The Arrow Sol
Michael Haggerty awoke to violent rumblings. They felt and sounded like jet engines taking off. He opened his eyes, but was blinded by light streaming through a porthole next to his bed. He watched as a helicopter disappeared into the blue sky.
The violent rumblings intensified. And suddenly, he was moving. All he could see outside the porthole was water. Endless water. From the porthole to the horizon.
He sat up confused, wondering how he got there, rubbing his head in an effort to ease the incessant pounding.
As he leaned against the porthole and looked down, he was surprised to see train tracks. They were floating on the water beneath the bright hot sun.
“What the hell”, he said to himself. “How the hell did I get here? Where am I?”
He shot up from the bed, but quickly flopped back down as a spell of dizziness overcame him.
“Am I hungover?” He massaged his temples.
The small room was empty but for him, a twin-size Murphy bed connected to the wall below the porthole, and a speaker next to the metal door. All of the walls were sleek, dark metal as well.
He crept to the door, trying to keep his head from bursting. No handle. No button. Locked.
He searched his pockets. Nothing. His black sweats and white t-shirt were unfamiliar.
Frantically, he scoured every corner of the room, holding his head periodically through the pulsating bouts of pain. As he evaluated the Murphy bed and porthole, a woman’s voice came through the speaker.
“Mr. Haggerty, welcome to the Arrow Sol. The train that will save humanity. The boldest human innovation ever. Equipped with humanity’s best defense against the sun.”
“What?” Michael stammered as he tried to manipulate the brass covering around the porthole. “What are you talking about? Why am I here?”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Haggerty. We’re getting to that. My name is Solana, and I’ll be your host while you’re here.”
“My host?” Michael asked, raising his voice.
“Oh, forgive me, Mr. Haggerty. I just realized you can’t see me.”
With that, a disc-like object fired from the wall below the speaker. It hovered in the air for a second until the hologram of a woman with blue-tinted skin appeared. She adjusted her dark blue ponytail and flashed her long black eyelashes a couple of times at Michael.
“There”, she smiled. “Much better, right?”
“What is happening to me?” Michael asked, pausing at each word.
“You were hired for a special mission, Mr. Haggerty.” Solana ignored his unending gaze of bewilderment and pressed on. “It’s going to be fine, don’t worry. The pounding headache, the amnesia, it will all subside. You’ll remember the real you. Once the mission is over, of course.”
“Excuse me?” Michael said, moving towards Solana’s hologram. The train was now traveling at a high rate of speed, hovering above the floating tracks on magnets. Small sprinklers sprayed the sides of the track, sending droplets on the portholes.
“Why me?” Michael asked. “And what’s this mission?”
“I’ll let the train’s owner – and your new boss – give you the overview. I’ll be here to fill in any details later.”
Solana’s hologram vanished. The disc slid back into the wall. Once it was sealed, a gap opened in the ceiling, and a large screen descended to Michael’s eye level.
A man’s face appeared, one that was immediately recognizable to Michael, amnesia or not. He was the richest man in the world, after all. And who could mistaken that exaggerated jawline and mop of brown hair? His fluffy dome was much thinner before becoming the world’s first trillionaire.
“Michael, I want to give you the warmest of welcomes to the Arrow Sol. You may know me as Erwin Mott, but throughout this mission, I hope you see me more as a concerned citizen. As someone who wants to save the planet.”
Michael started to shout, “What mission, damnit”, but soon realized the message was recorded. Erwin kept speaking.
“…ask me anything, okay? I know you’re probably feeling unwell, but the headaches should disappear in a few hours. The amnesia though will be with you until the mission is complete. You agreed to this, may I remind you, when you applied to this position.”
“When is this stupid mission over”, Michael moaned. “Solana, where are you?” He banged the door multiple times.
Erwin’s video paused and Solana’s disc once again ejected from the wall, hovering in the air.
“Sorry, Mr. Haggerty, did you call?” She frowned and gestured towards the screen. “Could I ask that you finish hearing what Mr. Mott has to say before we go over the details?”
