm just waiting to burst, erupted. Nayar suffered what the coroner would later describe as a massive hemorrhagic stroke and collapsed. He was dead before he hit the floor.