by Pamela Davis
"I don't know...did I ever get a tetanus shot? Is that one of those shots you're supposed to have?"
Mrs. Philpott gazed at the rest of them. "I think that anyone who can't say for certain they've had a tetanus shot in the last couple of years needs to get one--soon. We don't know how bad things will get, but they could get very bad out there. We may not have access to some medicines and medical care. So we need to get vaccinated for as many diseases as possible--quickly."
Nathan spoke up. "Alex and I got a bunch of vaccinations before we left for Africa a year ago, so we're probably good. But I agree--it's better to be safe about this sort of thing. Do we have a doctor in the group?"
John shook his head. "We have Clay here, Jessica's dad for those who don't know him." Clay waved from his seat at the kitchen counter. "He's a vet, so we know the animals will have a doctor."
Janine glanced up and said, "I need to talk to you this morning at some point. A few of the horses should be looked at."
Clay nodded in agreement.
John continued. "But even though Clay could probably help out us humans with some injuries and maybe even illnesses, it would be better if we could get a medical doctor, a nurse, a paramedic, someone like that. I think we'd all feel a lot safer."
"Absolutely," Clay approved.
"Maybe Doctor Shapiro," Jessica suggested. "He was the one that took care of all those people when the apple pie incident happened with Harmony. He was really very nice to her through all of that."
"The apple pie incident?" Nathan asked, grinning.
"You don't want to know," Jessica said firmly while Max started laughing. He'd heard about all of Harmony's escapades by now, regaled by her as they traveled around the region buying supplies. But he choked back his laughter as Nathan turned around to look at him, perched on a bar stool in the corner.
"Tell ya later," he said quietly.
Mrs. Philpott said thoughtfully, "You know, Jessica, you may be right. He was very open-minded about that whole thing. And we are going to need someone open-minded." She looked at Perceval for a moment, and then continued, "John, if you and Harmony would go talk to him, Perceval says he'll go with you--to offer a demonstration so he'll believe you."
John nodded.
"The other medical issue is eye glasses. Do any of you wear them, or wear contact lenses?" Mrs. Philpott asked.
John snapped his fingers. "That book, the one by Pat Frank about a nuclear holocaust. The doc in the book had his glasses broken and there was no way to repair them."
"Exactly," Mrs. Philpott replied.
Rachel wailed, "My contacts! I left my back-up pair in New York!" Facing her brother, she protested, "John, why didn't you tell me to bring them? Why didn't you tell us to bring a lot of things?"
"Because," he explained, "you wouldn't have believed me--would you?"
"Well, no, probably not...but still!"
Gracie spoke up. "I told you last year to go ahead and get the laser surgery, dear, but you were always too busy." She motioned to her own eyes as they looked toward her. "I had mine done and don't need glasses anymore."
"I wonder if there's time to get mine done," Andy said thoughtfully.
"Andy! You wear glasses?" Lisanne said in disbelief.
"Contacts, I wear contacts all the time," Andy said sheepishly.]
"Well, there's nothing wrong with wearing contacts as long as we can get them for you," Mrs. Philpott suggested. "The problem is--you all know what the problem is--we may not be able to get them for long."
"I'll handle making appointments for anyone with glasses or contacts, and I'll find out about the laser surgery," Rachel volunteered.
John looked around the room, pleased by how they all seemed to be on the same track finally. Faces were interested and engaged in problem-solving, which was far better than what he'd feared for this morning...that they'd all be scared out of their wits. "Hey, if everyone is done with breakfast--and thank you to Gracie and Abby for that! Let's move into the den and I'll set up the white board. We can write up assignments for people for today and work on planning."
"Who's gonna do the dishes?" Janine asked as she took a stack of plates to the sink.
"We'll assign clean-up crews, so everyone has a chance to participate in keeping the kitchen clean. How does that sound?" John offered.
Janine just smiled at him, but Lisanne could be heard as she left the kitchen, "Housecleaning was never my strong suit."
Merlin growled at her.
