Free Night of the Purple Moon by Scott Cramer Page A

not wanting to frighten her with his version of a desperate future.
    “Except for a few adults,” she continued, “we’ll be the oldest people on the planet. We’ll teach the younger kids what we know and open schools. We’ll read books on medicine and train ourselves how to be doctors. Machinery is so complicated. Maybe we’ll live like they did three hundred years ago.”
    “I guess you’ve thought about it a lot.”
    “Jordan, it will be the responsibility of our generation to keep the human race going.”
    “Emily, look!”
    Two cows were grazing in the Parlee Farm field.
    “Have you ever milked a cow?” he asked, grateful for the distraction.
    “You got to be kidding me?”
    “How hard can it be? You just grab the udder and squeeze.”
    “I wouldn’t mind trying,” Emily said.
    Jordan stopped where they had a better view of the cows. They were black and white and huge. Space dust had tinged their white spots purple. “They have plenty of food with all that grass, but we’ll have to make sure they get fresh water,” he said and then raised Abby on the two-way radio to tell her about the discovery. She reminded him that Parlee Farm sold eggs, which meant they would also find chickens, assuming they had survived. After their discussion, Danny and Toucan took turns speaking with him. Toucan, especially, seemed excited to talk over a radio.
    Jordan returned the mic and smiled sadly. “I guess when you’re two years old all of this is a big adventure.”
    * * *
    “The first clinical trials have determined the bacterial pathogen is resistant to penicillins, cephalosporins, macrolides…”
    The robotic voice was delivering a new update. The internet no longer worked, something about the ISP’s main server going down, Kevin had explained, which left FM 98.5, the CDC station, as the only source of news from the scientists.
    “Danny, please get Kevin,” Abby said. She had last seen him upstairs, showing the twins, Chase and Terry, around.
    Danny raced up the stairs with Toucan in hot pursuit.
    Abby turned up the volume. “Trials remain inconclusive for tetracyclines and aminoglycosides,” the robot continued. “Genetically engineered modifications are being prepared…”
    She relaxed when the broadcast repeated. In fact, it played over and over again. But she could have listened to it a hundred times and still not understood much. It was ironic, Abby thought. The listening audience was under the age of fifteen, but you needed a college degree to understand the report. The scientists could use a lesson in how to explain things to kids. Luckily, they had Kevin Patel.
    Kevin joined her and, after hearing what the robot had to say, gave her a big grin. “The germs are bacteria. That’s good news.”
    Had they listened to the same report? “Kevin, the germs are resistant to all sorts of antibiotics,” Abby said.
    “Don’t worry, they’ll find one that works,” he said confidently. “If the antibiotic is used to treat common infections, we might even be able to get it at Murray’s Drug, or at a pharmacy in Portland. This epidemic will be over as fast as it began.”
    “These germs are anything but common,” she said. “They came from outer space. What if there’s no antibiotic that kills them?”
    “They’ll make an antibiotic, “he said. “Genetic engineering. Abby, I told you, some of the smartest scientists in the world work at the CDC. They have the best equipment.”
    She badly wanted to believe him.
    “If they have to make an antibiotic,” she asked, “how long will it take?”
    “Let’s see. First they’ll have to confirm that it kills the germs in a test tube. Next they’ll test it on mice. If that works, they’ll conduct human trials.” Kevin shrugged. “Three or four months?”
    Abby was hoping he’d say two months, or five weeks, or even sooner. “Anyone who enters puberty before then will die!”
    Kevin paused, thinking. “It’s possible some of us will develop