THE WATCH (Part Three): HUBBLE TROUBLE

THE WATCH (Part Three): HUBBLE TROUBLE(TOMETRIS THATCH) (Note that this is Part Three of a four part story. You may wish to read Part One and Two first.)


THE HUBBLE TROUBLE INCIDENT

The Hubble space station has been damaged. NASA has sent the space shuttle, JFK, to repair its systems. After docking, the team suited up and prepared to go out into space to start repairing the Hubble. Inspecting the damaged area there were large holes showing impact inside. The damage was so bad they had to replace the whole power unit and the Geo stabilizer unit. It took sixteen hours. But they completed the mission, and returned to the ship. One of the astronauts looked out the window into the black void of space and noticed a large bright object above the horizon. They sent a message back to NASA and asked to turn Hubble to longitude 160 degrees latitude 120.5. The gigantic Hubble turned around to the coordinates and started to take pictures of the object.

After the space shuttle JFK re-entered earth’s atmosphere and landed safely in Florida, the pictures were taken to a special lab to be developed. A meeting was scheduled at the pentagon space command center. Other high officials attended, Lt. Admiral Joseph J. Peterson and Secretary of State Suzanne Mitchell. Five star General James McCormick Jr. reported, "We have a major problem. There is a large Asteroid heading right toward earth; Thirty-five miles wide hurling at 2000 miles an hour. This is the biggest ever recorded in the history of humankind. The impact will totally obliterate everything on this planet down to the last molecule. The core is made of solid iron."

Suzanne asked, "Could we launch a nuke at it? Maybe the combined strength of all the nations might deflect it away from the earth. We can only hope and pray for a miracle. We must let the people know what is going to happen. There will be wide chaos, looting, panicking everywhere. We will have to prepare for the worst. We will set up evacuation centers underground".
"That might not do any good. No matter where you go the ripple effect will pulverize the mountain range and lay everything flat. We'll be crushed to death."
"We at least have to try something. How long will it take the Asteroid to get here?"
"We estimate it will strike the earth within ten days. Send the message out to all radio stations and television. Let them know that the President of the United States is going to address the nation. Tell them we have a major crisis and we are doing everything we can to save our planet. I will contact the president to inform him of the situation. Mobilize all military personnel throughout the country and prepare to evacuate East and west coastlines."

The news was broadcast all over the world. All the leaders got together to formulate a plan to stop the Asteroid. They only had eight days left. Around the clock they launched orbital platforms to set up nuclear warhead each carrying a yield of 50 megatons, the combined satellite total of 1500 missiles each carrying 50 warhead, giving them a total of 75,000 megatons. The cities were being evacuated by the National Guard. The evacuation routes were jammed with traffic. Elsewhere thousands of people were setting fires and looting, and some were committing suicide. The cities lit up the night sky with fire and thick black smoke, and thousands of people were packing into churches to pray for a miracle.

I was walking downtown. I saw burned-out department stores and restaurants, people running with clothing and electronic goods. I saw one person praying out loud, "Please God help us". Then he started to cry and picked up a can of gasoline and poured it on himself. He was ablaze, he screamed out loud, "God I sacrifice myself to you". Then he dropped to the ground. I ran to him trying to put the fire out with my jacket. I felt so bad i picked him up and held him in my arms. He was burned over sixty percent of his body. I cried and said, "Emax I am not going to let earth be destroyed. I will do everything in my power to stop it." I closed my eyes to think of good things, then I healed the man who was in my arms. He woke up looking at me and noticed that his Burns were healed. He said, "You are here. The miracle has come to save us all". And I said,
"Don't worry, I will not let you die. He got up and said, "Thank you. Bless you." And he ran off shouting that the messiah had come to save us all.

Emax said this would be very difficult task. And I told him I would use the missiles to break apart the Asteroid.
"It is made of solid iron. The missiles will not dent it. It is too large."
"All I have to do is change the molecular structure of the Asteroid. You said that i need a little iron in my blood."
"But that is too much iron, it's about 600,000 tons, I don't know what it would do to you."
"Emax, I am not going to absorb all of it. First, I'll neutralize about 80 percent of it. Then I will pulverize it, so it would be more rock than iron, so the nuclear warhead will vaporize the entire Asteroid. The combination of those rockets will light up the night sky for two days. If any leftover debris tries to enter earth atmosphere I will shield the
entire planet and all the debris will burn up. Look Emax, the Asteroid is getting closer to the earth, it is so huge, even now. Let’s get to work."

