The phone was ringing again. Doctor Willard Hewett Osten ignored the sound and let his voice mail take the call. His pager would notify him of emergencies and everyone else could wait. He sighed and closed his eyes, wishing the phone would be quiet for five minutes. He would soon regret that wish.

The silence when the office lost power was both welcome and alarming. When the backup generators didn’t start he picked up the phone to initiate emergency procedures, but it too was quiet.

Dr. Osten stood and glanced at the clock. He noticed the second hand wasn’t moving as anexcited orderly opened his office door.

“Nothing’s working, Doctor.”

Jesse Carter sipped his coffee without looking away from the screen. He wanted to finish his paperwork so he could help with some of the less mundane research.

Suddenly the room went dark and Jesse was in near-total blackness. The interior office had no windows and apparently the uninterrupted power supply wasn’t working. He opened a desk drawer, luckily remembering where a flashlight was stored. Evidently no one had checked the batteries recently. The tool was useless.

Jesse reached for his cigarette lighter. Good thing I didn’t quit, he thought as he lit it and made his way toward the door.

Seth Franklin turned the tractor and started down the last row. It was going to be an early night. All that remained was tending the livestock and some minor chores. Looking forward to a quiet evening with his wife Janet, he guided the plow as it turned the earth in its wake. He’d barely traveled a hundred yards when the engine died.

He tried the ignition. Nothing happened. He reached for his cell phone to call Janet. If necessary, she could get him and he’d fix the tractor tomorrow.

Unfortunately the cell phone was as dead as the tractor’s engine.

Doctor Osten rubbed his eyes, fighting exhaustion. He had little time left and wanted to help as many people as possible before the sickness took him.

The hospital overflowed with patients. Many of the seriously ill had already died. New cases didn’t have much hope without the medical equipment taken for granted a short month ago. Cases included dehydration and looting injuries but of course most suffered from radiation sickness.

The accident at Oak Lawn Power Plant had brought chaos. Ironically it would soon leave the streets silent. Plant personnel were unable to manually shut down. Very few of the nearby population would survive.

“Anything new?” Micah asked as Jesse collapsed onto the sofa.

“Not yet. But it’s only been a month and of course the equipment we need isn’t working either. It’s as if electricity doesn’t exist anymore. We can’t produce a current of any kind.

“We’re also isolated until someone modifies a combustion engine or they solve the problem somewhere else and come to us. Technology just lost a couple of centuries.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure out something soon.” Micah smiled but his eyes betrayed his doubt.

Seth put down the water buckets. Camp wasn’t far from the well, but he wasn’t young anymore either. He thought of the scouts who’d returned from the city. It had taken almost three weeks and the news wasn’t good.

At least we’ll be able to live out here. Some of those city folk are in trouble, he thought, but found little comfort. What hardships awaited the settlement of almost a hundred that had gathered?

Life was difficult without any impending crisis. Seth and the others were trying to reorganize the community for survival. Reducing the farmlands to a manageable size, assigning tasks to each person, and training to defend the village was hard enough.

He picked up the water buckets and started toward camp again. There was much to finish today.

Jesse eased the heavy safe to the floor, guiding it with the dolly. He’d moved hundreds of them to the library basement and nearby houses. They contained every piece of technical information he could find. He stored more common works in the main library or scattered through the houses. If electricity ever worked again future generations wouldn’t have to completely start over. Not if he could help it.

He’d needed a purpose since Micah died in the first wave of the sickness. They had counted themselves lucky to avoid the disaster down at Oak Lawn. Four months after the lights went out they had thought the worst was over. They’d been wrong. Seven months later Micah was dead and Jesse was alone.

A tear rolled down Seth’s face as he lay in the bed. So much death, he thought. So much despair.

Few people in the village were well. The rest were dead, dying, or gone to try outrunning the epidemic.

Seth thought of the drifter. He’d said the city was almost empty. Few were immune. Survivors from other places had visited, each story the same. It seemed most of the southwest was wiped out. No one knew how widespread the disease was, but the situation looked bleak. Unintentionally the drifter had brought the sickness with him.

Seth closed his eyes for the last time, and hoped the survivors would be able to rebuild.

Commander Breckel stared at the planet on the view screen. “Domala, report.”

“All satellites functioning properly. No electrical activity of any kind on the surface. Satellites set to decaying orbits of 97.6 to 103.1 local years. Virus spreading as planned.”

Breckel turned to the Life Sciences Officer.

“Prael?”

“The virus has eliminated over half the original population. Current technology without electricity will allow recovery. Positive population growth estimated to recur between twenty and fifty million population planet wide.

“This isn’t nearly as devastating as the Flood, and the technological setbacks will not be as severe as the South American or Egyptian data seizures. They should recover quickly once the satellites fall.”

Breckel nodded. “They’re getting closer. In time their maturity will equal their technology. Then they’ll be ready. Good work everyone. Let’s go home.”