Chapter 140
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There always seemed to be new rumors springing up these days. Because there were shortages of doctors, farmers, technicians some believed they were either being abducted, or granted entrance into the Arks early. Eve decided to lean towards the more prozaic theories. Suicides and homicides, accidents and drug-overdoses, all increased during the year of terror. That evidently included those whom society needed the most. Hopefully those occupations would rebound during reconstruction. Eve just tried to focus on her own life. She went to classes, worked at Ravenwood, prayed at her mosque. On Saturday June 3rd Eve went to the school carnival. She spent much of her day with Nadia. It felt good to play the games, go on rides, eat kosher corn dogs and French fries. They briefly saw Amy from a distance. Amy walked the other way to avoid them. Eve realized that Nadia probably never approved of their relationship. But Nadia was still there for Eve as a friend today. Eve was grateful for this. She was considering going with Nadia to Sangala this summer. Eve wanted to help others, and it was probably best if she was away from Karen for awhile. But today, she needed a little fun. With the missles being launched on Tuesday, this seemed to be a preview of the good times to come.
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School stayed open on Tuesday June 6th. But Eve's school, and many others, were showing news coverage of the missle launch. Rumor was a judge interrupted his trial to allow the courtroom to watch, ironically on a set that the defendant was accussed of stealing. The scientists were explaining why they had to wait until today. Apparently it related to Earth's rotation and the location of where ELE was suppossed to be. Eve didn't neccessarily understand, but they seemed to know what they were talking about. Everyone was excited. Some students had even off to Florida to be close to it. Eve looked for them among the rowd holding signs. After the year of terror, and three months of waiting for this, it finally seemed real. Those missles were really eing launched. They would save them all from ELE. The missles were launched at 10:26 am eastern standard time. President Mason began his speech at 11am.
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Mason: My fellow Americans, citizens of humanity. We have all been through much this last year and a half. We were transformed on Febuary 4th into a nation more fearful, and so ofcourse more hostile. Some have made choices they wish they could take back. Some people who should be here today aren't. But we are. Nothing, not even this victory the world has waited for, can bring back those who were lost to us. But we can try to come together, to fight together for a better world. We owe that much to future generations. July 20th 2036 will mark the 67th anniversary of Neil Armstrong becoming the first human to walk on the moon. Some have feared it would also be Armageddon, the end of all things. But, for the first time in the history of our planet, a species has been able to prevent it's own extinction. Our determination to survive, our faith that God would help us along the way, our commitment to each other, have led us to this day. We owe a great debt to those who launched the missles. The technicians and engineers, the laborers who did the work, ordinary citiens who payed their taxes or sent car packages, anyone who played any small part in this or the building of the Arks. You should all be very proud of yourselves today. We were dealt a great challenge on Febuary 4th. But through our combined efforts we have defeated ELE.