Solar Storms (2 page)

-2-

“WELCOME, welcome!” Dr.
Tsui said, flailing his tiny arms around. “This,” he said, spinning on the
white tile floor of the atrium, “this is building 30-S, former home to the
Space Shuttle Control Room as well as the data facilities and flight consoles.
It has been completely renovated and upgraded to serve NASA’s Space Weather
Program.”

Sophie set her bag on the ground and took a moment
to admire the open atrium. Glass walls surrounded her on all sides, providing a
panoramic view of the other buildings. In the middle of the room rested an
ancient space shuttle, the outer casing peeled away to reveal the mechanical
guts. Hundreds of wires snaked through the metal bones. She could picture
school children marveling at the ship on a tour, much as she had done when she
saw dinosaurs at the museum as a child. The NASA shuttle was, after all, a
fossil, having gone extinct years ago when NTC took over space exploration.

“You will be spending all of your time here, and
your tablets will only access this building,” Tsui said, handing them both
tablet computers. He shifted his dark-rimmed glasses higher onto his wrinkled
nose. “Ah, that reminds me about earlier. I understand there was a security mix
up?”

Sophie nodded, her lips parting to speak, but Tsui
beat her to it.

“We have been so busy that someone dropped the ball
on getting you entered into the system. My apologies.” The old scientist offered
his small hand, which stuck out the end of an oversized white lab coat.

“It was a bit of a surprise, but understandable
considering the situation. Security seems…unusually tight,” Sophie said,
seizing the opportunity to get information out of the man. Tsui just smiled. She
reached out and shook his hand, trying not to wince. For an 80-year-old man, he
had a very strong grip.

Tsui shook Emanuel’s hand as well before turning to
head down the hall. He got a few feet away and stopped, craning his old neck to
look at them. “What are you waiting for?” he said, motioning them forward with
his miniature hands.

Sophie could hardly hold in her laughter. With his
lab coat, pocket protector, and large, black-rimmed glasses, he looked more
like a pediatrician who refused to retire than the head of one of NASA’s most
well-funded programs. The man not only had a strong grip—he also had more
energy than a teenager. She grabbed her bags and took one last look at the
ancient shuttle before following him down the hallway.

To Sophie’s disappointment, the tour of the
facility lasted only 15 minutes. While anxious to get started, she’d been
looking forward to exploring the place that had monitored some of the most
historic space shuttle launches of the United States.

Reminding herself that everything wasn’t about her,
she followed Dr. Tsui down the last hallway. He was still talking and flailing
his arms about, discussing a grant Sophie had already forgotten the name of.

When they finally rounded the last corner, her
discontent quickly faded. A pair of thick glass doors etched with the NASA
insignia was all that separated them from the former shuttle mission control
center. Sophie watched Tsui swipe his keycard, smiling as the door unlocked
with a mechanical click. The glass silently slid open, and Tsui stepped into
the massive room.

“Welcome to your new home!” he said, spinning
around to gauge their reactions. “That’s Ed in the front row, he drew the short
stick for nightshift,” Tsui said, pointing to a hefty man inhaling a taco. Ed
looked up from his dinner and waved with his free hand.

Sophie returned the gesture. She was beaming with
excitement. The room had been completely renovated with state-of-the-art
technology, a significant upgrade from the conditions they were used to working
in during their last project in D.C.

Every wall was covered with monitors. Even the
ceiling had one. And even more impressive was the holographic image of the earth
hovering over a console in the center of the room. Its warm yet cool blue glow beckoned
them forward.

“Go ahead,” Tsui said, nodding at Sophie like a
parent allowing a child to open her first Christmas present.

She took one step into the room, and another voice
emerged.

“Greetings, Dr. Winston and Dr. Rodriguez, and
welcome to the Space Weather Control Center.” It was a female voice. Calm,
confident. Robotic.

Sophie didn’t need to turn to see the holographic
image of an AI hovering over the console behind her. With the heavy NTC
presence, she should have known they would have equipped the facility with one
of the rare and extremely expensive machines.

Machine intelligence.

