Each day the smell of smoke had gotten worse and Elaine was no closer to finding transportation than she had been the day before.  The airports had been shut down with the first report of the dirty bomb in Norfolk, and rumors were rampant that the District of Columbia had been hit from the Chesapeake side.  That was puzzling.  The Potomac would have been a better choice for the prevailing winds to carry the radiation toward the Capitol.  No doubt Annapolis, Baltimore and Philadelphia were in for it, and she  watched the panic on U-Tube up until her laptop battery gave out.  That was yesterday.  She did get out emails to Ted and his dad but had no response before the battery failed.  Her cell phone was useless; the lines were jammed. 

To Elaine’s great relief, the President had appeared on CNN immediately to reassure the rest of the country that members of the Congress and administration were safe, and government was still functioning.  All the armed services were being positioned to keep order.  Bombers were on their way to Pakistan to deal with those who claimed to have made the strike, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff were meeting to review the potential involvement of two other Middle Eastern countries.  Additional retaliatory strikes were likely to occur.  There were angry demonstrations from people in the street demanding nuclear annihilation of those countries involved.  

That struck her as madness of course.  What goes around comes around, and if the Air Force was dropping nuclear bombs in Pakistan, the winds would blow the radiation across China and Japan and back across the ocean to the United States.  China would not take that quietly.  Even limited nuclear activity would affect masses of people, and with two young children at home, Elaine was frantic to get back to Saint Louis and wait for the next political shoe to drop.  Hopefully, the government was sticking to conventional explosives.  It was hard to breathe much less think in all this chaos.

To hell with her job and to hell with the mortgage, she just needed to gather her family and weigh the options.  Ted’s parents were keeping the kids, and no doubt he would be there with them.   Without the ability to contact them, Elaine was feeling very alone.  Her focus had changed in the last three hours from getting home to surviving long enough to find another way home, assuming of course that home was still there.  The trees of Missouri were in flames, and Saint Louis is known as the city of trees.  Even the army was at best containing the burning in locations close to the rivers.  In Chicago, some people were collapsing in the streets from smoke inhalation while others rushed to drag them into a building.  By and large, people were still pulling together, and that was encouraging.

Along with thousands of others, Elaine was trying to get out of Chicago, and the lines at the bus station were moving very slowly.  The Illinois National Guard was keeping the bus routes clear to the interstates.  Who would have thought that one could not drive across the flat, treeless countryside of Illinois due to the thick smoke?  Elaine’s car was still in the parking garage with nearly a full tank of gasoline, but it was virtually useless. The streets were so clogged with traffic that cars could not get out from the garages into the streets.  Cars in the street had been abandoned as their fuel had run out.  You could hear the crashes as heavy equipment pushed them out of the way. 

Now the Guard and Chicago police were ordering people out of their cars at gun point to clear the streets for emergency equipment.  People were frantic and furious.  Word in the street was that there could be a dirty bomb coming in on Lake Michigan.  The interstate highways were so clogged that traffic was at a virtual standstill.  So before she ventured out of the relative clear air and safety of the bus station, Elaine stopped to think through her options.

She had an additional concern because someone appeared to be following her.  She hoped she was wrong about that.  She could not think of any good reason for anyone to follow her, except perhaps for the computer or phone, both of which were relatively useless at this point.  In reverse, she would rather have mugged the fellow for his wrap around sunglasses. Her eyes were red-rimmed and watering badly.   He was lucky enough to have a white mask over his nose and mouth, but then so was half the population in Chicago.

The man was tall, powerful-looking and conservatively dressed.  The most unsettling thing was his business-like appearance.  This was no bum, and Elaine was weary of dodging him.  She thought about confronting him in the midst of other people, but suddenly a mass of people separated them.  In an instant, she yanked off her red blazer and hunkered down behind a pile of luggage, hoping she could throw him off.  She was breathing through her red and purple scarf but tried to minimize its visibility.   If he were still around, he might identify her by the scarf. 

Optionally, Elaine was down to the railroad or to the lake waterfront for a way out of the city.  When another group of people milled past her, she ducked in with them covering the bright scarf as best she could while keeping it over her nose and mouth.  At this point she was for hiking the distance to the train station even though there was no direct route to from there to Saint Louis.  The shoes she had worn for her University presentation were sensible for standing, but too fashionable for a long walk.

Visibility was poor.  The air around her was a pale gray-brown, and in the distance, she could see heavy black smoke and an occasional lick of flames.  Chicago was burning again, and Mrs. O’Leary’s cow had nothing to do with it.  It was drought, relentless heat and high winds.  There were wild fires in nearly every state in the west and Midwest.  The attack on Norfolk and D.C. was no doubt timed to occur when the troops were already spread thin in helping fight the wild fires.  It would create panic on top of the chaos of people being driven out of their homes.  The thought made Elaine so angry that she literally stalked to the train station.  If someone wanted to follow her, let him.

As she approached the station, a young national guardsman jogged to meet her.  “Hurry,” he said as he grasped her arm and marched her in double time toward a track.  “The train is ready to pull out, and we need to get you out of here.  We’re clearing as many people as we can.”

“But,” she said.  “No ticket.”

“No matter, ma’am.  Nobody has tickets.  Good luck.”  He boosted her onto a very crowded landing and was gone.  The train was beginning to move when someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her off the landing.  Every hair follicle rose in an instant, and Elaine felt blind fear and rage, but she was off her feet and air bound.  As her feet found purchase, she was still held around the waist by a strong pair of masculine arms.  Screaming in rage, Elaine struggled to free herself.

“Elaine, Elaine Zeiss?”  The fellow hissed in her ear.  “Karl sent me for you.”  She went limp with relief.  Karl Zeiss was her father-in-law.  The blood was thundering in her ears, but she also heard the sound of boots racing in her direction as the young guardsman approached with his gun trained on this man.

