The Evacuation of Solfilius

The Evacuation of Solfilius - Part Two: Panic

Chapter 3, 44 hours until impact.

Justin and John had made their way outside, and were about to enter a car.

"There are 10,000 people who work here. As I'm sure you're aware, getting them all off the planet with the ships we have access to is impossible within two days. Currently, there are no inbound passenger ships, nor are there any on the planet currently." Stated John.

Justin knew John was right, there is no way all those people are getting out of here unless they found another way to deal with this problem. The only ships they had were not designed to carry people. He figured hiding in the mine shafts made by the drills was out of the question. For starters, being on the planet when something like this hits is already dangerous enough, let alone having a gargantuan sized drill above your head that very well could melt and cover you in molten metal. A CME of this scale is very powerful, after all.

"You're right about the ships, John. Unfortunately, I don't think keeping them all here is an option either. The CME is going to be too powerful to wait out under any kind of shelter we have access to. we need to evacuate everyone." Justin Responded.

"The real question is how." John replied.

The pair got in the car. They closed the doors, and air began to hiss as it was filtered through the vehicle. John was in the driver's seat.

"Where are we headed?" asked Justin.

"We're headed to the shipyard. I organised to meet the other Solfilius council members there to discuss the situation further." John replied.

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Justin replied, satisfied with John's plan.

Justin was astonished at how well he was handling all this right now. The news he was delivered earlier was horrible. But right now, he was holding up quite okay. He cared deeply about the safety of others. But ,what John had said to him shook him to his core. He was utmost grateful he hadn't broken down in that moment.

Justin looked out the window at the bleak and draining landscape. It really stirred up a sense of dread in him. Something about it just had a certain horrible energy. It almost felt like a reflection of how he felt just before, and how he continued to feel now. From this part of the planet, he could see the drills better than he could from his accomodation. They were ugly, but it was impossible to deny how impressive they were. All three were at least thirty metres tall. Building something of that proportion was already impressive on earth, let alone on an isolated planet in interstellar space.

The pair came to the top of a hill. In the distance was a wide slab of concrete, with four ships on it. All four of them were Anklyos, cargo ships designed to haul large masses across the interstellar void. In this case, they were being used to haul staminite ore off Solfilius. Next to the large slab of concrete was a small, white building. Justin assumed that it belonged to whoever oversaw ship logistics on Solfilius. Alongside the small building was a large hangar. It looked rather empty. The hangar was where the workers maintained the ships. The maintenance wouldn't have been anything excessively complex, however. Most of that would be done on earth where there was far greater access to specialist workers and resources, due to the complex nature of the ships.

"We are going to have the meeting in the small, white building adjacent to the landing pad. The council meeting headquarters we were in before isn't secure enough for my preference, so it isn't a good place to talk about the emergency." John stated.

John pulled up to the building. From this distance, the building looked a lot simpler than the council building. There were already a few cars here, presumably belonging to meeting participants from the council. John and Justin slipped on their rebreathers and got out of the car.