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    The Third Degree
    The Third Degree
    The Third Degree
    Ebook199 pages2 hours

    The Third Degree

    By D. E. Harrison

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    About this ebook

    The national weather bureau sees a quick flash on a weather screen. Weeks later they see another one in the mid-Atlantic Ocean. The Navy is interested but can not track it, even when they can see it. The Navy brings together many civilians to help them. What they stumble upon is a huge solar flare about to happen.
    Everyone’s attention is now on the flare and they forget the flash. The flare will destroy most satellites and last for days or weeks. The President nationalizes most industries to get enough food before it hits in less than week.
    The Navy will sail close to the ‘flash’ when the solar flare hits. The question being will they return? The Army is out shooting looters as the world is hit by the flare. Most unprotected wiring is melted in place by the flare.
    The event in the Atlantic Ocean is found to be the north magnetic pole and the south magnet pole is found in the western pacific. The solar flare appears to have moved the north and south magnetic poles permanently. This will cause problems for most animals that use them to migrate.
    It takes days for the flare to pass and will things return to more normal? However, the tilt of the Earth is changing because of what? No one knows what is going on. It tilts more every day. Soon the earth is giving the people a ‘Third degree’ tilt. They now wonder if Seattle will be ice locked for many winter months. May be Salt Lake City become a salt water port to China? The world will not return to normal. Will the tilt move the north pole to the equator and freeze the amazon jungles? When will the earthquakes start?
    Events settle down and the tilt is going down to only two degrees, A ‘second degree’ by mother earth, not good but better than what it was,
    However, they find four magnetic south poles when the old north magnetic pole was before the flare. The President is sick about all the bad news, day after day.
    Then seven magnetic south poles show up at the old north magnetic pole and they start eating each other. The President feels it will never end.
    Is there anything anyone can do, but sit and watch?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherD. E. Harrison
    Release dateJan 22, 2019
    ISBN9780463227404
    The Third Degree
    Author

    D. E. Harrison

    I am trained as a theoretical mathematician. I am an emeritus member of the American Mathematical Society for fifty odd years. I have lived in Seattle since 1967. I starting writing fiction after writing a family history.

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      Book preview

      The Third Degree - D. E. Harrison

      The Third Degree

      By D. E. Harrison

      Copyright 2002 by D. E. Harrison

      Smashwords Edition

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Table of Contents

      Chapter 1 The First Sighting

      Chapter 2 The Date

      Chapter 3 Looking and Looking

      Chapter 4 The Worm is Named

      Chapter 5 The Meeting

      Chapter 6 The Glaciers

      Chapter 7 The Answer

      Chapter 8 Getting Close

      Chapter 9 Pack it Up go Underground

      Chapter 10 Day 0, time 0.

      Chapter 11 Day 2 after the flare.

      Chapter 12 Day 3 after the flare

      Chapter 13 Out on the Atlantic

      Chapter 14 Fifth day after the flare- 120 hours.

      Chapter 15 Eighty Day- 192 hours after the flare hit.

      Chapter 16 The Admiral is Free of the Pole

      Chapter 17 Day 9, after the flare

      Chapter 18 More Problems

      Chapter 19 Day 11 after the flare

      Chapter 20 Day 12 after the flare – It Is All Coming Apart

      Chapter 21 Day 14 after the flare, just before midnight

      Chapter 22 Day 19 after the flare

      Chapter 23 Day 20 after the flare

      Chapter 24 Day 22 after the flare

      Chapter 25 More Discoveries

      Chapter 26 The Ending

      About D. E. Harrison

      About D. E. Harrison

      Chapter 1 The First Sighting

      At the National Weather Bureau in N.C. a person is intensely staring at a large color monitor, Come and look at this, it is live from the mid-Atlantic weather satellite, quick. AH, You Missed it, now it is gone! Let’s get the film for the last two minutes and have it developed. I want you to see this.

      The co-worker responds, What was it? If it is gone now it cannot be that important.

      The film is seldom developed but in 30 minutes, it is available. The VCR tape is usually detailed enough for almost any use.

