Preview.

Here is the updated Prologue. Don't tell my wife that I am on here. I am supposed to be writing.


PROLOQUE

DEEP SPACE- HALFWAY BETWEEN THE EARTH & THE SUN- APRIL 13TH, 2012

The asteroid tumbled through space. Very few forces pushed or pulled the asteroid around, mostly it floated uncontrollably through the darkness of space. The sub tugged at the innocent asteroid. It careened down a new direction.
A nearby satellite rotated around the sun. It sat in a geosynchronous orbit between the sun and the earth. For nearly five years the Solar Explorer took readings of all solar activity. It measured solar flares and solar winds, and sent the information back to Earth for analysis.
Deep within the sun’s core, a massive geomagnetic storm sprang to life. A solar wind so powerful that nothing equal to it had ever been recorded in Earth’s history buffeted the tiny satellite.
The satellite’s computer was activated shortly after the onslaught of solar activity began. The satellite compiled the data immediately, storing it to send it to earth.
The Solar Explorer had been hardened to withstand the heavy radiation from the sun. But the onslaught of solar radiation was too powerful. Its protective casing started to warp and heat up. It's fragile components protected by the deadly radiation.
Cased to one side of the satellite was a long distance antenna which was wired to multiple other devices. The antenna started to send data towards the earth while seconds slipped away.
Propelled by the sun’s gravitational force's the asteroid cruised through space on a collision course with the helpless satellite.

CONSTRUCTION SITE- BURNABY- FRIDAY APRIL 13TH, 2012- 4PM

Cameron Peterson stood on a narrow wooden beam two stories above the ground. A safety harness attached him to a safety line as he slowly made his way down the beam. A fellow co-worker and himself manoeuvred a heavy two by six into place.
Cameron's towering six foot tall, two hundred and twenty-five pound frame made it easy for him to slid the two by six into place. Cameron sat down onto the beam. His steel toed boots dangled in the air as the wind pulled at his plaid shirt and heavy tool belt. A yellow hard helmet sat on his head, a small safety line ran from the helmet to his tool belt.
Cameron pulled out a portable drill and a screw from his tool belt. He quickly attached the beam with the ease and finesse of someone with many years of experience working with his hands.
“Do we have time for another?” Cameron asked his co-worker.
“Nah,” he replied, “it is time to call it a day.”
With a couple quick strides, Cameron made his way off of the narrow beam and back onto the safety of the finished floor. He unstrapped his safety harness as he looked around at the construction site.
The construction site was supposed to become a series of five-story condos build entirely out of wood. It was currently three stories tall and looked more like a skeleton than anything else. On the ground, piles of wood and other supplies lay scattered waiting to be used. Dozens of workers packed up their tools for the day.
Cameron walked over to a work bench and quickly grabbed a couple of his tools. He threw them into their respective places in his tool belt.
Excitement filled up Cameron as he knew that the weekend was now upon them. He followed the other workers down the ladder to the ground.
Waiting in front of them stood a man in a white hard helmet, a shirt and a tie. The man's name was Bert. He was Cameron’s foreman and his boss. In his hand was a pile of envelopes with people’s names on them. Cameron knew that it was his pay cheque.
“Hey Cam.” Bert said as he began to hand Cameron his cheque, “Good work this week.”
“Thanks boss.” Cameron replied as he took the envelope.
“Did you want to work some overtime this weekend?”
“Sure. Let me call my girlfriend.”
Cameron walked a few steps away from the foreman. He pulled out his cell phone out of his pocket.
After a few rings, Nicole picked up.
“Hello,” Nicole said, her voice sounded sweet over the phone.
“Hi Hun,” Cameron began, “I got some bad news.”
“What.” She said, her voice echoed with a touch of bite to it.
“I was asked to work some overtime this weekend.”
“Not again!” Nicole barked, “This happened last weekend and the weekend before that.”
“I know,” Cameron said, “But I need the money so I don’t have a choice.”
“And our date?”
“We can still go.” Cameron said, “It will just have to be later that night.”
“No.” Nicole spat, “You have done this to me too many times. I am going out with my friends from work. I’ll let you know sometime next week if I want to go out on a date with you.”
The line went dead. Cameron calmly put his cell phone back into his pocket. He could feel his anger and frustration build. He rubbed his temples as he took a couple deep breaths. After a few seconds, he quickly calmed himself down.
Bert the foreman walked over to Cameron.
“You know that you don’t have to take the overtime.” Bert said, “You are the one guy that I can count to take these extra shifts. You can say no.”
“I know,” Cameron said, “I need the money though.”
“So you all say.”

