The Black Clouds

by Steve Matthew Benner

  A voice immediately answers, “Hello, Air Force Command.”

  Jeff: “Tell General Scott that Dr. Snowden is on the phone.”

  “This is General Scott, hello Dr. Snowden, it’s good to hear that you’re still alive.”

  “Not as glad as I am. Are you watching the Cloud outside our facility?”

  “Yes, we have dedicated assets watching all the time. It looks like you guys took a pretty good chunk out of it.”

  “We’ve released another new Cloud as I mentioned we would. The two are now approaching each other.”

  “Yes, we can see that. The small one is directly over your facility and the main Cloud is less than a quarter mile away and moving toward you.”

  “Has the method that you suggested worked out?”

  “We finished our tests yesterday, and everything checked out. We think it’s our best hope to destroy this.”

  “General, can you explain what your plan is to my colleagues?”

  “Glad to. What we plan to drop on the Cloud is what is called a Thermobaric Bomb. The Russians and US have had this type of bomb in our arsenals for years, and we decided to pool our resources to develop one capable of dispersing or destroying these Clouds. Essentially it uses fuel that is dispersed over the target then ignited to generate a blast wave that is much more intense and powerful than normal explosives. We have worked with the Russians to develop ones that can cover a very large area. They are almost like a nuclear weapon without the fallout. It’s what we should have used on the Clouds when they first showed up, but by the time we decide to use them, the Clouds were much too large. If you guys can get the Cloud size down to a manageable size, we can use this to destroy it.”

  “We are hoping that the new Cloud we just released will do just that. The main Cloud we think is low on energy and this fight may be enough to allow you to use your weapon.”

  “Your colleague, Ms. Leslie, was a big help in working out the calculations. If she ever needs a job, she can come see us.”

  Sheryl: “Thank you, General.”

  “Dr. Snowden, you realize that you’re probably going to be within the blast radius?”

  “Yes, I know. But this facility is built to survive a nearby nuclear strike, so I’m assuming we aren’t going to be martyrs.”

  Carol: “Amen to that.”

  General: “All I can say is batten down your hatches, because if we see the Cloud reach our maximum effective radius, we’re dropping the bomb. We have bombers overhear right now to drop the bomb within 20 seconds of getting the okay, so you’re not going to have any time to get ready. Understand?”

  Jeff: “Yes, we understand. We can’t make another Cloud unless the mother Cloud comes within range of our sampling ports, plus the daughter Cloud would have to be out of the way anyway. There is not much we can do now but watch and wait. Please keep us on line. We’ll want to know when you drop that thing.”

  General: “Roger wilco.”

  “Good luck.”

  “You too.”

  ~

  There wasn’t anything more for them to do but watch the monitors as the two Clouds locked in combat. They didn’t know if the sample Cloud was going to be strong enough to shrink the mother Cloud down to a volume small enough to kill or not. They were all exhausted from the day’s activities and the strain that they’d been working under for days. But none of them could sleep. They made small talk about what they planned to do when they got out; or about their families; or about how the areas ravaged would have to be rebuilt; anything that would keep the strain of waiting tolerable. Mike and Sheryl sat together talking quietly to each other. As minutes stretched into hours, they all grew silent and in a dull stupor just watched the facility exterior videos and those from the satellites.

  Then over the phone, “Victor one, this is command. Over.”

  “This is Victory one.”

  “You’re GO to drop the package at the coordinates designated. Over.”

  “Roger, that. Deliver the package to designated coordinates.”

  Jeff: “Start counting down from 20. This should be interesting.”

  In unison they counted down. At a count of five, the cameras showed a flash and all communications and contact with the outside world stopped. The blast could be felt through the walls and dust rained down from the ceiling, but the interior lights stayed on. The internal power supply was unaffected.

  Carol: “Well this sucks. How are we supposed to know if it worked or not?”

  Jeff: “I guess we go outside and find out.”

  Carol: “What if the Cloud’s still there? We’ll be eaten alive?”

  Jeff: “I don’t know about you but I’m not going to stay down here. If it worked, we’re saved; if not, we’re dead, whether we stay or not. Anyone else coming?”

  Mike: “Count me in.”

  Sheryl: “Yes, I’ll go.”

  Tim: “Me too.”

  Tim: “Okay, okay. But I’m not the first one out the door.”

  Carol: “You’re such a shinning example of manhood.”

  Tim: “Hey that’s not nice.”

