36 Hours: A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Survival Fiction Series Read Online Free PDF Page B

societal and economic collapse.”
    “What’s most likely?” Lesley pressed him for more information.
    “Cyber attack is at the top of my list,” the author replied. “The attack could come from within or without our nation’s borders. It could be orchestrated by a nation like Russia, a terrorist group like ISIS, or a pimple-faced kid in his momma’s basement. Properly implemented, a cyber attack on just nine key substations across the country could cause a cascading effect of grid failures nationwide.”
    “You mentioned natural threats. Do you mean like hurricanes?”
    “Not really, although I believe it’s just part of being a responsible adult to prep for natural disasters like hurricanes and tornados,” the author replied. “In my opinion, the biggest natural threat we face comes from our sun in the form of a massive solar flare. Like a cyber attack or a nuclear-delivered electromagnetic pulse, a solar flare has the potential to destroy the grid as well. We live in an interconnected world full of tiny circuits and electronics. These devices are not capable of absorbing the tremendous influx of energy that is generated by a major geomagnetic storm. With little warning, we could be thrown back into the 1800s.”
    “Gee, thank you, I guess.” The woman chuckled. “I mean, thanks for signing the book for me.”
    “You’re welcome,” he replied, and then added, “Don’t be afraid, Lesley. Be ready.”
    Madison had never heard the term prepper before. She certainly didn’t know how it related to beans and bullets. She walked toward the magazines, searching for Us Weekly , and decided to look up the definition of a prepper. Google happily obliged with a result.
    A person who believes a catastrophic disaster or emergency is likely to occur in the future and makes active preparations for it, typically by stockpiling food, ammunition, and other supplies.
    Okay, she thought. Being a prepper sounded like something a grown-up Boy Scout might do.
    She scrolled through some of the other search results provided by Google. Websites like the Atlantic Monthly, the NY Times, and Mother Jones demeaned preppers as being conspiracy theorists, part of the tinfoil hat crowd, and generally fanatical.
    She took another glance at the line, which had grown longer, and then she glanced back to the author. Maybe these people were onto something. He certainly didn’t look like a wackadoo.
     

Chapter 7
    27 Hours
    8:00 p.m., September 7
    ALMA
    Atacama, Chile
     
    Dr. Stanford walked through the rows of cubicles and monitors in the ALMA control room. A few personnel were monitoring the JUNO spacecraft, which was entering the atmosphere of Jupiter. The project, launched five years ago, was designed to study the formation of Jupiter’s gravity and magnetic fields, as well as it evolution. The data received from JUNO about the gas giant could provide valuable insight into the solar system.
    “We have another one, Dr. Stanford,” announced one of the JAO Team.
    “Talk to me.”
    “It’s odd, ma’am,” he replied. “This appears to be another C-class flare.”
    “What are the details?” she asked.
    “This was released from the lower right quadrant of AR3222. It peaked approximately two hours ago. Preliminary data indicates a moderate C3.2 solar flare.”
    “What about speed?” she asked.
    “It emanated as a steady, relatively faint, but asymmetrical, full halo coronal mass ejection. It is fairly slow, only measuring about four hundred kilometers per second.”
    “That’s barely faster than the background solar wind,” quipped Dr. Stanford.
    She was puzzled by this active region. The coronal hole at the heart of AR3222 was massive, yet it hadn’t produced even a minor disturbance. Throughout the day, the JAO Team reported several inconsequential C-class solar flares from the remainder of the region.
    “Do we call it in?” asked the analyst, interrupting her thoughts.
    “Like the C-flare from yesterday, I doubt there