Author: Dennis E. Taylor
Date: 2015-01-02 05:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Science Fiction; Fiction; Post Apocalyptic; Apocalyptic; Fantasy; Adventure; Science Fiction Fantasy; Dystopia; Survival
Description: "When the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, it's up to six university students and their experimental physics project to prevent the end of civilization. " When an experiment to study quantum uncertainty goes spectacularly wrong, physics student Richard and his friends find that they have accidentally created an inter-dimensional portal. They connect to an alternate Earth with identical geology, but where humans never evolved. They go panning for gold and become millionaires overnight, while fantasizing about Nobel Prizes and patents. Then the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts on Earth in an expl

OUTLAND

Dennis Taylor

Copyright © 2014 Dennis Taylor

All Rights Reserved

Revision Date: 9.11.2016

Cover art by Matt Forsyth

CreateSpace ISBNs

ISBN-13: 978-1505631197

ISBN-10: 150563119X

Draft2Digital ISBN

978-1507000885

Amazon ASIN

B00RPQ6M3Q

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Outland/708766959237852

Blog
http://www.dennisetaylor.org

Dedication

I would like to dedicate this book to my wife, Blaihin, who understands me yet doesn’t run screaming from the room, and to my daughter Tina, who completed our family.

Acknowledgments

This is my first novel. I’ve been reading science fiction since the age of ten, when I checked out a copy of The Lost Planet by Angus McVicar from the library. It hooked me on the genre immediately, and I’ve been reading very little else ever since.

I’ve always envied the likes of Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, and the other greats for their ability to make a story come alive. I have no idea why it took me this long to metaphorically put pen to paper and try it myself. If even a few people like my stories and come back for more, I’ll consider it a success.

I want to thank my wife, Blaihin, for alpha-reading and for her constant encouragement, and for being the love of my life (she made me say that); the various beta-readers who’ve made many suggestions for improvement; the good folks at critiquecircle.com for tons of advice, education, and suggestions. And I’d like to give a shout out to the gang at snowboardingforum.com just because.

Thanks to my Beta Readers:

-          Sandra and Ken McLaren

-          Lianna Dunten

-          Patrick Jordan

-          Trudy Cochrane

-          Al Macy

-          Leigh Hogan

Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Table of Contents

PART 1 - BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

The Plan

Discussing Toba

Toba, Sumatra - 74,000 B.C.E.

Lab Prep

Time Out

Preparing For Field Trip

Matt's Apartment

The Best Years

First Test Run

Yellowstone Field Trip

It's Getting Interesting

Second Test Run

Yellowstone Activity

Unexpected Results

Eaux de Volcano

Enter Erin

Under Glass

Relaxing

What's Happening?

Let's Try the Other Way

Just Another Day

Midnight Move

In the News

Monica and Erin Have Lunch

What's the Date

Enter Monica

Gates

Trying Out the Pole-Cam

Test Outing

First Road Trip

The Black Hills

Study Session

Outland

We're Back

The Road Home

Driving Home

Side-Trip to Yellowstone

Yellowstone, Outland, Toba + 200

Cashing In

Someone Noticed

In The News

Monsters From The Deep

Second Road Trip

Prospecting

Tallying Up

In the News

Trouble Brewing

Back At the Warehouse

At the Gun Range

Casing the Joint

In the News

Ways and Means

Shopping

Kind of Scary

Third Expedition

A Visit from the Mob

Mid-Day Move

Activity

It's Actually Happened

Eruption

What Now?

Let's Get Moving

In The News

Rescue Operation

Reactions

Moving Out

In The News

On The Way

Setting Up

In The News

Getting There

Going Over

Reactions

The Last Leg

Getting Up

In The News

Cattle Drive

Aftermath

Arrival

PART 2 - OUTLAND

Survival

In the News

First Meetings

Reactions

Rivendell

In the News

Loss

Explorations

Paydirt

In the News

Planning

Scavenging Party

Refugees

Results

Sunny Days

In The News

Mealtime

Surveillance

University

Food

Jacked Again

In the News

Ultralight

Scavenging

Fences

Farmer

Archimedes Screw

Vitamins

Gotcha

Hostage

Confrontation

Reconnaissance

Rescue

Getaway

The Tale Grows

Finding the Fallen

Joining Up

Interludes

Birth Rate

Electric Company

Planet 4

Epilogue

Appendices

Cast of Characters

Author's Notes

References

PART 1 - BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

The Plan

June 7              Bill

Seriously? Parallel universes? Bill paused with his burger halfway to his mouth.

At the same moment, his friend, Matt said, “Seriously? Parallel universes?”

The man they were talking to pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. “Well, no, not in the usual science-fiction sense. When we say alternate world lines, we’re talking about probability paths—“

“Through a five-dimensional universe,” the fourth member of the group interjected. He immediately looked alarmed and blushed furiously.

Bill stared at him, bemused. This is like a Laurel and Hardy skit.

Kevin Jahani and Richard Nadeski formed an unlikely pair. Richard was over six and a half feet tall and built like a running back. Kevin, on the other hand, looked like the cliché of a math genius—skinny, bad haircut, horn-rim glasses. No pocket protector, at least. Bill idly wondered how they’d come to be working together on this project.

Matt nudged Bill. “Play nice” He received a grin and a minute shake of the head in reply.

Bill and Matt had been invited to meet at Dempsey’s Pub to discuss their possible involvement in an experimental physics project. Richard had refused to give details in advance, and Bill was beginning to understand why. Even money says previous candidates ran screaming for the door.

“Okay, Kevin, I’ll bite,” Bill said. “Why not eleven dimensions?”

Kevin blushed again. “Uh, this isn’t String Theory. Any curled-up dimensions wouldn’t—”

“Chrissake,” Richard said. “Can we focus, please?” He sat back and looked around the table. “We are attempting to put together a physics experiment to test Kevin’s theoretical models about the nature of the universe and probability space. Without getting into details…” Richard glared at Kevin. “Kevin believes that time is two-dimensional, and that the second dimension is where quantum uncertainty manifests.”

Bill considered this. Kevin’s theory—and Richard’s English translation—contained a lot of handwavium, but the basic concept sounded interesting. It could even end up being fun, in a nerdish kind of way.

He leaned back in his chair and absently looked around the dimly lit pub. Dempsey’s was less than half full, not surprising for a pub that depended on tired and stressed-out university students for most of its business. The third summer session was about to start at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, and the population was down to a fraction of spring session levels. Small groups of customers had spaced themselves evenly around the pub for maximum privacy. The background buzz of conversation didn’t quite drown out the big TV playing a local football game.

The waitress showed up with more beer and Matt’s burger — the one he’d ordered this time. Matt smiled and thanked her. The waitress apologized again and looked like she was going to start flirting. Richard’s glare and curt “Thank you” sent her off with a blistering look at him over her shoulder.

Bill watched this byplay with a wry shake of his head. As usual, he envied the way girls just seemed to throw themselves at Matt; and as usual, he was a little ashamed of feeling that way. Matt had certainly put in the hours to get to that level of fitness. Seventeen-plus years of various types of martial arts had resulted in multiple black belts and trophies, and a hard, trim physique that the girls rarely failed to notice. Bill glanced down at his own slight paunch, shrugged, and took another bite of his burger.

Matt looked over and pointed to the side of his mouth. Bill frowned and wiped off a stray dollop of mustard.

A short period of silence stretched over the table as everyone attended to their meals. The aroma of cooked beef, caramelized onions, and vinegarized fries wafted around the table.

Matt paused in his task of burger destruction to take a sip of beer, then turned to Richard. “So, where do we come in?”

“Through the front door,” Bill said, before Richard could respond. “Weren’t you paying attention?”

Matt laughed. “Ba-Boom-Tsh!”

Richard rolled his eyes and visibly tried for patience. “We need,” he said, waving a french-fry, “some control software for this experiment. Matt, you’re specializing in control systems, right? Linux-on-a-card and such? What we’re trying to do is too delicate for hard-wiring and bread-boarding.”

Matt sat up straighter, a look of surprise on his face, and nodded slowly.

Hooked, by God, Bill thought. Well played, Richard.

Richard turned to Bill. “And you have a reputation as a bit of an artist when it comes to building weird-ass devices. Your engineering team’s Rube Goldberg entry last year, that was mostly you, wasn’t it?”

Bill strained to keep a straight face. He was proud of the contraption that had won them first place, but Richard’s attempt at handling him was too transparent. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction, Bill waved his hand in a whatever gesture. “And then what? Wham, bam, thank you, sir?”

Richard snorted. “Of course not. I doubt if it’s going to be that easy, so I’m hoping you’ll continue to be involved in the project.”

Well, this was turning out better than expected. Good thesis projects were always welcome, and original ones were hard to find. The alternative was to be assigned some boring subject that had already been beaten to death by generations of students.

All four sat back in silence, sipping their beers—or in Kevin’s case, his soft drink.

Sensing an opportunity to pour a little gasoline onto things, Bill sat forward and gestured to Kevin. “So, is this going to be anything like Sliders?”

Kevin grimaced — and blushed again, which was an interesting combination. “First, no, this is science, not TV schlock. Second, you don’t get an entirely new universe from every branching. It’s—“

Richard dropped his forehead to his hand and let out a loud breath.

Bill sat back with a satisfied smile. Bill Rustad wins on points. Again.

Discussing Toba

Millions of people come to Yellowstone every year to see the marvelous scenery and the wildlife and all, and yet it’s clear that very few of them really understand that they’re here on a sleeping giant.

— Robert Christiansen, USGS

June 8              Erin

Erin Savard maneuvered through the other students to get a seat dead center, a few rows up. As usual, Lise and Donna were already there. Erin smiled at them as she sat down and started removing items from her backpack in preparation for the lecture.

Students filtered into the lecture hall in ones and twos. A few of the die-hard, too-cool-for-school types took seats at the back of the hall, but most sat down at the front. On the stage, Professor Collins was setting up.

“So how was your date night last night?” Lise asked Erin. “New boyfriend, some dishing is required.” The girls leaned forward in anticipation of a little light gossip.

“No such luck,” Erin replied. “Matt blew me off. Something about a project planning session with some friends. This is not the way the universe works. New boyfriends don’t blow you off. I want my money back!”

“Well, I’ve seen Matt,” Donna replied, “and I’d be willing to forgive a bit of ignorance of the rules.”

Erin felt herself blush. “Mm, yeah, can’t disagree.”

Before she could continue, the professor turned on his lapel microphone, resulting in an amplified “pop.” Students cut off whatever conversations they were having and turned to face the stage.

Professor Collins used the remote to put a picture up on the screen behind him. “This is a picture of the Toba caldera today. Or what’s left of it.” The picture on the projector screen showed an idyllic aerial view of a large, calm blue lake with a large island within. Human development alternated with jungle and meadows. The professor worked the remote and a sequence of pictures showed different views of the area.

“And this is an artist’s reconstruction of what the area might have looked like just before the eruption of the Toba supervolcano.” Another picture went up, this one bearing no resemblance to the earlier scene. This image depicted a mountain range, with no lake in sight.

Professor Collins paused while a few latecomers got settled, and Erin took the opportunity to look around. Row after semi-circular row of seats rose into the darkness from the stage where the professor stood, dwarfed by the projector screen behind him. The indefinable aroma of paper dust pervaded the hall—an aroma that Erin had always found homey and comforting.

Erin knew that there were more students seated than were registered for this class. That was typical of Professor Collins’ lectures. While some faculty might have been offended at the idea of freeloaders, Professor Collins considered it a badge of honor that students didn’t have to be dragged kicking and screaming to his classes. It was one of the reasons that he was her favorite teacher.

The professor resumed his lecture. “Toba literally blew part of the mountain range into the air when it erupted. The caldera it left behind contains a lake so big that you can’t see the ends of it when you’re in the middle.”

He started to pace as he talked. “It’s about a hundred kilometers along its long axis. Krakatoa met a similar fate. Where before there was a large mountainous island, afterwards there was just a bay surrounded by some small atolls. But Krakatoa was a pipsqueak compared to Toba.” Several pictures were shown in succession, showing different before and after views.

A student downhill from Erin raised her hand. “So, professor, how do you define a supervolcano versus a volcano?”

Erin smiled. And that would be one of the freeloaders…

The professor was unfazed by the very elementary question and answered with no trace of condescension or impatience. “It’s just a matter of size, and it’s strictly arbitrary. Any eruption that ejects more than a thousand cubic kilometers of crud into the air is considered super. And Toba sent up twenty-eight hundred cubic kilometers, by most estimates. That more than qualifies. Mount St. Helens, by comparison, only managed about one measly cubic kilometer or so.”

He played with the remote for a moment. “The damage to the planetary ecosystems from that much ash and dust in the atmosphere would have been devastating. It would have caused entire species to go extinct, and changed the climate for large parts of the planet. It may even have hastened an ice age in the longer term, although that’s controversial.”

Professor Collins bobbed his head side to side. “There’s a theory that’s becoming popular that the Toba eruption caused a genetic bottleneck in Homo sapiens that may have directly contributed to us becoming what we are.”

“Wait. How does that work?” another student asked.

The professor worked the remote, bringing up an evolutionary chart depicting genus Homo. “Evolutionary biologists believe that most if not all occurrences of speciation happen for one of two reasons.”

He held his hand up with his index finger extended. “One, the species undergoes a genetic bottleneck where the breeding population is reduced almost to the point of extinction. At that level any mutation has a good chance of spreading through the population. Genetic isolation of a breeding population works the same way. Genetic drift, essentially.”

He held up two fingers. “Or in the second case, new, unexploited ecological niches become available. In this case, you get a breeding frenzy of specialization and differentiation that results in new species with altered life-styles to fill the various ecological niches. The colonization of the Galapagos Islands is an excellent example.”

“Toba would have created the first situation, especially for our ancestors, who were already having trouble with the changing African landscape due to recurring ice ages. The timing of the Toba eruption is about right, given the genetic information.”

A student raised his hand. “Will this be on the test?”

The professor frowned. “Everything will always be on the test, Ted. The point is to understand it so you don’t have to memorize it.”

Erin rolled her eyes. Ted really needed to get a clue…

***

All too soon, as far as Erin was concerned, the class was over. Professor Collins turned off the projector and said to the class, “Remember, next lecture will be a planning and Q&A session for the Yellowstone field trip. Make sure you have gone through your packages, and make sure that you have signed all the forms and handed them in. I don’t want to have to chase you through the halls and tackle you. It’s hard on the knees, and the Dean frowns on it.”

The students responded with a susurrus of chuckles before resuming their bolt for the exit.

As the three friends shuffled their way out of the lecture hall through the crush of bodies, Donna asked Erin, “Do you think you’ll be seeing hot-stuff tonight?”

Erin gave a head-bob in agreement, and Donna continued, “So, maybe some gossip tomorrow, then?”

Erin shook her head with disbelief. “You have way too much time on your hands, girl. You need a hobby.”

Toba, Sumatra - 74,000 B.C.E.

The sudden earthquake moved the forest canopy and sent flocks of birds fleeing into the safety of the air.

