When the World Ends...

By J.J. Marshall

Were here as a terrorist cell looking to bring down the Board of Officials that essentially controls the entire Human Race. Those on Earth may have their own figures of authority in the Spheres but whether they ultimately live or die depends on decisions that the Board make. If we take them down then Humanity after theyre gone can only be better
At the dawn of the 22nd Century, the Earth is dead.
A lethal alien organism has rendered the planet uninhabitable and a small fraction of humanity has retreated to Space and the Moon.
Those that remain on Earth are trapped in huge Spheres that encompass entire cities, tinted to defend against the deadly UV radiation that the atmosphere no longer protects Humanity from.
17-year-old Alec Corbett lives aboard the adapted International Space Station. One ordinary day in his mundane life he transforms his potential when he discovers information that could expose the corruption of the Board of Officials that now controls humanity. Armed with nothing but knowledge and his friend Jonah Jones by his side, Alec's righteous judgement leads them on a merciless and unforgiving path.
For there is one key problem the information comes from his father Landon Corbett; a member of the Board. Pitted against his own flesh and blood, Alec finds himself in a unique position to end the Board of Officials' dictatorship over Humanity. However, all is not as it seems and as the stakes grow increasingly higher, Humanity reaches the brink of all-out-war.
Only Alec and his group of friends can peacefully negate the situation, but it all depends on whether or not anyone will listen to a 17-year-old boy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Jul 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9781491800096

J.J. Marshall

I am currently studying a BSc Physical Geography Degree at the University of Reading in Berkshire, England, with the intention of pursuing a career in teaching secondary school pupils. I was born and raised in England and am presently twenty years old. “When the World Ends…” is my first publication and I’m incredibly excited to be working with the people at AuthorHouse in bringing my story to real, tangible pages! Writing has always been a hobby and a passion of mine from a very young age; I can recall writing a novel on my first family computer which was inspired (as well as a being blatant rip-off!) of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. It was really this book; the first full novel I had ever read by myself, that inspired me to write for myself and to create worlds beyond our own and fictions that can redefine the past or give suppositions about the future. I would list J.K. Rowling as one of my top inspirations, as well as the likes of Anthony Horowitz, Ian Banks, Charlaine Harris and Suzanne Collins. I also draw inspiration from TV shows and scriptwriters, such as Joss Whedon, J.J. Abram, Maurissa Tancheroen, Steven Moffat and Jane Espenson. Their work and the way that they construct characters and stories spur and challenge me to create my own little realities. So welcome to one of my little realities! I hope you enjoy it.

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J.J. MARSHALL

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© 2013 by J.J. Marshall. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 07/23/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4918-0008-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-0009-6 (e)

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

2105 A.D.

The Dead Man at the Table

Forgotten Luxuries

The Rat before the Flood

The Start of Everything

Risk-Taking

Two Minutes until Detonation

The First Casualty of War

Rage and Grief

Terrorism

The Untouchables

The Eleventh Hour

Endgame

Abused

Memories

The Fall-Guy

Saying Goodbye

London

A Partial Reunion

Sky

Black & White

A Revolutionary Ally

Escapism

Returned

Blue-Bolt of Death

Leap of Faith

The Tower of London

The Confrontation

The Truth About Landon Corbett

Something New

Break Out

Take Back the City

Infiltration

The Catalyst

Humanity Falls

For Ele:

For your faith in me, your patience and

your love, always.

2020

A U.S space probe carrying samples from Mars returns to Earth. Upon re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, a technical fault in the probe’s surface insulation causes it to burn up, scattering debris across the Pacific Ocean.

The U.S Coastguard and other Pacific Nations do their best to recover what they can, but all of the samples are lost and only fragments are collected.

The mission is designated as a failure.

2026

Atmospheric scientists from India release findings of a new hole forming in the ozone layer over the West Coast of the USA. After assessing the research conducted by India’s scientists, American scientists are forced to concur and apply pressure on the Government to make drastic changes in order to reverse the process.

2030

After implementing schemes aimed at reducing the presence of chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere over all major cities along the West Coast of America, the situation continues to deteriorate. Much to the surprise of scientists in the field of atmospheric study, the ozone hole spreads further west across the Pacific Ocean.

