Dark Freeze

Peter Gregory

Description

Probes from an advanced alien civilisation are discovered amongst meteorites which have hit the coldest parts of the planet. Are they an attempt to communicate, or are they a prelude to something much more sinister, an alien invasion? Is the human race in danger of annihilation? The events lead to much debate on earth. Scientists too are puzzled. Why have the aliens used probes? Why have the coldest, and least populated, parts of the planet been targeted?All these questions are answered when a giant asteroid, a mini-world full of aliens, swings into orbit. The sun's life-giving light and heat is blocked out, causing the temperature to plummet to a mind-numbing minus sixty degrees Celsius. Most of the Earth's plant and animal life perishes, including millions of humans, and the survivors are left facing the starkest of choices. As one attempt after another to defeat the aliens fails, the scientists come up with a final last-ditch weapon to destroy the enemy, but is it going to be too little too late?

Sujets

• Space opera

Informations

• Publié par: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 28 septembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781838596958
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Copyright © 2019 Peter Gregory

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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For Andrew and Michael

Good science fiction is
better than bad science
Professor Martin Rees
Astronomer Royal
Contents
Part 1 STRANGE HAPPENINGS
1 Impact
2 One Month Earlier
3 Liz Conway
4 Meteor Showers
5 Shock Wave
PART 2 STRANGE FINDS
6 Meteorite Hunters
7 The Find
8 Analysis
9 Confirmation
10 Decisions
11 Leaks
12 Going Public
13 Religion Refuted
14 A Lull
Part 3 Collision Course
15 Asteroid
16 Collision Course
17 Black Deflection
18 Illicit Love
19 A Surprise
Part 4 Dark Days
20 Earth Orbit
21 Nuclear Winter
22 Alien Life
23 Plans
24 Life at the Edge
25 The Dark Freeze
26 Activity
Part 5 End Game
27 Scouting Mission
28 First Glimpse
29 Origins
30 Asteroid Belts
31 Desperation
32 Options
33 Drones
34 Samples
35 Superbugs
36 Whispers
37 Decision Time
38 Success
39 Reunion
40 A New Beginning
41 An Unlikely Coupling

Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Notes

Part 1 STRANGE HAPPENINGS

All our science, measured against
reality, is primitive and childlike –
and yet it is the most precious thing
we have
Albert Einstein
1
Impact
They watched the asteroid on the flickering screen in silent fascination. The giant lump of extraterrestrial rock that was hurtling towards them at 70,000 miles per hour, 20 times faster than a speeding bullet. The giant lump of extraterrestrial rock that measured over 500 miles in diameter. The giant lump of extraterrestrial rock that would, in less than one hour, smash into the Earth with a force of over a trillion hydrogen bombs. The giant lump of extraterrestrial rock that would extinguish all life. Everything. Forever. Plants, animals, birds, fish, insects, even bacteria and viruses. And, of course, humans. Nothing would survive.
They’d known for a while that it was only a matter of time before a giant asteroid would collide with Earth. It was a simple matter of probabilities. Given enough time, the probability was one that such an event would occur. In other words, it was an absolute certainty. The only question was when? And now that question had been answered. The answer was NOW.
Over its 4.5 billion year existence planet Earth has been bombarded with asteroids countless times, some big, most small. The last really big asteroid to collide with planet Earth, in what is now Chicxulub on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsular, happened around 65 million years ago, an event that blasted billions of tons of dust and debris into the atmosphere. Dust and debris that spread around the globe, blocking out the sun’s life-giving rays for years. A nuclear winter that not only caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, but also caused the extinction of 70 per cent of all life on Earth. A mass extinction. But that asteroid was a mere tiddler compared to the one that was hurtling towards them now, just a piece of intergalactic dust compared to the monster coming to destroy them all.
The scientists watched in hushed silence as the asteroid hit the Earth’s atmosphere. Watched as it glowed first red, then blue and finally white. A white hot piece of rock the size of a small moon hurtling towards its final destination. THEM!
Without taking her eyes off the screen, Liz whispered to the man sat to her right, ‘How long to impact?’
‘Five minutes, ten seconds,’ answered Professor Cecil Vivian Shawcross, the leader of the small British team involved in the early detection of ‘Near Earth Objects’, the team tasked with keeping a lookout for rogue asteroids. ‘In just 310 seconds, the whole of the USA will be completely obliterated, vaporised. Soon after, the rest of the world will suffer the same fate.’
Liz said nothing, her eyes glued to the flickering screen. It was horrific, yet compelling, viewing. The static caused by the approaching asteroid made the picture on the screen almost unviewable, as if she was viewing it through a snowstorm, but she could still make out the shape of the massive white hot piece of rock as it hurtled inexorably towards its final destination.
‘Thirty seconds to impact,’ a voice said in the darkened room. To Liz, the voice sounded disembodied, unreal, as if it was coming out of thin air rather than a human mouth. ‘Why is it,’ she thought, ‘that humans always count down to an event. Counting down to major events, such as the launch of a space rocket or the start of a New Year, was fine, but counting down to trivial events like the end of a rugby match, or the start of a race, or the start of a stupid game on a stupid reality show, or… Well, it was just silly. A silly human trait.’
‘Five, four, three…’ the floating voice said in a calm, emotionless manner.
‘How can anyone be so calm at a time like this?’ thought Liz.
‘Two, one – IMPACT .’ The screen showed a massive explosion, then went dead.
2
One Month Earlier
The shooting star sped across the night sky like a supersonic bullet, leaving a wispy white trail of stardust in its wake. The weather forecaster had said there’d be a meteor shower, and he wasn’t wrong. This was the seventieth one she’d seen in the last 30 minutes. Granted, it was a cool, clear night. A night ideal for spotting shooting stars. But seventy in just half-an-hour, this was the most that Liz had ever seen.

