“Absolutely, Admiral,” Williams said as he started typing on his laptop. The projector lit up, and a video presentation appeared on the whiteboard. As the slides started flashing, Williams narrated. “Gentlemen comets are irregularly shaped bodies that are composed mostly of ice, but there usually are other materials as well including, dust, iron, and other minerals. Comets typically travel at speeds around 20,000 MPH. However, as a comet nears its closest point to the sun, and it's more dramatically affected by the sun's gravitational pull it can be traveling at thousands of kilometers a minute. Like the planets, each comet normally travels on a regular orbit. Planets' orbits are very nearly circular, but not entirely so. Comets have highly elongated orbits that bring them very close to the Sun and then swing them back into space. A comet's tail is its most recognized feature. When far from the Sun, a comet's nucleus is very cold, and its material is frozen. This icy nucleus changes radically when a comet approaches the Sun. As a comet travels near the Sun, its developing tail can lose several hundred million tons of dust and vapor can extend for millions of kilometers.

“And this thing is going to hit the Earth?” interrupted General Draper.

“No, all calculations indicate that it'll just miss us,” answered Williams.

Draper frowned, the eyebrows on his elongated face drawing together to form a single line. “What! If it's going to miss us, what's the problem?”

“General, the comet will have a tail several million miles long. As I just mentioned, most of the time the tail of a comet is composed of dust and water vapor. We don't understand all the details, but we've confirmed the material in the tail of this comet is radioactive. So highly radioactive in fact, that even from many hundreds of million miles away, we have no problem detecting it. The entire tail of the comet will fall under the effects of Earth's gravitational field. Massive amounts of this radioactive debris will be drawn into Earth's orbit. It's estimated that every living thing on earth will be exposed to a dose of about fifteen hundred roentgens of radiation in the first month. That will be enough radiation to wipe out ninety-nine percent of all life during the first year of exposure. After the radiation levels peak, in about six months, the radioactive debris will slowly break down and much of it will burn up in the atmosphere. After about fifteen to twenty years, radiation levels will return to normal.” As Williams explained he felt as if a giant weight was lifted from his shoulders. The word was out; he was no longer the senior person in control of this information.

“Could you explain in more detail what'll happen because of this radiation?” National Security Advisor Baker asked.