Dateline

New Year's Eve, 0830 local / T plus 2 hrs 30 minutes

LaGuardia Airport, New York

"Come on, Becky, where the hell are you?" The phone went straight to answer phone, again.

In the crew room, Aaron was half dressed, his overalls rolled down to his waist, a heavy high-vis overcoat slung over the chair next to him as he sipped a coffee and hammered at the numbers again. The answer phone, once more.

"Dammit!"

"Hey bud, whats up?" Danny, another ground handler just coming on shift was looking at him enquiringly. "Not like you to get riled up."

"Argh, it's my sis. She's in New Zealand. She was talking to me as they went into the new year, but then we got cut off. I can't raise her now."

"At a party? Well, probably just enjoying herself, eh?"

"Maybe." Aaron didn't feel like explaining the way the crowd had just vanished, his sister with it, the moment the clock struck midnight. But the vision stuck, and the worry with it.

"You goin' out tonight? Brad, Dillon and a few of the tug masters are heading to Times Square after work. Want to come with?"

"Dunno, perhaps."

"Come on man, put your happy face on! It may never happen you know!"

The crew room door crashed open. Dillon stumbled into the room, excitement making him stumble over his words. "Hey guys! Come in here! You gotta .. gotta come sss..., see this!"

Aaron followed Danny into the 'snooze room', so called because of the cosy recliners and couches arranged loosely around a huge flat screen television taking up almost the whole of one wall. Other ground handlers were already there, some coming off shift, others waiting to go on.

On the TV, a news anchor, serious and wide eyed, was saying something while a map superimposed beside him showed east Asia and Australia.

"Turn it up, I can't hear!" Dillon picked up the remote and turned the volume up high.

"..across the whole of eastern China and Russia.

Once again, reports are coming in that communication has been lost with all countries on the western Pacific seaboard, for reasons unknown at this time. The blackout began around eight o'clock eastern standard time; midnight on January first at the international date line. The first loss of communication was confirmed just over an hour ago with New Zealand being the first to go, followed by Japan and Australia shortly after.

Communication loss in also being reported in China and eastern Russia, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

...Wait a moment, I'm just getting an update in my ear. It appears that Thailand is also affected, and there is no answer, nothing at all, from any stations in Australia.

Just to recap, once again, reports are coming in that contact has been utterly lost with countries that have passed midnight, their local time. A suspected cyber attack is being blamed for the blackout, that began just over two and a half hours ago."

Aaron stared at the screen, ignoring the exclamations and sounds of nervous excitement around him. A cyber attack? That could explain it.

But it didn't explain why everyone had just disappeared when the clock struck midnight.