“Where the hell am I, Solana? I can’t remember anything. I don’t know who I am, whether I have a family, what my life was to this point.”
“We are trying to explain. Now, please listen to the rest of Mr. Mott’s overview and then we can discuss further.”
She disappeared again into the wall. Michael chased after her, but there was nothing he could do except bang on the metal wall where the disc disappeared.
Erwin Mott started speaking again.
“It was necessary for us to pause your memory to protect the intellectual property and trade secrets you are about to encounter on this world-class train. Again, we have signed the documentation where you agreed. And in return, we agreed to take care of your family. Your wife and son are in good hands. I want you to remember, you’re working for them as much as you may be working for me or humanity.”
Michael grabbed his head with both hands and screamed, “What! What have I done!”
“Out of the millions of candidates, we chose you, Michael.” A smirk spread across Erwin’s face. “We’re not sure how long the job will take, of course, but we are confident you can get it done. Then you can get back to your family.”
Erwin leaned forward in his high-backed leather chair.
“You can go home as a hero.”
“I want to go home now!” Michael screamed into the screen, his veins popping from his neck. He paced the metal box, looking for any place he might escape.
“Your mission is simple. Keep the train running, using all of your engineering and technical skills. And make sure the sulfate cannon operates properly, firing at the right intervals.”
Michael stopped in his tracks. “Sulfate cannon? What the hell is going on here?”
“You, Michael, are helping us undertake the boldest solar geoengineering project humanity has ever attempted. By firing these synthetic sulfates into the sky, we will fight back the sun’s heat, reflecting some of its light away from Earth. Look outside, Michael. Please. Go ahead.”
Michael walked over to the Murphy bed and leaned against the porthole. All he saw was water stretching to the horizon.
“Do you see any ice out there, Michael? You don’t, do you? Would you be shocked to know you are in the North Pole? This train circles the North Pole on floating tracks, allowing us to access all longitudes every 24 hours. The sulfate cannon is programmed to fire its payload every four minutes to ensure a proportionate amount reaches every part of the stratosphere in the Northern Hemisphere.”
After a brief pause Erwin said, “I know, you must have a million questions. Especially given your temporary amnesia. But you’re not alone on this journey. Solana will be with you at every step, and every cannon shot, along the way.”
With that, Solana appeared from the wall again and waved.
“If you need anything – anything at all – Solana is there for you. We have cameras and microphones throughout the train, so please do not try anything that could compromise the mission. If you have a problem, please speak with Solana.
Now, I’ll hand it over to her for more specific instructions and a tour of your new home, the Arrow Sol. Godspeed and good luck, Michael. I’m rooting for you. Humanity is rooting for you.”
As the screen went dark and ascended back into the ceiling, Michael sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands.
“Solana”, he said in a pleading voice. “Please tell me this is not real. I just want my normal life back, whatever that was. Can I just leave, please?”
“I’m afraid it’s not that simple, Mr. Haggerty. You signed a contract. We’ve already invested so much in you just to get you here.”
Her hologram inched closer to him, and she knelt down to his eye level, speaking now in almost a whisper.
“Humanity’s counting on you.” She stared at him. “I’m counting on you.”
As she turned around, the metal door lifted up into the ceiling. She motioned for Michael to follow. After a couple of seconds he finally did.
They entered a vast room filled with monitors stretching from the floor to the ceiling. There were no windows, but it was bright from illuminated screens on every wall. Solana tapped a few of them.
“This is the control room, or the bridge, Mr. Haggerty. The train mostly runs itself, but if there are any issues highlighted from these screens here, they will flash red.”
She tapped a few screens again, and suddenly a red border appeared, showing the train’s current battery status.
“This train is electric and powered by batteries. We’ll get to that room shortly. Periodically, a helicopter will arrive with additional supplies should you need them. From batteries to food, and when you run out, more synthetic sulfates to fire into the sky.”
“Does this train ever stop?” Michael asked.
“No, it can’t. For the simple reason that we need a proportionate amount of sulfates in the sky for this project to work. And we don’t know yet how effective they will be, so in the beginning, you’re just to keep firing.”
