Chapter 17

Disaster, Life on the Edge

Charmed One at Saturn’s Rings: January 5, 2067

Earlier the day Albert died, he, Anne, and Ping had received a holo from Seala and Dom. Although it was delayed two hours and 10 minutes, it appeared to be happening in real time. Their ship, Charmed One, was passing through the outer rings of Saturn. Their velocity at this point was so great that the holo of the rings had to be slowed down so that it could be viewed with human perception. Still, it was wondrous to see the colors, layers, and particles of ice so close up that you could almost touch them.

Seala was poetic in his viewfinder. “See, Dad. I promised you some stardust, and here it is. These ice crystals were formed from the stuff of stars when Saturn was formed, billions of years ago.”

In his response some time later, Albert joked about, “... Them only being half way to their destination, and already becoming crazy from boredom.”

In the spring the kids came home from college to ease the pain of Anne and Ping and help with the planting and harvesting. By early September they had gathered a bountiful store of food and harvested over a hundred animals for the meat trade. With tearful goodbyes, they left, leaving Anne and Ping, once again, alone through the winter. On October 6, 2067, Yellowstone blew.

A piece of the earth's crust, roughly two hundred miles across and 10 miles deep, was blown into the stratosphere. Carried by the force of the blast and the prevailing westerlies, large pieces, the size of houses, fell as far east as Indianapolis. All of the Central Plain states were immediately affected. An estimated 45 million died from gas, heat, and debris from the main blast. Countless buffalo and other animals also perished. Fortunately, the warnings all summer were so ominous, that the only people left in Yellowstone were essential Park personnel and scientists. There was no adequate way to warn or evacuate the heavily populated communities on the eastern slopes of the Rockies. Cheyenne, Omaha, and DesMoines were gone. Denver lost half its population, and Chicago and St. Louis were suffering disruption and death not seen since their great fires.

As catastrophic as the initial blast was, the after effects of it were far worse. The ash and dust, carried by the jet stream, circled the Earth within days. Day was turned into night. All electronic communication was disrupted. The Northern Hemisphere entered a winter of black snow and endless night. The Southern Hemisphere entered a summer of violent storms and muddy rain. The sun was not seen for 21 months. During that time, nothing grew, and the planet turned bitterly cold. Except in the first few days, governments, relief agencies and corporations were powerless to do anything. Life was quickly reduced to basic survival. Humans with shelter and stocks of food, survived. Those without, perished. Animals, whether wild or domestic, had to fend for themselves. They stumbled around in a dark, cold world. Covered with mud, trying to find enough to eat. Even the scavengers had difficulty finding the dead.

In the brief time they had before total darkness set in, scientists, researchers, zookeeper's, and the like, gathered in their charges to shelter in an attempt to see them through the bleak period they knew was coming. Anne and Ping had but a week after the dark clouds passed over the first time to build enclosures for the few animals they could trap and try to save. The kids too, having survived the blast, left college like so many of their fellow students and sought whatever means they could to get home. From Berkeley, Nona hitched a ride on a friend’s plane to Idaho and made it to the ranch. The ranch survived the initial blast remarkably well, considering how close it was to the epicenter. While ash began falling like rain, they quickly built enclosures from the house to the bunkhouse and barns. Their usual store of winter food was in and prize animals in stalls. They quickly tranquilized pairs of every wild creature they could find, and brought them to the barns. A natural gas well and emergency generator had been used before during power outages and was working well. Even the wind generators were still working. They weren’t sure how long they would last in the corrosive ash environment. Makeshift filters from straw and summer fans were set up to provide ventilation. Two wells, tapping an underground acquifer, provided abundant water for washing and drinking..

Temas hitched rides north from Madison, detouring on many damaged roads. Drivers, normally afraid of hitch hikers, were most happy to help out. Many were on the move, seeking shelter. The National Guard was out opening roads and helping travelers. Two days later, cold, dirty, and hungry, he walked in ankle deep ash to the cabin from State Route 28. Seeing no tracks, he left the old All Wheel for Sendi. He had talked to her briefly after the blast and he knew she was coming. Anne and Ping were glad to see him. They needed his help.

Sendi left Ann Arbor with a friend, Sandy Sorenson in a hybrid they had rented for the weekend to go to Detroit. The roads were better in Michigan, but they were jammed with people and vehicles in confusion and panic. The National Guard stopped them several times, and then let them continue. Three days later, driving in shifts while the other rested, and, after helping many people on foot get further north, they encountered only muddy rain crossing the Mackinaw Bridge. They arrived at the New Wilderness just as it started snowing and the sky turned a perpetual black. They abandoned the hybrid and took the All Wheel in through snow and ash up to four feet deep. There was a rush of emotion when they arrived. Sandy could not make it home. They had heard that Nona was flying to the ranch. They didn’t know if she had made it or not.

