The Collapse Read online

  THE

  COLLAPSE

  SOLAR CRASH

  Book 1

  By

  E.S. Richards

  Mike Kraus

  © 2019 Muonic Press Inc

  www.muonic.com

  www.MikeKrausBooks.com

  [email protected]

  www.facebook.com/MikeKrausBooks

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, without the permission in writing from the author.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

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  Special Thanks

  Special thanks to my awesome beta team, without whom this book wouldn’t be possible.

  Solar Crash Book 2

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  Prologue

  “It’s a green light. Get a move on, idiot…”

  Len muttered under his breath as he sat in the roasting container that was his car. The summer so far had already hit record temperatures and recent reports hinted at it only getting worse.

  Power lines were overheating and Len’s satellite TV had gone out on account of the dish getting misaligned, likely from the metal warping under the intense heat. After missing out on his “guaranteed promotion” last year and now half of his wage going on child support, Len could barely scrape together the money to fix it.

  He had a pretty good handle on DIY, James’s tree house in his backyard was evidence enough of that. But when it came to dealing with electronics, that’s where Len started to fall short as a man. Sometimes he did think he was better cut out for a life without technology.

  With the thought of his son popping into his head Len glanced at his watch and shook his head. He was definitely going to be late. This was the third time in a month he’d had to stay after hours at the office; the new guy who’d been promoted above him was incapable of getting things out on time.

  Now he only had an hour to get home, video-call with his son and make it back for the company networking event. His face automatically fell into a scowl at the thought of all the mingling he would have to do. Even the thought of having to put on a suit jacket and tie made him uncomfortable. Sweat was already dripping from his brow even with his car’s AC at full blast.

  Reaching for his phone in his pants pocket Len prayed it still had some battery life left. Perhaps if he managed to at least speak to his son on time he could get let off the hook. Although his heart sank at not being able to look at James’s face for another few days.

  Battery overheated – do not use!

  Len swore and tossed his cell onto the passenger seat. Typical. His ex was going to have a field day if he missed this call again.

  After their divorce six months ago, Amy had decided to move away from Chicago and across Lake Michigan to the pleasant beachside town of South Haven. That meant that she’d taken James away too. A big part of Len resented her for that. James was only eight and now Len was going to miss so much of his childhood. He loved that little boy more than anything in the world, and only seeing him every other weekend was already breaking his heart.

  Not today, he thought as he slammed his fist onto his steering wheel, blasting out the car horn at full volume. “Drive!” He found himself shouting, although no one outside of his car was able to hear him.

  Shaking his head, Len took a deep breath after his outburst, knowing he needed to calm down before he spoke to James. He glanced down at the radio and flicked it on, trying to take his mind off of the traffic that was his temporary prison. Yet another weather report was coming through and although it was obvious the weather wasn’t going to change, Len still cranked up the volume to learn more.

  Temperatures are forecast to rise up and over a hundred this week, with more clear skies and scorching days on the horizon. Residents are advised to stay inside as much as possible… water… avoid using…

  Len’s brow crinkled as the radio signal cut out, the pleasant voice of the reporter fading into static. Surely the heat wasn’t so bad that it was frying his car radio… was it?

  Curious—and well aware of a local bar on the corner he’d spent a lot of time in during the months after his divorce—Len flicked on his indicator to switch lanes, heading for the small parking lot just off the main thoroughfare through downtown Chicago.

  Janet, the proprietor of the place, would let him use the phone to call his son. She’d been a sympathetic ear to him on more occasions than he could count. Plus, there was the promise of a cold refreshment to help deal with the heat. And a few beers before the networking event would definitely help time pass quicker.

  A few more painful minutes in traffic and a quick parking job later, Len’s feet were pounding on the hot sidewalk, the thought of a cold beer ever so tempting. As he dodged the pedestrians, though, a niggling thought started to creep into the back of his mind.

  There was something about this heat wave, something different. Sure, Chicago had the occasional boiling hot day, but extended periods of heat like this were almost unheard of. Len had lived in Illinois for the best part of thirty years and he’d definitely encountered more snow than sun.

  Something about the weather seemed exaggerated in some way. He could almost see the heatwaves dancing around the edge of buildings and shimmering above the sidewalk. For Chicago, that definitely wasn’t natural.

  The pleasant rush of cool air as Len tugged open the door to O’Riley’s brought back so many memories. He couldn’t be there now without thinking of Amy, of everything he’d so foolishly let slip through his fingers. It took all his strength to keep walking straight toward the bar and not slide into the booth he’d become so attached to in his mourning days.

