Everlasting Daylights

Chapter 2-2

“We’re practically the same size. It’s a gift… for inconveniencing yourself on this long trip down under.”

He smiles over at his wife while assisting the young man with one of his best jackets, smiling himself.

“But I really…”

“Not a word,” the Senator insists. “This is from my money, not taxpayers’ dollars. The label inside is my tailor. When we get back to the States, look him up and tell him you’re my page. Then do everything he says to do. Got it?”

He agrees and steps back to see himself in the mirror.

“Now there is a page of Senator Hastings!”

Wesley grins and strokes the silky softness of the posh material, his hands belying some jitters. Melody and Paige, looking on this whole time, now show him smiles of delight, the latter giving some faint applause.

“Now,” John hands the hanger with vest and slacks over. “Step into the closet and change, before you do anything. Then throw this dreadful thing away. I don’t want it on my plane.”

Melody speaks to Paige, “Well, you my dear look immaculate as always, so go on ahead of me to the bedroom and pack fast, if you please.”

He tosses the old jacket at Wesley, raising his voice over his shoulder on his way back to the kitchen, “And put the vest on. The plane can get cold after so many hours.”

A lone figure slips mysteriously inside the suite door and goes undetected behind some standing drapes at the window.

POTUS’s ringtone sounds.

“Yes, Mr. President. This is an unsecure line.” He answered in a way to let the President know there are other people near him, within hearing distance.

“Your people?”

“Yes, sir,” the Senator answers, strolling back toward the kitchen.

“That’s fine. They’ll hear this from you soon enough. I’ve got confirmation from NASA that the Earth has ceased revolving; Sun’s dead in its tracks right now.”

“Sir?”

“Time is standing still, Senator Hastings. As incredible as it may sound, that’s what’s on the table. There was no inertial crash ripping everything apart and our people are still working on the explanation and a possible fix. But, you know what to do.”

He hesitates just for an instant, then, “Yes, sir. I do.”

“You’ve told me you can help navigate your bird back home with the gyros, so I hope the hell you’re right. I’d hate to lose you.”

“Like they say down here, ‘no worries.’”

“Call me when you land.”

“Yes, Mr. President. And thank you.”

Melody queries him from the coffee machine, knowing to pour for John as well, “Did I hear the President right? The Earth has stopped spinning?”

“That it has,” he sighs, rubs his face and accepts his cup. “Just like a cosmic switch was thrown, we’ve stopped turning.”

She gazes deeply into her cup, though facing him, remarking, “Everyone’s life is about to change. Everywhere.”

“So very many things to learn to do differently. It’s going to be like the fall out after a world war,” he agrees.

“Are you going to tell the pages?”

“No,” he sips, thinking of a million other things. “I’ll tell everybody in our party when we’re all on the plane and safely out of this Hee Haw Hell.”

“John, they overheard some of it. Tell them something, at least.”

He stares through the doorway in their direction, weighing the moment.

“You’re right, dear,” he says, dismissing himself in the gesture and carrying his coffee mug with him, just like his days on the submarine.

The same mysterious figure makes the distance to the outer bedroom doorway, pauses in hearing a man’s footsteps, then his voice.

In a moment, he breaches the inner bedroom door, barks out a command, kindly, “You two come here and sit on the bed.”

They stop with packing things and does as he asks. Two sets of eyes, wide in fear but alert, look to him in earnest.

“I guess you overheard a little of that last phone call, and that’s fine. We’ve got to get on board our plane as quickly as we can. It’s only a matter of time before all this gets out and we may be grounded here for a really long time. In short, the magnetic poles have flipped and somehow this caused the Earth to very gently stop revolving on its axis. When we get everybody together on the plane we’ll discuss things in detail. Let’s stay calm and focused, but busy. I’m counting on you two to get us in the cars and to the plane. Paige, call the front desk and alert them. We’ll need bell hops.”

“Eeeek! John!” Melody’s voice comes from the outer bedroom door.

He is there in an instant confronting a young lady he believes to be a groupie of sorts. Probably looking for a signature from a famous person. He is not thrilled, checks on the well being of his wife, demanding, “What’s the meaning of this, young lady?”

She holds a hand to her face. Well-tanned skin betrays days without a bath and her clothes look none the better. Her belly is round, way beyond the possibility of hiding it.

“Well, what is the matter?” John is still rather gruff. Melody’s hand is upon him but he doesn’t back down.

“I need your help, Senator Hastings,” she begins in a parched voice. “I’m an American citizen.” She begins unfolding papers and has her passport out.

He holds up a hand, shaking his head and says, “You want the American Embassy, miss. They…”

“They will not help,” she interrupts bravely, “because I didn’t come to Australia against my will.”

