Chapter 1 – Helios

Alan knew he was in trouble as soon as he heard the vibrations from the passenger seat. The clock on the dash indicated it was already well past 7:30 PM, and he didn’t have to look at the cellphone’s screen to know that Liz was on the other end of that angry buzz. 

Alan hit the phone icon on the console. “Liz?”

“Alan!”

“Honey, I’m sorry I’m so late. I got stuck in the lab, and the guy behind the counter at the Chinese place was slower than molasses, and –”

“Alan, listen to me –”

“Please don’t cancel date night. I already have the food, and I can bring it by your office so we can eat –” 

“Al-an,” Liz repeated, her voice slow and metered, “listen to me.”

 Alan knew he either had to shut up or hang up. He sighed and shifted into the right lane. “Go.” 

“My friend, Lilja, called an hour ago. Readings are off the charts in Reykjavik, and it’s like nothing she’s ever seen.” 

What? Alan shook his head and scrunched his face in disbelief. He glared over at the phone with suspicion. “That can’t be.”

“The flare is coming, Alan. Now.”

“No. No, that’s not right,” he said, knowing it was the last thing in the world Liz would say unless she was absolutely certain. “It’s too soon, and … and where was the warning?”

“Lilja said that a sensor malfunctioned, a stupid equipment error.” Liz laughed an angry laugh. “It’s coming.”

No, no, no, no. His mind threatened to shatter into a million fragments, and he could hear the whoosh of his pulse in his ears. This couldn’t be happening. Not tonight, not now.

“Alan?”

He pinched the bridge of his nose and asked the question he already knew the answer to. “Are you sure?”

“You know as well as I do that the predictive window was a statistical probability and nothing more.”

A probability we were banking on. “But we’re not ready.” His voice sounded far away to his ears, and, for a moment, he had the sensation of floating. 

“It’s coming, Alan, and it’s coming now, so get your head in the game.” 

He stared through the windshield, focusing on the reflective white lines that kept him in his lane. His head was asleep in the dugout and definitely not in the game. 

“The group is meeting at the high school,” Liz continued. “How fast can you be here?”

“Twenty minutes. If I push it.”

“Okay, push it. Everyone’s on their way. Do you have the sixth watch?”

“No, I don’t have it.” Fuckinggoddammitshit. “I left it on William’s desk.”

She grunted her displeasure. “Nothing we can do about that right now. What about the flash drive?” 

He looked over at his briefcase, carelessly tossed into the foot-well on the passenger side. “I have it, but it hasn’t been uploaded yet.”

“You can do that when you get to the high school.” 

“How much time do we really have, Liz?”

“Enough to upload, I think. Not much more.”

“I guess there is no safe lab in the cards for you and me.”

“No, Alan,” she agreed. “Not for you and me.”

“Right.” He was stuck in a haze of dismay, still floating. On the right, a sleepy strip mall came into view, then quickly receded. “I’m on my way.”

“Hurry,” she urged, “time is running out.” There was a beat of charged silence, and Alan wondered why she was holding the line. “I love you,” she said.

“I love you too, Liz.” 

He hung up just as he arrived at a red traffic light. With his foot firmly on the brake, he closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. He needed this moment to steady his nerves. It was coming, and it was too late to do a damned thing about it. He was going to die; she was going to die; hell, they were all going to die. All, except maybe …

He opened his eyes, nervously readjusted his glasses, and looked at the clock. No time now. He had to go. 

Alan took one last deep breath. Without waiting for the light to change, he leaned on the accelerator.