      Come over here and look at this film, it is not short. Pointing at the monitor and in a raised voice, There, see that small circle area down in the left corner. It must be about 100 yards in size. See, it is gone now. I have never seen anything like that before. Shall I run it again? Any ideas on what it might have been?"

      Again, the co-worker is not impressed, That was a cloud reflection or something like that. It might have been a cosmic bug in the satellite or something else. No big deal. At this time of year there is nothing out in the mid-Atlantic bulge area anywhere.

      The original spotter of something, is also starting to doubt what they saw, Well, maybe you are right, but I have never seen any clouds do that before. It seemed like I could see all the way to the ocean floor it was so clear.

      The co-worker is reaching for his coat to leave, Come on, if you want a ride home. It is after 4:30 and I must get home. The wife has things for me to do to tonight.

      The film and VCR tape are filed for reference and life goes on.

      While in central Africa, a team of biologists is studying termites and has been so for nearly three months. Their mound building and food gathering techniques are being carefully recorded on paper and film.

      Then late one afternoon, Fred, come quick, look; they have established and used these foraging paths for over two months. Now all the workers are moving almost due west. Look, the entire nest is emptying and heading west. What is wrong with them? There is nothing out that way. Not one of their scouts has returned from that direction for over a month.

      Fred says, Sam you must have missed more than one coming in from that direction. There must be a new queen that way and they are on their way to her. Makes no sense but that is all that would start an entire nest to move. Do we have it all on tape?

      Sam replies, Yes, both cameras were filled right after lunch. We have everything since day break.

      In a minute or less, it gets even more bizarre. Sam stares in disbelief.

      Fred, look they have all turned back toward the feeding trails and the larva keepers are going back into the nest. Something got them excited, then like a switch, it was turned off. How far down does the second camera record?

      Fred says, Well past the old trails, about 100 yards. Why?

      Sam needs to understand what is going on. He heads for the cameras, "Let’s reload the cameras and see what they show from the two different directions. I want to see if that it was a new queen, a scout told of a new food supply, or did everyone just decide to go ‘west young man’!"

      A review of the films shows that at the same time, within several seconds because they could never get the same time on both cameras; but they knew the difference, every termite decided for some reason to go west. They could see not the typical communication, dance, antenna, or anything else. They all turned on a dime so to speak and everyone heads west. Then the hive starts to empty and head west. As if on command, everyone turns around and returns from hence they came.

      The nesters were more organized in their return, but the foragers took longer to get back on the trails. Some stayed parallel to the trails until they stumbled onto it, or some other member of the nest, and then got back onto it.

      They watch the tape several times, and then make sure the cameras are working and they go to supper. They are both up before dawn and before any of the termites leave the nest. They do not want to be in their path if they all decide to move in mass. Two million termites on the move would well put an end to their project, if they moved through their camp.

      At the same time, the termites are acting bizarre; in the southwest part of France, a flock of homing pigeons has been let loose and are circling as they do before they race home. Suddenly and totally unexpected, the entire flock turns west by south west and is gone.

      One pigeon tender turns to a friendly rival, What are they doing? Paris is north, that dumb bird of yours is leading the flock away. He should have been eaten. You will be sorry for this.

      The accused person feels it is not his pigeon’s fault.

      His reply is more than defensive, What do you mean? The entire flock went west. I had nothing to do with this. Some hawk or owl is out there and scared them.

      The first pigeon tender is now uncertain of the cause, No. No, a flock would break up, each going their own way. I can still see them in the field glasses. In a short time, even I will lose them. Come, we get in the cars and see where they are headed.

      Before he loses sight of the flock in his glasses, it turns back north and toward Paris. It now breaks up into its normal smaller flocks of faster and slower birds. In two minutes, they are gone from sight, but not without a few worried glances. Will they find their way home with such a bad start?

      A week later, the same anomaly occurs for 15 seconds in the mid-Atlantic. A very, very small clear area about 5 miles south of the equator, it is near the mid-Atlantic ridge. It is 3 am, no one notices it and then it is gone.

