Prologue
The Superstorm
November 11, 2021
A major superstorm arises within the sun, jettisoning off huge particles of hot, molten gas. These flare-ups happen often. In fact, a smaller one occurred ten years prior though the effect on Earth was minor and most of the damaging particles eventually disintegrated in the vast reaches of the universe. This time, however, there is an unfortunate confluence of events. The storm is exceptionally strong, and due to the alignment of the planets, the mass of radioactive particles heads directly for Earth. The storm also lasts for two full days, bombarding all parts of the planet continually with radiation as it rotates. Added to this, accelerated changes in climate during the past ten years have spawned numerous major storms that destabilized much of the infrastructure humans have built, especially in coastal areas and flood zones near rivers.
As the particles hit the outer stratosphere of Earth’s atmosphere, their interaction with the magnetic field causes massive disruption of power grids around the world. Moreover, the magnetic field has been shifting slowly for ages, and this barrage of galactic radiation tips the scale. Earth’s magnetic poles have been slowly on the move—and suddenly, this storm causes the migration of the magnetic poles to accelerate. Scientists on Earth had been predicting this shift, thinking it would most likely take centuries, but the force of the storm changes all predictions. On the planet Earth, north is soon to become south.
Chapter 1
Ten Years Earlier
Laurie sighed out of sheer exasperation. After two full days with no power, she was truly at her wits’ end. School was cancelled, and her bored boys were fighting again. Their latest argument over a stupid game of Monopoly. She had to get out of her house. Thankfully, her neighbor, Jenny, was home. She could see Jenny’s car in the driveway from her bedroom window. Deciding that Brendan and Josh were old enough to fend for themselves for a bit even without any electronic babysitters, she called to them as she walked out the door.
“Brendan, Josh! I’m going across the street for a little while. Find something to do separately!”
The moment of silence upstairs indicated to Laurie they must have heard her. Hopefully, they wouldn’t kill each other while she was out.
Jenny answered the door as soon as Laurie knocked. Dressed in a sharp pants suit, she looked ready for a job interview. Laurie, in her sweatshirt and jeans, felt rumpled by comparison.
“How are you holding up?” Jenny asked as they exchanged a brief hug.
“It’s been brutal, having both boys home and no electricity. And since our neighborhood well doesn’t have a generator, no power means no water either—so no showers. Thank goodness I have short hair!” She ran her hands through her short, curly brown locks. “My kitchen sink is piled high with dishes. Yesterday, we thought about going to a movie, but all theatres were closed. Then, we considered going out to lunch but couldn’t find an open restaurant they would both enjoy. The two of them can’t seem to agree on anything these days. Honestly, I never thought having teenagers would be this tough!”
Jenny smiled sympathetically. “I know. My kitchen sink isn’t quite as bad since it’s only the two of us now, but we did once have four kids living here and I remember those days well!”
“How did you survive?” Laurie asked. “I feel like everything we do is wrong. The two of them are constantly getting into trouble. We grounded them both for the past two days for drinking at a party last weekend. Though right now I don’t know who that grounding is punishing more—me or them. I wish I could send them to friends’ houses!”
“They do grow up eventually,” replied Jenny. “And then you’ll really miss them. Mark my words.”
“What I’m really going to miss is you. I can’t believe you’re moving! Who am I going to run to when things get crazy at my house?”
“You’ll be fine,” Jenny assured her. “And you can always call me. We do have the technology to stay in touch these days.”
Laurie teared up as she looked at her friend with her perfectly coiffed hair and chic clothes. They were so different, yet they had managed to form a bond that had lasted for years. She remembered when they first met. It was shortly after Laurie and Stan moved into the neighborhood. Somehow, Laurie had managed to lock herself out of the house, and Jenny saw her trying to pry open the basement window. Jenny ran over to help and together they managed to open the window just wide enough for Laurie to squeeze her petite body through. It was the start of a friendship that lasted over fifteen years. Jenny had been there for her through so much, from the birth of her first child to her boys’ recent forays into teenagehood, and Laurie dreaded the thought of new people moving into this house that felt almost like her second home.