The yearling stopped browsing and looked to the other herd members in alarm. The adults barely looked up at the shaking.

The herd of Sambar deer lived in the shadow of Toba. The Sumatran forest was thick and lush, deer paradise if not for the predators. Certainly not a territory to be given up casually.

The tremblors had been coming for a few seasons now. Had the deer been able to measure and count, they would know that the quakes were coming more frequently. But the deer had learned through repetition that the quakes caused no harm. The bushes would shake, a tree branch might break, and the stream might slosh momentarily out of its bed. But to the deer, these events were less noteworthy than the frequent tropical downpours, which were at least uncomfortable enough to make them seek cover.

Taking his cue from his mother, the yearling went back to the important business of eating.

Another quake hit, this one much stronger. There was a loud grinding sound, accompanied by the sharp crackling of collapsing trees. The yearling bugled in fear and pushed himself as close to his mother as possible. The herd milled around in confusion, and the shaking stopped as abruptly as a light being switched off.

The deer stood still for a few moments, then turned back to their grazing.

It was the last act of their lives.

With no further buildup, a massive explosion ripped the mountain right off the face of the Earth. The eruption ejected 2,800 cubic kilometers of earth, rock, mud, ash, and magma into the atmosphere at supersonic speed.

The herd was lucky — they were vaporized immediately by the incredible heat. Their nervous systems had no time to register the event, let alone feel any pain.

Animals up to a few kilometers farther away were ripped apart by the explosion and flying shrapnel. Up to twenty kilometers away, the earth was simply scraped clean as if by a sand-blaster.

Pyroclastic flows, rains of rock and ash, and poisonous gases took out another wave of victims up to a distance of a hundred kilometers. Ash fall caused yet another wave of deaths, and obliterated ecosystems for tens of thousands of square kilometers. Lack of potable water killed many. Ash-induced pulmonary diseases killed far more.

The real death toll came, not from the very impressive pyrotechnics, but from a slower, more insidious cause. Over the next weeks and months, the cloud of ash spread in the upper atmosphere until it covered a significant portion of the planet. The reduced sunlight and acid rain caused ecosystems to crash worldwide.

As the clouds of ash and volcanic gases from the eruption fell to earth, the heaviest settled first, drowning the local ecosystems in a heavy, suffocating blanket. The finer particles hitched a ride in the jet stream, spreading over the planet. The heavy haze blocked sunlight, causing phytoplankton die-offs in the oceans and plant die-offs on land. The loss of their food source caused population crashes in both environments. The effect dominoed up the food chain, resulting in partial or total collapse of regional ecologies. Many animals didn’t have time to starve, dying long before of respiratory and related diseases. Their bodies provided an emergency food source for smaller scavengers and less fussy predators.

Sulfur dioxide from the eruption converted to sulfuric acid, which fell as acid rain, killing more land animals and acidifying water. Corals in the oceans died en masse; fish in fresh-water lakes were all but obliterated.

The devastation took a couple of years to peak. The effects were far-reaching. In Africa, several species of hominids, our close cousins, were driven to extinction.

Lab Prep

June 10              Bill

“Here are the specs for the focusing device.” Richard handed Bill a set of untitled printouts. Kevin hovered in the background, looking like he wanted to say something but was unsure how to go about it.

Bill looked at the diagrams from several different angles. Although they had started out as CAD printouts, they had suffered a significant amount of manual editing with colored felt pens. “So, it’s a hoop-shaped device. I see wave guides, and something that looks like it’s trying to create a toroidal magnetic field?”

“That’s right. Plus some low-level lasers intended to produce single-photon emissions in a precise sequence.” Richard pointed to a spot on the diagram. “Doable?”

“Oh sure, no prob. This is all about the internals, though, right? The casing doesn’t enter into the tolerances?”

“That’s correct. Why?” Richard looked puzzled.

“Oh, no reason…” Bill replied, smiling. Leaves room for a few extras.

Richard frowned, suspicion written all over his face.

Matt looked up from the controller module he was working on, rolled his eyes, and muttered, “Calling Captain Reference…”

Bill gave him a sideways look and a minimal shake of the head. Chill, dude. Don’t blow the ‘reveal.’

Diagrams in hand, Bill paused for a moment to look around the lab. At one end, a couple of louvered windows let in the summer breeze and managed to cool the room to a tolerable level. At the other end, part of the room had been split off by a pony wall topped with thick safety glass.

Looks a bit Mythbusters. What kind of physics experiments require that kind of glass?

Matt, meanwhile, had finished installing the Linux controller card and was booting it up. A wireless network connection to the tablet he held allowed him to monitor the process. When he was done, he handed the tablet to Richard. “It’s all set up for you. You just have to turn on the power, and it’s all at your fingertips.”

“And how are you handling the timing on the lasers?” Richard poked at one of the setup dialogs.

“Eight-core processor,” Matt answered, “More than enough throughput.”

Bill clapped his hands in satisfaction. “Well, hell. Looks like we’re gonna have us a working mad scientist’s lab!”

Richard stared at him for a long moment, then went back to examining the menu tree on the tablet software.

Bill sighed. Wow, dude. Grow a funny bone.

Time Out

June 11              Bill

How the hell does he do that? Does he ever miss? Bill stood under the hoop, retrieving the basketball and tossing it back. Matt worked his way around the three-point circle, hitting basket after basket.

They had come to the gym during off-hours to get a bit of exercise. In Bill’s case, that consisted of retrieving the ball and returning it. Bill liked it that way. He didn’t like exercise, and he was pretty sure it was mutual.

“I’m not a basketball scout,” he said, “but I’ll bet the coach would be real interested in you.”

“Already had that conversation,” Matt replied. “They give you the spiel about having to eat, sleep, and breathe insert-your-sport-here, and my eyes glaze over. I’ve got my sport. Nothing else has ever hit me like martial arts.”

“Bah-Boom-Tsh!”

Matt laughed and tried for a Scottish accent. “Thank you, I'm here 'til Thursday. Try the veal.”

Bill did his best to look offended. “Dude, that’s my shtick. Do I go all Kung Fu on you?”

Matt grinned back at him and resumed sinking baskets.

During a break, Bill brought up what had been on his mind all day. “This project with Richard Nadeski and Kevin Jahani—does it seem a little out there to you?”

Matt raised one eyebrow. “How about a lot out there? It’s one thing to talk about computing with qubits, but this? The whole thing sounds like real sci-fi stuff. It could almost be one of those B-movies you’re always watching.”

Bill chuckled. “Well, you know, real life continues to disappoint me. I’ve been waiting twenty-two years now. Okay, maybe the first four years I was just trying not to poop my pants. But still, not one alien species has come to visit, not one monster from the deep has attacked New York, and not one evil mastermind has destroyed the Golden Gate Bridge. Maybe we have planetary B.O.”

Matt snorted. “Yeah, that must be it.” He did a couple of experimental dribbles, behind the back, through the legs, alternating hands.

Bill hesitated for a moment. “So, really, do you have a funny feeling about this project? Does it seem legit to you?”

Matt stopped and looked directly at Bill. “How do you mean?”

“I don’t know. I can’t put my finger on it. It sort of feels like these guys have gone rogue or something. If I asked Richard’s professor about the project, would he even know about it?”

“Yeah, I get that. Nadeski seems pretty, um, focused.”

Bill grinned at the deliberate understatement. “Right. If this were a TV show, I’d peg him as the maladjusted character who does bad things for noble reasons.”

“Well, I’ll pull the plug if things start to smell,” Matt said, “or if it starts to interfere with my social life.”

“Oh, yeah, your new girlfriend. Didn’t you say she was like an uber-genius in geology? Might not be a question of you making time for her.”

Matt shrugged and took another shot, and Bill retrieved the ball and tossed it back.

Preparing For Field Trip

June 12              Prof Collins

Most of the park rests atop a slumbering volcano that erupted half a million years ago and is showing signs of renewed activity. (Note: No eruption is expected in the near future.)

There are more geysers and hot springs here than anywhere else on Earth.

— National Geographic. “Yellowstone National Park.”

Professor Collins looked around the lecture hall for any more raised hands. There were none.

The professor waited a few more seconds before resuming. “Now, just a reminder— as if you needed it— that we leave day after tomorrow. Officially, this is a summer session activity, so you’ll get full course credit for this class. Not surprisingly, I wasn’t able to convince the university to spring for an all-expenses-paid trip to Sumatra for all of us to visit Toba.” He grinned at the class. “So instead, we’ll have to settle for a junket to Yellowstone in a rattling death-trap of a school bus.”

Several people in the audience laughed. Sounding a little panicked, one of the students piped up, “I thought we had a charter plane?”

“Just seeing if you’re paying attention, Ted,” the professor replied. “You get two internet points for that.” That got more laughs from students.

The professor put a document up on the projector. “I’d like to thank everyone for having completed the paperwork early so I don’t have to come around and poke some of you with a stick. The university will be happy to know that you hold us blameless for anything that happens to you. And I do mean anything. Some lawyer financed his boat with that paperwork!

“We will be staying in the Employee Housing at Lake Village. Don’t expect luxury. For that matter, don’t expect beds. You’ll get air mattresses, and you’ll like it. We will be dividing into groups every day. There will be USGS staff leading you around and introducing you to the great big world of geology in a still-active volcano.”

Professor Collins swapped in a new document, this one a list of dates and events. “You have your itineraries. See you in a couple of days at the airport, for five fun-filled days of slogging around swamps, bogs, and forest and being eaten alive by mosquitoes the size of pterodactyls. Don’t you just love geology?” And with a theatrical flourish, he switched off the P.A. and waved to the class, most of whom were already stampeding for the exit.

He picked up his notes and was turning to leave when he realized that Erin Savard was hurrying toward him. He smiled. Erin was the kind of student that made his job worthwhile. She absorbed everything like a sponge, never missed a thing, and best yet, actually understood it.

“Professor, I wanted to ask quickly. There’s been some heightened activity at Yellowstone. Will we be able to get close enough to observe any of that?”

“Depends what you mean by ‘close,’ Erin. Close enough to see? Sure. Close enough to take lava samples? Not a chance.” Professor Collins smiled. “The university would toss me into a lava flow if I endangered the students like that.”

Erin gave him a full-wattage smile in return, and Professor Collins felt sweat start to bead on his forehead. “You might consider bringing binoculars,” he said, quickly gathering up the rest of his lecture notes.

Erin nodded, smiled again, and headed for the exit.

Professor Collins made a conscious effort not to watch her leave. Damn. I’m too old for this.

Matt's Apartment

June 14              Matt

Matt sat and watched Erin as she walked around the apartment. This was the first time she’d been to his place, and she seemed impressed.

“Your parents are paying for this? Just paying?”

Matt smiled and gave her a half-shrug. The apartment wasn’t quite what you’d call a luxury suite; but for students used to a twelve-by-ten dorm room, an apartment with a separate bedroom and den was ultimate luxury. Having a kitchen and washroom to yourself was pure bonus.

It was clean, spacious, the walls were painted in non-institutional colors, and the furniture did not look like it had been rescued from the curb. And if it impressed his new girlfriend, it was worth every penny.

“My parents are pretty well-off. They’re happy to pay for this while I’m going to school, but they’re quick to point out that they’re well off, not we’re well off. So I’d better come out of this with a job.” Matt smiled again, but it wasn’t a happy smile.

“But I’m guessing your parents earned it, not like… well…“ Erin trailed off.

Matt raised an eyebrow in a silent query as she sat down.

Erin continued, “Oh, I was watching E.T. the other night—a retrospective on celebrity weddings—and they were talking about one particular wedding. You know the bride’s dress was worth half a million? Who makes that kind of money for, well, for what? And I’m still trying to figure out how to pay for new brakes for the crapmobile.”

Matt could appreciate her frustration. He would be facing it sometime in the future. His father had made it very clear that Matt wouldn’t be a trust fund baby. Any luxuries he wanted as an adult would have to be earned the old-fashioned way.

But meanwhile, he had a nice apartment, a new vehicle, an allowance, money from a couple of scholarships that he had forgotten to mention to his parents… and Erin.

They had met only a week ago, and Matt still couldn’t believe his good fortune. Erin was tall, lean, athletic, and gorgeous without needing to rely on make-up. She was also an avid snowboarder, hiker, and camper. And she had her brown belt in Tae Kwon Do. They’d compared notes. She was nowhere near Matt’s level, but he’d started at five years old and had always been serious about the sport.

“So you’ll be gone for five days?” Matt prompted.

“Yes, this is an unbelievable opportunity. We get an entire course credit for a five-day field trip, three classes, and what amounts to a book report if you know the subject—and I do.”

She finished with a smile and a mock-curtsy. The smile included dimples, and Matt felt his IQ dip for a moment.

“And, Yellowstone has been active lately. There have been times in the past when it would have been just sitting there, dormant and boring.”

She frowned for a moment. “Anyway, there’ll be about twenty of us, and Professor Collins of course. And his assistant, what’s-his-face the creepy guy, but as long as he stays away from me, I don’t care. With all the activity in Yellowstone the last few months, we could get some dramatic stuff happening!”

“You’ll email while you’re gone, right?” Matt asked.

“Oh absolutely! Every night.” She nudged him with an elbow. “Say, didn’t you promise to ply me with alcohol? I’m not feeling plied,” and she gave him the hairy eyeball.

Matt hurried to the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of red wine.

He talked while working the corkscrew. “I guess this’ll give me time to get done with this science project I roped myself into. It’s a bit woo-woo, but the hardware’s interesting, and I’ll be able to document the implementation for my thesis.”

He handed Erin a glass of wine, sat down with his arm around her, and picked up the remote. “So, any preferences?”

Erin took the remote out of his hand, set it down, and looked up at him mischievously. “Yes.”

Matt raised one eyebrow. “Well, all righty, then.”

The Best Years

June 14              Richard

Richard dropped his backpack with a tired sigh, just inside the door. He went into the kitchen, plugged in his phone, then tossed a microwavable frozen dinner into the nuker and set the timer. While it cooked, he grabbed a beer.

He looked around the small basement suite that had been his home for the duration of his time at university. Basic student furniture stared back at him: a bricks-and-boards bookshelf, a second-hand couch, an actual picture-tube style TV. There were a few posters, but no pictures, no trophies, nothing personal other than the selection of books.

And these are the best years of my life. Or so they say. Still, it feels more like home than anywhere else has since I was a kid.

Richard pulled out his laptop and a notebook labeled ‘World-Lines Project’ from his backpack and set them down on the small kitchen table. When the microwave dinged he retrieved his dinner and ate while working through the contents of the notebook. He made occasional notations, and twice used his laptop to look something up.

Dinner complete, Richard cleaned up and moved to the couch. He alternated between watching a couple of shows he had recorded and studying the notebook further.

Finally, when exhaustion set in, he cleaned up, unfolded the hideaway bed, and called it a day. He was asleep within moments.

***

Kevin

Kevin sat at his desk, trying to work through his equations yet again.

To his dismay, the noise level in the hall was getting worse. Kevin had considered himself lucky when he’d managed to get a dorm room at the university. What could be better? Short walk to classes, the library, labs, meals taken care of, and almost no need at all to deal with the wider world.

