Two days before the Ark was meant to reach our waiting fleet, Earth began to experience worldwide blackouts. At first it was believed to be caused by a solar storm, but the magnitude of these blackouts was peculiar, and there was evidence that they spanned across the entire globe. Although this information was hard to confirm given the lack of communication abilities at the current moment. If this was the case, then it would have been an unprecedented event. Strong solar storms usually only have an immediate effect on the side of the Earth that is facing the sun, for it to be a strong enough solar flare to cause blackouts worldwide in an instant would be extremely unlikely, and we weren't even at a solar maximum this year. There was no evidence that a storm like this should be occurring right now. As you can imagine the government was in disarray, with the biggest issue being reestablishing communication with our fleet in space.

We lost power in Boston around 6 pm. I was still at SETI with Morales when it went out. It came back on momentarily and she was able to get a satellite call through to the White House, but it didn't last long. She got what little info was available from her higher ups. About this being a worldwide event and all, with no known cause as of yet, and then again, the room we were in went dark. SETI headquarters was perched high atop a hill on the outskirts of the city, so we had a good view of greater Boston. The entire city was dark as well, and the sun had nearly set. This is when I realized that there would be no better time to leave: While the rest were scrambling to figure out the cause of it and solve this issue. I urged Morales to come with me to my home.

The phones were still finicky and none of the radio stations were coming in either.

"Do you know what this is James?" She asked suspiciously as I drove. She clearly knew I was keeping something from her, but this event wasn't part of it.

I looked over to her in the passenger's seat. She had that same look of concern and weariness as when she had first received the note from Jacob.

"No, I have no idea what this is, honestly." I could see that she believed me. "But there is something I need to tell you, something else I haven't been able to say out loud." I wanted to wait to tell her with Tomiya, but I could see that she needed to hear then and there whatever it was that I had to say. She knew in some way that it was related to Jacob. So, I told her the rest of the story.

Morales was quiet for the remainder of our ride. I knew she had more questions, and she knew I would answer them. But for the moment she preferred to be in her own thoughts. We got to my home and she and I rushed inside. The lights were still off. Cell phones seemed to be working for the most part but there was no signal. We found Tomiya sitting in the living room reading to Oshie under the light of a battery powered lamp.

"Oh hello, you two look to be in quite the hurry. What's going on? She asked.

"Hey Oshie, would you mind digging out your camping backpack from the upstairs closet?" I asked hurriedly. She humbly obliged and ran upstairs to fetch it. It was obviously an odd request, but she was used to her father acting a little odd these days.

Tomiya watched Oshie scurry up the dark stairway with the light of her phone, and she then looked back to Morales and me.

"Care to tell me what's going on now? Does this have anything to do with the blackouts?" She asked with concern.

"Sort of." I said.

I had just recited all of this in the car on the way here with Morales, who actually took it a bit better than I had expected. But telling my wife would be different. And that it was. This was the first time we had spoken so openly about anything going on in our home since the discovery of the Ghymora object. Now that we had, it felt like such a relief. There was no way of knowing for sure if there wasn't someone listening in still, despite the blackout, or possibly recording our conversation. But it didn't matter, we would be gone before the dust settled. There was no other choice, I knew we might not get this chance again.

"One more thing, we are gonna need to make a pit stop before we leave the city."

Tomiya was still trying to process all of it, and Morales, though deep in her solemn thoughts, was on her toes, ready to go.

We all packed a small bag for ourselves, just the essentials. Tomiya packed extra for Morales given that she would not get the chance. Tomiya's mother helped Oshie do her packing, and the puppy Chaske followed at her heel. Then we all left in the dark of night.

Few cars could be seen on the roads. Backup generators lit up the windows of the occasional building in the distance, hospitals, grocery stores, and other essential businesses for the most part. The stop lights were all out as well. Police drove down the main streets of populated areas, and with their loudspeakers they asked that civilians remain inside until power was restored. All of them were out tonight.

