I know what you’re thinking, believe me, the thought had occurred to me. Jennifer is kind and beautiful, knows who I am, and is about my age. I should ask her out. But she is married to Jack Johnson, another scientist on the project, and probably the nicest person you could ever meet. They weren’t the top scientists there, but they were my favorites. I worked with them all the time and we spent free time together too. You know, pool, barbecue, the zoo—just normal stuff.
“Nik,” Jennifer said, my head was still lost in Lightningirl land and I hadn’t answered her. “I said you look awful. That run at the meteor really took it out of you.”
I nodded. “Yeah, everything I had. But, the tank wasn’t full.”
“Well then, time to fill up. And be quick with it. They’ve almost got the vacuum chamber ready.”
I went through the door. It was like one of those you see in a submarine; round wheel that opens and closes it, seals it up tight.
Beyond the door was my dressing room. No sense burning through my clothing. I quickly undressed and went through another submarine door, down a short hallway, yet another sealed door, and into the containment chamber.
As I got closer I could start to feel it. It is hard to describe, but it is a bit like going out on a warm sunny day after a long, long winter. I could feel this warmth and energy just creeping into me. I sighed and relaxed.
The containment chamber is a large cement cylinder with a round top and walls six feet thick. Palo Verde is a pressurized water reactor; the inside of the chamber contains a series of tall metal vessels that house the reactor in the center, surrounded by the steam generators, and tubing that moves the water and steam. It’s hot and noisy inside and fairly crowded. I always feel like I’m in some kind of fifties-style science fiction movie in that big space with all the glistening metal and odd noises.
The reactor stands out because of the bristling metal poles on top. These house the control rods that can be moved into the reactor to slow down the reaction. They are great at absorbing neutrinos, just like me.
I threaded my way through the maze of equipment, over close to the reactor, and sat down on a small cement bench that they had put in there for me.
I didn’t change into my neutrino form; there was no need for it. I just sat there like an old man in a sauna soaking up the juice. It didn’t take long, maybe twenty minutes. They had the thing cranked up.
After I got dressed and left my dressing room, Jennifer was there. She patted my face and said, “Now that’s better, got some color in your cheeks now.”
Jennifer led me back through the underground tunnel to headquarters and right out a side door.
Sitting there on the back of a flatbed was a large decompression chamber. It looked like you could fit twenty people in there. I wondered where the hell they had gotten this from, and so quickly. We are landlocked in Arizona, after all.
But you know the military. End of the world and all. If they couldn’t come up with a space shuttle and Bruce Willis, at least they could come up with this.
Interlude 1
So Boring
Spring 2025, Casita de Soledad, Central Arizona
I looked up from my writing when I heard Licia clear her throat. She was reading over my shoulder from across the room. We had a little desk set up in our living room. It was nighttime and she had been on the couch reading. She had damn good eyesight. I think it is one of the raven-like qualities she acquired during her accident.
I pushed back and swiveled in my chair to face her. “Yes, dear?” I asked.
“Bor-ring,” she said in a singsong tone with an impish frown on her face.
“What?”
“Boring. So they stuck you in the chamber, you went neutrino, they sucked the air out, you were a bit freaked, but in the end they discovered you could survive in a vacuum. Bor-ring.”
“Well…” I began defensively. “It was scary as hell. I was used to breathing in my neutrino form. It wasn’t easy learning how not to. It was quite a challenge.”
“Boring.”
“And I almost melted the thing down around me during my initial reaction.”
“Reaction? You mean world-class freak-out, don’t you?” She frowned as she stared down at me.
“Hey!” I said, rising from my chair and folding my arms in front of me. Her frown turned into a grin, and I knew she had just been messing with me. “So you really think it is boring?”
“I do. Skip ahead to the part where you meet me. Now that’s exciting. Man and woman, the human heart, everyone can relate to that.”
Chapter 8
Missile Attack
Fall 2004, Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, Arizona
When I walked back into the command center after the vacuum testing, I noticed a new presence. I could only see the back of her, but she had long black hair, perfect posture, and was standing talking to General Markus. It had to be her. It had to be Lightningirl.
I walked over, my mouth dry, my palms sweating. The general noticed me and waved me over. “There you are, Nik. It is high time you two met. Nik Nichols, this is Licia Lopez. Neutrinoman meet Lightningirl.”
She turned before the general said her name, and my jaw almost dropped to the floor. My heart raced, and I felt dizzy. My only consolation was that her mouth was agape too.
The general looked from me back to her and back to me again. “Do you two know each other?”
All I could manage was a weak nod. Licia recovered more quickly. “Yes sir. Nik was the person I was going to meet when the meteor hit.” My dizziness intensified—she had told him about our date? She sounded so damn casual about it.
“Do you need to sit down, son? What did that test do to you?” He guided me to a chair and called for Jennifer.
It was embarrassing. I am sure I was red, as red as Superman’s cape, but I took the chair and the water Jennifer brought.
It’s like this. Imagine if Lois Lane was in love with Clark Kent and Superman. She loved them both and was torn by it. Now imagine that she discovered they were one in the same person. That is kind of how I felt. Except that I had no idea how Licia felt about me—at least Lois Lane knew Superman dug her. Licia and I were just in the first steps of our dance together, the early delicate phase where any little thing can ruin it.
