2010…

What the hell does he want this 40 meter deep house with magnetic walls for? The contractor thought to himself scratching his head. The man who gave him the contract seemed a normal guy, though a little edgy about the construction. He was not going to start asking questions, especially because he was getting well paid and was told to keep his mouth shut about the whole thing. The house was to be constructed strictly according to the given plans, and there was no limit to the cost, as long as the plans were followed exactly. The construction had already started and it was supposed to last two years, as the removal of the material from the excavation was going to take quite a while. The walls of the entire construction were to be built with reinforced concrete, having magnetized steel rods, and as an extra bonus, magnetic sand was added instead of regular sand.

The excavation was to be done very carefully, and the material was kept on the same grounds for future landscaping, as the house was supposed to be entirely underground and the only thing left to see, were some artificial trees made of optic fiber and specially built leaves and trunks containing lots of solar cells to pick up all of the available solar rays and energy year round. The construction had started six months ago, and the excavation was about to be finished. Teams of welders were already finishing the basement reinforced steel mesh and the magnetic sand was starting to pile up next to the concrete plant, ready to start the mixture. The cement trucks were to be arriving every hour to have a permanent flow of concrete to start the pour any minute.

The pour…

On the seventh month, the excavation was already finished, and the materials ready for the first pour. Gary Newman, the contractor, was ready to give the order to start pouring the concrete as soon as the last piece of steel mesh was welded in place... ‘Ok, start the concrete pumps and let’s get this thing going.’ The pumps started to roar, and the concrete started to flow at a 4 cubic meter per minute continuous flow. The casing for the concrete was made of wood, to keep the sand from sticking to it as it was magnetic, and the 2500 square meter basement walls were getting full of concrete in about 12 hours. Gary was relieved when he saw the basement take form and the concrete look just as planned.

The wait was a little longer than normal for the concrete to settle down, due to the absence of ventilation at 40 meters depth. The week and a half Gary had to wait for the concrete to settle, he used to talk to his boss about the way the construction was coming out.

‘Everything is going according to plan Mr. Smith,’ he said.

‘Good; did you keep the specs for the walls at 50 cm like I told you?’ asked Mr. Smith.

‘Of course, Sir, everything just as you requested,’ Gary added.

‘Remember I need the elevator to be 4X4 meters and that when it gets down to the basement it’s supposed to be flat with the surface of the floor so that it is easy to get things out of it easily,’ requested Mr. Smith.

‘Yes Sir, the basement’s reinforced floor on the side of the elevator is exactly 50cm under the rest of the floor so all the floor can be flat when the elevator is in place,’ answered Gary.

‘When is the next pour?’ asked Mr Smith.

‘They are welding the steel mesh as we speak, so probably by tomorrow afternoon or the day after tomorrow the second level will be poured Sir,’ he answered.

‘The way we’re advancing, when do you think we will finish pouring?’ requested Mr. Smith.

‘At a rate of a week and a half for settling, we should finish the last pour in about 4 months, and start landscaping in six months,’ Gary answered optimistically.

‘Fantastic. When can I start getting the stuff for the finishing of all the floors?’ Mr. Smith said.

‘That’s going to take a little more time Sir, because the whole structure is going to heat up more than normal, due to the amount of iron in the concrete, so we might have to wait at least two months before we start the finishing part,’ frowned Gary.

‘Still under schedule; no worries there then. I’ll introduce you to the new guy who will be doing the electrical part in about three months, so that you guys can coordinate the electrical part without getting in each other’s way,’ smiled Mr. Smith.

‘I think you should bring him right now before we do the second pour, because he might need some piping to go from one level to the next, and we’re just going to pour the lowest level’s cover,’ suggested Gary.

‘You’re right Gary let me call him in.’ He pressed a button and spoke up: ‘Bring the electrician in Martha’. A minute later, a blond guy entered the room, followed by the secretary. ‘Thank you Martha. Come in Roger. Gary, this is Roger Thomas, the electrician; you’ll be working together from now on until the whole project is finished,’ ordered Mr. Smith.

