“You know I can fly us over the chasm,” Storm laughs.
“Not here, you won’t,” Sheriff Green says without so much as cracking a smile. “Up the mountain and out of sight, you can do whatever you want.”
THIRTY-EIGHT
PAX
I’m exhausted and the cut on my head has changed from throbbing to sharp stabs of pain in spite of Sky’s attempts to send soothing feelings. I need the medicine woman, and soon. Whatever she did to speed Storm’s and Sky’s recovery, I hope she can do for me.
I can’t believe how much of the mountain just slid away like that. Thank God there were no cabins in that part of the forest, or we might be counting bodies. Safety is an illusion in this day and age on the now unstable planet. I wonder when we’ll be called to fix the artifact. If and when we do fix it, will it be enough to settle things down? How many of them are there? Are they all sick? Earth looked nice and small while we were in the Allaran ship, but as tiny as we humans are in comparison, this is a big planet. It hurts to think, so I close my eyes as soon as we get to the car.
Storm takes the wheel again and heads up the trail the deputy pointed out to us. It’s steep and winds through the forest. When we reach a bend that’s close to the break and we’re out of sight of the emergency vehicles, he jumps us over the chasm. In short order, we’re pulling up to his cabin where Wolf, Charles, and Dad are waiting in the yard. They greet the girls with hugs and Charles walks with them to the house. I try to get out of the car, but my legs seem to have lost their strength and I quickly drop back to the seat. Dad and Wolf come over to help me. Wolf puts an arm around my waist on one side, and Dad does the same on the other. I throw my arms across their shoulders, and I’m grateful for the support, I’m feeling pretty dizzy.
I could fly you in, Storm suggests.
Thanks, but I think Dad wants to feel useful. Maybe next time. Storm grins at that and cuts the connection. I’ll bet he hopes there is a next time.
The ladies have a hot meal ready for us in the kitchen. The smell of food is making me a bit queasy, so Dad helps me into one of the recliners in the living room and goes to make me some tea. Sequoia comes in carrying a bowl of some kind of paste. I hope I don’t have to eat it. Wolf places a basin of hot water and some clean cloth on the coffee table.
“I’m going to unwrap the bandage and clean your wound, Pax,” she says in a calming voice. I’m growing to love this medicine woman aunt of Storm’s. She smoothly unwinds the bandage and then quickly rips off the gauze that’s stuck to the cut. My teeth clench in reflex to the pain and I hear myself groan. Sky feels that I’m hurting, and sends a quick wave of peace from the kitchen.
Sequoia dabs the cloth in the basin and cleans the cut. The hot water burns for a second and then brings warm relief. Her touch is gentle and she hums a soft Cherokee song as she works. As soon as she’s satisfied, she reaches for the paste.
“I hope you’re biting on a stick, brother,” Storm says as he walks in gnawing on a chicken leg. “That stuff is murder.”
“Go back to the kitchen,” Sequoia says sharply. “Pax will be fine.”
I discover I might want that stick when my head erupts in fire as soon as the paste touches it. I yelp and hear Storm’s answering laugh, and then all pain abruptly stops and my vision blurs. Nap time, I hear his voice in my head, and then nothing.
~~~~~
I don’t know how I got there, but I wake up on the couch in our living room at home. Sky is curled up near my feet watching television. Mom and Dad are here, too, in their chairs. How much time has passed? The normalcy of this scene feels surreal, considering the mess the town is in.
Welcome back, Sky says in my head. How do you feel?
I squint a little until my eyes adjust to being awake. Mom pauses the TV and the three of them look at me. “How are you feeling?” Dad asks.
I struggle to sit up and find that my head doesn’t hurt and the dizziness is gone. “Sequoia is a miracle worker,” I tell them. “I feel like I’ve slept for days. Have I?”
Mom laughs, “You’ve been asleep a few hours. But we should all go to bed as soon as the news is over.” I settle back and we watch footage of our local disaster together.