“This is insane”, said Michael. “You want me to fire a cannon filled with aerosols into the sky to reflect back the sun’s light? And you think that will cool the planet?”
“As Mr. Mott said, we’re being bold and giving it a try. Nobody else has succeeded in coordinating and executing a global solution. No government, no company, no man or woman. Until Mr. Erwin Mott.
You probably don’t remember given your current state, but this planet is on fire. There is no ice left at either pole. If this works, we may be able to replicate it in the South Pole too, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Any additional questions, or can I show you the rest of this train?”
They moved from the dining car through the battery car and into the artillery car. Michael’s eyes almost popped from his skull when he saw the massive artillery cannon surrounded by glass on the roof of the car. The cannon itself stretched the car’s entire length.
“Make sure it doesn’t get jammed”, warned Solana. “That was an issue in testing. The aerosols have a tendency to stick to the sides of the chamber. So you may need to use this manual pipe cleaner.”
Michael examined the long cylindrical broom. It was hung alongside rows of aerosol ammo boxes. He would have to reload these once per day.
As Solana finished the tour, Michael asked, “Where’s my family?”
She stared at him, her hologram mouth slightly agape.
“You said I have a family”, said Michael. “A wife. A son. Where are they? When will I remember them again? When will I see them?”
“Your contract states when the mission is complete.”
“But when will that be?”
“When we can determine whether the aerosols have cooled the planet. It’s in Erwin Mott’s discretion.” She paused, assessing the blank stare on Michael’s face. “Here, let me show you.”
From her hands extended the holographic pages of a contract. She scrolled through at least a hundred pages before arriving at the section she had cited.
“Worker A should only be released upon the discretion of Erwin Mott or his delegate.”
“You see here”, said Solana, pointing at the contract, “you’ll need to complete the mission before getting back to your family.”
“Or Erwin could keep me on this train forever”, countered Michael in a low tone.
“No, no, Mr. Mott would never do such a thing”, insisted Solana. “He’s very grateful for your service and rewards hard work. In anticipation of this effort, he has your family staying comfortably in Mott Industries Housing.”
“Fine, let’s hurry up and finish this mission then.”
That night, as his headache subsided, Michael sat in the dining car for his first meal aboard the Arrow Sol. Despite the late hour, the sun still shined high in the sky. Given the summer month, it was unlikely to set anytime soon.
Michael had a new sense of alarm looking out the window. No ice sheets, no glaciers, no snow. Would the ocean start bubbling soon? And this was supposed to be one of the coldest places on Earth.
Robots on wheels brought multiple trays of food from the kitchen. Every dish was covered in a plastic shell with the label, “Hippolyte.” Michael may have had amnesia, but he knew this label anywhere.
Hippolyte was a synthetic food producer in America who had practically run every farm and grocery store out of business. It had become the Amazon of the food industry. Mass-produced, priced below market, and delivered quickly, usually within hours. Customers could even virtually select their food on shelves in Hippolyte’s metaverse.
Michael wondered why he could recall this knowledge, but nothing personal about himself. He looked out the dining car portholes as the robots organized the food. The train was flying, spraying water in all directions as it glided across the ocean.
When the table was set, Michael looked down at the label again. In small letters below Hippolyte, he saw, “Mott Industries.”
“Solana”, called Michael. “Does Erwin Mott own Hippolyte too?”
Over the intercom, Solana replied, “Oh, why yes, Mr. Haggerty. He is a pioneer in the synthetic food space. His work there helped inspire this effort and the synthetic sulfates we’ll be firing into the sky tomorrow.”
“Did anyone approve his firing of sulfates into the sky?” Michael asked, hesitating as he said it.
“Why would anyone have to approve? Mr. Mott is doing this out of the goodness of his heart for humanity.”
Michael rolled his eyes as he held a Hippolyte food box. “Why the name Hippolyte by the way?”