“It’s all right!” she screamed.  “He is a relative.”  The guardsman never waivered; his gun was still pointed at the chest of this fellow who claimed to be her family contact.  “He just caught me by surprise.”

“Step away from her.“  He commanded, and her contact stepped aside with his hands in the air.  One hand held the white mask.  The guardsman looked at him sharply and then at Elaine.

“Thank you,” she said, “but my family sent him for me.”  The young man nodded and was off to boost another hapless woman onto the end of the train as it pulled away.

“So now what?”  Elaine asked him.  Her mind was at war with itself.  Was she crazy to trust this man?  This guy could be any kind of creep.  He could be a serial killer for all she knew, but here she had just given up space on a train out of a city in agony.  “Why did you take me off the train?  I still need to get south toward Saint Louis.”

“No.  Karl and his family are headed for safe haven in the mountains.  They are not in Saint Louis.  They flew west two days ago.  I received an order to find you from this picture.”  The picture he swept from his shirt pocket was a recent headshot ripped from a flyer done for Elaine’s Chicago lecture.    Karl had me follow your phone signal.”

Now she knew he was lying because her phone had not worked, and she took a swing at him with such force that he involuntarily stepped back to deflect it.  “My phone signal, eh?” She took a step toward him.  “How strange, since I have not been able to complete a single call.”  Elaine spoke through gritted teeth as she looked around frantically for the guardsman.

“Elaine, don’t!  You must believe me.  I did pick up the GPS coordinates from your phone signal which I could identify only because Karl Zeiss gave me your phone number.  We are losing time.  There will be a small craft waiting offshore.  There are other people needing transportation, and we will lose our place if we do not hurry.”   With that, he whipped off his wrap-around sunglasses, and looked at her earnestly.  His eyes were as red-rimmed as hers, but eagle sharp.  “Please, if you do not trust me, we both will be caught up in a madness that neither of us wants to witness.  Chicago order is unraveling.  My name is Sean.  Like it or not, I have my orders, and I cannot leave you.”

At this point what choice did she have?  That train was gone, and who knew when they would have another?  “Lead on,” she said and followed as he turned quickly to get out of the station.  Elaine had to trot to keep up with his stride, and as they went, she mentally reviewed everything in her handbag and shoulder pack for possible weapons.   Then suddenly she realized this man was as fearful as she was at the situation they were in, and she began to ponder why he would risk himself as a favor to Karl Zeiss.  Karl was a sweet, dear grandfatherly man, but how would this fellow even know him?

It was night by the time they made their way to a little cove on the lake.  She was now grateful for the size, strength and cunning of Sean.  Increasingly it occurred to her that he was a trained agent of some sort.  Their travel had been silent for the most part.  They were both content to expend their energy in covering the ground as quickly and without incident as possible.  With an unmistakable wave of his hand, she could sense that some danger was near or that it was safe to follow him.  They had passed or circumvented many ugly scenes.  Humans in the throes of mindless panic are not noble or pretty.  At one point, Sean had pulled her back by the arm as they came upon a gang beating of some hapless individual.  He blocked her view while squeezing her arm, and he looked as outraged as she felt.  They had ducked into a space behind a car hoping to remain unseen by the mob.  Elaine knew she would carry the guilt of not having helped the badly outnumbered victim.
 
Now as they squatted down to make ourselves low in the cove, she realized her feet were on fire.  The so-called sensible shoes were not made for running, jumping curbs, slogging through mud and over stones.  The feet of her pantyhose were in shreds, and she would have some nasty sores from their trek.  It seemed forever until Sean checked his watch and pulled a small flashlight from his jacket pocket.  He signaled two short and two long flashes.  Elaine’s heart sank as she saw no response, nothing.  Sean’s tension was evident as he let out a long breath through his nose.  Still they waited soundlessly.  Elaine was made all the more aware of the sounds of a city in chaos, and on occasion these human sounds were accompanied by loud explosions and flashes of light.  She wondered what they would do if they had come too late?

Again Sean signaled: two short and two long flashes.  Elaine felt rather than saw his head swivel around to see if anyone else might have observed them.  Again, nothing.  Sean blew out a fierce sigh through his mouth.  Then, an answering signal flashed from the dark in front of them.  Sean returned one tiny flash as he worked to get his breathing under control.   Faintly they could hear the very slight sound of something moving in the water.  Suddenly there was a flash from an explosion somewhere on the streets across the Lakeshore road, and they saw a man in a dark rubber raft rowing toward them, perhaps ten yards away.  Elaine moved, but Sean clutched her arm, and she waited.

Sean’s pocket gave a short buzz, and he relaxed his grip on her.  He removed the phone from his pocket.  Sean quickly covered the bright light of his phone’s face, but not before Elaine saw a telephone number, some characters, and the picture of a middle-aged man with a goatee.  She felt Sean’s shoulder sag briefly as the raft closed in on them.  The fellow in the raft reached out, and Sean steadied Elaine as the two of them eased her backward into the raft.  “Not coming?” The fellow whispered.  He sounded surprised.

“Can’t.  Key man stranded in there somewhere.  No choice.  Critical.”  Sean barely breathed the words.

“We will hold off until 0400 if we can.  Any threats, and we will code you.”

“Okay, seven hours.  Top priority.  Wish us luck.”  By the time Elaine got her feet in the boat, Sean was nowhere to be seen.

One shoe fell in the water as she pulled her foot over the edge of the raft, but the sharp-eyed sailor got a paddle under it.  How he could see in the dark, she would never know.  “You will need that,” he said softly, and that is all he said until they reached a power craft of indistinguishable size.  There Elaine was efficiently pulled aboard.  Then the fellow said to some dark pair of hands, “Zeiss.”

“Carpenter?”  A deep voice responded.

“Emergency priority rescue.  Gave him‘til 0400.”  He received an answering grunt from the fellow who put his hand under Elaine’s elbow and lead her forward in the dark.  He stopped, placed one of her hands on a railing and the other on top his shoulder.  He then stepped down one stair at a time until they reached the bottom.  When he opened the door, red light beamed out, and she could make out the shapes of several people.  The fellow lifted his forefinger to his lips and with the other hand gestured that she go inside.  She did so silently, and someone made a place for her to sit. 

