Her mouth fell open in fear and she tried to shout. Finally, she found her voice.
“Tooommmyyy!”
Chapter 59
Charles de Gaulle Airport
Near Paris, France
During the ride to the airport, they both made phone calls to anyone who’d listen. The backseat was a chaotic racket of French and English, both languages being heard by those on the other end of the phone calls placed by Chapman and Isabella.
Chapman began with his executive producers at The Weather Channel, who assured him they’d put a team on it. He wanted them to contact the National Weather Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but they weren’t prepared to do that until his theories could be confirmed.
Isabella received similar pushback when she spoke to the department heads at the university. They both heard similar words in response to their pleas.
Unproven. Insufficient. Alarmist. Fearmongering.
By the time the two reached the airport twenty minutes later, they were exhausted and frustrated. The driver helped them with their luggage inside the terminal, where the real work would begin. They had no idea which airline to take. All they knew was they wanted to leave Paris because there was a newfound sense of urgency.
Chapman had received another text from his contact at the SWPC. The geostorm was travelling much faster than originally predicted. The eighteen-hour time window he’d been given had been cut down to eight. To make matters worse, the brunt of the solar particles were expected to hit the northern hemisphere between the magnetic north pole, which was now near Kazakhstan, and the Atlantic coast.
They ran to the information desk inside the terminal and asked for a travel agent within the airport. It would’ve taken too much time to wait in line at individual airlines, and their ability to search online using their phone was not always accurate, as they discovered in the Uber when trying to find flight options.
They were directed down the concourse toward Selectour Bleu Voyages for assistance. They impatiently paced the floor of the travel agency as an older couple tried to find a flight to Tel Aviv. Isabella was animated, frequently sighing, drawing the attention of the travel agent, who became increasingly annoyed with her. Finally, after fifteen minutes, the old couple left with tickets in hand, and Isabella immediately started in on the hapless travel agent.
“We want to go nonstop to Chicago. Tonight. No, immediately.”
He tapped away on the keyboard, periodically looking up from Isabella to Chapman with a wary eye. “You will need two hours to clear customs and immigrations. I assume you both have passports and visas if necessary.”
“Oui. A flight to the U.S. The earliest departure available.”
“Chicago departs at 11:55 p.m.”
“That’s too late,” interjected Chapman. “Try Cincinnati.”
The travel agent tried another airline. “It is sold out. They have availability in the morning.”
“No!” shouted Isabella. She turned to Chapman for guidance.
“Atlanta. New York. DC, um, I mean Washington. Boston, too.”
The travel agent began to search all airlines for the first available departure. “I have Lufthansa leaving in two hours fifteen minutes with a brief connection in Berlin.”
“No connections,” said Chapman. “Nonstop only.”
He tried again. “Here, but a different airport than you requested. It is La Compagnie from Orly to Newark, nonstop. It leaves in two hours.”
Orly airport was south of Paris, forty minutes away.
Now Chapman was frustrated. “Let’s go, Isabella. He is no help to us.”
“Monsieur, I can assure you, I am doing my best.”
“Hurry, please,” said Isabella, encouraging the agent to keep looking.
Chapman kept checking his watch. The seconds ticked away like a time bomb about to explode. Geomagnetic storms didn’t adhere to strict time schedules. They didn’t care about departures and arrivals, nonstops or one stops. When they hit, they hit with a vengeance, especially under these circumstances.
The travel agent smiled. “Yes, this will work for you. American Airlines leaves in two and one-half hours for New York Kennedy. There are only two seats left, business class.”
“We’ll take them!” shouted Chapman. He reached into his wallet and dropped TWC’s American Express card on the counter to pay for both of their tickets. Then he mumbled to himself, “I’ll explain later, if there is a later.”
Chapter 60
Aboard American Airlines Flight
Paris, France
Chapman was sweating profusely, and it wasn’t because the cabin of the Boeing 777 was hot. Uncharacteristically, he was a nervous wreck. The flight pushed away from the gate on time, but once they were on the tarmac, awaiting their turn for takeoff, unexplained delays prohibited them from leaving. For another forty minutes, they were on hold, waiting for clearance from the tower. During this time, Chapman had three bourbons and complained about his cell phone’s battery dying.
Chapman glanced down at his watch. They were nearing the time when the SWPC predicted the G1 geomagnetic storm would hit Eastern Europe and possibly France.
Flight attendants, please prepare for takeoff.
The thrust of the massive General Electric engines pushing the aircraft closer to the runway gave Chapman a huge sense of relief. He relaxed and his head dropped back against the padded seat of the spacious business-class seat. The flight attendants scurried about the cabin, picking up drinks and encouraging everyone to raise their tray tables for takeoff.
“Thank you,” he whispered as Isabella continued to hold his hand. “I’m sorry. It’s just—”
“No apologies. I know you are concerned for us. I think it is sweet, and manly.”
Chapman chuckled. “You had to calm me down, remember.”
“Oui, but it gave me something to do. I was very nervous, too.”
The flight attendants buckled into their seats, and the plane rolled down the runway until it suddenly lurched forward. The plane was wheels-up for New York.
The couple held each other’s hands and squeezed as excitement overcame them. They were going to get out of Europe before the geostorm’s arrival.
“A new adventure,” said Chapman as he looked past Isabella through the right side windows of the aircraft. The plane continued to climb, headed south along the east side of Paris. They both admired la Ville Lumière—the City of Lights. Then he said the words. “Je t’aime, Isabella Dubois.”
“I love you, Chapman Boone.” Then Isabella shed a tear as she stared down at her beloved Paris. “I will miss her.”
Chapman leaned in to kiss her wet cheek. “We’ll be back. This is where I fell in love with you. Paris will always be a part of our lives.”
The intercom hissed slightly and the internal speakers came to life as the aircraft began to bank to the right over the city, providing the passengers on the plane an incredible view of the Eiffel Tower.
“Good evening from the flight deck. This is First Officer Connor Shields. We’re appreciative of you flying with us tonight. Our flight time to New York’s Kennedy Airport is just over nine hours. I urge you to sit back, relax, get some sleep, and leave the—”
He abruptly stopped speaking as the plane was suddenly surrounded by an eruption of green, blue, and white hues of light. The two hundred plus passengers on the flight gasped in amazement as the midnight black skies turned to an incredible light show.
“It’s happening,” whispered Chapman as he gripped Isabella’s hand. He wasn’t sure if the geostorm would have a direct impact on the electronics of the airplane or not. He closed his eyes and said a quick prayer. When he opened them, they grew wide as shouts of astonishment filled the aircraft.
“Chapman, do you see?”
The first officer came back on the intercom. “Well, ladi
es and gentlemen, it appears that Paris heard me, because they are also going to bed early tonight. Well, bonne nuit, Paris.”
Good night, Paris.
And good night to the rest of France, Eastern Europe and Western Russia, too. Every light for as far as they could see went out as a rolling wave of darkness swept across the continent, through Paris, and all the way to Normandy on the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean.
Yet the pilots of American Airlines kept flying west toward the States, blissfully unaware of the catastrophe wrought by the first of many geostorms.
THANK YOU FOR READING GEOSTORM: THE SHIFT!
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Copyright Information
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Table of Contents
Dedications
Acknowledgements
About the Author, Bobby Akart
Author’s Introduction to the Geostorm Series
Real-World News Excerpts
Epigraph
PART ONE — August
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Copyright Information