A science fiction short story
We did not start the fire…
“Bridge to the universe of Giant of the Stars”
“Hey, sweetie! How was the flight?” — Mathe mirrored his daughter’s smiley into the small screen hanging out of his bracelet.
Long before space travel became available, way before it was even a necessity for humans to thrive, on Earth, just a family taking their vacation.
“Long and boring… when will you join us?” — pounding behind the smiley, eyes brightening up as forgetting the first topic already.
“Soon kiddo, Dad is already at the airport, boarding in an hour. Tomorrow we gonna play with the new Fighter’s Creed game on the convention, just you and me!”
“Really?! Hurry up then!” — her smile replaced by her mom’s disapproving lines.
“You should not have Lili play those brutal games so young. But I suppose kids gonna be kids.”
“Indeed, how about we go on a virtual reality romantic adventure?”
“You and your mania for these games.” — their sneaky smiles could not hide the true purpose of collaborators, laughing out loud together. Fellow passenger heads turned toward Mathe as he passed by.
“Where is Gergely?”
“He is at the restrooms, he is large enough to handle himself. Lili was harder to take care on the plane, and we had a long detour toward Greenland, another never-ending storm on the Atlantic. You could have joined us.”
“Please, let’s not start this again. Not on the phone at least. I had to work, and, it works, Sarah, it works!”
“Good, now get here to LA fast and enjoy our holidays! This game convention was your idea …” — the connection froze on the last pixelated frame with an elongated a still being heard.
“Sarah? Sarah, are you there?”
“Sarah?!”
But Mathe called out her name in vain. She could not hear him anymore. As Mathe looked up to the boarding gate, his stomach fell inside. His flight was cancelled. As in a row, all other flights around him cancelled. Loud public announcer came alive and told to stay calm and stay inside, more information later.
Mathe tried to call his wife again. Monotone lady voice told her that number does not exist or unavailable. Tried again, same answer. The airport’s departure board switched to local news station, with an English subtext for the foreigners.
The spokesman seemingly rattled himself, barely finds the words between his quick breaths. Behind him a virtual image of Earth spinning, usually shown for weather reports. This time North America is dark. Not just there are no clouds or wind. It is like someone cut out a part of the map and discarded to the thrash.
“We have a breaking news. Just moments ago, all communication was lost to Northern America, Canada and US, parts of Mexico went dark. All flights toward these destinations are cancelled until further notice.” — background video cut to the airport, then to a harbour somewhere west.
“The European Navy tries to send a recon fleet, but this can take weeks. The Atlantic storm is still raging after its seventh days and weather models can’t predict when will it subside.” — background cut again back to virtual Earth with a large white whirlwind between the black spot and Europe.
We did not start the fire…
Mathe could barely think, between his family, his project at work, he was partly in panic. Tried to call the airline, then the tourist agency, all lines were blocked as he was now just a man along hundreds of thousands of people whose lives impacted. Whose lives now hanging on a thread and put on pause.
Mathe figured to call his project director. Before even he could think what to say, Mr. Kearney responded on first ring:
“Mathe, I am on my way to Site Beta, I heard about NA, how is your family?”
“We were on call with Sarah when… when whatever is this happened, I don’t know if they…”
“I see, come to Site Beta, use one of our agents to get you here, we will figure it out together. Mathe, they are okay!”
We did not start the fire… but can we put it out?
The institute always had a few agent at the airport with black sedans, ready to go if any important people would arrive unannounced. Their work required discracy, sometimes swiftness. It took only a few minutes and Mathe was speeding on the highway toward their secondary bunker. The institute never relied on chance, this was only the second out of six different highly protected bunkers, focusing on cutting edge military and scientific research.
“Boss, anything new? What happened to NA?” — Mathe shouted through the busy comms hall as he rushed toward the briefing room available only for senior staff.
“Close that behind you… We don’t know much yet, as you know the last Atlantic storm took out our remaining underwater cables. This time, we lost at least seven satellites over North America.”
