Silent Lair

Prologue

June 2045 Canada

Over the past thirty-six years the Earth had been getting steadily warmer.  Temperatures were sixty degrees higher then they had been in the past century.  The world was home to eight billion people and two-thirds of the people were poor and starving.  Humans were putting more fossil fuels and carbon monoxide into the atmosphere.  Despite warnings from humanitarian aids groups to take measures to counteract global warming, the world leaders weren't listening.

All the countries of the world had split up into separate federations.  Canada, Greenland, Draconia, Mexican and the Latin American countries had formed the North Central American Republic(NCAR).  The United Kingdom, Iceland, and Europe had formed the Iceland United Kingdom European Republic(IUKER). The South Asian countries had formed the South Asian Democracy(SAD).  The other Asian countries from Russia to Japan had formed the Asian Independent Republic(AIR).  Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands had become the Zealand Aussie Islands(ZAI).   The Middle East was known as the Middle Eastern Societal Republic(MESR).  South American had united with the territories of Draconia to form the South American States(SAS). 

The NCAR traded with the SAS.  The SAS and NCAR relied on wind and solar energy.  The MESR kept all their oil, but traded camels, dates, and slaves with the ZAI.  The SAD traded with the AIR and the IUKER.  Each federation had their own religion.

The AIR were Baptists.  The IUKER were Pagans. SAD were Hindus.  The ZAI were Methodists.  NCAR were Mormons.  SAS were Catholics.  MESR were Muslims.  The Muslims had won back all of Palestine in 2030.  The Palestine Victory was a national holiday in MESR.

All the federations lived in peace.  The last war had occurred in 2035.  This war had been sparked because the AIR had killed everyone, including the women and children, of the royal family of ZAI.  The two federations had come to a peace agreement and the AIR had compensated the people of ZAI for the death of the royal family.  The ZAI were now a democracy.

At first, nobody had noticed the rise in temperature.  There had been no obvious difference in the atmosphere.  But as time passed, the heat became more noticeable.  The damage to the ozone layer that protected Earth from the damaging rays and heat of the sun was shocking.

The leaders of the world had pretended nothing was wrong.  The public could tell something was wrong.  Something was bound to happen in the future.  Humanitarian aids groups had sprung up, seemingly overnight.  For years these groups had been shunned by the world wide community.  Many people accused them of being crazy and heretics.  People who had only been trying to cause panic among normal society. Now that humans were in danger of becoming extinct, thousands of people were joining these groups every day.

Very few people worried about an ice age. After all, an ice age hadn't occurred for forty thousands years.  People were worried about Earth becoming like Venus.  No one could predict what was coming.

One day people woke up and shivered.  Cold in June?   It was impossible.  Everyone turned on their televisions.  A super volcano in Yellowstone National Park had erupted last night, spilling thousands of volcanic ash into the atmosphere.  Another super volcano in Indonesia had erupted that morning.  Ocean temperatures were falling at a shocking rate.  It was the beginning of the end.