In the year 2439 a comet is hurtling toward Earth on a certain collision course. Heralding the arrival of the comet is the "Capella" - an intense reddish-purple light that surrounds the planet.
Famed astronomer Romulus Futurus works around the clock trying to come up with a way to thwart the comet on its path to Earth, can he stop it in time... and at what cost?
Book sales have been okay, not great.
"Do you see the purple blush that descends to the Earth in a straight line?" said Romulus Futurus in great excitement to his friend John Crofton, the famous reporter of the "New York Herald" in Berlin. "Are you now convinced that I have spoken the truth? While we need my special apparatus to see the comet today, soon everyone will be able to see it with their naked eye. Do you now admit that my diagnosis is correct?"
John Crofton, a man about thirty-six years old, an American, bent down silently and looked through one of the giant telescopes up to the horizon. It was 9 o'clock in the evening on October 10, 2439.
Berlin is presently in the ecliptic of the constellations of Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, and Gemini," The great astronomer said. "In the East are Castor and Pollux, the Gemini twin stars that have been spreading a strange light in abundance lately. East between the horizon and the apex you behold the Capella system."
"Is that the double star where one star appears brighter than the other one?" Said Crofton, still looking through the telescope.
"Indeed. Many ancient astronomers believe the age of Capella to be the same age as the sun. These two stars need one hundred and four days to move around each other. ""If I am not mistaken," said John Crofton. "Several scholars have prophesied the destruction of the world would occur due to a collision with the Capella system."
Romulus Futurus smiled. He was a tall, burly man with a slightly mottled beard and thoughtful eyes.