Two police cars blocked off the road in front of us. An officer stood outside of his vehicle speaking to another who was sitting in the passenger seat of his own. We approached slowly and noticed the officer who was standing outside turn and look our way. He began to approach and raise his hand for me to come to a stop. I did so and he walked to my driver's side window cautiously.

"Evening officer." I said.

"We are asking all citizens to remain inside sir. Can I ask what it is that you are doing on the roads?"

"Headed to my uncles. He's got a generator at his place so I'm bringing the family to spend the night or at least until this all blows over." I smiled as he looked me up and down and then over my shoulder to get a good look at the rest of the car.

"It isn't safe driving with all the streetlights out. Can I see your license and registration?" He asked.

Shit, this is exactly what I hoped to avoid. Just then the car radio came back on, and I thought at that moment that we had lost our chance to escape unseen. I worried that if he checked my info in the system that our trail would be easy to follow. To our luck his radio started working again too. There was some kind of riot, looting, as well as a large fire that had broken out on the other side of town. From the sound of it they were desperately in need of backup.

"Get wherever you're going and stay off the road, alright!"

"Will do officer." I said with relief and kept on driving. The radio signal continued to come in and out for the next few minutes and then stopped all together once again. The power grid appeared to be down completely. This meant that there was still some time for us.

When I last spoke to Geraldo, I told him I would reach out again when the proper time came, though I made a point of saying that I wasn't sure exactly when it would be. I hoped that he put two and two together in his head and realized this was the moment we were waiting for. To our luck he was keen enough to do so.

We dropped the car on the side of the road in a no parking area as close as I could get us to the cobblestone walkways of the North End. We rushed past the people who walked about the streets. Some were gathering to drink, some to gossip about the strange occurrence. Others gathered in larger groups and seemed to grow more rowdy by the moment. We avoided them the best we could while we made our way to Geraldo's. Aside from asking where we were going, Oshie was very accepting of the whole ordeal. Observantly picking up on the seriousness of our demeanors. We made it to the bakery and found that the doors were locked and the shades pulled down. I gave a knock on the door hoping that someone was inside. Because if Geraldo or one of his family members weren't there, I'd have no idea where to find them. One of the curtains fluttered just then as we huddled close to the door. A click and twist of the lock and the door swung open. It was the woman I met working behind the counter when I first came looking for the old man. Geraldo's wife.

"Quick let them in!" Came a thick Italian accent from behind the counter. It was Geraldo.

"When the power went out my first thought was to close shop and head home. Luckily, I've still got some sense in this old head of mine. Figured you might be coming by Master Olivera." Said Geraldo with his pleasant smile and upbeat attitude. "And you must be Oshie!" He said kneeling down and putting his hand out to shake hers, "Your dads told me a lot about you."

"How do you know my dad?" She asked with a justifiable curiosity.

"We have a mutual friend." He said mysteriously and winked. Though Oshie was still young she didn't need any more information to deduce that it was Jacob the man was speaking about.

"And hello Mrs. Olivera and Ms. Morales!" he said, guessing correctly about who was who from the brief description I must have given him during our first excursion.

"It looks like you're all ready to go then. That is good! We don't know how long this window will last. I sent my nephew to get the truck ready as soon as I saw you coming. There should be just enough space for the Eight of us, though it will be a tight fit."

Chaske whined for attention from the old man.

"Haha! And look at you, thought you said he was still a pup? Glad I bought that top rack for storage or else we'd need another vehicle. But come on, let's be on our way! He will probably be pulling up out back any time now." Geraldo ushered us around back into the kitchen.

"I think it best you leave your phones and computers behind." He added.

Tomiya, Morales, and I had already thought that far ahead. But in our haste, we forgot about Oshie. She still had her phone and tablet with her. But she gave them up more willingly than I would have expected, no questions asked. Geraldo locked them safely in a metal box, grabbed supply bags for him and his wife and we were on our way.