The countdown has started. I have transported on this huge Asteroid, looking down at the earth. This high up it looks so beautiful. I can see the missiles heading right for us. I only have ten minutes to do my work. I close my eyes and touch the ground and start to absorb the gigantic rock. At first it felt kind of good. Then it had a bad aftertaste. It started to glow quite brightly, then stopped. I was done. I can see 200 of the warhead starting to impact beneath me. I transport myself away. Then I watch the biggest fireworks you've ever seen. It was beautiful. It exploded like the Fourth of July. I headed back to the earth to shield the planet from leftover debris. I said to Emax, "Our work is done, let’s go home, I'm kind of tired now".

At the space command center, there were cheers and celebration. James McCormick said, "We did it. The missiles succeeded in destroying the asteroid". Susan was reading the data which they retrieved from the space probe and she was very concerned about the information. She walked up to James McCormick and asked to speak with him. They walked in the conference room. James was smiling and asked Susan what was the problem. She answered that something was confusing about the data indicating the asteroid we destroyed was not made of iron after all but mostly made of rock. The analysis showed that something has decomposed it.
"What do you mean, nothing can decompose that much iron? It just doesn’t disappear. Do a follow-up and report to me, okay?"
"There is a rumor going around the city saying that a man who set himself on fire claims that an Afro American male healed his wounds."
"Do you believe this nonsense Susan?"
"I don't know, there were several witnesses."
"Susan, I want you to set up a special task force to check this out to see if this is a hoax. If not, maybe he might be tied in with the Asteroid incident. Does the man he healed have a description of this person?"
"We are trying to find him right now."
"This sounds like a hoax to me. Call someone from the FBI and give them the report. Let them check it out. I'm trying to put this country back together. I do not want to be chasing a ghost."


THE ST. HELEN LUXURY LINER

You know, saving the world is a hard job to do. So I decided to take a vacation to get away and relax. I was reading the sports page and saw a small ad for special rates on cruises. It said to sit back relax and sail with us to the Caribbean islands. I would like that. I've never been on a cruise before because, I was afraid of being in the water. But now with my special abilities I can do just that. So I call for reservations on the St. Helen luxury liner.

I transported myself to the port Covington terminal to pick up my reservations ticket. I look out to the pier and see the St. Helen luxury liner. She is a beauty. The information says she's 600-foot long, weighs 196,000 tons, with a capacity of 2500 passengers. I said to myself, I hope this ship has a lot of lifeboats on board, because if she sank many people would die. Remember the Titanic.

I walked up the ramp and gave one of the ship’s crew my ticket. He said welcome aboard. My room number is 462, that's four decks down. I took the elevator down to my quarters, opened the door, and to my surprise my quarters were huge and beautiful, with flowers, a large bay window looking out, a queen size bed, and a Jacuzzi tub. I said to myself it must be a mistake, they must have given me the wrong quarters. So I called the operator, who said I was in the correct room. So I stretched out on the bed and took a nap. 3 1/2 hours later the phone ring. The operator said, "Mr. Johnson we are serving the banquet buffet at 7pm in room 221".
"Thank you, I will be up soon." I had enough time to take a shower and change clothes.

I walked up to the upper deck. Then I saw her. She was wearing a sleek long black dress. She had long black hair down to her shoulders. She turned a round and looked at me. She acted as if she was not interested then looked away. She had the most beautiful dark eyes, almost hypnotic.
So I walked toward her and said "Good evening". She turned and smiled.
"My name is Michael Johnson." She answered, "Cleopatra McCormick". I stared into her eyes and said "Hello Cleopatra. Are you with friends or did you come alone?"
"Actually, I am with my grandparents. They are celebrating their 60th anniversary."
"So you must be their chaperone."
"No, I just needed a vacation."
I said "A beautiful woman like you should not to be alone."
She smiled, and laughed. "Do you always come on this way to every woman you meet?"
I said, "No! Only the ones I like".
She looked at me. "Oh really? Are you married Mr. Johnson?"
"No, I’ve been divorced about five years now, what about you?"
She answered "no".
I asked her "Why not?"
"I have not found the right person yet. I have dated, but sometimes I am too busy working."
"Cleopatra will you accompany me to the buffet and we can sit down and talk and to get to know each other?"
She smiled, and said, "let's go".
I took her under my arm, and we walked down to the second level.