*****
Breaking News: “Heavy rains coupled with recent minor earthquakes caused a mountainside to collapse in Blue Mountain, North Carolina, this afternoon. An unpopulated area of forested land, more than a hundred yards across, cut through the mountain highway as it slid hundreds of feet into the valley below. The force of the slide caused a quake that collapsed buildings in town a mile away and buckled roadways for at least two miles in every direction. Power is out all over the area and there’s no telling how long before crews can restore it. No deaths have been reported, so far. Rescue workers and residents are digging through the rubble searching for survivors. We’ll have updates as more reports come in.
“Another wave of strong storms is expected to bring up to twelve inches of rain to the mountains in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. Flash flood warnings have been issued and residents are urged to find shelter away from creeks and rivers.
“In other news: A mile-wide F-5 tornado tore through the outskirts of Oklahoma City early this morning, devastating a six-mile stretch of neighborhoods and destroying at least two schools. Thankfully, the schools were unoccupied. At least ten people have died and many more are injured. It is not known at this time how many people are missing. The number of casualties is expected to rise as residents search through the debris. - Cole Porter here, reporting for News Channel Six.”
*****
“Wait a minute,” I break in. I’m confused. “Did he say the power is out? How are we watching this? How is our power still on?”
Sky gives me a questioning look, as if the thought hadn’t crossed her mind until now.
“You’ve heard of electromagnetism, haven’t you, Pax?” Mom asks. “Earth is a generator, of sorts, and produces a form of usable energy. Nikola Tesla had the right idea, that there is limitless free energy that can be transmitted remotely throughout the world. He wasn’t able to develop it, thanks to human greed, but our alien friends have known about it and used it for thousands of years.”
“Does it have anything to do with ley lines?” Sky asks. She paid attention when Vega showed us the energy grid in the form of interlocking tetrahedra.
“The ley lines, or energy grid, are like superhighways of electromagnetism. Maximum power is found where they interconnect. Your dad and I have devised instruments that measure and track the power grid. There’s an especially strong junction just north of Clingman’s Dome, and our power is drawn from that point where the ley lines cross.”
Sky stands to her feet, and stretches. “You’re saying alien technology gives us power even during a blackout that’s caused by severed lines. Exactly how much of our house is alien? Are Storm and Jewel’s homes powered the same way?”
Mom gets up and stretches, followed by Dad. “Alien technology was used to build our homes, with the exception of the O’Connell cabin. Wolf and Sequoia built their home out of logs. Dan Jones and his company, Blue Mountain Construction, used regular building materials bonded with an alien compound on ours. The windows, walls, roof, floor and basement all contain that compound, which makes the house nearly impermeable to any kind of attack. You saw how the beam of light from the Dracan ship had no effect on Jewel’s house.”
“Does that mean Storm’s house is vulnerable?” I ask.
“No,” Dad answers. “The Allarans have covered his home in a clear shield of the same compound. All of our homes have power. It’s unlimited and free, and once the artifacts are working properly, I have permission to share this technology with anyone who wants it.”
“Is that a good idea, Dad?” I ask. “Remember what happened to Tesla. His funding was cut off and his transmission tower destroyed. Free energy will cause an economic disaster.”
“At first, perhaps,” Dad says. “Once it’s put into use,
though, the economy would quickly recover. I’m sure the power brokers will find some other way to amass their fortunes.
“Right now, it’s time for bed. We need to get our rest tonight. The storms we’re expecting tomorrow will wreak havoc in these mountains. The ground is already saturated, and creeks are running high as it is. Sheriff Green has been trying to evacuate the folks living in the hollers, but they’re a stubborn lot and many won’t leave their cabins. We’ll all have to do what we can to help out. Since our houses are safe, we, along with the Adams and O’Connells, will prepare to shelter as many people as we can. We have plenty of supplies and cots stored in the subbasement.”
I say goodnight and get ready for bed, but I don’t sleep. I hardly feel the wound on my head, but my thoughts spin circles around me; thoughts of free energy, reptilian aliens, silver spacecraft, sick artifacts, a wobbly planet, and Jewel. Especially Jewel.
