“Mark.” Colin waved. ‘You’re gonna get a haircut for the conference, right.”
“Ponytail,” Mark replied.
Colin shrugged. “Works. Where’s Bret?”
Darius answered, “Calling the doctor to see if she has cholera.”
Colin nodded. “Shall I feed into this psychotic hypochondriac episode or shall I ease it?”
Darius took a moment to think, tapping his finger on his lip. “Feed it.”
“You got it.” Colin grinned. “What are you guys watching on the screen?”
Mark replied, “A demo I came up with for our conference presentation.”
“Is it PowerPoint?” Colin asked.
“No,” Mark said. “Flash.”
“Should use PowerPoint. Everyone uses PowerPoint. It’s effective to some people.” Colin smiled and walked away.
Both Darius and Mark stared at the doorway.
“More effective than a Flash?” Mark asked then fluttered his lips. “Yeah, right.”
Darius waved out his hand. “What does he know? Show me that again before our pizza.” He leaned over Mark’s shoulder and basked one more time in the feeling of doom he received from watching Mark’s demo.
27. Permanent Changes
Such a tiny insect invoked so much thought, consuming Martin’s mind. For some reason he just couldn’t separate himself and the work at hand from the sick worker and the flea. The placement of the bunks didn’t help.
It made him think of sick people.
He had immediately contacted Sgt. Mann, asking him for pictures of the ill. Although Sgt. Mann didn’t question him, there was a tone in his voice that stated he didn’t understand why.
After all, Martin wasn’t a doctor. If he himself were a sergeant in the field, he’d question in his mind why some general wanted to see pictures of the ill. Especially since throngs of medical personal were on it.
But he said he’d comply, and within an hour of the requisition, Martin received numerous pictures via the phone.
Were the pictures useless? Or was Martin just looking for something that wasn’t there?
He would download, look at the each small picture and wait for the next.
Each small photo, blurry, bred nothing. It didn’t breed the images his mind was certain would be there.
He’d get a picture, then a text. “More?” the text would read.
Martin would respond with, ‘send another.’
Then came picture 14.
Just as Martin was about to label that useless, he stopped.
He pulled the phone closer to his eyes; it looked like it…but he couldn’t be sure.
Beep.
Mann’s text. “More?”
“One more,” Martine responded. “Same patient closer on the neck.”
Phone closed, Martin tapped his finger impatiently waiting. He saw on the digital screen a message was incoming.
With a musical tone it arrived.
Martin flipped open his phone and smiled.
Perhaps he shouldn’t have been smiling, but the fifteenth picture confirmed what he believed. He wasn’t insane. Texting Mann that no more pictures were needed at the time, Martin hooked his phone to the computer and downloaded the images.
He enlarged and zoomed in. The pictures weren’t crystal clear nor professional images, but they were good enough.
Image on the screen, Martin leaned forward, finger to his temple, thumb to his chin and stared.
Had the medical professionals really missed it or did they know and were only covering up?
Surely they tested, right?
He couldn’t be sure. Nothing on the news said anything about it. Nor did his reports and by what he witnessed, he was correct and it needed confirmation.
Confirmed by an official in the field. The conference was in a few days and the information was valuable.
It made sense. It made perfect sense. Why wouldn’t it be happening out of season?
The ill woman lay on a cot, patient 34576. The picture was close to her neck. The tell-tale signs of blackening and swelling were there. Surely they weren’t missed. If someone like Martin saw it, surely a doctor did.
He picked up the phone and dialed.
The United States had WHO and CDC specialists on site. Martin phoned them. It took a while to get hold of the doctor, and Martin was met with ridicule. Laughs that weren’t masked or hidden.
But despite it all, Martin convinced the WHO doctor to appease him, to just double-check patient 34576. Because Martin was certain that the epidemic in Europe wasn’t cholera, but rather the bubonic plague.
***
The finishing touches of the bunker were being applied, and it was the first time in a long time Bret had entered the building. Chuck had been there more frequently, but in the last two weeks, progress had escalated.
All floors were done.
The bunker was designed to hold up to 18 people, but would preferably hold 12. Food was brought in along with wood supplies and a water system.
It would house those staying behind. The invitees, hopefully, would be in the Texas shelter by the initial onset of the final occurrences.
“Wow,” Bret spoke upon walking onto the main floor. “It’s so dark, though.”
Bruce pointed to the windows. “From the outside you can’t tell they are blocked. But for insulation purposes, they need to be sealed. It’s removable, though.”
Chuck asked. “Even with the sun as a source of heat?”
Bruce shook his head. “It’s gonna be gray. Plus the glass won’t hold back that cold. It’s gonna get cold for a spell.”
“Enough wood?” Chuck asked.
“Hopefully.” Bruce smiled. “We can always start burning things.”
“Will the water supplies freeze?” Chuck questioned.
“Nope. The third floor is insulated and the water tanks covered. The pipes run right next to the heating ducts. We’re good.”
