Jack saw blinkers ahead and they slowed down again. Accident, probably. He started to move toward the rear doors, hoping to throw them open and jump out, hoping for police. But Tad climbed back and stayed with him until they'd gotten past and were moving along again at a steady clip.

There were other slowdowns, and Tad complained they wouldn't make it by one.

Gallagher glanced at his watch. They'd switched places several times and Tad was driving now. "It's okay," he said soothingly. "We can take our time. All we have to do is knock down one plane. Doesn't matter which one it is." He looked at peace with the world. It was odd. He seemed to discount the risks they were taking. As if they were destiny's favorites.

STATEMENT FROM THE PRESIDENT. 10:00 A.M.

President Charles L. Haskell, speaking from the Percival Lowell.

"This morning I'd like to address, not only the American people, but our friends around the globe. The world community is currently going through an experience unlike any ever faced before in our collective history. Coasts everywhere have been inundated, cities battered, whole populations turned out of their homes. Millions have died. In the United States, we have lost a president, the government is scattered, casualties are terrifyingly high. And an even greater danger hangs over our heads.

"I'm on board the Percival Lowell, a nuclear-powered ship designed and built by us, by the human race, to carry our representatives, and eventually our civilization, outward. To Mars and beyond. Now, instead, it is being used to scout an enemy of that civilization. It's a technological marvel and it stands as a symbol of what we can accomplish when we put aside our differences, and our fears, and act in our common interest.

"During the last two days, the United States has received massive aid from its friends, and even from some longtime rivals, around the world. Italian surgical units, Canadian wheat, Mexican disaster teams, Chinese helicopter and transport services, have arrived on our shores and have helped save the lives of thousands of our people. Japanese technicians freed Americans trapped in collapsed buildings in Seattle and Anchorage; Russian ships rescued sailors from capsized vessels in the North Atlantic; Israeli and Egyptian army engineers, working in concert, have shored up dozens of damaged buildings, bridges, and dams. Our own armed forces have reacted with courage and determination.

"We've begun to hear of individual acts of heroism, people throwing themselves into the path of torrents to rescue others from overturned automobiles, a young woman in Tallahassee who lifted an automobile off a child's chest amid rising waters, a helicopter pilot in Hawaii who snatched three teenagers from a roadway and had to outrun a tidal wave.

"The world is drawing together. We're putting aside politics and ancient rivalries and all the other causes that divide us, and we're acting, for the first time in our history, as a single family. It is this fact that gives me great hope for the future. That persuades me we can come back from all the damage we've sustained over the last two nights, from the terrible losses we've taken, that we will rise from this calamity stronger and better than we have ever been before. That we will memorialize those who have died by rebuilding their world. That we will do it together, and that when we have finished, we will have created a civilization that will give pride to men and women as long as we inhabit this globe.

"Unfortunately, none of this will be possible if we don't turn aside the Possum. So let me tell you what the situation is: You already know that, if left on its present course, the Possum will come down in Kansas at four-fifty-six A.M. tomorrow.

"We don't intend to let that happen. With the cooperation of the Lunar Transport Authority, we're going to put the entire fleet of space planes on the rock. We're going to anchor them down and then we're going to fire their engines, and we're going to accelerate the Possum so that it crosses Earth's orbit early. That will get it out of the way. We expect it'll remain a neighborhood nuisance for a while after that, but we'll be able to deal with it at our leisure.

"Will it work?

"I've seen the same interviews you have. Some experts say no. Furthermore, a lot of people don't trust the government very much. They think it's either dishonest or incompetent or both. Okay, I'm not going to argue that point tonight. We can address it later after we've solved the more pressing problem of our survival.

"Will it work?

"I can't guarantee success. But I've been close to the effort to detour the Possum right from the beginning. I suppose you could say no one's closer. In fact, I can look out my window here and you'll notice it's only a few hundred feet away.

"I'm not a mathematician. The physicists who've planned this mission are confident. We've assembled the best people from around the world to make it happen. So I'll tell you this: If it's humanly possible, we'll get it done. Meantime, I ask you to keep calm, trust us to persevere, and we'll come through this together.

"Thank you. We'll keep you informed."

3.

WE REGRET NEWSNET SERVICE IS TEMPORARILY OFF-LINE DUE TO RELOCATION OF NEWS AND PROCESSING CENTER FROM CHICAGO TO TORONTO. CHECK THIS SITE TOMORROW. Skyport Orbital Lab. 1:10 P.M.

Andrea was a useful addition. She took over the communication systems without undue delay, learned to monitor the data feeds that provided information from hundreds of remote and manned facilities and relay it to appropriate consumers, and showed a natural talent for mollifying researchers who weren't satisfied with the quality or alacrity of responses.

The lab, and the various facilities it served, were now almost exclusively concerned with the fallout from the collision between Tomiko and the Moon. A subsidiary branch of specialization had appeared almost overnight: an interest in Tomiko itself, and the suspicion that it was something more than simply a comet. That notion was rapidly developing into a full-scale argument. But like philosophical and religious debates, it appeared to be an argument that would lead nowhere. The comet had vaporized, and if anything unusual had lain within its frozen exterior, it was hard to see how any of it could have survived.

Meantime, the return of POSIM-38 had claimed primary attention. People who wanted details, say, on energy release or gravity fluctuations during the collision were being put on hold. Virtually every instrument under the lab's auspices was aimed at the Possum.

For her part, Andrea was delighted to be back at work. Windy had even signed papers to grant her status as a temporary employee. (It turned out the government had rules against using volunteer professionals without paying them.)

By this time a small network of stations directly involved in the effort to get rid of the Possum were linked directly to the Lowell. These stations included the Lyndon Johnson Space Center in Houston, Feinberg's temporary location at Hartsfield, the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii, Palomar in California, an advisory post at Cambridge University, and the AstroLab. All other communications to the Lowell were funneled through the Orbital Lab.

Most of these were either for Keith Morley from his producers, or for the president. The latter were, for the most part, scrambled.

Andrea was a professional. She did not try to eavesdrop, but it was her duty to stay on the circuit until she was sure connections had been made. In so doing she'd learned that Evelyn Hampton, the chaplain, and Rachel Quinn had all received book and movie offers. She also knew that the president had spoken to the families of Tony Casaway and Bigfoot Caparatti; that Hampton had called Jack Chandler's son.