close to what’s needed,” he told her.
Megg shrugged. “It should do the job. Lasso it.”
Salgon lassoed the comet and dragged it to Earth. He tapped some commands into the lasso and had it sling the comet toward the planet as they passed the moon. The angle was off slightly and the comet skimmed the atmosphere before entering it. They watched as it sped through the sky over the planet, losing altitude as it progressed.
Megg and Salgon sat silently on the bridge, observing the end of Megg’s experiment. She felt a twinge of sadness; she had hoped that the Earthlings would become viable contributors to the universe. There were already many species, but too few of them had immortal souls. The Stelairians had hoped to remedy that by creating new species that could evolve immortal souls, but as of yet they had not succeeded. Megg had wanted to be the one whose experiment was a success. Well, she still had other worlds on the right path; maybe something would come of them.
They watched the comet descend to Earth. It looked as if it would hit land rather than an ocean. Megg nodded, satisfied. A quick death for the bulk of the population would be best. Megg didn’t want the Earthlings to suffer. She was a scientist, after all, not a monster.
* * *
Below on the planet, Daniel sat at his desk, going over the reports that had been coming in for weeks. The people were restless, and protests occurred daily. The government, because it had no real power, couldn’t control the people. Daniel sighed. When he had taken over the Lazarus League he thought controlling an entire country would be intoxicating, even if that control had to be from behind the scenes. But it turned out to be nothing but work and a giant headache. Just as he turned the page to read about another protest gone wrong and many more deaths, his aide burst into the office.
“Mr. White!” Sam panted, out of breath from running. “Mr. White! There’s a comet headed for Earth! It appeared out of nowhere, and the president just came on TV to tell everyone to take cover underground if they can!”
Daniel remained calm, even though his heart hammered at the news. “Go down into the cryonic room. Wait for me there.”
Sam ran across the foyer and slammed open the door to the hallway that led into the underground room. He disappeared into the darkness. Once he was gone, Daniel unlocked the bottom right drawer of his desk. He pulled out the bag of diamonds that a courier had just dropped off, payment from a businessman who wished to curry favor with the League. He turned around and pulled on the ornate light fixture on the back wall. With a grinding of gears a section of the wall opened up at arm level, revealing a safe. Daniel input a nine digit code using the keypad and the safe clicked. He pulled the door open. The interior of the safe contained many bags similar to the one Daniel threw into it, as well as his father’s gun. He grabbed the gun before shutting the door. The nine asterisks on the screen disappeared, resetting the lock. Daniel pushed back the light fixture and the wall closed, not even leaving a crack to show where the opening had been. Daniel checked the gun to ensure it was loaded before placing it under his belt in the small of his back. Bullet guns had been outlawed years before, but Daniel had kept his father’s gun out of sheer sentimentality. He was glad he had, since he didn’t know what kind of world he would wake up to in the future.
Daniel left the room and entered the foyer. He pulled on another light fixture and the wall closed over the office door, hiding it from view. He turned to the main entry door, and heard screaming. He cautiously stepped outside and looked around. People were standing and staring at the sky or running aimlessly through the streets. He looked up and saw a giant flaming ball tearing across the sky. He looked back at the panicking people. Fools. That comet was
Megg shrugged. “It should do the job. Lasso it.”
Salgon lassoed the comet and dragged it to Earth. He tapped some commands into the lasso and had it sling the comet toward the planet as they passed the moon. The angle was off slightly and the comet skimmed the atmosphere before entering it. They watched as it sped through the sky over the planet, losing altitude as it progressed.
Megg and Salgon sat silently on the bridge, observing the end of Megg’s experiment. She felt a twinge of sadness; she had hoped that the Earthlings would become viable contributors to the universe. There were already many species, but too few of them had immortal souls. The Stelairians had hoped to remedy that by creating new species that could evolve immortal souls, but as of yet they had not succeeded. Megg had wanted to be the one whose experiment was a success. Well, she still had other worlds on the right path; maybe something would come of them.
They watched the comet descend to Earth. It looked as if it would hit land rather than an ocean. Megg nodded, satisfied. A quick death for the bulk of the population would be best. Megg didn’t want the Earthlings to suffer. She was a scientist, after all, not a monster.
* * *
Below on the planet, Daniel sat at his desk, going over the reports that had been coming in for weeks. The people were restless, and protests occurred daily. The government, because it had no real power, couldn’t control the people. Daniel sighed. When he had taken over the Lazarus League he thought controlling an entire country would be intoxicating, even if that control had to be from behind the scenes. But it turned out to be nothing but work and a giant headache. Just as he turned the page to read about another protest gone wrong and many more deaths, his aide burst into the office.
“Mr. White!” Sam panted, out of breath from running. “Mr. White! There’s a comet headed for Earth! It appeared out of nowhere, and the president just came on TV to tell everyone to take cover underground if they can!”
Daniel remained calm, even though his heart hammered at the news. “Go down into the cryonic room. Wait for me there.”
Sam ran across the foyer and slammed open the door to the hallway that led into the underground room. He disappeared into the darkness. Once he was gone, Daniel unlocked the bottom right drawer of his desk. He pulled out the bag of diamonds that a courier had just dropped off, payment from a businessman who wished to curry favor with the League. He turned around and pulled on the ornate light fixture on the back wall. With a grinding of gears a section of the wall opened up at arm level, revealing a safe. Daniel input a nine digit code using the keypad and the safe clicked. He pulled the door open. The interior of the safe contained many bags similar to the one Daniel threw into it, as well as his father’s gun. He grabbed the gun before shutting the door. The nine asterisks on the screen disappeared, resetting the lock. Daniel pushed back the light fixture and the wall closed, not even leaving a crack to show where the opening had been. Daniel checked the gun to ensure it was loaded before placing it under his belt in the small of his back. Bullet guns had been outlawed years before, but Daniel had kept his father’s gun out of sheer sentimentality. He was glad he had, since he didn’t know what kind of world he would wake up to in the future.
Daniel left the room and entered the foyer. He pulled on another light fixture and the wall closed over the office door, hiding it from view. He turned to the main entry door, and heard screaming. He cautiously stepped outside and looked around. People were standing and staring at the sky or running aimlessly through the streets. He looked up and saw a giant flaming ball tearing across the sky. He looked back at the panicking people. Fools. That comet was
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