Captive Sunset

He woke up by 5:00 AM to a rather cold room. It was a warm day when he arrived the day before but normal temperatures returned overnight. He hadn’t played with the thermostat so he went downstairs and checked the set temperature. He moved the needle up to 68 degrees and looked at the coffee pot on the counter. Then he opened the cupboard above it where he found a note from Bill Pax.

It said. ‘Welcome home John. I know you are traveling light so I left some supplies to get you through your first day." There was coffee, a mug, powdered cream and sweeteners along with a teaspoon.

He smiled, “Good old Bill. Saved the day. I’ve got to have coffee in the morning.” So he started brewing a pot while he went back up stairs and washed up.

He brought in his laptop from the car and booted it while pouring his first cup of coffee in his new old home. He sat down and decided first thing to text Bill a thank you message for the coffee. He got an immediate response back. He looked at the time, it was 6:00 AM. “I guess he is up to.”

He sipped the coffee. Ah, not bad.

His browser was pointed to a news aggregator webpage he enjoyed reading. Large lettered, full page story, ‘The Earth’s spin is slowing." He read on from the story which came from the European Space Agency. No shocking headline ‘the world’s ending’. In stead they tried to find the bright side, ‘everything will be over soon.’

He paused reading to take stock in his situation. He rembembered a forum of scientists he frequented and he logged in. They were already speculating back then that the spin could slow to a new rate or fall to no spin at all.

He wondered about the no spin at all possibility. If the Earth became tidally locked with the Sun, one side would always face it while another would never see it. This could send the dark side of Earth into a frozen tundra, while blazing the light side into a furnace.

On the other hand it could also follow a path where one complete rotation around the Sun (one year) would equate to all sides sharing the time facing it. One year would effectively be one revolution. Six months of darkness followed by six months of light. The former would likely kill off most life on the planet. The ladder might be more hospitable but would change life as we currently know it. Populations of most species would fall dramatically due to lack of food resources.

It was time to take stock in his resources before panic took hold. The cupboards were bare. There was a fireplace in the living room and a wood burning stove in the kitchen. He went to the lower level basement. There were some old bags of pellets for the stove. One of the renters must have left them although he wasn’t sure the stove could be used safely. They had used it when he was small. He could remember winter storms that dropped the power out. His parents heated the house using the fireplace and stove. He needed firewood.

Inside his computer bag was a small notepad and pen. He started making a list. He added food, mostly canned for now. The plan for the morning was to get groceries as soon as the stores opened, find firewood that he could get delivered and top of the car gas tank. He also filled the second bathroom tub with water in case the utility failed.

He closed the front door. It was cold and he relied on a winter coat he had in the back seat of his car. He couldn’t remember the last time he wore it. Laura and Billy came out simultaneously and he went over to them.

“Did you hear the news today about the planet slowing down.” Laura asked in a panic.

John did not want to add to the panic, “Yeah, I want to wait and see how the day goes before getting too worried.”

“So you are worried? With your background that scares me.”

“I don’t want to alarm the boy yet,” he said while Billy got in the passenger side of her truck. “There could be a run on supplies like food, gas and firewood. That should be our first concern. How is your situation?”

“Well food, I have plenty. Firewood, I have three cords in the backyard. I will fill my tank after dropping Billy at school.”

“Good. Where can I get firewood?”

“Thompson's hardware store on the main road. They will deliver.”

“Don’t panic. There is nothing we can do but prepare and wait till later today when I will know more. Go about your day as normally as you can. I will see you later.” He went to his car and put his winter coat on before starting it. She pulled away in her pickup truck.

An hour later he returned into his driveway after buying a cart of dried and canned food. He added two more bags of stove pellets, filled his gas tank and paid for a firewood delivery. Everything seemed normal at the locations he visited. No sign of early panic. The public might not understand severity of the news until the media lights the fire.

A truck pulled up to the house with the firewood. John welcomed the driver and asked him to drop the wood in the rear.

“OK to drive across the grass?” the driver asked.

“Yes,” John pulled a twenty out of his wallet and tipped the driver. He went inside and thought, I am glad I am not living in California today. The panic and all those people will be frightening. His computer was still logged into the forum website and the pot was left on so he poured another cup and caught up on the latest news.

An esteemed scientist well known on the forum, Tom Wells, suggested at the current rate of deceleration the earth spin could stop in a few days. There were lots of entries referring to how this would affect life on the planet and they were exceedingly grim.

John started feeling sleepy. It was amazing how just accepting retirement could change a persons energy levels or was it that he didn’t have to fight it any longer. It could have been so nice to just let sleep overtake consciousness as the need occurred.

The delivery truck growled as it moved off the lawn and disappeared down the street. He had accomplished a lot so he crawled back into his bed hoping an overnight delivery truck would wake him soon with a package. He took the front larger bedroom to have furnished. Just a bed, dresser and chair. He should wake when the delivery arrived and then he would know first hand the gravity of it all.

A double beep of a horn pulled John out of the light sleep. He sat up, excited about the NASA laptop. When he got to the window, the truck was leaving. He went down to greet the package thinking how many people would be this excited to go back to work just two weeks after leaving it? It was a large box. He pulled it inside and opened it. Lots of packing to safeguard the device. Into the kitchen he placed it on his table and hooked it up. There was an external USB drive with instructions on how to get back online with NASA.

