The Dark Freeze

by Peter Gregory

  Dwindling petrol and diesel reserves were controlled ruthlessly by the government. Armed soldiers with instructions to ‘shoot to kill’ guarded the oil refineries, plus those petrol stations that hadn’t run dry. Priority was given to the armed forces and the emergency services; the police, ambulance and fire service. Public transport received a little fuel, but not much, just enough to maintain a restricted service. Private transport got none. Cars were banned, as was air travel, except for the Royal Air Force and medical helicopters. In effect, all travel ceased.

  In a way it didn’t matter. With a temperature of minus 30°C and dropping, fuel was beginning to freeze, or at least become mushy and unusable. Diesel-powered vehicles were affected first. Unfortunately, most commercial vehicles – trucks, vans, buses, even trains – run on diesel, a fuel which freezes between minus 6°C and minus 18°C, depending on its composition. However, diesel powered vehicles equipped with fuel heaters or diesel containing special additives to lower its freezing point can and do operate at low temperatures. Lorries in Alaska and other cold climates function at temperatures as low as minus 46°C using these techniques, and such vehicles were the only ones useable in the dark freeze. Petrol driven vehicles are useable down to minus 60°C, the temperature at which petrol begins to freeze, but were of little use – they were mainly cars and cars were banned – but it gave the government time to convert some of the commercial vehicles to petrol, to use when the diesel ran out.

  The cessation of travel caused great heartache. Families were disrupted, split up, unable to spend whatever time was left together. Husbands stranded abroad on business trips. Relatives scattered around the country. Grandparents, many living alone, deprived of seeing their grandchildren one last time. Families everywhere unable to spend their final moments together.

  The curfews imposed at the start of the crisis to prevent looting and killing were no longer necessary. The extreme cold meant that venturing outside was suicidal. Temperatures of minus 40°C froze the eyeballs in seconds. Even fully protected, staying outside for more than a few minutes invited death. People were prisoners in their own homes. The homes that would become their tombs.

  As time passed, the food and water shortages became acute. The inability to farm crops and livestock due to the frozen fields and the absence of grass caused massive problems. Indoor food production was cranked up but provided just a fraction of the food that was needed. Over 99 per cent of the world’s food is grown and reared in the great outdoors. Domestic animals kept alive in gigantic indoor farms supplied a trickle of meat to the fortunate few, but as the cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens were slaughtered, meat, both of the red and white variety, became a rarity.

  It wasn’t just meat that was scarce, food in general was scarce. Wheat, grain, vegetables and root crops were all running out. Even bread and butter was becoming a luxury. The food shortage was so bad the government advised people to have their pets put down. Put down to save precious food supplies. Some families ignored the advice but some went one step further. Starved of meat, not only did they kill their precious cats and dogs, cats and dogs they’d come to love, cats and dogs that were part of the family, they ate them too. Eating dog and cat meat was better than the alternative. Starvation and death.

  If food is essential for life, water is absolutely vital. A person can survive for weeks, even months, without food, but without water, they die within days. Supplying water had become a problem. Like the fresh water lakes and the oceans, reservoirs had frozen. But not completely. Water displays its maximum density at 4°C, a fact which ensures that the water at the bottom of ponds and reservoirs never freezes, a fact essential for aquatic life. And a fact which meant that water could still be transported from the bottoms of reservoirs to the water treatment plants in underground pipes. But, as the temperature continued to drop, the water in the water treatment plants froze. Eventually, the only reliable source of fresh water was from underground wells and aquifers. It was better than nothing but certainly not enough to sustain the entire population. Mobile standpipes from specially heated lorries supplied a limited amount of water to desperate households, but even that ceased as the temperature became too cold for people to venture outside.

