Terminus Station Antarctica 22-August-2033

Karl Muller had been at his post in the observation station for nearly twenty-four hours. His blood-shot eyes and obvious need for a razor were testament to the long work session. His curiosity held him captive after discovering a signal that could be an asteroid with an estimated trajectory that would eventually trigger an alarm. Protocols were in place for such findings that included querying a visual observation station in the South Pacific in an attempt to obtain additional confirmation. The response came a few hours later from Mauna Kea with a note the object observed was most likely J002E3, a suggestion that landed like an insult.

This was Space Observation 101 and Karl Muller hadn’t spent thirty years reading the sky only to be told he couldn’t tell a spent rocket stage from a rock.

As if he needed reminding, J002E3 was the third stage of the Apollo 12 Saturn V rocket. Launched in 1969 the booster was supposed to be dumped into a heliocentric orbit but instead, it slipped into an unstable highly elliptical Earth orbit. When it was observed in 2002 it was first believed to be an asteroid. Additional scrutiny revealed it to be Woodstock era space junk that returns on roughly forty year intervals.

That made the predicted time of its return consistent with the preliminary data Karl was poring over, but the similarities ended there. He was looking at something at least a hundred times larger than the 14 tonne spent rocket booster.

Whatever he had detected, it wasn’t J002E3, of that he was certain.

Before exiting his post in search of food and much needed sleep, Karl filed his report on the station log application which was instantly shared with everyone at Terminus as well as with other key personnel scattered about the globe.

JAXA Development Hokkaido Island 23-August-2033

Takahashi Yuto gathered his leadership team for additional discussion. The well-apportioned conference room fell silent when he said, “I assume you have seen the latest report from Terminus?”

In hushed voices they responded in the affirmative.

Yuto said, “Nothing is confirmed, but after speaking with our global partners there is growing concern. Karl Muller is the best in the world at what he does and he raised his threat assessment just a few hours ago. The early data suggests a fourteen percent chance of a direct hit in 2042. These numbers will be continuously refined as the tracking data continues to be sifted.

I don’t need to tell you how tightly this information must be controlled and I want to remind you about the rules for such an information release. If and when the threat assessment exceeds a twenty-five percent chance of contact, the warnings will be shared with governments per international law. Until then, we will lend assistance only if requested.”

Terminus Station Antarctica 23-August-2033

With no word from his wife for a fourth day, and despite having requested his employer have someone check on her, Daan decided it was time for more direct action. Communication opportunities were limited since there was no internet access outside the station’s own network. Scientists there had full access to that high-speed satellite network. Messages, calls, and video chats all were routed over this private network which permitted contact with family and friends, but all such traffic into and out of the station was monitored and recorded.

Despite living on a frozen wasteland, Daan tried to maintain some semblance of a normal life. So, during his regular thirteen hour daily work shift he continued his practice of koffietijd whenever he could and the crew had become used to these breaks in his otherwise heavily scheduled days.

This afternoon he retreated into his personal quarters with a cheese sandwich and a freshly brewed cup of strong, black coffee and no one thought that odd.

He quickly crafted a brief, but urgent message to his friend, Bram Hopefield, who had been the “best man” at his wedding and who was currently assigned to the Neumayer Station III, on the Ekström Ice Shelf a thousand miles away. Both men were amateur radio enthusiasts and while Daan was cutoff from his hobby having no equipment or antennas for ham radio, Bram had unfettered access to the amateur radio station DP0VGN on NSIII.

From this radio station Bram had access to the Es’hail 2 Qatari television satellite providing direct-to-home television services to the Middle East and North Africa regions. Launched in 2018 with an expected twenty-year service life, the aging satellite also included amateur radio payloads providing hams in its footprint communications access using the first and only geostationary transponder available to amateur radio operators.

This was the only “back channel” method for communicating outside the private network he could access. Daan was certain his friend could use it to pass along his urgent message. Daan explained to Bram that he had been out of contact with Noor for several days and he wanted him to contact a mutual ham radio friend in Amsterdam and have her track his wife down. He was fairly certain his employers didn’t monitor amateur radio traffic and he was also confident they didn’t screen messages sent along the private network to another research station.

Satisfied this action would go unnoticed, he sent the message, crossing his fingers for luck before going back to work. Activity on the station had gone vertical since the discovery of a possible high-value target to be tracked and its course plotted. The new activity demanded his full attention affording him some mental respite from darker thoughts about his missing wife.