It was warm.  The seat was padded.  Elaine had been awake for three days.  She leaned back to rest against the paneling and woke in terror when the engine started.  She was  shoulder-to-shoulder on both sides, and the woman on her left reached out to pat her arm.  It was a gesture one would use for a child.  Elaine looked at the grotesquely red-colored faces around the crowded cabin, trying to remember where she was.

There sitting across from her was the middle-aged man with the goatee.  Elaine scanned the faces again for Sean Carpenter but did not see him.  She wondered how he had been able to find this fellow so quickly.  Then she looked at the clock on the wall above the man’s head in surprise.  It read 3:45 a.m.  The goatee nodded to her politely while the woman on the left murmured that they had cleaned and bandaged her feet as well as they could while she slept.   She said there was some swelling so they had used baggage to elevate her legs because she would need to fit into her shoes when the boat landed.  What an understatement that would turn out to be, but for the moment, Elaine felt only warmth and acceptance from this crowded cabin of fellow survivors.  Again she slept the sleep of the dead, and when she woke, Sean was also in the cabin trying to rouse her for transfer to another boat so this one could return to Chicago.  After the agony of putting on her shoes, Elaine was grateful for Sean’s help in trying to walk up the few steps.

Over the coming days, Sean would receive a buzz on his cell phone, and then the two of them would get in or out of a car, on or off a boat, all heading toward some unknown destination.  They dozed in snatches.  Food, water, and toilet facilities were scarce, and Elaine lost any concern over lack of privacy.  She also lost track of the days and nights and methods of transportation.   The smoke smell in her clothing was almost a welcome cover for their rank, unwashed human odors.  Elaine itched in places she was still too civilized to scratch.  She asked Sean once where they were headed, and he said it was in a nameless wilderness area that she would not recognize in any case.  He had a point of contact and two back up options, but her family had arrived ahead of her and were anxiously monitoring their progress.  He showed Elaine the text message from Karl indicating their next transport with a reference to how much she was missed.

Elaine asked if Karl had made any specific reference to Ted.  Sean shook his head.  She said simply that she had to trust him, but she would be very angry if he ever withheld bad news from her, no matter how terrible.  He gave a little snort of recognition and said that he had been forewarned.   Then he stated that he would require unvarnished truth from her.  They looked at each other with implicit understanding, two humans with the same purposeful destination in mind.  He did not say why it fell to him to deliver her to her family, and she accepted that she was lucky that he felt it was his assignment to do so.  Elaine did wonder briefly what influence Karl might have or what he might have offered in exchange.  She then flushed that thought immediately along with all thought of their being unsuccessful in finding their way. 

After the first off-loading near the Canadian border, the group splintered into smaller groups that were bound for various other places.  The news they had gotten from the crew of the larger boat was not encouraging.  Between the fires and the fear of radiation, terrorists and plots, much of the population seemed to have lost its good sense.  Police and soldiers had to deal with criminal elements which was in turn hampering rescues and fire fighting.  It was crazy.  Elaine pondered what there was about catastrophe and crisis that brought out the best in some and the worst in others.

Karl had said to wait along a river bank for a pontoon aircraft.  That is where Canadian soldiers found them.  They were marched into a tented area.  The soldiers questioned them separately. Two soldiers questioned Elaine about why she was there and where the two of them were headed.  The woman, a captain, actually accused Elaine of being a spy.  Terrified, she could only say that she did not know the exact location, but they were headed for somewhere west in the United States as soon as possible, and both interrogators seemed very suspicious of that story.  Elaine said she thought they were still in the United States.  The interrogators ignored that remark.  They went through her handbag and backpack.  She began to cry when they pulled the children’s pictures out of her wallet.  They asked her again about her presentation on lasers at the Chicago Circle campus.  When they found her Washington University badge and parking card, the two interrogators became more friendly.  The plastics apparently validated what she had told them she was doing in Chicago.  The male soldier said he had been to the Saint Louis arch and hoped that Saint Louis would recover its charm when things returned to normal.

Normal?  Elaine’s lovely old home on Arundell Street flashed before her eyes.  It was surrounded by giant oak trees that would burn like tinder.  She knew Karl would not have left his home on Wydown if he felt it possible to stay, and she suddenly realized all they had owned was likely lost for all of them.  She had braced for harshness from her interrogators, but kindness broke through that wall, and she lost all pretense at control.

The captain went around the table to comfort her.  From somewhere, they brought Sean in to calm her, and they were told to go back to the water to wait for the seaplane that was searching for them.  Canadian radar registered a small plane  They handed Sean a flare to help them signal their location.  The colored smoke would help the pilot know where to land.  Their phones had been recharged so the soldiers could check their call logs.  Now they got them back.  A soldier appeared with Elaine’s freshly charged computer.  He complimented her power chart presentation, a reference to the lecture she had given.  The captain had also come up with a pair of army boots that were almost her size.  The sores on Elaine’s feet were treated and bandaged before being covered with two pairs of heavy socks. The kindness caused her to cloud up again, and the bearer of the gift fled as she tearfully laced up her new well-worn treasures.

Sean received a text message indicating that their telephone coordinates had been pinpointed and that the seaplane was on its way.  He informed the Canadians and asked them to spread the information as best they could.  Elaine was feeling ill from nervous exhaustion and smoke and perhaps even from some infection in her feet.  She expressed concern that some soldier might shoot them out of the sky.  As bad as things were in some areas in the United States, it was home, she just wanted to go ‘home’.  The soldiers led them back to a place where the land jutted out into the water and left them to, struggle to the water’s edge.   Elaine wanted to shout blessings on the house of the soul who donated her boots.  Her shoes would have been lost in the muck.  Now they were tucked into her backpack where they might prove to be her only pair.  Her mind was beginning to think in that vein.