The reality, however, was not living up to his expectations. Oh, the people were okay. At least people in university wanted to be here and weren’t going to take their frustrations out on the closest available target. But there didn’t seem to be a lot of focus. Like right now, the running up and down the halls and the laughing and shouting. When did they work?

Kevin frowned with disapproval and pulled out his phone. He selected his 120 Nature Sounds album, put on his headphones, and turned up the volume.

He wondered what Richard was doing at the moment. Probably out with his friends. Must be nice to have company.

First Test Run

June 16              Bill

Richard had emailed a be-there-or-else invitation the day before, and now Bill was getting his first look at the grand experiment. A bewildering array of equipment spread over several tables, connected by a rat’s nest of cables.

He glanced over at Matt and noticed a hangdog expression. “Erin?”

“Left for Yellowstone,” Matt shrugged. “She’ll be back in a few days.”

Richard walked over and passed out tinted goggles. “Any time lasers are involved, it’s safety first.” Donning his own goggles, he sat at what looked to Bill like the control station.

Kevin hovered over Richard, spouting advice. After a few moments of this, Richard turned to him. “Kevin, why don’t you set up the interference experiment?”

“Right.” Kevin bustled off.

Bill, meanwhile, unwrapped the item that he’d been carrying. He placed it where Richard indicated, took the cables that were lying in readiness, and plugged them into the proper connectors.

The item consisted of a wire-frame cage, about twelve inches on each dimension, with an opening at one end. A metal hoop about eight inches in diameter encircled the opening, with nine odd-looking symbols spaced equidistantly around the rim.

Richard glanced at the hoop, did a double take, and gave Bill an accusing glare.

“Yeah,” Matt said, rolling his eyes. “Stargate. You didn’t see that coming?”

Bill grinned.

Kevin came back with a small assembly and placed it into Bill’s device through the metal hoop.

“This gadget will shine a laser through a circular aperture,” Kevin said. “This produces an interference pattern projected onto the screen.” He pointed to a small white screen at the front of the device. “We’re hoping to modulate the pattern using our experimental setup.”

Richard seemed to have decided there was no point in making a big deal out of the extra decorations, although he still looked unhappy. “Ready to go. Set up the cameras and turn on the interference device.”

Kevin checked two cameras that had been placed in the corners of the room. He placed a third camera right in front of the aperture. He started all cameras recording, reached into the gate, and flipped a small switch, then gave a thumbs-up.

The large monitor in the back of the lab showed a close-up of the small device as seen by the third camera. It showed an interference pattern projected on the device’s screen, reminiscent of the ripples produced by throwing two stones into a calm pond. Richard made a few adjustments on his tablet and pressed OK.

They crowded around the monitor and watched the image. So far, there was no change. “Okay, now I’m going to vary the phase lock,” Richard announced.

As they watched, the interference pattern started to wobble, then change. Over several seconds, it became much more complex, then simpler, narrowing at one point to a single circle, then back.

“Again, it’s important to understand,” Kevin said, “that we are not doing anything directly to the device that I placed in the cage. It’s just a laser going through a diffraction grating and producing an interference fringe. It should sit there showing the same thing until the battery dies. The changes you’re seeing are caused by our experiment ‘tuning in’ to different possible outcomes. We are modifying the results of the interference after the fact.” They stared at the pattern for a few more seconds.

“And that’s a wrap,” Richard said and pressed another button on the tablet. The interference pattern settled into a stable pattern.

“Well that’s odd...” Kevin muttered. “I don’t think that’s the same pattern we started with!”

“Is that significant?” Bill asked.

“It’s, uh, unexpected. It would mean we’ve changed the ground state. That’s a little more interactive than my model predicts.”

Bill could see that it bothered Kevin. He was already getting the unfocused expression that Richard had described as going into math mode.

Matt rolled his eyes. “Look guys, this is all very interesting… Okay, I lied, it’s not really. Is there any actual point to this?”

Kevin lost his faraway look and turned to Matt with a surprised expression. “We just modified reality, Matt. We just changed the results of an event after the fact. This is science!”

“Plus,” Richard added, “it worked on our very first try! The people who got quantum entanglement working had a lot of failures before they got their first positive result.”

“So,” Matt said, “we’re not done, right? There will be more experiments? Maybe a little more dramatic?”

“You bet!” Kevin bounced up and down on his toes. He kept motioning to the gate with his hands. “Next step is to attempt to modify a physical chance event, like a coin flip.”

“How?” Bill asked. “What’s really happening here?”

“Inside the cage, we’re tuning in to a different world line. We’re moving the space in there sideways in a way, so that we’re seeing a different result to a random event than what we started with.”

“They’ve been doing similar stuff for years with photons and individual electrons,” Richard added. “We’ve now extended the principle to the macro level. And that’s new.”

Bill frowned. “How big can this get? I mean how much reality could you affect?”

“Don’t know,” Kevin answered. “The models don’t predict anything about mass or dimensions. I think it’s all about how well you can tune into the other world-line.”

Richard looked at Matt. “Which is where we depend on your software.”

Matt’s eyebrows went up. He turned to Bill and grinned.

Richard’s gaze swept the group. “We’ll try this again in a couple of days, with the coin flip. I have a few things I have to get done first.”

***

Richard

Kevin was in math mode. Richard watched him with a sympathetic smile. Poor guy looks like a lobotomy victim when he gets like that. No wonder he got picked on as a kid.

They had gone to the cafeteria to discuss the test they’d done with Matt and Bill. As with most places on campus at this time of year, it was all but deserted. The two men claimed a coveted table along the glass wall that looked out over the courtyard. It was late afternoon, and the sun was creating long shadows that exaggerated any slight movement caused by the occasional breeze.

Richard reached across the table and snapped his fingers in front of Kevin’s face. “Hello. Hello. Earth to math genius. Come in, math genius.”

Kevin looked startled for a second and looked at Richard. “What?”

“I was asking you why the interference fringes bothered you so much. You muttered something about world lines and intersections, then you went bye-bye.”

Kevin grimaced and took off his glasses. “Sorry. It’s just that it shouldn’t happen. Or… Okay, maybe I just didn’t expect it. It’s like if you were watching TV, then the person on the screen turned and started talking to you, addressing you by name.”

“So are your models wrong?”

“No, just incomplete. I’ve been building up this world lines theory for maybe ten years now. It’s not mainstream, so I’m not going to get a lot of outside help. With more people working it from different perspectives, things would go faster. But no one is going to listen to some geek from nowhere.”

Kevin looked angry for a moment, and Richard wondered what particular bit of adolescent torture had caused that reaction.

“Anyway, sorry, getting this working will give me supporting experimental results. Then it won’t be just metaphysics.” Kevin looked a little sad. “I guess I know how the String Theory guys feel.”

“Well, glad to help, Kevin. You do know that I’m planning on riding your coattails, right?” Richard said gently.

Kevin smiled. “Works for me. Nice to have company. Speaking of which, what about Bill and Matt?”

Richard thought for a second. “They’re okay. They have the skills we need. They get to do thesis write-ups on the project. Quid pro quo. If they walk away afterward, no biggie. I’d rather they bought into it, though. Like you say, it would be nice to have company.”

Yellowstone Field Trip

Volcanism almost certainly will recur in the Yellowstone National Park region.

— Robert Christiansen, USGS

June 16              Erin

Erin, Lise, and Donna stood waiting with the rest of the class, while Professor Collins discussed preparations with the park ranger. Erin did her best to eavesdrop on the conversation, punctuated by Lise’s occasional sarcastic comment.

Once he had finished his discussion, the professor turned to the students. “The ranger here tells me that the water level has risen on the east end of Yellowstone Lake and dropped on the west side. Can anyone tell me what that means?”

Several hands went up. “Brett?”

“It means the land has risen on the west side, which is part of the lava dome. The water has rushed over to the other end.”

“That’s correct. So, Brett, what can we expect next from the lava dome?”

“Hopefully, that it goes down.” That got general laughter, even from the park ranger.

“Okay, I’ll give you that one,” the professor said.

“Now, we’re going to split into groups. We have people from the USGS who will be performing their rounds, checking GPS transceivers and such like. You’ll be tagging along. Some of you will be helping them with logging any maintenance requirements. Others will get to do the more glamorous stuff like slogging through swamps. There are fumaroles to observe, hot springs to measure, rock strata to examine, and conclusions to reach. Tonight we will feast on hot dogs—not the name-brand kind either—and compare notes. Everyone back here at seven p.m.”

The students, everyone in high spirits, organized themselves into their assigned groups.

Erin said goodbye to her friends and went to find her group. She was relieved to find that it didn’t include Jenson Hildebrandt. Erin had labelled him creepy guy the first day she’d met him. It was no surprise to Erin to find that she wasn’t alone in this opinion.

Erin could understand why the professor would keep Jenson as an assistant. His knowledge of geology was encyclopedic, his memory was near perfect, and he seemed to be quite happy to obsess over the smallest detail until he’d wrestled it into submission. Still he gave off a vibe that made Erin want to be as elsewhere as possible when he was around.

When he looks at you, it’s like he’s dissecting you, She’d thought on her first day. She’d found him staring at her every time she looked up. The last time, she had glared back at him until he dropped his eyes. Since then, she’d seen him staring at other girls the same way.

Erin found herself grouped with Ted, Sheila, and Cassandra. She knew all of them by name from various classes but had never hung out with them. Still they all seemed to hit it off right away. Going to be a good time.

The four of them waited until their guide came over and introduced himself.

“I’m Jim Shaw, and we will be doing a tour of some of the geology today. Not the touristy stuff like Old Faithful—we’ll be examining rock strata and looking for the ash and lava layers. Not as dramatic, but far more significant.

“So let’s get this show on the road.”

It's Getting Interesting

June 17              Bill

As Matt reached the cafeteria entrance, he heard Bill’s voice calling him. Turning, he spotted his friend hurrying to catch up. As he came to a stop, Bill paused to catch his breath.

Matt smiled to himself. Exercise really is your friend.

Several students pushed past them while delivering dirty looks. Taking the hint, Matt grabbed the door and headed into the cafeteria with Bill following.

“Done for the day?” Matt asked.

“Yeah, homework time. Plus I downloaded something on probability theory. Like it or not, this experiment of Richard and Kevin’s has got me interested. I want to do a little reading.”

Matt nodded. “I got specs from Richard for some software changes. I’ll make sure he’s finished thinking up mods, then I’ll burn the new EPROMs.”

They walked into the cafeteria and looked around for a good table. Matt sniffed the cafeteria air. Unidentified Frying Objects. Pass.

Once they were seated, Bill pulled his tablet out of his backpack. “Heard from Erin?”

“She’s having a blast. Uh, metaphorically, I mean.” Matt smiled. “She does love her geology.”

Bill worked his tablet. “You get Richard’s email about the next test run?”

“Yup. Another exciting evening watching paint dry.”

Bill sat back and turned to face Matt. “Dude, I’m not sure you’re grokking the situation here. We looked at the video, remember? The patterns changed. And then stayed changed!”

“Yeah, okay, I understand in principle why that’s a big deal. I guess I’m just wishing for something more dramatic.”

“Be careful what you wish for.” Bill grinned. “That’s usually the point where an alien spawn bursts out of someone’s chest.”

Matt laughed. “Okay, Captain Reference. I’ll be there for the hatching.”

Second Test Run

June 18              Bill

Bill glanced around the lab as he and Matt walked in. He noticed that the equipment now looked a lot more organized. Cable runs were shorter and had been wrapped into neat bundles. Components had been stacked. There even seemed to be fewer separate pieces of equipment.

“Looks a lot less like a yard sale,” Bill commented.

Richard was setting up the experiment, but this time he seemed to be doing most of it through the tablet. “Yeah, well, always looking to improve, right?” He shrugged. “I’ve managed to combine some functions. Matt’s last set of mods have made the control systems a lot more convenient. I’ve got some more ideas for modifications to the software as well. I’ll talk to Matt about that later.”

He turned. “Kevin, have you got the flipper?”

“A… flipper?” Bill said. “Wow, must be technical. Have you got a frammistan as well?”

Richard responded with a sigh and an eye roll. “We don’t know what else to call it. It’s a device that I put together to flip a coin after a few seconds. Kind of like the dice bubble in the old Trouble game.”

Kevin came back with something, which looked like a snow globe with a coin inside, and placed it in the cage. As before, he placed a video camera on a tripod in front of the gate to record the event and checked the other two cameras in the corners of the room.

“Okay,” Richard said. “Ready to go. Turn on the flipper.”

Kevin reached into the cage, flipped a small switch on the snow globe, and gave a thumbs up. “Thirty seconds to event.”

Richard made a few adjustments on his tablet and placed his finger just above an OK button. “Ready here.”

The seconds seemed to stretch forever while everyone watched. “Maybe we’ll go with a shorter interval next time,” Kevin muttered.

The snow globe gave a pop, and Bill jumped. The coin bounced off the plastic dome and landed as heads. Richard leaned forward and pushed the button he’d been hovering over.

Bill said, “Hold on to your butts.”

Everyone crowded around the monitor and looked at the image of the coin, which stubbornly insisted on showing heads. Richard muttered, tweaked a setting, and said, “Okay, how about now?”

“Uuuummmm,” Matt said, pointing. There were now two coins in the globe, one showing heads and one showing tails. “I had my eye on it the whole time,” he said. “It kind of faded in…”

Bill walked over to the device. Looking through the bars of the cage, he saw one coin, but when looking through the aperture, there were two.

Neat stuff! he thought, stepping back to the monitor.

Without warning, there was a loud bang accompanied by something that felt like a bright flash, but without producing any light. Everyone jumped. After a few seconds, when nothing else happened, they moved to the table. The coin showed heads once again, even looking through the gate, and the assembly had jumped across the table a few inches.

There was some nervous laughter, and Bill grabbed his chest and feigned a heart attack. Since there appeared to be no damage, everyone relaxed.

“Wow!” Bill said. “Either you guys are pulling off the practical joke of the century, or you’ve got something amazing here. I wonder how this would work out in Vegas? Can this be adapted to operate on roulette wheels? Maybe something portable and unobtrusive?”

Richard made an impatient gesture toward the monitor. “Let’s look at the video.”

They gathered around the monitor. Kevin pointed the remote at the camera and started the replay. They watched for the same interminable thirty seconds or so, punctuated by Kevin’s recorded background comment. The coin seemed to fade out of focus and then back in, but as two coins.

“Well, I’m feeling pretty smug,” Richard said, smiling.

Then the monitor showed the bang, flash, and movement of the whole assembly.

“So what the heck was that?” Matt asked.

“Don’t know,” Richard answered. “But it almost acted like it got pulled off focus. I’ll have a look at the logs later. I guess we need to tweak our design a bit.”

Richard frowned. “And, let’s keep this quiet okay? I do not want to have to share this, and I don’t want it to get out prematurely.”

He nodded in Matt’s direction. “Meanwhile, Matt and I will refine the control system so we can lock onto something and stay locked. Matt, I’ll send you an email with specs. Bill, I wonder if I could borrow your engineering skills again to build a bigger and more robust gate. Maybe without the decorations?”