"Here it is, room 221". I opened the door and said, "wow! Look at this place". We were amazed. I'd never seen so much food in one place before. It looked like a marketplace all kinds of meats, salads, fruits, and vegetables, and at the center of the table a large ice sculpture at least fifteen feet tall. So we got in line, then we found a table just for two.
She said, "Michael what kind of job do you do?"
"I own businesses all over the United States, to help the needy and give them better jobs."
She said, "Oh!, you are the multimillionaire who found oil in Nevada".
"Please Cleopatra do not tell anybody who I am."
She answered, "Sure, but I cannot believe you are here with us. You should have your own yacht or something."
"I do not want to show off, because people start to treat you different."
"Thanks to you, oil prices are down to $1.25 cents a gallon. And that boosted the economy. The Saudis had a bad day when that happened."

We talked about everything. It seemed we had some things in common. I said "Cleopatra I really, like you, I feel comfortable around you. I do not want to rush you into something that you might not be ready for."
"No, you are not rushing anything. When I first saw you, I knew there was some chemistry between us."
We hold hands and stare in each others eyes. Then I noticed a man with an Irish accent I spoke to earlier in the day, Philip McLean, across from me. He was talking with three other men at the table. They were looking around. They looked somewhat suspicious. Cleopatra said, "Michael why are you looking at those men?."
"Oh! Excuse me. What did you say?"
"You were staring at them."
"I know one of those men from earlier today".

Meanwhile, Philip McLean was talking to the three men. He said, "Do you have everything in place?"
"Yes sir, all our men are ready. The explosive is set at the lower bow and forward engine compartments. The weapons are spread out in different locations on the ship. They are marked with a red star. This time we will give the Americans a wake-up call they will never forget." They all laughed aloud then started to eat and drink.

At 10:00 pm we went to the casino and played some blackjack. I cannot believe she won twice. She collected $600. I had not won anything. I could have cheated, but I didn't. 11:15 PM we went dancing. I'm not a good dancer, but I like to slow dance. We hold each other real close. She has a nice body, flat stomach, no love handles, real firm. I cannot believe she's not married, it's like a dream come true. After we finished dancing, Cleopatra asks me to walk with her to the upper deck for a moonlight stroll. I told her I'd had a nice time and I'd see her again tomorrow. We kissed and exchanged phone numbers. I walked her back to her quarters and she asked me if I'd like to come inside to have a drink. I said, "not tonight, I had a little too much at the bar".
She looked and laughs at me and says, "yes you did. You had me laughing all night" she smiled.
I said, "Oh! Well I have to go. I will see you tomorrow Cleopatra."
She said, "you take care yourself Michael".
I smiled and walked away, heading to my quarters.

Up ahead I notice the same man who was at the buffet talking about something. My intuition says they are up to something. I cloak and get a little closer to hear what they were saying. The space down in the corridor is somewhat tight so I mimic the walls. Then I can observe them. They looked around and started to talk.
"After the vessel sails into international waters, we will begin the attack. We have other ships standing by to board her. Then we will give the American consulate our demands."
"Suppose they do not heel?"
"I will kill them one by one until they give in. If not I will sink her to the bottom of the ocean. This will claim a victory for our cause. The American government will not sacrifice everyone on board."

I pull a way from them and turn back to my original form, thinking it never rains, but it pours. I am here on this ship taking a vacation and this comes up. In my quarters I said, "Did you hear that Emax?"
"Very clear they are planning to destroy the ship and everyone on it. What are you going to do Michael?"
"Well I am just going to observe them first. Then find out how many they are if there are carrying weapons and explosives to do damage."
"Michael I have some bad news to tell you about Cleopatra."
"What bad news Emax?"
"I was scanning the database and found information on Cleopatra McCormick stating she is the daughter of General James McCormick of military intelligence."
"Emax who asked you to spy on Cleopatra?"
"I am here to protect you. Your emotions supersede your actions. I studied your history records. It has stated she might be a spy."
"I am ashamed of you. She is not a spy, Emax."
"You feel for her, which I can understand. But do yourself a favor Michael. The next time you see her, ask her if she knows General McCormick. If so, you must not have any contact with her."
"If she is his daughter, they cannot stop me."
"Yes! I know that Michael. However, it will be hard for you to leave her. Because of your feelings, you will be discovered."
"I do not care."
"You would never have peace. They would track you down, or maybe capture you."
"Let them try. I have something up my sleeve."
"Okay, Michael, you have been warned."
Right now we have responsibilities, Emax. I must try to save this ship and everyone on board, including Cleopatra, Okay?"
Emax said, "affirmative".
"I am going to bed now. I will see you in the morning."