In the distance, she thought she heard the drone of an engine, and a glance at Sean told her he heard it too.  It was too smoky see anything coming so while they were debating whether or not to set off the flare, the Canadians apparently fired one for them.  The pilot flew over, circled and came back in on the water.  As the plane taxied up, Elaine saw a dark figure, no, two dark figures rise up in the reeds near by with guns pointed at Sean and the window of the aircraft, and as she screamed, the guns swung toward her.  Shots range out, and Elaine wondered if she were dead because she felt nothing.  She saw Sean turn toward her as darkness closed in.  She was sinking, sinking into soundless darkness.

Elaine awakened to the surrounding roar of the plane’s engines.  She saw the pilot turn to his right, and Sean’s head appeared as he lifted off his earphones.  Elaine was running her hands over her chest and looked puzzled.  She had seen the guns pointed at her, and  had heard them fire.  She looked at Sean questioningly as he climbed over the co-pilots seat.  “Luckily, you fainted,” he said.  Actually she could not hear him but read his lips.  “Your Canadian buddies saved our butts.  I thought they had gone back to camp, but they really were looking for some suspicious characters, and I think they found them.  The two you saw were much the worse for it too.”  Sean helped me sit upright and studied my face.  “I know this all seems very strange to you, but you need to begin to believe in those around you.  You are much safer than you seem to feel.  We have some options.  Some of us have been expecting the fires and civil unrest.”

“You were expecting dirty bombs in all our cities?”

“No, that is unpredictable, and there doesn’t seem to be more than the two in Norfolk and the Chesapeake, but a lot of people have been concerned about the weather changes, the high temperatures, the droughts, and the possibility of wild fires.  By the way, the dirty bombers were fairly inept.  Groups of us have also been concerned that we might run short of food in areas.  When people are fearful and hungry, mobs take over, and if it happens world-wide, then the usual governments break down.”

“Has order broken down?”

“Hard to say.  Communications aren’t that good.  Who knows how extensive these fires have been?  In places, there is a lot of panic and unrest.  That in turn can increase the likelihood of war, but so far, general order seems to be holding.”

“You risked your life for me, actually for Karl’s daughter-in-law.  Why?  Who is he that you would do that?”  Elaine studied Sean’s face as he listened.

“Karl Zeiss is a visionary.  You are a distinguished physicist yourself.  Surely the two of you have much in common.  He’s a mentor to me.  I was one of his students.  He has been expecting the fire storms.  I’ve merely been one of his many scouts, looking for a relatively safe place to sit out the worst.  I was stuck in the Chicago airport when I got a call for action.”

“Karl has not dwelled on imminent doom and gloom to me.  Have you found such a safe place?’

“I have suggested several areas to him, and I know others have done so as well.  We have spent some years at it,” he answered.

Years?  She would ponder that.  “Do you know where we are going?”

“No, I am happy that I do not know, and if I did know, I would not tell you.  The safety of such a site could be compromised too easily.  There are a lot of angry, homeless, frightened people out there looking for a haven,” he said.

Elaine decided to let the matter rest for the present.  She did believe Sean Carpenter.  If they survived the trip there, she believed she would find Karl and Muriel, Ted, Jessica, and Mackie.  She knew they would all be as anxious for her safety as she was for theirs.  She smiled at Sean.  “I could learn to like you,” she said.  “Will this plane take us directly to the site?”

He smiled and made a wry face.  Oh great, Elaine thought.  She wondered how many more thrilling transfers they would have to make, and she suffered a twinge of separation anxiety.  “Will you deliver me personally?”

“You bet.  I promised Karl, and besides, I’ve become accustomed to your face.”  He grinned, and so did she.  He was developing a thick stubble, and he scratched it from time to time.

“Sean, one last question.  Why were the Canadians so nice to us?  I was so sure they would lock us up,” she said.

“First of all, they were on U.S. soil, helping our military.  Secondly, your work is better known than you might imagine.  You will have to let it go at that for now.  Karl can explain it all to you.”

“Who tried to shoot us, and why?”

“Hey, that is a second question, and we don’t have all the pieces to that puzzle yet.”  For the first time, Elaine thought he was evading an answer, but she would give him the benefit of the doubt.
 
They had now been under way for four days.  They had splashed off whenever they found water, but they were grubby. They would have another plane ride, be stranded on the open shore of a desert lake with little drinking water and no food for a day and a half before a boat offered them a ride to a marina.  By that time, Sean and Elaine had no secrets from each other.  They were sunburned despite their effort to stay covered.  Their one luxury was wading into the lake fully clothed for the first bath in a week’s time.  They refilled their plastic drinking bottles while we bathed.  Only jackets and shoes remained on shore.  They dried in the warm desert wind.  That night they slept back-to-back while wearing their jackets backward for warmth.  Elaine dreamed she was lost in a snow storm and began to shiver.  The desert is cold at night, and when she woke, her back was nestled up against Sean’s body, and his legs and arms were around her.  They were so stiff from the cold, it was hard to get up off the sand.
 
From the marina, they had the boat ride that Sean had been told to expect, and after that there was a ride in a jeep that left them in a very unlikely place in a canyon, but the jeep driver had supplied them with food, drink, and a blanket.   He had also chewed out Elaine for having turned off her phone.  Sean’s phone had gone dead, and Karl’s group were frantically tracking them back to their last conveyance.  After the jouncing jeep ride, Sean had joked that they had pretty much exhausted every means of transportation.  When he and Elaine saw a man and some burros come around the trail along the canyon wall, they  looked at each other in disbelief.  “No,” Elaine said and began to laugh hysterically.

“God, I hope not.”  Sean looked alarmed, but he began to laugh too, and by the time the burro train arrived, they had washed the week’s smoke from their eyes with tears.  The guide eyed them dubiously as he helped them mount.  Elaine’s suit skirt was narrow and hiking it up left little to the imagination, but at this point, who could care?  The guide tied the little blanket around her hips and carefully tucked in all the loose edges.  Mentally she again blessed the kind soul who donated her treasured boots.

