Chapter 8

They continued south, going upstream in the only river in the western hemisphere that flows south to north. The sun was warm; the breeze was refreshing, and Alan made the ride upstream interesting by weaving between the small islands and the larger islands like Grand Island and Tonawanda Island. “What a cool name, Tonawanda, where does it come from?” asked Eris.

“It means merging rivers in the Tuscarora language.”

“Cool, it’s a really big river,” said Ben as they passed under the remains of a bridge left standing as a memorial to the survivors of the bombing of 2085.

“This is just part of a river.” As the shore on their right fell away, the river became huge. “That was Grand Island on your right and this cool horseshoe island is Strawberry Island.” Alan drove around the horseshoe shaped little spit of land that was covered with willows and brush. “The British staged their forces here in 1815 for an assault on Buffalo.”

“I thought they crossed the Niagara River to do that,” said Ben.

“They did, this is the Niagara River.” When Alan said that, Eris nearly jumped off the barge.

“The NIAGARA River??? With the huge falls?”

“Yeah, it’s that way a few yards,” said Pandora as she pointed downstream. She loved the chance to antagonize her sister.

“It’s about fifteen miles away,” said Alan softly to his panicking sister-in-law.

When the land and the cities fell away, Alan brought the barge to a stop and deployed the roof that exposed the solar cells and recharged the batteries. “I’m going swimming,” he said, and he peeled off his shirt.

“I’m joining you,” said Pandora and she untied her belt, revealing that her dress was merely a wrap and underneath she was wearing a small bikini that she would never wear in front of her children or her parents. Alan dove into the cool, refreshing water while Pandora deployed the swimming ladder and followed him in. As their hosts splashed and played, Eris began panicking. She couldn’t see land anywhere; it was all water! The two Martian born Marines, Ben and Hector, were just as bad.

Alex just grinned, “You only live once!” and he tore off his shirt and dove in. He surfaced, struggling and spitting, but Alan had him treading water with just a moment of instruction.

“You’re a Marine!” said Pandora. “That means water!”

Ben sat close to Eris and said, “I’m a marine, I’ll keep you safe.”

“Then stick close,” she said and mustering all her courage, she yanked off her t-shirt and shorts and, wearing just her panties, she jumped in the water. “Looka that, another Luna!” called Alex. Pandora swam to her sister’s side to help her with treading water.

“I’m goin’ in,” said Hector. “I can’t go back to Mars and not tell them all about this!” Soon Ben and Hector joined them in the water. Ben never really caught on to treading water, but Hector was soon treading water and swimming the side stroke and the breast stroke (without putting his face in the water.)

“I’m going to need more lessons,” muttered Ben as he climbed out of the water, only to dive back in. “This sure is a wide river.”

“This is Lake Erie,” said Alan. “One of the great lakes. Here is where the war started almost a century ago. The Widdershins Separatists set off a forty five megaton blast right over there hoping to wipe out Buffalo and Cleveland with the tsunami and cut off shipping to the interior.”

“I take it that it didn’t work,” said Hector.

“No, it worked. It worked better than those morons expected. The tsunami killed millions of innocent people, which is why the Separatists were hunted down and executed like dogs. It spurred a global war and combat in space.”

The tsunami caused by the bomb nearly emptied Lake Erie. It wiped out the cities of Fort Erie, Buffalo, Erie, Ashtabula, Cleveland, Sandusky, Monroe, Toledo, and the city of Detroit, which was wavering toward the Widdershins rebellion. The tsunami raced up the Niagara river and diverged up the Erie Canal, Welland Canal, Tonawanda Creek, and Ellicott creek destroying houses and villages as it went, not to mention south through the Cuyahoga and other rivers and streams. When the tsunami hit Niagara Falls, it was said that the water of Niagara falls shot out nearly half a mile before dropping into the river. Then the falls dried up and didn’t regain their thundering water until Lake Erie refilled months later. When the tsunami hit Lake Ontario, it did untold damage to the city of Toronto, destroying the locks of the Welland Canal and the St. Lawrence Seaway.