Jubilee Year: A Novel (Erelong Trilogy Book I) - An Extended Sample

Chapter 23: CHANGES

It was the next morning when Michael managed to corner Arnold once more in the boardroom. This time, he had made sure Karl was present.

Michael swiveled his laptop computer so the other two men were able to see the screen.

"I have no doubt about it," Michael said. "None at all. There's a force acting on our sun that is affecting its energy output. Look at the Sun! It flashes. It wobbles."

He pushed several papers in front of the two other scientists.

"Here's the evidence. See for yourselves and tell me I'm wrong."

Karl sipped his burned coffee and grimaced at the bitter taste, pushing the cup aside. If Michael didn't buy a new and better coffee maker very soon, he was going to arrive at work one of these days to find the old percolator crumpled in the parking lot, having fallen from a great height.

As it turned out on this day, Karl discovered his morning shot of caffeine wasn't necessary. He was already well and truly awake.

Karl waited for Arnold to show an interest in the papers and when he saw none forthcoming, he pulled them across the tabletop and spread them out in front of him. The pages were filled with numbers, diagrams, and jotted notes. After studying them in silence for several minutes he looked up at Arnold and pointed to the data.

"You know we only need to consider the field lines. That's evidence of electromagnetic influence coming from a source other than our sun, right there."

"No, you are wrong," Arnold said.

Arnold had developed a small twitch in the corner of one eye. He pushed up his glasses with an index finger and rubbed at the tiny muscle.

"What you are seeing is related to a typical solar cycle."

"Remember the giant filament that lay across the surface of the Sun for two whole days?" Michael asked his two colleagues. "Well, take a look at this."

He pointed at the screen.

"See what happens?" Michael asked. "It snaps away. No—make that sucked away! There's an invisible vampire feeding off our sun. A typical solar cycle, my ass!"

"Are you presenting this at the symposium in Melbourne?" Karl asked, gazing at Michael with a bemused expression.

"Damned right I am!" Michael declared.

He spun the laptop around and opened the image in Paint Shop to trace three long candy green lines over the streaks of fiery plasma extending from the orange disk. When he was finished, he turned the laptop once more and pushed it across to Arnold.

"See the length of these things. See how many there are? And they are on the same side of the Sun! So please don't tell me that is normal?"

"Interesting," Karl said, as he leaned across for a closer look, and nodded his head in agreement. "Nice!"

"All heading off in the same direction," Michael continued.

Arnold pushed his spectacles up his nose and peered at the display.

"Did you get those images from Learmonth?" He asked with barely concealed surprise.

Michael smiled in response. He could barely hide the look of triumph.

"Did the other observatories record the same discharges?" Arnold asked.

Arnold's nose was almost touching the screen of the laptop.

"Yes, they did." Michael switched the image on the screen to a view of the Sun's surface. "Take a look at these shots."

He began to click through the images, one after the other without pause.