If it does.
“Sure. And don’t beat yourself up over it. You have your hands full, everybody knows that. The missus and I saw you on TV this morning. She wants me to buy one of those underground shelters. Is it really going to be that bad? You made it sound like the end of the world was coming.”
Dallan’s thoughts froze.
The end of the world—my god, could Lolo be right?
Don’t be stupid.
“It’s serious, all right,” he said. “But the end of the world? No.”
“Oh, good.”
“Problem is, though, we’ve become so damned modern. Back when we lived in caves or rode horses and read by candlelight we didn’t need to worry about stuff like this. But nowadays—Anyways, we just need to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best, that’s all.”
CHAPTER 30
OUT OF CONTROL
SATURDAY, APRIL 29 (12:41 P.M. PACIFIC DAYLIGHT TIME)
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
ESTIMATED TIME TO IMPACT: 62 HOURS 7 MINUTES
Calder stared blankly out the backseat window of the speeding limo. The two Secret Service agents escorting him were explaining that protecting the president and foreign leaders at events such as the G-20 depended on concentric rings of perimeter security.
He shook his head slowly.
This is ridiculous.
“Everything’s out of control,” he muttered.
He wanted to be heading home or to the lab—not to some stupid hotel. He should’ve insisted Allie tell him on the phone what the supposedly big news was. “I’d rather tell you in person, if you’re up to it,” she said. “It’s something really big and it involves you.”
It better be good.
He needed to focus all his energies on figuring out how to mass produce Hero at a reasonable cost.
Assuming the world survives.
And he needed to find a private investor to fund the manufacturing, pronto. He wasn’t comfortable depending solely on the Navy anymore.
Time to move on.
He thought of Allie.
Yeah, time to move on there too.
He’d fallen hard for her, but their differences were just too great. It was no use pursuing a dead end.
They drove past checkpoint after checkpoint, the nested layers of protection the agents described to him. When at last they pulled up to the Manchester Grand Hyatt he was hustled through the lobby. The place was abuzz with people he pegged as mostly reporters and government apparatchiks.
He was led down a long hallway to the door of a conference room. When he was shown inside, Allie and Eva were sitting at a small round table. A dozen people—most of them young—were scurrying about or huddled in deep conversation near a banquet table covered with food along the right-hand wall.
“Calder!” Allie sang out, waving gaily at him.
“We’ll be right outside the door in case you need us, sir,” one agent said to him.
He crossed the room and sat down heavily next to the two women. “Allie, what’s this all about? What’s going on?”
Her smile faded quickly. “Calder, are you all right? You don’t look well.”
“I’m fine,” he lied. “Why am I here? What’s so important you couldn’t tell me on the phone?”
She looked at him guardedly. “Calder, I can see—”
“Allie, please! Just spit it out. Why did you bring me here?”
“The president wants us—you and me—to head up an emergency committee to figure out how to protect Earth from the CME heading our way.”
He slapped the table hard. “Allie, that’s insane!” He shot to his feet and began stomping about the room. “And why didn’t he tell me himself?”
She stared back at him, her green eyes the size of dinner plates. “Calder, he was expecting both of us at the beach, remember? He told me he was going to call you at the hospital but obviously he didn’t. The man’s got a lot on his shoulders. He told me he’s getting huge pressure from the other leaders on this.”
Furious, he glanced around the room. Everyone was staring at them now. “Can we please take this outside?”
SATURDAY, APRIL 29 (1:02 P.M. PACIFIC DAYLIGHT TIME)
ESTIMATED TIME TO IMPACT: 61 HOURS 47 MINUTES
Calder, his stomach churning, didn’t speak while Allie led them through several doors to the outside, to a metal bench in a small, elevated garden overlooking San Diego Bay. Seaside Village, alive with people, lay immediately beneath them. Coronado Island loomed in the near distance. They were tailed by the Secret Service agents.
He plopped down on the bench and stared out at the water. He felt nourished by the warm sunshine and gentle sea breeze.
Allie sat next to him. He heard her say, “Do you mind, fellas? A little privacy?”
He turned and saw the agents dip their heads and retreat to a respectable distance—still within eyeshot.
He turned again to the bay.
“Calder, what’s going on? Something’s bothering you and it isn’t about the task force.”
He felt his body stiffening. There were so many things he wanted to say to her, he couldn’t make up his mind where to start.
“Look, Calder, I watched a recording of what happened to you on TV this morning with Bradstreet. Them ambushing you like that, I’m really sorry it happened. Actually, I’m more than sorry. I’m angry about it.
“Unfortunately, it’s an old tactic used by reporters who’ve been scooped on a major story. They cast around for a different angle and are willing to say or do just about anything that takes the headline in another direction. It’s usually sensational in a negative way.”
“If it’s such an old trick,” he said, rounding on her, “then why didn’t Sager see it coming? I was made to look like a fool in front of the entire world. This is my life’s work we’re talking about here, Allie.”
Painful images sprang from the deep shadows of his mind and ambushed him: the condescending look on the Seville boy’s well-scrubbed face; his pampered-looking lips spitting out the word, huérfano; the special afternoon in the park spoiled by a dog bite and dropped cone; the excruciating shots that followed; Bradstreet’s insufferable haughtiness.