“Well, how can I resist a request like that?” Bill said with a smile. “The engineering department isn’t quite as deserted as Physics—it turns out we’re bigger nerds than you guys— but I’m pretty sure I can get away with some more light, off-hours metalwork.”

“Couple of days?” Richard looked at Matt and Bill. Seeing no argument, he continued, “Well, okay then. We’ll plan on another run on Friday.”

Matt and Bill left together, leaving Richard and Kevin to the tedious process of post-experiment analysis.

As they walked down the hall, Bill turned to Matt. “Let’s keep this quiet?”

Matt rolled his eyes. “Rogue physicist. Good grief.”

Yellowstone Activity

June 19              Erin

Erin and the three other students in her group, Ted, Sheila, and Cassandra, were assigned to work with Doug Reed on the third day. Doug was a geologist with Yellowstone, and he discussed his job with Erin and her classmates as they walked.

“You get out of university, and you expect to spend all your time hiking around, looking at the scenery, checking and measuring and digging. Then reality hits. You spend so much of your time on paperwork and meetings. The level of bureaucracy is just staggering.”

Doug shook his head. “Then there are the PR duties. You guys would not believe how much time I spend, in person or on the phone or via email, reassuring people about the probability of eruptions or explaining why we can’t do anything about the volcano. Like I’m supposed to hose it down or something.” He grinned at them.

“And of course, we give tours to the public. Those can be good or bad, depending on the group. Sometimes I find myself wondering why I pushed myself through university just to listen to some kid whining about how his feet hurt from walking around in his flip-flops.” He swiped two fingers across his forehead, right to left. “Tourista!”

Doug put on a sorrowful expression, and the students chuckled. They had learned that people wandering around Yellowstone with wildly inappropriate and inadequate clothing and gear was a standard gag with the park staff.

Doug stopped and turned to the others. “One time, we walked to the top of Mammoth Hot Springs, and there was a lady up there in a dress and five inch stilettos! How…?”

After a pause, he continued in a happier tone. “Anyway, these tours with students like you are the best. I get to do the stuff I came here to do in the first place, and I get to talk about it with people who won’t go catatonic on me.”

They had started at Frog Rock and hiked to Blacktail Ponds Lake, checking setups on the way. At each stop Doug unlocked the boxes, performed some basic diagnostics, and discussed the purpose of the setup and some of the readings. It was routine work, but the whole process fascinated Erin. She promised herself that when she graduated she would be aiming for Yellowstone.

As they walked up a small rise near the lake, the ground shook for several seconds.

“Whoa! Did you feel that?” Erin asked.

“Yeah. About a three, three point five,” Doug replied. “No biggie. We get dozens of quakes per day, although you don’t notice most of them. The trees barely moved on that one.”

Ted did not look reassured. “Er, we’re not in any danger are we?”

Doug stopped and turned to him. “Listen, Ted, you’re walking around in the caldera of a former supervolcano, which is very much not extinct. Of course it’s dangerous. But to put it into perspective, statistically you’re more likely to die walking around downtown Lincoln.”

Ted looked even less reassured. “Okay, but what are the chances—”

He was cut off by a loud grinding sound and another quake, this one strong enough to make several people lose their balance. The pines swayed back and forth as if gripped in a tornado. In the distance, there was a crack and a crashing sound, just as the shaking stopped. The smell of damp dust hung in the air, and a shower of needles fell from the trees.

“Ow, my butt,” Sheila said, massaging the injured area. “That’s not part of the tour. This is unacceptable. Who do I complain to?” She smiled at Doug, obviously flirting a bit.

Doug grinned back. “That was more like a five.” He lost the smile. “I think it took down a tree.”

Ted tried again. “So the chances—”

Before he could finish the sentence, the ground shook hard enough to toss the students off their feet. This quake was accompanied by a grinding, thudding sound like a fully loaded dump truck making an emergency stop on gravel.

“Holy—” Doug yelled, as trees began to topple. “—Shit—”. Someone screamed, and Erin thought it might have been her. “—That’s—”. Tree after tree lost the battle with gravity. Loose rocks skittered down the slope, and a cloud of dust rose several feet off the ground.

After a few more seconds, this latest earthquake stopped. “—getting upwards to a seven,” Doug finished, his eyes wide and staring.

The group picked themselves up off the ground, hands spread out defensively, ready to abort if another quake hit. They heard a loud sloshing sound, which Erin realized was the lake pouring back into its basin. As she looked around, she could see that a significant number of trees had gone down. In many cases, the shaking had produced a domino effect, with each tree leaning on the next.

Doug finished examining the changed scenery, looked at his charges, and said, “I, uh, think we’d maybe better cut this short.”

No one argued, so they did an about-face and hiked back to where they had parked. On the way, Doug’s phone rang. He flipped it open and put it to his ear. “Hey. Uh huh. You’re kidding. Wow, that bad? Yeah, I understand. No, no, we’re on our way. Kay bye.”

He turned to the group. “Bad news, kiddies. Vacation has been canceled. This quake was a seven plus. It’s opened some fissures, and we’re getting honest to God lava flows. Not big, but still… Anyway, several of your classmates were injured, and your prof is pulling the plug.”

“Aw crap!” Erin exclaimed. “Just when it was getting interesting!”

Ted looked at her as if she’d just grown an extra head.

***

It took a few hours for everyone to get back to the field office.

Professor Collins finished his third head-count and said, “Okay, everyone’s here that isn’t in the infirmary. I’ll fill them in later. Folks, I’m not a lawyer, thank God, but even I know that a release form isn’t worth diddley if I knowingly take you all out into a more dangerous situation than you signed up for. I’ve been discussing things with the USGS folks here—“ He indicated one of the onlookers with a tilt of his head, “And this is not business as usual. Uplift in the caldera just increased by thirty centimeters. For those who have forgotten, it’s risen by less than two centimeters in the previous six months. In fact, Dr. Lowenstern has informed me that, based on today, he’s going to ratchet up the Current Volcano Alert Level from Normal straight up to Warning. And I remind you that the next level up from Warning is Oh Shit!”

That got laughs, even from the USGS rep, who had been looking very solemn through most of the professor’s speech.

“Anyway, I’ve checked with the charter company, and they can take us home early. You’ll get full credit regardless, but I’m going to change the thesis requirements a little to allow you to put in some personal observations of your experiences today.”

Erin found Sheila and Cassandra in the crowd of students. “Hey, Sheila. Did you get your butt-cast?” Erin teased.

“Hah hah. You are too funny,” Sheila replied with an answering smile. She continued in a more serious tone, “I feel a little sorry for the people who got injured. Hell of a way to start the summer.”

“No kidding,” Cassandra chimed in. “Two broken wrists, a broken arm, and two sprained ankles. Not a good day.”

They paused for a few seconds of sympathetic silence. Then Erin said, “Did you hear what the ranger said, though? Actual lava flows. Someone said there might have been a hydrothermal explosion!” Erin couldn’t hide her enthusiasm.

“Okay, Geology Girl. Time to change back into mild-mannered Erin Savard. Sadly, we are out of here.”

Erin sighed. Sadly, Sheila was right.

Erin waved to Professor Collins as he walked by. “Professor, any chance we can see the lava flows?”

Professor Collins looked at her with a surprised expression. “Not on foot, no. Sorry, Erin, but this is where the university starts to get cranky about liability issues. I doubt the park rangers would be any more understanding, either. I’ll tell you what though. I’ll talk to the pilot before we take off and see if he can come anywhere near the area. An aerial view might even be more interesting. Certainly safer.” The professor raised his eyebrows, inviting a response.

Erin clapped her hands with enthusiasm. “That’d be great!”

Sheila shook her head. “Brain damage.”

Unexpected Results

June 19              Bill

Bill looked around the lab. “You know, it was a better secret lair when it was a rat’s nest of equipment and cables.”

Richard glared at Bill but otherwise didn’t react.

Crap, Bill thought. Losing my touch.

Richard looked directly at Matt and waved a hand at the equipment. “We’ve made some more improvements. We’ve also improved the tuning stabilization, thanks to your software mods. Once we get a strong match, the device should home in on it and lock on. I won’t have to feel like I’m wrestling a greased snake.”

Bill smiled. Matt just looked impatient.

The day was hot, even for summer in Nebraska, and all the windows were open as far as they would go. It helped a little that this side of the building had been in shade for a while, but everyone was still wilting. Kevin fanned himself with a Sky and Telescope magazine.

Richard looked at the group. “Right. Okay. Let’s do this then.”

They went through the same sequence as last time. Kevin placed the coin-flipping device inside the cage. He placed the video cameras in the usual spots. This time they moved the monitor farther from the portal assembly. No one wanted to be too close to the device in case the ‘bang’ happened again.

“My heart won’t take another one,” Bill commented, trying for his best B-movie overacting.

Preparations completed, Kevin activated the flipper, called out, “Ten seconds,” and walked back to join the others at the monitor.

Richard worked the tablet, tuning the portal. “Here we go,” he said and hit OK.

There was a loud roar and a jet of yellowish gas spewed out of the gate, blistering a spot in the far wall. The room heated up to an intolerable level, as if someone had opened a door to a blast furnace. The table with the control hardware spun 180 degrees, while the table with the test apparatus rocked back on two legs and almost went over. A bright spark shot from an electrical short. The equipment shut down, and the gate closed, cutting off the stream.

As the gas spread through the room, everyone stampeded out the door, coughing and gagging. Once out in the hallway and breathing clear air, they turned and looked at each other, shock written clearly on their faces.

For perhaps half a minute, no one spoke. As one, they stared at the lab door, each waiting for someone else to make the first move.

Finally regaining his composure, Bill cautiously opened the door to the lab. The odor and the heat were dissipating out the windows, and the room was becoming tolerable. After a brief hesitation, he walked in.

Matt followed him in and went over to examine the blistered spot on the wall. It was still warm. The paint was discolored and bubbled, and the drywall had crumbled up in patches.

“Well, that was fun. We must do that again sometime.” Bill smirked, but his wide-eyed stare belied his attempt at flippancy. He glared at Matt. “What was it exactly you were wishing for? Happy now?”

Matt shrugged and managed to look both smug and embarrassed at the same time.

Bill spent a few minutes examining the equipment, and soon found the smoldering cables that had ended the fireworks.

“That was… what?” Richard asked, playing with the tablet menus. “Did anyone get a good look?”

“No, but that’s why we have cameras,” Kevin said, returning with the three cameras in hand. One of them looked much worse for wear.

Kevin connected the dented and abused camera to the monitor and pressed PLAY. The video showed the snow-globe losing focus for a moment, then a chaotic series of frames, ending with a blurry image of the floor and some table legs.

“I think we’ll have to retire that particular camera,” Richard observed. “The optics look pretty much done for.”

Kevin connected one of the other cameras. This time, the image showed a faint plume of yellowish gas fountaining from the gate. The effect lasted less than two seconds before it was cut off. They restarted the video and played it one frame at a time.

When they had the plume in full view, Bill commented, “Damned if it doesn’t actually look like the jet that comes out when a stargate starts up. I almost regret decorating the gate now. Almost.” He grinned at Matt, who rolled his eyes in reply.

They looked at the video from the third camera, but other than being from a different angle, it didn’t provide any additional information. The only difference worth noting was six frames of Richard in mid-jump, looking very alarmed. Bill took the remote from Kevin and played the frames through several times, grinning.

“Okay, funny boy, enough,” Richard said, after the third replay.

Richard stared into space for a few seconds. “Well, we’re going to have to try that again, but maybe with a little more preparation. Bill, can you come up with anything that could maintain a sealed atmosphere around the gate?”

Bill thought for a few seconds. “There are a couple of things in the engineering department that could be adapted, I think. Depends on how much pressure we need to hold.”

“Probably not a huge amount. The jet didn’t come out like a pressure washer spray.”

“Hmm, OK, let me think about it for a few minutes.” Bill sat down and stared into space.

Matt examined the equipment and the room, looking for any other damage. Kevin sat down and went into math mode. After about ten minutes, they all came together in the lab to compare notes.

“I had a quick look at the logs,” Richard said. “The lock-in worked, it just didn’t lock in to what we were trying for.”

“What I think that means,” Kevin added, “is that there is an alternate reality that is more ‘real’ than our flipped coin. The experiment tuned in on that instead.”

“So what was it? Venus? Did we invent a teleporter to hell?” Bill asked.

“I don’t think Venus fits the bill,” Kevin replied. “First, the atmospheric pressure at the surface of Venus is like 90 atmospheres, and second, it’s hot enough to melt lead. Pretty sure we’d be dead, and the building would be demolished.”

“But,” he continued, “I went back and looked at the first camera in single-frame, right when the event started. Have a look.” He motioned back to the monitor. They all moved to get a close view. Frozen on the monitor, distorted by the beginnings of the gas plume, they could see a small number of dark distorted objects.

“That’s not the flipper,” Matt said. “Any idea what those are?”

“No,” Bill answered. “But they’re not from around here.”

Richard cleared his throat to get attention. “Yeah. Okay, look, we’re going to revamp this setup inside a pressure vessel of some kind. Bill thinks he has something that might work—” He glanced at Bill. “—if we can borrow it and get it back with nobody noticing. Couple more days, and we’re trying again. You might want to bring some body armor next time. And spare underwear.”

Eaux de Volcano

June 20              Matt

Erin threw her hoodie to the floor and flopped down on Matt’s couch. “That was… interesting,” she exclaimed. “I suppose I should be more upset that the trip was cut short, but to be honest, I’m happy to get out of there with all my body parts!”

“Well, I’m glad you’re back, parts and all.” Matt replied. “We’ll do inventory later,” he added, earning a laugh. Matt privately admitted that he was relieved to have her back. Her email had been very detailed, and Matt couldn’t shake the feeling that Erin had been in more danger than she let on.

He sat and put his arms around her, and Erin snuggled in.

A moment later, she sat up straight, wrinkling her nose. “Y’know, I guess the stuff got into my skin or something. It’s like I can still smell the sulfur dioxide.”

Erin smelled her arm, frowned, and looked around. “No, that’s not me. And it’s not my imagination either.” She got up, wandered around for a few seconds, then picked up one of Matt’s tee-shirts that had been draped over a chair. “Matt, why does your shirt smell like a fumarole?”

“Who’s got the what now?”

“Your tee-shirt smells of sulfur dioxide. Have you been seeing another volcanologist behind my back?” She poked him playfully with her index finger.

“Oh, uh, that’s from an experiment that we did last night.”

“You mean your bro-ject? A physics experiment about randomness is making you smell like a volcano?”

“Uh…” Matt realized with a start that he had just stepped into dangerous territory. Richard had been pretty clear about confidentiality, and Richard didn’t seem to have a sense of humor where that was concerned. Or anywhere else, come to think of it.

Matt made a valiant attempt to derail the inquiry, but all he did was to make Erin more suspicious. In the end, she extracted the truth by the simple— and effective— expedient of threatening to walk out and leave him to entertain himself.

“So your project ejected a plume of gas? And that’s what I smell?”