  Carol: “It wasn’t meant to be.”

  All five of them walked to the elevator.

  Carol: “You think this thing will work?”

  Jeff: “Only one way to find out.” He pushed the button to call the car, but nothing happened. They waited for another ten minutes, before deciding it wasn’t coming.

  Tim: “Well this sucks. Now what?”

  Jeff: “Tim, I’ve known you for a long time, and I never realize how badly you could get on my nerves. Can’t you be a little optimistic? Mike, what do you think?”

  Mike: “My guess is that the top level has probably been leveled. Is that a pun? It must have destroyed the electrical circuits up there. I’m sure that some of the rumble from the building crashed down into the elevator shaft. It may have destroyed the car itself. The only thing we can do is walk up the stairs to the top and hope we can get out. I think I’ll bring these along.” He holds up a small crowbar and a flashlight. “They might come in handy.”

  Jeff: “Bright boy. I know I hired you for a reason.”

  Carol: “Actually I hired him. You realize that it’s 50 meters, that’s about 16 stories.”

  Jeff: “It’ll be good exercise for you.”

  They found the stairwell and began walking up to the surface. When they were about two stories from the surface they came to a blockage. Rubble from the surface completely filled the stairwell from this point on.

  Tim: “Screw this. Now we’re trapped in the stairwell.”

  Jeff: “Mike, do me a favor and use the crowbar on Tim.”

  Mike: “What?”

  Jeff: “I’m kidding. I think I know the next option. There is a shaft leading from the facility to the surface. There is a door on every level that will provide access to it. It’s dangerous because if you slip, you fall all the way to the bottom.”

  Tim: “Sounds like we have no other options.”

  Mike took the crowbar and pried an access panel about a meter square out of the wall in the stairwell. Behind it was a dark tunnel. Mike climbed in with the flashlight and began crawling along it. In single file, each person followed.

  Tim: “This just gets better and better.”

  After about 20 meters, Mike stopped stopping everyone else.

  Mike: “I’ve reached the silo. We’re a good seven meters from the top. I’m going to climb up the ladder to the top and see if I can get out.”

  Mike crawled out of the opening and onto the ladder. He climbed the rest of the way to an airtight manhole at the top. In its center was a large wheel that was used to dog the lid closed. Mike tried to turn the wheel, but it would not budge.

  Mike: “I’m at the opening, but I can’t budge the cover. I think it may have melted shut.”

  Jeff: “Mike, use the crowbar to tap on the lid to let anyone outside that we’re in her and a live. I’ll come and relieve you in any hour.”

 
; Mike: “Will do, boss.”

  The four of them sat in the dark in the access-way while Mike rhythmically pounded on the lid. Fortunately it was only about 40 minutes later when Mike heard pounding from the outside. Then he saw the sparks from a welding torch cutting through the lid. Mike went down and told the rest they’d been rescued. As soon as the hole had been cut, they climbed out of the hole one by one. The area as far has they could see was devastated and smoking. There was nothing left standing, even the building that served as the entry to their facility was gone. When they had all gotten out, a military man with two stars on his shoulders walked up to Jeff and said, “Dr. Snowden, I’m General Scott. It looks like we did it. The Cloud is gone. It was dispersed so widely that it was unable re-congeal. There is no trace of either Cloud. Congratulations.” He then shook the other team members’ hands.

  None of them could think of anything to say.

  ~

  The rest of the story was anti-climactic. It took two weeks for the Spanish and Italian Clouds to meet in southern France, having desolated everything in between. Attempts to create daughter Clouds to weaken them failed, so they were allowed to proceed with everything being evacuated from their paths. The battle between the two largest Clouds on Earth was impressive and lasted for three days. But when the Italian Cloud finally won, it was so depleted that the military used a smaller bomb than that used in Arizona to destroy it, helping to minimize the damage. The last three remaining Clouds were a little harder to deal with. Soon after the Cloud Battle of Southern France, as it was called, the large Romanian Cloud met the smaller one from southern Russia in the Ukraine. The battle was short, and the Romanian Cloud not much diminished. Efforts got under way to draw off samples and create daughter Clouds in its path as it moved toward the Kazakhstan Cloud. This proved more successful than the earlier attempts. When the last two Clouds met, the winner was destroyed.

  All five surviving members of the lab team, Drs. Snowden, Weisz, and McLoeb, and Mike and Sheryl, along with Dan’s mother, were awarded Presidential Medals at a special ceremony at the White House.