Chapter 37

Earth time: 6:57 AM Tuesday, April 26, 2033 EDT (10 hours, 31 minutes to Path closing) - at the Junction of Route 32 and the public access road

"Well," whispered Kara, "It's taken us almost an hour just to reach Route 32, and it looks even more messy than the public access road. This is really going to slow us down..." The away teams had been walking their bikes over loose branches in the gray twilight for the last hour. Overhead swift dark waves of clouds were rolling. The air felt muggy and alive with energy, very unusual for so early in the year.

After quick kisses, team-A began to head north, while the others headed south. There were faint sounds of the thunder in the distance.

Biking was impossible, at least at first. The teams spent their time trailing their bikes through the mazes of obstacles. It was almost 8 AM before the two teams heading south had traveled 5 km and finally hit the junction with Route 72. Leon was relieved to see that the road west looked clear. Kara's team looked down Route 32 and still saw a maze of obstacles, but not as bad as what was behind them. A light mist began mixing with the rising wind.

"Well Leon," said Kara. "Good luck! Remember to assume pouring rain for your ride back. Don't get caught needing to speed-bike through it."

Leon nodded. "Yeah. Good luck to you too Kara. Take care. Wait! Kara..." Leon pointed to two small rocks off the side of the road. "When my team returns, we'll throw away the left rock, you throw away the right. This way we'll know if the other team is ahead or behind us."

Kara nodded. "Good idea."

There were brief hugs, swift and fierce, and then the groups prepared to separate. Leon called out, "Team! Remember, stay alert first! Our speed is secondary! Move out!" Team-B mounted their bikes and began their ride west. Lois and Kara and her son Mahi continued to trail their bikes south. The sharp crack of a thunderclap filled the air.

8:58 AM EDT, on the road at the edge of Parsons (8 hours 30 minutes to Path closing)...

Leon gazed through the binoculars again at the small town, in particular at the sign Mayoni had just pointed out to him. "Yeah, really something... What do you think?"

Mayoni whispered, "Almost too good to be true... But... Maybe we're just incredibly lucky... We were lucky with the rain... Lots of thunder... no water... The clouds are very dark to the east and north, it might be a different story for Mark... Uncle Leon?"

"Yeah?"

"We made almost thirty kilometers in less than an hour. We were really hauling ass!"

"Hah! The pass at the Northern Plateau... You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"I live to tease..."

"I know... Okay team, saddle up!"

9:01 AM EDT, on the road to Harmin...

There was still occasional thunder, but the wind had died down and all the really dark clouds were behind them to the north. Kara would occasionally glance back at the distant churning mass of thunderclouds and wonder about the weather around Davis. It had been slow going the last hour, riding the bikes was impossible with the condition of the road, and her team was still a good five km from Harmin. And then as if by magic, the debris was no longer blocking the road. Lois turned and looked at Kara and smiled.

"Saddle up!" called Kara. Lois as the most experienced person with the territory took the lead, followed by Mahi and then Kara. Kara thought they might make the town in twenty minutes if the road stayed this clean, even with the stiff head wind blowing in from the south. Things were looking up.

9:03 AM, inside Parsons...

Team-B pulled up their bikes to what appeared to be some sort of lodge. There was a huge sign nailed to the front saying "Last Castle Café", and underneath that in red paint, "Yes! We have internet!" The sign was lit by a small floodlight, and with all the dark clouds it made the sign look much more visible. The front door looked open. As they dismounted their bikes, Leon said quietly, "We'll leave our bikes at the door. We meet people, try to let me do all the talking, unless you can't avoid it..."