Torn

by Druga, Jacqueline

  “The frequency will increase,” Darius said. “We know this. Has anything been said at all about….”

  Colin shook his head. “Not a thing.”

  “It has got to be on everyone’s mind. People have to be wondering what the hell is going on.”

  “Basically, I don’t believe people are wondering what’s going on. I believe they just want a scientific explanation they can accept, believe, and then they move on.”

  “Only one problem with that,” Darius said.

  Colin nodded his agreement. “If we give them our scientific explanation to believe… how can they move on?”

  THE BLAIN REPORT

  May 26th …

  ‘Thank you, Brenda. If the word ‘mayhem’ was derived from a crazy month of May some years ago, then this past month certainly reiterates that. From multitudes of rising ants across the northeast, birds in the ‘burg, to what you see behind me. For the past two hours, hundreds of students have gathered on the campus of this West Virginia University to protest the firing of Professor Darius Cobb, who was officially released this morning from his head of Ecological Studies position. Professor Cobb is nowhere to be found; however, these students are making their voices heard. Carrying signs, promising candlelight vigils, and chanting, ‘Bring back Darius Cobb’. One student even told me that they’ll stay as long as it takes. Officials here at the university are citing just cause in releasing Professor Cobb from his contract. He disappeared a couple weeks back for Africa and other than a simple phone call today, no one has seen or heard from him. What makes it all so interesting is that Professor Cobb disappeared at the beginning of the month too, taken under the watchful eye of the CDC when he was attacked in one of the freak cockroach incidents. This is Blain Davis, live from West Virginia University, Morgantown. Back to you, Brenda.’

  10. SHIFTING

  May 27th …

  Bret wasn’t a rocket scientist, nor did she need to be to figure out who ‘DC’ was when the call was placed to her station while she was taking listener calls on the topic of depression.

  “The answer you seek will be found,” he said cryptically.

  Bret looked at her producer, then at the screen which revealed why he called. Simply typed in was one word, ‘answer’. Figuring they must have really been desperate for calls if they let such a vague one through, Bret prodded.

  “Answer? What answer?”

  “To it all, to the end, to the beginning, who knows.”

  Just as she began to think, ‘what a fruitcake’, she looked the name. “DC’, the ever so slight hick accent that laced the voice like a country singer, she shook her head. “So, uh, DC. What’s the answer?”

  “Tomorrow. Two. Catch it at the Rye.”

  Click.

  Bret put it together. Rye. Reye. Colin’s house, the next day at two. After murmuring, ‘what an asshole,’ she pressed the next line. “Next caller, Jeanie. You’re live with Divine.”

  The cryptic Professor Cobb didn’t answer her call or email, and contacting Colin only bred, “He’s an idiot. Yeah, he wants to meet here.”

  So Bret went.

  She took Luke for the trip. Having met Colin mainly in public places, it was the first time she had seen his impressive home. She even commented as she pulled in the driveway, “A man who lives alone shouldn’t be permitted to have a house this big.” She stopped. “Scratch that. Bet me Darius is homeless now and moved in.”

  “How can you tell?” Luke asked.

  “His car is packed. He hasn’t unpacked it,” she muttered on the way to the door. “He’s probably been here for days.”

  She rang the bell.

  Brightly, Colin answered the door, “Ah, Bret. You’re early.”

  “A little. I was curious. Colin, this is my son, Luke.”

  “Luke.” Colin greeted him with handshake. “And…why aren’t you in school?”

  “Oh, my mom let me cut out for this.” Luke nodded proudly.

  Responding to Colin’s grumble with a ‘hmm’, Bret waved her hand at him. “Anyhow. Do you know what’s going on?” she asked.

  “I wish I did.” Colin finally shut the door. “Trust me; he’s been as secretive with me as he’s been with everyone else.” He led them down a hall. “I’ve known Dare-Dare since he was Luke’s age. He always has to be the first and he always has to be right. Want something to drink?”

  “God, I’d love coffee. I worked last night. But…I’m sure you knew that.” Bret said. “Dare-Dare called the station.”