If there was one part of the technological
revolution Sophie hadn’t accepted yet, it was the introduction of AI. After a
moment, she turned to make a proper introduction.

“Thank you. We are glad to be here.”

“My service number is A5, but you can call me Amy.
I monitor this facility and am here to serve you.”

“Got it, thank you,” Sophie said and hurried down
the stairs toward the hologram of the earth.

“Fantastic isn’t it?” Tsui said from the top of the
stairs. “The technology is the best we could have hoped for. And if it weren’t
for NTC, we wouldn’t have any of it. President Bolton still refuses to
acknowledge space weather is something her administration should take
seriously.”

“You don’t say?” Emanuel quipped.

“The day President Bolton takes anything science
related seriously would be a win in my book,” Sophie replied.

Tsui smiled widely, revealing a perfect set of
white teeth. Sophie decided they had to be dentures.

“We sent her chief science advisor a memo
concerning the sun activity over a month ago, but we still haven’t had any
formal response. I will not be holding my breath, either—I’m too old for that,”
he said with a laugh.

Sophie grinned. Tsui was elderly, but he was still
sharp. This, she finally decided, was the reason he was in charge of one of the
last NASA programs Congress still funded.

“I suppose you want to know why I asked for you,
Dr. Winston,” Tsui said, studying her.

“Indeed,” she said, pulling her blonde hair back
into a ponytail instinctively. It was a nervous habit she had developed long
before she had decided she wanted to be a particle physicist.

“What I am about to tell you is classified. This
information is considered level 10, and technically neither of you is authorized
to hear it, but unfortunately we don’t have time to get you through the proper
channels. If our intel is correct, it won’t much matter in a few days anyway.”

Sophie glanced at Emanuel, whose dimples were
fading into a frown.

“Two months ago, my team picked up some very odd sunspots.
Which, as you know, is not typical for the sun’s current cycle.”

She cocked an eyebrow at him, her curiosity growing
by the second.

“The last eleven-year cycle peaked and ended two
years ago. So theoretically the sun should not be very active right now.” He
paused to take a look at the ceiling. “Amy, please show the new team members
our discovery.”

Above them the monitor glowed to life, the blue
screensaver fading into the red image of the sun. A waveform rippled across the
screen, like a patient’s heartbeat during an EKG. Only the wave wasn’t normal;
it was fluctuating rapidly. It took Sophie a few seconds to realize what she
was looking at.

“The graphic isn’t real time, it’s been sped up to
illustrate the sun’s activity over the past month. As you can see, the ebb and
flow is not normal.”

“Do you have any idea as to why?” Sophie asked.

Tsui locked eyes with her. Even behind the thick
lenses, Sophie could see the strain in them. He knew something—something he
hadn’t told them yet.

“That’s why we brought you here, Dr. Winston. I
read your thesis on solar flares nine years ago when you were seeking your PhD
from Princeton. Which, by the way,” he paused and looked quickly at Emanuel, “is
the reason you are here too, Dr. Rodriguez.”

The biologist was caught off guard and froze, still
not sure why Tsui had requested him.

“Your paper on the effect of solar weather on
animal migrations and behavior was fascinating. I suspect your advice will be of
great help if our projections turn out to be correct,” Tsui said, raising his
thin white eyebrows above his glasses.

“Projections?” Sophie asked.

“Amy, project image of active region 9897.”

A red hologram of the sun shot out of the console in
the center of the room, and the knot returned in Sophie’s stomach. Visible even
to the naked eye was a dark patch covering a large portion of the sun’s northern
hemisphere. She could tell just by looking at it that it was at least a dozen
of times larger than the earth.

“When was this image captured?” Sophie asked, her
normally calm voice tinged with nervousness.

“Two months ago. Amy, fast-forward to present day,”
Tsui said.

The hologram flickered as the imaging was sped up.
Slowly the sunspot expanded.

Sophie gasped. It was the largest she’d ever
seen—larger even than AR9393, which had grown to fourteen times larger than earth
in 2001. The behemoth continued to expand until the hologram transitioned into
a solid yellow.