Bret took in the huge loft-style main floor. Divider walls separated sleeping areas for four. A bathroom was built and the kitchen and living area wide open. It was lit by small hanging lights. And even though the sunlight seemed to be an issue for her, after all a week or two without sunlight . . . Bruce assured her that should the temperature be okay Colin said they could unblock a window for more light.
Doing a clockwise turn she spotted it. With the voices of Chuck and Bruce fading, she made her way to the door that she thought was a closet. Stepping out into it, she saw that it was a long hall the width of the building. Against the wall were hanging glass cases six feet tall, three feet wide. They were empty.
“Bruce?” she called out.
A moment later, “Yeah.” Bruce stepped through.
“What are these?” She pointed.
And when Bruce answered her, the summer heat that had consumed the building disappeared and a chill went thought her system.
A reality chill.
“Cases for the suits,” he replied.
Bret looked at his with question.
“Arctic suits. Like the astronauts would wear.”
She envisioned herself in a parka or cute little snow gear. Arctic suit? Envisioning herself in that would be envisioning a world she was not ready to face.
***
It wasn’t that the air was cool, but it felt it as the warm breeze swept over the layer of sweat on Virginia’s brow.
She had taken the laptop outdoors and was regretting every minute of it.
Her life’s work was beating down on her. The sun, its heat unbearable. But then again, Virginia wasn’t really working outside. She was chatting online with her newfound friend from Singapore, Lin.
Lin was a sun watcher, and they were relaying data back and forth. Sharing rather, finding what the other wasn’t getting.
Virginia was quite impressed with Lin’s data from Singapore Solar Research Center.
The sun’s activity was up to the second.
And she thought her equipment was second to none.
Lin had shared with her that his organization believed the sun was going to act up for a period of 60 days. Unpredictable as to the extent, but act up, meaning there would be more solar flares, perhaps even one like the Paris flare.
They were watching.
Virginia asked if they saw it coming. Lin told her looking back, they saw the beginnings of it, but excused it as small sun spots.
However, Lin and his people didn’t believe that any more would occur. They didn’t think a magnetic reversal was coming. In fact, they had a representative heading to the conference to warn about the sun.
The sun was the culprit. The culprit would behave in a few months time, then all would be back to normal.
Virginia didn’t believe that. But she didn’t push the issue.
They were actually talking on line about children, when Lin suddenly changed his typing tone.
“Can you access the data now?” Lin asked
“Laptop is older, would take a while.”
“Go to your other station,” Lin requested. “I’m sending you data.”
Virginia agreed, informing him it would take about fifteen minutes. The journey to the lab in the complex was long.
She didn’t even shut down the laptop. She carried it into the upper level of the building and inhaled the blast of cooler air.
“Everything okay?” Rob asked her.
“Yeah, yeah,” Virginia nodded. “Kids fine?”
Rob indicated to the kids playing video games.
Virginia chuckled “I have to run down to the lab.”
“You’re not gonna be there for hours again are you? You lose track of time.”
“I shouldn’t be. But send RJ down if I am.”
She darted a kiss to his cheek and went her way.
The fact that Lin was sending her information and his change of tone told her more about the urgency than he did.
The data came though and Virginia viewed it.
“OK,” she typed. “What am I looking at? It’s normal.”
“See those three sunspots in the grid?” he asked.
“Small. Yes.”
“Are you watching them?”
“Sun spots are spots. They aren’t gonna do anything in a minute they.…” Virginia paused. “Are they moving?”
He replied. “Yes. Circle. Disappear. Reappear.”
“Is this what you noted before the Paris flare?”
“Yes,” he typed. “As you can see. Sunspots. We thought nothing of them. They’d reappear. By the day of the flare they were this size and in a matter of two hours they grew.”
“Did you notify anyone?”
“Absolutely, it took two hours to notify someone. At that point, the flare formed and expelled.”
“So you knew it was heading to earth.”
“And we knew it was big. We hoped the atmosphere would break it. But . . . .”
“Did you have a destination?”
“Yes. We did. Unfortunately, we only had a two-hour window there, as well.”
“Do you think this is the same?” she questioned.
“Absolutely, if this plays out the same. We will watch this happen for three days. They will do the same pattern until flare day. And then they will grow and expel a flare.”
“Can we guess where?”
“Not precisely, I can go through the data, guess the area.”
“Please do.”
“But Gin.” He wrote. “The area will be too big. By the time we have more of a precise location there will be no time to do anything. The warning window will be the two hour time frame the flare takes to reach earth.”
“Actually a little bit more. We’ll have the data when the flare forms.”
“We will watch this one. This will help us learn even more should it happen a third time. Right now, let me work on an estimated impact site should a flare form.”
Virginia typed a simple letter ‘k’ and exhaled.
Was it possible that another flare like the Paris flare was likely to occur? It was frightening because they didn’t know where or when. They suspected it would happen in a few days, its size unknown.
There was no concrete proof. That was why they didn’t see the Paris flare coming. It didn’t form normally. It removed any predictability.