Matt shrugged an acknowledgment, looking down at his feet. “This is all supposed to be confidential. Spilling the beans to my girlfriend is going to get my bro license revoked.” He gave her a weak smile. “Not to mention that Bill will point out some movie where this happens and someone ends up getting killed.”

“Well, I’m coming to your next meeting. I need to talk to them about this,” Erin stated with finality. “I’m not sure you guys have thought this through.”

Matt sighed. Not good.

Enter Erin

June 21              Erin

Erin entered Dempsey’s Pub as Matt held the door for her. She waited while he did a quick once-over to find his group. The pub was less than half full, and the buzz of background conversation was muted. It was around dinnertime, so the aroma of caramelized onions, cooked beef, and vinegar dominated the room. Matt’s stomach rumbled, and Erin smiled. Wouldn’t mind a burger myself.

He touched her elbow lightly, and she followed him in the indicated direction. Three men were sitting at the table. She recognized Bill, and had little problem guessing which of the other two was Richard and which was Kevin.

As they approached the table, they were met with glares ranging from surprised to murderous. Matt said, “I suppose you’re all wondering why I’ve gathered you here.”

That got a chuckle from Bill, but Richard looked even angrier. He transferred his glare to Erin.

She glared back at him, daring him to give her any lip.

After several seconds of standoff, Richard looked at Matt and said between clenched teeth, “There’d better be a damned good explanation for this. I thought I was pretty clear before.”

“Look Richard, Erin smelled the fumes from the event the other day on my clothing, and I think she may have a better viewpoint on this than we do.” He spread his hands. “She’s a geology major, for crying out loud. She identified the chemical in the gas plume just from the odor, and it scares me a little bit that she thought I’d been hanging around a volcano.”

Matt held a chair for Erin as she sat down, and did quick introductions. He took a seat beside Erin, then continued. “I know you wanted this project kept quiet, but I’m pretty sure we’re out of our depth at the moment. What if the next time we open the gate, the results are even worse?”

All eyes were on Richard as he stared at Matt. After a few seconds, he sighed and nodded. “Okay, point taken.”

Richard took out his phone, poked at it, then handed it to Erin. “Here’s the video record from the event.”

She pressed PLAY and watched the scene unfold. Richard, Bill, and Kevin provided running commentary.

“Holy crap!” she exclaimed, when it got to the exciting part.

When the video had finished, she sat in thought for a few seconds, then handed the phone back to Richard. “I’m guessing that wasn’t what you expected. Matt told me that on the previous try, you were working with coin flips.”

Richard looked down at his hands, and Erin could see that he was trying not to break into a grin. So he has a sense of humor. Why does he act like he’s determined to be a jerk?

Richard looked up, deadpan. “Yeah, we figure it was your boyfriend’s software mods that did it. He added a feedback process with learning capability. Apparently it found something more interesting than our flipper to zero in on.”

Erin looked at Matt, who smiled and gave her a ‘Who, me?’ shrug.

She swept her gaze around the group. “Look, the heat and that particular gas point to a small number of possibilities. Either you’ve connected with a volcano or something like it, or you’ve connected with Venus or something like it.”

Erin gestured at Kevin in momentary confusion. “Um, Kevin right? Kevin was correct that it probably isn’t Venus—at least not at ground level—or you’d all be a whole lot of dead. Thousand-degree temps would have done more than just blister the wall. But you’ve connected to something that isn’t from around here, and once you accept that, the sky is the limit. Almost literally!”

Richard leaned forward on his elbows. “So what would you suggest?”

“Matt told me that you’re going to try again soon, this time with the gate enclosed in something airtight. That seems like a good plan. Will you have some kind of dead-man switch rigged to the container in case it doesn’t hold?”

“Uh, I will now,” Richard replied, looking surprised.

Erin saw Bill grin for a moment, just outside Richard’s field of view, and had to struggle to avoid doing the same. She made a pretense of rubbing her lips to hide it while nodding slowly. “Okay. I’d like to be there for it. You’ll have all kinds of cameras going, right?”

“Yes,” Richard gave a dismissive snort. “None of us wants to be too close after last time.”

“Seems reasonable.” Erin smiled. “Can you fill me in on what this is about? I know that it has something to do with Schroeder’s cat and random events, but that’s about it.”

Kevin jumped in. “First, it’s Schrödinger’s cat, not Schroeder. Schrödinger was a scientist; Schroeder plays piano.” Kevin smiled at his own witticism.

Erin raised one eyebrow and waited for him to continue.

“Er, right. Anyway,” Kevin continued. “According to my models, the old idea that you get a new universe for each chance event is incorrect. When you flip a coin or something, the models say that only those things affected by the coin flip get duplicated, and the duplicate realities share the single universe at large.”

“I asked once before if this was like the TV show Sliders,” Bill said. “Kevin’s head almost exploded.”

“Yeah, first, that’s where we get our science these days—from TV. Second, that show assumed you get a new world for every little decision. In reality, it takes a significant event to create a different world-line that will persist.”

Erin shrugged, willing to take his word for it. She looked around the table, a little amused at this group of men who had possibly just made history and were treating it like a technical problem.

Under Glass

June 23              Omni

Bill, Matt, and Erin arrived well before Richard’s announced starting time. In the center of the lab, the gate sat inside something that looked like an extra-large diving helmet, the kind with an air hose running up to the surface. It had a larger window on the front, and one of the cameras pointed through the window at the gate. The whole assembly including the camera sat on a large turntable.

Matt pointed at the setup. “Now, that is some mighty fine Rube Goldberg.”

Richard waved a hand at the equipment. “That’s the pressure vessel that Bill supplied. No idea what it was supposed to be for originally. We’ll rotate the whole assembly on the turntable and try to get a 360-degree view of things.”

“You think that’ll work?” Matt asked.

“It should. This isn’t like a TV; it’s like a periscope. Stuff came through last time. I think we can rotate our viewpoint. We’re going to try anyway.”

This time the control station and monitor were set up in the observation room behind the safety glass. The group settled down, and Richard went through his startup sequence.

“I got the parameters from the logs the other day, so I know where we need to go to lock in. I won’t even bother with anything local,” he explained.

“Shouldn’t someone make a speech or something?” Bill asked. “Boldly go, yadda yadda.”

“Chrissake,” Richard muttered. Without ceremony, he activated the connection. In the monitor, the area within the gate blurred, then settled into a murky view of what appeared to be a landscape with tall objects in the distance. The vessel made a slight groaning sound as the pressure equalized. A glance over at the setup made it clear that air in the vessel was mixing with atmospheric gasses from the other side. Readouts on the container indicated a little over two atmospheres and 90 degrees Celsius.

Once the mixture stabilized, the view through the gate cleared up a bit. Kevin pointed the remote at the video camera and operated the zoom. The view on the monitor expanded, and they found themselves looking at… the campus. Or a very ruined version of it. In the stagnant mist, they could see corroded and partly collapsed buildings.

“That’s the Engineering Center,” Kevin said in a soft voice.

“And Othmer Hall, or what’s left of it.” Erin added.

They were silent for several seconds before Kevin said, “They’d be in that direction from this angle too.”

They stared at the scene of devastation. There was no movement other than an occasional slight shift in the mist.

“Okay, I’m going to rotate,” Richard said. He operated a control, and the turntable started to turn. As it did so, the view on the monitor slid sideways. When the assembly had rotated just about ninety degrees, they got an out-of-focus image of something too close to the camera. Kevin backed off the zoom, and they realized they were looking at part of a wall.  Another ninety degrees and they found themselves looking at the room they were all standing in, or a heavily damaged version of it.

“Well, not Venus,” Bill said in a small voice.

“Nope,” Erin replied. “Earth. Runaway greenhouse effect. Not as bad as Venus, but bad enough. This is an alternate Earth, and they lost the coin toss.”

***

The group walked to Dempsey’s after shutting down the experiment. By tacit agreement they didn’t talk about it until they had sat down, looked at menus, and ordered food and drinks. Once the waitress had left, Erin turned to Kevin and asked, “So is there one alternate Earth or an infinite number?”

“It’s, uh, probably more than one and might be infinite. See the way it works—at least according to my math—is that time is two-dimensional. There’s the normal forward and back, and that’s what we experience as past and future. Then there’s, uh, left and right, I guess. That’s where the various world-lines run in parallel for a while, then merge when the differences average out. Except if something happens that’s big enough so they can never merge, where there’s no sequence of events where they can ever become similar enough. This all sounds stupid in English, because it’s all bad analogies. The math makes a lot more sense.”

“I guess having the Earth go into a meltdown and kill everyone and everything qualifies as big enough,” Matt mused. “So is there another Earth beyond that? Maybe it’ll be better. Or does it just get worse?”

“Yes, maybe, no,” Kevin replied. “If there are more beyond Greenhouse Earth, they could be better or worse. It’s a random walk, not a trend. Although I think there might be a general tendency for each Earth to be a little stranger compared to us—not counting things like being a burnt cinder, I mean.”

“Not following,” Erin said.

Kevin opened his mouth to reply, but at that moment the waitress came back with the drinks.

Bill raised his and said, “To whatever the hell we’ve got.”

The others raised their glasses and said, “Whatever the hell we’ve got.”

Kevin picked up where he’d left off. “So, a world-line splits off from us at some point in the past. Let’s call it Earth Two. Then later, Earth Two splits again, and one of the new lines becomes Greenhouse Earth. Is Greenhouse Earth the one closer to us, or the one farther from us? The answer is, it can be either one. The world-lines don’t sort themselves. There could be an Earth five world-lines over that’s almost identical to us.”

“Can we connect to those world-lines?” Bill asked.

“We can only get to the one beyond Greenhouse Earth from Greenhouse Earth. We can’t go around it. Time is two-dimensional, not three.” Kevin explained.

“Okay, how about the other direction? Left instead of right, or whatever.”

“Possible in principle, but I don’t think it occurred to anyone to build a direction setting into the equipment.” Kevin looked at Richard.

“Um, crap, give me a second.” Richard stared into space.

“What about reversing the polarity of the bogotronic particle stream?” Bill interjected. “Always works on TNG!”

Richard frowned at Bill but otherwise didn’t respond to the gibe. “Yeah, if we shift the matching phase by 180 degrees, it might have the effect we want. Yes, Bill,” he added as Bill opened his mouth to speak. “It sounds a lot like reversing the bogotrons. Get off it.”

Bill sat back, smiling.

“And the Earth in that direction could be anything at all?” Matt asked.

“Or nothing at all…” Erin added.

“So, I’ll get going on modifying the control system to allow reversing the bogotronic particle polarity, shall I?” Matt said with a grin in Bill’s direction. “Trial run day after tomorrow?”

Relaxing

June 24              Matt

Erin picked up her glass of wine and snuggled in against Matt’s side. Matt was holding an open but untouched beer. The TV was on, and in theory they were watching it, but at least as far as Matt was concerned, it might as well have been a test pattern.

Be careful what you wish for… Holy crap. What am I into here?

“Um, Erin?”

“Hmmm?” Erin looked up at him.

“I’m not crazy, right? This is bizarre, right?”

Erin smiled. “Yes, it is. I’m pretty sure there aren’t more than three or four other parallel-universe-generating projects in the whole state.”

He laughed and attempted to tickle her ribs, which almost resulted in a wine-related accident.

“What do you think we should do about it? Or with it?” he asked.

“Not our decision, to be honest. And when it comes down to it, you don’t even know what you have yet. Let’s see what happens with the next experiment. Then you can start to answer that question.”

“Yeah. I just have a funny feeling that this is going to get complicated.”

“Oh, depend on it.” She put her wine glass down on the coffee table, turned, and began to nuzzle Matt’s neck. Thoughts of multiverses faded…

What's Happening?

June 23              Suzie

“Hey, Ted,” Suzie called out.

Ted turned at the hail and stopped to wait for her to catch up.

“I hear you had an interesting time at Yellowstone,” she said.

“Yeah,” Ted replied. “I think we had five people injured in the quake. The girls in my group got pretty panicked. I had to keep reassuring them that we were safe.”

“So, were you? Safe, I mean.”

Ted shrugged. He grabbed the door and held it open for her. “As safe as anyone who goes to Yellowstone. I mean, if the thing erupted, there’s no guarantee there’d be any warning anyway.”

“There have been a lot of news stories about it lately,” Suzie said.

“I know, but this isn’t the first time or the last time that’s going to happen. Some people got killed in the late fifties when a big earthquake took down the side of a mountain. Stuff happens, you know? It’s an active volcano. It’s going to act up a couple of times a century.”

Suzie said, “Mm hmm,” then changed the subject. “So your course is done now, right?”

Ted gave her a large smile and a thumbs-up. “Yep. Field trip, thesis, and conclusions, all done, for full course credit. Can’t beat that! I’m taking off tomorrow, going home for a couple of weeks of actual home cooking before I have to start getting ready for the next round of hell.”

Suzie laughed and waved goodbye as she headed off for her class.

Let's Try the Other Way

June 26              Bill

“I wrote a speech…” Bill said, deadpan.

Kevin snickered. Richard closed his eyes for a moment but otherwise ignored Bill.

“Seriously, we’re making history here. Maybe. Or maybe we’re about to create a big hole in the campus. Either, or. Don’t you think a speech is in order?”

Matt shook his head. “I bet it starts out: Space, the final frontier…”

Bill laughed and dropped the subject. Richard looked just about ready to start, anyway.

Richard had set up the equipment in the same manner as the previous occasion, sealed in a pressure vessel and sitting on a turntable. The camera was poised at the viewport on the vessel, and Richard had stopped poking at the tablet.

He turned and looked at the group for a moment. “Okay. I’ve got it set up in what I hope will send us leftwards.” He hit OK.

Bill noticed a certain amount of cringing in the audience. Pressure vessel or no, they had no actual idea what they might get.

The reality was anticlimactic. The gate opened with none of the drama of previous attempts. The monitor showed a scene straight out of Wild Kingdom, a large meadow with sparse forest to one side, blue sky, and the occasional fluffy cloud. A herd of what appeared to be deer grazed in the meadow.

“Now that’s more like it!” Matt said. “This is like the exact opposite of worst-case.”

“Let’s rotate it and see what we get,” Richard activated the turntable.

As the scene shifted, Erin commented, “Looks almost like the Lincoln area, doesn’t it? Maybe a little hillier. Why would it be hillier?“

The turntable finished a 360 ° sweep without revealing anything suspicious.

Richard muttered, “Well I’ll be damned.”

“What now?” Erin asked.

Bill shrugged, palms up. “We don’t have a lot of options, actually. We can dial in Greenhouse Earth or Mutual of Omaha Earth. According to Kevin, that’s it from here. Right or left. And we can only move our viewpoint on that side by moving the gate on this side. But, hey, I’m open to suggestions.”

Richard shut off the gate. “Good points, Bill. People, this calls for some thought. And beers. Many beers. Followed by food and more beers. Then maybe some discussion, but definitely beers. Dempsey’s, anyone?”

He looked at each person in turn. There was no argument, so he powered down the rest of the equipment, and everyone headed for the door.