  The extreme cold caused another problem: the sewage works froze, meaning that people could no longer use their toilets. In the past, before indoor toilets became the norm, people ‘did their business’ in a poe, a round, ceramic bowl with a handle, stored under the bed. It was emptied in the outside toilet the following morning. Hardly hygienic, but that’s the way it was. Nowadays, poes are extinct so, with the toilets out of action, people did their business in buckets, or washing up bowls, even cooking pans, throwing the excrement and urine into the garden, where it froze instantly. At least the extreme cold had one benefit: it prevented diseases. And smells.

  Ironically, the countries coping best with the dark freeze were those like Iceland, countries with an abundance of geothermal hot springs. Unlike other countries, which relied on coal, oil, gas or nuclear power, the hot springs supplied all of Iceland’s heating and hot water.

  The dark freeze changed the weather patterns completely. No sun to evaporate water from the oceans meant no water vapour in the atmosphere. No water vapour in the atmosphere meant no clouds. No clouds meant no rain. The last remaining water vapour in the atmosphere fell as snow and hail but once that was gone, nothing fell from the sky. No snow, no rain, no hailstones. Nothing. The Earth was a frozen, dry, barren wasteland. It was like the beginning of an ice age. A dark ice age.

  The government provided whatever shelters they could for the poor and homeless to give them some respite from the freezing conditions. And small rations of food and drink. But the sick and weak died quickly. As the food ran out, the survivors faced a stark choice. Starve and die, or resort to cannibalism and live, at least for a little longer. It was a difficult choice. A personal choice. Some chose to starve and die. What was the point of eating a dead person if it only delayed the inevitable? But some did eat the dead. There was no right or wrong, just a decision on when to die.

  Families too faced the same stark choice. Should they eat those who’d died? Their mothers? Their fathers? Their children? Their brothers or sisters? Their grandparents? Eat their loved ones in order to live a little longer? Or should they accept their fate and die with dignity? Eating a stranger was one thing but eating a loved one was completely different. Eating your own flesh and blood proved abhorrent to the majority of families: most chose to die with dignity.

  Millions died. Of thirst. Of hunger. Of hypothermia. Of a combination of all three. But at least the cold prevented the bodies from decomposing and causing disease. It was as if they were stored in a deep freeze.

  The government, both national and regional, moved into the underground bunkers designed specifically for such emergencies. Moved in with others deemed necessary for the survival of the human race. Scientists, engineers, doctors, surgeons, nurses, dentists, industry leaders… The teams at Jodrell Bank, Viv’s team and Frank’s team, moved to the relative safety of the Simulation Chamber, cocooned from the outside world in an underground tomb.

  Liz was in turmoil. She’d vowed to spend her last days with Baby Blu and Charlotte. And with Gregg too. But what about Rupert? She still hadn’t decided between them. But time was running out. Viv and Frank wanted her to stay with them. With the team. To work until the last moment to try and find a solution. A way to save planet Earth. Rupert wanted her to stay as well. Of course he did. But they didn’t pressurise her. Didn’t try to force her to stay. They knew how much she loved her little sister and young niece. They left the decision to her.

  What should she do? If they were all going to die, she preferred to die with Baby Blu and Charlotte. Of that she was sure. But if there was the slightest chance of saving planet Earth – and with it Baby Blu and Charlotte – she wanted to be part of that too. But she couldn’t do both. It was one or the other.

&n
bsp; Liz agonised over her decision for days. What really annoyed her was that an elite few were deemed worthy of saving – at least for the time being – but the vast majority, including her little sister and niece, were deemed expendable. Unworthy of saving. Abandoned and left to die. She thought it grossly unfair. And unethical. Who had the right to play God? If there was a God, which she very much doubted, it should be him and him alone who made such decisions, not the government.

  As they sat huddled together in Baby Blu’s small apartment near Chester, Liz, Baby Blu and Rob clasped their hands around their hot mugs of coffee as they watched Charlotte play with her dolls. They didn’t know which was best; to drink the coffee quickly and let the hot liquid warm their insides, or drink it slowly, letting the hot mug warm their hands. It was a trivial decision compared to the one she had to make; whether to spend her last days with the team at the Simulation Chamber or with her little sister and young niece.