I was exceedingly grateful when Jennifer dragged me off to the medical lab and checked me out.
“Nik…” she began as she was putting her stethoscope and blood pressure cuff away. “You have been holding out on me.”
“I…” I began weakly. “It’s kind of new.”
“And you liked her before you knew she was Lightningirl. Way to go.”
“Huh?”
“Look, a million guys are crazy about her. She’s Lightningirl, for God’s sake. Having feelings for her before you knew… well, it’s a good start.”
“So, the test didn’t do this to me?”
“No,” Jennifer said laughing. “It was the girl. But I’ll tell the general you were just a little dehydrated. No need to worry him.”
~~~
General Markus and Colonel Williams led Licia and I across the pavement towards a waiting helicopter. It was one of the big grey military ones with two rotors and lots of cargo space. Jennifer was with us, as well as a few other techs, loads of equipment, and quite a few military types.
As soon as Jennifer cleared me medically, we were herded out there. I tried to speak to Licia, but she gave me a curt shake of her head. Not the right time or place—obviously—but that did nothing to quell the rioting butterflies in my stomach.
When we got to the helicopter, Licia hung back and did not climb in. “Is there a problem, Ms. Lopez?” the general asked.
“Yes sir. I don’t mix well with sensitive electronics. Double that for flying sensitive electronics.”
The general looked puzzled. “I thought you had that under control. The updates I have been receiving said that you have mastered that particular problem.”
�
�Yes sir, I have sir, but not perfectly. I just don’t think it’s worth the risk, and…”
“And what?”
Licia’s cheeks reddened as she added, “…and I don’t like to fly. Just tell me where we are going, and I will meet you there.”
The general was still for a moment except for his right hand rubbing his clean-shaven chin. He signaled to a lieutenant who had a tablet computer. “Show her,” he grunted.
As the lieutenant showed Licia a map and then the satellite view she requested, her eyebrows raised and a small smile snuck onto her face. “Have someone meet me by these power lines. And please have them bring a robe.”
Licia waved as we took off. My thoughts were not on the meteor hurtling towards our planet or the secret destination the helicopter was headed to or the training we were about to embark on. My mind was seething in jealousy at whoever was going to be there to hand Licia her robe.
My mind was somewhat eased when I heard Colonel Williams calling in the order. He insisted that it be a female officer that greeted her.
Perhaps I should take a moment to explain how Lightningirl travels. In her pure electrical form, she can ride along high-tension power lines. So, to get to her destination, she was going to zap herself along the power grid.
~~~
My mind was wandering, ping-ponging between meteors and women. Well, a woman and a meteor. In both cases I had far too little information to go on. I didn’t know much more about the meteor other than it was going to hit us, and I hadn’t had a chance to talk to Licia. So… ping—meteor—pong—Lightningirl.
The helicopter had lifted off from Palo Verde and headed northeast, skirting the little Buckeye airport and taking us towards Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, which is on the western edge of Phoenix. We were flying over Litchfield Park (a small city in the Phoenix metro area) when my ping-ponging was disturbed by the sound of a pulsing alarm and the copilot saying, “I detect weapons lock. Looks like a missile, coming in fast.”
“Beginning evasive maneuvers,” the pilot said.
I am a bit embarrassed to admit it, but I was grateful for the interruption to my mental loop. I looked at Colonel Williams and he gave me a sharp nod and said to one of the soldiers, “Let him out.”
I ripped off my headset, dumped the contents of my pockets into Colonel Williams’s lap, and stepped out of the helicopter.
I should have really looked to General Markus, he was the ranking officer, but Williams was usually the one giving me orders. Besides, I am a civilian.
As I fell, I changed into my neutrino form, losing another perfectly good set of clothes, their fiery remnants falling on the city below. I looked for and spotted the missile and the contrail it left. It appeared to have been launched from the north in the Sun City area.
I headed towards it at my best speed and weighed my options. We were over a densely populated area, which really limited what was safely doable.
As I neared the missile, its long, sleek shape not much more than a blur, I pulled up and headed straight towards the heavens. Looking behind me, I could see that the missile was following—it must be a heat seeker.
I matched speed, keeping it about fifty yards behind me and headed due west, the quickest way out of the metropolis. I also continued to gain elevation—I wanted to try my new oxygen-free mode.
The missile continued its pursuit until the Phoenix area was spread out below me, the rough rectangle of civilization sprawling across the desert with tongues of green agriculture licking out to the east and far to the west.
I managed the transition gracefully this time. I wasn’t breathing and I wasn’t freaking out.
I was distracted by my success and almost missed the missile running out of fuel. Fortunately my peripheral vision caught the change in motion, and I stopped admiring the landscape and saw the missile tumbling back towards the Earth.
I followed it down, keeping pace, until we were maybe 10,000 feet in elevation. I could see that we had cleared the city and the missile would come down in some small mountains west of the metro area.
I modulated my arm, bringing it to this hybrid state. Not quite human, but not radioactive enough to melt the metal.