  “He’s an idiot.” Colin poured her some coffee.

  Luke said, “So you don’t know what’s happening with the earth. That’s what he wants to meet us for, right?”

  “Correct,” Colin replied. “He is finalizing his figures. I know which way he’s going, but I promised I’d let him reveal since he’s the one who came up with it. And…he has me and Virginia pulling verification material. That’s what he’s doing now in his wonder world.”

  Bret looked quizzically.

  “This way,” Colin said and opened a door adjacent to the kitchen. “He’s gone overboard. But then again, that’s our Dare-Dare.”

  Bret and Luke followed Colin down a flight of stairs, and after Colin knocked once on a door, he walked in.

  “Dare-Dare. The first of the team is here.”

  Without turning around, Darius said, “Is it Bret?”

  Colin smiled sinisterly. “How’d I know you’d ask for her first?”

  “Whoa,” Luke commented as he stepped in.

  “Whoa is right,” Bret too commented on the former family room. It no longer looked like a place to dwell and watch television, but rather a sophisticated computer lab. Images of the earth, maps and so forth graced each computer screen while readouts from noisy printers continuously flowed out.

  “Colin,” Bret said in awe. “Is this all yours?”

  Colin pointed to Darius. “His. He’s been buying it since yesterday. Hasn’t been to bed yet. Hence why he called late last night on your program.”

  “I got it all in synch now. Just printing up,” Darius said.

  “I thought you were unemployed.” Bret commented. “How did you afford all this?”

  “Well, I was gonna use my money,” Darius clicked away at the computer, eyes on the screen. “But I’ll need that. So I just used the credit cards and applied for more. I have lots of it now. Instant credit. You have to love it.”

  “If you can get it,” Bret said. “How are you gonna pay for the cards?”

  “I’m not worried about it,” Darius replied. “What the hell is seventy thousand? Probably be more later,” he spoke nonchalantly.

  Bret gasped. “Seventy…. Well, if you have that attitude, let me borrow one of those cards, I need a new TV.”

  Seemingly without thinking, Darius reached into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet and blindly handed it to Bret. “Take the platinum one.”

  “Wow. Thanks.”

  “Mom,” Luke scolded. “You can’t do that.”

  “He gave it.” Bret spoke tough clenched teeth. “We need a new TV. Jesse beat the other one too bad.”

  “Dare-Dare,” Colin finally spoke up. “Bret brought her son, Luke. He was allowed to cut school for this.”

  “I would have let him too,” Darius said. “In fact.…” Finally he turned and faced everyone. He ran his fingers through his hair and smiled. “I’d just take him out now.”

  “Yes, dude.” Luke clenched his fist. “I like this guy.”

  Again, Darius smiled then just rattled off. “I mean, it really doesn’t matter, and there probably won’t be any school by the end of the summer anyhow. Left to go to I mean. Maybe.” He shrugged and faced the computer again. “Latest October.”

  “What?” Bret asked. “Darius, that’s not funny.”

  Over his shoulder, Darius peered at her solemnly. “And neither is what’s about to happen.”

  Virginia and Chuck arrived, and they all took a seat around Colin’s glass d
inette table.

  Darius—as expected—started things off. He held a bag. “I have a gift for each of you. Call it cheesy, but it’s part of my demonstration.” He walked around the circle handing out his black treats and continued speaking. “I know we’ve all worked on theories as to what is occurring. I believe we’ve collected enough data to make educated guesses. I want to share mine. My gift is my introduction.”

  Bret looked down to the object placed in her hand, a compass.

  “Mom?” Luke called her attention as he tapped the face of the compass. “Mine is broke.”

  Bret pulled out her compass. Oddly, the needle bobbed, and when the compass was turned the needle barely moved. “Mine too.”

  “They aren’t broke,” Darius said. “They represent what is going on with our world.”

  Luke turned his compass and played with it. “The world is going in a wrong direction?” he questioned.

  “In a sense, yes. My trip to Africa confirmed my fears. At first, I believed Earth was tilting on its axis. Colin believed we were finally feeling the effects of global warming.”