"Yeah, I know, I'll take my turn. Don't get your fur ruffled."
Washington D.C., the Oval Office
Dr. Sheffield Hutton stood in front of the President's desk and swore to himself that if he had to answer the question one more time, he'd say something the Secret Service guy by the curved wall wouldn't like at all. Taking a deep breath, he started again.
"No, sir, no, that woman in the desert cannot be telling the truth. She's just some psychic trying to get attention. You've heard the reports from meteorologists and from other technical advisors, and nobody believes this woman's claim that the Mississippi is going to flood. Remember, sir, we have satellites that can warn us and the conditions in general just aren't right for it," he explained.
President Colter leaned back in his chair and regarded his science advisor. What a prick, he thought, but I had to pay back that favor for all the campaign funds and Dr. Hutton was the price.
"Tell me, Doctor, how do you explain the fact that my wife has had dreams of the Mississippi flooding?"
Dr. Hutton sighed. "Sir, most likely your wife saw the news report of that irresponsible journalist--Maria Santiago I think is her name--and your wife dreamed about it later."
The President shook his head. "She swears to me that she had the dream before the news report, Hutton. Hell, we've got a few members of Congress who are saying the same thing."
"Sir, all I can say is what I've been saying. That you need to trust your experts on this. We know what we're talking about."
"So you say. And what about all the other natural disasters that have occurred in the past month? Don't you think it's a bit odd so much has happened? That so many people have died? This is the highest amount of deaths in a month from natural disasters in our entire history! The numbers are staggering. Or don't those deaths bother you, Hutton?"
Dr. Hutton grimaced and managed to put a conciliatory tone in his voice. "Of course, we are all bothered by those deaths. It's a sad, tragic series of events. But, sir, those were just what you called them--natural disasters. Earthquakes happen--we've known for decades that eventually there would be a big one in California. It finally happened. We could wish that quake retrofitting of buildings had worked better, but we couldn't prevent that fault from letting go. Tornadoes happen every spring, sir. These reports out of Oklahoma that the tornadoes seemed to have a strategy--that's tommyrot, sir. Nobody can control a tornado. The sunny-day dam failures, like the one in Maryville and the other, these are events that have happened before. I think if you look at it from a scientific perspective, instead of listening to new-age poppycock, you'll find that every one of these events can be explained rationally."
The President stood and said mildly, "I don't consider my wife to be spouting new-age poppycock, Dr. Hutton."
The science advisor groaned internally, but outwardly remained calm. "Of course not, sir, that's not what I meant."
"I think I know what you meant." Walking around his desk, the President motioned the other man to one of the couches and sat down. "So how do you explain, rationally, what happened to Las Vegas?"
After settling on the edge of the couch, Sheffield stated, "Sir, that was a confluence of weather phenomena never before seen, I'll grant you that, but there is nothing to indicate that it was out of the ordinary in any way."
"A pyramid of ice? Not out of the ordinary?" The President's voice rose.
"No, sir, not in the realm of what is possible in nature."
President Jeb Colter sat back and struggl
ed with his urge to punch out his science advisor. This guy, he thought, could talk himself out of a pile of horseshit and come up smelling like a rose. "So," he ventured, "nature is responsible for all this? All these disasters?"
"Yes, sir, that is correct."
"And you see no need to warn the American public about the potential flood, to evacuate any areas?"
"No, sir, not at this time. The conditions for a flood do not exist at this time."
"But they could in the future?"
"Sir," Sheffield began, "we know that the Mississippi is capable of flooding. We had a major flood back in the nineties, you'll recall. But not now, no, sir. And, sir," he started, but then stopped.
"What? Spit it out!"
"Yes, sir. The costs involved of evacuating such a large area, only to have no flood appear--well, sir, I can't see how that would sit well with the voters."
Now the President grimaced. He was up for re-election in a year and a half. To guess wrong on this would be campaign suicide. And much as he disliked the man sitting in front of him, he knew Hutton's voice was well-respected. If he ordered an evacuation and the Mississippi didn't flood, Hutton would be the first one on all the Sunday talk shows to condemn his judgment.