The ground was rushing up; I was having trouble matching my speed exactly to the falling, tumbling missile. At the last moment I managed to grab the now docile missile, pulled up and flew it back to Palo Verde.
Chapter 9
Welcome to Area 51
Fall 2004, Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, Arizona and Area 51, Nevada
I guess I was hoping for a better welcome when I got back to Palo Verde. I mean, I had saved the helicopter and everyone on board without any collateral damage, and I had brought back important evidence regarding the attack.
But I guess I get it—bringing live explosives to a nuclear power plant is not the best thing. But hey, it’s not like I walked in the door with it. I landed between the cooling ponds northeast of the reactors and waved the missile back and forth, waiting for someone to notice.
The sun had just gone down and it was getting dark, so maybe that is why it took so long, but I don’t know.
As I waited, and as the bomb squad was called, and as the helicopter came back, I had some time to think. And no, I didn’t think about Licia/Lightningirl. I thought about the attack.
It was a hell of a risk launching a surface-to-air missile from the middle of Sun City. Whoever did it must have wanted to bring that helicopter down bad. And that meant they must have suspected what it was about. And that meant…
Well, what exactly did it mean? It was puzzling. It hinted towards conspiracy and that just didn’t make sense. Who would want to stop those trying to save the world?
Like I said, I hadn’t been briefed yet.
~~~
The military being the military, things didn’t really happen in what I thought would be a logical order.
What would have been logical, to me, was finding out what the hell was going on. But, that was above my pay grade. And considering the fact that I was still being paid as a janitor, everything was above my pay grade.
After the bomb squad relieved me of the missile, I let the neutrino-me go and ended up standing in the middle of the desert naked. No one had been sent out with a robe for me. No one worried about my dignity. I ended up walking quite a ways, doing my best to cover myself with my hands, until a jeep came and took me back to the headquarters building. It wasn’t until I got there that Jennifer handed me a robe with an apology.
Next, off to reactor number three to recharge, then back into the helicopter—still only dressed in a robe.
I was in a foul mood, sulking in my robe as we took off and headed towards Luke again. This time we were escorted by two Apache attack helicopters and made it to the Air Force base without incident. From there we got into a plane and headed northwest.
It was dark when we left and I had been through a lot that day. I fell asleep only to wake when we landed and someone said, “Welcome to Area 51.”
~~~
After we got settled at Area 51 and before I went to bed, I had a brief moment to call home.
“Mom?” I asked. I held the phone close to my head, I was having trouble hearing. “Mom? Are you trying to use the headset again? Make sure the mic is close to your mouth.”
“…wondering where you are. Nik? Nik? Can you hear me?”
“I can hear you now, Mom. I am working.”
“Working? But today was your day off. Today was your date-day.” Her voice got high when she said “date-day,” making me cringe.
“It is a work emergency, Mom.”
“Oh… but how was your date, dear? Your date with that lovely Licia girl. She’ll make you forget that horrible Ashley.”
“Mom, didn’t you hear the news?” I asked, ignoring the Ashley comment. “There was a meteor shower in the Verde Valley. I couldn’t get to the winery.”
“Well… I hope you rescheduled.”
“Mom, I haven’t had time
for that. This is a work emergency. After you get off the phone, be sure to tell Dad I am in the middle of a work emergency.”
I seemed to finally break through her obsession with my love life (or lack thereof). “What kind of emergency?”
“Mom, you know I can’t say. Just tell Dad. I may be gone a few days.”
“Son, is everything all right? Are you okay?”
“I am fine, Mom. Tell Dad. I love you both. I have to go.”
After the call I crawled into bed and knew nothing until a private woke me in the morning, predawn, for training.
~~~
Licia and I stood in the middle of Groom Lake, an oval of stark white, the salt and mineral leftovers from an ancient lake. There were techs with their equipment a safe fifty yards back and a large cable lying near Licia with electricity jumping from it to her outstretched hand.
Colonel Williams was in charge, General Markus having left us soon after we arrived on a mysterious errand. We had had our briefing, finally, and it had left me reeling.
There was lots of data, too much data, but one fact stood above the rest. The path of the meteor heading towards us had changed. It was one of the near-Earth asteroids that we tracked (its natural orbit taking it close to the Earth). Six days ago, it had suddenly, unnaturally, changed course. Someone or something had aimed it at us.
That someone wasn’t human; we lacked the technology. The technology was extraterrestrial. The irony of it all, with the two of us standing in the middle of a dry lake bed in Area 51, was not lost on me.
We had fifty-six hours left before impact.
Lightningirl and I were the planet’s only hope.
Like I said, it was a hell of a briefing.
“Ready?” Lightningirl asked me, her voice quiet and soft. She was in her lightning form, as I was in my neutrino form. We stood close enough that tendrils of energy were passing between us.
I nodded and gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile. She threw a thumbs-up to Colonel Williams and stepped closer, putting her hands around my neck and stepping on my feet as I put my hands around her waist. It looked like we were about to slow dance. I wished.
Neutrinoman & Lightningirl: A Love Story, Season 1 (Episodes 1 - 3) Page 4