Free Nemesis by Bill Napier Page B

you want to go down to ten thousand megatons you have to reach extremely faint limiting magnitudes. Which means very long exposures even with quantum-limited CCDs. You could wait a hundred years, as Oliver says. Upstairs, in zero moonlight, we can only go to magnitude twenty-two visual at solar elongations more than seventy-five degrees.”
    Shafer said, “If you’re drunk and you lose your keys you look under the street lamp. Not because they’re necessarily there, but because that’s where you have the best chance of finding them. Meaning, we go for what’s practical. Extremely faint magnitudes take too long.”
    Webb piled on the pressure. “You’re wrong on this one, Mark. The important thing is to cover the whole sky as fast as possible, and keep covering it until Nemesis swims into the field of view. Let’s just hope Nemesis is a big one. That way we have a chance of finding it while it’s still far out. And we get maybe months of warning. I say we aim for full sky coverage in a week. We should go for ten-second exposures on Kenneth’s supernova hunter, limiting magnitude seventeen.”
    Noordhof looked at Sacheverell, who nodded reluctant agreement. The soldier said, “Okay I guess I’ve been flamed. Forget the Baby Bears. For now.”
    Shafer asked, “Can you fix Pan-STARRS for us, Colonel? Give instructions for a magnitude seventeen search?”
    “I’ll do better. We’ll control the telescopes remotely from here. We’ll use encryption in both directions.”
    “We can spread it around,” Shafer suggested. “Route it through half a dozen sites.”
    “Flagstaff and Spacewatch Two have preset sky search regions to avoid overlap,” said Kowalski. “I’ll set up the patrol to do likewise. Christ knows we have plenty of unmapped sky.”
    Noordhof took a cigar out of a top pocket and started to unwrap the cellophane. “Right. We now have an observing strategy. We know what we’re facing if we can’t find this thing, and we know we’re fighting hellish odds. It’s a start.” He produced a match, struck it underneath the table, glanced at his watch, lit up and carried on speaking all at once.
    “I know we all need a break but time’s moving on. So we’ll split into teams. Kowalski and I will set up liaison with Pan-STARRS and the other observatories. McNally and Shafer will come up with a deflection strategy. Do it, I don’t care how. Webb will tell us why we’re going about this the wrong way. Liaise with Leclerc, as he suggests. Sacheverell, you’re due to brief the Chiefs of Staff and the President on the impact scenarios later today.”
    “What?”
    Noordhof grinned sadistically. “What’s the beef, Herb? You have five hours and maybe you’ll even find time to shave. Prepare something non-technical, maybe a movie. This is your schedule: At thirteen hundred, you’re collected upstairs by chopper and transferred to a jet at Kirtland Air Force Base. You arrive Cheyenne Peak at fifteen hundred and brief the brass. They’re fixing up a little simulation and want your help. At twenty hundred you sit in on a DCI briefing inWashington and at twenty-one hundred you brief the President.”
    Sacheverell, looking stunned, appealed to Judy Whaler. He tried another angelic smile. “Can you help me? Maybe with some simulations.”
    Judy gulped down the last of her boiled egg, gave Noordhof a look of disbelief and said, “Give me an hour, Herb. I need to talk to Ollie.” Sacheverell scurried out of the room, shoulders hunched, heading either for the conference room or a toilet.
    “Please can I have a helicopter too?” Shafer asked.
    “Within the hour. Just keep your mouth firmly shut and that includes chatting to the pilot. And make damn sure you’re back here with answers at twenty-one hundred precisely. That applies to all of us.” Webb got a heavy stare.
    “I’ve been going through the kitchen cupboards,” Webb said. “Kenneth, you’re brilliantly stocked with spices.”
    Kowalski