Chapter 32

It was all that and more.

The landscape was a smashed and smoking ruin, bits and pieces of everything that had been at that particular place, 50,000 years before and after that morning, mixed together in a huge junkyard. Category Four hurricane force winds continued to howl from the south, fanning the fires to blast furnace temperatures. Parts of what must have been living creatures swirled in eddies, partially sheltered from the winds by the collapsed buildings.

In the abstract, Pete realized that pieces of a hundred-millennium stretch of history became the mismatched jigsaw puzzle in front of him. The continuum of time itself had fragmented, leaving fractions of the past or future stitched into a now. Different ages, disconnected parts of different creatures, churned into a brand of lethal chaos.

Sixteen girls were not thinking in the abstract. Spring, Star and Phoebe were empathically keeping the panic down to manageable levels. Pete added another layer of soothing calm and loving concern to the efforts of the three teens.

<Thank you for helping blunt the impact of this horror story, girls. They will be able to process it all later, but now it's too much to absorb.>

<Sis, Phoebe and I don't have the personal attachments to 72nd Street the others do. It's easier to take a step back. Not that it is easy by any scale, but we don't have family, friends and businesses lost out in that destruction.>

<I had Ed, Lynne and the boys upstate, Star had a few members of the tribe in Qualla, and all three of us had some people we cared about here, but nothing like the connections they had.>

<Rani is having the better time dealing. Most of her experience in New York was not pleasant before becoming a Pixie and she won't miss it> Phoebe added. <Bro, do you think this scene is global?>

<It has to be. The Aurorans had 24 anomaly generators in orbit. That's one for every time zone. This wind on a cloudless day means vast temperature differences over widespread areas of the globe. Somewhere north of us is probably a gigantic lava field, pulling in air as the heat rises. Interrupted, reversed and advanced tectonic plate slippage, blended at the same fault has to have caused volcanoes and earthquakes off the Richter scale.>

Star considered this for a minute. <The Pacific Rim might be a real ring of fire. Mt. Mitchell could be taller than Everest. The Yellowstone Caldera could be sending the high plains to the stratosphere right now.>

<Just peachy.> Her sister thought. <The Mid Atlantic ridge is probably going bat-shit crazy. Folks, on top of all this, we are looking forward to tsunamis, big honkin' tsunamis. Extinction level tsunamis. How fucking extinct can we get?>

Pete thought, <On the upside, the Pacific is worse. But the tsunami thread is real and imminent.>

The sixteen girls were starting to get a grip. Pete dropped his mental broadcast, but Star, Phoebe and Spring kept their influence in place. Selena asked, "Do you think Mom and Dad made it if they got to the park?"

"It was their only chance to avoid being crushed. If they did make it, they had to go wherever the time waves took them. I don't mean to be cruel, Selena, the odds are slim to none, but not zero." Allison said.

"It doesn't look good for anybody. The Malone's and Tanaka-Reynolds's in New Zealand. Rani's family in India, my relatives near Stromboli and Vesuvius, all lived in danger zones before the time storm. Then again, maybe cousin Roberto is Caesar, somewhen."

Cam grinned, "Can you see our parents raising mutated wombats for the Marsupial Olympics? MT-R Racing and Mystic Restaurant, Inc."

Pete was relieved to see the girls' youthful resilience coming through the grief. Emotionally, they would heal. Eventually, the scars would fade, the memories would recede, and life would go on. No one would forget, but they would move on.

<Boss, got time to go over some gaps?>

<Wait for a minute, I'll get the girls to the rec room. We need to bring Rocky into the conversation. You and I will talk, put Rocky on the screen.>

"Ladies, we need to have a family conference. Amy is going to text it out on the big screen so Rocky can sit in."

The girls were more than willing to get away from the hellish vista, zipping down as quickly as the spiral staircase would allow. Pete realized he needed some more seating when the teenagers dragged another couch in from the living room.