I drift off thinking of her and she’s running from a monster with Storm’s face. He rips her away from me, and I chase him through a midnight forest crawling with giant lizards that grab at my clothes and trip me while the monster disappears with Jewel in his arms. I somehow catch up to him and beat him to the ground and pull her to me. In my dream, she’s mine.
THIRTY-NINE
I wake up to loud bangs at the front door and commotion in the house. My alarm clock says it’s nine. Apparently, my folks let me sleep in because it’s obvious from the sounds that they’ve been up a while. Mom knocks at the door and comes in.
“Pax, grab your rain gear and pack up some clothes. You and Sky are staying with the Adams tonight and we’ll be using your rooms for some of the families. Breakfast is in the kitchen. Make sure you eat well. It’ll be a long day. Bring plenty of water and snacks with you.”
The kitchen and living room are teeming with bedraggled women. Some of them are herding excited children. A few of the younger women help Mom prepare soup and sandwiches for later, while kids run around furniture and hide under tables playing games of tag and hide and seek. Two old women sit close together on the floor against the wall, wrapped in blankets. Their hollow eyes follow me as I get a plate of scrambled eggs and grab a piece of toast off a stack. I walk over and ask if I can get them anything, and they both shake their heads. They don’t stop staring, and one finally asks in a raspy voice, “Yore one o’them, ain’tcha?”
I shrug as if I don’t know what she’s talking about. It seems our abilities are no secret in this community. I don’t answer her. Sky comes through the pantry door carrying a pile of fresh blankets. She’s wearing waders over her jeans and sweatshirt, and I remember Mom’s admonition to wear rain gear.
“Where are all the men?” I ask Mom.
“They’re where you and Sky are going; rescuing folks who wouldn’t evacuate.” I eat quickly and put my own waders on.
Pax? Jewel’s voice is like sunshine in my brain. I’m at Storm’s. Meet me here?
It makes sense to meet there because it’s closer to the hollers, but I feel a cloud drift over the sun in my head. Storm.
We’ll be there as soon as we can. Do you need us to bring anything?
Backpacks with supplies, water and food. You don’t have a boat, do you? She’s teasing. She knows we don’t.
It takes longer to get there than we anticipated. Unrelenting rain makes it hard to see and high winds buffet the vehicle, pushing it from side to side. We maneuver around downed trees and avoid a section of road that was partially washed out. I wish I had Storm’s ability right now.
The sheriff and a group of men are gathered around Sequoia’s kitchen table, where a topographical map of the county lies pinned to a cork board. His radio squawks and after he listens to the report coming in, he removes a red map pin from one of the small valleys the locals call hollers, and pushes a blue one in. “Those folks are safely out of there.”
He calls me over to the table. “Pax, can you and the girls get up to this area?” He points to a section near two creeks where six red pins indicate cabins that could be in trouble. I glance at the whole map and notice that there aren’t that many red pins left, and they’re spaced pretty widely apart. It looks like a few families might have banded into loose communities of sorts, but most of the mountain folk seem to prefer the isolation.
“Of course, Sheriff. We can use Jewel’s and my cars, but what’s the protocol for getting the people out of there?”
“Some of my men are already as close as they can get with rescue vehicles and equipment. We may need your tracking ability, Pax. The creeks are overflowing and the men report flash floods taking down some of the cabins.”
“We’re on our way.”
Sky, you and Jewel ride together in her car. Follow me up the mountain. Storm, can you hear me?
I hear you. His voice is loud and clear. Call me if you get stuck. I imagine his amusement, but considering the conditions today, I might have to call him.
Where are you? I ask.
The sheriff told Wolf where you’re going. I’m heading there now.
We make it to the staging area where a firetruck and ambulance are parked, and wait for Storm. He arrives a few minutes later, dressed in his riding rain gear and waders. He throws me a coil of rope and grabs another from the bed of his truck. Men are already checking on the cabins on the other side of the creek. We’ll take this side. Sky? Jewel? Are you okay with this?