  “if you believe in global warming.” Colin interjected. “I believed it was the misalignments of the planets and the fact that the moon is now ten more thousand miles away. I was looking astronomically at the geological changes. That is where I went. OK, so I was wrong. Don’t rub it in, Dare-Dare, you’re living in my house. Then again, I still don’t know what you’re building to.”

  Darius cleared his throat. “Yours was a good theory. I’m not rubbing anything in. My thinking should have been there as well. It wasn’t. Yours helped me though. That’s where Virginia came in—sort of.”

  “I helped?” Virginia asked with surprise. “I didn’t think I did anything. I thought Colin was thinking in the right direction.”

  Colin gave a smug look.

  “He was.” Darius nodded. “We needed a tie-in. Something that connected both theories, mine and his.”

  “Oh.” Virginia sang out. “That. Okay. It was simple.”

  Darius smiled. “Elementary.”

  “Then I must be in kindergarten.” Bret raised her hand. “Space? The solar system is causing this. And how in the world did the moon drift ten thousand more miles away.”

  “We don’t know.” Virginia answered. “But I only suggested what tied magnetic reversals to the solar systems.”

  “And as you saw by my basement.…” Colin added. “Dare-Dare more than likely worked out the fine details.”

  Up went Bret’s hands in defeat. “Then why am I here? Chuck, too.”

  Darius answered. “Research and supportive information.”

  Chuck finally spoke. “Excuse me?”

  “You guys are research. I need both of you; while we’re working on the other aspects, you two have to put together a list of every freakish geological event and natural disaster that has occurred recently.”

  “Why?” Chuck asked.

  “Because watching what happens lets us see the path of what is going to happen. Also, you two are the voices. You can get the word out.”

  Colin snapped his finger. “And don’t forget that big CNS reporter who’s been snooping around. He did a wonderful piece on you, Dare-Dare.”

  Bret, lost, shook her head. “What are we gonna get out? You said you know what’s happening. You know what’s going on.”

  “I believe I do.” Darius replied. “But to get there, many other things must occur. Collecting data, information, can help us predict the when and where of such events.”

  Virginia added. “Predicting the when and where’s will help in saving lives and getting people more prepared.”

  Colin spoke, “But we need to build a concrete case, present it to our government, so they can do something about this.”

  Quizzically Bret glanced at Colin. “I thought you didn’t know what was gonna happen.”

  Colin shrugged. “I don’t. But no matter what, my phrase fits. Whatever it is has to be big. Right?”

  “Right. But . . . .” Bret questioned. “Whatever it is, can it be stopped?”

  Darius shook his head. “Hardly. We can’t stop it. We can only prepare for it, and figure out a way to have as many lives as possible.”

  Annoyed, Colin huffed out. “Now that you’ve gone around it a million and a half times, quit being melodramatic and get to the point. What is going to happen? Please.”

  Slightly irritated, Darius asked, “May I explain to Bret and Chuck what has happened first?”

  Grumbling, Colin agreed.

  Darius went on, “When I went to Africa, my revelation of cosmic radiation, and the documented cases, confirmed that a window opened up in our magnetic shield, a window big enough to let the cosmic rays through. We’re fortunate; anything stronger could have scorched Earth.” Darius pointed to the compasses. “The reason the needle is bobbing so predominantly is because the world is experiencing magnetic reversals.”

  Luke perked up. “Oh, dude. I heard about that. North will be south. South will be north. Things shift around.”

  “Yes,” Darius replied. “Takes tens of thousands of years to reach the full point. That is where we are. What causes this? Solar flares. Solar flares cause magnetic disturbances. Virginia?” he pointed at her.

  Virginia answered, “When Darius asked me about recent sun activity, I was shocked. Our sun has been producing an enormous amount of flares, ranging from small to large. Though this is common, lately it’s been out of the norm, but so gradually that we didn’t notice.”

  Colin added, “Solar flares cause not only the magnetic disturbances, but electromagnetic pulses, EMPs. These effect electricity. Cause storms, blackouts, and power surges. You name it. They also cause magnetic fluxes within our earth and atmosphere. These are pockets of simulated magnetic reversals without getting into the full-blown reversals. Understand?”