“The storm has already produced several solar
flares and coronal mass ejections that have destroyed multiple satellites and
disrupted the international space station,” Tsui said, shuffling up to examine
the hologram.

“How have news outlets not gotten hold of this?”
Emanuel asked.

Tsui shook his head. “We all know President Bolton
heavily campaigned on the premise that climate change doesn’t exist. She has
also heavily denied the potential catastrophic effects of space weather,
claiming any mitigation funding is a waste of money.” He paused to take off his
glasses and rub his eyes. “Why do you think NTC has had to absorb virtually all
of NASA’s functions? Between Bolton and Congress, there is hardly any funding
left. Just barebones programs. Without NTC, I wouldn’t even have the proper
technology to monitor the storms. In fact—”

Sophie waved her hand, interrupting Tsui in mid
thought. “Bolton’s still in her first term; this could be very damaging for her
reelection bid.”

“Precisely,” Emanuel said.

Tsui reached out and enlarged the sunspot with his
fingers. “If what I’m about to tell you is true, then this will be her one and
only term.”

Sophie winced. All of this foreshadowing was
starting to frustrate her. Why couldn’t he just spill what he knew? She sucked
in a silent breath and tried to remain calm.

Tsui took a step back to examine the monitor before
turning to face Sophie and Emanuel. “Our calculations project a massive CME in
the next couple of days. If correct, it will create the most severe solar storm
in modern history.”

There it was at last.

Massive CME.

The words echoed in her head as Sophie studied the
strain radiating from Tsui’s eyes. Those were two words she had hoped to never
hear in her lifetime. An image of the NTC soldier’s flaming red goggles slipped
into her mind, and she knew Tsui still hadn’t told her the worst of it. She’d
written extensively on the catastrophic effect a large CME could have on the
planet. History showed how fragile their infrastructure was, and she knew
better than anyone how much devastation one of the solar events could cause.

“Show me all of your intel,” Sophie said, snapping
out of her trance. “I want to know exactly what we’re dealing with.”

Tsui managed a small smile, but it faded quickly. “Follow
me, doctors.”

Sophie paused for a moment to watch the simulation in
front of her. The spot continued to expand, and the swirling flames of the solar
flares grew in size. It was either an anomaly or they were dealing with an
unprecedented storm. With the largest CME in recorded history about to knock on
the earth’s door, the world would no longer need to fight over diminishing resources.
The apocalypse was brewing on the surface of the sun, some 93 million miles
away.

-3-

STEPPING into the rain
room, Sophie realized a hot shower was exactly what she needed. She’d arrived
at the space center having had only five hours of sleep the night before. When
Dr. Tsui had shown her the simulation of solar activity, she had requested 30
minutes to get cleaned up, knowing sleep was not in her near future.

The steam from the water filled the small, tiled
shower, fogging up the glass door. She allowed herself to enjoy it for a few minutes
before waving the nozzle off.

Emanuel was waiting for her on a bench in the
locker room. He turned away as soon as she stepped out onto the cold, tiled
floor. Reaching for a towel, she laughed.

“Not like you haven’t seen it before,” she said.

He chuckled nervously, desperately trying to avoid
eye contact with her. Even his dark tan couldn’t hide the red blush on his
cheeks.

“What do you think?” he said, standing to make room
as Sophie, wrapped in a white towel, walked down the narrow hallway lined with lockers.

“Honestly? I think we’re in big fucking trouble.
The NTC Special Forces soldier was one thing, but the fact Dr. Tsui hired you
really sealed the deal. If he thinks this storm is capable of a CME that could
affect life on the planet, then we’re into uncharted territory.”

“I agree. But what doesn’t make sense is the cycle.
The sun should be relatively calm right now.”

Sophie reached for her clothes. “Turn around.”

Emanuel obeyed and faced the empty showers,
carrying on the conversation with his back to her. “I don’t understand. Is this
an anomaly, or is something else influencing this storm?”

“Like what?” Sophie said, hopping on one foot as
she struggled to get her damp leg in her pants.

“You’re the physicist. You tell me.”