Meteorologists share a belief that atmospheric winds could be responsible for spreading the CFC’s in a westerly direction.

Counter arguments suggest that the winds would not perpetuate the spread of the ozone hole: Instead they would help to dissipate the CFC’s throughout the atmosphere and reduce their impact on just one part of the ozone layer.

The debate continues.

Meanwhile in cities beneath the ozone hole, most noticeably in Los Angeles, numbers of victims suffering heatstroke, sunburn and skin cancer rise substantially from numbers experienced in the previous decade.

The Californian Government set about increasing awareness of the dangers associated with ozone depletion.

2035

On the 23rd flight of a specially adapted U.S aircraft, samples were taken from the lower reaches of the stratosphere at the edge of the Pacific Ozone Hole.

Later analysis of the samples revealed a previously undiscovered organism existing in the upper atmosphere. It was unlike anything seen on Earth before, so unique that it established its own genus and was named Aermusca.

From experiments in a laboratory it was found that the organism fed upon O3—ozone.

2037

A full scientific investigation of Aermusca by an international team of scientists concluded in July. In their attempts to determine the origin of the species they compared it to an entire collection of the Earth’s genuses in an attempt to find a close match, but no such organism was found to inhibit the properties demonstrated by Aermusca.

It was a U.S scientist who made the link to the crashed space probe seventeen years ago.

Upon analysis of compounds found on and inside some of the debris of the probe, some were found to be of extra-terrestrial origin (from Mars). Of the compounds found, many could be accurately matched to compounds found inside Aermusca.

Thus is was concluded that Aermusca had come from Mars; thrived upon being released into Earth’s atmosphere and multiplied perpetually out of control for seventeen years.

Its relatively rapid consumption of ozone was duly noted, as was the fact that Mars potentially once had a strong atmosphere.

2050

The Pacific Ozone Hole reaches the atmosphere above Japan, whilst it also spreads to the north, covering parts of Canada and nearly all of Alaska. It also spreads further south toward the equator to encompass the Hawaiian Islands.

Cities near the origins of the hole are suffering from rapid urban decay as the population swiftly moves to safer areas of the USA which are not affected. Los Angeles is virtually uninhabitable due to intense rates of UV radiation making it dangerous to land-based organisms and human life.

The mass movement of people triggers panic and speculation across the globe. Population centres along the east coast of Japan begin to decline as people take it upon themselves to evacuate to regions out of reach of the spreading Pacific Ozone Hole.

Indonesia’s rate of immigration becomes uncontrollable and there are noticeable patterns of migration, from areas at risk of the spreading ozone hole to those regions which are farthest away.

The world’s governments agree that they’re facing a growing humanitarian crisis on a scale the likes of which have never before been seen.

Resolutions are explored, including the extermination of Aermusca, though in lab tests it has so far been proven to be resilient to all attempted methods of destruction, drawing comparison to the resilience of cockroaches.

2054

In secret, the Governments of the world begin to make plans to ensure the continuity of the human race. This includes the development of a base on the Moon, the construction of which was started in 2040 but for the purpose of scientific research. It is now to be expanded exponentially to accommodate large numbers of people who would be able to lead lives as close to their normal patterns of behaviour which they experienced on Earth. This includes the provision of employment, education and healthcare.

The International Space Station also receives plans for extension activity while numerous space hotels are to be collated alongside the ISS to serve as a half-way stage to the base on the Moon.

2062

With the Pacific Ozone Hole now covering the entire Pacific as well as East Asia, Oceania and much of the United States, the world’s population comes to be concentrated in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Western Asia. With the belt tightening around them year by year, immense pressure accumulates.

Ongoing wars continued, with countries refusing to allow access to refugees from affected regions whilst countries with power force their way into parts of Africa and the Middle East to much resistance.

The United Nations announces the One Child Policy to prevent the population from growing rapidly until a rational solution could be provided.

The plans for MoonBase1 and the ISS were announced to the general public, as well as their capacity, sparking controversy and speculation as to who would be evacuated from Earth and saved.

