SILVER LINING II

He was not easing himself, instead, he was using the privacy inside the toilet to watch his favourite show Science Insider on Nat Geo TV. This man was a dedicated fan of the show, he had also appeared on it several times in his glory days. He had run away from his wife and three children who were at the beach with the excuse of going to relieve himself

Right now, he was holding his smartphone in his hands, watching the last segment of the interview between Lisa Palki and Professor Amuza Walid.

KNOCK … KNOCK

The long line of people outside the door were impatient and annoyed with him for not coming out, he ignored them and increased the volume on his headsets. From the headsets with brown eyes glued to the smartphone screen, he heard the words he never anticipated, this jolted his heart as it raced in excitement.

…Professor Walid: Yes, Lisa. Like panspermia. The theory is that life can spread from one planet to another through asteroids or comets or meteorites.

Presenter: So, you're saying that Apocalypse2 could be a vehicle for life?

Professor Walid: Yes, Lisa. That's exactly what I'm saying.

Presenter: That's fascinating!

Professor Walid: Yes, Lisa. It is fascinating.

Who was this man? Why was he captivated by the theory of panspermia mentioned by the professor in the Science Insider tv show?

His name was Bibi Aaron. The founder and CEO of Yahad BP Pharmaceutical company, the fifth largest pharma company in the world. It was founded in Israel before expanding to Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa, the company headquarters were in Zurich. Currently, the company was facing a series of setbacks.

It was facing financial bankruptcy and lawsuits in the European Union. The bankruptcy was caused by hefty lawsuit fines and most of the investors pulling out when things started going downhill.

Their troubles had started when a research finding was published in a damning report by the World Health Organisation that their famous cancer vaccine Canzer N1 and cancer treatment drug Canzer N2 had grievous side effects. Both Canzer N1 & Canzer N2 were discovered to cause leukemia and blood clotting in about 10 percent of the people who were administered with them.

This was enough to make the medical community distrust all the drugs coming out of Yahad BP. All drugs of Yahad BP were banned in most continents as they underwent further review. The medical community believed Yahad BP had rushed the drugs to the market due to their greed for money, and had also not disclosed all the details of their clinical trials. Thus, with no more revenue coming in, the majority of the money went out to settle hefty court fines and fight costly court battles. The fate of this once glorious and rising company was sealed.

Bibi Aaron had brought his family to East Africa to escape from the too much heat facing his company under the guise of being on a safari vacation. But, most importantly to flee from the upcoming apocalypse brought on by asteroid Apocalypse2. Despite his failings as a businessman, he deeply loved his family and was not ready to see them die.

Before the arrival of the asteriod. He was looking at the grim possibility of closing down his company and going to jail in the European Union. For now, he could temporarily breathe a short sigh of relief since the court in Hague had put on hold legal proceedings against Yahad BP until the asteriod issue was solved. What frustrated him most, was seeing his four decades of hard work trying to come up with a solution to fetal cancer come to naught. The company he hoped to pass on to his children or partners failed in his time.

Mombasa was not their destination; their final destination was a bunker built under a hill in the eastern region of the state of Uganda. He had co-sponsored the building and equipping of the Abayudaya Community Bunker when the threat of asteriod Apocalypse2 became public. After several months of frenzied construction by the best construction firms, it was now finished and ready to receive its new inhabitants

The Abayudaya Community Bunker was designed as a reinforced, luxurious and well-stocked 700-meter deep, self-sustaining bunker built under the rocky ground of Kakungulu Hill. It was designed to accommodate 2500 people for five to six years without coming to the surface. It also could withstand a close surface strike from a tactical nuclear bomb.

Inside it was: kindergarten and elementary/primary school, two libraries, three game rooms, a computer laboratory, three basketball courts, and large indoor agrophonic farms using artificial sunlight to grow vegetables and plants. Animal farms for rearing cattle, hens, and rabbits for proteins. A well-equipped and stocked hospital, four restaurant-sized kitchens and dining rooms, two large swimming pools, three gyms, a movie theatre, and a community synagogue. Dorms for the normal inhabitants and fifty family units for the VIP guests. The bunker was using a state-of-the-art sewage treatment and air, water recycling plant. Besides that, it was stocked with all kinds of dry foods, and canned foods to sustain 2000 people for close to three years. For power, the bunker was using a mix of batteries, solar, indoor mini-dam and thermoelectric generators. The several options were for backup and redundancy in case one failed.

This was their final refugee from the upcoming doomsday hanging over the inhabitants of the earth.

The overall cost of building, furnishing and equipping the Abayudaya Community Bunker was thirty-one million World Credits (roughly three hundred and seventy-five million USD).

Bibi Aaron was excited about panspermia because, in it, he saw a way out for his dying pharm company. If he would get his hands on a fragment from the asteriod, maybe he could study it and gain insight into new life forms that may prove beneficial in reviving his failing company.

It motivates him, and he hopes the life from the asteriod can help him revive his business.

While the world prayed for the asteriod to not strike planet Earth. He began praying for it to come.

"Thank you, God, maybe this is the answer to my problems." He said as he flushed the toilet to give the people outside an indication that he was coming out.

Initially, he was feeling hopeless, but now he had hope for the future.

As he walked out of the toilet cubicle, the people outside cast fierce eyes on him.

"Bwana, wewe olukwa onafunya gani?" One of the locals asked him in Swahili in a voice filled with annoyance.

"Sorry mate, don't understand Swahili." He lied to the man, to escape future questions. As a successful businessman dealing in Africa, he had studied and mastered Swahili since it was the third-largest spoken language on the continent.

The local was asking him, what was he doing inside the toilet to take so long in there. That was his business, and he was not ready to delve into it with strangers.

He ignored their gazes as he washed his hands at the sink before calmly walking out into the blistering heat and scorching sun of Mombasa City.