That night around a campfire in a beautiful canyon with water trickling merrily along in the rocks, she commented on how beautiful the trail had been.  Sean confessed that he had ridden nearly the entire way with his eyes closed or staring at the wall beside him.   The guide laughed and said they should be at the mountain entrance in time for lunch on the following day.  Sean eyed the man suspiciously.  When the fellow went off to see to the burros, Sean muttered that he hoped he was not going to have to come back down the same way after seeing Karl.  This told Elaine he would be leaving.  They had been so focused on survival that either knew little about the other or their respective lives.

Suddenly Elaine realized that she was going to miss this steady, clear-headed man who had brought her so far.  Karl had chosen wisely.  She looked at his profile wistfully as his head snapped around to face her.  He looked back at her, and she knew they would always share a special feeling for each other.  They held their mutual gaze, each of thinking his and her own thoughts.  There had been so many sweaty moments together when one of them felt alarmed or sensed danger and the other had been so in tune that they had silently reacted in unison to duck out of sight or take cover.  Elaine found herself hoping Sean had someone waiting for him somewhere as she did.  She hoped that person would know how lucky she is.  In unison, they heard the guide returning and broke their gaze.  They moved to spread out their respective sleeping bags.  Elaine sighed.  It was such a luxury to have a sleeping bag.  In the morning, she woke to sound of birds singing and the prospect of childish laughter.

The burro train arrived at the sharp face of a mountain wall when the sun was high overhead.  The guide helped them down, wished them well, and started back down the canyon.  Sean breathed a sign of relief.  “Obviously there is another way out of here,” he said.  “I am a nervous wreck.”  They started to giggle and then to laugh.  “Want to know something really funny, Elaine?  I have no idea if we are really here at the site or where on Earth it might be.”

Elaine stared at him for an instant and then threw back her head and howled.  She had never felt so tired or so relieved in her life, and she leaned against the face of a boulder.  Sean and she were both laughing helplessly when the boulder began to tremble.  “Of course,” she shouted.  “Would this trip be complete without an earthquake?”  As the boulder continued to tremble and move toward her, she yelled as she dived out of its path.  “What about a tornado?  We haven’t had a tornado yet.”   Still laughing hysterically, Elaine stumbled backward and realized there was a gaping hole behind the boulder.  Gazing out in wordless astonishment was Karl Zeiss with her children in tow. 

“Mommy!” Jessica screamed.  “Mommy!”   The children swarmed over her, and Elaine began to cry.  They had made it.  She was home now, not at a lovely old house on Arundell, but her heart was home.  She wanted to kiss the rocky soil.  Mackie jumped back from mauling her.  He was looking at Sean.  “Mama, where is Daddy?  Who is he?  Why didn’t you bring Daddy?  His five-year-old chin was quivering, and Jessica suddenly burst into tears.

“Mommy!  You forgot Daddy.”  They both began to wail, and Elaine looked at Karl for explanation.  One glance at Sean told her that he had not known Ted was not here.

Karl’s face was stony.  “Ted missed the plane.  He went back to the lab for Connie.”

Connie was Ted’s teaching assistant from Taiwan.  Both Ted and Elaine were impressed with her brilliance.  “You didn’t wait for him?  Karl. . .”

“Elaine, I explained the consequence.  It was his choice.  We will talk about this later,” he said flatly.  “Come on Sean, we have some things to discuss.   Muriel has some stew waiting, and we are a long way from the cabin.”

Sean was suddenly there to help her up.  The adrenaline that had kept her moving for more than a week with little food or sleep failed her now.  She was shaking like a leaf.  “Elaine,” he murmured, “trust me, I’ll find him for you.”  She looked at him gratefully.  She knew that he would, dead or alive, he would find him, and he would get word to her.

Karl was suddenly there too.  For a man who was nearly seventy years old, he was very quick.   The mountain man from Switzerland hiked up her skirt, whipped the blanket around her, and thrust her onto his back.  Sean helped boost her into place and cover her backside.  “Mommy’s going piggyback.”  Jessica sounded delighted at the prospect.  Mackie was hooting with laughter.  Elaine was too tired to care about the awkward picture they made with her long legs dangling at Karl’s sides.

From her perch she looked over at Sean and quipped.  “And you said we had exhausted every conveyance possible.”  He had no opportunity to retort because Karl took off inside the mountain’s opening, and as soon as Sean and the children had caught up with him, he waved an arm and the boulder began to glide back into place.  For an instant they were in darkness but as Karl stepped forward, lights began to turn on ahead of them.  At ages five and seven the children made a great game of turning the motion detectors on and off.

At one point, Karl called out to no one in particular that he needed a cart at Alfa Point.  He never broke stride throughout the rock passages.  Otherwise, he spoke only to tell Elaine that she had lost a lot of weight.  As if I wouldn’t know that!  She thought.

By the time they reached an opening with natural light, Elaine was feeling very sleepy but had to control her bouncing neck and head.  There was an electric golf cart at the entrance, and beyond it was a valley that swept away to the west.   Elaine was fascinated by what appeared to be a solar panel on the back of the cart.  There was a small cabin in the distance, and much closer was a city of tents.

Sean and Elaine had suffered from the sun while riding up the canyon.  Their skins were sun and wind-burned.  The cloudless sky had been somewhat hazy with smoke, but otherwise a bright blue.  Here in the valley, it was totally overcast.  It reminded Elaine of being in a greenhouse.  Karl saw both Sean and Elaine looking upward in puzzlement.  “It is a short of shield,” he said.  “It is there if we need it, and here is where you come in, Elaine.  Several of us think your laser work can be used to ensure the safety of this site.   Timing is everything, but first let’s get you some food and rest.  Our core group was getting pretty frantic when we lost you at the lake.  I finally agreed to a meeting at noon tomorrow over Muriel’s nearly prostrate body.  She is barely civil to me, so brace yourself.”  He grinned wryly.  Karl and Muriel had shown few disagreements over the years.