2070

The first human beings are transported to the newly composited ISS, greatly expanded to accommodate up to 200,000 people. Space hotels were also tethered nearby to the ISS, providing space for a further 50,000 people.

The first three phases of MoonBase1 were completed in June with the capacity for 450,000 people. Extension programmes go on to provide increased space for Earth’s population, which now slightly exceeds eleven billion, even with the many casualties as a result of the global ozone depletion. There is also increasing awareness that not everyone will be taken to either the ISS or MoonBase1.

Over the past eight years, the Governments have been compiling a list of the global population’s most prosperous human beings that can reproduce the human population once a suitable home has been found (since 2043, five attempts to terraform Mars have been unsuccessful with a sixth attempt at making the planet habitable planned for 2072).

The list composes 125,000 people. The remaining places are allocated to a balance of men, women and children with no one over the age of 50 (with the exception of listed persons) accepted. With countries harbouring such diverse mixes of foreign nationals, a specific number of each global nationality is selected on a first-come-first serve basis.

SpaceShuttles, driven by on-board antimatter power cells, can carry up to 2,000 people at a time while smaller vessels (Space Craft) are used in the transportation of resources, such as food and water.

2090

With MoonBase1 completed and harbouring 1,000,000 people, construction work on MoonBase2—

approximately one hundred kilometres from MB1—begins.

The perpetually expanding ISS and affiliated space hotels now accommodate 450,000 while the rest of the human population remain on Earth.

The ozone hole now covers the majority of the planet; the only place spared being the Middle East and parts of East Africa. On the surface in former Global Power states such as the USA, the UK, Russia, much of Europe and China, Spheres—huge domes, tinted to protect against UV rays—have been created to allow for humans to live on the surface.

In total, 40 Spheres now exist across the globe. The Spheres each roughly cover 500km²; housing up to 1,000,000 humans and built over cities or in regions previously untainted by human activity so as to allow from the growth of food produce.

The rest of the population are unaccounted for: either sheltering from the UV radiation until more Spheres are established or dead.

2101

Completion of MoonBase2 is severely halted after an explosion of stored antimatter power cells obliterates 45% of the existing structure and renders the remainder of the base uninhabitable.

Resources on the moon grow scarcer while the production of antimatter power cells on the moon is stopped.

There no longer remains a person on Earth capable of creating the antimatter power source after the CERN facility in Switzerland suffered a catastrophic failure, killing all 300 employees as well as destroying Switzerland’s entire land mass and the remaining Sphered population of Geneva. The explosion created the largest crater on Earth; an area of over 46,000 kilometres squared.

The Earth itself completely lacks an ozone layer and all humans not contained within Spheres, the ISS or MoonBase1 are declared officially dead.

The human population is now officially 81,725,000.

Regions of Mars are reported as having been successfully terraformed, allowing for a small settlement of 100 humans. These humans will be responsible for the construction of Spheres on Mars to provide habitation for larger numbers until the terraforming process is complete.

For the first time in 51 years, there looks to be hope for humanity.

INTERNATIONAL

SPACE

STATION

Chapter One

2105 A.D.

Against the window he was nothing but a shadow; a silhouette of a man.

The darkened room behind him gave no reflection in the metre-thick glass before his eyes as he stared clearly out across the void of space at the slowly rotating Earth. It was early morning in England; the sun’s light moved slowly across the surface of the planet as it spun silently.

In a parallel room, the man’s son looked out across the same view. He moved his hands and by the light of the Earth he glimpsed the creased and crumpled photograph between his fingers. The same sunlight was captured there: crawling up the front of a redbrick house with a pretty white lattice framing the front door, decorated with crawling green leaves and blooming blossom buds. On the garden path besides a young, flowering magnolia tree stood a trio of people. His mother: A young woman with sprawling brown hair and a smile so broad it illuminated her face; bringing a sparkle into her vibrant green eyes. His father: a younger version with a tousled mop of blonde hair and lanky limbs that reached down to the young boy who stood between them—his four-year-old-self. He clung to either parent and was poised mid-swing towards the camera with his legs scrunched up beneath him.

