Apollo's Plague

Book excerpt: Every civilization has created its tales of cataclysm or apocalypse. We are perhaps the first generation, which by deliberate actions could create our own doom. It's no great stretch of the imagination that humans might disappear from the face of the earth. Still, the instinct to survive is a powerful force and there probably would be some who would indeed make it. Within hours after the unexplained apocalypse unveiled in Minerva's Shield, lights would start going out around the country. More than 70%% of power in the United States alone is generated by the burning of fossil fuels. These power plants would only continue to produce electricity as long as the fuel takes to be consumed. As discovered during the journey outlined in Nike's Chariot, if there is no one around to provide the new fuel into the generating plants, then it will be quite quick before the lights blink off everywhere.