  For a second his mind was back in the weeks just before his divorce. The heartache, sleepless nights and shouted words. The side of his head twinged as he re-lived the moment Amy had thrown a hardback copy of Great Expectations at him one evening toward the end. How had he let everything get so out of control?

  Dodging between people, Len tried to make his way to the bar to find Janet. Then the atmosphere in O’Riley’s grabbed his attention and instantly Len was back in the present. Instead of rowdy drinking and people chatting and bantering, everyone in the bar was staring silently at the television. A beautiful young lady sat with a serious expression on her face, the tagline at the bottom of the screen reading: Dangerous weather warning. Stay indoors.

  “What’s going on?” Len asked quietly to a man he’d ended up standing next to, but was only met with a barrage of shushing noises from the man and half of the rest of the bar. Rolling his eyes slightly, Len obliged and leaned in to hear the remainder of the news report, his jaw gradually dropping open further with each sentence that was spoken.

  Again, if you’re just tuning in, NASA is predicting the impact of this mass ejection to occur within roughly twenty-four hours. Fede
ral officials have declared a state of emergency across the entire country, and we’ve heard from FEMA that they are anticipating mass casualties in the tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands. They are encouraging everyone to stock up on food, water and medical supplies, to remain calm and to stay indoors. Everyone should be prepared for brownouts and blackouts, and if you own a portable generator you should ensure it’s in good working order. Emergency services will undoubtedly be strained and overloaded and it’s not known at this time whether they’ll be able to function properly or, if so, to what degree. Therefore we encourage everyone to stay indoors and refrain from trying to travel to those close to you. Roadways need to be clear so the emergency services can work to their full capacity. While we aren’t quite sure what long-term effects may occur from this unprecedented phenomena, state and federal agencies are working to find ways to reduce potential damage to public utilities, and exp… more i… hours, so… tuned…

  Suddenly the bar exploded with activity. Where only seconds ago there had been stunned silence and stillness, everyone was now shouting at and over each other and scrambling to get outside. So sudden was the switch from calm to panic that Len took a hard shove in the back and tumbled into the side of the bar, knocking his head in the process.

  The motion brought him to his senses and immediately Len became part of the sea of bodies rushing out onto the street. The thirty or so others in the place quickly vanished as they ran down sidewalks and to their vehicles, leaving Len standing alone on the sidewalk, back out in the heat.

  He contemplated going back inside for a moment, but with the television out the phones would probably be down as well. Then, of course, there was the whole issue with the announcement that he had only managed to catch the tail end of. Whatever was going on was serious—the reaction of the bar’s customers told him that—but out on the street and in the line of cars passing by, calm still seemed to prevail.

  They must not have heard the news. The thought was like an icy grip to his heart, and he felt a chill run up his back. The radio in his car had died so it was likely that others had died, too. If his phone had become too hot to function, perhaps many others had, as well. By some happenstance he had managed to be one of the first to hear about this incoming disaster—but he wouldn’t be alone in his knowledge for long.

  With that in mind he dashed straight for his car, praying that it was still only the radio that had stopped working. After a few fearful seconds the engine spluttered and his battered SUV roared back to life. On the receiving end of several angry car horns, Len pulled out into the line of traffic and began weaving through as best he could. He needed to get out of the city center; people were about to go crazy.

  Traffic had thinned somewhat in the fifteen minutes Len had spent inside the bar, reminding him just how much he despised trying to get home during rush hour. He pulled across several lanes at once, taking advantage of a brief gap in traffic caused by a red light.

  He had to find somewhere to make a U-turn. He needed to get back to the office and call James. He had to make sure Amy had seen the news and that they were taking proper precautions, whatever those were. Although as much as it pained him to admit it, he knew James would be safer with Amy right now than with him. She had always been more prepared than he was; it was one of the things that had initially attracted Len to her in the beginning.

  It pays to be one step ahead, she had told him one night as she researched the area around the small bed and breakfast they were visiting the following weekend. Now he hoped with all his might she still lived by that mantra. But even if that was the case, he still needed to see them one more time. He still wasn’t going to miss his call.

  His heart thumped hard in his chest, the words of the announcer on the television echoing through his head.