‘Yes Mr. Smith,’ they both answered while they shook hands…

Hank Smith wasn’t able to sleep for three nights in a row, so he called Roger in on the fourth day to tell him about his worries. ‘Come in Roger, I’m really worried about the trees that are going on the outside. How much are they supposed to withstand when the moment comes?’ he inquired really worried.

‘Don’t worry Hank; the umm “guys” told me they were supposed to withstand any surge of magnetism coming from the storm without any damage, if we follow the construction techniques strictly,’ said Roger in a calm voice.

The second pour was done on schedule and so were the third and still the fourth, until they found a problem on the fifth. Gary called Mr. Smith immediately: ‘Hank, we got a problem on the 5th pour; the sand is starting to get rusted, probably due to the last days of rain, and is losing a lot of volume and texture. What can we do?’

‘Shit just what we need; tell you what: leave that sand alone and just build a cover in the week we have to wait so we don’t get any more wet sand. In the mean time, I’ll order another shipment from Japan; it’ll get here in four days so we’re still under schedule. Incinerate all that rusted sand and send half to the paint factory in Germany, the other half we’re going to need it to paint the whole thing for rust-proofing remember?’ said Mr. Smith.

‘Got it Hank,’ said Gary.

The next day the cover for the sand was ready, and they set the rusted sand on fire, leaving the oxide ready to be sent in 48 hours. Two concrete trucks took half the rust to the nearest port to be sent to Germany, while other two trucks delivered the rest of the rust to the factory in Canada to get the anti corrosive paint going. Four new trucks full of sand were unloaded under the covers, and there were still two days left for the next pour deadline.

Roger was at the Shanghai facility where the trees were being built, and was supervising all the process before leaving to the construction site the next day. ‘I still don’t understand this manufacturing process Mr. Thomas. I have never seen this kind of material being used to build solar cells Sir’ said Mr. Kori Wang, the facility production manager.

‘It’s normal for you to be worried, I can understand that, because It’s a whole new technology for you, but believe me, the process is completely safe and proven. When the moment comes, you’ll see what I mean,’ Roger said trying to calm Mr. Wang down.

‘The first finished tree is coming out of production in about an hour. Would you like to take it to Mr. Smith?’ asked Kori.

‘That’s an excellent idea Kori. Mr. Smith has been really worried about it, because he thinks the trees are too weak to resist the environment when the storm hits,’ smiled Roger.

‘Tell him not to worry, I tested some leaves and trunks in the furnace and they didn’t even change color at 1600 ºC,’ reported Kory with a big smile on his face. An hour later the first three was getting in Roger’s truck and he headed for the airport, where he drove the truck inside a plane to get back home.

The fifth pour was a success, now with more wiring involved, as the upper levels were starting to get done, and the controls for the building were going to be on levels four and five. In spite of the fact that he was told not to ask questions and that he had told himself he wasn’t going to ask anything, Gary suspected something weird was going to happen, especially when he saw Roger speaking to a couple of weird looking guys wearing dark-mirrored glasses at night under very low light conditions. Roger noticed his worries and called for a meeting after the 6th pour. They all met at Mr. Smith’s office two days after the pour. Roger broke the ice by saying: ‘Hank, I think it’s time for Gary to know what the hell he’s building, otherwise he might quit on us in the middle of the construction.’

‘You’re right. It’s impossible not to ask questions at this stage of the project, so let’s enlighten him,’ agreed Hank. He stood up and led them both to a secret room behind the bookshelf, where there was a big screen and some comfortable chairs. ‘Sit down gentlemen and prepare for a big surprise Gary,’ he added.

The video showed the results of a solar storm that affected a good part of Canada years ago, leaving an entire area without electricity or anything, and then proceeded with a serious scientific study about the consequences of a solar storm on everything that worked with electronic equipment, including computers, cars, radios, and in general most of the stuff we regularly use that lately has become electronics-dependent. When the video finished, Hank continued talking: ‘Gary, I was visited -believe it or not- by a group of friendly aliens who offered me the possibility to avoid the results of such a storm, by following certain procedures, including the underground facility you guys are building. You saw them talking to Roger the other day. They can’t stand any light at all, so they must wear those weird looking glasses all the time, because they have a sight system that differs greatly from ours that only allows them to see exclusively infra red and below spectrums of light,’ he concluded.

‘Why did they choose you Hank?’ asked Gary.