He shook his head. “I just want to get back to my work.”
“But Calder this is part of it. You can’t expect to change the world without taking it on. And not just on your terms—its terms. It’s never pretty.”
She stood up and looked down at him. “Einstein—remember? The academic world brutalized him when he first came out with relativity. Said it was nothing but Jewish physics. Same with Wegener. And Galileo.”
She resumed her seat and said quietly, “And now it’s Calder Sinclair’s turn.” She paused. “You said this was your life’s work. I know that. The question is do you think it’s worth fighting for?”
Calder looked away at the magnificent vista before him. His eyes picked out a large sailboat, which appeared to be tacking toward the marina. It reminded him of the sailboats crisscrossing the sparkling turquoise waters off Mindil Beach.
You deserve to be happy again.
That’s what Sara said to him after breakfast on that happy day in Darwin.
Tell it to God.
If he exists.
He looked askance at Allie who was staring out at the water also.
But I love this woman.
He curled his lips.
Forget it.
He spoke without taking his eyes off the sailboat, which was nearing the slips. “Allie—look, I’m sorry about my sour attitude. It’s just that after four-plus days of nonstop television—” He turned his head toward her and made an all-encompassing gesture with his hand. “All this commotion—this is your world, you love this stuff, I can see that. I went looking for it, I admit it. But I’ve had more than enough now. I’m beat and I’m pissed and all I want to do is go home and get a decent night’s rest.”
She met his eyes. “Calder, I know, believe me.” She hesitated, bunching her
hands in her lap. “I don’t see the locura anymore, the craziness, because—well, as you say, it’s my world. And yeah, I love it. It’s like a drug, the news business. When I go on vacation, which is not often, I get antsy after just a few days—even after just one day—and I start monitoring the news. If something breaks I can’t stop myself: I call the network to see if they need me.” She shook her head. “Just hearing myself talk about it right now—it’s nuts, really, sick in some ways.”
He felt a wave of empathy. “I know what you mean. I’ve always been a workaholic too. It got worse after Nell died and Sara went away. I’m basically a hermit now. Hero is my closest friend. I love her the way I would a person, which is pretty twisted, right? Having you on the trip was like, I don’t know—like a spring day.” He rearranged himself on the bench so his whole body was facing her. “You made me feel my luck was changing, especially after Hero completed the mission with flying colors. But then it all started unraveling. Like always. That’s why I reacted the way I did.”
“What do you mean, ‘unravelling, like always’?” she said, tucking her feet beneath herself.
He hesitated, looking away, then back again at her. “This is probably gonna sound weird to you.”
“Try me.”
“Well—it’s just that I think I really like you—and I’d like to get to know you better. But part of me—and maybe I’m just tired—but part of me is thinking, why bother? We’re very different people—me and my obsession with Hero and having no time or patience for the idea of a god—and you with your crazy, jet-setting schedule, glaring lights, nonstop demands, and posturing blowhards.” He looked away. “And your Christianity.” He paused, expecting her to blow up. But she didn’t. “Besides, every time something good happens to me it gets ruined somehow. Look at what I have to deal with, even now—even though Hero has succeeded. The naysayers never quit, never stop trying to make me out to be a quack.” He turned to her and threw up his hands. “It’s the story of my life.”
She undid her legs, squared herself in the bench, and stared out at the water.
“Wow, so that’s it. Pretty heavy.”
“Yeah.”
She turned to him. “Now let me tell you something, Dr. Sinclair. I really like you too. Last night, when you asked me out to dinner it was like . . .”
She hesitated.
“What?” he said. “Like what?”
“Like lightning had struck twice.”
He bunched his brows and inclined his head.
She gave him a sad grin and wagged her head. “Long story. It’s just that you made me really happy—the happiest I’ve been in a long time. But then my mind—my vaunted, brainiac mind—started kicking in. I began doubting the possibility of anything coming of it, of us, because of your atheism.”
He leaned back and rolled his eyes. “Ah, yes, my atheism. It’s exactly why—”
“No, it’s not what you think. It’s not that you don’t bel—”
“Oh, thank god—there you are!” Eva came running up to them. “Allie—”
Allie shot up a hand. “Not now, Eva.”
“But—”
“Not now! Give me a few minutes.”
After Eva retreated, she said to him, “Look, Calder, we can finish this later. Right now you and I have serious work to do.”
He started up from his seat. “You’ve got serious work to do—count me out.”
She reached out and kept him from standing. “Think of Bradstreet, for goodness sake—how stupid it’ll make him look when it’s announced the president of the United States has picked you—not some establishment wonk—to help save the world.”
He hesitated.
“Please, Calder, we don’t have much time. People’s lives are at stake.”
His eyes went out to the water again and noticed the sailboat. It was being moored.
Sara.
“All right, he said finally. “Where do we start?”
Allie slapped her thigh. “Now we’re talking. I’ve already started. We don’t have time to bring people together physically so I’ve been on the phone with some of my top sources from all over the world, including Dallan’s people at the SWPC and the president of the National Academy of Sciences. And here’s what I’m getting from them.” She paused and said warily, “And please, Calder, I’m just the messenger here, okay?”