“We have dozens more, how could we lost all comms?”
“It seems our network is not redundant enough. See this.” — and Mr. Kearney switched the briefing rooms media system.
The last weather feed recorded over the NA east coast showed thunders ravaging the cities. Then one of the lightning poke out of Earth and hit the satellite next to the recording one. A few seconds later the recording stops with a white frame.
“So it started.” — Mathe fell into a chair in disbelief. — “Way earlier.”
“Yes. Until today, our models showed we have a decade. Now we don’t. We need to get Site Beta and Gamma operational.”
“Sir, my family. I need to know…”
“I understand, I have family too, grandpa lives in Florida. For now, we do what we can and let the navy figure out those.” — knowing Mathe for years, he came with better comfort — “I called a contact at Tokyo too, the Japanese are assembling a fleet to check on the West Coast. For now kid, focus on our work.”
We did not start the fire…
The homeland defence council led by the prime minister started their emergency meeting, Mathe joined Director Kearney over a secure phone line from Site Beta.
“Mr. Kearney. Last time we discussed the matter, you ensured us we have a decade until the lightnings become so strong. What is your take now?”
“Our models were wrong. The climate evolves faster than anticipated. We will figure out what we missed, until that, we have to take action to protect ourselves.”
“You mean this can happen here? We are a long way from any oceans.”
“From oceans yes, the Mediterranean Sea however is not that far. Lately its activity increased, the Adriatic coast was…”
“Destroyed only last year.” — the serious look on the prime minister burned everyone’s face in the room, even Mathe felt unease over the phone — “Mr. Kearney, you said to take action, what do you have, options, please! That is why we hired you to lead the institute.”
“Gentlemen, Site Alpha had a successful test yesterday, thanks to our genius engineer, Gotthardt Mathe, who is on the call. We are at Site Beta, working to get it ready as soon as possible. However…” — deep breadth filled the silent moment — “We need at least three operational sites to protect the capital.”
“And we have only one tested once. Any alternatives? Anyone else?” — the prime minister scanned the room, however he knew the answer already.
“Sir, as the storms now can hit any time, we need all the resources and help anyone can spare. Then we may have a chance to hold the capital.”
“What about the country?”
“We can’t save that many.” — Kearney’s harsh words lead to indistinguishable arguing in the room. The prime minister waited and weighed his options. Minutes passed.
“Secrecy is the outmost importance.” — the defence secretary managed to overtake the other dozen senior leaders — “The citizens can not know about this, we could not do anything about the masses if they start to move to the capital.”
We did not start the fire…
“So this is how the race will end. Before the end of the 21st century, drowned in storms, hungry or burnt alive by lightning storms.” — the prime minister loudly contemplated the hard decisions he was about to make — “Who we are to decide who lives and who does not.”
“As the elected leaders of the people…”
“They did not elect us to be executioners! My final decision. In three days, I make the announcement on all channels. That we have the technology to share and make most capitals a safe haven, be Budapest the first one to show! Mr. Kearney, please help me, so I won’t let down my people.”
“I promise, sir.”
We did not start the fire…
“Three days? Are you crazy?” — Mathe could not believe his ears and was too shocked by the timeframe to interject during the call.
“We are crazy. We have the sites built and ready. We just need to synchronise them.” — the pair walked down to the fusion core at Site Gamma.
“And without able to connect the sites to each other. It was never done before, these emitters were not operated independently at same area ever.”
“I know you can solve it. I prepare the attachments for the prime minister’s announcement, keep me posted.”
“You too, if you hear anything about our families.”
“Of course, I will.”
We did not start the fire…
A bucket load of coffee, countless hours and a few naps in the couch when the black was not enough to keep working and Mathe was still at a loss. His engineering skill unparalleled with quantum physics applications, but a simple challenge requiring independent clocks was too much.
If the harmonics overlapped partially, they might neutralize each other and if totally overlapping, the Site may even burn out for good. He needed a reliable solution. Networks, wifi and radio, all would be disrupted by the Sites anyway. His mind wandered to his children.
