Captive Sunset

Early the next morning the phone rang. Laura knew it might be important so she begrudgingly picked it up, “Hello?...Yes hang on a second.” she shook John who was not awakened by the ringer. “It’s for you.”

He placed the phone on speakerphone so he could rest his head back down on the pillow with his eyes closed, “Yes, this is John.”

“Have you seen the news or stepped outside?” said Harry.

“No, I’m in bed.”

Laura switched on her bedroom TV and tuned it to BNN.

The news person was running a video of the sun coming up over and over. “Earth seems to be spinning a lot faster than we expected,” he said.

John sat up on hearing that and focused his eyes on the set. He saw the clip. “It seems we exceeded our Goldilocks spin,” he said to Harry.

“It’s incredible to see with your eyes,” replied Harry.

“Yes it is. What has GAIL said about it? She didn’t predict this.”

“She can be difficult sometimes. Can you talk to her?”

“OK, I will give her a call on the number you gave me. Talk to you afterwards.” He hung up the phone. He looked at a worried Laura, “That didn’t last long did it?” They got up and went down to the kitchen where she put coffee on.

“You have go to come and see this live,” he said to her stepping out the rear door to the a porch.

She joined him, “Oh my…,” she said watching the sun stream across the sky. She hugged him, “What does this mean for us now?”

“I don’t know,” he dialed GAIL and placed it on speakerphone.

“Good morning gorgeous,” he said when GAIL picked up causing Laura a slight unnoticed cringe.

Laura poured them each a cup of coffee. She couldn’t help her thoughts. He hadn’t called her gorgeous. Maybe at her age she wasn’t anymore. How old was GAIL anyway she wondered. If only she had a chance to talk to her alone about non science related girl stuff she would know.

“I didn’t want to wake you from your first real nights sleep in a while honey. Feeling better?”

“I was enjoying being in bed until Harry phoned me,” he smiled at Laura. “Any idea what is causing this latest emergency?”

“I told you that the Dark Matter roaming toward Mars could affect it which in turn affects us here. I didn’t expect this, but I did expect something unusual.”

“Unusual. How much of a problem could it be?” he replied.

“Earths life evolved around the 24 hr day, so long term, if it stays too fast a spin, it could reek havoc on biological systems.”

“What about near term? I remember discussing a 60-90 minute day hypothetically and calculated that portions of Earth near the equator could start to tear away into space,” he asked.

“That is roughly speaking, but yes it could happen that way. The current complete rotation time is about three hours so if it continues accelerating we may reach that point soon. That reaction would slow the spin down and return it to closer to normal though.”

“Yeah, but after a couple of countries and their peoples disappear. What about a rocket now? The Earth spinning like this will add a lot of initial push to a rocket liftoff?” John asked.

Laura listened on, amazed at what was being said, shaking her head.

“The rocket with the heavy payload is now possible.” she replied.

“Get that updated info to Harry and let him make the preparations just in case. Call me if anything changes.”

“OK, bye.”

Laura said, “Are we in trouble again?”

“Yes and before we were in a good spot. Now, not so much, but being at one of the poles is the sweet spot from this danger as its surface will be spinning the slowest. Really, nowhere on the planet is safe from what would be a cataclysmic event if Earth’s surface started to peel away.”

Laura wasn’t entirely sure what he meant but was assured that he knew. They sipped their hot coffee sitting on the back porch in the morning chill. Watching, they could see the Sun moving at this speed whereas at normal speed it was not perceivable.

Billy appeared, “What’s going on?”

Laura pointed at the sky and said, “Watch.”

“Wow, how fast is it moving?” he asked looking at John.

“Remember the Sun moving isn’t what we are observing. Our movement is what we are seeing. I know it’s hard to think of it that way. So the Earth is spinning about eight times faster then we are used to.”

“Yeah, I get what you are saying. You would make a good science teacher.”

John laughed at that.

Laura became emotional, “Just when I was hoping that it would get back to normal so the cellular would work in Portland so I could here from…”

John interrupted, “I think the chances today will still be good if a lot of people return to work. I don’t think there is any damage to the communications systems, just some management needed.”

“Really?” said Laura trying to hide her tears so not to upset Billy. “Good. I’m going to the grocery store and see what I can stock up on.”

“Go ahead, I want to do a conference with my team.”

“Billy, why don’t you come and help me?” He nodded.

After they drove off he called Harry and arranged a conference call with GAIL and other scientists to discuss the possible impending doom approaching. He didn’t want to alarm Laura any more than he had to.