‘Probably because I’m a very successful businessman, and I have economical interests and factories all over the globe, that relate to most of the new technologies and I have a good sense of humanity when it comes to paying good salaries and employing a lot of people. You know I am by no means a selfish rich son of a bitch,’ he proudly said.

‘I’m aware of that Hank. And are they going to be here when the storm hits next year?’ he enquired.

‘They will be here if the construction gets finished by then and the tests they run are within their physical requirements. This will be the closest they will have been to a solar storm in their 20.000 years of existence, and they are very excited about it,’ continued Hank ‘And of course the information that we are discussing here is not to leave this room as you might have supposed. Nobody but the three of us and Kori in Shanghai on this planet knows about this matter, not even Martha my secretary, so I request absolute secrecy about this and I mean ABSOLUTE!’

‘I understand Hank it’s only obvious. Don’t worry, my lips are sealed,’ answered Gary.

The three of them left the room and Gary went back to the construction site. Hank and Roger went to the basement of the building and opened a strange room filled with cameras and testing equipment. A big container was taken out of Roger’s truck by a couple of robots, and placed on the floor, where they opened it and took out the tree he had brought from Shanghai. Both of them were amazed at how real the trees looked. Suddenly, four figures appeared from nowhere and joined them. ‘I told you they would look real Hank,’ the older looking guy said. ‘They did an excellent job there in Shanghai. We already did some tests ourselves and they are better than perfect. You should be proud of Kori, Hank,’ he concluded.

Hank was really surprised to hear that they had already tested the trees and said: ‘And how did you run the tests without taking the tree out of the truck?’

‘Simple Hank; we ran the tests in a parallel dimension so we didn’t even touch this tree here’ he smiled. ‘Let me show you what I mean.’ He ordered the other three guys to hook the trees in the necessary test equipment, and then they turned the lights off to calibrate the readers. The tree was then put inside a steel chamber full of controlled lights, and the testing equipment started to show the results…

LIGHT TRANSFER FROM OUTSIDE ENVIRONMENT TO UNDERGROUND FACILITY……….100/100%

ELECTRICITY YIELD FROM SOLAR CELLS………..100/100%

RESISTANCE TO HEAT………….1200/1200%

‘Holy shit! 1200% resistance to heat? And the light transfer and generation yield are excellent figures. You were right M7G8. They are perfect; they can withstand even a lava pour on them without a scratch,’ Hank said.

‘That is precisely the test we performed Hank. We took the tree to Kilauea in Hawaii and sunk it there to see if it would burn and nothing happened to it. Quite the opposite, the cells gave 125% yield of electricity after the test,’ said M7G8. ‘We also ran some tests on the walls of the lowest level, and the resistance to magnetism showed up to 40 gauss, which will be as safe as it can be for the storm, adding the distance from the surface and the trees on the outside that will absorb most of the actual impact, I think we will be joining you people the day of the storm,’ he concluded.

‘That’s excellent news M7G8 I’ll call Gary to tell him the good news,’ said Hank.

‘It will not be necessary Hank. I will tell him personally. I have to congratulate him on the great job he’s doing there, and give him a couple of hints to plant the trees on the surface prior to the finishing touches. Roger has to be present too. Would you like to come with us Roger or do you prefer traveling on your transportation device?’ asked M7G8.

‘I’ll travel with you I guess, although I’ve never done it before,’ answered Roger. M7G8 drew a circle with his hand, enclosing Roger, plus the four aliens and at the press of a button on M7G8’s wrist they arrived at the construction site. Gary was surprised to see Roger so soon and understood everything when he saw the four aliens arrive with him.

M7G8 spoke first: ‘Gary, my name is M7G8 and these are my 3 androids, so don’t worry about not saying hello to them. They just follow my orders and will not even understand a word you are saying,’ he stated.

‘Nice to meet you,’ Gary said hesitantly extending his hand to M7G8. The latter extended his own and shook hands with Gary.