It could hit anywhere.
That notion took Virginia’s breath away.
***
Bret was talking. Darius knew that, but his mind was elsewhere, actually on a lot. He was going between checking his things that were packed for the conference, eavesdropping on Colin’s call, and trying to peek at the data Colin was going to present at the conference.
Data and info he would not share with Darius. Too good, Colin claimed.
‘So in the hall is a huge case, did you know that?” Bret asked.
“Uh huh,” Darius answered. A box. A briefcase, a portfolio folder. That had to be where Colin had the info.
“Will there be enough suits?”
“Yes,” Darius replied. Eyes shifting to Colin on the phone. What? What was that? Make a mental note. He asked Virginia the location.
“It really is decked out. Sounds like it will work,” Bret said.
“Yes.” Darius made a face, squinting in thought. Why wouldn’t Colin share his info? Every scientist was presenting the problem, the outcome, and their potential solution. Obviously if Colin was getting to speak, his presentation was going to be different. What was it?
“Then Bruce showed me the cool way to heat the place.”
“Uh huh.” Snap to Colin. Another mental note: Who was Lin? He didn’t recognize the name.
“Did you pack enough underwear?”
“Uh . . . ” Darius paused. “I’m going for two days. How much underwear do I need to pack?”
“So you were listening.”
“Of course.”
“I just didn’t think you were. You kept saying uh huh.”
“Bret. Dear.” Darius laid his hands on her shoulder. “I’m just busy and preoccupied. It’s a long drive to New York.”
Across the room Colin said, “Goodbye,” and hung up the phone. This caused Darius to immediately switch his attention.
“What happened?” Darius asked.
“Seems Virginia’s newfound friend in Singapore, who works for the solar research center, has found a pattern.”
“What are you talking about? Pattern?”
“To the expulsion of a big flare.”
Darius scoffed. “That’s absurd. We’ve had one. How can there be a pattern?”
“He’s seeing the sun do the same odd thing it did before the last one.”
Calmly, Darius nodded. “Hmm. Does he think they’ll be another big flare?”
Bret gasped.
Darius reached over and covered her mouth.
Colin lowered Darius’ hand. “Yes. In a few days.”
“After the conference.”
“Yes. He’s estimating Asia.”
“So if it’s true, and the sun is misbehaving, it could be the same location on the sun?”
“Could be.”
“Well, at least it’s Asia.”
“Which surprises me. With the way you and Bret are, I’m surprised it doesn’t strike Pittsburgh.”
“Better the other side of the world.”
Again, Bret gasped. “You are so rude.”
“Bret, would you prefer it to be here?”
“Um, no.”
“My point.”
Colin said, “I’ll make mention of it at the conference.”
“Along with your other findings.”
“Yes,” Colin nodded. “Were you trying to peek?”
“Yes.”
Colin laughed. “Darius. You’ll present with your rock star and I’ll present with my scientists.”
“My rock star is a scientist.”
“Without PowerPoint.”
“Our demonstration is awesome.”
“But it’s not PowerPoint,” Colin said wit
h a nod.
Bret intervened. “I keep seeing scenes from the movie Armageddon in my head, where all these scientists present ridiculous solutions.”
Colin smiled. “Me, too, and ridiculous presentations that are over the edge.”
Darius tilted his head. “Why won’t you share?”
“Because it’s good. It doesn’t need drama.”
Bret nodded. “It is good.”
Darius turned to her. “You know his plan?”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“You didn’t ask and Colin doesn’t want you to know.”
Darius blinked a few times. “You think this is good for a relationship? We need to be open and honest.”
A chuckle from Colin, “Then why haven’t you been honest about the Chihuahua?”
“I give up. Fine.” Darius tossed his hands outward. “Share your info. I’ll hear it then. But mine will be more effective.”
“Than mine?”
“Yes.”
“They’ll never take you serious.”
“Ha!” Darius blasted. “How do you figure?”
“Darius, you want to blow up the world. You want to show how it will be done and why through a movie-trailer style presentation complete with soundtrack.”
“And what’s wrong with that?”
“It’s not my solution and it’s not my style of presentation.”
“And yours is?”
Colin smiled arrogantly. “PowerPoint.” He laid a hand on Darius’ shoulder as he passed by. “Now pack, I have to get ready. And bring enough underwear.”
After shaking his head, Darius looked at Bret. She nodded with a ‘see, I told you’ look.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
Pause.
Bret inhaled. “Do you think you should have used PowerPoint?”
Darius said nothing; he just walked out.
***
Martin was perplexed, an adjective not readily used to describe him. Rarely, if ever, did he allow himself to get to the point where he would scratch his head and say, ‘I’m confused.’
He was there . . . almost.
When they gave him all the information regarding the GEP, he knew it wasn’t a light day’s reading. It wasn’t a nifty brochure of frequently asked questions. It was bound manuscript after bound manuscript.
Torn Page 30
