Solar Storms
and cut through it like a scalpel through loose
skin. It made landfall before evacuations could even be ordered. Most
scientists had argued this could never happen, that the earth’s atmosphere was
too powerful to penetrate.
    But as Sophie stared at images of catastrophic
damage streaming in from around the world, she realized how wrong those
scientists had been—how wrong she had been.
    “Millions of residents in the Midwest have been cut
off from emergency first responders due to high levels of radiation,” a news
announcer said.
    “My God,” Ed whispered from beside her.
    Another monitor flicked on, and President Bolton
stepped up to a podium marked with the Presidential Seal insignia. As she
shuffled through some pages of notes, Sophie could see the strain in her face,
the fatigue and worry.
    Anger raced through Sophie. Why hadn’t the
President acted sooner? Millions had died on her watch, all because she had
chosen to deny science.
    “The storms are now over. Rest assured, we will be
getting infrastructure back online as quickly as possible,” Bolton said.
    A reporter in the audience interrupted her. “How do
you feel about your stance on solar weather now?”
    The camera panned to Bolton’s face. She scowled and
ignored him, continuing with her speech as the man was quietly escorted away.
    “All first responders in the nation are being
activated. We are doing everything we can.”
    “Do we know the extent of the damage?” another
reporter asked.
    Bolton paused before responding. “We are doing
everything we can to get that information.”
    Emanuel clicked off the monitor. “She’s a lunatic,”
he said.
    “Dr. Winston, can I see you for a moment?” Tsui’s
fatigued voice asked from behind her.
    Sophie followed him out into the hallway and
crossed her arms, glad to have a break from the depressing news.
    “What is it Dr. Tsui?” She took a small step
backwards, trying to ignore the stale scent of coffee on his breath.
    “It’s about the magnetic disruption discoveries we
picked up earlier. I didn’t exactly forget to leave them out of the equation.
In fact, I was told to. That folder you saw should never have existed. NTC
specifically told us this information was classified, but it had been
overlooked in the chaos of events.”
    “What are you saying?” A chill went down her back.
    “We flew you and Emanuel out here early for a
reason. I knew all along the CME would make landfall. I just needed you to tell
me how bad the damage would be. And I needed Emanuel to tell us how it would
affect life on the planet. We just ran out of time. After the satellites picked
up the data, our focus shifted from prediction and mitigation to recovery.”
    “You knew all along and didn’t tell me!” Sophie
looked at the tiny man. He no longer appeared as stoic as he had earlier, and the
fatigue on his face made him look weak. And his lies? They made her sick.
    “General McKern made it very clear. All data
concerning the magnetic disruptions were to be classified. He said they were an
anomaly. That the satellites had malfunctioned.”
    “But when I entered the data into the calculations,
they projected the time of the CME perfectly.”
    “I know. But you need to forget about it. You must
forget about it. This comes from the top, Sophie. All the way from President
Bolton’s office.”
    Sophie paused. She knew exactly what it meant—she
was being censored. “You know I can’t forget about this.”
    “I know, but you can keep it quiet.”
    She held his gaze until she finally grew too
frustrated and pulled away.
    “Very well,” she said.
    “Good.” Tsui turned and headed back into the room,
leaving Sophie in the hallway by herself. She wasn’t the type of scientist to
keep something like this quiet—she wasn’t the type of person to keep it
quiet. But things like this had a way to ruin even the most promising careers.
    She unfolded her arms and paced down the hallway.
Whatever had caused the
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