“What’s with this power outage, anyway?” Laurie asked. “When it started, we thought it would last only a few hours, and it’s been two days.” She paused and bit her lip, recalling the rumors heard from other neighbors. She couldn’t get a clear answer from anyone. One neighbor thought the power company was having a huge strike, while another said they heard a massive meteorite had landed in New York City! “Have you gotten any updates? It’s so annoying when we can’t even watch the news.”
Jenny smiled. “I talked to George down the street. He’s been on his ham radio nonstop for the last two days and said this is a pretty widespread outage that affected most of the East Coast. He thinks things should be back to normal later today. Apparently, a solar flare messed up electrical grids up and down the coast, from Canada all the way to Florida.”
“Wow,” said Laurie. “That’s kind of scary.”
Jenny nodded. “It could have been worse, though. Even though a huge geographic area was affected, damage was minor, and everyone should be back online soon. Power to major cities is already up and running and it won’t be long before we’re back in service. George knows a lot about this kind of stuff, and he isn’t too worried. He has quite an amazing communications setup in his house.”
“I know. I’ve seen it and it’s impressive.” Laurie replied.
“Maybe Brendan and Josh would be interested in seeing it in action.”
“That’s actually not a bad idea!” exclaimed Laurie. “George runs the ham radio club at school and Brendan thought about joining it, but none of his friends were interested, so he didn’t sign up. But maybe they could spend a little time with George today. The problem is if I suggest it, neither of them will be interested. You know… teenagers!”
“I have an idea,” said Jenny. She picked up her phone. Luckily, though cell phone service was out, landline communications still worked, at least locally. After a brief conversation, she turned to Laurie and gave her a thumbs up.
“George says he’ll come by your house in a little while and invite the boys over. Maybe they’ll take him up on it. You never know.”
Laurie rose to leave and gave her friend a hug. “Thanks, Jenny,” she said. “You always seem to find a way to make things better.”
Back at her house, Laurie was relieved to hear silence, and nothing seemed out of place. If the boys had had a blow-out, at least no furniture was destroyed. She decided not to say anything to them about George. It would probably be better if they thought the idea came from him. They both knew him, as he had lived in the neighborhood longer than they had. His wife had died recently from cancer, and many neighbors had been reaching out to him for the past few months. Brendan and Josh were aware of that and had gone with Laurie several times to deliver him meals when his wife was sick.
There was a knock on the door, and Laurie welcomed George in. She had always had a soft spot for her neighbor, who she thought looked like an absent-minded professor, with his bushy gray hair and wire-rimmed glasses. She called up to the boys. Josh came down first, looking slightly disheveled in an old t-shirt, his long straight sandy blond hair masking his eyes. “What’s up?” he asked, before looking up and seeing George. “Oh, hi Mr. Morgan.”
“Hi Josh. I was wondering if you and your brother might like to come by my house for a little while to help me with some communications work. I’m a little overwhelmed right now—this power outage has me crazy. I could use another set of ears.”
“Really?” asked Josh. “I’ll go.”
“I think I’ll pass,” Brendan said from the stairway, curling his lanky body around the railing. Though two years older than his brother, he and Josh looked like twins with their dad’s narrow face and blond hair. Brendan’s hair was close-cropped however, and he had Stan’s bright blue eyes, while Josh had Laurie’s deep brown ones. And right now, those blue eyes narrowed with irritation. The truth was he wanted to learn about ham radios. In fact, he had wanted to join the ham radio club at school, but his friends had talked him out of it, calling it dinosaur technology. Not wanting to be teased at school, he’d abandoned the idea though he felt a little guilty since George was his neighbor. Yet if he went now and his friends found out, they might make fun of him even more. Plus, he’d have to deal with his younger brother’s annoying and never-ending enthusiasm. It was probably better to let Josh go alone. At least his brother would be out of the house for a bit.
Laurie shrugged. One out of two wasn’t bad, she thought. At any rate, the house would be quiet for a little while. Maybe by the time Josh got home, power would be restored, and life could go back to normal.