‘I’m here to congratulate you on the excellent job you are doing on the construction. We ran some tests and the structure is beyond expectations, to the extent that I came to tell you personally that I’m going to be here the day of the storm, as the structure is more than capable of protecting us all and everything contained inside the day of the storm. I would also like to show you and Roger a new method to plant the trees when you are about to finish the surface of the facility.’ He took out a sort of pen that drew a virtual board on the air and then materialized it, while it stayed floating on the air. The board went on by itself and began to show a series of steps to plant the trees in such an easy way that Roger and Gary were amazed at how such a simple technique would make things so much easier. M7G8 continued, ‘as you can see, the method is quite simple, yet very effective gentlemen,’ he concluded.

‘Why didn’t we think of that Gary?’ laughed Roger.

‘I think because we take the trees as normal plants, and they aren’t Roger,’ stated Gary. As they spoke, the pen de-materialized the board, and finally erased the virtual board, after which M7G8 put it back in his pocket. ‘I will see you two weeks before the storm hits to perform the final tests and adjust the trees to their maximum output. It has been a pleasure to talk to you both gentlemen, I have to return home. My wife has just requested my presence there for dinner. Excuse me,’ and the four aliens vanished in the air.

The four final pours were done according to schedule, and by mid 2011 the whole facility was perfectly concealed under a beautiful hill full of pine trees, of different sizes and the artificial grass covering the entrances was so natural that a person sitting on it would never know it was artificial. The 16 square meter elevator was easily raised and lowered, in a matter of seconds without leaving any trail, as did the doors to the facility.

The purchase…

Hank, Gary, Roger and Kori met for the first time inside the facility in July 2011, to plan the purchases to be done and the equipment needed to acquire before December 2012, to have over a year to get the specific items with plenty of time ahead of them. ‘I’ll be in charge of all the transportation and vehicles. Remember that we have to get vehicles that don’t have electronic ignition; that is, using points and condenser like in the good old days. I might even have to re open the factory I had for those items for a couple of months. I’ll try to get as many diesel vehicles as possible. M7G8 says he has a method for making a diesel fuel from some kind of algae that grows under the sea, which does not contaminate at all,’ said Hank.

‘Sounds like a lot of work. I’ll get all the electric and electronic equipment to install it on levels 5 and 6 in order to control the building and still be safe two levels below in case something goes wrong,’ stated Roger.

‘The rest is up to me I guess. I’ll have the crops and water supply installed on levels 10 and nine. The vehicles will go on levels one and two. Levels seven and eight are for the rooms; there is going to be plenty of oxygen there from the plants growing on levels nine and ten. The rest is up to you Kori,’ said Gary.

‘Level four is for storage of food and all the other stuff we might need to survive. Half level seven will have kitchen, living room and a big dining room. The rest is for exercise and entertainment. I’ll install a paddle ball court if there’s enough room. Level three is for machinery, tools and weapons. I think we should be ready by the end of September next year,’ concluded Kori.

‘Yes. We all have assignments that have to be done by the end of September next year.’ Hank smiled. He opened two bottles of champagne and they all celebrated until early the next morning.

August 26 th 2012

September was getting close, and the guys had been busy all year, gathering all the stuff they had planned to furnish the facility. Levels nine and ten were full of growing plants, which were already producing plenty of oxygen for the whole facility at a level slightly above normal, so there was no need for ventilation systems. The first harvest was collected at the end of July. The overall temperature in the facility was more than comfortable at 26º C year round, even in mid July when outside temperatures had reached temperatures above the official records of 51ºC. There were plenty of vehicles; most of them from the 70’s and 80’s fully rebuilt to manufacturer’s specs. Black was the preferred color for all of them, as they were supposed to move in the night hours in case the storm caused severe damage all over the planet, and people might have gone crazy looking for food and housing. The rooms were perfectly furnished as was the rest of the facility. There was a final meeting at the end of November, to sign an agreement for the rules and regulations in case of an emergency and in case the line of command was for some reason altered.