The trip was his idea. A long wish from his childhood and when the retro gaming convention was organised, he was so happy. Rarely had own family time, and with his parents they were too poor to travel. He wanted their children to see the world, before it is gone. Now his family lost, alone, and it’s his fault that they are not together. If he could just sense their hugs once more.
Sensing the another. His eyelids shut up so fast, his head moved a bit. If he would be an Ancient Greek, he might have shouted the single word meaning, “I got it!”.
We did not start the fire…
The very next day, all three sites were ready for a test run at the same time. He connected the head of engineerings into the same voice call for eight hours straight and while doing one site himself, he directed the other two.
With a few extra help, he got a sensor cycle working. Each site now “felt” other overlapping fields and modulated its own output. They just needed to set the desired field strength below the total power of all Sites and they were ready to go.
The prime minister’s address started on time. Local eight o’clock, in the evening. Most families were watching reruns of old drama series, something way into its few thousandth episode, when all saw their leader’s face appearing.
“My fellow countrymen… and my fellow citizens of Earth. Most of you don’t know me, and that is okay. It does not matter.” — his eyes seemed to look into everyone’s soul — “What matters, is that we are not alone in the hours of our darkest days. We don’t have to pull our weight alone, nor we need to be afraid of uncertain future anymore.” — last moment checks were run by Mathe and team
“Tonight, I want to show you all, we have a future. If our brightest minds can work together, with the best support we can muster, they are able to solve anything.” — Mathe got all green lights, nodded to Mr. Kearney silently.
“As we entered the 2050-ies now more than two decades ago, in collaboration with many other states, we established an institute with its sole task to develop a way. A way to survive.”
We did not start the fire…
“And tonight, the honour is mine to present you their achievements. Along with my message that is now broadcasted, we attached all research papers and the blueprints of the shield emitters we built around our capital.”
“That is impossible, no tech can…” — many whispered in disbelief in their homes. As a new stormfront formed over southern Europe, air raid sirens calling all to seek shelter immediately.
“I expect many of you would not believe only words. So let’s demonstrate.”
We did not start the fire!
On the signal, all three Sites came online around Budapest. A light blue hue and a distant humming sound welcomed all those who lived near the regional borders. The shields were not a sharp border, neither an impenetrable wall. It was like a weirdly lit disco for aliens.
… but we have to put it out.
An hour later, the storm hit mainland Europe, cause mayhem for kilometres. Every new storm came further in land than before. Famine and disease were rampant while everyone still carried a phone. Now in a bracelet or a ring form, as tech did not stop developing.
Thousands left their homes after the prime minister’s speech. Many did not make it, yet many did arrive to the castle grounds. The next day the storm dissipated, and as the shields were turned off, many called their relatives to tell the capital is safe. Many would never make the trip, but the few who could, may have a chance to live another day.
We did not start the fire,…
The second day the news came. Both the European and the Japanese fleet were sunk, they could not even cross halfway. All hands lost, their metal graves lay at the bottom of the oceans now.
Mathe was losing hope by the day. He could not find closure neither. The North Americas were like Schroedinger’s box, are they alive or not?
Then the worst storm hit again. It came from the south. The shields held against the deadly gamma rays. Lightnings bombarded the city continuously. Yet the reactors held and the sync was kept.
Until a tornado from the Great Plains walked over Site Gamma. The shields were unable to protect from the physical objects. The emitters and the bunker were pounded by flying cars, tractors, abandoned in the outskirts by the refugees from the same direction.
It was still a sturdy machine, well built by its engineers.
It held for hours.
Then it gave way as a truck flew through the emitter column.
Site Alpha suffered direct lightning hit. Everyone burned alive by radiation.
Site Beta held till the morning, the storm was almost over, a few minutes might have left when its emitters torn off by the raging wind.
The last destroyed building was the cabinet’s office that morning. With their last action, they gave hope for the rest of the world.
We did not start the fire … and we could not put it out.