COFFEE SHOP- DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER- SUNDAY APRIL 15TH- 5PM

Cameron Peterson sat at a small table in a coffee shop. He stared aimlessly out the window at the busy street outside. The coffee shop sat at an intersection that seemed to be lined with coffee shops, each looked very much the same.
The rain pattered in a constant roar that it only seemed to do in the rainy city of Vancouver. People, in typical Vancouverite fashion, huddled under their umbrellas trying to look as if the rain, the beggars or the bad drivers of the city did not affect them.
Horns honked noisily as the bad drivers made their way around pedestrians. The pedestrians were attempting to cross the street in front of the coffee shop. The drivers were attempting to turn the corner.
Cameron chuckled as he watched the drama unfold in front of him.
Cameron was twenty-six years old. He had shady blond hair that seemed to be in a permanent buzz cut. His muscled torso was hardened through six years employed as a rifleman in the Canadian Armed Forces. Three years as a construction worker allowed him to keep the physic.
Cameron currently sported a two day old scruff of a beard and wore baggy work clothes. An umbrella sat on the floor next to him, as well as a leather jacket dripped from his chair.
A playful couple entered the store. They laughed and poked at each other. Water dripped from there umbrellas and clothing.
“That was close.” The guy said, “Stupid drivers.”
The girl giggled as they headed for the extremely long looking line-up to buy a coffee.
He smiled at the thought of his girlfriend Nicole. He had met her when he had finally declared to himself that he wasn’t ever going to look for another girl again.
Very quickly she became his reason for getting up in the morning, the reason he worked so hard for the little money that he did have. For two years he had dated and eventually lived with her.
Cameron pulled out his cell phone. He quickly thumbed through his phone's contact list.
“Where are you Wally?” Cameron said to himself.
“What?” Wally said as he entered the store behind the couple, “You do know that talking to yourself is a sign of madness?”
Wally was shorter than Cameron’s six feet, but not by much. He was also heavier than Cameron, but not in the same department. Wally’s weight wasn’t from exercise like Cameron’s. Wally’s weight was from spending too much time in front of an Xbox or at the bar.
Wally was clean shaven and well groomed. He had long noticeably white hair for a twenty-eight year old. He also wore designer clothes and a goofy smile that was plastered on his face most of the time.
“Can’t you ever get anywhere on time?” Cameron snarled.
“You get stressed out too much.” Wally sat down, “What is this about? Why did I have to get up at the crack of dawn to come down here for?”
“It’s not the crack of dawn.” Cameron said, “It’s noon.”
“Whatever.” Wally muttered.
“I am proposing to Nicole tomorrow.” Cameron said.
“Are you mad?” Wally retorted.
“What kind of question is that?” Cameron exclaimed, shocked.
“You are giving away your freedom.” Wally said, “Look around you, lovely woman are everywhere.”
“Who are all, very taken. Look, you've known me since high school. How many girlfriends have I ever had?” Cameron asked.
“Shit dude.” Wally said, “I haven’t a clue. Like four.”
“How about two in nine years.”
“How many girlfriends have I had?” Wally answered, “One three years ago. Do I care, no. I am not going to propose to the first girl that I meet.”
“I didn’t just meet her. I have been with her for two years!” Cameron exclaimed.
“So,” Wally said, “I need to be with a girl for at least six years before I even have thoughts like that.”
“The last girlfriend that you had, only lasted two weeks.” Cameron said.
“Best two weeks of sex that I ever had.” Wally shot back smugly.
“Why are we arguing?” Cameron asked.
The playful couple from before looking at them funny as they headed back out into the rain.
“We’re arguing ‘cause it’s so damned entertaining.” Wally answered.
Cameron laughed as he ignored the strange looks that he had gotten from the random people in the coffee shop.
Arguing was so damned entertaining, especially when they always took the other side of the argument. Wally was not only his best friend; he was more like a brother.
“Seriously though, I am going to propose to Nicole tomorrow at her work.” Cameron said.
“Okay. Good luck man.” Wally said.
“That’s not the problem.” Cameron said.
“What is?”
“If I don’t propose to her tomorrow, she will go traveling.”
“So let her go travelling.” Wally said, “It can’t hurt anything.”
“For two years.” Cameron answered.
Wally paused. The goofy look the Wally usually wore dropped from his face. It was replaced by a mask of seriousness.
“I see.” Wally said, “What brought this up? I mean, when I talked to you last week, you didn’t say anything about wanting to marry her.”
“I don’t know.” Cameron said, “It just seems like I am spending all of my time working at shitty job and if I don’t do something, I am going to lose her.”
“The money is good right?”
“Sure, overtime with a 25 buck an hour base rate is great, but what is the point if I have no one to spend it on? That's the same issue that I had in the army. No time to keep a girlfriend.”
“Right.” Wally said, “This is me being serious. Propose to her. If you love her, get her. Don’t let her leave. If you do, you will regret it. I regret losing mine.”
“You regret your two week girlfriend?” Cameron asked.
“I do.” Wally said, “I wish that I hadn’t cheated on her. If I wasn’t so stupid, I’d be still with her.”
Cameron laughed. “All right, I gotta get going. I’ll call you after I do it.”

