The Inner Circle by Kevin George Page B

probably appeared much closer to his real age.
    "Not impossible, sir. Improbable, perhaps, but nothing is impossible."
    Perfectly on cue, the next set of coordinates Earl typed into the computer finally hit pay dirt. When he saw the dot on the computer screen, he almost couldn’t believe his eyes.
                  "Like I said, not impossible."
    Seeing the comet on screen was like receiving a jolt to Armour's heart, his extreme fatigue disappearing as a relieved excitement swept over his body.
    "Is that the one we want?"
    "I would have to think so," Earl Ackerman answered. "It would be a miracle if we just happened to stumble across an undiscovered comet."
    "Well, it's not much to look at, is it?"
    "No, they never seem that dangerous when you’re watching them from millions of miles away. But according to the comet database, this comet is huge compared to most of the others."
    "You can plot its orbit now, right?"
    Earl clicked away on the computer, describing everything he was doing. He told Armour that since they could now calculate the comet’s speed based upon how far it had traveled, they now had enough information to plot its orbit in space.
    "I'll have to inform some people about this," Armour said. "The database will have to be updated and I'm sure many astronomers will be interested to know about how this comet's path was shifted by a black hole. Since you’ve been so helpful tonight, maybe you’d even like to write an article about what we’ve discovered."
    “I would be honored, sir.”
    Earl continued to type away on the computer, appearing to Armour to be deep in thought. Armour looked at his watch and saw that the sun would be up in a few hours, which meant his work day would begin much sooner than he would have liked. Re-discovering the comet had been challenging – yet rewarding – but now that it was over, Armour realized just how much effort he put into something that gave him such little in return. If he would have had a second chance, he was not sure he would choose working all night to find a worthless comet over his usual seven hours of sleep.
    Ackerman was still typing away as Armour picked up his suit jacket and NASA wind breaker, throwing them both over his shoulder.
    "Mr. Ackerman, thanks for taking time out of your schedule to help me with this. If you need the use of the observatory here to finish your research any time in the near future, I will personally make sure you receive access to it as soon as possible."
    Armour still received no response from Earl, who continued to type on the computer, slowly shaking his head at whatever he saw on the screen. 
    "Is something wrong?"
    Armour crossed the room, and when he was within a few feet of Earl and the computer, he heard Earl repeating the same three words over and over. When he saw the illustration of the comet's path displayed on the computer screen, Armour could say nothing but those same three words.
    "Oh my God."

CHAPTER EIGHT
                 
    President Marshall could never hear enough praise from the media. It was six in the morning when he made his way to the Oval Office, where the early morning news was doing a story about the release of the "Russian Reports." The day before, Marshall received the first batch of reports from the Pentagon, highlighted by one report in particular about how the Russians were tracking every submarine in the U.S. Navy around the world. The information in the reports was nothing new to U.S. intelligence people, who'd assumed their boats were being watched all along, but the press was in awe about how President Marshall was able to get Russia to admit to their level of spying.
    Marshall never woke up this early in the morning, but now that people were finally beginning to understand just how important his trip to Russia had been, he was not going to miss a single news report mentioned his accomplishment.
    On the television, an attractive Asian reporter was speaking in front of the