  Fuel was so scarce that this was the last time she’d be able to visit her family. Her final chance to make her decision. The army driver was outside, waiting in his specially heated jeep. She’d been allowed one hour, and half of that had gone.

  Gregg had already made his decision: he was staying at the Simulation Chamber with the rest of the team. So were Viv, Frank, Rupert and Zak. For Rupert and Zak, the decision was easier to make. They were young, single men with no family ties. But for Viv and Frank, it must have been the most terrible, heart-breaking decision of their lives. Both had families. Wives and children. She didn’t know how they’d arrived at their decision, but it must have been awful. Saying goodbye to those you love the most knowing that you’d probably never see them again must have been absolute torture. But it was a decision she was going to have to make in the next 30 minutes.

  In a way, Gregg staying at the Simulation Chamber made her decision simpler. At least she didn’t have to make her choice between Gregg and Rupert now. Both were at the Simulation Chamber. However, what she had to do was decide whether to stay here with her family in Chester, with Baby Blu and Charlotte, or go back to Gregg, Rupert and the rest of the team at the Simulation Chamber.

  ‘Come and play, mummy,’ shrieked Charlotte. ‘Come and play dolls.’

  ‘In a moment, darling. When mummy’s finished her coffee.’

  ‘Okay mummy,’ said Charlotte, clearly disappointed that her mummy couldn’t play right away. ‘But please hurry up and drink your coffee. Pleeeease,’ she pleaded, drawing out the word, ‘please hurry up and play.’

  Liz didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ‘Oh to be young again,’ she thought. ‘Young and innocent with not a care in the world, shielded from the harsh realities of life. Completely oblivious to the impending disaster that was about to engulf them all.’

  ‘She’s so lovely,’ said Liz, embracing her little sister as she watched her young niece cuddle her dolls. ‘And cute. You should be so proud.’

  ‘We are, aren’t we Rob?’ said Baby Blu, holding his hand. ‘We both are.’

  ‘Yes, we are,’ he said, ‘very proud.’ Tears filled his eyes as he watched his three-year-old daughter cuddle her dolls, waiting impatiently for her mummy to finish her coffee.

  Liz paused for a moment, trying to find some courage before speaking. ‘Blu, I’ve been thinking…’

  Blu put her hand over her elder sister’s mouth, looked her in the eye, and said, firmly, ‘Look Liz, we know how much you love us. We always have. And we love you. Very much. But staying here achieves nothing. We’d love you to stay, of course we would. You know that. But as long as there’s the faintest chance of averting this disaster, it’s better if you’re at work helping your team. Helping Gregg and the others end this… this dark freeze. Please Liz, do it for us. For me and Charlotte. Please Liz.’

  Tears streamed down the faces of both Liz and Baby Blu. They both knew what she’d said was true, that it was better if she was back at the underground bunker trying to find a way to end this nightmare. But how could she leave the people she loved the most to die a slow, painful death while she lived? It wasn’t right. She was facing the most difficult decision of her life, of anyone’s life, and time was running out. Her heart implored her to stay with her family, but her head told her to go back to the Simulation Chamber. When feeding the squirrels, her heart had won the day. This time, her head prevailed.

  ‘You’re right,’ she said hoarsely, her voice choking with emotion. ‘You’re right,’ she repeated. ‘I should be at work helping my colleagues.’ She hugged her sister so tightly Blu thought she was going to break her ribs, kissed her tenderly on both tear-stained cheeks, and said, ‘I love you so much. And you too, my little princess,’ she continued, bending down and hugging and kissing Charlotte.

  She hugged and kissed Rob, turned on her heels and virtually ran to the door. Tears streamed down her face. ‘I love you. I love you all,’ she blubbered, disappearing through the door.

  ‘Are you okay?’ asked the army sergeant noticing Liz’s distress.

  ‘I’m fine, thanks,’ replied Liz, wiping the tears from her face with a handkerchief. ‘Just a little emotional, that’s all.’