  Bret nodded. “Like an outbreak of the flu in Paris, is a simulation of a full blown epidemic.”

  “Yes,” Colin said. “In an odd analogy. Instead of it being worldwide, only patches occur in certain area.”

  Darius added, “Ecologically, these patches cause the radiation poisoning that we saw in Africa. The bizarre hurricanes starting already.”

  Luke asked. “The ants and roaches?”

  “Ah,” Darius smiled. “Yes. Pockets or patches. The shift in some magnetic fields and disturbances brought on by solar flares causes earthquakes, volcanic eruptions. But the shift of tectonic plates are occurring underground.”

  “The earth heats up.” Luke said. “The ground is hot, the bugs come up.”

  “Exactly,” Darius pointed with a smile. “The bugs can’t live, those animals who feed on them search out other food. Everything up north, because of these changes, is dying. The birds as Colin explained were just hungry, and then an EMP occurred, and magnetic flux, they lost their direction and sense. Hence the attack.”

  Bret spoke to get clarification, “So these fluxes as you call them. Magnetic shifts, solar flares, they are just causing earth disturbances. We’re to expect more?”

  “Lots more.” Darius said. “See, this is just the beginning. Eventually, these teases, the fluxes and pulses will generate enough disturbances to cause the full blown magnetic reversal, and when that happens….” He whistled.

  Quickly, Chuck looked at Bret. “He just . . . whistled. Is that a scientific term?”

  Bret nudged him.

  Colin explained. “He whistled because he knows.”

  “Knows what?” Chuck asked.

  Darius replied, “What magnetic reversals can do. You cannot have magnetic reversals without magnitudes of destruction. We can monitor where the natural events occur and watch. It will eventually form a pattern that we can follow as a path to what is next. We’ll soon be able to predict what will happen, when it will happen and the severity. It’s gonna be like a guessing game.”

  “What kind of things will you predict will happen?” Bret asked.

  “We’re
in for a rough ride,” Colin said. “Magnetic reversals cause shifts.”

  “More than that.” Darius took over. “These disturbances build up and up until we have a complete magnetic reversal. The compasses indicate that it is happening now. Magnetic reversals cause earthquakes. Tsunamis. Super storms. Breaks in protective fields like that experienced in Africa. Major underwater volcanic eruptions. These volcanic eruptions are the final occurrences. They will heat up earth’s surface while causing enormous water loss in our oceans. My stats now allow me to predict that we will lose at least thirty percent of our oceans in a short span of time. Two months. Two months from the start puts us in September-October. Weather is cooler.”

  “Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.” Colin stood up. “No. I see where you’re going with this. This is nuts. It’s a prediction of centuries.”

  Chuck’s head spun. “What? I’m lost. You?” he asked of Bret.

  She only shook her head.

  Colin was adamant. “No way, Dare-Dare. No way.”

  “Yes, yes way.” Darius insisted. “Think about it. Solar flares cause disturbances, storms, earthquakes volcanic eruptions. Volcanoes heat the earth; we then have melting up north. Glaciations. Meaning glaciers shift and move. The underwater volcanoes heat our oceans, kill our fish, and the water then evaporates.” With a snap of his finger he pivoted his body. “Luke, where does the water go?”

  Colin mumbled sarcastically, “Ah, yes, let’s ask the boy who doesn’t go to school.”

  Ignoring Colin, Luke answered with awe. “Up. Into the atmosphere.”

  “Basic law of Newton.” Darius said. “What goes up must come down.”

  “Dude,” Luke sat back. “If the ice up north is melting, the oceans evaporate and go into the sky, then all that water…Noah’s ark all over again.”

  “Fuck.” Colin whispered.

  Bret’s eyes widened. “Is he right? No.”

  Colin covered his eyes.

  “Luke, that’s a very good deduction.” Darius patted Luke’s back. “It would be one hundred percent correct if…if this all began in January. This is going to come full circle in the fall. Temperatures drop. When water is cold, it no longer is rain.”