-So, what did you find that we know, but don't know we know?-

-A bunch of billing for jobs you did/will complete, the contract with Demopolis Construction, guardianship papers for the new girls, and receipts for furniture for the annex.-

-We recorded some news stories about half the population of Transylvania County being arrested for corruption, human trafficking, murder, conspiracy to commit murder, tax fraud, accepting bribes, paying bribes, and felony bad fashion sense. Then the open warfare between several white separatist groups, Mexican drug cartels and an Algerian gun smuggling operation attracted some attention to a certain missing $25.8 million.-

-Now we have 45 million dollars scattered to the winds of time and nowhere to spend it, a list of satisfied customers scattered with the money, and a three-story annex that may or may not be furnished. Amy, for the moment, copy the files to your active memory, then destroy the originals.-

-You listening, my stony friend?-

-Nothing to do but listen.-

-We're guessing that a substantial tsunami is inbound. Plus, there's a very good chance we'll have torrential acid rains. I want to move you closer to the building. Amy will be able to anchor you better with the force field and the water won't be able to undercut the ground under you.-

-Even at full power, I can't move very quickly. It took a lot of beings to fling me into space before I could engage my FTL drive.- Rocky 'said' -I hope you have one of your clever plans ready-

-We already have coverage on the space under the sidewalk. I'll use all the TK I have to pull you. Amy can wrap you in the field and retract it slowly, like a net, pulling you also. The three who reinforced me before will get in the circuit and add their wills to the total. If you are able, Rocky, urge yourself to the area between the front entrance and the façade slightly east.-

"Girls, visualize Rocky sliding on a frictionless surface. Concentrate on the ground under him and the area just in front. Amy, raise the shield to the surface of the sidewalk."

"Can we do this, Sir?"

"You have some psychic power because you're human. You all have more because of the close DNA match to me and my sister and daughters. Don't think about 'how'. Believe Rocky is gliding like an air hockey puck. Remember, there is no try. There is either do or don't do."

"Rocky's existence depends on our success. Now, on the count of three, pour it on the beat after one."

His kids and sister grabbed hold of him, Amy said <Ready.>

-Here goes!- Rocky sent.

"OK, Folks. Three. Two. One. GO!"

Nothing happened the first seconds, but then the big boulder trembled and moved slightly. The girls were encouraged to concentrate harder, now they could see what worked. Pete and Amy, having overcome the inertia, pulled as hard as they could. Rocky was doing all he could to best gravity.

Together, they managed to get him near the garage door. Amy was able to extend the façade shield to include him without any trouble. Pete and the girls collapsed in exhaustion, though not as completely as their comatose condition after the time storm.

Pete felt a rumble throughout the brownstone. <Get ready Amy. The first wave is here.> He sent just seconds before several million tons of water hit the building at near supersonic speed.

"Holy Moly! That was close." Jenny shouted over the roaring sound rattling the house. "Girls! It worked on the ground. Now concentrate on the shield. Help Amy push the water away, not just resist it. Now, now, now!"

Rocky concentrated on being heavy, getting no small amount of assistance through his thread back to Epsilon Eridani 2. The elders at home were greatly impressed at the strength and dedication of the little carbon-based beings, especially because they were struggling to save an Eridani from destruction for his sake alone.

Pete was using TK to reel the building tighter to the ground; Amy was powering the field with everything she had. This was not the same as holding out against temporal change. This was a purely physical battle. Different rules, brute force resisting brutal pressures.

The team held fast through wave after wave. Some unmeasured time later, the pressures abated. The roof cameras, fortunately inside the field, showed the house to be under water.

"Nothing to do now but wait for the sea to recede. If it does. We don't even know where the coastline is today. We do know that the harbor is mostly there, because the hurricane wind wasn't smoky. It had to be from the ocean." Pete extrapolated.

"The Hudson is still there, but Manhattan might be touching Long Island and the island might reach the continental shelf. Mr. Einstein said it actually did around 22,000 years ago." Mary remembered. "Geologically, that was yesterday."

-And could actually be yesterday.- Rocky broadcast. -Thank you all. I would have been rolled like a grain of sand if it weren't for the team. Amy, if it's not too much trouble, could you reconnect the IV? And boost the voltage until I find my intake limit?-

<My pleasure. I can push it up to 240 volts at 40 amps, in increments, using current circuitry. Anything greater and I will have to build a special mechanism out of actual hardware.>

-Twice the amount as before! I was hoping for just a few more amps. That is a feast.-

The O'Neal's were recovering quicker than before. "Dad, you think we can arrange a few days between life-threatening crises? Spring and I are getting used to this routine and might become complacent. You know boredom breeds mistakes."