"All right," he decided. "No evacuation for now. But I want all the boys in lab coats working like busy bees to give us warning if it looks like a flood might happen. I want to know the instant you have any indication of potential flood conditions."
Hutton nodded. "Yes, sir, absolutely."
"And, Hutton, I want someone to look into this psychic woman, the one who predicted the flood. Have her checked out and find out what she's up to now."
Hutton nodded eagerly. "Excellent decision, sir, I'll get right on that."
"Hutton, I want this done discreetly, no leaks!" He looked sternly at his science advisor. "Finally, I want one more thing. I want your guys to go back over the natural disasters that have happened in the past six months."
"Six months, sir?"
"Yes, six. I want them to look at natural disasters around the world, not just here. I want to know statistically if this is normal or if something strange is happening."
Hutton frowned. "Strange, sir?"
"I won't know if it's strange until you eggheads check it out. So get on it, Hutton, right away!"
"Yes, sir!" Hutton replied, and then he exited the room quickly. Walking down the corridors of the White House, he wondered just how much influence the President's wife was having on the man. He actually sounded like he was listening to her garbage about this flood scenario! Well, he thought, it wouldn't be the first time a president listened to his wife to his detriment.
President Colter eyed the door through which Hutton had departed. He just didn't trust the guy. Picking up the phone, he barked to his secretary, "Get me General Briggs. Now."
The Samuels' House
Sam and Harry wandered into the den and found a place to sit on the floor in front of Jessica. Feeling her mom pat her on the head, Sam leaned back against her legs and looked up at a concerned face.
"You okay, honey?" her mom asked quietly.
Sam nodded, thinking about her dream from last night. Yeah, she was okay for now, but could she tell them all that they might not be okay, be safe, not yet? She decided to wait and see what they were talking about and tuned in to the ongoing discussion.
"So you're saying we need start planting right away?" Clay asked Mrs. Philpott.
"According to my maps of agricultural zones for this region, yes. I know we can live off food collected by some of you on the way here. And Harmony and Max have been shopping every day for food supplies. But to stay healthy we'll need to have fresh vegetables. And we need to be planting with an eye for the future. Eventually there won't be any supplies left in the stores. We need to put up what food we can for the winter. And I'll confess I know a lot about growing roses, but practically nothing about growing food!"
John spoke up. "We know this area is good for growing lots of things--tomatoes, all kinds of vegetables, really. There are fruit orchards around town--peaches, pears and apples--we have apples here on our property. Black walnuts can be harvested in the fall--they're everywhere. We have a growing season that's a decent length, so that's good--but we need to be planting now, even if it's just backyard gardens to start with."
"We've learned over the past few years what we can grow well in our backyard garden," Jessica informed them, "but I don't think just one or two gardens will do it." Looking slightly frustrated, she continued. "We don't know how many people will end up here! Say we get a massive influx of refugees from the flood. How many will stay? How many will move on? And will they just strip us of all supplies?"
Black's deep voice rumbled forth into the quiet. "I'm going to look into what areas we need to protect. Then I'll need volunteers to help with patrolling. Whoever signs up will probably need some training as well. We'll establish a perimeter and some kind of alarm system." He paused for a moment, and then said, "But if we get hordes of folks, well then I can't promise you we can handle it."
Sam decided she had to speak. "We won't get lots of people, but we will get some." She turned to face Black, sitting across the half-circle made of chairs and sofas. "And you need to remember to use the animals. They can help with the alarm-thingy. Harry and Perceval can talk to you about that."
Black nodded thoughtfully, realizing he'd forgotten all about the animals when it came to his plans.
"How do you know we won't get lots of people?" Andy inquired curiously.
Sam sighed. "Because I know now 'bout what's goin' on with the flood. How it's gonna start."