As the darkness and cold continued, clean air, water and food became the currency of life. Those that had it, survived. Those that did not, perished. At the New Wilderness, they were fortunate, because the springs continued to provide fresh water to the lake. The fish were saved, and clean water was available for the animals and the constant task of keeping their environment clean. Their stock of food was enough to carry them and the animals for a year-and-a-half without rationing. They rationed the food anyway, insuring that it would carry them another year. So many others were not so lucky.

When the sun started to peek through, and the rain and snow was less muddy, they began to have hope. The warmth of the sun was their greatest pleasure. In breathed life. It signaled renewal. It helped them through their struggle to rebuild. They watched for signs. In May 2068, buds appeared on the trees and spears of grass poked their way up through the deep, ashy mud. They let the deer, elk, and moose out to graze when it was sunny. They came back to the sheds for shelter and food for a few days. Since new tree buds were plentiful, the deer were the first to leave. The moose stayed by the lake. The elk stayed nearby until the grass grew lush in the meadows and the trees were full of new leaves. After that, they left the valley and didn't come back for hay and grain any more.

Bees and insects buzzed everywhere. Frogs could be heard in the trees and at the lake. The water was once again clear and sparkling. The water’s edge was filled with life. Everyone was very busy planting seeds and hatching eggs. From insects to birds, every living creature they could hatch brought new hope. They saw ground squirrels, snakes, otters, beaver, and ferrets that had survived without them. There were birds in the trees. It was amazing how quickly life seemed to come back. It was the fresh, pure water that the lake provided that brought them in.

Clean rain washed the deep volcanic mud into the soil. The soil was enriched by it. Everything, that grew, grew more rapidly and lushly, producing seeds and fruit in abundance. There weren't enough animals to eat it all. However, the humans that survived had learned how to harvest even the lowliest seeds for survival. The Great Plains had been the most altered. Instead of the flat or rolling view, the landscape was now littered with giant rocks. Still, the prairie grew up between the rocks. The rocks provided far more shelter for small animals and birds. They quickly took refuge in the rocks and darted out into the grassy areas in search of food.

Over 6 billion people perished. Most were not buried or mourned. Scavengers picked over their bones. Those that lived had a new appreciation for the planet. Plants survived the best. Most trees had enough reserve to live through two years of winter. Seasonal plant growth sprung from seeds and roots and quickly reestablished itself. The rich volcanic fertilizer spread by the blast rejuvenated even the dead, barren regions. Grasses grew first, followed by shrubs and other low-lying plants, and then trees took hold. Without grazing, some regions in Asia and Africa that had been devoid trees were growing them five years after the blast.

While small, burrowing animals survived the best, even some large animals, like buffalo, deer, wildebeest, elephants and hippos survived in small groups in some areas. The rain forests protected their species well. The canopies absorbed and filtered much of the ash and dust, protecting millions of small creatures beneath. Birds and animals that relied on sight to hunt suffered the most. Fortunately, many of these birds' eggs were already stored by scientists. Egg banks were able to restore most species, including the hawks and eagles. There was a debate about restoring the crow. When holos showed their value as scavengers, ravens were reintroduced to the forests. As soon as it was possible, expeditions were launched to locate birds and animals buried in ash or frozen so that they could be cloned from DNA.

Humans suffered the worst. The volcanic winter played no favorites. While there was time, people rushed to stores to buy supplies and food. Eventually, they no longer bought--they just plundered and hoarded. Looting was so widespread that police and armies were powerless to intervene. Before the clouds of ash and dust prevented broadcasting, the news media gave some idea of how long the volcanic night would last. Those that knew, tried to stock supplies for that long. Hoarding meant that some had too much, and others had little or none. Ironically, those that had access to clean, underground water without requiring electric pumps had the most chance at survival. They were few.

In houses, shelters, public buildings, churches, farms, wherever small groups of people took shelter, life was on the clock. It was only a matter of time before their food and water ran out. If they could not filter their air, they choked on the dust and ash in it. Dust and dirt seeped into everything they had, making life almost unbearable. When water ran out, they died of thirst. When food ran out, they died of starvation or turned to cannibalism. Morality no longer had a place when survival was of the essence.

