Zero 'g'

By Srujan Joshi

It is the year 2074. Amazing advances in technology have allowed the human race to boast achievements far beyond any previously imagined—but all while ignoring the distress of their overtaxed planet.

Finally, one fateful day, the Earth can’t take any more. One hemisphere suffers from continually melting ice, while the other is crushed by a heavy molten iron volcano scientists believe is erupting from the globe’s core. The natural balance we take for granted is thrown off, and the Earth loses gravity.

Unthinkable horrors follow. Death, destruction, and chaos abound. Cars are floating, airplanes are crashing, and the atmosphere itself is vaporizing into nothing.

Carley, a single mom working at NASA as a janitor, stumbles upon Henry and Linus, two brilliant teenage science prodigies. Together, they hatch a plan to save the planet and stop the destruction.

Will the unlikely trio bring gravity back to Earth, or will all be lost forever?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Srujan Joshi
• Release date: Jun 14, 2016
• ISBN: 9781530249565

Srujan Joshi

Srujan Joshi is a researcher and technology developer who is passionate about finding the hidden energy of nature. He loves to ask what-if questions and create stories from the answers. Joshi is a constant thinker, a futuristic technology geek, and a space science enthusiast.

Book preview

Zero ‘g’:

Earth Without Gravity

By Srujan Joshi M

Copyright © 2016 Srujan Joshi M

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 1530249562

ISBN 13: 9781530249565

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016905500

LCCN Imprint Name: Irvine, California

To Shri Aryabhata and Sir Isaac Newton, for their discoveries of zero and gravity, respectively. I also want to thank all of my family and friends who believed in me.

Chapter One

I was running late, and I hated being that person who walked into work late. It was just so unlike me. I had such a strong work ethic that the very thought of being tardy to work caused me to shudder involuntarily. I didn’t have to worry about getting in any trouble, though. The people at NASA, where I worked, were always good to me. I think they understood, or at least tried to, that being a single mother sometimes meant that you were going to be late, no matter how hard you tried not to be. Believe me—I tried. But sometimes finding a drop of honey on your sweater in the morning caused a whole wardrobe change.

I dug around in my underwear drawer for a pair of socks, wishing badly that I had time to do the laundry. Hopping around on one foot, I managed to get both socks on without further issues. It’s amazing how the moment you realize you’re going to be late, you suddenly become even more of a klutz, causing further delay. I marched out into the living room, where my mother, Annette, was sitting with my daughter, Rose, bouncing her on her knee. That little girl was the apple of my eye, and she was currently trying to squirm her way out of Grandma’s arms to come and see me.

Oh, Rose, don’t go making your mother late. Come on now. My mother was trying unsuccessfully to keep Rose on her lap.

I giggled. Well, one kiss won’t make me any later than I already am.

I bent down as my three-year-old daughter ran into my arms. I breathed in her sweet scent and squeezed her tight. I wanted more than anything to curl up on the couch with her and go back to sleep, breathing in her smell. She was the most precious thing to me in the whole world. As hard as it was being a single mom, I wouldn’t trade Motherhood for anything.

I kissed the top of her head and wished for the millionth time that I didn’t have to go to work. I hated leaving her, and sometimes I felt as if I never saw her. Rose was with my mother all day long, and by the time I got home from work, I didn’t have much time to spend with her before she went to bed. Sometimes I was selfish and kept her up later so I could read her stories, but that wasn’t very often.

My mother was a lifesaver; she was retired and a widow, so she had time to help me with Rose. I didn’t know what I would do without her. Having a child on my own had never been my plan, and the first year with Rose had been terribly hard. Although my mother was a great help to me, I longed for the day that I could allow her to have her life back. She should be enjoying her retirement, possibly traveling, not spending her days babysitting my child. I also happened to be a grown woman who was still living with her mother. It just wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. It was embarrassing, if I was going to be completely frank about it.

Rose looked up at me, and I smiled down at her. Mommy has to go, sweetheart. She pouted her lips, and I felt that familiar pain in my chest that reminded me that I worked too much. I stood up and looked to my mother, who came to retrieve Rose. She scooped her up in her arms.

There you go, Rose. Grandma is here now. We have to let Mommy get to work. The sooner she leaves; the sooner she can come back. Isn’t that great?

I rolled my eyes, trying not to laugh. No dream screen today, Mom. I’m warning you.

Heavens, no, Carly. You know darn well that I don’t let her watch the dream screen. I only do that when she naps. I need to catch my shows, darling. You know that.

She had a twinkle in her eye.

I snorted. Yeah, sure, Mom. Whatever.

I remember someone who loved to watch her soaps. All those dreamy men with their big muscles.

I laughed. The dream screen had been an incredible invention. I was too young to remember television in its infancy. I was never around to watch it on flat screens or the tube, as it was once called. I had a hard time even picturing an old-fashioned television until my grandfather showed me pictures of the one he had. The stories my grandfather used to tell, however, seemed so bizarre to me. To have something sitting in your living room like that was so awkward. The dream screen just made so much more sense. It brought you into your own dream world, and from there, you selected whichever movie or show you wanted to watch. It was an amazing tool that also allowed even the blind to see—that was my favorite part about it. I couldn’t imagine how limited TV had been back in my grandfather’s era.

Even so, I was adamant that Rose was not allowed to watch the dream screen because her imagination often ran wild. I suspected that there were times my mother let her do it, anyway. Rose came up with some of the craziest conversations, and I bet they originated from the dream screen.

I grabbed my purse off the counter and kissed my mother on the cheek. Thanks, Mom. I’ll see you later. Have a good day.

Have a good day at work, sweetheart. We'll be just fine here. Don’t you worry about a thing.

I smiled sadly and turned away from my little family.

When I stepped outside into the warm sun, I took a moment to take a deep breath. My life was so hectic these days, and yet I was proud of what I had accomplished, despite my limitations. The year was 2074. I was blessed to have gotten a job as a janitor at NASA headquarters in Washington, DC. Some might say it was a lowly position, but I could do a lot worse than work for NASA, that was for sure. The agency treated its employees with respect, and the wages were far better than I would get anywhere else. It was only short-term, anyway. I had a plan, and it was only a matter of time before my life would be significantly better. That was all I wanted for myself and Rose.

I had always dreamed of working for NASA but had never anticipated it would be as a janitor. Before Rose came into my life, I was attending Georgetown University, working tirelessly on a degree in astronomy. I was dating the love of my life, my high school sweetheart, Antonio, and the sky seemed to be the limit for me. I dreamed of the future that we would have together after our graduation as we started our life together. I was living my own little dream, with big hopes for the future. Finding out I was pregnant with my darling Rose had come as a great shock to both Antonio and me, especially since natural pregnancies were a rare thing. People didn’t use sex to procreate anymore; that was so 2015. Sex was just for fun. When it came to planned pregnancies, babies were made in vitro fertilization. Everything was planned to a T, so there were never any mistakes. It was actually rare to have an unplanned pregnancy, though Antonio and I realized very quickly that it was still possible.

To have a family, you simply went to the doctor and Arranged for a conception. Everyone wanted the smartest and most talented baby, and that could be made only by vitro fertilization.

For the past fourteen years, vitro babies had been born with DNA chips inserted inside them. The DNA chips were programmed with any talent that the parents chose. The talent could be anything the parent longed for, whether sports, art, or higher intelligence. A parent essentially could create the child of his or her dreams. It was all the rage. The DNA chips could be inserted only into babies; adults were out of luck because their older brains were unable to accept the new technology. Research was being conducted in the hopes that one day scientists could insert the chips into adult brains, too.

The downfall, if you