“Uh, hold on,” Kevin said. Pulling out a set of keys, he locked the lab door and made a point of testing it to make sure it wouldn’t open.

“Yeah, I hear ya,” Bill said, giving a thumbs-up.

***

“Wow. Like, just… wow,” Bill muttered. The events of the day were so far beyond anything he had expected or imagined that he was having trouble processing it. He suspected he wasn’t alone. The faces around the table looked as shell-shocked as he felt.

The waitress came by, but the drinks had hardly been touched. She walked away, looking perplexed.

After several minutes of silence, Bill said, “So let me see if I understand this. There are alternate Earths on either side of us. One is like Wild Kingdom. The other is some kind of post-apocalyptic horror with a Venus-like atmosphere, where everything is probably dead. Does that about sum it up?”

He looked around the table. Kevin nodded, Matt looked thoughtful, Richard sat back and put his hands behind his head, and Erin returned his look with a faint smile.

Matt took a sip of his beer, then said in a distracted tone, “Maybe we can sell acreages…?”

Bill stared in disbelief for a few seconds. “What are you, slow?”

Matt raised his eyebrows and looked amused. “You have a better idea?”

Bill grinned back at him. “Look, if these are duplicate Earths, then chances are things like mineral deposits will be in the same place. Including gold. Ever hear of the California Gold Rush? Panning for gold? Or closer to home, Deadwood Creek or Pikes Peak?”

“Sure, okay,” Matt answered. “So how do we get there? Doesn’t look like there are highways on that side.”

“There are highways on this side. And the portal hardware is portable, if you have a van.”

People around the table exchanged looks.

“How much gold do you think there was at the Deadwood gold strike?” Matt asked.

Erin replied, “About two hundred and fifty million, in today’s money. Of course, most of that was mined, and I have no desire to swing a pick axe. But there would be at minimum several tens of millions worth of placer gold before you’d have to switch to more intensive extraction processes.”

“Are we sure we want to go down this road?” Kevin asked.

Erin replied, “Ever hear of a half-million-dollar wedding dress?”

Kevin looked offended, and Erin laughed. “Sorry, Kevin, of course you haven’t. Yes, I want to go down this road. Or at least play with the idea. I’d like to not have to worry about how I’m going to pay for next year. Or even this year.”

Bill couldn’t help smiling at Erin’s comment. The life of a poor university student tended to make the advantages of financial security very clear.

“Is this legal?” Kevin persisted.

“Unless we’ve come under Napoleonic law when I wasn’t looking,” Richard replied, “anything not specifically declared illegal is legal. And that isn’t Nebraska we’re talking about, just a place that looks a lot like Nebraska used to.”

“That sounds a lot like lawyering,” Matt commented.

“And who do you think will be fighting both sides of this if it ever goes to court?” Richard asked. “If and when this tech becomes available to the public, do you think various people, groups, and governments will be waiting around to ask permission of the current owners on this side? Not a chance. I think we have a limited amount of time to get in and get ours before it becomes a total war-zone.”

Bill leaned forward and put his elbows on the table. This was getting interesting.

“Can we hope to keep control if it gets out?” Erin asked.

Richard shook his head. “Kevin is smart, but if he can figure out the theory, someone else will too, sooner or later. No offense, Kevin. And the hardware isn’t that complicated once you know what you’re trying to do. It’s all off-the-shelf components and some light metalwork.” This last comment with a tip of his head to Bill, who acknowledged with an ironic wave. “Patents don’t help either. They just prevent people from selling it, not from making it in their basements. No, we are golden as long as no one realizes what we’re doing. Once that breaks, it’s just a matter of time.”

“What about burying it and walking away?” Erin suggested.

Kevin looked chagrined. “You’re asking me to throw away everything I’ve been working on for the last ten years without explanation. And as Richard said, someone else will figure it out. We’re there, Erin. These breakthroughs don’t come in a vacuum. Even Einstein started with other people’s work to get to his theory. Shoulders of Giants and all that.”

“All right, I accept that,” Erin replied. She thought for a few seconds. “Of course, patents will make you a lot of money, and there’s the Nobel prize…”

Richard waggled his hand so-so. “The Nobel isn’t guaranteed, although I think we’d have a pretty good shot. But that’d be mostly Kevin, and might be as much as a decade away”.

“And it’s not really that much money in the end,” Matt added.

“Patents,” Erin said.

“Granted,” Richard answered, “but I don’t think this would be a mass-market product along the lines of the PC. And anyway, if someone figures out a slightly different way to do it, a patent could be worthless.”

There were a few moments of silence as everyone pondered the alternatives. Richard took the opportunity to signal the waitress for refills.

Bill broke the silence. “Here’s another question, Kevin. If Yellowstone erupted here, would it erupt there at the same time?”

“Where the hell is that coming from?” Richard asked, surprise plain on his face.

Bill tipped his head towards Erin and Matt. “You should get Erin to tell you about her fun times at Yellowstone last week.” He turned to Kevin. “So?”

Kevin huffed a bit, thinking. “I doubt it. They are separate worlds, and have been so for some amount of time, depending on where they split. They’re not going to proceed in lockstep. Small differences add up.”

All eyes turned to Erin. Matt said, “Jeez, Erin, you think that’s going to happen?”

Erin hesitated before shaking her head. “Yellowstone has been acting up on and off as long as America has been here. And people have been predicting an eruption for just as long. The west coast is overdue for a mega quake too, and that hasn’t happened. So no, not particularly.”

Bill inclined his head. “Still, if it did blow, it’d be nice to have a bolt-hole. This is kind of my thing, right?”

Matt laughed. “I hadn’t noticed!” He pointed at Bill. “You’ve been waiting your whole life for this moment, haven’t you?”

Bill spread his hands in an expansive gesture and smiled an acknowledgment.

“Another thing.” Richard said after a moment. “I’d like to move it out of the lab. Lousy security and too many curious people.”

“And I,” Bill interjected, “would like to see a second portal built if we’re going to be going through that thing.”

“What? Why?” Richard exclaimed.

“Are you kidding me? Now you’re slow! What, you think nothing will go wrong? You're like the guy who shrugs off concerns then gets eaten or blown up in the next scene. You're the guy who goes into the attic alone because that's the smart thing to do.”

Bill shook his head and held out his hands, palms out. “Dude, I've seen every sci-fi and horror movie known to man. I've seen people locked in, locked out, locked up, abandoned, lost, crushed, eaten, beaten, shot, disintegrated, or just stuck out on the street in their underwear, because they didn't bother to take precautions. God exists, and he's not only a nasty SOB, he's also a B-movie director with a warped sense of humor. And I don't want to be his next sight gag.”

Bill leaned back and crossed his arms. “So I am not going anywhere near that thing unless you have spare parts, a spare unit, spare batteries, and a spare generator. You want to skip all that? Fine! I'll wait on this side.”

Richard made a wry face and shrugged. “Well, you ain’t wrong.”

At that point, the waitress arrived with another round of the same for everyone. All conversation ceased until she was several tables away.

The group spent several more hours discussing options. It was one thing to talk in general and theoretical terms about crossing the dimensions and panning for gold, another to resolve to do it. But in the end, the potential for adventure—combined with the possibility of massive amounts of money—was too much to resist.

Richard summed up what they’d worked out. “So the plan is we move the portal generator out of the lab, location to be determined. We build a second portal, and several gates, including one we can drive a truck through. We pick a good location for gold panning, put together supplies for an expedition, and then we’re going looking for gold, which is hopefully in the same place on that side. All good?”

Everyone signaled agreement by various nods, thumbs-up, and grunts. And that called for beer.

Just Another Day

June 26              Suzie

Suzie looked up as she heard her friends approach. They’d agreed to meet in the Union Cafeteria for breakfast—or brunch as Stephanie nose-in-the-air insisted on calling it—and a cram session for the upcoming exam. Suzie noted that Stephanie, as usual, had a latte and croissant. No coffee and muffin for her, oh never! Suzie smiled to herself. But I’m not being catty.

She could see Frank—Frankie, she corrected herself—going on about something. Wow, he’s a diva.

The friends exchanged greetings, and they all settled in for the duration.

“Welcome to summer session. Ugh!” Joy said, making a face.

Suzie nodded. “Poor Professor Tilston. I’m glad he’s better now, but yeah, it’s this or end up a year behind.”

“I don’t see why I should have to pay the price for his injuries though,” Stephanie said.

“It’s called real life, bi-atch. Get used to it!” Frankie replied. Frankie’s delivery, as always, was perfect.

“All right, boys and girls,” Suzie moved to derail the incipient argument. Stephanie did not like being talked to that way, especially by Frankie, which, of course, just motivated Frankie to do it more often. “Medieval History, what fun. Joy, did you bring the sample questions?”

Joy waved some sheets of paper.

“Then let’s get going. First question?”

Suzie sighed and rested her chin on her hand as Joy read the first sample exam question out loud. It was going to be a long day.

Midnight Move

June 28              Bill

Richard, Bill, Matt, and Kevin moved the equipment from the lab into a rented moving van parked in the loading bay. Bill had been concerned about University Security getting suspicious and questioning them, but there were no interruptions. They drove to a warehouse storage unit that Matt had found, unloaded the van, and set everything up. They also brought in some furniture and small appliances and set up a kitchen of sorts.

Bill donated a commercial-grade coffee maker, the kind that a restaurant or cafeteria would use. At the disbelieving looks, he said, “Craigslist. Ten bucks. And for the record, I live not only for coffee, but on coffee.”

Kevin and Richard set up the turntable in the middle of the floor. On top of it, they placed a new and larger gate, about three feet in diameter.

Richard looked at the results with a smile. He turned to the others. “Okay, step one, done. We have a base of operations. Special thanks to Matt for being the moneybags. We’ll reimburse you first, Matt, before we split the profits.” Richard gave a couple of villainous eyebrow wags.

“Bill has a medium-sized gate built,” he motioned to the gate on the turntable. “And a couple of larger, person-size gates almost finished, but I still have to, uh, borrow a spare set of modules sufficient to build a second portal generation system. We also need a generator, and supplies. Bill will be starting to work on a truck-sized gate next.

“Supplies will have to include gold-panning equipment and weapons. I don’t know what kind of animals are on the other side of the gate, but it’s a fair bet some of them are carnivorous.”

Erin, who had been looking thoughtful, waved a hand to get attention. “Guys, I have a friend who I think should be brought into this. Monica is a zoologist, so I think she’d be valuable, especially for the identification of threats. We’ve been friends forever, and I’d trust her with my life. I will be trusting her with my life if I go through that thing, I guess.”

Richard’s face clouded up. He’d been more relaxed as he got to know the other members of the group, but now with Erin’s suggestion to bring someone else in, he was looking like the old Richard.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” He said, glaring at Erin.

She sighed. “Richard, do you know what kind of predators there are on that side? Lions and tigers and bears? Velociraptors? I’d like to know what might be wanting to eat me before we step through that thing.”

Richard glared at her for a few more seconds, then seemed to deflate. He hung his head and shrugged. “Yeah, okay, that sounds reasonable. I’m not keen on becoming lunch either.  Go ahead and talk to her. But make sure she’s sworn to secrecy, all right?”

Bill grinned at Erin. “Tell her we have a sign-off from a geologist, now we just need a biologist to rubber-stamp our little amusement park.”

“Oh for God’s sake,” Matt rolled his eyes. “All in favor of stuffing Bill through first to see what eats him? Opposed? It’s unanimous, Bill. You’re the main course.”

The group exchanged smiles. A whole world to themselves, the possibility of large amounts of money for not much work, eventual fame. What’s not to like?

In the News

In other news, activity continues to increase in the Yellowstone National Park. USGS representatives stress that this is not unprecedented. Yellowstone gets dozens of small earthquakes every day, and there have been lava excursions in the past. Spokesperson Ted Darnell is quoted as saying, “It’s a long way from a bit of volcanic activity to an impending supervolcano explosion.”

---

In Washington, Republicans are loudly questioning if FEMA would have the resources to handle an eruption. They point to budget cuts that have forced FEMA to cut programs and are demanding that the Democrat administration confirm that they have a plan.

Democrats are quick to point out that the cuts to FEMA funding were all enacted by Republican administrations, and that FEMA would have a much more generous budget if the Republicans would stop blocking all attempts to give them one.

---

Discovery Channel has announced that they will be rerunning their Supervolcano series this week due to viewer demand.

Monica and Erin Have Lunch

June 30              Erin

“Hey, buttercup!”

Erin smiled at the familiar voice. There was no question about who was at the other end of that yell. Her friend Monica had always been brash and loud. Monica Albertelli had been raised in a large traditional Italian home, always competing for attention and air time. She had a voice that carried and when necessary could shock people into astonished silence.

The two had known each other since before grade school and had been delighted when they learned they would be going to the same university. Monica was taking biology with an emphasis on zoology. She was fond of saying that plants were less interesting because they just sat there.

Monica and Erin made a sharply contrasting pair. Where Erin was tall, slim and athletic, Monica was five-foot-four with dark, long wavy hair and a figure that could—and on at least one occasion had—made men walk right into telephone poles. Monica often joked about her effect on men and made no pretense about not enjoying it.

Erin had arranged to meet Monica at La Mexicana. Both girls loved Mexican food, and Erin admitted to herself that she was getting tired of burgers.

Monica motioned Erin over and indicated a seat at the table. She waved a menu at Erin and said, “So hey, what’s all this big deep mystery? You been recruited by the see eye aye?” Monica laughed.

“Oh, for crying out loud! No, this is about that project that Matt has gotten involved in. It’s turned into something, um, interesting. And I do mean like in the Chinese curse.”

“Oooooh. Danger. Intrigue. C’mon, give.”

“Sorry, no. I don’t think you’d believe it without seeing it. Anyway, they made me promise, and it’s their show. The boys will want to show you a few things, then explanations. Bottom line though, they need someone with some zoological background, and you are it.” Erin paused to dig into the salsa and nachos.

Monica leaned forward. “So any of these bro’s interesting? And I don’t mean like the curse!”

“Hmm…” Erin thought about it for a few seconds while chewing. “Well, Richard is hot. Kind of intense, if you know what I mean, but not creepy. Bit of a temper. You might get along fine with him, or you might kill each other.”

They both laughed at that. Monica’s relationships had always tended towards the volatile end of the spectrum.

“Bill’s cute, and nice in a geeky sort of way. According to Matt though, he has a case of referencitis that would put you to shame.”

“Well, then, he must die,” Monica replied with an exaggerated dramatic tone. “There can be only one.” Then more seriously, “Also, it’ll be nice to finally meet this new boyfriend of yours.”

Erin smiled. “Yes, well, take it easy. I don’t need you scaring Matt off. We’ll be meeting them all tomorrow night at their secret lair. Ordered yet?”

Monica shook her head, and they got down to the serious business of choosing lunch.

What's the Date

July 1                            Omni

Richard and Kevin met at the warehouse well after dark. Kevin had brought along his pride and joy, a Meade 10” telescope with computerized equatorial mount. This piece of equipment packed more power into a two-foot-long package than any pre-20th-century astronomer had ever had access to.