He stood. “What? What are they saying?”
“Well—that you and Hero might be our best hope.”
“What?!”
“No, wait. Hear me out. And remember, they’re looking at the situation from a distance. Objectively, through fresh eyes.”
He plunged his hands into his pockets and, head down, started pacing. “Go ahead.”
“Well, let’s start with what we already know. In Darwin, Cádiz, and Alert, the whale strandings stopped and the magnetic holes went away all by themselves—at least for a while. And it happened right when we arrived, or a few hours after.”
He stopped and looked at her. “Yeah, but—”
“I know, I know. You think it’s a coincidence. But c’mon, Calder, you don’t really believe that.”
Calder resumed pacing, his insides tingling.
Could it possibly be?
Rubbish!
“Calder?”
“What?”
“You know what.” Allie eyed him mercilessly. “Somehow, Hero is having an effect on the earth’s magnetic field. I’ve been thinking a lot about it ever since Alert and have my own ideas. But I’d rather hear from you first.”
Eva stormed up to them yet again.
“Allie, please! You’ve got to listen. There’s a major situation developing. We need to go now!”
Allie looked from Eva to him and was about to speak, but he cut her off.
“Like I said—your world, Allie, not mine.” He flung his hands into the air and waved her away. “Go. Go!” Then he added, “You know where I live.”
CHAPTER 31
LUNACY
SATURDAY, APRIL 29 (1:38 P.M. PACIFIC DAYLIGHT TIME)
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
ESTIMATED TIME TO IMPACT: 61 HOURS 11 MINUTES
The news van—and KU satellite truck used for live shots—followed Agent Aragon’s black sedan through deserted streets cordoned off from the public. The bright afternoon sun made everything sparkle.
Allie was in the van’s back seat next to Eva, concerned simultaneously about Calder’s acerbic behavior and why neither Carlos nor her dad had returned her repeated calls.
“Hello. Are you with me?” Eva was waving a hand before Allie’s eyes. “Have you heard a word I said?”
“What? Oh, I’m sorry, chica—go ahead.”
“From the start?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry.”
“I was saying Mike told me the protesters started showing up separately about forty-five minutes ago: Planet First, Occupy the World, and a bunch of others. At first they avoided each other. But gradually the groups started drifting toward each other, hooking up, blending, behaving like one.”
“So Mike was right about Anonymous.”
“Looks like it. But he says the numbers are already way higher than expected. He’s on the scene now—that’s where we’re heading. Stu wants us to hit the grass rolling.”
Allie looked at her quizzically. “Do you do that on purpose?”
“What?”
“Never mind.”
Eva shouted toward the front of the van. “You hear that, Pitsy? As soon as we get there, off-load the camera. Wireless mic and sun gun, that’s it. We have to be nimble.”
Sun guns were handheld, battery-operated lights used for complete freedom of movement.
“Roger that,” he answered.
Allie reached for her cell, intending to retry Carlos, when it jangled.
“Bueno?”
“Allie!” It was Carlos’ voice. “I’m so sorry. I just saw your message.”
“Oh, thank God. Is everyone okay? Mom, Dad?”
“Yeah, everybody’s fine. It’s just that after we saw you on TV this morning we’ve been getting the church basement ready for the solar flare.”
“Oh, great idea, great idea. What about Mom?”
“We’re talking with her doctor. He’s trying to see what the home’s gonna do with all the patients. Worst case—”
“Bring her to the church basement.”
“That’s what I was going to say. The doctor is cool with the idea, if it comes to that. The hermanos are bringing food, blankets, everything we’ll need to hole up. How long do you think we’ll need to stay there?”
“I’m not sure. But to be safe, plan on at least a couple days. Good thing you guys have bathrooms down there and a kitchen. It’s perfect. Just make sure everyone goes down there well before the CME hits, okay?—you never know with this thing. And make sure you have plenty of first-aid supplies. You need to be prepared for anything and everything. How about Lolo? Any news?”
“No, nothing. It’s as if she’s disappeared. It’s really scary. The police over there say they’re doing everything possible. We need to surrender her to the Lord. There’s nothing else we can do.”
Eva was frantically motioning to her now, mouthing the words: “We’re . . .almost . . .there.”
“What about you, Sis?” Carlos said. “Everyone’s asking. They’re worried about you being out there.”
“Listen, Carlos. I’m gonna be fine. I gotta go, okay? But I’ll be fine. Tell Mom and Dad—tell everybody I love them—and to please, please be careful. I gotta go.”
“Okay, Sis, okay. But you be careful too. We’re all praying for you. I love you.”
“I love you too, Bro. Bye.”
The van pulled up to a large, squat, tan-and-orange structure with a red roof. Across its façade were the words: HARRY WEST GYMNASIUM. There was no parking lot, so Pitsy jumped the curb and parked on the patio area in front of the main entrance.
“Everybody out!” Eva commanded. “Pronto!”
Allie glanced at her watch. Ten minutes was all it had taken to travel from the hotel, through the Gas Lamp Quarter and East Village, to this gym belonging to San Diego City College.
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