Project Selene

“I have no intention of this being used as a weapon.” Dr. Campos’ body curled protectively over the machine.

“I know that, Campos,” I said, rubbing a hand across my jaw. The feel of rough stubble reminded me it had been days since I’d shaved, and nearly as long since I’d slept. “But we have precious few options, and time is running out.”

Soon, the asteroid would be too far from Earth for even the Unified Scientific Division’s technology to influence its path. Campos stared at me, his tightly knit brows darkening his expression.

“Then I will shut down the program altogether.” His thick accent softened the words, and I was certain they didn’t come out as harsh as he’d meant for them to. I let out a long breath, my head throbbing.

“That’s not an answer,” I said, feeling a sharp sense of déjà vu. I couldn’t count the number of times I’d had this same conversation with myself. “Our operative in Minew has confirmed that they are prepared to attack whether or not the device is charged. At least this way it’ll provide us with an equal chance of survival.”

His jaw clenched as he seemed to search for some other answer— any answer that wouldn’t end in the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent people.

“Campos,” I said in as gentle of a voice as I could conjure. “This is how we win the war.”

The bloodiest war in history, now seven years strong. We all believed the feud to be short-lived when Minew launched a series of attacks against the well-armed neighboring nations of Caminen, Ancria, and Ghatvia. We were quickly proven wrong.

After the first three years of futile peace meetings, failed missions, and millions of needless deaths, it seemed clear to me that the war had escalated beyond something that could be amicably resolved, and I’d used my connections within the government to request a meeting with the Unified Forces. It was there I proposed we direct our energy towards something that had previously been deemed impossible: a man-made total eclipse.

I’d discovered a formula that, if executed properly, could lead to the development of a machine that would pull smaller asteroids into Earth’s atmosphere. I’d explained that by sending these asteroids into the path of our moon it would disrupt its orbit enough to create a total eclipse, at which point the Unified Forces could use the mass confusion to bring both sides to a standstill and demand a ceasefire.

The Unified Forces declared that my proposal posed too much risk of wasted money and resources, and it was ultimately denied. They were certain they could still come to an agreement with Minew. Simply put: they were not yet desperate enough. Two years later, Minew had declared they would no longer entertain negotiations of peace and intended to win the war only through our surrender or our destruction.

That time, I didn’t have to offer my proposal to the Unified Forces —they came to me. I suggested the eclipse could also be a different type of negotiating power by having the Unified Forced operate under the guise that we could maintain the eclipse indefinitely. This, of course, was a lie.

By my own calculations, we would have a little over six minutes before needing to reverse the pull of the asteroid. Any longer than that and we would risk the unnatural alignment of the moon impacting the tides, and the threat of death from natural disaster was just as real as the war itself.

Only the most brilliant and trusted scientists were involved in working on Project Selene, and each had been hand-picked by myself or one of the governors of the Unified Forces to keep the project confidential. No one was allowed to speak of the project outside our laboratory site, and after two years of tireless work, we’d finally managed the creation of SOL—Solar Ophtham- totality and Lunar-recession.

News spread like wildfire upon the results of the first tests. Project Selene was a success, and we had found a way to direct the path of totality into the heart of the fighting, which would create enough confusion for Minew to cease their attacks while leaders of the Unified Forces proposed negotiations.

While the project was mine to oversee, it was Dr. Campos who led the army of scientists who developed the multi-billion dollar SOL machine that now stood before us.

Dr. Campos was still hovering defensively between me and the SOL, but I could see his resolve wavering with my words.

“Do you think I wanted this?” I asked him. “Do you truly believe that I spent these last two years researching the weight and velocity of asteroids, studying their patterns and meticulously searching for ones that fit a very specific set of criteria just for it to come to this?”

He shook his head. “The SR-1320 asteroid is too large.”

 I rubbed my jaw again, the crushing weight of my decision weighing on me. “I know,” I whispered.

After the success of our tests, hope had finally blossomed after years of grueling despair. By my calculations, the DR-3094 asteroid was the perfect weight and would be within range for the SOL in two weeks time, and the Unified Forces began preparations to implement the eclipse then. That is until our agent in Minew informed us that news of Project Selene had leaked, and the enemy army intended to launch a surprise attack under the cover of darkness.

Hope dwindled once more, but I’d found another asteroid, the SR-1320, that would be in range four days before the DR-3094. The only issue was that it was twice as large as the DR-3094 and hurling at a rate quicker than the gentle nudge the moon needed. It would disrupt the moon’s orbit enough to trigger a total eclipse, but the likelihood of it simultaneously causing a tsunami that would wipe out the entirety of Minew was almost definite. It would destroy our enemy, but also our own soldiers and civilians uninvolved in the fighting.

Still, I offered my discoveries to the Unified Forces and proposed we change the date of the planned eclipse to launch a preemptive counterattack.

“And you believe this to be the right choice? The moral choice?” Campos asked.

“It’s the only choice we have!” I yelled. “Minew was not thinking of morals when they slaughtered our prisoners of war or when they bombed our hospitals!” He didn’t say a word. “Or were they thinking of morals when your son was killed in battle? When they tortured him after they’d discovered who he was and who you were?”

It was a low blow, but one that I needed to use to get him to understand that this was the only way.

Campos’ face turned pale at my words, but he seemed to consider them. Then, his eyes hardened.

“No,” he said with a shake of his head. “I won’t do it.”

I sighed again, exhaustion and guilt weighing on me. “I’m not asking for your permission. I’m simply telling you that this will happen whether or not you’re in agreement. And I’m warning you, as your friend, that if you try to stop it, you will be considered a traitor in the government’s eyes.”

A sound somewhere between a laugh and a hiss escaped his lips. “Thousands of civilian lives will be lost—”

“And imagine how many more will be lost the longer this war goes on!” Exasperated, I threw up my hands. “This is the only answer.” I hoped I could convince myself of that in due time.

Campos pursed his lips as his face morphed into something of disgust. “I won’t stand here to watch.”

“I don’t expect you to.”

 He shook his head as he took his ID badge and key card from where they hung around his neck and wrapped the cord around them neatly.

“Then know that you alone will be responsible. The blood will be on your hands,” he whispered, pressing his badge into my palm. His words stayed with me as he walked out of the laboratory, the echo of them louder and stronger than the shame I felt towards myself.

The SOL was transported into a military aircraft with me alongside it. I’d decided long ago that I’d be the one to activate the machine— I didn’t want anyone else to have it weighing on their conscience.

They flew us to the heart of Minew, where active battle was still raging and where the path of totality would likely hit during the eclipse. The Unified Forces had instructed for a live video feed of the battle to be stationed next to me, in the event that things went awry and I needed to change the totality path. I checked my watch.

“Thirty seconds until launch,” the voice on the intercom instructed. I’d be commended as a hero.

“Twenty seconds.” I’d be condemned as a mass murderer.

“Ten seconds.” Which one would I view myself as?

“3...2...1...”

Something like electricity shot up my arm as my finger pressed down hard on the button. The machine whirred to life, the energy it created vibrating against my skin and causing even the air to feel more alive. I watched as the moon moved slowly until it was nothing but a dark mass hovering over the sun and the sky plunged into darkness.

A quick glance at the live feed of the battle below showed guns being lowered as faces from both sides looked skyward in awe of the phenomenon. The seconds passed by agonizingly slow, and even the hands on my watch seemed to pause for a moment to witness the historic event.

I closed my eyes and let the silence fill me, for peace even in that brief moment was so welcome that tears threatened to spill over.

Silence, and then the screaming started as a wall of water, powerful and unforgiving, raced towards the shoreline.