every word, so focused on what he said that her body unfurled and leaned on the desk towards him, waiting for him to continue.
“Over the past thirty-five years, we’ve picked up unusual variations in our orbit and other small changes in Mars and Venus. They were minute at first but clearly there. In the last ten years, this variation has become predictable, measurable, and clearly indicative that a large body of something out there is affecting our planet’s orbit. Nothing dangerous, but clearly there is another factor, on a planetary scale.”
The room fell silent. Perez noted her shallow breathing, took a deep breath, and shook her head as if to break some kind of spell. “No way! Are you drunk? Is this some kind of psychological game or an elaborate joke Dr. Vincent came up with?” Perez wiped a hand across her suddenly hot and sweaty brow.
Farrell continued as if she had said nothing.
“Fifteen years ago, a series of probes and satellites were sent to specific coordinates to observe this disturbance. That’s after we reviewed millions of images, new and old, from all the probes, missions, and satellites from every country capable of space flight. We found nothing, or rather we
saw
nothing, nothing visual occupying the space we pinpointed. Direct observation was initiated and the
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probes were launched. When the first one got to its designated location, we lost all contact. When the second and third got into place, all seemed to work well until they initiated spectral analysis and x-rays, then they went dark. The third probe did send back data, and for just a nanosecond we thought we had something, but then some kind of computer glitch happened, and the data was lost. The fourth
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probe blew up on the launch pad,” Farrell added more to himself than to her.
“You’re not joking, are you?” “No. No, I’m not.”
Holy shit …
Farrell looked at her. “We re-routed a couple of satellites and old probes to our mystery disturbance, but they experienced some kind of problem or their data was useless for some reason or other. China and Russia experienced the same problems. And now, for the last eight years, the internet is alive with chat groups and forums talking about ‘Planet X’ on the far side of the sun.”
“They’re in on this too?”
“Yup. They got similar results.”
“Jesus …”
“The South Koreans successfully launched their own probe. They were able to shoot a light beam in the general direction of the anomaly and got a measure of curvature before it went dark.”
“Curvature? The light bent?”
“Yes. The light’s particles curved as if affected by a large planetary body. When the curvature of the light beam was measured, it was extrapolated that only a planet larger than Earth would have the gravity to do that.”
Stunned, Perez looked directly at Farrell. He held her gaze and continued.
“We have another set of probes getting ready to launch in the next four years with an array of spectrograph equipment and an unparalleled number of telescopes and measuring devices. In addition, we’re establishing a manned launch so we can have direct human observation. All of this in spite of a major economic downturn, a recession that will dwarf the Great Depression. We are doing this as we exit two wars, and the danger from terrorism and maniacal leaders lurks everywhere. A world of dualities.”
“If all our satellites, probes and shit haven’t been able to see it or snap an image, what will sending people to observe do?” Perez’s anxiety had kicked into high gear, and sweat broke out on her forehead, armpits and small of her back.
“We’re not going to just look for it. We’re beyond that now. Everything points to something being out there. And whatever it is, a massive asteroid, planetoids, moon or whatever, we’re going to land on it and bring a piece of whatever it is home.”
“You’re going to … to land on an invisible planet?”
“There’s