This was the Karl Elaine had come to know and love, kind, caring and thoughtful.  The Karl that Sean was serving with such deep respect was another side, and the set face of Karl at the mountain opening was altogether another side.   For now, she was content to let the pieces fall into place, but she was very concerned over Karl’s anger toward Ted.  One of Elaine’s attractions to Ted was the importance he placed on family.  Both he and his sister Camille seemed very close to both Karl and Muriel.  It was puzzling.  Elaine’s ruminations ended the moment the cart arrived at the cabin, and she surrendered to the ministrations of Muriel, who was in fact overly civil to Karl. 

While the smell of the stew and fresh bread wafted over her, Elaine tried to relax in the galvanized double wash tub filled with warm water.  Karl and Muriel had hung blankets to give both Sean and her privacy for bathing.  That was touching but somewhat amusing from Elaine’s perspective.  After being in the trenches of desperation for more than a week, she and Sean were fellow soldiers.  They had learned to accept nearly any personal condition while they remained focused on surviving and getting to the next point.  Elaine wondered if Sean was musing over the same thing.

Something out-of-place was niggling at her thoughts as she soaked her pitiful feet and body.  Just the smell of soap seemed such a luxury.  She tried to flush out what was there on the fringe of her thoughts.  Her life had changed in many ways, and she suspected that if she were to go back to Arundell and find it intact, she would still be a very different person.  Elaine moaned in pleasure at the soft warmed towel Muriel gave her and cuddled the clean underwear and sweats before she put them on.  The sounds of the children playing outside brought tears, and then it hit her.  The family dog had raced to greet her as she stepped off the cart.  Karl and Muriel had brought the dog, but left their son.  She would have to pursue that, but it did not stop her from wolfing down the wonderful stew with warm brown bread and butter.   She and Sean had looked at their plates and moaned pleasurably in unison.

Elaine did not remember leaving the table or being put to bed.  Later she would always recall the delight of waking on a mattress with sweet smelling sheets without a trace of smoke.   At that moment, however, she was disoriented.  The smell of fresh coffee and toast permeated her consciousness, and she leapt up to look for her clothing.  After standing there for an instant, she realized she was in fact still wearing the sweats from the previous evening.   She had no time to ponder anything further.  The thud from her feet hitting the floor had unleashed the children from Muriel’s enforced quiet, and they fairly shook the narrow staircase to the upper level while squealing with delight, each trying to be first to reach her.  Muriel had to banish them out to play so that Elaine could eat her oatmeal in peace.  Elaine discovered a new appreciation for the delicious flavor of oatmeal with milk and brown sugar.  Through the window she could see Karl talking earnestly with Sean.  She saw them shake hands and Karl toss his head impatiently as Sean walked away.

Elaine got up from the table as she heard Sean enter the cabin.  “Sleepy Head,” he said cheerfully.  “You would have slept through that tornado you were asking for yesterday.”  He grinned and held out a slip of paper.  “And I just wanted to be sure you have my cell number.”

“Sean, thank you so much for everything!  Must you leave so soon?  Where next?”  Elaine wanted to talk to him about Ted, but she could hear Muriel on the cabin porch.

“I have some things to take care of, but I will find Ted and be in touch.  I could not get anything out of Karl except that he considers the matter closed, stubborn coot.”  As Muriel opened the door, Sean reached out to shake my hand.  “Well, I may be seeing you from time to time since Karl wants to put me to work on communications.  I told him I’d give it some thought. “Sean’s manner had changed from intimate to remotely congenial, and he turned to leave.

Elaine felt an instant of panic even though she knew it made no sense.  He had brought her to this refuge.  He was the one going back into madness.  “Sean,” she called after him.  “I will be concerned.  Do keep in touch!”  He waved a sort salute to her and Muriel.  Elaine knew she would be very anxious until she heard from him about Ted.  Karl and Muriel had both been very mute about Ted’s situation.  Either he was on some secret mission, or something was very wrong between him and his parents.  Either way, it was nerve wracking and very awkward for her and the children, and yes, she would also be very anxious for Sean’s safety.  Chicago had gotten progressively worse as they were leaving, and who could say what was happening in Saint Louis.

At twelve o’clock sharp, Karl had Elaine back in the mountain in a room of sorts that contained about a dozen large screens.  The room was alive with technicians and cables while she and Karl waited at a table.  They were seated in front of small monitors and keyboards.  Both were wearing wireless devices that the technicians continued to test.  The room still showed evidence of recent jack-hammering.  Small piles of rock remained here and there along with silent hammers.  When a picture appeared on one of the wall screens, one technician signaled for the others to leave with him, and Elaine heard their footsteps receding down a passage way.  Karl remained silent until a young woman entered briskly and placed two sheets of paper in front of each of them.  One sheet contained pictures with code names under them.  The other was a glossary of codes in alphabetical order along with the meaning of the code.

Karl had given Elaine very little explanation while he drove the golf cart to the mountain.  She noted that the opening was different from the one they had exited on the previous day.  He told her that it would all seem very strange to her, but some of the people who would be at the meeting had been involved from the beginning of the haven project.  They were all anxious to meet with her and to ask her advice on the use of lasers as screening for the valley.

Now as Elaine looked at the code names, she recognized the fellow with the goatee as Hazer.  Karl was Rock.  Her own picture was barely recognizable, and her code name was Rainbow.  This was certainly going to make the meeting interesting, and she fought back the urge to chuckle.  No doubt that would embarrass Karl.  Sean’s code name was Guide, and she had to admit that it was apt.  When she questioned Karl, he had revealed that Sean had flown out to his destination.  She smiled at the thought of his relief at not having to take the burro train back down the canyon wall.  Climbing upward was one thing, lurching downward with one’s eyes closed was another.  Karl was reading down through the list of code names, and voices were answering with the word, ‘present.’

