Star One: Tycho City Survival (31 page)

After Mase had
left, Jolene turned to Linda. “Why don’t you just haul him off to bed?” asked Jolene,
grinning. “I know you both want to.”

Linda turned
an even darker red. “Eventually,” she replied in an embarrassed voice. “There’s
just so much going on right now that I don’t want to add anything more to what
Mase has to deal with. He’s what’s holding all of us and this place together.”

Jolene just
shook her head. She would have a talk with Karen. The next time Linda and Mase
were together here in the apartment, they would make sure the two were truly
alone. She was convinced that a good session in bed would be great for both
Linda and Mase.

-

Mase was in
the Control Center early the next morning. Already the effects of the solar
flare were affecting the Earth. He knew that the flare would be screwing around
with the Earth’s magnetic field and any surviving electronic equipment down
below. There were twenty bunkers in the Easter Pacific and Asia that they were
in contact with. But they had already lost communication with eight of them.

“The CME will
be arriving in four more hours,” Major Daniels reported as she studied the
latest data being relayed by several of the satellites in orbit above the
Earth.”

“We are also
starting to lose contact with some of the other shelters due to the solar
flare,” Corporal Kelly Stewart reported as more satellites began experiencing
failures in communication. “We have Cheyenne Mountain, NORAD, and the two
emergency bunkers still online, but the others are starting to go silent.”

“Now we just
wait and see what happens,” Isaac commented as he sat down to wait. “I just
spoke to Adam Strong, and he’s not completely sure how the Earth will be
affected by this.”

Mase nodded as
he took a seat also. He knew it was going to be a long day as they waited for
the solar flare and the CME to subside and allow them to establish contact with
the bunkers and shelters. He just hoped they all survived; they had already
lost too many people and they couldn’t afford to lose any more.

-

Hours later,
Mase stared at one of the main viewscreens at the Earth showing a view above Asia. The clouds seemed to be swirling, and layers of glowing red could be seen in some
areas.

“The
temperature’s definitely rising,” Major Daniels reported. “It’s up nearly fifty
degrees in some areas. The storms are intensifying, and we have recorded wind
gusts in excess of four hundred miles per hour in some locations.”

-

In Japan, the wind howled across the islands, scouring the ground of any vegetation. Dead
trees and vegetation were ripped out by their roots and tossed around as if
they were matchsticks. Massive waves hundreds of feet in height slammed into
the coasts, flooding those areas once again. There were only two major bunkers
still surviving in Japan as well as ten smaller ones. All of these were sealed
up tight, hoping to ride out the onslaught.

The
temperature continued to rise and was soon over one hundred and sixty degrees
Fahrenheit. Massive downpours of rain fell, with the heated water rapidly warming
up the ground. In two of the smaller Japanese bunkers, the seals to their doors
failed as the wind finally breached them. They had already been weakened from
earthquakes and the half-completed repairs gave way. In a few short minutes,
everyone inside the two bunkers died.

Across Asia, the wind and heat continued. Hundreds of people died as their bunkers failed from the
worsening conditions. Dams that had so far withstood the earthquakes and floods
collapsed from the wind and the added stress placed on their weakened
structures.

In China, the Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze River finally gave way. It had already been damaged from
a major earthquake and had several small fissures running through it. The added
heat and wind, coupled with another ground tremor, was enough to cause the dam
to suffer a catastrophic failure. As the flood waters cascaded down the Yangtze,
there was not a living soul to watch as hundreds of thousands of square miles
of land were covered in the swirling floodwaters.

-

For two days,
the Earth responded to the devastating hit from the solar flare and the CME until
finally things began to calm back down. The Earth’s magnetic field returned to
normal, and the storms began to weaken to only Category Five and Six
hurricanes.

At Tycho City, Mase studied the latest data from their scans and the satellites still
operating above the Earth. Much of the Western Pacific and Asia had been
devastated by the onslaught of the solar flare and the CME. They were back in
touch with the two big bunkers in Japan as well as several others in Asia, but a number of the smaller ones had fallen silent.