Of course we are, Jewel answers. Let’s get going.
Sky says nothing, but I feel her raise up a wall of determination to cover a well of fear. I send out reassurance and she smiles.
The door of the first cabin we come to hangs by one hinge and swings back and forth as surging water ebbs and flows inside. It looks deserted, but if anyone is in there, Storm can get them out. “Is anybody here?” he shouts.
My sister reaches out with her feelers and shakes her head. I drop my guard and sniff. Under the scent of mold and rot, I smell old sweat and years of open-fire cooking baked into the exposed log walls. There’s no fresh human scent. Storm contacts Wolf to report what we found, and we move on.
Jewel is becoming increasingly agitated. I feel Sky trying to calm her, but something is bothering her. I close my connection to the others and tap her number for a private conversation.
What’s wrong, Jewel? She stumbles over an exposed root and I catch her arm to steady her.
It’s the animals, Pax. I see their life-forces and some of them are so faint I know they’re dying. I wonder how many people have drowned here today. How many are drowning right now?
She’s ahead of me, but I see her back shaking as if she’s sobbing. I’m sorry, honey. Did I really just call her honey? I hope she didn’t catch that.
I continue trying to reassure her. Most of the people who can are out searching. No drownings have been reported so far, and it’s possible that no one lost their life today. I wish we could help with the animals, too.
“Over there,” Storm says, pointing to a darker shadow in the forest. I break connection with Jewel and rejoin the group link. Half of the roof of the dilapidated cabin has caved in. It looks like it’s been uninhabited for a long time. We enter and look around. Sky again sends out feelers, I sniff and Jewel walks around outside to see if anyone might be hurt out there, but it’s empty of life. Storm reports in and we slowly make our way up steep ground, treacherous with mud and wet leaves.
The third cabin is close to the creek, now more like a gushing river full of debris from the hills. From here it looks like water is halfway up to the windows. It creaks and groans and I wonder how long it’ll be able to stand against the raging current.
“Is anyone home?” Storm shouts.
This time there’s an answering shout, “In here. We need help!”
The thought comes from Jewel. That sounds like Marla.
Sky nods and says out loud, “It is, and someone’s with her.” I drop my coil of rope, tie it around my waist and hand it to Storm. He wraps a coil around his own waist and ties the rest to
a solid-looking oak. “You girls get ready. I hope you brought survival blankets.”
Of course we did, Jewel answers. Get them out of there before the water washes the cabin downstream.
When we’re ten feet from the cabin we hear a loud crash followed by screams. The logs shudder and shift and a section of roof falls in. Part of the log wall closest to the creek breaks off and I know it’s only a matter of seconds before the whole thing washes away with two people inside. We’re out of time.
“Storm!” I shout. I can barely hear his answer, muffled by the roar of the wild creek. The rest of the roof peels away.
Tell Marla to hold on to the other person in there. His mental shout hurts, but I do as he says and yell his instructions as loudly as I can. A moment later, she floats out of the roofless house holding tightly to someone wrapped in a blanket. As soon as they clear the cabin, it groans loudly and splinters as the torrent sweeps it away.
Storm sets them down in front of the girls. Jewel wraps a lightweight survival blanket around Marla’s shoulders and gently pulls her from the person she’s gripping. Sky pulls the soggy blanket away to reveal Marla’s mother, pale and unconscious. She tosses the wet blanket aside and wraps her in a second survival blanket.
“This is the last of them on this side,” Storm says. “Let’s get them back to the staging area.” He lifts the unconscious woman a couple of feet from the forest floor as if she’s on a gurney, and Marla stumbles along, occasionally touching her mother’s head. We slip and slide down the mountain to the waiting ambulance and trucks.
As soon as she sees her mother safely in the ambulance she turns to us and says, “I owe you one,” and climbs in beside her. The driver tells Storm they’re heading to the Adams’ house where a triage center has been set up. All the roads to area hospitals are impassable, but a helicopter can land in their field if necessary, as soon as the weather clears.
Terra's Call (TetraSphere Book 1) Page 15