  … impact of this mass ejection…

  … long-term effects…

  … potential damage to public utilities…

  Len knew nothing about mass ejections, whatever they were, beyond what he had failed to listen to during his required Physics 101 class back in college. The images on the bar’s television screen of the sun and a massive stream of something coming off it sparked a memory, though.

  It was something he had caught on late-night TV, one of the Sunday evening science specials. Something about the sun’s corona? His face contorted as he dug through the memories, trying to peel back something that would help explain what could possibly cause enough damage to create so much panic.

  So engrossed was Len in his thoughts that the white blur out of the corner of his eye and the red light blazing past overhead didn’t register, though the impact on the side of the SUV did.

  The driver’s side windows shattered and Len’s SUV went careening off to the right, spinning around from the impact of the truck on the back half of his own car. Time felt like it was slowing as the seatbelt dug into his chest and the airbags deployed with a loud pop, surrounding him for a brief second and keeping him from smashing his head against the frame of the door.

  All of Len’s thoughts about the potentials of what was happening were gone, replaced by a dull throbbing pain in his neck and head. His blurred vision gradually cleared and he saw that his SUV had been pushed across the road and up onto the sidewalk. Fearing the worst for any potential bystanders as well as the driver who had hit him, Len pulled at his seatbelt for a moment before finally releasing it. Then slowly he pushed open his door and stumbled out of the car.

  The sputter of an engine drew his attention immediately and he turned to see the truck that had just rammed him cough back to life. It pulled back, leaving its front bumper behind, and headed down the way it was originally going. Too shocked to say anything, Len just barely caught sight of the driver’s face and the mask of terror that was etched across it.

  A loud bang from another crash drew Len’s attention, followed by another, and he looked down the road at the next intersection to see a five-car pileup. His ears, still ringing from the initial impact, began to clear, and the shouts and screams of those around him started to filter through. He turned, focusing on the panicked voices, trying to discern their source and cause.

  “They said it’s a disaster!”

  “Twenty-four hours or less!”

  “We need food! Water! Anything!”

  His mouth grew instantly dry as Len witnessed a young girl running from a burning vehicle. Her jacket was ablaze and she struggled to free herself from the flames that were spreading across her body. He wanted to move. To go to her. But something held Len in place. He could only watch in horror as she let out a piercing scream and ran down a sidewalk that led to the lake. She was never going to make it, that much Len was certain of.

  More and more chaos caught Len’s eye as his gaze darted across the once busy intersection he was stuck on. Bodies were hanging out of cars and scattering the road. The sound of traffic had been replaced with the angry crackle of fire and the desperate sound of people crying. No traffic was moving now; nothing could get through the destruction that Len was caught in the middle of.

  Pairs and small groups huddled together as they ran back and forth across the road and down the sidewalks, the panic in their voices growing even as they increased their speed. Word of the mass ejection—whatever it was—had spread faster than Len could have possibly anticipated.

  Chicago was falling apart around him, but Len could only think of one thing. He needed to reach his son.

  Introduction

  In 1859, the Sun spewed out a massive stream of plasma, known as a coronal mass ejection, which impacted with the Earth and caused the Carrington Event.

  When this stream of particles collided with our planet, it caused the Earth's magnetic field to be compressed on one side and elongated on the other. When the magnetic field snapped back into place, it released power into the upper atmosphere on the terawatt scale, destroying the European and North American telegraph networks and even causing fires in the telegraph stations due to how much energy was being
delivered along the lines.

  Avid fans of the post-apocalyptic genre and followers of modern and future warfare will undoubtedly know the term "electromagnetic pulse." It's a clear and present danger, but in almost every instance the danger is presented as coming from an artificial source, like a nuclear bomb exploding in the atmosphere.

  In reality the coronal mass ejection, or CME, itself is just as dangerous, if not more so, due to the randomness with which it can occur. In each eleven-year period of waxing and waning solar activity, an average of 2-3 CMEs are detected coming off of the Sun each and every day during the most active periods. If a solar flare is akin to a muzzle flash from a gun, then a CME is the bullet—a terrifying and dangerous bullet.

  Due to the low frequency of a CME’s electromagnetic energy burst, its effects largely do not affect things like personal electronics and other standalone devices, or at least it wouldn't in the past. Infrastructure such as power lines are perfect "antennas" for such an event, and would readily conduct the energy, leading to their destruction along with anything connected to them. Oil and gas pipelines could also be affected, leading to their rapid corrosion, and cables used for phone and Internet connectivity would all be destroyed.