      In Lisbon, the next morning a symposium is being held for the International study of the mid-Atlantic ridge. The sponsor of the meeting stands, Welcome to all our visitors to Portugal. The weather has been most pleasant, and I am told it will continue so. Dr. Gill from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, at Mumbai, India will be our keynote speaker. He has too many awards to mention. His current field of study is the mid-Atlantic ridge and how it is like the ridge in the Indian Ocean, Dr. Gill.

      Dr. Gill bows slightly to the host and moves to the podium.

      Good morning to you all, it is a pleasure to address you this day, in my humble way. We have been investigating through computer models the monsoons of my native country. We have some tentative relationships between the Monsoons and the ill-defined ocean ridge that begins in the Himalayan Mountains. This ridge has not been studied in any detail and little is understood about it. We are however speculating that disturbances in the ridge because of unknown forces has a direct relationship to the powerful and destructive storms that hit my county’s coast and the entire sub-Indian continent. Let me show you what we have to date.

      Chapter 2 The Date

      The anomaly has surfaced twice again in the last three months. Its size has not changed much but because of clouds in the area, it was never visually recorded. This area of the mid-Atlantic is not a major shipping route so a visual sighting of such a small ‘thing’ would never be made. Several small storm centers have tried to form in the general area, but both times, they had the misfortune of the anomaly passing nearby and they are dispersed rather quickly. Back at the weather bureau in NC, the two people that first noticed the anomaly are in a discussion, but not about what they have already dismissed.

      The co-worker that said it was nothing now says to the person that saw ‘it’ first, George, section 1B has not spawned even a whiff of a storm over the last eight weeks. We should have seen at least one. This area is not known for a lot of activity, but zero is unusual. I looked at the overall storm count and it is down in the entire southern grid. I am going to pull down the data for this area over the last year by month and look at it.

      George ‘one’ always talks as if he is going to do it. But it will be George ‘two’ next Monday that will do the analysis. George two became a ‘two’ when she signed on and found a George already on board.

      Her full name is Georgette Clores DeBrau; today she is dressed for a quick date right after work. She is dressed for dinner, the opera, and a full night of dancing.

      Besides the Rear Admiral for the Atlantic, fleet could have George ‘one’ stationed at the South Pole’s weather station until they grow oranges there, if he kept George ‘two’ from her early date.

      A naval staff car and a parade dressed Lieutenant is waiting for her in the no parking zone two minutes before George leaves the building. The large staff car is adorned with two naval flags, one south Atlantic fleet flag and on the right fender is a USA flag. The Navy seal is stamped on both front doors, a set of crossing anchors. The local police squad car gets a salute usually reserved for the Admiral as they pass by.

      Welcome Miss, as the Lieutenant opens the back door of the long white limousine for her, No, Miss, the Admiral will meet you at dinner. He had several items to attend to before he left."

      George smiles, Well Lieutenant, I guess I am in your good hands until we find the Admiral, the tone is half-playful and half-serious.

      It is a fresh cool afternoon, but the Lieutenant is starting to get a little warm around the collar.

      Moving toward the open door, George asks, Lieutenant, what would you say if I were to ride up front with you? Maybe even drive a little, so you could lean back and rest?

      Miss, guests are not allowed in the front seat, Miss.

      With her hand on the car top, she asks, Now Lieutenant, maybe there is more room up front, I feel a little cramped in the back and I have such a time to stretch out my legs.

      With that, she raises the hem of her mid-thigh skirt a bit and shows even more of a very long pair of curved legs, and then she gets into the back with the Lieutenant’s hand holding hers.

      His collar is feeling very tight and his temperature has gone up another five degrees. She smiles politely, pouts just a little, and the Lieutenant closes the door.

      He is very happy she is now in the car. He knows she is just teasing him, he has had this duty for six months, but it is not getting any easier. He wishes the Admiral were with her. He would have put his rather large hand not so softly on her ample behind and ended the discussion rather quickly.

      The Admiral is waiting curbside at the restaurant and motions for the Lieutenant not to get out. He opens the door and she slides her long legs out, not bothering as to where the hem stops, even more than when she got in. He pretends not to notice and offers her his hand.

      George smiles, bates her long eyelashes, "Oh thank you kind Sir. I seem to have lost my escort, my, you

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