“One of the first synthetic foods ever was margarine, Mr. Haggerty. It was invented by a French chemist named Hippolyte. Napoleon III at the time thought the cost of butter was too high, just as Mr. Mott thought about the price of real food. So your synthetic meal tonight – margarine, bread, steak, spinach, and potatoes – is all factory-made, cost-effective, and even healthier and tastier than the real thing. Isn’t that amazing?”
Michael picked at his food, unsure where to begin. He couldn’t recall ever tasting food before. Regardless, his hunger told him to dive in.
The meat was juicy and savory, the spinach and potatoes perfectly salted and seasoned with garlic, and the margarine was smooth and refreshing on the fluffy bread. Michael ended the meal satisfied and ready to sleep.
The robots cleared his table and then ushered him down the hall to his cabin car. Once he entered, the metal door snapped shut behind him. A blackout shade covered the porthole. The cabin went dark except for a small night light in the corner opposite his bed.
A panel near the light slid open, revealing a toilet, shower, and sink. But no mirror. Michael had still not seen his reflection since waking up on the Arrow Sol. He only felt a scruffy beard, long hair, and a small pointed nose.
The next morning he awoke to sunlight pouring through the porthole. Someone had drawn the blackout shade. A couple of robots entered his room carrying a fresh pair of black sweats and a crisp white t-shirt.
As he sat down for his synthetic breakfast, the shooting started.
Michael had already become desensitized to the continued rumblings of the moving train, but the first artillery shot shocked him. He almost fell from his chair, fortunately catching the table on his way down.
Solana ordered him to the control room over the intercom. When he arrived he saw the artillery was jammed. Three minutes to unclog it before it was due to fire again.
Michael raced through the cars, dodging robots, leaping chairs, and sliding open doors until he had the long pipe cleaner in hand. He jumped into the cockpit of the gun, switched it to manual mode, and wedged the broom through the gun’s chamber. He rotated and pushed it through multiple times until he saw the clear blue sky through the gun’s hole.
The gun’s sensor flashed green with fifteen seconds to spare. An artillery shell of aerosols automatically locked into the chamber. When the stopwatch hit zero, the gun cocked back and exploded.
Michael shot backward, banging his head on ammo boxes. He staggered back to the cannon and peered through the scope. The payload of aerosols had erupted high in the sky like fireworks. The surrounding areas glistened like a starry night.
“Solana”, Michael grumbled, waiting for her to appear.
“Congratulations”, said Solana. “You passed your first test.” Her hologram floated across the car as she clapped. “For our experiment to work properly, we need to make sure the aerosols reach the stratosphere at these four-minute intervals. Apologies in advance for the bumpy ride it will cause.”
“That’s the least of my concerns”, said Michael. “I get that I have to keep this train running. I have to help with Erwin Mott’s crazy experiment. But you’re not going to tell me anything about myself? There’s no connection to the outside world on this train? Nothing to read, no news, no internet, no metaverse?”
“I do have permission to give you limited access to the metaverse.” Solana paused and smiled. “But, you have to get through your first week on the Arrow Sol with no issues. We need you focused. We need you trained.” Her eyes sparkled as she kicked her head back. “Hah, no pun intended.”
“Does my family know what I am doing?” Michael asked, ignoring Solana’s laughter.
“They were briefed, but no details. Few people know of this project, Mr. Haggerty.”
“So why are we in the North Pole then? Are you trying to hide the project?”
“That’s a consideration, yes, but the main reason is its proximity to the stratosphere. It’s cheaper for Mr. Mott to get aerosols into the stratosphere from the North Pole than it is closer to the equator. We’re talking a difference of 11 kilometers or 6.8 miles compared to 17 kilometers or 11 miles at the equator.”
“And you think this can actually cool the entire planet? What makes you so sure?”
Solana glided over to the aerosol ammo boxes. “These here may be synthetic, but they have a similar effect as dust or even coal particles in the sky. They reflect sunlight. Some of our testing revealed they even absorb some of the sun’s energy themselves. Not to mention, they’re not nearly as dirty and disgusting as coal sulfates.”
“So there are no negative effects?”