“I just
finished talking to Warren Timmons and General Mann,” Mase spoke as Anthony and
Isaac came into the Control Center. The effects from the solar flare and the
CME were minimal in the United States. Warren said they only recorded a six
degree temperature increase which they could attribute to it.”

“I spoke to Adam
Strong at Farside yesterday when I took them some supplies,” Anthony responded.
“The Earth’s orbit is about to go behind the sun away from the neutron star and
black hole. He feels that the earthquake activity and the volcano eruptions
might begin to lessen shortly. By the time we swing back around the sun, the
neutron star and black hole will be well on their way to leaving the solar system.”

Mase let out a
deep sigh. Even with the neutron star and black hole’s departure, there were
still a lot of unanswered questions. What would Earth’s orbit be like, and what
about the other planets? How many people on Earth would survive, and could they
continue to survive?

The three
continued to watch the viewscreens in silence. The two main screens showed the
Earth wrapped in a solid layer of clouds. They could see obvious swirls where hurricanes
or typhoons were pummeling the coasts and clouds that were moving at terrific
speeds. The world had been changed, and it would never be the same again.

Mase, Linda,
Anthony, and Jolene were walking through the latest ecological habitat that
Steffan had just finished constructing. It had taken two months and a
tremendous amount of resources to create this new world of Jolene’s.

“This place is
amazing,” Linda said as she gazed about in amazement at all that had been done.
“How did you do all of this?”

Jolene smiled,
knowing her best friend was excited about the new habitat. It had taken a lot
of work, but it was finally finished. “This is the sixth habitat we have built
and by far the largest. It is 2,400 feet long, 400 feet wide, and the ceiling
is 150 feet above our heads.”

Everywhere
they looked it was green. There were small orchards planted, long rows of
vegetables in their plots, and winding paths one could walk down to take it all
in. Over to the far side there were cattle grazing in a field that seemed to
extend the entire length of the habitat.

“Are those
cows?” Anthony asked as he looked excitedly at the large black animals in the
distance. He wondered how many steaks they would make.

“Yes, Anthony;
those are cows,” replied Jolene with a pleasant laugh. She knew exactly what
Anthony was thinking. “We have a new hybrid wheat that grows rapidly with the
right nutrients. That wheat field is 150 feet wide and 2,400 feet long and it
will allow us to increase our cattle herd to a little over 120 animals. Not
only that, but we should be able to get several good cuttings of hay later.”

“Steaks,”
spoke Anthony, his eyes still focused on the cows and feeling his stomach
growl. “Those cows look like steaks to me.”

“That’s all
you ever think about,” Linda teased as she reached out and took Mase’s hand.

She didn’t
tell Anthony that Jolene had brought home several large packages of steaks for
later. The rest of the meat had gone to the restaurants in Tycho City. Portions being served in the restaurants were small, but at least you could order a
small steak or hamburger once again.

The ground
trembled slightly but came to a quick halt. Over the past two months, the lunar
quakes had been gradually subsiding. The Moon seemed to be stabilizing again as
the neutron star and black hole continued to move away.

“I’m glad the
big tremors have stopped,” Jolene commented as she bent down and picked several
plump, red tomatoes from a vine and placed them in the specimen bag she always
seemed to have hanging from her shoulder. They would go well with the steaks
later.

“Everything is
returning to normal,” responded Mase, nodding his head in satisfaction. “In
another month, we will be sending additional people back to Farside to help
staff the observatory complex.”

“So we are
going to keep it running?” Anthony asked as he stopped to watch a small hummingbird
that was flitting around a small bed of roses.

“Yes,” Mase
replied. “I spoke with Adam Strong and Andrew Carnegie, and they both feel we
can move a few people back into the complex. Andrew has spent the last month
repairing all the damage the quakes did, and he feels quite confident that the
facility is secure.”