  ‘Have you made your decision?’ he asked in a quiet, understanding voice.

  ‘Yes, I have,’ said Liz. ‘Take me back to the underground bunker please.’

  26

  Activity

  The failure of the mission cast a sombre mood over the entire world. Everyone was despondent. In the depths of despair. Even the most optimistic were melancholy.

  The fan-like array had continued to expand for a further six days since the abortive attack, and then stopped. Stopped as abruptly as it had started. Stopped before it blocked out all the sun’s light. And heat. The temperature had dropped to minus 60°C, much colder than an Arctic winter, leaving the Earth a dry, barren, frozen planet.

  ‘Is this their ideal temperature?’ asked Viv, ‘or the temperature they think will have killed off all the life?’

  ‘The former, I would think,’ said Liz. ‘They must know that life can exist below minus 60°C, especially if they come from a cold planet.’

  ‘Do you think their planet has become uninhabitable and they’re seeking a new home?’ asked Frank.

  ‘They could be,’ said Liz. ‘Who knows.’

  ‘Hey, look at this!’ shouted Rupert excitedly. ‘Come and look at this!’ Liz, Viv, Frank and Zak dashed over to the screen where Rupert was sat. ‘There,’ he said, jabbing the screen with his finger. ‘There,’ he repeated, ‘right in the centre of that hexagonal panel. Can you see it?’

  They could. Right at the centre, a pinprick, a tiny aperture had appeared. An aperture that was growing steadily bigger. After about 30 seconds, it stopped. They watched in hushed silence, their eyes glued to the hole on the screen. And waited. Waited for the next development. At first, nothing happened. No movement, no lights. Nothing. Then, suddenly, they saw it. Something was emerging from the hole. It looked like a… a pear-shaped object. A spacecraft similar in shape to the meteorites but more pointed at the narrow end. A pear-shaped spacecraft heading towards Earth.

  Part 5

  End Game

  Chances are, when we meet

  intelligent life forms in outer

  space they’re going to be

  descended from predators

  Michio Kaku

  27

  Scouting Mission

  Around the world scientists huddled in groups, their eyes glued to the scout ships on the screens, watching in awed silence as they made their short journey to Earth. There were five in total, heading, they presumed, for the sites where the meteorites landed; the Arctic, Alaska, Siberia and the Himalayas in the northern hemisphere, and the Antarctic in the southern hemisphere. As the scout ships entered the Earth’s atmosphere, tracking stations across the planet lost contact due to the intense static. The brief lull provided Viv with an opportunity
to ring his counterpart in the US.

  ‘Hi Carl, it’s Viv. I’ve got a proposition for you.’

  ‘Go on,’ said Carl.

  ‘If you agree, we’d like to focus our attention on the, er, scout ship in the Arctic, while you focus on the one in Alaska, but we need one of your reconnaissance satellites to provide detailed, close-up images. Is that okay?’

  ‘That’s fine,’ replied Carl. ‘I was thinking the same thing myself. Like you said, it’s best if we each focus on just one ship; you on the one in the Arctic and ourselves on the one in Alaska. I think that’s where two of them are headed.’

  ‘Excellent,’ said Viv. ‘We’ll keep you informed.’

  ‘Likewise,’ said Carl. ‘Good luck.’

  ‘You too,’ said Viv, replacing the receiver.

  Other teams followed the progress of the remaining three scout ships. The Russians followed the one that landed in Siberia, the Chinese and Japanese focused on that which landed in the Himalayas, and an international team tracked the one in the Antarctic.

  As contact with the scout ship heading for the Arctic was re-established, the satellite tracked its descent to the region where Liz’s team found the meteorite in the ice cave. They watched as the scout ship slowed down in readiness for landing, watched as it made its final descent.

  ‘Whatever method of propulsion they’re using,’ said Frank, ‘it’s certainly not chemical. There’s no sign whatsoever of any exhaust flames.’