“John, at least listen to the girl. What harm could come from listening?” Melody approaches the young woman, leading her to sit in an armchair. “You scared the daylights out of me.”

“Sorry,” she says weakly, sitting slowly due to her condition.

The Senator checks his watch, advising, “We’re basically on our way to the airport and in a hurry. You’ve got one flat minute.”

Melody interrupts, “Can I get you something to drink, dear? A juice, perhaps?”

She shakes her head to the affirmative, looking rather frightened at the Senator, telling her story in short, “I came down under with my fiance,” she touches her belly in emphasis, “we were to get married, start our family down here. His family got to him and now he wants no part of me. He locked me out of our apartment two days ago and went to Melbourne with his family. All my stuff is in that apartment, my credit cards, baby vitamins, everything. He did toss my passport and birth certificate off the balcony. Told me to go home. I’ve got no way to get home.”

Melody returns with an orange juice which she gulps in hungered earnest.

“Let’s back up a little bit. What is your name?” John has calmed down from his initial start of the military man in him.

“Genevieve Hudson. My friends call me Gena. I’m from Bakersfield, California.” Her exquisite tan and tumbled blonde locks were testament to that claim. She has eyes that are an incredibly soft blue.

“My second question,” he does not complain. “So you came all the way down here with your boyfriend, pregnant, and he got cold feet and kicked you out? Does that about sum it up?”

“Yes, sir,” she says in shame, trying to hide inside the juice which is almost gone. “The last thing he said was that marriage was all my idea and that he had no interest in being married or being a father at this stage in his life. I think he lured me down here to break up so that he wouldn’t have to face my father, who is very old school about things.”

Having already made up his mind about the young lady, he walks up to her chair with his hand out, “Darling, let me see your passport. Like I said, we are on our way out of this colony. I can give you a ride back to Los Angeles but I cannot do anything about your failed relationship. We’ll make friends in the car. Right now, we have to get in motion. Melody, can you take a few minutes and find Gena here something to eat?”

On the move at last, inside the limo, theirs is third in a four car motorcade. John puts a hand on top of Melody’s, which is on her lap. As always, and a show of trust in their driver, they are unencumbered by seat belts. She is gazing at her husband, trying to figure out his overall plan as the limousine pulls out with its escort. It is pushing seven thirty, the sun still has not risen, and they both sense the dragging of each minute that keeps them away from their plane. Gena is seated in the back with them because the pages are up front with the driver.

“Did you know about this, John? About the sun?”

A flaming pillar of honesty, he turns his stare from outside the window to directly into her dark eyes, saying, “Some of our scientists, quantum theorists to be precise, were on the fence about all the possible events. The scariest of which was Dr. Blake who said the collapse of Earth’s magnetic field would release tension on tectonic plates all over the world. Thank God he was wrong.”

John feigns a laugh and sees that his wife is not amused by his efforts. He clears his throat and pats her hand, deciding to be the husband versus the senator.

“We’ve planned for this over the past three years, both day and night contingencies. Trust me, the permanent day is going to be much easier to deal with.”

“John. If you’ve known for so long, why didn’t you say anything to me until the trip down here?”

“Well,” he begins, squeezes her hand in reassurance. “You’ve recently heard me say it before, but we really did not know if the poles were going to flip. Scientists have been debating the subject for ten years. As more and more eggheads got on board with the theory, presidential administrations began to listen in earnest and eventually made plans. And that’s when the possibility of the magnetic collapse affecting the Earth’s rotation was raised.”

She nudges his hand to interrupt, asking, “Magnetic collapse? What is that exactly?”

“According to our scientists, the poles won’t just flip like a light switch. The magnetic charges will drift all around for a bit before coming to rest and building up at opposite ends of the Earth. Yes, the poles are flipping but it’s a process whose time duration is not known.”

Melody appears to be tearing up so John offers his handkerchief from his vest pocket. She shakes her head, fighting off the tears, but cries nonetheless. Sliding closer, he pulls her into an endearing hug, humming to her until her weeping subsides.

“I’m scared, John,” she mutters amid her continued sobs.

“I’m scared, too,” Gena says, who cannot help but to join in the conversation.

“Everybody will be. Including me. This could become an extinction level event if all of us, I mean everybody on the planet, does not remain calm and work together.”

He clears his throat strongly, feeling that he cannot afford to let himself cry with his wife, not just yet. The military man inside him has taken control and he must do his best to get everyone in his crew home. He especially does not want to cry in front of this young woman they hardly know.

Presently, the motorcade is passing a lone taxi cab and for reasons he cannot fathom he is fascinate by it, wondering who might be inside. His gaze transfixes on the passenger window just in time to see the worried and solemn face of a woman. He knows this woman, but from where? When? As it fades into the highway behind them, he continues to comfort his wife, thinking hard about the woman’s face.