After finishing the list, Karl informed the group that there had been an attempt to snare Rainbow at the Canadian border, but the Canadian soldiers had thwarted the effort.  Elaine’s head snapped around to look at Karl in surprise.  Hazer asked if it had been Yellowfingers.  He said that Guide had indicated an abduction attempt at the Chicago bus terminal that he had to counteract with the help of Lakeboy.  Elaine began to think she had entered the twilight zone because she could not imagine what they were referring to.   She was frantically checking between the Glossary and the Code Sheet to get some idea of what was being discussed.  Yellowfingers referred to something Chinese.  Lakeboy was a young man she did not remember seeing.  She did remember brushing off an oriental fellow who barged into the ticket line to point Sean out to her and suggest she was being followed.   The big fellow behind her had quickly and strongly suggested the oriental go to the back of the line, and he had accepted the suggestion to leave.  She would have to question Karl about that after the meeting.

Karl asked Northpoint to start his video.  What appeared on a large screen was a horrible gunfight at a mountain site.  Men in camouflage dress gunned down a group of men, women and children in street clothing who were carrying various bags and parcels.  Elaine was stunned.  The soldiers then entered the opening in the mountain.  The camera was obviously fixed to photograph approaching traffic so the men disappeared from view as they entered the opening.  Elaine was appalled that it looked so like the opening she had entered the day before.  She looked fearfully at Karl who shook his head.  “Bring us up-to-date, Northpoint,” Karl instructed.  His voice was gentle.

Northpoint who was openly crying said they had sealed the mountain and sent those who had already arrived to another site, and some were still enroute in small groups.  The men and women working inside the mountain had sealed the soldiers in a passage and had scoured the area outside the entrance clean of human evidence.  The dead pilgrims had been recorded and buried, two survivors had been treated, and personal effects left in the mountain.  The major trail to the mountain had been rendered impassable.

Karl responded that they were all grieved to hear about Northpoint’s brother and his family.  There were murmurs of sympathy.  Karl commented sadly that it pointed up the need for the utmost in secrecy and as silly as the code names might seem, that is why they had been devised.  The so-called soldiers were members of a right-wing religious cult from Wyoming that were anti-Jew and anti-government. No doubt there would be others from that cult out looking for their lost party.   That site would be watched, but no further work done until it was deemed safe.  The Haze could be reactivated as some future point if and when it seemed safe to do so.

Elaine was still trying to absorb the fact that some people had been summarily shot down in cold blood and others had been sealed up in a passage and abandoned when she received the first question about using lasers to create holograms.  It seemed what Karl had referred to as a sort of shield over the valley site was coded as the Haze.  It would always appear cloudy from above which would make it stand out to satellite cameras or aircraft.  What Hazer was interested in was the use of hologram to mask the white Haze.  The hologram would have to change with the available light.  The hologram would need to be on the outside of the Haze.  If government truly broke down due to either nuclear activity or to continuous weather anomalies, then historically one could expect feudal-type fiefdoms to sprout up as the more vulnerable sought protection behind the stronger.  Typically such strongholds would raid more peaceful settlements, but first they had to know the settlement was there.  If the settlement was obscure, then there would be less effort required to defend it.

Hazer had read about optical phase conjugation and wondered if it could be used to establish a real-time holographic process that would show the mountains below as uninhabited.  Obviously using live cameras in the valley would reveal the activity so how might they get around that?  His assistants had photographed the valley from several angles at regular time periods and in various types of weather, but even if those photographs could be used, how could they make them sufficiently normal to avoid detection?   Was it plausible to consider screening such a large area. If it could be done, what materials would they need?  How long would it take to get such a phenomenon in place?

Elaine sat in stunned silence for a second or two.  “Well,” she said.  “This is all so new to me.”  She shot Karl a blank look.

“I thought you just made a presentation in Chicago on real-time holographic process,” Hazer said.  His tone was sarcastic.

“Indeed I did!”  Elaine wanted to grab him by the goatee, and she spoke forcefully between gritted teeth.  “But I do believe that you will agree that you have had something of a head start on how you seek to use that process.  I have had no opportunity to know what you had in mind, and I do not know the extent of the area you wish to protect.”

“Hazer,” Karl said.  “I told you when I agreed to this meeting today that there would be no time to prepare Rainbow in advance, so back off.”

“Pompous academic ass,” murmured a female voice.

“You are both right.  I did agree, and as my life mate has delicately put it, I am a pompous academic ass.  I apologize. What I need to know is whether it is remotely possible to work this out because if it is not, then we need to change a lot of policy and operational considerations, and very quickly.  Remember, this needs to work in more than one place.”  Hazer sounded genuinely contrite and very weary.

Elaine’s brain was racing.  “I assume we have some computing power available here.  My laptop will not begin to hold the variables.  I’ll need all kinds of information.  I’ll need to see those photos that were taken.  I need maps.  I need satellite photos of the surrounding area, and that is probably just for starters.  It is not like you are asking to send a small videoed image to some facility off in Timbuctu that will reflect back from some PCM, ah, phase conjugation mirror, but if we can send lasers into outer space, and have the light work relatively undiffused, then the concept is well worth exploring.  Please understand that much of what I need to work quickly may be trapped at my office.

“Uh, I hope we sufficiently covered that need, Rainbow,” Karl said.  There were some difficulties, but I hope we got whatever you need.”

Suddenly Elaine’s antennae was up.  Ted and she worked in the same laboratory area along with her assistant and Ted’s assistant, Connie.   Had Ted been resistant to her data being taken?  “Hazer, I am going to need to know something about this haze.  Is it flat; is it curved?  Will it act like a mirror; is it diaphanous?

“I don’t know if I can tell you that.  You are not cleared for that information.”

“Then get to work on your other options because I cannot work in a vacuum.  I left my crystal ball at the office.”

