c. 2026 Rod Ice
All rights reserved
(4-26)
Being exiled to the remote, trailer community of Evergreen Estates affected Judson Baines and Kelly Strafe in different ways. For the former, this abandoned property in the pines presented challenges that were best handled with careful forethought, and innovation. He was used to thinking out such strategies in a classroom environment, but had rarely been able to test them in real-world situations. Now, the entire park was his laboratory. He could design and improvise, and gain more understanding about how other adventurers might survive in primitive conditions. But for the latter of this duo, there was a different mindset at work. One shaped by years spent serving in the ranks of a regimented group, as a useful component of something far greater and stronger than herself. The former lieutenant immediately went scouting around their adopted home base, to gain clues about how their location could be observed and invaded by outsiders who might be present.
Unsurprisingly, it did not take long to confirm that there were no other sentient beings around the cluster of boxcar homes. A more thorough search of the deserted township square, which lay up the hillside, northwest of the park, revealed a tale of similar conditions. Nature had begun to reclaim the geography, with empty buildings sagging on their foundations, and access roads overgrown with wilderness foliage. Other than reaching the area as they had done, from above, trekking across the ruined landscape would be nearly impossible.
They had few defensive capabilities of any kind. Yet were unlikely to encounter threats, because of their isolation. More of a worry would be predatory animals which might be foraging for food and water. They needed to be mindful of wildlife in their midst.
Baines stayed busy during this interlude by fiddling with accessories onboard the Digger shuttle. He was able to fashion a wiring harness from scrapped material, and hooked up the electrical junction at Lot 13. The manufactured home of his bloodline progenitor was still largely intact, and capable of being inhabited. But he needed to set up some creature comforts, if they were to live there for any length of time. A first surge of power caused the breaker box, hanging on an interior wall, to hum loudly. Then, it quieted as a stable charge was delivered to lights and appliances throughout the singlewide hovel.
A crackle of static sputtered from the portable radio they had found. Because of course, there were no stations left to broadcast. But he hoped to eventually tune in some signals from one of the distant enclaves that were still in existence. If nothing else, that sort of one-way contact might ease the persistent feeling that they had fallen out of favor with the entire universe.
Sensors on the Digger craft were clear, with nothing to register. But as the university professor calibrated his generator’s output levels, there was a ping on the monitor. Overhead, a tiny vessel was descending from orbit, on a trajectory headed toward the Pacific Ocean. He watched with great interest, as this linked contraption forged through the lower atmosphere, before dipping low in the horizon. It was a crude sort of conveyance, even more basic than the old Larman transports that had taken the first Terran settlers to their new homes on Mars. Yet a sort of graceful arc made it glide smoothly through the friction of reentering atmospheric pressure.
Baines swore to himself, while twisting knobs on the dashboard console.
“God help them, they’re not much better off than we are!”
Up the hillside, Strafe continued to survey acres of deserted farmland that covered much of the area. She plotted squares on a virtual graph, to represent each parcel of dirt. In every direction, there were more empty fields, and rusted implements left behind. Lake Erie was close enough to be a possible destination, should they decide to explore the region on foot. But for the moment, staying close to their landing zone seemed wise.
As the former officer made her way back to Evergreen Estates, there was a noticeable change in the weather pattern. The sky darkened ominously, as she navigated a cleared trail down the hillside. Eventually, this shift to shades of gray and deepest blue dampened her mood of curiosity. Winds howled through the trees. Her footing slipped on a broken outcropping of buckled tarmac, and she tumbled into the brush.
Cyclical storms still ravaged the planet, after chemical weapons had seeded the air with poison, on behalf of government forces from the previous century. They paid homage to a failed state, and its quest for dominance over a fleeing population. With time, these episodes of meteorological unrest had become less frequent, and intense. But the stain of their sad legacy had not yet been fully erased.
With the afternoon developing a threatening character, Judson became concerned about his wandering cohort from the Martian colonies. He unclipped the com-link from his duty belt, and called out for contact.
“Kells? Hey, I’ve been twisting wires and turning screws here at the trailer, but all of a sudden I noticed that it’s starting to turn ugly outside. Are you done with your hike, yet? I think it’d be better to huddle here in the Digger, at least until these gales blow through...”
His companion was dazed from her fall along the improvised trail. But answered after a brief pause to clear her head.
“Dammit Juddy, I tripped on some loose stones up here! My face is burning, and I feel dizzy. I came down on my hands and knees, in a thicket of briars. I’m a hopeless mess at the moment!”
The classroom scholar dropped his toolkit, and electrical tape. He reacted immediately.
“STAY WHERE YOU ARE, I’LL BE THERE IN A FEW TICKS! DON’T TRY TO MAKE IT BACK HERE ON YOUR OWN, OR YOU’LL TAKE ANOTHER DIVE IN THE DIRT! FOR ONCE, LISTEN TO ME! I’LL BE RIGHT THERE TO HELP!”
A rumble of thunder shook the ground. Then, bolts of lightning lit up the rural development. Any attempt to reach his partner would have to be executed quickly.
There was a brief burp of electronic noise over the wireless device. Then, a final cry for rescue. One delivered in fading tones of desperation. Mother Nature was about to throw a tantrum.
“I can’t see straight, anymore, Juddy. And the rain is on its way!”
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