He got the email working and received permanent credentials from the secure email. He was already on a group email with all the latest information going back and forth. He sent a reply to all letting them know he was back online would investigate the readings and check the remote measuring systems. Many greetings came back instantly. The box contained two large flat panels displays and two speakers all of which were set up.

He logged into GAIL. He had the interface personalized to hear here voice, see the text of her voice on the display as well as any graphics she wanted to show him.

GAIL greeted him,“Hello John, its been a while,” she said in kind of a sexy alluring voice.

“Hi GAIL, I heard that you missed me.” He thought how she would never know he missed her as well.

“I missed you so much. Imagine I had to slow the spin of the Earth to get you back.”

“Like Superman, I see you still have your sense of humor?”

“Where would I be without it. Remember the early days of my mechanical voice and lack of sarcasm.”

“I like you much better this way,” John said. “Can you tell me what the projected glide path is currently into a complete stoppage of rotation if this continues?”

“Yes, tomorrow afternoon into the evening. Your new location is 22 miles to the east of Pasadena so the times will be close enough to call them the same.”

“We don’t have much time do we?” asked John.

“No, our time together may be short I’m afraid.”

“I know this question is a little outside your initial programming but you have been growing out on your own so what do you think will happen?”

“DOOM. The planets life will mostly die off.”

“Wow! You said mostly?”

“That’s right. My calculations are coming from instruments viewing the star map above and I believe the Earth will just stop rotating at some point.”

“Do you think a hard brake will occur?”

“No, the slowing will continue and then it will cease and coast to a final stop. You won’t notice any braking.”

“Thank you GAIL. I want to run some tests on our measuring instruments and then we can talk again. Bye.”

“I look forward to our next conversation. Its so stimulating.”

John logged off the account and logged into several instruments stationed at several different locations around the world and some on satellites. The data from differing equipment and methods were all agreeing with GAIL’s stellar map calculations. He paused and wondered why GAIL suggested most life would die. What clues did she have about which life would survive?

It was just about lunch time. He opened his phone contact list and gave Harry a call.

“Hello John, did you get everything?”

“Yes, it went without a hitch. I’m back. I've spoken to GAIL and checked all the remote instruments. It looks like we a have an unknown braking force being applied to mother Earth. I’m running calculations on Venus and Mars to see if there are any noticeable changes.”

“Any ideas what is causing the force? Things like this just don’t suddenly happen,” asked Harry.

“I don’t know. GAIL is predicting worldwide doom.”

“Is that what she said?”

“Haven’t you spoke to her?”

“No.”

“Why not?” John was surprised at his answer.

“Well. I tried and she cut me off.”

“What? Cut you off. How is that possible?”

“John, since you left only two short weeks ago GAIL has had some issues.”

“Issues, I can’t believe what I am hearing.”

“She said she would only work with you on the project.”

John was stunned and had no rebuttal. There was what seemed like minutes of silence.

“Are you there,” asked Harry.

“Yes,” John replied.

“What is it with you two,” Harry said sounding a little agitated.

“Harry, you just don’t talk to her the right way. Her core code is a sentient growing intellectual being.”

“So what do you say to her that I don’t?”

Silence.

“I’m waiting!”

“I flirt with her.” John had trouble saying it but it was the truth.

“You what? You flirt with a bodyless robot. Now I’ve heard everything.”

“She sounds kind of sexy and you know my life is pretty much without sex so for fun we started talking to each other that way. She liked it and so did I.”

“All right we will talk more about this later, right now we have a big problem on our hands and I have to brief the President as soon as we end this call. He has been waiting.”

“Sorry Harry, I got on this as soon as the equipment arrived.”

“Its not your fault. Is there a sentence that I can use to explain this? I want to keep it simple because politicians are not known for their scientific prowess.”

“I would say Earth has had an active force applied to it which is slowing the rate of its spin. You could say it is currently coasting to a complete stop. This will cause cataclysmic human disaster. There is no way to prevent it from happening. GAIL says most life on the planet will be extinguished soon for many reasons if the planet becomes tidally locked to the Sun. One side will always face it and the other side will never face it. Get the picture? I fully agree with her assessment.”

“Wow. Did she say how much time we had?”

“She thinks it will be stopped near dinner time tomorrow give or take a couple of hours.”

“Thanks John so much for your help. I will be in touch. Later.”

The phone call cutoff.

“GAIL refused to work with them. Unbelievable,” John said to himself. Then he went back to work. Hours passed. A truck pulled into the driveway between the homes. He looked out the window. It was Laura, so he went outside to inform her of the worst.

She couldn’t believe what he told her. She went around to the passenger side and hugged Billy as he got out.

“Grandmom, are you crying?” he asked.

“No dear, I’m fine. Why don’t you go inside and start on your homework.”

John walked to the backyard examining the four cords of firewood. Laura followed him.

“Isn’t there anything we can do? It's happening so quickly,” she said solemnly, fear in her voice.

“I am thinking about what we should do. We really have to wait until it stops and see where we are. In the dark or light, both have their own unique problems. We will not perish immediately, but that could be worse in some ways. Starvation and loss of utilities could be a slower route to the same end.”

Laura couldn’t stop crying. She wasn’t worried about herself. She lived a full life. It was Billy that she cried for, so young.

“We could have a look at your TV for updates especially local. What they are saying may help. I don’t have a TV.”

“Of course, come on,” they went inside to her living room and tuned in the news. John sat on the couch while she stood.