“First thing we need to do is get the gate positioned above the telescope, so I can see the night sky on the other side,” Kevin said. “About three feet above the table will do. Angled down. No, facing in that direction.” Kevin motioned with his hands. Richard was using a combination scissors-lift and universal ball-mount to place the three-foot gate per Kevin’s requirements. “Great, now turn the lights off. Use a penlight to see with. Use this one with a red filter.”

“Why a red filter?” Richard asked.

“Red light doesn’t wreck your night vision.”

Once Richard had completed all the setup, he switched on the portal generator and picked up the tablet. After a few seconds of poking at dialogs, the gate faded into focus, showing a starry night. Kevin made sure his telescope pointed properly through the gate, then looked through the eyepiece. He made a couple of small adjustments and asked Richard to move the gate a little to one side. When Kevin was satisfied, he started concentrating on the view through the telescope, with occasional breaks to make notations in a book. True to his instructions, he wrote his notes by the red light of a filtered flashlight.

After about ten minutes, Kevin said, “Okay, I’m done. Gate off and lights on, please.”

Richard complied, and came back to find Kevin consulting a magazine and his notes.

Looking up from his work, Kevin turned to Richard and said, “No question. The other Earth isn’t the past. It’s present-day Earth. I compared the position of the Galilean satellites to the published positions in this month’s Sky and Telescope. Perfect match. Plus, Jupiter is in the same place in the sky, as is the moon. No way that specific configuration is going to duplicate itself, at least not since dinosaurs ruled the Earth.”

“Fine,” Richard said. “So where are all the people?”

“There were no people on Greenhouse Earth, either.”

“Yeah, two hundred degree temps will do that. So what’s the excuse here?”

“Who knows?” Kevin began packing up his telescope. “So many things could have gone wrong. Or right, depending. What we know is that Lincoln doesn’t exist on that side, there’s no pollution, and the flora and fauna look like what you’d imagine it must have been like before people.”

“Why was this so important to you?” Richard asked.

Kevin stopped packing and turned to Richard. “I trust my models. Really. But funny, at the back of my mind I had this worry that maybe this wild planet was the past and Greenhouse Earth was the future. That would be bad.” Kevin tilted his head sideways in dismissal. “But that’s not the case, so we’re not heading for an inevitable runaway greenhouse effect.”

Richard considered for a few seconds. “I’m not sure what bothers me more,” he replied, “that one out of three worlds so far has never had humans or that, on one out of two that had humans, we killed ourselves off.”

“If that’s what happened,” Kevin said. “Eventually we’ll want to jump beyond these two to find out more, but that will take a lot of infrastructure.”

“And I’m not sure we want to be the ones doing that,” Richard replied. “It’s one thing to get an early shot at the gold rush. It’s another thing to create our own SG-1, as Bill would say.”

Enter Monica

July 2                            Monica

Erin ushered Monica into the warehouse. The four men sitting around a table watched them approach. A couple of partially devoured pizzas sat on the table, the aroma of pepperoni and sausage reminding Monica that she hadn’t eaten since lunch.

The tension radiating from the men was palpable, and Monica was beginning to wonder what she was getting into. This is Erin, one of my best friends. I’ve known her forever. She’s not about to sell me into slavery, so relax.

Monica decided to try to lighten the mood a bit. She piped up, “So, do you have a park you need a biologist to sign off on?”

To her surprise, everyone turned to look at Erin, who held up her hands and exclaimed, “I didn’t say anything!” One of the men, a cute but somewhat pudgy character, was choking back laughter.

A tall and very attractive man stepped forward. “Let’s start with introductions, then we’ll explain the situation. Afterwards, we’ll try to convince you we’re not crazy.”

Erin made introductions, then Richard played a couple of videos for Monica, without commentary. Once she’d seen them, the explanations started.

“Another dimension?” Monica asked, bewildered.

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Kevin replied, “unless you mean another time dimension, in which case yes. It’s another world-line. A parallel universe. An alternate Earth. Whatever science-fiction cliché you want to use.”

“And it’s filled with animals but as far as we can tell, no people,” Bill added. “We’d like you to look at the animals and see if you can identify them and come to any conclusions. We’re especially interested in which ones will try to eat us.”

Monica looked at each of the men in turn. They appeared serious. “All right. I’m still treating this as an elaborate practical joke, but if you do manage to open a gateway to another world, I’ll reconsider. Shall we start?”

Bill grinned. Richard began the startup sequence, which by this time consisted of little more than a couple of menu selections and an OK button.

The three-foot gate blurred, then settled into a scene showing distant trees and animals. Matt handed Monica a set of  binoculars and motioned towards the gate.

Monica sidled up to it like a cat investigating something unknown. After a few seconds, she put the binoculars to her eyes and began scanning the scene, muttering just loud enough to be heard, “Tapirus californicus. Tayassuida. Cervalces scotti. Holy shit. Those are supposed to be extinct!”

As she walked sideways, trying to scan the landscape, she found herself trying to peer through the gate at a steep angle. She lowered the binoculars and frowned.

Richard came over. “Here, you can rotate it. Let me.”

He took hold of the gate assembly from behind and turned it on the table. As he rotated it, Monica walked around to keep the best angle of view. Abruptly she screamed and jumped back as a large paw with very impressive claws poked through the gate. The paw withdrew and was replaced by a large feline face with very long teeth. The animal growled and started to push farther through.

Richard yelled “The fuck!” as he caught sight of it and pulled out one of the cables. The gate shut down and the feline head disappeared.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, oh fuck!” Monica backed away and yelled. “That was a smilodon!” She started hopping from foot to foot, with her fists balled, the binoculars forgotten around her neck, yelling “Shitshitshitshitshit!”

Bill watched this performance with a bemused look. He turned to Richard, who stood with his jaw hanging. “I think we may have found your soul-mate.”

Monica yelled, “Oh Jesus! What am I, the first character that gets killed so everyone learns to be more careful? Am I wearing a red fucking shirt? Shit!”

“Or mine…” Bill added, a smile slowly growing on his face.

In a few minutes, things calmed down. Richard was giving Monica a strange look, like she’d just appeared out of thin air.

Monica expounded to everyone in the room, “Okay, rule number one, we don’t open the goddam gate while we’ve got pizza in the room! Especially Meat-Lovers! By the way, Bill, you were asking about animals that would eat us? That’s one.”

Richard wordlessly offered Monica a beer. She took it without comment, opened it against the table edge without missing a beat, and downed about half the bottle before continuing. “Okay, look. You have a bunch of what appear to be Pleistocene animals out there. The plants, as near as I can make out, are consistent with that. The climate appears to be cooler than ours. Kevin, given what you said before that it’s the same date on that side, I’d say either the climate over there has been more stable, or humans never migrated to North America, or some combination of that. Fuck!” She downed the rest of the beer.

Richard continued to stare. She turned to look at him and demanded, “What?” He turned away, blushing.

Damn, he’s cute when he’s discombobulated, she thought. And even when he’s not…

“So, is it safe to go through?” Matt asked.

“Safe? Safe? Something just tried to eat me. No!”

She stopped, took a couple of deep breaths—well aware that Richard’s eyes were bugging out—then continued. “The prevailing theory is that humans wiped out all the megafauna when they migrated to North America, either through direct hunting, competition for resources, or destruction of habitat. So those nasties aren’t invulnerable. You’re bringing guns, right? Big guns?”

“We haven’t provisioned ourselves yet,” Richard replied. “How about you give us an idea what we’ll need.”

“Okay, let’s see… We’ve got smilodons, that’s saber-toothed cats to you; dire wolves, think wolves but bigger and meaner; American lions, which are exactly what they sound like; homotheria, scimitar-toothed cats; short-faced bears; mastodons and mammoths, stag moose, giant sloths, and giant beavers.”

“Giant… beav—beavers?” Bill said. “Giant beavers? Six feet tall, and hungry for human furniture!” He started to laugh.

Monica glared at him. “Hey, just because something isn’t carnivorous doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous. People have been injured by white-tail deer. Now try meeting a moose or a bison. Or imagine something even bigger that hasn’t learned to be afraid of you.”

Monica waved the empty beer bottle at the gate. “The giant sloth in particular wasn’t slow and sedentary like its modern South American cousins. It was mobile, territorial, and judging from the state of some skeletons, a bit of a scrapper. So have some respect.”

Matt got a puzzled look. “Hey, Richard or Kevin, how come we don’t have a decapitated smilodon head sitting in the middle of our floor? It was definitely on this side when you cut the power.”

Richard turned to Kevin. Kevin looked thoughtful for a moment. “First, the portal isn’t a door, like in the traditional sense. You aren’t walking through from here to there like some sci-fi wormhole. The portal is just an interface. When you push through it, you become more and more likely to be here rather than there, and at some point—probably when you’re fractionally more than halfway through—you become here even if the power cuts off. The cat was still mostly there.

“Second, the interface can’t cut stuff in half because cutting is work. It requires energy, and there’s not enough energy in the design. If you turn off the portal, things go to where they most likely are. Sort of. I think I just gave myself a headache.”

“Well, that’s a relief anyway,” Bill said. “One less thing to worry about.”

“Okay, people,” Richard called out. “Time to get organized. Monica, are you in?”

Monica tilted her head, and a grin slowly spread across her face. “Oh, depend on it. I’ve only ever seen fossils of those animals up until now. What kind of zoologist would I be if I walked away?”

Richard smiled an acknowledgment. “Excellent. So, we have to start getting supplies, including weapons. Big weapons. Also tents, sleeping bags, cook-stoves, water purification, food, axes, knives, yadda yadda yadda, and gold panning equipment. Matt isn’t made of infinite money, so we’ll have to kick in as well. Everyone keep track of what you spend, and we’ll settle accounts as soon as we are able.

“We also need a map and detailed information about whichever gold strike we decide on, and you all have to make sure you’re free for enough days to get this done.”

Monica gave Richard the hairy eyeball. “And why, pray tell, do we need tents and sleeping bags?”

“You’d prefer to sleep under the stars?” Richard asked with a grin.

“No, I’d prefer to sleep in a hotel. Preferably five-star. I’ll camp when you can plug a hair-dryer into a tree. Is there any reason we can’t just do day-trips to the panning site?”

The others exchanged glances.

“You know, I’m not sure,” Richard answered. “I just assumed it would be a long way to the site from the nearest outpost of civilization. Obviously we have to cross over when we reach the limit of where the van can go.”

Monica replied, “Here’s two words for you. Google Earth. How about we find out?”

Again there was an exchange of glances. Richard looked a little crestfallen, probably realizing that he hadn’t thought things through as well as he’d believed.

“Okay, Monica. You’ve got my attention. I guess we’re going to have to go through everything and do a re-think.”

Gates

July 3                            Bill

Richard gestured at the varied collection of parts, cables, and enclosures on one of the lab tables. “Okay, I’ve got all the parts for a second portal. I’ve made a significant dent in the Physics Lab inventory.” He ran a hand through his hair and grinned. “Sure hope no one suddenly feels a need to set up a new project of their own.”

Bill looked at him with his eyebrows raised. “Is that going to be a problem?”

“No, not very likely, Bill. Most people have more sense than to be here during the summer. I’ve left a note in the inventory area, where someone would find it if they were looking.”

Bill shrugged, then gestured to another table, with its own collection of equipment. “I’ve got the people-sized gates here.” He pointed to two elliptical metal hoops, six feet on the long axis. “It’ll be a tight fit for you, but not bad for us normal mortals.”

“Elliptical gates? Are you sure that’ll work?”

“Kevin said it would, although I guess we’ll have to test it.”

Bill walked over to the table and gestured to a diagram. “I haven’t been able to make the truck-sized gate, though. Problems with parts, not enough room in the fabrication area to lay it out, and I’m not sure how I’d get it out of there. It should be designed so it can be disassembled, but I just don’t have the tools for that. I’m thinking maybe after our first trip, when we have some funds, I can either hire it out or rent some equipment and do it in the warehouse.”

“Yeah, one step at a time. Hey, where’s the Faraday cage on the back?” Richard pointed to one of the gates.

“Turned out to be unnecessary for gating to the other Earths. Another of Kevin’s suggestions. I tried the medium one after I removed the cage, and it connected fine.” Bill looked at his feet and chuckled. “About three seconds after turning it on, I remembered Monica’s experience with the smilodon, and turned it off real quick. Which is why I haven’t tested the big ones yet. I’d like some backup around for that.”

Richard laughed. “Well, you ain’t wrong.”

“Anyway, not having the cage saves some weight and some material. I’ve mounted some light metal plate on the back of the gates to brace them. They don’t have a lot of structural strength on their own.”

Bill hesitated for a moment, then turned to face Richard. “Hey, Richard, I’ve been thinking. What should we call the other side? Earth Two?” Bill paused for a moment, then said in a too-casual tone, “How about Wildside?”

Richard made a pfft sound. “Even if I hadn’t already read that book, I’d be suspicious of you, Bill. How about just Otherside?”

“Lame,” Bill replied. “Derivative without being witty.”

The argument continued while they loaded up the van.

Trying Out the Pole-Cam

July 4                            Matt

We know of no strategies for reducing the power of major volcanic eruptions. Even science fiction cannot produce a credible mechanism for averting a super-eruption.

– From a 2005 report by the Geological Society of London

Matt held the door for Erin, and they entered the warehouse. They found Bill holding a pole in the air and waving it around slowly. Matt walked over and examined the pole in detail.

It appeared to be one of those extendable fiberglass poles used for trimming tree branches. At the end of the pole, Bill had removed the usual saw and branch-clipper. In their place, he had mounted the original eight-inch gate, still sporting the nine symbols, but without the cage.

He had mounted a camera in front of the gate, pointing into it. Cables ran down the pole to the portal generator box and to a monitor. The monitor showed an ever-changing scene of the other Earth as seen through the gate, as Bill waved the pole around.

“Hey, that’s pretty cool, Bill,” Matt said. “And smilodon-proof. Monica will appreciate that.”

Matt noticed that Bill’s expression brightened at the mention of Monica. Uh oh. If I had a spidey sense, it would be going off.

Bill nodded at the pole. “Yeah, thanks. I kind of MacGyvered it together. I took the cage off the back and put a back-plate on, like with the larger gates. It’s cut down the weight and power requirements. The pole-cam is easier to handle now.”

Bill continued after a pause, “Listen, Richard and I were discussing things last night, and we’ve come up with a name for the other Earth. Richard shot down pretty much everything I came up with—”

“I can imagine,” Matt said.

“—so we ended up with Outland by default.”

“Works for me,” Erin said. “As long as it’s also Goldland.”

“So, on to business,” Bill said. He leaned the pole carefully against a shelving unit and turned off the portal generator box. “We’ve got this pole-cam for scoping out the situation on the other side. We’ve got the three-foot gate. We’ve got a couple of larger six-foot gates. We’ve got spare parts—you’re welcome—and a generator. In a pinch, the equipment can run off the vehicle through an inverter, which we also have.”

Bill grinned at his friend. “The question is not Am I paranoid?, but Am I paranoid enough?”

