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Prolog

Prolog

United States Armed Forces HQ
Arlington County, VA
Thursday, June 8, 2034
14:30 EST GMT-5

Fear and panic rushed through my blood vessels. With all this anxiety, stress and rush to evade a major threat to our planet, comes to our mind, no doubt we are in fear and panic. Who wouldn't be, knowing the world is about to be hit by a massive meteor, the size of Australia. The 4486 Mithra gained traction and fell into the trap of Earth's gravity, now a radioactive fireball, headed towards the main CIA headquarters out in Langley. I joined the United States Space Force to protect my country, from extraterrestrial threats, not to run from a giant radioactive asteroid.

"Captain?" said a voice on my shoulder radio. "Cpt. Moore, do you copy? I repeat, do you copy, Ace?"

I grabbed the radio, as I ran towards the army headquarters.

"Cpt. Moore, solid copy! 10-4, Ranger! I read to you, loud and clear! Over!"

"Roger that, Ace." Ranger declared. "Pinging NASA now!"

That was the sound of my boss, Lt. Col. James Bragg, call-signed 'Ranger'. A United Army veteran turned Space Force team lead. It is fair to say he is still young, given that he is thirty-eight, and me only being twenty-seven years of age. But it's been an honor, so far, having served in the armed forces for six years now.

Okay, to get everyone up to speed. My name is Austin Moore. Born in 2007, I joined the military after college, with a degree in MIS, from the University of Houston. I recently was promoted to captain, having been a commissioned officer for four years now, in the Space Force. In the last few weeks, we anticipated a meteor shower planned to hit Earth, and NASA responded by launching the DART 2.0 program to send a missile to redirect and destroy the asteroid, sending it off course. Unfortunately, for us, Mithra had absorbed gamma radiation from radioactive gases being emitted into our own atmosphere, and it came to haunt us, after absorbing that much radioactive energy and activating the uranium, which was lurking in it. I looked dead towards the sky, as the missiles were fired towards the meteor, the size of Australia. We were left to run into the facility, and take refuge in the cryogenic chamber, until the gamma radiation cleared out.

"Ace, you need to haul ass! And quick!" shouted Ranger, over the radio. "Do you copy?"

"Affirmative, heading inside now! Copy that!" I responded over the air. "Moving to secure position."

Without further delays, I ran into the armed forces headquarters, and made my way to the lab. There I found my commanding officer, along with another person. My girlfriend, and fellow partner-in-arms. Julia Walker, who is three years my junior in age, and recently became a second lieutenant. A rank that I was four years ago. She was designated the call-sign of Aurora. Something she chose, after the aurora borealis, or the Northern Lights, which naturally light our globe every summer.

"Quickly," said Ranger. "Each of you get into a cryogenic chamber. We must remain in hibernation for at least six months. Hopefully, the radiation will clear out and we can return to our lives."

"Let's do it!" said me in agreement. "How do we know for sure; we'll be out in six months."

"I've sent some of our men, to take refuge in other hangars, and they should be able to get us out once this place is all cleared!" explained Ranger.

"Austin, wait!" said Aurora. "In case something happens, I just want you to know, I love you."

"You too!" I assured her.

We both shared a warm kiss, before entering our pods. Then we both stayed still. It was only a matter of time before the cryogenic gas seeped into the pods, putting us to sleep. Meanwhile, out there, we heard the missiles hitting the asteroid, and if calculations are correct, the meteor was redirected to land into the Atlantic Ocean, about some one hundred and ten miles east of Virginia Beach. Hey, if it is going to land in the ocean, then we surely are safe, right? I mean, what is one radioactive asteroid possibly going to do once it's submerged?