audience had grown exponentially as he delved into the “news behind the news” from his own unique perspective. Of late, he had been delivering a particularly powerful message that some of his critics called a “doomsday” message, dismissing him as a scaremonger. But his audience only got bigger the worse the news got.
“You don’t want to miss the show today. Call your relatives and friends, call anyone that you care about, and tell them that they must watch this show today.
“Why?
“Because today I am going to lay out for you, as clearly as I can, the danger—no, ‘danger’ is not a strong enough word—the perils facing us. And folks, when I say facing us, I mean every man, woman, and child who is of good heart.
“I now know, though I am not at liberty to reveal my sources, that the President has hosted meetings with people of religion and science to deal with this crisis that faces us.
“Religion and science together?” Dave smiled at the camera. “Isn’t that a little like matter and antimatter?
“A preacher and scientist went into a bar. The bar disappeared in a puff of smoke.”
“Okay, that was a weak joke, I’ll admit. It might even have been a sick joke.
“But you do get my point, I hope. Normally the Big Bad Wolf is the budget or lobbyists or right-wing or left-wing conspiracies. I’ve been a whistle-blower on many topics, but none has scared me half as much as this black cloud. If something is out there, some deep, dark, sinister shadow, a force of evil that is threatening us, it is threatening scientist and preacher alike, is it not? And is it not in the nature of man to form alliances for survival?
“This, I can tell you from a scientific viewpoint. A few weeks ago, a scientist at NASA, while studying pictures of space, noticed an anomaly. The redshift of Abel 2744 moved from z equals 0.308, to z equals 0.512.”
Dave chuckled. “ Z equals zero what? Dave, what on Earth are you talking about?
“Well, that’s just it. I’m talking about nothing of this Earth. I’m talking about a cluster of stars, officially Abel 2744 but referred to as Pandora’s Cluster. And from that cluster a mysterious cloud of dark matter is coming toward Earth. If you don’t understand dark matter, then you can just refer to it as I have been. That’s why I think of it as a dark or sinister shadow, without real substance but very real nonetheless.
“Interesting, don’t you think, that this evil would be coming from Pandora’s box? Or, in this case, Pandora’s Cluster. And it is evil, my friends. It is more than just a scientific observation; it is a manifestation of evil.
“On another but related note, in recent days all eyes have been focused on the heavens, and I have reported to you from this desk on the strange goings-on that even our top scientists have had trouble following.
“It seems that billionaire Roger C. Bracken’s attempt to send an unmanned spacecraft to the moon blew up shortly after launch this morning in rural Oregon.
“Was this attempt by man to answer some of our most troubling questions thwarted by forces we do not—and perhaps cannot—understand?
“Pandora’s Cluster, anyone? You make the call.”
The broadcaster held his hand up, palm out. “From New York, this is Dave Hampton. Good night, America and the world.”
Off camera, the news broadcaster slumped in his chair. For the entire program he had kept it together as he reported on the dire events he saw unfolding on the planet and beyond. Now he felt the weight of the danger the world was facing and the choices—good, bad, and indifferent—that mankind had made in the past. And the choices that would have to be made in the very near future.
CHAPTER
21
Melbourne, Australia
After Mary Beth was killed, Dawson quit his job. He could no longer face going to work in the same place where he had shared that final thirty minutes with Mary Beth. For a while he did consultations with writers, and he took jobs
“You don’t want to miss the show today. Call your relatives and friends, call anyone that you care about, and tell them that they must watch this show today.
“Why?
“Because today I am going to lay out for you, as clearly as I can, the danger—no, ‘danger’ is not a strong enough word—the perils facing us. And folks, when I say facing us, I mean every man, woman, and child who is of good heart.
“I now know, though I am not at liberty to reveal my sources, that the President has hosted meetings with people of religion and science to deal with this crisis that faces us.
“Religion and science together?” Dave smiled at the camera. “Isn’t that a little like matter and antimatter?
“A preacher and scientist went into a bar. The bar disappeared in a puff of smoke.”
“Okay, that was a weak joke, I’ll admit. It might even have been a sick joke.
“But you do get my point, I hope. Normally the Big Bad Wolf is the budget or lobbyists or right-wing or left-wing conspiracies. I’ve been a whistle-blower on many topics, but none has scared me half as much as this black cloud. If something is out there, some deep, dark, sinister shadow, a force of evil that is threatening us, it is threatening scientist and preacher alike, is it not? And is it not in the nature of man to form alliances for survival?
“This, I can tell you from a scientific viewpoint. A few weeks ago, a scientist at NASA, while studying pictures of space, noticed an anomaly. The redshift of Abel 2744 moved from z equals 0.308, to z equals 0.512.”
Dave chuckled. “ Z equals zero what? Dave, what on Earth are you talking about?
“Well, that’s just it. I’m talking about nothing of this Earth. I’m talking about a cluster of stars, officially Abel 2744 but referred to as Pandora’s Cluster. And from that cluster a mysterious cloud of dark matter is coming toward Earth. If you don’t understand dark matter, then you can just refer to it as I have been. That’s why I think of it as a dark or sinister shadow, without real substance but very real nonetheless.
“Interesting, don’t you think, that this evil would be coming from Pandora’s box? Or, in this case, Pandora’s Cluster. And it is evil, my friends. It is more than just a scientific observation; it is a manifestation of evil.
“On another but related note, in recent days all eyes have been focused on the heavens, and I have reported to you from this desk on the strange goings-on that even our top scientists have had trouble following.
“It seems that billionaire Roger C. Bracken’s attempt to send an unmanned spacecraft to the moon blew up shortly after launch this morning in rural Oregon.
“Was this attempt by man to answer some of our most troubling questions thwarted by forces we do not—and perhaps cannot—understand?
“Pandora’s Cluster, anyone? You make the call.”
The broadcaster held his hand up, palm out. “From New York, this is Dave Hampton. Good night, America and the world.”
Off camera, the news broadcaster slumped in his chair. For the entire program he had kept it together as he reported on the dire events he saw unfolding on the planet and beyond. Now he felt the weight of the danger the world was facing and the choices—good, bad, and indifferent—that mankind had made in the past. And the choices that would have to be made in the very near future.
CHAPTER
21
Melbourne, Australia
After Mary Beth was killed, Dawson quit his job. He could no longer face going to work in the same place where he had shared that final thirty minutes with Mary Beth. For a while he did consultations with writers, and he took jobs
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