The weather forecaster’s prediction had spurred Liz into action. She gulped down her tea, grabbed a thick sweater, woolly hat and walking boots, and dashed to her car. She dumped them in the boot, checked that her prized binoculars were there, closed the lid and hurried to the driver’s door. As she was inserting the key into the ignition, she paused, opened the door and dashed back to the house. Moments later, she returned clutching a plastic bag full of nuts, placed them carefully on the front passenger seat and sped off towards her destination.
It took Liz no more than 20 minutes to drive the short distance from her home in Southport to Freshfields. As a member, she normally parked on the National Trust car park adjacent to the beach. Tonight, that wasn’t an option – Formby Point Nature Reserve closed at dusk. Instead, she parked on the road leading to the entrance, the road of expensive million pound plus properties, some of which were the residencies of famous footballers from nearby Liverpool and Everton. Quickly, she put on her walking boots, sweater and woolly hat, placed her binoculars around her neck and put the packet of nuts in her pocket. Satisfied that she had everything, she strode purposefully towards the entrance.
Liz knew this place like the back of her hand. The National Trust’s Formby Point Nature Reserve was one of her favourite places. Nestling between the pleasant village of Formby and the Irish Sea, it was an idyllic spot. Pine woods flanked the road that ran through the Reserve, the tarmac road that Liz was hurrying down towards the beach, tall pines that sprung from the undulating sandy floor. Numerous man-made paths traversed the woods, especially those to her left, paths designed to allow visitors close access to the Reserve’s main attraction. Red squirrels.
As she strode towards the beach, Liz thought how beautiful this place was at night. No people, no cars, no noise. None of the sounds of civilisation. Just the peace and tranquillity of nature. The stillness. The serenity. The solitude. The only sound was the gentle rustling of the trees caressed by the soft breeze, punctuated with the occasional hoot of an owl as it called to its mate. Toowit, toowoo. And the smells. She loved the smells of autumn. The smell of decaying leaves, of cut grass and hay, and the crisp, fresh ‘after-the-rain’ smell so pronounced in autumn. Liz also loved the autumnal colours. The golden yellows, the rustic reds and the russet browns. They delighted her. Fulfilled her. Nourished her soul. But tonight, the only colours were grey. A million shades of grey. And black. The black of the night sky, a black dome speckled with dazzling dots of brilliant white.
After about half-a-mile, the pine trees petered out, replaced by a flat, sandy expanse of grass. At the far side of the flat expanse lay the deserted car park. Immediately beyond the car park, about a quarter-of-a-mile ahead, large sand dunes rose into the sky. Hidden, at the other side of the sand dunes, was the beach, the large sandy beach that stretched for miles and miles. Her destination.
On