THE ARK

Day 932

Stanley Waldorf and Tony Jackson walked into the Midnight Lounge and took seats near the back of the dark, smoke-filled, bar. The smell of stale beer was heavy in the air.

Stanley had picked the Midnight Lounge for this meeting since he had never been there in the past and probably would not be seen by anyone that knew him. He only needed ten seconds in the building to decide that he would never be back again.

The out of the way seats they had chosen helped ensure that their conversation would remain unheard and Waldorf positioned himself so he could see anyone approaching.

Whenever anyone came close, he would signal Tony and their conversation stopped.

These two men had never socialized in the past; in fact, they had no use for one another. Waldorf had tried unsuccessfully, about a year before, to have Jackson fired from NASA for an inappropriate act he and his girlfriend had been caught engaged in on NASA grounds during work hours. Unfortunately, today the two men had things to discuss.

The Deputy Director spoke first, “We need to discuss this comet situation.”

Jackson nodded and said, “I know, I can’t stop thinking about this and the fact that it’s still being kept from the public.”

Waldorf continued, “I agree, it’s not right to keep this kind of thing a secret. I know Williams was at the Pentagon for a few days last month and I know there are some people here working on something about it. But people need to know this, the government isn’t supposed to keep something like this from the people.”

“True, but what can we do about it,” Tony Jackson asked.

Waldorf suddenly signaled with a chopping motion of his left hand, and the two of them immediately stopped the conversation.

“What can I get you, gentlemen?” Asked the waitress who had just walked up.

She was medium height, a little on the chunky side and had short spiked blonde hair. The stud pierced into the center of her tongue gave a slur to her speech and caused Stanley to wonder if she was about to start drooling.

“Nothing,” Stanley said contemptuously

“I’ll have a Diet Coke,” Tony said

Clearly disappointed the waitress left to fill the order.

“I don’t know, but something needs to be done,” Said Stanley

“What if we were to go to the newspaper? I know a guy at the Washington Times that would love to be the first one to get this information, by the time Williams found out it would be too late. They couldn’t fire us or the cover-up would look even worse,” suggested Tony

“True, that might be a good idea,” Waldorf agreed, “But I want to talk to Williams before we do anything. Maybe he knows more than he’s said, but this information must come out.”

After thirty minutes discussion, it was agreed that Waldorf would approach his boss in the morning and learn what he could.

At 0830 the next day Administrator Williams was seated at his desk drinking his morning coffee when Stanley walked in and closed the door.

“You got a minute boss?” asked Waldorf.

Williams looked up with obvious irritation on his face. There was not much in the world he liked less than being interrupted in his office by an unexpected visitor.

“You got one minute, I’ve got stuff I’m working on,” answered Williams

“Tony Jackson and I have been talking about this comet. We have a big problem with information this critical being kept from the public,” Waldorf explained.

“Do you think we should just tell everyone that the world is coming to an end? Can you imagine the chaos? There would be panicking, riots, people would stop working. The whole infrastructure of the country, no, of the whole world would collapse!

“Do you think that’s a good idea? This way at least people can enjoy the last few years they have, instead of living in panic and fear!” shouted the Administrator

Waldorf had never seen the boss this way, but he continued. “People still have a right to know, Tony wants to go to the media, and I agree.” As he spoke he saw the color drain from his boss’s face. The anger on his face disappeared and was replaced with worry.

There was a long pause then Williams continued, “I’ll make a deal with you, keep this quiet for just one more week. I’ll make some calls to the people who are dealing with this thing and tell them we need some answers. I promise I’ll keep you informed, deal?”

Waldorf agreed, he would have argued with his boss more, but he had never seen him like this. He had not even heard of anyone changing colors the way Thomas Williams had just done. He decided to drop it for now, but in one week, he and Jackson were going to tell the world. After all, if he was out there he would want to know.

As Waldorf left, the Administrator called after him, “Have you told anyone yet?”

“Not yet, we’ll wait a week or until we hear from you,” and he left. Waldorf decided it would be best to avoid him for the next week, if Williams had any new information, the boss could find him.

As soon as Waldorf was gone, NASA Administrator Williams pounded both fists on his desk and rose and began pacing the room. This was going to be a big problem and he already knew that there was no way Draper would be holding a press conference to explain the truths behind the comet.

After a minute of thinking, he was on the phone. He had been given a special number to contact General Draper if anything regarding the comet arose.

He dialed the number and it was answered by a voicemail system. He simply stated what he had been instructed if ever a situation like this arose. “This is Mr. Williams here in town. I believe we have a Code Omega. Please call me when you can. Thanks.”

Williams had felt foolish talking about codes but those were the instructions that had been agreed upon.

Less than five minutes later, his phone was ringing.

“Williams here”

“What is it Williams?” asked the General with a hint of concern in his voice.

“I have two people on staff here, the first one is one of my department directors Stanley Waldorf and the other is an astrophysicist named Tony Jackson. They were the ones in charge of putting together all the data I first brought to you.

“Well, they’re really agitated and want to go to the media with the information on the comet. I talked to Waldorf and there was no changing his mind, I got him to agree to wait one more week, and I told him I’d see if I could get the powers to be to agree. He went along with it, but they’re both committed.

“Can they be arrested or something? I’m convinced that they’ll be talking otherwise,” explained the Administrator

There was a long pause and finally Draper was back on the line, “I’ll see what can be done, but I need to know if they’ve told anyone yet.”

“No General, I’m certain that they haven’t said a word, I specifically asked and they claim to have been quiet, just as instructed, but they’re convinced that the public needs to know,” said Williams

The General quickly said, “You were right to call me about this; I’ll see what can be done.”

The General hung up the phone and cursed in anger. In less than a minute, he was back on the phone.