U.B.C. SOLAR ANNEX- MONDAY APRIL 16TH- 3AM

Row, upon row of computer consoles filled the room deep in the bowels of the observatory. A giant monitor sat on a single wall on one side of the room.
Only one of the vast multitudes of computers was currently in operation. Light flashed form the screen, causing unnatural shadows to flash across the darken room. A single figure sat at the console.
Lucy LuKarin was asleep; she had leaned back into her chair with her feet resting on her desk and her hands behind her head. The latest harlequin romance novel lay splayed across her chest; it threatened to topple over every time she exhaled. Her long black hair was pulled into a bun, with carefully selected strands pulled aside to showcase her startling green eyes.
On her computer, an Orlando Bloom screen saver flashed. Each picture was more scandalous than the last.
Suddenly, the screen saver disappeared and a window popped up.
It said, “Solar Explorer Connection established, press Okay to download.”
Lucy didn’t stir as drool ran down her lips with each snore.
The monitor flashed back to the Orlando Bloom screen saver.
A couple minutes later the screen saver disappeared. The window popped back up. The screen said the same thing as before. This time the change of the light waked Lucy.
Groggily she clicked okay. The window disappeared and a progress bar popped up.
Lucy opened up her book. After she read and then re-read the same line over and over again, she soon fell back asleep. The book rested on her bosom.
The progress bar moved slowly across the screen. When it eventually reached 17%. Then the computer beeped loudly and an error message popped up.
It said, “Error. Connection Lost.”
Lucy woke up and looked at the screen. Her left hand wiped the small sliver of drool off of he lips.
“What the… Oh crap.” Lucy said as she sat up, her previous tiredness all but gone.
In a flutter of pages her book flew to the ground.
“Oh fuck! Where is it?” she cursed.
With a furry of clicking, window after window and menu upon menu opened and closed.
She grabbed the phone and dialled a number quickly. After the phone rang a few times, the line picked up.
“Hello.” A tired male voice muttered.
“Doctor Winston, sorry to bother you, but I’ve lost the connection to the Solar Explorer.” Lucy said quickly as her words streamed together.
“What do you mean lost it?” Dr. Winston replied groggily.
“I was downloading the latest data from the Explorer, when the connection was lost.”
“Oh. Did you look for the satellite through the secondary antenna?” Dr. Winston said mockingly, “The primary antenna isn’t well shielded from solar radiation, maybe a wire melted on the stupid, ill-designed thing.”
“Yes I did look through the secondary antenna,” Lucy snapped, “it is as if the satellite doesn’t exist.”
“Hmm.” Dr Winston muttered, “We’ll figure it out later.”
“Doctor.” Lucy said, “I’d have to do a more thorough analysis, but I looked the data over quickly. It has solar activity going through the roof.”
“Did you get all of the data before the explorer was lost?”
“Well... No. But...”
“But nothing.” Dr. Winston said sternly.
“Sir, several of the data points, which indicate a solar storm is showing readings through the roof.”
“What you fail to learn is that a single data point or find or artifact means nothing. Show me a complete data analysis or show me nothing.”
Lucy was silent for a moment. But before she could speak up, Dr. Winston interrupted her.
“Nothing to say?” Dr. Winston muttered. “I’ll check it out in the morning. I am going back to sleep.”
“But, sir! I think that this is...” Lucy yelled out in frustration.
“It isn’t important.” Doctor Winston yelled back at Lucy, causing Lucy to sink back into her chair. “It is probably just an ‘operator’ error.” Dr. Winston said firmly, “Don’t bother me again!”
The phone disconnected with a slam.
The silence of the morning echoed as Lucy sat in her chair dumb-founded.
“What am I going to do?” she muttered to herself.
She got up out of her chair and paced back and forth across the room.
“What the fuck am I going to do?” she asked herself rather loudly.
She kicked the book across the room each time she passed it. The book tore apart as it left her foot.
“Stupid fat doctor.” Lucy screamed.
The book sailed across the room. Its pages scattered as they hit a far wall.
“I need to call someone. I need to raise the alarm, alert the press. Warn the Prime Minister.” Lucy rambled to the Orlando Bloom screen saver, “But who do I call?”