Six hours later, the alarm clock went off. I awoke and turned off the clock. It was 8:30 AM. The phone rang. I picked it up and said hello.
"Good morning, Michael, it is Cleopatra."
"How are you doing today?"
"Fine" She said. "I am going running on the upper deck, would you like to join me?".
I answered, "Not right now. I have to make some calls today. I would like to see you at the banquet lunchroom."
"Okay! Sure", she said, "12:30pm will be fine".
"I will see you there" I said, and hung up the phone.
Emax said, "I have intercepted a communication to Mr. Philip McLean. It is a coded message. Scanning authenticate. It says the St. Helen will be at the coordinates 120 degrees latitude 41 degrees longitude at 1500 hours your time. We will rendezvous and intercept the vessel when you give the signal. The Backup plan is Zeus."
"That sneaky little bastard, I never trusted him. E max what is Zeus?" "Must have a second agenda for us."
"Right now it is 1200 hours. I will meet Cleopatra down at the banquet room. I want you to still scan the frequency and inform me if something happens."

I was waiting in the banquet room when Cleopatra walked in. Boy she looked beautiful as she walked toward me and smiled.
"Have a seat, you look beautiful today."
"Well! Thank you. Michael."
"Okay what would you like to eat?"
"I'd like to have baked shrimp with Alaskan king crab, baked potato, a Caesar salad with ranch dressing, and a Diet Coke please. What do you want?"
"Mmm, everything here looks so good. Oh, I guess I will have what you have. Cleopatra I want to ask you something."
"Ask me what Honey?"
"Do know James McCormick?"
She stared at me and said, "why you ask?"
"I was reading the paper early today. Do you remember that narrow escape we had with the Asteroid that almost hit us? The commander who was in charge had your last name, McCormick. This might be a coincidence?"
She replied, "He is my father, why?"
"I just wanted to know, do you work for military intelligence? Please tell me the truth Cleopatra."
"Yes, I work with my father. What does that have to do with anything?" "Nothing. I just wanted to know." I smiled and said "okay our lunch is ready". Cleopatra smiled and held my hand.

While we were talking, weapons were fired outside and people started to run into the banquet room screaming. Then six men dressed in camouflage uniforms burst into the banquet room and started to fire at everyone. Cleopatra turned around to see. I activated my cloak and disappeared.

When Cleopatra turned back to Michael she noticed that he was gone. She looked all around for him but could not find him. Then she went down. Michael was about to incapacitate three of them when he turned around to see Cleopatra on the ground. He transported to where she lay and bent over to call out to her. Then he noticed blood was all around her. She was hit in the back of her head. He could not believe what had happened to her. He cried out loud saying, "No! No, Cleopatra you can’t die". One of the men walked up behind Michael while he was crying over her body and said, "Get up, she is dead". He hit Michael on the head with his rifle but. Michael was so angry he turned his head all the way around to his back, like some horror movie. Tears were falling down from his face but the anger inside of him took over. The man’s eyes lit up, he could not believe what he had seen. He started to run away from Michael, but before he could the power emerged. The man was picked up and thrown across the room. The other soldiers found him, twisted like a pretzel. When they saw Michael standing up they said, "hey you sit down or we'll put you down". Michael stood steady over Cleopatra's body. They started to shoot at him. The Bullets did not touch him. The men looked at each other and their rifles, wondering what had happened. One of the soldiers charged at Michael. As they watched he suddenly disappeared. The soldiers were amazed at what they saw, and ran back to return with a rocket launcher. They fired at him. The blast blew people and debris everywhere. The smoke cleared. Michael was still standing. They said it could not be, no one could survive a direct blast like that, he must not be human.