It had been taken in the morning. It had been the only time when they could walk outside. As soon as the sun had peaked above the roofs of the houses it was already too late to avoid the UV. Together with his parents he would always watch the sunrise every morning and cherish the changing hues of the sky as another new day dawned.

Even when he had been moved to the Sphere with his father; eleven years ago now when he was fifteen, they had continued to watch the sunrise. They had made sure to be up especially early for as soon as it had risen the Sphere would darken; adopting a tint that protected them from UV rays and cast a dreary darkness over everything beneath it.

Almost reluctantly Alec Corbett forced himself to leave the darkness of his own bedroom and move to that of his father’s. He stood for a moment in the doorway, watching his father’s profile against the Earth. For Landon Corbett, watching the sunrise was no longer an age-long family tradition; Alec knew that the sight of the Earth from space gave his father an almost overwhelming sense of power. He could see it in the way his Father’s eyes glowed malevolently—possibly the only man to draw happiness and success from humanity’s greatest disaster.

‘Morning’ Alec bade him in no more than a whisper and the two of them watched the Earth in silence until England was completely encompassed by sunlight.

‘How did you sleep?’ Landon asked casually. There was no real curiosity in his voice. ‘Lights’ he added, calling out to the room. The lights on the ceiling faded on, imitating the gentle appearance of the morning sun.

‘Good day. Morning sequence commencing in twenty minutes’ the soft, female voice of the apartment’s central operating system (ACOS) reported.

‘Fine’ said Alec, responding with the same level of enthusiasm. He remained by the window, watching as the Big Black Blot appeared on the surface of the Earth. It was a huge dark, blackened blemish in the centre of Europe. He recalled watching it happen from the ISS: CERN’s Large Hadron Collider malfunctioning and the dramatic unison of matter and antimatter, resulting in the biggest explosion ever witnessed by man.

The clouds in the sky above Switzerland had parted as if divided by the hands of God Himself while the country was immersed by intense bright white light—brighter than the sun—that had not only completely vaporised all matter in the blast’s radius but also ignited huge fires in France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Austria; charring the landscape. The fires raged uncontrollably for weeks until rains eventually caused them to end, leaving just a scar on the Earth’s surface where Switzerland had once been.

The sight sickened Alec. He felt immense guilt; guilt that his father allowed to roll off of his own shoulders as carefree as if he had destroyed an anthill. For it was his fault, Alec knew. His father had designed the antimatter cells that powered the spacecraft as well as the ISS and MoonBase1—if it hadn’t been for Landon Corbett increasing demand for the Board of Officials then CERN would not have been producing such large quantities of unstable antimatter and it never would have exploded.

The Board of Officials essentially controlled humanity, and Landon Corbett was one of them; responsible for allocating flight times and dictating how many people would be taken from Earth to the ISS and then on to MoonBase1 and at what price. He sat amongst the elite; those in charge of all operations aboard the ISS and was one of the highest ranking officials. This, along with the antimatter, only added to his unpopularity.

‘I woke lying on the floor’ Landon smiled, amused. He poured a glass of water for himself and left Alec to get his own. The kitchen was a small space with a stainless steel counter in the middle of the floor which served as their dining table. Along the wall was another stainless steel counter with a sink, fridge, microwave, dishwasher and washing machine (although they were only allowed to be used on one day per week due to water restrictions). It would be cramped if there were more people, but Landon and Alec were the only two that occupied their apartment. ‘I think the gravity must have failed during the night’.

‘It did’ Alec responded in an automated fashion. He took a sachet from one of the cupboards and tipped the milk powder into his glass of water. ‘I was awake when it happened, though it only lasted for a few seconds’.

‘That solar flare must have dealt us a glancing blow’.

Alec nodded. ‘The electrics also glitched’.

In quiet Landon went about preparing breakfast; taking sachets from the cupboard, adding them to water and activating them in the microwave. This morning they were having porridge though it was a little runnier than normal.

‘You’d have thought after five years I’d be used to space food’ Landon said as he blew on a spoonful of porridge to cool it down. ‘But the truth is I miss the real thing too much’.

‘The food was scarcer on Earth’ Alec replied. ‘When we left the London Sphere they were starting to have trouble with crop production in the fields’.

