“Whatever they are, they’ll burn up as soon as they hit the atmosphere,” said Reinhardt. “They’re huge.”
“They won’t burn,” said Mazer. “They can generate fields. They’ll deflect the heat.” He spoke Chinese then. “Computer, digitize the sat feed into a holo that includes Earth and the three alien projectiles. And do it to scale.”
A construct appeared in the holofield. Crudely made. A white sphere representing Earth and three small wheel-shaped projectiles quickly approaching it.
“Skin the Earth’s surface to match current time zones and the Earth’s rotation in relation to the position of the projectiles.”
The surface of the Earth appeared on the sphere. Oceans, continents, atmosphere, all slowly spinning on an axis.
“Can you determine the speed of the three projectiles based on what we see from the sat feed, perhaps using the starfield as reference?”
“Affirmative.”
“Are they decelerating?”
“Negative. Speed is constant.”
“Vector their trajectory,” said Mazer.
In the holofield, a dotted line extended from the wheels, hitting Earth at a sharp angle, as a reentry vector should.
“I don’t think they’re bombs,” Mazer said in English. “Look at their approach. Coming in at that sharp of an angle. I think they’re landers.”
In Chinese Mazer said, “Computer, can you guess what their deceleration would be as they hit the atmosphere?”
“Insufficient data.”
Mazer figured as much. Fine. He would make do with the information he had.
“All right,” he said. “Let’s assume they decelerate in the atmosphere at a constant rate that puts their speed at zero by the time they make landfall. Can you calculate that?”
“Affirmative.”
“Okay. Then based on that tentative rate of deceleration and the current speed and position of the landers in relation to the speed, tilt, and orbital eccentricity of Earth, can you determine exactly where the first lander will touch down on the surface?”
“Negative. There are too many other variables.”
“Can you approximate?” asked Mazer.
“Affirmative. The landers will likely touch down within this circle.”
A large red transparent dot appeared on the surface of the Earth.
“Enlarge three hundred percent,” said Mazer.
Earth zoomed toward them in the holofield and stopped. The dot was massive. Roughly two thousand kilometers wide. Its center was in the middle of the South China Sea. To the east it covered the northern half of the Philippines. To the west it engulfed most of Vietnam, nearly touching Ho Chi Minh City to the south and Hanoi to the north. Plus the northeastern tip of Cambodia and all of southern Laos. But the largest mass of land was in southern China, including all of Guangdong province.
“We’re in that circle,” said Patu.
“It’s a big area,” said Reinhardt. “They could be going anywhere.”
“It’s eighty percent water,” said Mazer. “They’re not headed for water. And you can probably cross off the Philippines, Vietnam, and Laos as well.”
“Why?” said Fatani.
“Computer,” said Mazer. “Show population density within this circle.”
Hundreds of tiny blue dots appeared, the vast majority of which were in southern China, where the dots were so thick along the coast and a hundred kilometers inland that they had coalesced into a solid blob of blue.
“You think they’re headed for populated areas?” asked Fatani.
“You saw what they did in the Belt,” said Mazer. “Computer, how much time do we have before the projectiles reach Earth?”
“Approximately seventeen minutes.”
Fatani swore.
“Patu, I need a sat uplink to NZSAS immediately,” said Mazer.
“I’ll try,” she said.
“What do we do?” said Reinhardt.
“We warn as many people as we can,” said Mazer. He waved his hand through the holofield, reconnecting with the Chinese base. “Red Dragon, Red Dragon. Acknowledge. This is Captain Mazer Rackham. Do you read? Over.”
A Chinese soldier’s head appeared. Mazer knew the face but not the name. One of the flight controllers.
“Red Dragon acknowledge,” said the soldier. “We’ve been trying to hail you, Captain. You’re in a bit of trouble with the base commander, I’m afraid.”
“Patch me through to him.”
The controller looked surprised. “To Colonel Tuan?”
“Yes, immediately. It’s an emergency.”
“Yes, Captain, but I doubt he’ll answer.” The soldier busied himself, then returned a few seconds later. “I’m sorry, Captain. Colonel Tuan is not available, but Captain Shenzu is here.”
“Put him on.”
Shenzu replaced the controller in the holofield. “We have a situation, Captain Rackham. Return to the base immediately.”
“The landers are headed for us,” said Mazer. “They’ll make landfall in southeast China. I’m almost certain of it.”
“Landers?”
“The giant discs in the sky. Descending to Earth. Are you watching the feeds?”
“We have a broadcast, yes.”
“Vector them. Track them. They’ll make landfall here.”