They all stirred at that. Andy's eyebrows rose. Of everything he'd experienced thus far, the picture of this little kid sitting cross-legged on the floor with one hand on the back of the golden retriever stretched out next to her, making pronouncements that were listened to with grave attention, this felt like the strangest. He'd sat bemused throughout the discussions this morning, planning for a future that didn't seem possible on a nice, sunny day. He felt like it was all starting to catch up with him this morning, the wild escape from the hurricane, meeting Lisanne and Merlin, the communication with Waldo. It just felt surreal. But he listened intently with the others as Sam continued.
"There's gonna be an earthquake. Under the river. There's some kinda thing, what's it called?" Before anyone could answer her, she went on. "Oh, yeah, a fault. And that's gonna make everything crazy with the river."
Mrs. Philpott asked urgently, "The New Madrid fault line?"
"Um, yeah, I guess that's its name," Sam replied. She thought for a moment, and then said with more assurance, "Yeah, the New Mad-rid. Guess it's gonna make the river mad, huh?"
"Sam, how do you know this?" questioned Abby. "How can you know this is going to happen?"
Sam shrugged as Jessica said, "She's been right so far, Mom, so let's just listen, okay?" Turning to her daughter, Jessica asked, "Is this what you dreamed about last night, honey?"
"How'd you know I had a dream last night?" she responded, surprised.
Janine's soft voice said, "I told them at breakfast, Sam. I woke up when I heard you and Harry. It sounded like a bad dream."
Sam turned part way around to find Janine sitting on a bar stool behind the sofa. "Oh, there you are! Sorry I woke you up."
"It's okay," Janine replied.
"Well, anyway," Sam told them, "I did dream about it. So that's why I know there's not going to be tons of people coming here."
"Wait," Black interjected. "Won't the quake just send even more folks scrambling for safety? It seems to me like we'd have even more."
Sam shook her head. "Nope. 'Cause with the earthquake and the flooding it's gonna be really bad. A lot of people are gonna die. A lot of people." She ended in a quiet voice.
"Oh, Sam," her mother murmured, gently stroking the top of Sam's head.
Sam sat up straighter and said, "Ya know that big giant arch?"
"In St.
Louis?" her father asked.
"Yeah, that's gonna fall down and smash a lotta stuff. Plus, a bunch of roads are gonna be messed up. And around Cape Fair, you know how those rock thingies, those whatchamacallit--bluffs, right? You know where the bluffs are? Well, the land is going to drop down some, and when it does, there's only gonna be one way to get into town. And there will be trouble with that road too. Things will get broken and fall down between here and the big lake."
John leaned forward in the brown leather chair he was sitting in and said, "That's a big problem! I was planning on our being able to use the power still from the hydroelectric dam on Table Rock Lake."
"You mean we can keep the electricity going?" Nathan asked excited. "That would make all the difference! We'd have a much better chance with electrical power."
"Well, sure," Lisanne began. "You can have air conditioning and computers and television--"
Andy jabbed her in the side with an elbow. "I think he's talking of more than that, Lisanne!"
Alex was nodding her head as Nathan explained, "When you've lived in primitive conditions as Alex and I have for the past year, you start to understand just how much of a difference it makes--as to what pieces of your culture you can hang on to, let alone ways it helps you survive. Refrigeration means you have more options for storing food. Electricity means the ability to manufacture things more easily, the use of higher levels of technology in areas like medicine, even electric pumps on wells for clean water. There's just so much more that we can do to insure our survival--and to provide for the future. If we lose electricity, it sets us back a hundred years or more. Think what we can save culturally if we can keep the power going! I was thinking we'd end up at practically the same level as the tribes in the Kalahari that we were studying. But this--"
Alexandra stopped him, placing a hand on one of the arms he was waving around as he talked. She said, "Yeah, but what you're saying, John, is that we'll lose the power, right?"
John was frowning. Running both hands through his hair and thinking hard, he offered, "I just don't know. I thought it would be a gradual breakdown of the society. That we'd have time to figure out how to keep the power supply, at least for here in Cape Fair. But if there's an earthquake, it could damage the dam or the power station. And then there's the possibility we couldn't even get to it if the roads are wiped out."