"Enough time to have a cheeseburger and some sweet potato fries would be heaven." Phoebe added. "How is the friction-free crew doing?"

"I think I have a cerebral stress fracture." Selena moaned. "But nothing an aspirin and messy burger won't cure."

"You're in luck. Drs. Dupont and Boulanger are in the house. If Allison will open the pharmacy, we can fill prescriptions to order."

"Two out of two Malones recommend a Reuben to cure what ails ya." The unison thing, yet again.

"You. Two. Make. Us. Nervous. When. You. Do. That." Kim and Cam retorted, alternating words.

"You all go make food. I'll eat whatever you fix. Amy, Rocky and I have to work out a plan."

The nineteen girls headed to the kitchen.

<Amy and Rocky, we need eyes. Are any satellites functioning? Weather, geo-stationary, spy, geo-mapping, GPS, communication, anything? I know the Aurorans made like mini-novas, taking a lot of capacity out, but maybe some survived the shock. We need to get a hint of how the rest of the world fared."

<There might be some buried military installations that made it, but the storm hit without notice. They had no time to prepare before there was no time at all.> Amy said, <I'll try to extend a tendril to the surface around a receiver. Maybe we can get a signal, but it will take a few rotations to be sure, either way.>

<Rocky, can your people on EE2 use the thread to scan the planet for electronic trace?>

<They might try, but they are 10.5 light years away. Isolating a 2 watt signal from the solar background radiation is asking a lot of any technology. Your main sequence, class G2 is throwing out some serious cosmic static. It might be easier to put a small friend in orbit. We do have faster than light drives. She can be here in three days.>

<Rocky, you dog, you. You wouldn't have a particular small stony orbiter in mind, would you?>

<Now that you mention it, I might be able to find a volunteer I can work with.>

<If it would help, make the request in my name. Not that I expect it to fool anybody. I suspect they can read you like X-rays through mica. Maybe we can find a nice arid place of high ground to start a colony. Not like we can't spare a few acres.>

<To make use of your entertaining vernacular, Dude, that kind of offer will attract a crowd.>

<Damn, Boss. We hit the jackpot. I found two working satellites, both geo-stationary. The one over Central time is a weather bird with infrared and ultraviolet, visible light and x-ray scanners. The other is a 'secret' military communications and spy satellite, focused on Mountain time.>

<That gives us North and South American coverage, but, Rocky, send for your girlfriend anyway. The colony offer stands. Amy, any activity on the military wavelengths?>

<Nothing so far. But the weather satellite is detecting X-ray activity at Groom Lake, Nevada and gamma radiation from Oak Ridge, Tennessee.>

<The nukes are loose in Tennessee and who the hell knows what's loose at Area 51. Amy, make damn sure to keep your ears passive. No backtalk at all. Locate Cheyenne Mountain and listen for the slightest peep. If there are people left there, they will want to 'appropriate' our tools for national security, but since there is no national, they will want them for themselves.>

<Nothing they have can touch us, Boss. Remember the particle cannon discussion?>

<They'll probably try anyway out of habit.>

Lisa stuck her hear in the room. "Pete, come eat. Everything is ready."

<Talk to you two later. I'm starved. This saving the world business takes a lot out of a small carbon-based guy. You know where to find me.>

He followed Lisa to the dining area. The cooks had exceeded expectation. Pete had a bleu cheese burger with endive lettuce on a toasted Kaiser roll. Then he ate a Reuben with German potato salad on the side.

Cam was munching a ham and cheese with tomatoes. Pete was tempted to have one of those, too, but settled for a bowl of ice cream instead. He watched the interactions among the girls. Everyone seemed to be getting along well, but he sensed a reticence from Allison. He cheated and probed her emotions.

Allison was miffed at the way Lauren and, especially, Yvette had commandeered the kitchen, purposefully or not, pushing her aside. She was a little afraid Sir would allow the more experienced chefs to take over.

Pete decided to defuse the situation immediately before it became trouble. "Allison, thank you for allowing these fine cooks to use your kitchen. We have to admit they do good work. Maybe in the future, Yvette and Lauren could borrow the facilities and do something from their cookbook again."