Chapter 14: The Tales of the Visitors

The short days of February faded into the longer days of March. The days remained clear, and the temperatures were below freezing at night and slightly above freezing in the day. The warm weather that came after the blizzard lasted only a day longer than the blizzard and the cold snap. Life slowly resumed, but at a slower pace than ever before.

The water in the washes between Pine Valley and the mine decreased rapidly at the snow wilted and shrank. People were actually able to get to town if they left as close to sunup as possible. The nightly freezes made the washes intermittent streams after most of the snow had melted. Townies had to leave a half hour before sunup and those on the mountain had to stay over night because as soon as the sun warmed the air above freezing the streams would return quickly.

There was one more cross-border incursion, this time in New Mexico, just west of El Paso. The Air Force carpet-bombed the city of Juarez with leaflets, telling the people to flee south, then three days later the 82nd Airborne Division landed at Biggs Field at Ft. Bliss, and over the next few days, chivvied the people who had remain out of town, then they burned the entire town. They started on the southern outskirts and burned the city behind them as they moved north. Mexican nationals who tried to flee north were met with warning shots a mile south of the border, and at the border there were no warning shots. The three hundred Mexican army deserters who had occupied Deming were surrounded. A dozen hostages were killed ... but then our soldiers slaughtered all of the deserters.

There were a few protests about the lack of “justice” but the nation was in no mood to temporize with lawbreakers. The casualty count from the asteroid was approaching two million Americans and there were tens of millions of refugees. They were being temporarily sheltered in the desert in West Texas. Whole new tent cities were being erected, and every decent tent in the country had been purchased for the refugees.

The rest of the world was in even more turmoil. The southern nations of the Pacific Rim were devastated with casualty counts dwarfing that of the US. Japan had done the best: they had an extensive warning system for earthquakes and tsunamis that saved a lot of the people and while the property damage was extensive it could be rebuilt.

The oil-producing areas of the Middle East were mostly unscathed by Rock Fall, but the riots and unrest among the Arab nations were extensive. The Shiites of Iran were heavily millennial, believing in the apocalypse, but were disappointed when nothing seemed to happen in the expected places. However an event occurred forty-five minutes after Rock Fall that would later have nearly as much impact as the Rock itself.

A piece of the rocks, four feet in diameter, glowing red-hot landed in Mecca, actually inside the Grand Mosque, in the open area around the Kaaba. It did no damage to any structures, including the Kaaba, but the Supreme Leader of Iran was killed, as were most of his guards. The Ayatollah had petitioned the Saudis and he was allowed to come with a few guards. The Iranians accused the Saudi monarchy with faking the meteor, but there were thousands of people present in the mosque who saw the impact. It took a while, but the Jihadi terrorists lost all their support afterwards.

None of that really mattered in Pine Valley or on Gutterman Mountain. Most everyone went about their daily activities that they had engaged in before the Rock, and the most important local event was coming on the first day of spring of the two former astronauts to Pine Valley.

There was a large party from Gutterman Mountain, including Chris and his wives, the bishop and his wives and many more. The same was true of the people of Pine Valley. The mayor and the sheriff, even Judge Hoffman, recovering from his heart attack.

The husband and wife of the astronaut corps were both like peas in a pod. They were five ten, blonde and blue-eyed, with trim physiques. Mark Kenyon shook hands with Mayor DeWitt, then Sheriff Vanna, after they climbed down from the helicopter that had brought them.

Dr. Dewitt was more blunt than Chris expected. “To what do we owe the honor of this visit?”

Mark grinned. “I just had to come and see how a man deals with four wives. I know from experience, one wife isn’t easy.”

Susana Kenyon spoke up after her husband. “Bishop Flake?”

The bishop stepped forward. “I brought you a present,” Susana said, waving at the chopper.

A woman stepped out, about twenty-five, carrying a baby in her arms, trailed by a man about her age.