Jerrold Pope

A Bad Day on Planet Earth Jerrold Pope

A Bad Day on Planet Earth, is a science fiction novel about a group of college students who make a trip to Mammoth Cave during their spring break. Their decision to travel there instead of to Florida or some other exotic location actually results in saving their lives. While they are below ground within the cave system, the world is attacked by aliens, later called Onibs by the survivors. They are from the planet Patheon which orbits a companion star of the massive star, Sirius. The survivors discover that there is a secret laboratory located in an unused section of the cave. The scientists working there have developed a ray gun. This enables the people there to be able to survive the terrible dilemma facing the rest of the Earth. Later the survivors manage to capture Onib spaceships which they use to destroy domed cities that were built in North America. Fearing total annihilation by the Onibs, David Sears the hero along with many others take captured spaceships across the void of space in an attempt to destroy their home planet. Following the delivery of cobalt bombs on Patheon, the crew of the Earth ship become hopelessly lost in space for 18-years. They don't age because of traveling over 100-times the speed of light. At a later date they join forces with a group of survivors called Anterians. The two forces travel some 140 light-years across the galaxy to attack the last remaining Patheon planet. The plot offers a tantalizing climax to the story. It allows the readers to live vicariously within the scenes with the different characters within the novel. As in his novel, "Until the End of Time," the writer offers a different concept of travel across the sea of stars.