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strain on Elise, and indirectly to Julien. It was
absolutely the worst time for him to take a break. He sensed that
his relationship with his wife was breaking down. Sophie had never
really needed contact with her dad, most of the time he wasn’t
there and she’d lived through her teenage years as if she only had
one parent and a distant uncle. Her artistic talent had helped her
to rationalise this perception.
    *
    Two of the
seven observatories which were willing to pool information reported
an alteration in the axial spin and velocity of Chocolate Orange.
It was a very recent observation, and it generated pressure to
avoid making this public knowledge until it could be confirmed by
all tracking locations. Julien became nervous and immediately made
Brandt aware of the situation.
    “I see, are we
sure about this? Couldn’t it be the other way around? That the new
data showing this change in behaviour of the rock is actually
contrived disinformation? It has come to light at the same time as
that prat Waverly has departed. I take it our reading of the
asteroid doesn’t agree with this claim.”
    “That’s right,”
said Julien, “but these two locations reporting the aberration are
both in the southern hemisphere, one in Chile, the other in South
Africa. It can happen that values differ slightly from one
viewpoint to another, but these are minor and can normally be
harmonised by applying known algebraic variables. But these new
alterations in spin and speed are on the borderline between
feasible and preposterous. I’m going to travel to Chile to check
this with my own eyes. Here in Guiana, we are in closer
longitudinal alignment with the south of this continent. Depending
on what I find there, I can move on to South Africa.”
    “Fine, but make
sure that we don’t allow this to break our stride with either of
your projects.”
    “I’ve issued
orders to that end already. We press on as if this hadn’t come up,
until we verify or refute the claim. However, I must personally
review the various programmes of preventing the asteroid impact
once more. Because, if there is substance to imply a change in spin
and velocity, it could rule out some options, primarily that the
Earth could be in a different place when the asteroid arrives in
the near reaches of the solar system in 2039. We have to think
outside of the box on this one, Volker, because very small
differences in trajectory can make huge differences in the outcome.
From a direct impact to a glancing blow, which would imply
different consequences for humans. Another aspect I have to
consider is the difference between resource and expertise. In my
new remit, being responsible for both missions, I may well have to
bring in new people. They could be difficult to persuade, but we
have to recruit the best on the planet. I’d like to discuss this
when I return.”
    *
    On board the
flight to Chile, free from interruption, Julien began to look
through the original feasibility studies of the alternative means
to deal with Chocolate Orange.
    It was well known that a sufficiently large impact by an asteroid would cause,
depending on its impact location, massive  tsunamis , widespread  firestorms and long term atmospheric
winter, caused by the
sunlight-blocking effect of spewing large quantities of ‘atomised’
rock into the  stratosphere .
    A collision between the Earth and an approximately
10-kilometre-wide object 66 million years ago, was thought to have
produced such conditions, which were responsible for the extinction
of the  dinosaurs . Although this incident actually brought forth the
opportunity for mammals to take their place in Earth’s pecking
order, many or all of these survivors were thought to be living
underground at the time. Today, humans, except for a chosen few,
could not use such an escape route. The physiology is different,
and even if there was still ten years to impact, it wouldn’t be
enough time to house the billions of individuals currently