Then one of the soldiers called on the radio saying, we have big trouble down here sir. Michael picked up five soldiers and snapped their backs in two and threw them away like paper dolls. He picked up Cleopatra and carried her down to the corridor to her room. Soldiers were still shooting at Michael. Then he projected a high intensity sandstorm inside the corridor. The soldiers could not see anything due to high winds and blowing sand. At the second level they set up a series of explosions to trap him down below. That didn't do any good. He just walked right through the twisted steel beams. Then he laid her down on the bed he said, "Don't worry Cleopatra, everything will be just the way it was."

"You were right again Emax."
"I am sorry for your loss Michael. You do have the power to reverse everything that happened today."
"Yes, I know, but first I will teach these fools a lesson."
Michael transported to deck 17. The soldiers saw him and started shooting. Michael kept walking through. A bright flash appeared. The light was so intense they could not see anything in front of them, they were blinded. They all started to yell out loud saying, "I cannot see, my eyes, my eyes!" Then Michael picked up one of the soldiers and said, "Who is the person in charge?" The soldier looked at him and spit in his face and said "I will never tell you anything." Michael stared into his eyes and his body started to tremble and shake.
"I said, where is your boss?"
He yelled out in pain, "please stop, I will tell you where is he. On deck 18, room 518." So Michael dropped him and walked away. The soldier picked up two hand grenades and tossed them behind Michael. They exploded and ripped the floor beneath him and he fell. The soldier thought that he had killed him he walked up and looked down in the hole. He said, "yes I have got him". Then he turned around and saw Michael standing behind him. He yelled and said, "oh no!" He backed up and fell in the hole. Michael said, "you bastard", and with the power of his thoughts the soldier exploded everywhere.

Michael transported into room 518 and saw Philip McLean talking into a radio transmitter. Then he stood up and turned around and said, "I would never have expected it was you doing all of this Michael. You have fouled my plan to take over this ship and you have cost me thousands of dollars and men and materials."
Michael said, "I had some suspicion about you earlier today. I was right. Everything here today will be forgotten, but you will remember what happened, I will make sure of that McLean."
"As we speak, I have two ships heading this way to intercept this vessel and sink her to the bottom of the ocean." All of a sudden, there were several explosions that hit the ships Hull. "McLean said, this will send a message to your American government not mess with us. I will die for my country, will you die for yours Michael?"
He grabbed McLean and said, "not today".
Then a blue aura emerged around them. McLean said, "what is this?" as he looked around him. Everything started to move backwards very slowly, then it started to move faster and faster. McLean could not believe his eyes. Michael dropped McLean on the floor and said "I know everything about you what you’re going to do".
"This could not be. It must be it some kind of trick, flashing lights spinning the room around. You must be some kind of magician or something. I would not betray my people for your parlor tricks."
Michael said, "Well I want you to see this". McLean looked out the window and saw the ship was at the dock, and people were entering the ship. Michael said, "It is true. We are back where we started from. I have another little surprise for you. You can go McLean. You are free".

So McLean opened the door and walked away. He walked down the corridor and noticed the walls and floors were undamaged. There was nothing showing that he had tried to take over the ship. He walk down the gangplank and thought to himself that no one would believe him about what had happened last night. He started to flag a taxi, then saw two men dressed in black suits; they walked up to him asking, "are you Mr. Philip McLean?"
"Yes, why do you ask?" "FBI. You are under arrest for terrorist acts." McLean said, "I haven't done anything".
The agents said, "We have information and evidence that you were planning to hijack and sabotage the St. Helen luxury liner. We have your men in custody. One of them states that you are the leader. And the United States Coast Guard has intercepted two vessels with enough firepower to sink the St. Helen." You can imagine the look on his face, knowing that he was going to jail for life. McLean tried to explain to the agents what had happened, but they did not believe him. He was handcuffed and taken into custody.

As for me, Michael, I am still on vacation. Once again, there is Cleopatra. What a woman. But I cannot have a relationship with her, so I walked away this time. But in my heart I will always love and remember Cleopatra McCormick.


(NOTE: This story is continued in additional parts also published on Storystar. Click on the link below for 'More stories by this author' to read the rest of the story... )