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sun.
It was necessary work. The sun has been shining for five billion
years, breathing out heat and light and the solar wind, a stream of
high-energy charged particles. But it is not unchanging. Even in
normal times the solar wind is gusty; great streamers of it pour out
of coronal holes, breaks in the sun s outer atmosphere. Meanwhile
S U N S T O R M " 3 3
sunspots, cooler areas dominated by tangles of magnetic fields, were
noticed by humans on the sun s surface as early as the fourth cen-
tury before Christ. From such troubled areas, flares and immense
explosions can spew high-frequency radiation and fast-moving
charged particles out into space. All this weather batters against
the layers of air and electromagnetism that shield the Earth.
Through most of human history this went unnoticed, save for
the marvelous aurorae irregularly painted over the sky. But if hu-
mans aren t generally vulnerable to the storms in space, the electri-
cal equipment they develop is. By 2037 it was nearly two centuries
since solar-induced currents in telegraph lines had started to cause
headaches for their operators. Since then, the more dependent the
human world became on its technology, the more vulnerable it be-
came to the sun s tantrums as Earth was learning that very day.
For a fragile, highly interconnected high-technology civiliza-
tion, living with a star, it had been learned, was like living with a
bear. It might not do you any harm. But the least you had to do was
watch it, very carefully. And that was why the Space Weather Ser-
vice had been set up.
Though now led by the Eurasian Union, the Space Weather
Service had developed from humbler beginnings in the twentieth
century, starting with the Americans Space Environment Center, a
joint enterprise of such agencies as NASA, the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, and the Department of Defense.
Back then the data gathered were patchy, Mikhail said. Scav-
enged from science satellites dedicated to other purposes. And fore-
casting was just guesswork. But a few solar-storm disasters around
the solar max of 2011 put paid to that. These days we have a pretty
comprehensive data set, continually updated in real time. The
forecasting systems are big numerical-prediction suites based on
magneto-hydrodynamics, plasma physics, and the like. We have a
complete chain of theoretical modeling from the surface of the sun
to the surface of the Earth
But Eugene wasn t listening. He tapped a hydrogen-light
image. That is the problem, he said.
It was the new active region. Visibly darker than the surround-
ing photosphere, it was an ugly S-shaped scar. I admit it s a puz-
3 4 " C L A R K E & B A X T E R
zle, Mikhail said. At this stage of the solar cycle you wouldn t ex-
pect something like that.
I expected it, Eugene said. And that s the whole point.
Carefully Mikhail said, The end of the world?
Not today. Today is just a precursor. But it will be bad enough.
That s why I ve come here. You have to warn them. His eyes were
huge and dark, haunted. I have time-stamped predictions.
You told me that.
Even so they won t pay any attention to me. But they will lis-
ten to you. After all, this is your job. And now that you ve got proof,
you ll have to do it, won t you? You ll have to warn them.
Eugene really had no social skills at all, Mikhail thought, with a
mix of resentment and pity. Who are they? Who exactly do you
want me to warn?
Eugene spread his hands. For a start, everybody vulnerable. On
the Moon. On the Space Station. On Mars, and aboard Aurora 2.
And on Earth?
Oh, yes. And Earth. Eugene glanced at his watch. But by
now Earth is already being hit.
Mikhail studied his face for a long moment. Then he called for
Thales.
7: Mass Ejection
Siobhan worked the screens in the conference table, seeking infor-
mation.
It wasn t easy. Solar studies and space weather simply weren t
in Siobhan s domain of specialty. Aristotle was able to help, though
he seemed somewhat absentminded at times; she realized uneasily
that the erosion of the world s interconnectivity, on which he was
based, had to be affecting him, too.
She quickly discovered that there were solar observatories all
over the world, and off it. She tried to get through to Kitt Peak,
Mauna Kea in Hawaii, and the Big Bear observatory in southern
California. She didn t reach a human being in any of these sites,
predictably enough; even if the comms systems weren t down, they
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