“Honestly, I don’t think so. I’m sure we are
dealing with an anomaly. The eleven-year cycle is just an average, so it is
possible the sun could just be out of whack.”

Emanuel chuckled. “Out of whack? Is that a
technical term? It’d have to be pretty whacked out to produce a storm of this
magnitude.”

Sophie yanked her shirt over her head and pulled
her hair into a ponytail. “I don’t know, Emanuel.”

“Guess we’re going to find out.”

“I guess so,” she said.

THE COOL blue glow from the
command center bled out into the white hallway. Sophie and Emanuel followed the
light into the room, which was beginning to fill with tired looking staff
members.

Tsui greeted them at the bottom of the stairs. “Ah,
you’re back. Let me introduce you to a few people. This is Saafi Yool, our
primary engineer,” he said, pointing to a tall, skinny Somali man monitoring a
hologram in the corner of the room. The man nodded and returned to the blue
image.

“He’s not big on words,” Tsui said and turned to Ed,
who was still staring at the same screen he’d been watching when they had
arrived. “Ed, get over here.”

The man slowly rose and pulled up his sagging
pants.

“Sorry, my team isn’t very…social,” Tsui said,
pausing to find the right word.

“We meet again,” the man said, wiping the remnants
of another taco on the side of his pants before reaching out to shake Sophie’s
hand.

“Likewise,” she replied, hesitating before quickly
shaking his hand.

“Ed doubles as the team’s lead engineer and the
satellite expert. But basically he just monitors the new equipment NTC bought
us.”

“Sure do,” the man said.

 “You can meet the others later. We need to get to
work. I will show you to your stations.”

Sophie and Emanuel followed Tsui through the rows
of computers to the center of the room, where the same holographic image of the
sun they had seen earlier rotated on a slight axis.

“Emanuel, there’s not much you can do until
something happens, but you can get familiar with your station and the software
in the meantime,” Tsui said, motioning him into a booth lined with monitors.

“Sophie, you on the other hand will be assisting me
in monitoring the storm. First, I’d like you to look over our calculations.
I’ve checked them, but a second set of eyes couldn’t hurt.”

She followed him down the second set of stairs to
another row of computers. Ed sat at a station on the end of the row, working on
another taco.

“Amy, please load station 15 with our most recent
calculations and projections,” Tsui said, sliding past Ed’s bulk with
difficulty.

Sophie squeezed behind the obese scientist and took
a seat at her station. With a deep breath she flicked the three monitors to
life. She was anxious to see how long they had before the massive CME.

A steady flow of data raced across the screen. She
scanned it quickly and then opened a folder labeled “NASA Satellite 41 MD’s.”
Flicking the screen, the folder blossomed into a host of entries.

3.1.2055

23:55 Hours

Event - MD 491

She consumed the info rapidly, stopping when she
got to the GPS coordinates. For some reason, Tsui and his team hadn’t used the
magnetic disturbances in their calculations. Looking closer she realized something
was very wrong with the data. The subsequent coordinates indicated they had
originated millions of miles away from the sun.

“Impossible,” she muttered. “These can’t be
correct”

But they were correct, and the farther she dug, the
more of the entries emerged. They had all been collected from the new NTC-funded
satellites. Not only were these new satellites state-of-the-art, they were very,
very accurate.

She examined the entries line by line.

3.4.2055

21:51 Hours

Event - MD 496

4.14.2055

20:01 Hours

Event - MD 499

For the moment she decided to assume the data was
wrong, that the satellites had somehow managed to capture incorrect readings.
They had to be; it was the only explanation. Otherwise Tsui would have included
them.

Wouldn’t he?

She entered it into her calculations nonetheless,
waiting for the program to spit out the results. It took far more time to run
her projection than it did to analyze what it meant.

The knot in her stomach tightened.

“Dr. Tsui!” she yelled.

The short scientist entered her station seconds
later.

“Yes, what is it?”

“I ran the calculations and included the magnetic
disturbance entries, something you appeared to have left out.”

“And?”

“I’m afraid you were wrong. We don’t have as much
time as you projected. In fact, if my calculations are correct, then the CME is
already on its way to earth.”