Sol Survivors

Ninety-three Million Miles from Earth Ninety-three Million Miles from Earth Something unusual occurred on the surface of the great fiery orb as it continued on its assigned orbit some 25,000 light years from the center of the beautiful spiral galaxy. Sudden high-energy bursts releasing directional flares were far from abnormal. They were, in fact, part of the natural cycle of the dense cauldron as it went about its function combusting the gradually depleting supply of hydrogen-helium fed to it by the power which governs the universe. Even the less-frequent larger bursts were regular and expected, spectacular as they may be to anyone watching who was not familiar with the orb’s mechanism and patterns. So when this burst emitted, it would not have been notable but for its timing and location. Most of the occupants in the orb’s neighborhood were used to being on the receiving end of these occasional surges of magnetized energy, from the eight distinguished members down to the chaotic tumbling rock belts. Except for the third distinguished member; the blue sphere. That one was special. The blue sphere teemed with life, and had always been a special focus for the power which governs the universe. It was so important that the fiery orb sensed its own purpose for existing might solely be to provide for that life. Interestingly, the life force of the blue sphere suffered from disunity. It was not at peace with itself. As that life force multiplied, so did the degree of disunity within it. At a certain point in the recent past, the power which governs the universe had placed a restraint on the fiery orb. Its largest surges were restricted from emitting in a way that would overly upset the balance of the blue sphere. That is why this current event was so unusual. The power which governs the universe relaxed its grip. The fiery orb felt itself react as if in obedience, releasing a tremendous burst in a location that had been building pressure from the convergence of multiple dark spots on its surface. The resulting eruption reached rare extents in magnitude and duration. A mix of energies ejected into, and tore straight through, the prevailing solar winds. The discharge would be more than powerful enough to significantly agitate the magnetic balance of any of the distinguished occupants of the orb’s neighborhood. The timing and location of this burst could send the storm no other place but to the blue sphere. The resulting new space weather conditions would deliver the storm in less than two of the blue sphere’s rotations. The observatory lab stations should have been a welcome sanctuary from the typical university claptrap out on the surrounding campus. If it weren’t for Bonnie, they would have been. Even with her station now located at the far wall, she still managed to destroy Ted’s work atmosphere on a daily basis. Not that she spent much time at her station anyway. “You’re not actually converting all your data to the new format they want, are you?” Bonnie asked as she reinvaded his space stirring an obscene amount of sweetener into a cup of green tea. “Seeing as the new platform accepts it in the old format?” Ted shot her a cursory glance while studying a printout. “The boss wants it all converted, so yes, I’m converting it.” “Well, I’m not. It will take too many hours to complete, and it’s not needed. You’re such a yes man, always kowtowing doing every stupid thing they tell us.” Ted shook his head in disgust. “They have their reasons for wanting it done, probably so that it works with the next platform change already being planned. I like my job, Bonnie, and want to keep it. We’re on salary, so we are expected to do what is asked of us. If we don’t, we risk not only our jobs but the existence of the program itself, especially since it is partially funded by a government grant.” “That sure as heck isn’t selling me on it.” Bonnie’s voice was now elevated to an inappropriately high tone, but everyone was used to it. “Anything that dumbass wants, I will go out of my way to refuse.” “Who?” Ted asked, though he was certain of her reference. “You know who. The dumbass we have for a President.” “I doubt he has anything to do with it, or even any specific knowledge of the program. And how many times do I have to tell you not to come into my cubicle preaching your politics?” “This isn’t politics. It’s about having to live with a dumbass in the oval office.” “For you, it’s politics,” Ted replied. “It’s all the politics you have, in fact, and the only subject you seem capable of discussing. You somehow manage to convert everything, right down to comments on how someone’s lunch tastes, into an occasion to bash the current U.S. President. Even some coworkers who are in agreement with you are starting to get sick of your single dimension. To me it appears you no longer have any cause other than your hatred of that man.” Before Bonnie could reply, Leon’s voice mercifully boomed from the front of the room. “Looks like we have an eruption, folks! Putting our delayed feed from Sacramento Peaks on the main screen.” Heads peeked above cubicle walls. Even Bonnie deferred further comment while the large video screen displayed what uninformed bystanders may have mistaken for a volcano exploding. A streaming burst of fiery-orange substance shot away from the surface of the sun, surrounded by an immense expanding red cloud. Oohs and aahs filled the room. “Spectacular!” someone said. “Wow,” another voice chimed. “Big one.” “That’s gonna be a storm,” a more serious voice added. “Where’s it headed?” “It’s not in a good place,” Ted answered looking down at his monitor, where an image of three merging sunspots was now his wallpaper. “No,” his coworker from the next station over said. “When these sunspots started converging last month, we had a small ejection that cleared the neighborhood. Now everything is lined up in just about the worst possible position, especially if wind speeds increase, which seems pretty likely after that.” Leon shouted again. “Run it through your model, Ted!” Ted’s fingers got busy accessing the data from the Sacramento Peaks observatory and feeding it into his simulator. The sound of other keyboards furiously doing the same filled the air around him, but Ted’s program was regarded as the best in the unit. Bonnie’s diversion, unfortunately, proved temporary. “The reason we have to constantly call out that embarrassing stooge of a President,” she said slurping her tea, “is so people like you, who claim to be uninterested in politics, will wise up enough not to reelect the horse’s ass.” Ted grimaced when he saw the initial projection output. He carefully rechecked his input parameters and ran it again as he absentmindedly answered her. “The reason he got elected was because voters who were too intimidated to say so publicly still did what they wanted once behind a private curtain. Shows what can happen when you try to bully people who get to cast anonymous ballots.” “He lost the popular vote!” Bonnie said. “And we need to make sure he loses the state vote next time. I can’t stand it every time I see that i***t on TV as President.” Ted’s simulator returned the same results. By the exasperated sounds others were making, he knew running it a third time would only be a desperate hope. “Well?” Leon’s voice rose above the muttering. “What have you got, Ted?” Instead of answering him, Ted turned to Bonnie. “I think you’re going to get your wish.” She frowned. “What do you mean?” “If my projection model is accurate, after tomorrow you aren’t likely to see him on television as President again.” Ted took a long breath and added, “Even if he gets reelected.”