‘Morning sequence commencing in two minutes’ ACOS informed them.

Landon quickly finished eating his porridge, wiped his mouth and stood up from his stool. ‘I’ll take the first shower; I have to get to work’. With that he left Alec alone at the dining table, with the spoon paused halfway to his mouth. He watched his father go and heard the shower start a few moments later. With a sigh that resonated through the empty kitchen he continued slowly eating.

Within ten minutes Landon was showered and dressed, ready to leave. He wore fitted navy blue jeans, tailored to his size, with a crisply ironed white shirt tucked neatly into the waistline. On his feet were heavy duty boots, designed to magentise and stick to the floor should the ISS experience glitches in the artificial gravity; a regular occurrence.

‘I’ll be home by seven o’clock’ Landon told Alec as he strapped his wristwatch onto his forearm. It was an elegant timepiece with a skeletal face on a pristine black leather strap. "Authentic leather" Landon was keen to point out to anyone that noticed.

‘Take this’ Landon said, passing Alec a roll of Euro notes. The Euro had been adopted as the common currency on the ISS whilst the Dollar was used on MoonBase1. ‘Pay the accommodation fee—wouldn’t want them sending us back to Earth!’ Landon chuckled ironically; as if that could happen. Alec pocketed the notes without a hint of emotion betraying his true feeling. For one he did not want to argue with his father and secondly he knew that his father would call him weak-minded.

‘There is no place for conscience now’ his Father had once told him near the end of one of their heated rows. ‘Your conscience will only cause you to fall—a weak mind cannot survive here: we must harden our hearts if we are to get by’.

Alec couldn’t—and never would—suppress his sensitivity to the world in which he lived when the suffering was so apparent. He need only walk down two levels to find the poorest living in conditions that Landon had only ever had nightmares about. Yet the true horror lay right beneath their feet.

With no more to be said Landon turned from his Son and went to work.

‘Second morning sequence commencing in two minutes’ ACOS announced, making Alec jump and spill a spoonful of porridge onto the stainless steel table.

‘Yeah yeah’ Alec mumbled beneath his breath, dropping the half-full porridge bowl into the sink. He knew it should go in the dishwasher but leaving it in the sink all day was a sure-fine way of irritating his father.

He just about undressed—peeling off the cotton pajama trousers and unbuttoning the blue and white striped shirt—in time for the start of the shower, which began automatically.

The shower lasted for exactly five minutes before the water was deactivated and warm air blew from vents in the wall. Alec stood perfectly still with the water dripping from his body, thinking about the wad of money that his father had given him. Aboard the ISS life was extremely limited, especially for a seventeen year old. He had no job, school hadn’t worked out and so he now had a tutor during the week, though today was officially Saturday (as it was on Earth). Having not attended school in five years, along with his Father creating a great dislike for the surname ‘Corbett’, Alec struggled to combat the boredom that infringed on his every day routine. He frequently downloaded from the online library and could often read up to four books per week. Rarely did he venture beyond the level on which he lived with his father.

The upper level—Level 4—was administrative and restricted access only. Levels 3, 2 and 1 were the living space of the human population who awaited transit to MoonBase1 although the poverty worsened as you went down. Alec lived on Level 3. Level 0 was the shuttle port, to and from which SpaceShuttles and SpaceCraft travelled and docked. If Alec so wished he was able to go and watch the Craft but in recent months there had been fewer and fewer vessels departing for MoonBase1 and even less travelling to Earth.

The truth of the matter was—and Alec only knew this because of his Father—that the stock of antimatter power cells was now depleting. They had a lifespan of up to seven years before requiring servicing or decommissioning though none had even been recomissioned after one lifetime. After seven years they were too unstable to be re-used.

After the CERN disaster four years ago, everyone was increasingly timid about producing antimatter. It was a dangerously complex process and even afterwards, storing the cells was difficult. The antimatter needed to be suspended within a vacuum by an electromagnetic field. The failure of stored antimatter that had caused the destruction of MoonBase2 occurred because of power failure, disrupting the electromagnetic field and allowing the antimatter to come into contact with matter, resulting in the catastrophic explosion.