There was some laughter, and even Karl was grinning.  “Hazer, I’m going to fill Rainbow in on our situation here, and we’ll get together afterward.  In the meantime you can make arrangements for the things Rainbow mentioned. We’ll get the group back together when we have something more definitive.  If there is nothing else, we’ll sign off here for now.  Northpoint, keep us informed on your groups in transit.   He took off his microphone and turned toward Elaine.

Elaine was jotting notes frantically on the code sheets.  Karl took off her microphone and laid it on the desk as he took her elbow to lead her out of the room and the mountain.  As cart pulled up in front of the cabin, her phone buzzed.  She read the message from Sean indicating that Connie was pregnant and too sick to travel.  Elaine whirled on Karl.  “So Connie is carrying Ted’s baby, Karl?  Were you going to tell me about that after I came up with a real-time holographic process for this valley?  No doubt you just didn’t want to distract my poor little mind, right?  Did it occur to you that I might be frantic about whether he was safe?  Do you understand that he is not just your son?  He is my husband and the father of my children.  How dare you keep this from me?  I need to talk to him.”

Karl’s jaw dropped.  “Elaine!  We didn’t know about any baby.  He adamantly refused to come, and I told him we would make room for Connie.  I told him how you would feel.  Even Muriel could not convince him.  He flatly refused to come, and the plane was leaving.”  There were tears in his eyes.

Elaine wished she did not believe him.  She had thought it was just the world in general that was burning up and falling apart.  It never occurred to her that her personal world was also up in smoke.   “Well, you had better set up a face-to-face meeting for Connie and Ted and me, and I do not mean by hologram.  Under the circumstances, I will leave the location to you, but if you want my cooperation on a real-time holographic umbrella, get cracking on it.  I will notify Sean to tell Ted that the meeting is not optional.  Next I need my assistant Jo-Ellen and materials from the office.  Then send me your most knowledgeable technicians.  Jo and I will try to figure out anything further we need. 

“Jo-Ellen is not here.”

“Why not?  You should know she has a lot of my test plans.  You told the group we were covered.  Why would you leave her?  She has access to nearly all my test results.”

“Her office and her apartment were both totally devoid of paperwork or records.  She called the house once trying to reach you, told Muriel it was urgent.  I asked Ted about it at the laboratory, and Connie pitched a fit.  She said you were better off without her.”

“This bell does not ring, Karl.  Connie is not qualified to judge Jo’s work.  I do not like this at all.  We need to corner Ted and Connie immediately, and they should be held until we get some idea what is going on.  How did Ted act?”

“He looked surprised when we unlocked her office.  He said it was not like her to leave such a mess.  Things were thrown all over the place.”

Elaine speed dialed Sean’s number and was relieved when he answered.  “Sean, my assistant Jo-Ellen Trammert may be missing.  Connie could possibly know something about this, and we need both she and Ted contained.  I mean, really contained.  It may be critical.  Jo-Ellen is missing and so is a lot of my laser testing records.  If I am right, I would expect Connie to bolt and take Ted with her.  I’ve got to figure out how to shut down Jo-Ellen’s accesses to the computer.“

“Elaine,” Karl said.  “I called your department head from Jo-Ellen’s office and told him you requested her access be withdrawn until further notice.  He said he would take care of it.”

“Did you hear Karl?  Supposedly Jo’s computer access is shut down, but she would still have had a lot of data in her office and on her computer.  What?  I don’t know.  Karl, were there personal effects in her apartment?  Some, he says.  Yes, I think you had better.  I’ll text her address to you.  I have it on my contact list.  But, can you contain Ted and Connie?  This whole thing has a bad smell to it.  Somehow I’ve got to meet with Ted.  Yes, I got the message that she is pregnant, and that may just prove to be a bargaining chip.  Yes, I know someone could want me if Jo’s access is shut down.  You and Karl work that out.  And Sean, do be careful.”  Elaine folded her phone and looked at Karl.

“You do realize that this will not be easy to . . .,” Karl’s voice trailed off as he saw Elaine’s face.  “Okay, nothing ever is, is it?”

“No,” Elaine said, and it seems unlikely that it will get easier soon.  People have been predicting an apocalypse for hundreds of years to the great delight of the second comers and the would-be world dominators.  The shield and the mountains screen the chaos away for now, but do we really think advanced pockets of society can survive if actual governments fail?”

“There are those who consider us hopeless idealists, perhaps insane to even try, but what choices have we?  If government holds as we hope, then we can share any advancements we make.  One step back, but hopefully we can then make two or three steps forward. “

“Karl, who is paying for all this?  There is a whole valley full of people here.  The mountain is alive with engineers, technicians and workers.  I heard the grinding of huge machinery in there.  There are tents, building materials, food, and God knows what all.  The children went to school this morning.  Who are you holding hostage, Warren Buffett’s kids or Gates himself?  I cannot believe our government is involved.  Sean says you are a visionary.  How can anyone turn this mess around at this point?”

“Elaine, I do not expect things to turn around in my lifetime and probably not yours.  As for who is paying, I’m not even sure myself.  Like you, I could speculate.  I was contacted about it years ago.

“Was that the trip you and Muriel took back to your village in Switzerland?”

“It was then, yes.  There was a major meeting of scientists and entrepreneurs in Tuscany, one of many, and it has grown.  As for governments, you cannot totally rule those out, but to get back to your concern for the future.  Have you seen old films about the great dust storms of the 1930s?  Those were probably nothing compared to what we are facing.  We humans have been poor stewards of our planet.  Every civilized culture has issued many warnings.  Every time someone called for meaningful change, it gored the ox of somebody with clout.  What is more, if ever some rogue nation was going to strike the major powers, now is the time.  We have to be as well prepared for that as possible.      

“I know, I know, so the time for choosing went unheeded, and if the world we knew is lost, our only choice is to try to build another.  Oh Karl, my human is hurting, and I’m going to go fuss over my children while I have the time for it.  What Hazer wants will be a gigantic task.”