The Second Meridian

Global warming has reached a tipping point.

The President of the United States believes the world will be a better place if split, north and south, by an imaginary border that protects the wealth of his powerful friends from a resource hungry world. Imported goods will have massive tariffs, with technology exports equally overpriced, and all immigration will be banned.

While the planet starves, a pandemic takes its toll and nuclear war looms. The imaginary border, known as The Second Meridian, is only one part of his plan. Another is to send hundreds of handpicked elites into space, to orbit in pods for the duration of the impending war, before returning to rebuild.
One pod inadvertently leaves orbit, and with nowhere to go, the crew-five males and five females-must make the best of their supplies or take the self-destruct option. As they enter deep space the nuclear war erupts, and they cannot return.

With gravity drawing them closer to the sun, they must ponder their fate.
What freak of nature will help them survive?