“What about
the dish antennas?” asked Anthony, looking over at Mase curiously. “Over half
of them have been damaged to some extent.”

“For now we
are going to leave them,” Mase answered as they continued to walk down a stone
path that wound around several fruit orchards. “Adam says he will put about a
dozen back online and leave the rest until sometime in the future. They still
have the Albertson reflector, and that will keep them occupied for some time.”

“I wonder what
happened to Star One and the FarQuest?” Linda asked as she listened to several
birds calling in the distance. It felt so relaxing here in the habitat. It was
quite remarkable.

“We may never
know,” responded Mase, wishing he knew what the fate of his friends had been.
“They could be colonizing a new world for all we know. We can only hope that
they made it through the wormhole safely.”

“What do we do
now?” Anthony asked. He kept glancing over at the cows. He had almost forgotten
what steak tasted like.

Mase paused as
he looked at the other three. “The worst is behind us,” he answered. “With the
habitats that Jolene and Steffan have created, we have plenty of food and
resources for the people in deep sleep. We will start awakening them in another
few months.”

Linda knew
that Mase was really looking forward to awakening Phillip and his family. Mase
really missed speaking to his older brother. Linda was just glad she had Karen
living with her. She had always gotten along extremely well with her younger
sister, and Karen seemed to enjoy her work with Jolene in the ecological
habitats.

“What about
Earth?” Anthony asked. “It’s still covered in clouds. What do we know about its
new orbit?”

“Charles
Turner and several of the other scientists believe we will see some clearing in
the next few months,” Mase answered. “Of course, there is so much ash in the
atmosphere from the volcanoes it may take years for it to clear completely. In
the meantime, we will continue to attempt to contact as many survivors as we
can and help to coordinate their survival. As for Earth’s orbit, we will know
more soon.”

“At least all
of the heavy rain helped reduce some of the ash that was in the air,” Anthony
added as they reached the end of the path.

Mase nodded.
The new Tycho City was finished and ready to receive the sleepers. Many people
were already living there, and they still had the old Tycho City Complex to
fall back on if needed. They had accomplished a lot, but they still had a great
deal of work ahead of them.

-

Trace was
outside the bunker once again. The ash had finally stopped falling several
weeks back, but the sky was still an ashen gray. He was standing next to the
door of the cellar and examining the area as closely as he could. The breathing
mask kept most of the contaminants out, and the plastic shield across his face
gave him a good view.

He was wearing
a basic environmental protection suit that still allowed a lot of flexibility
in movement. The suit he had on would protect him from most contaminants, and
so far he hadn’t had to resort to using oxygen tanks and the bulkier suits that
went along with them.

Looking at the
ground, he noticed that much of the ash fall had been washed away by the heavy
rains from the previous week. There was no doubt in Trace’s mind that the
ponds, creeks, and rivers would be clogged up with it. Taking a deep breath, he
began trudging toward the house, noticing that his feet were sinking a good
three to four inches into the ground. The soil was still saturated from all the
rainfall and would take some time to dry out.

Only yesterday,
they had managed to establish radio contact with another small bunker across
the state border in Arkansas. There were forty-two people in it and they seemed
to be doing quite well. Trace’s bunker had thirty-one with the advent of the
three Donaldson kids. Just being able to talk to someone else had been a big
morale booster.

Looking around,
Trace noticed sadly that many of the towering old trees from his childhood had
succumbed to the heavy weight of the ash and had fallen over or split into. The
trees had already been dead from the deadly toxins being released into the
atmosphere by the volcanoes, and the heavy ash fall had finally finished them
off.

As he neared
the house, he saw without surprise that the large metal shed had finished
collapsing. The weight of the ash had finally been too much for it to
withstand. With relief, Trace saw that the house and old barn were still
standing. He was extremely grateful that both had such steep roofs. A few more
minutes and he was on the porch at the house. He noticed that all the windows
were intact and the door was still securely locked.