Paths Not Taken

Somewhere recently on the blog I suggested that a future history series might present first a major historical event, then, secondly, in later installments, separate communities whose members have been brought up on diametrically opposed accounts of that event. Such would begin to capture the complexity of real history.

We might make a short list of sf themes that Poul Anderson did not address, one being the premise of a comet or asteroid on a collision course with Earth - although he did have a rogue planet about to impact a star in Ensign Flandry. One purpose of a space program should be a laser defense system for Earth.

Anderson would have addressed the cometary strike theme with originality. But what would be an original slant? In Carl Sagan's Contact, interstellar communication is established but a powerful lobby denounces it as a hoax. So maybe denial of a predicted cometary strike? As the government begins to implement emergency measures, its opponents claim that there is no comet or that its path cannot be predicted accurately or that the effects of impact have been exaggerated. Ingenious arguments can be deployed but what happens on Day Zero?