Despite the vast number of negatives they were extremely efficient—it had been his Father who’d learnt how to harness the power produced by the antimatter-matter reaction and it was now used as a source of energy for almost everything.

But it was running out. Production on Earth had stopped—there was no one left to oversee its manufacturing—while it only occurred remotely and on a small scale on the Moon. He had once overheard his Father late one night on the phone, discussing how much longer the current stock of antimatter would last for. The call had ended with an agreed figure of ten-to-fourteen years.

The hot air in the wash chamber switched off just as his body was dry.

‘Morning sequence complete’ ACOS reported, as if Alec hadn’t realised. He walked swiftly to his bedroom where he dressed in plain, black cotton trousers, a white t-shirt and a black jacket. He assessed his hair in the mirror as he pulled on a pair of boots; it was a natural blend of blonde and brown that looked straw-like and tussled in the wake of being blow dried. Alec finished lacing up his boots, preferring not to make use of the magnetizing footwear that was favoured by those that could afford it.

Pocketing his father’s money Alec also made sure that he had the keycard for the apartment before leaving. Outside, the sterile peace of the apartment was immediately shattered by the bustle of people moving hurriedly past. He was immediately swept into a stream of people, moving in the opposite direction to those on the other side of the corridor. It was only three metres wide—passage space on Level3 had been restricted to allow for larger habitations—which meant that there were vast amounts of jostling involved to get to and fro. Large, insulated pipes stretched along the ceiling and any tall person over five foot eleven or so would have trouble walking upright. The walls, which were painted pristine white with heavy scuff marks along the bottom, were dotted with doorways to other habitations. Both the doors and the walls were heavily insulated against noise to provide a quiet environment inside each habitation.

Alec remained with the flow of people until he reached the place where he wanted to be. Stepping out of the stream of human traffic, Alec entered a narrower one-way passage which led into a room. The entire wall on the far side was thick glass showing a view of the Earth below. A queue of people wound its way around the room mechanically in a snake-like fashion, all waiting to be served by one of three people behind a glass screen counter. Everyone was waiting to pay their fortnightly accommodation fee. It was going to take hours.

He contemplated the money in his pocket; he could feel its bulk bulging in his pocket against his thigh. Deciding against the queue, Alec headed out of the room through another one-way passage that would take him back to the main corridor which spanned the entire length of the ISS. The way took him past a flight of stairs, which he descended until he reached Level1.

It was only recently that he found himself coming down here to where the poorest lived. It was only so because the accommodation was the cheapest available; rooms as big as Alec’s bedroom, kitted for up to five people alongside washing, cooking and sanitation facilities. The very thought of so much crammed into very little space made Alec cringe, though he had never seen one of the rooms.

The first time that he had come to Level1 was when he had followed his tutor. She was a strange woman, quite young—no older than her mid-twenties—with a very bland way of dressing that didn’t match either her personality nor her status as a teacher of English, Math, Science and Earth history. Such a well-educated person ought to be on Level3 in Alec’s mind and it was only his curiosity regarding the clash of her appearance and actual self that led Alec to Level1.

From what he had observed it appeared that his tutor—Lorna Shepherd—lived with at least three other people; two male and one female, who appeared to be the same age as her. Alec had been unable to distinguish if they were her friends or some form of relative and he daren’t let on that he followed her home by asking her directly.

The scale of the rooms on Level1 meant that the corridor was slightly larger, allowing for people to stand around and talk to one another in clusters and groups dotted here and there. On Level1 there was nothing like the hustle that drove people on the upper levels and there was a serene ambience which Alec found himself enjoying. He liked watching the people go about their lives unrushed as he had seen back on Earth in the Sphere. It seemed more civilised and sociable compared to those that went about their business like drones on Level3 who barely noticed or regarded each other.

Without warning Alec’s trance was broken as a shoulder viciously barged him, sending him staggering to the middle of the corridor.

‘Hey’ he called out at the bulk of a man who wandered in the opposite direction. He stopped and looked back at Alec. He was black; only a few years older than Alec but built like a machine with biceps that tested the fabric of his clothing to the limit and a barreled chest that a gorilla would have been proud to pound on.

The man’s eyes scanned Alec over, taking