The final meeting and the moving to the facility…

Hank called for a meeting in which all of the members of the crew had to show up at his office with their corresponding wives and lovers (if any), children and pets. The meeting took place at the secret room, which was “expanded” by M7G8 to fit everybody in there. To Martha’s surprise, she was invited to the room which was totally unknown to her. Martha had a very sexy 19 year old daughter and a handsome 20 year old boy. Her husband had died 6 years ago in a car accident while driving drunk. Kori surprised everybody when he showed up at the meeting with one wife and three lovers, all of them with couples of boy-girl children in their teens. Gary came with his wife and three children, two twin girls and a boy in their 20’s. He also brought a lover, a beautiful black girl with a daughter from Gary. Roger wasn’t too far behind with two lovers and a wife, having six children all in their teens, boys and girls, the same as Kori. Finally, there was Hank with a wife and two lovers, one from Germany, and the other a Brazilian, all of them also with boy-girl couples in their late teens. Martha was also on the list, although nobody knew about it.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please?’ shouted Hank. ‘The meeting today is going to change your lives completely from now on. What you are going to see here will both surprise you and please you at the same time. From December 1 st , you are going to move to this facility.’ The screen flashed with the images of a beautiful mountain filled with pine trees full of life.

They all started to mumble around saying things like “Are we going to live on that mountain? What is he talking about? Is he crazy?” The screen then showed how the top of the mountain opened and the camera went inside the facility. The cars were the first thing they saw, all lined up and shiny coupes, sedans, campers, station wagons, motorcycles, bicycles, boats, vans and trucks. The elevator wet down, and the camera went to the next level. More vehicles were there, including dump trucks, tractors and cistern trucks. The next level was full of tools and equipment suited to make all kinds of construction possible. The level below was equipped with refrigerators and storage units to keep all kinds of survival equipment, including surgical and high tech medical equipment, as well as food for a long period of time. The elevator didn’t stop at levels five or six. Only Gary, Hank, Kori and Roger could make the elevator stop at those two floors. The living room, dining room, kitchen, and the rest of the two levels got a standing ovation from the audience, not to mention levels nine and ten, where there were plenty of fruits to choose from.

Hank continued, ‘This facility is going to be your home for as long as the solar storm hits us, and whatever you leave outside is very likely to get destroyed according to the latest calculations. I suggest you get at least seven pairs of jeans, plenty of T shirts, boots and sneakers as possible, winter coats, at least 2, and whatever you like is fine to wear, except there is one mandatory outfit:

“Everyone has to have a black ninja-type outfit, with something to cover your faces and hands. The gloves are preferable made of wool, as well as the hat, those mountain hiking hats, that only leave eyes uncovered will do. I would recommend pressed cotton fabric for the rest of the outfit. And I repeat this is mandatory, and everyone has to have at least two of those, no exceptions.’ He continued, ‘You can bring all your electronic equipment, namely cell phones, computers, stereos, iPods, mp3 players, etc, but you have to do that before the storm hits, that means that you only have about two weeks to move here. Only dogs are allowed preferably German shepherds. Those wanting dogs should agree with the others in order to have an even number of males and females. There are going to be 5 mares and 5 stallions next to the crops. I don’t want anybody outside three days before the storm hits. Those of you that can’t make it here three days before the storm, I’m sorry, but I can’t let the doors open from that moment on. THIS IS TO BE PERFECTLY CLEAR: NOBODY OUTSIDE THIS ROOM IS TO KNOW ABOUT THIS PLACE. In fact, since you don’t know where the place is, we’ll send you there from here, in order to keep the place a secret. When you have everything ready, come here by car, leave your cars in the lowest level of the parking here, and come to this same room. You will be transported there. There will be no time for asking questions at that moment. That is all, have a good day,’ he finished.

Everybody left the room in a hurry, some screaming, some cursing, others happy. The next two weeks were very busy for most of the crew, as well as for their lovers and children. The first group that was ready was Kori’s group. They gathered everything in less than a week, and were installed in the facility soon after. Roger and his crew followed the next week, and by the end of the second week, all 43 people were installed and everybody was assigned a duty, no exceptions. All the teens were assigned the care of the plants and the water supply. The kids in their 20’s were taught how to use all of the machinery and heavy equipment. The mature women were assigned cleaning, cooking and mating shifts with the corresponding mates, so nobody got sex cravings at any time. Fighting was strictly forbidden no matter what. Exercise was also assigned for everybody, following M7G8’s advice, and everybody became healthier sooner than they expected. At M7G8’s suggestion, all the kids in their 20’s were implanted all the necessary knowledge about electronics, medicine, and mechanics, in order to have plenty of knowledgeable people available permanently. The time was getting close…

