When Life Turned Purple by Eva Adar Page B

scenery.
    “Hey,” said an old man. “Look over there! We’re finally getting auroras all the way down here!”
    People gathered near Lia and Russ to ooh and ahh at the object.
    “I’ve seen auroras and that’s not it,” said one curly-haired middle-aged lady. “You know what? I bet it’s a nuclear test. Yep, I saw on YouTube what it looks like when they explode a nuclear bomb in space and this is exactly what it looked like.”
    That got everyone talking.
    Russ looked at Lia. “Is that what it is, baby?”
    Still not taking her eyes from the sky, Lia shook her head. “No. An explosion from space looks like a bright flash and then it expands faster than the eye can see. And it keeps expanding. There’s nothing to stop it. We wouldn’t be able to see it beyond the initial flash and even if we could, it wouldn’t retain its shape like this.” She rubbed the rail of the ferry absently. “I can’t tell if it’s above our atmosphere or below it. I wonder if the ISS can see it when it flies by.”
    As they were watching, there was a small bright flash and the wrinkles on Lia’s forehead deepened.
    “Ooh, a shooting star!” someone called out.
    “Russ,” said Lia turning her face toward his. “Let’s go home. I want to call a few people.”
    “Sure, baby,” he said.
    As they drove off the ferry, Russ noticed his GPS wasn’t working.
    “I don’t need it,” he said. “But it sure comes in handy at times.”
    Lia checked her phone. “The GPS here isn’t working, either. And look at all these tweets. GPS is down for tons of people.”
    “What’s going on?”
    “I think it means that thing is definitely above our atmosphere, but still in our orbit.”
    “Huh.” Russ didn’t know what else to say, so he kept on driving. They passed a supermarket and Russ pulled in.
    “Listen, sweetie,” said Lia. “Can you just drop me off at home first? I need to make these phone calls without distractions. And I need my computer.”
    “Can your telephone calls and computer do anything about that big tough purple bubble?” said Russ.
    “No, but—”
    “So let’s stock up on supplies first,” said Russ.
    Lia closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and nodded.
    They bought lots of duct tape, canned food, boxed food, grains and legumes, frozen food, and water, plus medical supplies and all sorts of batteries. Russ made sure of getting a nice stash of whiskey. He had a stash of supplies at home, too, just in case of earthquakes or power outages or whatever, but he felt better having more. They filled two carts over the top.
    “The GPS goes on standby and it’s buy-out time?” said the cashier.
    “You never know,” said Russ.
    She eyed him for a moment, then said, “Hmm. Maybe I should take some extras home with me tonight.”
    They stuffed everything into the car as best they could, considering their luggage was there, too. They ended up filling up the back seat and Russ strapped a suitcase onto the roof.
    “You really have no idea what it is?” said Russ as they pulled into his reserved parking space.
    “No, I’ve never heard of anything like this,” Lia said, shaking her head.
    “It looks like a soap bubble, but it took out the GPS satellite.”
    Lia looked at him.
    “Right?” he said.
    “I think so,” she said. “I think that’s what that flash was. The satellite must have crashed into it and exploded.”
    “Anything else you can figure?” he asked.
    “It’s huge,” Lia said. “If it’s that far up and this much visible, then it’s huge.”
    “How do you figure that?”
    “Well, have you ever seen the ISS whizz by at night?”
    “The Space Station?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Sure. It looks like a fast-moving star.”
    “Well, that’s the size of a football field and pretty close to us—like 400 kilometers up. The GPS satellites are over 20,000 kilometers above us—if that’s what indeed hit this thing and the GPS being knocked out here isn’t just a coincidence—and we