Solana ran her hands through her hair, readjusting her dark blue ponytail. “Well, we’ll have to see. This is an experiment to save humanity, after all. We can all live with a few side effects if the overall outcome is good, right?”
Michael spent the next week repeating the same movements. He ate Hippolyte food, put on new pairs of white shirts and black sweats each day, and ran from one car to the next. He checked levels, cleaned equipment, and reloaded the aerosol cannon every evening. All the while, he tried to keep his balance every four minutes that the cannon fired, including at night.
Although night never truly arrived. The sky was light and bright, day in and day out. Summer at the North Pole was hell for insomniacs.
The blackout shades covered Michael’s cabin porthole each night, but he rarely slept. The headaches persisted despite Solana and Erwin Mott’s promises.
He was haunted by images of families, wives, sons, and idyllic lifestyles. He remembered historical events, science, and literature, but he had no idea who his wife was, how he met her, and when they had a son.
When Solana sensed his insomnia she tried to play soft music or sleep sounds like falling rain. She even read to him.
Then Michael stopped eating.
It was one of the few things he could control. He moved the Hippolyte food around his tray like a toddler, pretending to eat it. He followed the robots back to the kitchen to hide the evidence, acting like he was helping them clean.
After a couple of days he started feeling better. Refreshed. Hungry, but clear-headed.
Images of a tall brunette with defined features and a soft smile visited him in his dreams. A little boy no more than two years old was always with this beautiful woman. Giggling, smiling, saying “da-da.”
It pained him, but he forged ahead. Holding out hope he would meet these people. Or at least see them again if they were real.
He often had to clean jammed artillery shells in the middle of the night. The bright sun blinded him as his eyes strained to adjust from his dark cabin room. He replaced batteries when they were dead, and monitored the control room for the slightest issues.
On the seventh day, he didn’t rest. He worried. He could not remember if he missed this observation before. On that day, he looked up into the sky.
It was white.
Bright white and no longer blue.
Solana had given him sunglasses that looked like goggles a couple of days prior, but he hadn’t thought much of it. Now he was happy to have them but unnerved by what he was seeing.
His memory was returning – slowly – as he ate less, but he was certain a white sky was abnormal. Looking down at the water, he saw sheets of ice. But there were no clouds in the sky. And no signs of precipitation either.
“Surely the North Pole still had storms in the summertime?”
“Solana”, Michael called. “Solana, come quick.”
Her disc zoomed through the door to the artillery car. She followed Michael’s finger up through the glass roof of the car and into the white sky. It was as blank as a canvas.
“What the hell is this, Solana?” Michael demanded. “Did we do this?”
“It is only a minor side effect of the aerosols, Mr. Haggerty.”
“Minor side effect”, shouted Michael. “It’s not just the sky. There’s no precipitation now too, is there?”
“It’s true there will be much less. But the planet has already cooled almost two degrees centigrade. After only seven days! Our efforts are working, Mr. Haggerty. You will be a hero.”
Michael grabbed at his long hair and paced in circles. “But what about farming, plant life, and the rest of the world freaking out about a white sky?”
“The planet is already dying”, said Solana, shrugging him off.
“Now I see what you’re doing”, continued Michael. “You may be cooling the Earth, claiming you’re saving the world, but you’re killing it faster in the process. You’re playing God with the biosphere.”
When Solana did not respond immediately, Michael picked up the pipe-cleaning broom and threw it against the ammo boxes.
“We must take our hands off the Earth’s thermometer!” He shouted.
Solana responded in a monotone voice. “We can’t do that, Michael. Remember who you work for.”
“But by filtering the sun this much”, Michael said, pointing to the white sky, “we’re inhibiting evaporation, which prevents cloud formation and rain. It will cause drought across the entire Northern Hemisphere. People will starve.”
Michael turned and looked Solana squarely in her dark blue eyes.
“Unless of course, they have a viable synthetic food alternative.”
“I see Michael has not been eating all of his food during meals”, Solana said, like a teacher catching her student misbehaving. “I’ve been watching.”