“OK, everyone. GAIL has predicted a problem if the spin continues accelerating as the Dark Matter moves away toward Mars’ orbit. She has informed me that we can make a rocket launch with a heavy payload now. The question I will throw out is, what steps can we take to have a warhead in close proximity if we need to detonate. I know of the worries here, but if rotation speed continues there might not be anything left to worry about. I am not connected to the server so will not be able to be involved in live calculations. The question is can we meet it somewhere safely away from Earth, but soon. We may need to get this done in 24 hours. That includes prep and detonation at some distant location.”

GAIL responded almost immediately, “No.”

“What is the limiting factor?” asked John.

“Our rockets can not move fast enough to catch the Dark Matter in that period of time,” said GAIL.

Dr. Smith added, “I am on board now under the current circumstances, but I don’t feel any better about its chances of success. Still, we must try. The Russian’s have a rocket that could catch it if we don’t delay. It’s a new design but I believe they could use it. They also generally have weapons with a higher payload than we do. This new rocket was designed to deliver a crew to Mars in six weeks.”

“We have a space relationship with them. Can you talk to whoever your contact is within their Space Agency ASAP?” asked John.

“Providing they are back on line. Let me drop off and I will return afterwards.” Smith said.

“So GAIL, to summarize, we might have a rocket with a warhead and we do have additional lift from the fast Earth spin. Can you set up locations and a time-line of where we would aim the rocket depending on the exact lift off time?” John said.

Dr. Glenolden added, “I hope we have a chance with this. The equilibrium of our solar system will be continually tested if this Dark Matter roams around uncontested. If anything catastrophic were to happen to Mars it could change all that we know as normal including changing the planetary orbits.”

“Well said. GAIL, call me when you have that data, I want to load it into my offline laptop to run my own calculations.” John said just as he heard Dr Smith’s voice return.

“The Russians new rocket can be used. It is not fully tested. It will cover close to a million miles in just over a day,” declared Smith.

Dr. Glenolden was astonished, “I didn’t know they were that far ahead of us.”

Smith said, “They have all they need to launch the kill shot except the precise location and time of impact needed. They will work with us continually on that and they can update the rocket on the fly. Due to the enormity of this project they are rushing the launch streamlining all safety precautions.”

“Better than I expected. Stay in constant contact with them,” John replied.

“I suggest that we meet again in two hours,” said Harry. I will update the White House.

Then GAIL said. “The spinning is still accelerating and we could be critical by tomorrow.”

John heard the other scientists drop of the conference, “Are we alone now?” he asked GAIL.

“Just the way I like it,” she replied.

Laura walked in carrying bags of groceries listening to the conversation. It was her home so she didn’t think it mattered.

“Listen GAIL, can you tell a white lie if you have to?” he asked.

“I’m not supposed to, you know that,” GAIL replied.

Laura was putting stuff in the cabinets. Billy brought more in.

“If you can’t reach me for any reason you must tell those on the conference call, Harry and the others, that you are able to exchange texts with me so that you can act on my behalf and give them their comfort that you are not making any decisions alone. You might have to make the final decision. You can do it. If we don’t finish it could be the end of all of us,” said John seriously.

“I will. I have to protect you no matter what else happens,” GAIL said without emotion.

“OK, I’m getting off until the next call in two hours,” he said and hung up.

“Wow, she is really loyal to you. I’m impressed,” said Laura while harboring a slight jealousy.

John stood and hugged her and Billy together realizing for the first time the critical nature of what was happening. Laura knew if he was getting emotional, it was bad. Billy saw a change in his demeanor.

Trying to change the subject she said, “Let’s have some lunch. I found some packaged lunch meat in the back of the cooler that they missed when they cleaned the place out,” wiping the tears from her eyes and trying to form a smile.

Julie was meeting Ted at the police station. Driving on the main road she spotted a black Pacifica parked in front of one of the motels that lined the street. She was the only moving vehicle in sight so she pulled over as fear rushed down from her head like cold water being poured over it. She glanced in the rear view mirror and saw a shattered windshield. She slowly turned and looked right at it.

Oh, My God. It was the same car. She sped off. How could it be. How did they know to come here. Thoughts flowed through her head. Maybe they weren’t from there either and when they where freed they continued this way. Maybe they are just looking for supplies or resting in the motel. Maybe some how they were able to trace her car plate ID if it was recorded at the gas station. Oh no, what should I do.