Hot Pursuit

Energy is finite and Time ensures it always will be.  All things end, or perhaps it could be said that Time neutralizes potentialities.  This is true even for planet-wide Megastorms.  After the water receded from the City, it continued to rain for another eight hours or so.  Neither the underground party nor Sam had been heard from and as soon as the downpour started to subside, Melissa and Sandi wanted to hunt for them.  It took every bit of Brain and Marie’s persuasive talents to make them at least wait until it was light.

When the two storm fronts collided near the equator, the cyclonic formations began breaking up and the planet’s atmospheric pattern began to resemble Earth’s, with real clouds and rain storms.  As soon as the lightning generated interference fell to lower levels, Orion tried to contact the ground, but only static greeted the attempts.  I was hoping it was only a technical problem.  Fi and I had spent the night on the Bridge, watching the show, so she was in our quarters, napping.  I wouldn’t have minded joining her but I was the Captain.  Fortunately, Irene was keeping me well supplied with coffee.

“Orion, focus the telescope on the City at maximum resolution and put the image on my screen, please.”

“COMPLYING, CAPTAIN.”  The city wall was broken again but the Headquarters building looked undamaged.  People were starting to come out onto the street and after a short while, two groups left in a hurry.  One, toward the entrance to the underground and the other, toward the gap in the wall.  I moved the view to center on the Port.  The Camper seemed intact, though the auxiliary domes were nowhere to be seen, and Fido was not where it had been anchored.  The lander was pushed up an embankment and canted at a sharp angle.  I hoped the damage wasn’t too severe, we needed it to help finish getting water if we were going to leave on schedule.  I moved the focal point over to the gap in the wall.  A river bed had been cut from the City, running downhill at least a mile into and through, the forest.  That must have been one awesome flood.  The radio crackled, then Marie’s voice came on.

“Orion, can you read me . . . Over?”

“Hey, Marie, it’s good to hear from you.  What’s the situation down there?  Over.”

“Wet and messy but we are getting a handle on it.  What is happening with the weather?  All our Comm Links are down, the wind and rain wiped out the Vid system.  This radio is our only communications right now.  Over.”

“Well, the weather is clearing.  You might get more rain but nothing like last night.  From up here the Camper looks okay but Fido got moved.  You should check it out ASAP.  Over.”

“Will do, Ice.  Here’s the immediate situation . . .”  She went on to fill me in on the ongoing rescues.  I told her that as soon as it looked safe enough those of us aboard Orion would be down to help.  She was going to keep me informed about the missing people.  Sam worried me, a little.  If as large an object as Fido had been moved, he might be in real trouble, in spite of the Combat Suit.  Don came to the Bridge and I brought him up to speed on the ground situation.  He took over the watch, it was going to be a long day and I needed a few hours of shuteye.

Sandi, Lindsey and two of the science assistants ran to the garage building that the ground vehicles were stored in.  Nothing wanted to start, they had been underwater too long and needed to dry out.  There was only one other option, Human Transport System, Mark I.  They took off at a fast trot, Sandi in the lead.  As they traveled through the city, she noticed the buildings were shiny and almost looked new.  The glass material stood up to the storm with hardly a hint of erosion.  Which, considering last night, is probably why the Atlanteans used it to build with, she concluded.  They continued running, wasting little energy in conversation.

Brain, Melissa and three others were headed to the underground.  They were each praying silently that the City had drained out before the people down there drowned.  Arriving at the entrance building, they had to clear debris away from the doors.  It was obvious a lot of water had come through them and when blocked, the windows.  In fact, the building was  choked with loose rubble from the surrounding streets.  It took the better part of an hour to get the entrance to the upper generator room unblocked.  With an iron grip on her compos