She moved towards him as she spoke, backing him up against the stacks of ammo boxes. “I didn’t think it would have too great an effect on you, but I was wrong. Mr. Mott was right. To the dining car, please.” She pointed out the door of the artillery car.
Suddenly, two robots appeared in the doorway. They inched towards Michael.
“We can do this peacefully or by force, Michael”, Solana said. “You decide.”
The robots continued to advance. Then the cannon fired another round of aerosols into the sky, shaking the car violently as it swayed on its magnets. Michael grabbed hold of the long pipe cleaning broom, jumped into a 360-degree spin, and smashed both robot heads in sequence. They each toppled over, one after the next.
By the time Michael caught his breath, Solana was gone. He heard the blades of a helicopter approaching the train. “Must be an equipment drop”, he said to himself. “They are supposed to happen every seventh day. I need to stop this train.”
He rushed to the battery car, searching for where the main batteries connected to the train’s electric traction motor. He found a small door near the batteries that led to an engine room on one side of the battery car. Following the cable from the batteries, he located where they connected to the motor.
As the helicopter landed on the train’s roof with a thud, Michael yanked the cables from the train’s electronic traction motor. He felt the train slow, but it didn’t stop. “There must be an auxiliary battery”, Michael said to himself.
Before he could search for it, a voice rang over the intercom.
“Michael Haggerty, this is Erwin Mott. I see you failed to sabotage this mission. My men have just landed on the train. You are to go with them peacefully. Your part of the mission is over.”
“And remember”, Erwin emphasized, “we have your wife and child. Please do not do anything stupid. We appreciate your service to the Arrow Sol and to humanity.”
“Erwin, I gotta ask, why me? Why did you pick me? Just so I could be your little guinea pig here? In case you had this all blow up in your face?
“Honestly”, said Erwin. “I felt bad for you, Michael. Such a brilliant scientist dedicated to the natural farming cause. When Mott Industries ran your company out of business I hoped this mission would open your eyes to the future of this planet. I was wrong. I see now you will never conform.”
“There is too much carbon in the atmosphere, Erwin. You’ll have to keep firing your aerosol cannon forever. Just to keep the temperatures where they are. But you’ll kill everything else in the process.”
“So be it”, said Erwin. “Our food and way of life is the future for humanity. With the Arrow Sol, we decide the temperature of the world.”
Michael was making his way back to the artillery car. Footsteps grew louder behind him. Jumping into the cockpit of the aerosol cannon, he saw one minute until launch. He switched the gun to manual and adjusted the scope, aiming it now at the Arrow Sol battery car. Before jumping down, he switched the gun back to automatic.
As the footsteps and voices grew louder, Michael leaped behind tall stacks of ammo boxes. Solana’s disc was the first to enter the artillery car, closely followed by Mott’s henchmen.
“Michael, time’s up. We’re relieving you of your duties.”
Michael sprang from his hiding place.
“There!” Solana shouted. Tasers fired.
Michael pushed boxes of ammo into two of the guards by the entryway, simultaneously blocking it from everyone else while clearing it for himself.
Blocking everyone that is, but Solana.
As Michael approached the ladder to the roof, Solana darted in front of him.
“Don’t do this, Michael. Please. I don’t want anything to happen to your family.”
“Family?” Michael questioned. “How do I know they’re real? Nothing else on this train is real.”
He shoved past her and grabbed hold of the ladder.
“You’ve manipulated my brain so much I don’t know what to believe. But what I do know is that Mott Industries must be stopped. One man cannot control the temperature of the world.”
He climbed through the roof’s opening, leaving behind Solana’s pleadings and warnings. Time was almost up.
Michael leaped into the empty helicopter and leaned on the throttle. As he did, the aerosol cannon fired at the battery car, one car away from Michael. The payload smashed the car to pieces as Michael’s helicopter soared into the air, barely pushing past the explosion and smoke.
Looking down through the glass bottom of the helicopter, Michael saw what was left of the Arrow Sol, which looked more like arrowroot powder now amidst fire and smoke.
As the helicopter climbed higher, Michael saw touches of blue in the sky.
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