The storm…

On December 21 st , everybody was gathered in the living rooms, except for Hank, Gary, Roger and Kori. They were all in the control room, together with M7G8 and his androids. The sun’s storm had started one hour ago, and it was approaching the earth quicker than expected. M7G8’s cameras had been installed on the outside, as well as magnetic proof reading equipment for the temperature, magnetism, wind conditions, and all the necessary data collectors. The living room screens were flashing data and images of the outside in real time. They could see how the storm approached the facility at a speed of 20 km/h, and they were able to see aurora borealis all over the screen in colors ranging from infra red to fully white. The gauss readers were going nuts, with figures going up and down until they got to a steady 36 gauss. The temperature on the outside went up to 500ºC, stayed there for over six days, and finally dropped slowly to just about as normal as before the storm. Six hours after the storm, the gauss readings stayed at 36 and they finally began to drop to above normal, and stayed at 3 for 1 more month, until finally after a month and a half it was pretty safe to go outside.

The first time out after the storm…

Everybody wanted to go outside and get some fresh air. M7G8 gathered everybody in the living rooms and spoke quietly. ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m afraid I have very bad news for everyone. Upon a complete search of the surrounding areas, my androids and I found little life forms at least on the surface. The closest city up north is completely destroyed. All the buildings were attracted toward the magnetic field of the storm, and were wiped out. The magnetic materials followed the storm for several kilometers and were piled up in one place two cities ahead of that city, all facing what used to be the north of the earth. If you will allow me to run a new test for life forms, in about 30 minutes I will inform you if there are any human beings left on the planet beside you.’

The room was in absolute silence. M7G8 ordered his androids to run the tests and come back as soon as possible. The androids disappeared, and came back 30 minutes later. ‘May I have your attention please?’ shouted M7G8. ‘There is good news and bad news: the bad news is that there are no humans left on the planet, except the ones present here. I’m sorry but that’s confirmed, unless somebody made it to the only military base in the U.S. protected against the storm, which I doubt very much.’ M7G8 ordered one of his androids to go there immediately and come back as soon as possible. He returned 10 minutes later with a young scientist, his colleague and wife, and three beautiful brunette girls. ‘As you can see, only five people outside this facility survived the storm,’ he stated. ‘What can you tell us about the other people?’ asked M7G8.

‘They actually thought we were crazy when we suggested they built more facilities against the storm, so my wife and my daughters gathered what we could and secretly smuggled as many animals as possible into the facility. We got pigs, cows, roosters and hens, a couple of horses, rabbits, some retrievers, we made a big pool, and managed to get even some fish there, and they are alright so far. We thought we were the only survivors on the planet. We sure are glad you guys survived as well. How many of you are there?’ the scientist asked with a big smile.

‘There are 43 of us, ten horses, plenty of brand new vehicles, food and shelter for the time being. Welcome to the magnetic shelter. My name is Hank Smith; I built this shelter with the help of Gary, Roger and Kori here, and as far as I can tell I am in command, so to speak. Introducing everyone will take awhile, so you just mingle around and feel yourself at home,’ said Hank.

‘Thank you Mr. Smith. I suppose you are the same Mr. Smith I’m thinking, my name is Brad Ross, this is my wife Lane and these are my daughters.’

After the short introduction and welcome, everybody went outside. M7G8 had already brought the animals from the military facility, and they were pasturing peacefully in the areas around the shelter. The fish were already installed on a lake that the androids had built, and were moving more freely, now with more space to move. The rest of the animals that for some reason survived the storm and that were also brought by the androids included camels, some elephants, and in general, most of the creatures from the desert areas.

The sky looked rather purple, and the sun had a strange color after the storm; it wasn’t yellowish anymore. After a month and a half without anybody around, nature had conquered back its territories and was flourishing all over. There were no more seasons in this area, as the earth had given a 45º turn on its axis and the climate had stabilized in a different way now that the sun was different. Days that used to last 24 hours, now lasted almost a week. The earth’s rotation was nearly stopped. The sun didn’t burn as much, and the readings for UV rays were nearly zero. The average temperature all year round was calculated by M7G8 at 20ºC.

To be continued…