Chapters

Tuesday 20 March 2012

Chapter 4 - Part 2

Ebbe scrunched her face up tightly before she turned to see what she already knew was there. Or more accurately, what wasn't. In her mind she pictured the scenes of panic on the streets, parents grabbing their terrified children and clasping them close protectively, drivers skidding to a halt to survey the sky. Businesses would be grinding to a halt the world over as workers pressed noses to glass, or rushed out into the street to stare upwards.

Ebbe held her eyes shut for a second longer, before at last letting them open slowly, revealing the black sky above. 

My God, she exclaimed inwardly with a gasp, it's beautiful. 

The sun had vanished entirely, as if it were merely a candle, extinguished by a careless draft. The sky was now a shimmering inky blackness, as if the Earth were suddenly enshrouded within a vast cavern. Despite the absence of the sun and indeed any discernible stars, there was something glinting imperceptibly all across the sky. Ebbe had been spelunking several times and she found it akin to the interior of a wet cavern, when the lights from the explorers bounced of tiny imperfections in the rocky surroundings. 

Instead of fear, Ebbe felt only relief. She couldn't imagine why, but she was happy to go with the cathartic release of tension that had been pent up within for years now. Here it was, the culmination of all that research and by God it was magnificent.

With a perverse excitement coursing through her veins, Ebbe forced herself to turn back to her feuding comrades. For a brief moment Ebbe had hoped that something so extraordinary would stem the desire for ongoing discourse, but that hope was dashed before the thought had even completed. Far from being humbled, Grim Reaper had opportunistically grabbed Fearless Leader's discarded weapon and was now pointing it with obvious intent at Fearless.

"Bloody fools," Ebbe spat out loud, anger bubbling impatiently to the surface. Before another thought had entered her mind, she began to stride towards the Land Rover, her eyes alight, her jaw grinding. She caught the look of surprise on Fearless' face as she emerged from behind Grim Reaper and slapped him hard on the back of his head, as if she was castigating a naughty child. From the fear in Fearless' face he must have expected Grim to turn and shoot her without pausing for breath. Instead he simply lowered the gun and turned to Ebbe, his face more a picture of surprise than Fearless. 

"What's wrong with you man?" Ebbe spat, squaring up to him furiously, causing him to actually step back with a surprised stumble. He look as if he may speak, but no words were forthcoming. "Give it to me!" Ebbe gestured to the gun, still sensing she came off as an angry mother insisting her child hand over a banned toy. Much to the surprise of all, Grim Reaper sheepishly spun the gun in his hand, so he could offer it butt first to Ebbe. Tentatively she took it between her thumb and forefinger, holding it up as if it were something filthy she didn't want to touch. "I thought we'd already agreed you'd not kill each other," Ebbe scolded before turning to Fearless, "you just going to sit there?" 

He looked at her with raised eyebrows, clearly unsure how to take the situation. Ebbe sensed her hand with the gun was beginning to shake, and she wished he would stand to take the damn thing away from her, before she dropped it. She was certain it would go off unexpectedly and someone else would end up with a bullet in them. Much to her relief he finally stood and with a swift flick of his wrist, relieved her of the weapon. It was only now that she realised she had been holding her breath. 

Pocketing the weapon and striding up to Ebbe, Fearless didn't take his eyes off Grim Reaper. Before he turned his attention to her she saw Fearless give Grim a look, that she read to say, don't move, don't speak, don't even think. Whatever unspoken code had been given seemed to work. Grim nodded silently and raised his hands briefly, as if to say, I'm done, it's back to you now.

"This what you were expecting?" Fearless eventually said after staring out at the dark sky for a few minutes silently.

"In a manner," Ebbe replied, hoping he was too distracted to notice she was still being evasive.

"How is it still..." Fearless paused and gave a random wave of his arm to gesture at the valley.

"Light?" Ebbed finished for him. Fearless gave a small nod, his eyes fixed on one spot, perhaps where the sun had just been. "I honestly don't know," she replied. And that was the truth. It made no sense in any scientific theory she could consider. The absence of the sun ought to mean two very obvious things; no light, no heat. Neither were true now. It looked and felt as if it were morning still. The cold air Ebbe had felt, was more like a cold wind had passed by, and was now replaced with a mild, early spring-like warmth. The patchwork of fields strewn out below them were as well lit as before.

"Do you," Fearless started, before pausing to choose his words carefully, "do you know how to fix this?" He turned to look at Ebbe almost apologetically, as if he regretted asking such a question.

Ebbe simply shook her head. 

"But that doesn't mean I don't want to try," she added

"I'll help any way I can," Fearless replied with such earnestness that Ebbe surprised herself with a small smile. 

"First things first," Ebbe began, "if we are to save everyone on Earth, we shall first start with Roy."

Fearless returned her statement with a quizzical look. Ebbe gestured to Moon Face before it clicked what she had said.

"Moon Face," she corrected herself with a smirk.

Fearless shrugged, looking as if he may correct her further with the man's actual name, but instead resigning himself to her nick name. Without another word Fearless turned and nodded to Grim to follow him. Ebbe was about to follow suit, but a sideways glance from Fearless told her he was going to sort out his unit before they continued their journey.


Happy to be excluded from the family meeting, under the circumstance, Ebbe instead turned her back, confident he would regain control, or something that resembled it. She instead stared up at the starless sky, marvelling at the insanity of it all. Even in her wildest computations, she had never imagined that the Earth would still be bathed in light, when the Sun was no longer in the sky. The very concept that the Sun could just switch off in a split second was lunacy of the highest order. Suddenly her whole theory seemed infinitesimally too small minded. Everything she had based her hypothesis upon stemmed from the existing knowledge of mankind. She had expected the sun to fade, because that's what it had been doing for decades now. That was a crack pot theory up until about twenty minutes ago. Now it was a modest, but misguided concept. As to how to put it right. God only knew, but Ebbe didn't care. As long as she had breath in her lungs, she would seek out a solution and by God, those who had tried to kill her would damn well listen to anything she had to say. 

The answer was up there somewhere. 

"Ebbe," Fearless shouted from the drivers seat of the Land Rover, "time to go."

Ebbe gave one last glance over the surreal sight of black sky over seemingly sunlit fields before turning and jogging lightly back to the vehicle.

"I know a place we can go," Fearless told her, patting the passenger seat insistently. Ebbe nodded, glancing to the rear of the Land Rover. Shakes had now been relegated to the boot, though unlike Grim, he had not been tied. Grim himself, was sitting on the rear seat with Moon Face's head on his lap.

"Ma'am," Grim nodded with a serious face. Ebbe chose not to respond, still not entirely trusting him. Grasping the roof of the Land Rover she hoisted herself up and slammed the door shut. 


Without another word Fearless twisted the key in the ignition and the Land Rover roared to life with unusual vigour. 


As they pulled away Ebbe had a vision. In her mind's eye she could see a white trail coursing through the sky. A rocket was surging its way upwards, towards the unknown. The answer was up there somewhere. And so, up there was where she needed to be. Time, Ebbe concluded, for one last field trip.