His nephew was there and waiting for us just as planned. Geraldo took over driving while he switched to the passenger side. The rest of us filed in while they quickly loaded our bags. It was pitch black in the city as we drove off.

Geraldo steered us cautiously down the mostly empty streets. We passed by numerous groups of young individuals, gathering in certain areas on sidewalks and in front of apartment buildings. They watched us suspiciously as we drove by. The very air of the night brought on a sense of uncertainty.

Power outages weren't uncommon in New England, especially with the Nor Easters that come our way in the winter months. But this was different, and people knew it. The skies were clear, and hardly a trace of wind. This wasn't caused by some storm, and never before had radio signals gone out in the way they had now. When paired with the looming unknown matters outside of our world, it made for a terrifying possibility. That this was a coordinated attack.

No doubt whispers of the dreadful possibility began to arise among groups of people. Further spreading the fear and uncertainty until it would catch on like a wildfire. The people knew that a certain date was approaching. Though no one was sure exactly when that day was to be. But it would surely come. Either we would receive news that our planet had prevailed, or we would be told to prepare for the worst. And no matter what was being fed to them from the government, the fear would remain until the threat was gone.

J-1 had given us instructions to return within a week from this day, on Jacob's behalf. Seeing how fast things were beginning to fall apart I couldn't imagine leaving any later, for the safety of my family. We had witnessed multiple fires driving out of Boston, a city that had always felt rather safe to me. Windows were broken in shops and people could be seen running from the sight of our headlights. The looting and rioting was quickly spreading to less populated areas.

As we neared the outskirts of the city we began to see other people in their cars with the same thought in mind, and when we looked back at the skyline we could see why. The dark silhouette of the city that I had forever called home was lit up with faint glows in countless spots. The dim light flickered and with a warm hue at the base of many buildings. Those lights along with the flashing red and blues of emergency vehicles were all that could be seen looking back over our home. If chaos was beginning to ensue to such an extent here, I could only imagine that the same or worse was happening all over the world.

"Maybe this is why Jacob requested we go when he did." I whispered to Morales who sat in front of me in the middle row of seats beside Geraldo's wife and Tomiya's mother. "It could be that he knew a certain degree of chaos would ensue and he just wanted to make sure we were somewhere safe when it did."

"Maybe." She said with a forced smile, meant to mirror my hope. But her true thoughts lay bare for me to see. She turned her head from me and looked back out the window towards the city.

The adults did their best not to talk much during the ride, for Oshie's sake. Here and there I'd hear Geraldo speaking with his nephew in the front regarding the matter. His nephew looked to be in his early twenties, young but plenty wise to pick up on the stark reality of things. Tomiya and I sat in the very back with Oshie in between us, hoping to shield her from the outside world. But Oshie didn't ask questions. When ambulances or police cars flew by with their sirens blaring, she merely turned to watch them pass, and then eventually she fell asleep. I wondered how much of this she actually understood.

About three hours in, the radio came back on. And on the long and wooded Maine roads we began to see lights coming from the far and in between clusters of buildings. The power had come back. Geraldo began switching from station to station to find one that was covering the blackout. It didn't take long. It was just as we had heard in the brief contact we had made before it all went dark. The blackout was a worldwide event, though the local news could only speculate at its origin. They had hinted at the possibility of a large solar flare or Coronal Mass Ejection, as the source of this unprecedented event. But we knew how unlikely that was, which seemed to leave only one other culprit.

It goes without saying that much of the world was probably having the very same thoughts as well. The enemy had somehow found a way to begin their attack despite the vast distance that still separated us from them. It was a terrifying thought if it proved true. I wondered if they had reestablished contact with our fleet. This was the biggest concern right now. But whether they had, or had not there was nothing we could do about it now. We were headed somewhere far off away from the rest of the world, and away from our previous responsibilities. We were running to hide.