And so it was that in the summer of 2068 those that were left came out. They came out gradually, from their shelters and enclaves, seeking food, clean water, and whatever life was left. Fortunately, mechanical things faired well. Those that could, started up cars, trucks, and tractors and were soon plowing streets and roadways in their communities--beginning to clean them up. Ironically, fruit trees that summer bore record crops. Those that were able the plant gardens, found that they too, had bountiful results. The ash had fertilized everything. The increased carbon dioxide levels in the air added to record plant growth. The Earth had been covered with ash. It ranged from four feet deep in many parts of the United States to four to six inches at the polar ice caps. The oceans absorbed it with ease. When the sun came out, ocean fishing was good.

By 2070, the United States government had reformed and elections were held for President and Congress. After President Moran and part of the Cabinet were lost on Air Force One during the hours after the blast, Vice-President Lincoln declared martial law from seclusion at Camp David. When she emerged two years later, she had commandeered all available military and police forces to help establish order and community in the United States. There still was a tremendous recovery effort underway in the roughly 500,000 square mile area of blast debris, but the economy and many facets of life were coming back into place.

The poorest countries were in the worst shape. With few reserves and technology to protect them, most of their people died. Those that survived tended to migrate to nearby countries where people were needed to help rebuild. In these places, devoid of people, plant life reestablished itself at a rapid rate, insects, animals and birds soon followed. The formerly vast dead areas were rapidly becoming teaming wildernesses.

Those in space were like those on Earth. Some of the company, scientific, and colonization programs were well stocked and easily survived the two years without contact or resupply from Earth. Others, like Orbit Fantasy, had been resupplied by every ferry of tourists. There were some gallant rescue attempts by well-stocked company projects, but they could only accommodate a few. Most space tourists died of starvation before the end of their first year of entrapment in space. The view of the Earth engulfed in a dark gray pall was repugnant to those orbiting her. The first glimpse of blue ocean through the heavy clouds was cause for great celebration. It was another three months before the first Twilight could descend.

Dom and Seala lost contact with New Wilderness two days after the blast. They stayed in contact with GanymedeSphere, Marscape, Moonscape, and many of the orbiting stations, but they heard nothing from Earth except from SpaceWorks and Orbital Command. Finally, on July 4, 2068 they received a rough holo from the Johnson Spacecraft Center. A great cheer went up among the hundred and twenty crewmates of Charmed One. Within a week, they were, once again, communicating with the New Wilderness.

There were so many questions. The 3 hour and 10 minute delay did not make answering them any easier. “Are you alright?” Was quickly followed by “How are the animals doing?” and “Is the lake still okay?”

Anne and the others replied as soon as they could. “It was very difficult. Especially not been able to breathe the air outside and having it so cold for so long. Albert's tunnels really helped us get to the lake and to the animals. His biogas generator kept us in the light during the darkest times. Fortunately, we had enough time to gather our supplies in before it became totally dark and the air became unbreathable. Almost all the animals we kept in the sheds survived. It was tough getting them enough food and water. It's only been a month since we've had sunlight and could venture out. It is remarkable how the forest is coming back to life. We've seen animals that survived on their own. I don't of how they did it. They all looked very sick, but the new growth is helping them get healthy quickly. We saved four wolves: an alpha male, another male, and two young females. It was a very hard fight to get enough for them to eat. It was better to try to save the other animals than kill them to feed the wolves. Fortunately, we were able to fish on the frozen lake even during the darkest times. Most of those fish went to the wolves, otters, fishers, bobcats, wolverines, and foxes.”

“The lake saved us. Those springs kept pumping out fresh water through the darkest, coldest times. We could always count on the lake to provide us with clean water. So many others weren't so lucky. We've talked to few people around here. Most had a much harder time surviving than we did. I can't believe so many died. We are just beginning to hear. There's martial law and the government is in shambles. I just got in touch with the ranch last week. Although they were only two hundred miles from the epicenter, very little debris fell their way. They survived on their well water, the stores they had for the coming winter, their wind generators, and the natural gas well after the wind generators failed.”

“If Nona had not made it there, she probably wouldn't have survived. Other ranches didn't fare that well. We’re just lucky to be alive and well after such an ordeal. It's so good to hear your voices. How are you doing? I so much want to see you again.“ There were tears in Anne's eyes and a lump in her throat as she spoke.

Over four hours later, the response came. “We and all aboard are well. We have found wondrous things out here. The Kuiper Belt is full of debris. There's enough stuff here to supply us with raw material for a sustainable space community that Dom has long envisioned. We have a ship full of samples and will be returning soon. We do want to see you so. We miss you all so much. And we want to see what has happened to our beloved Earth. We are so thankful you're still there to greet us after our long journey home.”

Anne was not there to greet them. Ping awoke on September 6, 2071, to find Anne dead beside her. Only Temas was there to console her. Sendi was with Sandy helping what was left of her family get ready for another hard winter. Albert’s family in Ironwood was gone. None had survived the volcanic winter.

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