The Eye of God Read Online Free Page A

The Eye of God
Book: The Eye of God Read Online Free
Author: James Rollins
Tags: thriller, Suspense, Science-Fiction, adventure, Historical, Mystery
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engineer continued. “The Eye’s gyroscopic momentum is growing stronger, far stronger than prelaunch estimates. I’m even getting a propulsive signature!”
    Dr. Shaw gripped the rail harder, looking ready to leap below. “That can’t happen without an external source powering the Eye.”
    Painter could tell she wanted to declare it dark energy, but she restrained herself from jumping to premature conclusions.
    Another voice called out—this time from a station marked CONTROL . “We’re losing orbital stability of IoG-1 !”
    Painter turned to the big board in the center, the one showing the world map and the flight paths of the satellites. The sine wave of IoG-1 ’s trajectory was visibly flattening.
    “The gyroscopic forces inside the satellite must be pushing it out of orbit,” Dr. Shaw explained, sounding both panicked and thrilled.
    The screen to the left showed the profile of the earth growing larger, filling up the monitor, eclipsing the dark void of space. The satellite was falling out of orbit, starting its slow crash back into the gravity well from which it came.
    The transmitted image quickly lost clarity as the satellite entered the upper atmosphere, showing streaks of data artifacts and ghost shadows, drunkenly doubling and tripling the picture.
    Continents flashed by, swirls of clouds, bright blue expanses of ocean.
    A moment later, the screen went dark like the other.
    Silence settled heavily over the room.
    On the world map, the satellite’s path split into a frayed end as the mission computer attempted to extrapolate various crash trajectories, taking into account a slew of variables: the roil of Earth’s upper atmosphere, the angle of entry, the rate at which the craft broke apart.
    “Looks like debris will strike along the eastern border of Mongolia!” the telemetry specialist said. “Maybe even spilling into China.”
    The commander of the 50th Space Wing groused under his breath. “You can bet Beijing will pick this up.”
    Painter agreed. China would not miss a flaming piece of space garbage hurling toward them.
    General Metcalf glanced hard at Painter. He understood that look. The advanced military technology aboard that satellite was classified. It couldn’t fall into foreign hands.
    For a fraction of a second, the screen to the left flickered, then died again—a last hiccup of the dying satellite.
    “Bird is gone!” the control officer finally declared. “All transmissions ceased. It’s a falling rock now.”
    The telemetry data slowed to a crawl across the world map—then finally stopped.
    Dr. Shaw’s hand suddenly clutched Painter’s forearm. “They need to bring up that last image,” she said. “The one before the satellite died.”
    She must have noted something anomalous in the data, something that clearly had her scared.
    Metcalf heard her, too.
    Painter stared hard at his boss. “Do it. Make it happen.”
    The order passed along the chain of command to the floor. Engineers and technicians worked their magic. After several long minutes to redigitize, sharpen, and clean up that brief flicker, that final image bloomed again on the large screen.
    Gasps spread across the room.
    Metcalf leaned to Painter’s ear. “If even a sliver of that satellite survived, it must be found. It must never reach our enemies.”
    Painter didn’t argue, fully understanding. “I’ve got field operatives already in the region.”
    Metcalf gave him a quizzical stare, silently asking how that could be.
    Just dumb luck.
    Still, he would take that bit of good fortune and mobilize a recovery team immediately. But for the moment, he gaped at the screen, unable to look away.
    It displayed a satellite view of the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, the photo taken as the satellite blazed a trail across the sky. It was detailed enough to make out the major coastal metropolises.
    Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C.
    Every city lay in smoldering ruin.

2
    November 17, 11:58 P . M .
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