“And we’ve got the destination information,” Erin added. “As soon as everyone gets here, I’ll go over it. We’ve got all the supplies.” She pointed to a pile of items in the corner. “And a moving van to carry the portal equipment. We’re bringing a couple other vehicles, and I’m bringing our family dog.”

“Would that be as a guard dog?” Bill asked.

“More or less,” Erin said. “Lucy is pretty undisciplined, but she has a good nose and a deep bark. She’ll make a good early-warning system. We’ll stop in Kearney and pick her up. My parents won’t mind her being gone for a few days. She’s a bit of a handful.”

Matt went over to the kitchen area to make coffee, and Erin went to help.

“It’s starting to get real,” she said.

“Yep. I guess I should go get the shotguns out of the truck. We want to have everything ready when Richard and Monica get here.”

“Grab my camera, too?”

Matt smiled at her, then headed back to his vehicle.

Test Outing

July 4                            Monica

Monica held the tablet and watched the video, while Bill waved the pole-cam in the air. So far, there didn’t seem to be anything dangerous in the area.

Bill kept trying to maneuver around to see the tablet, and Monica was having fun frustrating his attempts. Bill seemed to be enjoying the game, but she was pretty sure Richard was glaring at them.

“Looks clear,” she said, looking up from the tablet.

“Okay then, we are ready for prime time. Pleistocene excursion, Take One.” Bill smiled at Monica.

“Then let’s do this,” Richard said. He picked up a shotgun from the arsenal that had been laid out and prepped earlier by Matt. He walked over to the six-foot gate, which was set up near the middle of the warehouse floor.

Kevin held the tablet that was slaved to the portal generator for that gate. A few pokes with his finger, and the gate opened, showing the meadows and wildlife of what Bill kept referring to as Mutual of Omaha Earth. The ground on the other side was even with the warehouse floor—Monica and Bill had spent a few minutes with the pole-cam earlier, picking the right spot.

Matt, Erin, Bill, and Monica picked up shotguns. The four exchanged looks, but no one made a move toward the gate.

“Oh, for God’s sake,” Monica said, exasperated. “Unless Bill wants to make some One small step comment, Matt should go through first.”

Matt smiled at her, turned, and stepped through the gate, followed closely by Monica and the others. They spread out into a circle and looked around.

This was nature as depicted on postcards. The landscape was predominantly meadow, with long grasses waving in the light breeze. Mild rolling hills gave just enough variation in elevation to add texture to what might otherwise have been prairie. Stands of trees spread their branches to catch the sun. Scattered throughout the scene they saw small herds of deer, the occasional moose, and other less recognizable species. All of this under a sky of such an intense blue that it seemed like a new color. Patches of fluffy cumulus clouds provided just enough break in the sunshine to keep the temperature comfortable. Various kinds of birds looped and dodged through the sky, in flocks large and thick enough to blot out the sun as they flew by. As the birds passed overhead, they made a sound reminiscent of helicopters.

Monica shouldered her shotgun and pulled up her binoculars.

“Look at that!” Bill said, excitement clear in his voice. “Buffalo!”

“More likely Bison,” Monica said, distracted. She scanned slowly in a circle. “Looks clear so far… Holy jumping sonofabitch!”

She lowered her binoculars and pointed. “Mammoths. Honest-to-God mammoths! Columbian, I think.” In the distance, there were five of what appeared to be elephants.

Bill took the binoculars from her and looked through them. “Holy God!” he exclaimed. He passed the binoculars around. As each person looked, there were expressions of surprise and pleasure.

“Now that right there is worth the price of admission,” Bill said, grinning. “We can go home now.” He looked at Monica with raised eyebrows.

“Nice try, buddy! I came here for a hike. Now move your ass!”

Bill laughed and they started moving in the direction she had indicated, straight towards the mammoths. They walked past the still-open gate, waving to Richard and Kevin, who stood on the other side. Monica noted in passing that Kevin still wasn’t carrying a weapon.

As they were walking down the slight slope, Erin stopped and giggled. The rest of the group turned to her, and she pointed to the other side of the portal. The metal plate that Bill had used to brace the gates was visible, hovering unsupported in mid-air.

Bill stared at this for a few seconds, then did a facepalm.

“Well, whaddaya know,” Matt said, “turns out they have two sides!”

Bill shook his head and grinned. “I kind of suspected that would be the case, but it’s nice to have confirmation. So the plate on the back of the gate is a good security feature. You don’t want something walking through side B while you’re guarding side A.”

“Wait, what?” Monica looked at Bill in confusion.

Bill waved in the direction of the gate. “If Richard looks through the gate in the warehouse, he sees this Earth. If he walks around to the other side of it, he sees the metal plate I welded onto the back of the gate to brace it. If we look through the gate from this Earth, we see the warehouse. Around the back, we see the metal plate. If I hadn’t put the plate on it, we’d be able to walk through the gate either way.”

Monica crossed her eyes and made a face at Bill. She turned and resumed her hike towards the mammoths.

“Remember,” Erin said, “One hour at most. If Richard has to come looking for us, that’s five of us on this side. And let’s try not to get out of sight of the gate.”

Everyone indicated assent with nods and grunts.

Erin had her camera out and took pictures in different directions as they walked. A couple of times she stopped and used the zoom to take shots of the mammoths. Monica waited patiently each time until Erin was satisfied.

During one of the stops, Erin turned to Monica. “I’m still a little weirded out by the hills on this side. It doesn’t make sense. There’s no reason for it.”

When the group got within about fifty yards of the mammoths, the largest mammoths positioned themselves between the humans and the smaller juveniles, and trumpeted what was very likely a warning or challenge. Monica held up her hand and the explorers stopped. The mammoths stomped their feet a few times, but otherwise seemed satisfied with the current détente.

Erin took picture after picture at various zoom settings, while Monica used the binoculars to examine them as closely as she could.

After a few minutes, the adults resumed browsing through the grass, and the juveniles started a shoving match.

“Interesting,” Monica said. “They don’t identify humans as a known danger. Silly mammoths.” She smiled at the others. “But it means humans aren’t a factor over here. Either rare or non-existent.”

Matt’s phone played a tone. He canceled the alarm, and said, “We’re at a half hour. We need to head back.” There was no argument, and the group turned and started back to the gate.

About half-way back, Bill said in a low voice, “Don’t look now, but we’ve got company at four o’clock.”

Monica turned with the others and looked in the indicated direction. They could see a couple of forms hunched down in the tall grass. She lifted her binoculars to get a better look.

“Oh, boy. Smilodons. I hate smilodons.”

“I guess you kind of have a history…” Bill’s comment was pitched in the same low voice.

“Well,” Matt said. “That’s why God invented shotguns.” He pointed his weapon upward and fired a round.

The result was exactly as effective as anyone could have hoped. The forms vanished.

“I think they teleported,” Monica said, bemused.

“Yeah, along with—“ Bill started to say.

At that moment, there were twin thuds as two small objects hit the ground. Monica jumped.

Everyone exchanged wide-eyed looks. Bill walked slowly over to the objects, then started to laugh, almost doubling over. He turned to Matt, tears streaming from his eyes, and said, “You took out a couple of birds, O Great White Hunter. Want squab for lunch? The special today is passenger pigeon.”

Matt looked up. “I guess we should be thankful they didn’t all empty their bowels at the same time.”

***

“That was awesome!” Bill gushed. He seemed to have developed a permanent grin.

Richard made an unhappy face. “Wish I’d seen that.”

“Mostly it was just like a hike in the country,” Erin said, “From any kind of distance, deer are deer and moose are moose, except a lot more of them, of course. But mammoths aren’t anything but mammoths.” She activated the LCD screen on the back of her camera and flipped through some of the pictures for Richard.

“Well, that’s fine,” said Kevin. “You keep your mammoths. If the only large animals I ever meet are in zoos, I’ll be just as happy.”

Everyone laughed. Kevin looked surprised, then responded with a tentative smile.

“Anyway,” Richard said, “proof of concept is successful. We can go through, wander around, and come back. The portal is stable; the six-foot gates work. We’re good to go.”

“So, Operation Yellow-Brick Road is on,” Bill said, and exchanged a high-five with Matt.

Monica smiled at Erin. It was a great adventure, of course, but she’d also just seen animals that were tens of thousands of years extinct on this Earth. I’d say this qualifies as a good day.

First Road Trip

Date: July 5

POV: Omni

And finally, the day had come. The portal equipment, spare parts, generator, and camping and panning equipment were all stowed in a small, rented moving van. There was a thermos of coffee in each vehicle. They drove off very early on a Saturday morning in high spirits.

Richard and Kevin were riding in the van.

Erin and Monica were riding in Erin’s Subaru. The crapmobile had been given a thorough mechanical update and tune-up courtesy of Matt. Erin insisted that Matt should be reimbursed for the costs. Boyfriends were nice and all, but she didn’t want to be beholden to him for this.

This left Matt and Bill in Matt’s F-150.

They headed west on Interstate 80. Matt led in the pickup because he had cruise control. Richard had insisted that they must not attract any attention, so he gave instructions to Matt to either follow traffic, or do the speed limit otherwise. The last thing they needed was a nosy cop wanting to look in the van.

***

POV: Richard

Richard drove with one hand, slouching slightly. They’d been on the road about twenty minutes, and he was relaxing into the routine. Highway driving always had a certain zen quality to it.

He looked over at Kevin. “So I guess you want to come out of this with a Nobel or something.”

Kevin looked up, then turned to Richard. It seemed like it took him a moment to mentally shift gears. “That’d be nice,” he replied, “but I think any kind of recognition is going to be pretty significant. Tenure by twenty-five? I could go for that.”

Richard chuckled, and Kevin continued, “What about everyone else, you think?”

“Well, Erin’s easy. I think she’s watched one too many episodes of ‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Obnoxious’ and she’s got a bad case of the envies. Matt wants security. The whole ‘my parents will no longer support me’ thing kind of freaks him out. Bill just thinks he’s in an episode of Stargate.”

“And Monica?” Kevin asked in a too-casual voice.

“Um, I think Monica just wants an opportunity to kick the entire alternate Earth into submission,” Richard answered with a slight smile. Richard hadn’t missed Kevin’s attempt at a sly dig, and he was realistic enough to know that he’d not only fallen hard but was being pinned.

“And what about you?” Kevin asked.

Richard gazed into space for a second, wistful. “I think I just want to be a part of something. Something interesting, something big. Your theories looked interesting. I guess we’ve kind of outstripped expectations.” They both laughed. “And, it’s nice to have company,” he finished.

Richard changed the subject. “Anyway, it’s about nine hours to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Less if we can speed, which depends on whether there are enough other people doing so.

“When we get there and start looking for gold, we won’t be panning as such. According to Erin we’ll want to do screening instead. The records say that there was a crapton of gold easily accessible. Once they found the right locations, of course.”

“Do we know where that is?” Kevin asked.

“Mm, well the place is a tourist trap now. Like every former gold strike, it’s turned into gift shops, tours, hotels, and so on. People still find gold on the panning tours. Just not very much. I’m hoping that the tours operate where they originally found the most gold. If not, we may be there a little longer. On the other hand, if that’s the case we can ask someone. Pretty sure the locals will know. Worst comes to worst, we’ll end up taking one of the tours to find out what we need to know.”

Kevin nodded without replying, and Richard relaxed back into the driving routine.

***

POV: Omni

The convoy, led by Erin in the Subaru, pulled up to Erin’s family home in Kearney. As they all got out of their vehicles and stretched out cramped muscles, a woman came out of the house and hurried down the front steps.

Erin yelled, “Mom!” and rushed to hug her.

Monica rushed up just behind her, yelled, “Zia!” and hugged them both. The rest of the group walked up, smiling at this display.

Mrs. Savard said, “Hello Monica.” She turned to her daughter. “Has she burned down any buildings lately?”

Erin smiled at her mother. “Nope. She’s been very well-behaved. For her.”

Monica looked offended and said, “Hey! I’m standing here!” in a very believable New York accent. The three laughed together and hugged again.

Erin motioned to the rest of the group and did introductions.

“Your father is away for the weekend on one of his fishing trips,” Mrs. Savard told Erin. She turned to the group, “Would you like coffee?”

There were several affirmatives. Erin led them into the house. They went to the kitchen and settled in around the table.

While she made coffee, Mrs. Savard told Monica, “I heard from your mother. They’re having a great time. Sophia says she’s tried to email you, but she just can’t get it working from there.”

“My mom’s a technofeeb.” Monica shook her head. She turned to her friends. “My parents are in Italy, visiting family. Apparently, rural Padova is not at the cutting edge of internet communications. Just like my mother.”

There was a bark at the kitchen door. “Ah, there’s your guard dog,” Mrs. Savard said, and opened the door. The black tornado that ran in did its best to visit everyone in the room at the same time. The result was quite comical, although a little painful for those who took a hit from the dog’s tail. Eighty-odd pounds of Lab-Pointer cross caromed around the kitchen, attempting to sniff each person, get patted, and check for food, all at once.

“Wow, that’s one energetic dog!” Bill commented.

“Yeah, she’s half black Lab and half German short-haired pointer. She has the attention-span of a gnat, the energy of a Tasmanian Devil, and the brains of, well, of a black Lab,” Erin joked.

“Tell me about this camping trip?” Mrs. Savard said, when the storm had died down.

Erin replied, “We’re heading to the Black Hills for a few days. We somehow got the idea that we’d like to do some gold panning. I figured Lucy would give us a little extra security, and maybe give you a rest from, well…” Erin gestured at the black tornado, who seemed to be gearing up for another round.

“Mm, hmm,” Mrs. Savard said, nodding.

Eventually, coffee’d up and with extra cookies in hand, the group prepared to leave. Erin collected the required dog supplies from her mother and led Lucy to the back seat of the crapmobile. She and Monica waved to Mrs. Savard, and they drove off.

***

POV: Monica

Lucy had decided that Monica’s cookie smelled good and was determined to investigate. “Will you sit!” Monica yelled.

Lucy looked abashed and lay down on the back seat, but ten seconds later, she was back. Monica popped the last of the cookie into her mouth and glared at the dog.

Erin nodded her head towards Lucy. “She’s actually very obedient. She’ll do what you say, but then she figures she’s done, and her obligation is over. There’s no real concept of ‘Sit and stay sat.’ ”

Monica laughed and patted Lucy, then changed the subject. “So, um, Richard. Kind of an intense guy…”

“Yeah, you’re fooling no one. He’s single. He’s not gay. He’s available. And I could see his brains ooze out his ear when he met you. Just smile and swear a few more times.” They both grinned, and Erin continued, “On the other hand, Bill looks kind of interested too.”

“Nerdy but cute. Good sense of humor. I don’t think I’ll kill him after all.”

The Black Hills

The Black Hills gold rush had begun in 1874, when significant amounts of gold were found in Deadwood and Whitewood Creeks in the northern Black Hills. Eventually the placer gold in the creeks had been traced back to the source outcropping, which was named the Homestake Claim. This location would go on to produce ten percent of the world’s gold supply over the next one hundred and twenty-five years. Most of this gold was extracted using intensive mining methods, but for the early arrivals, each shovelful of creekside earth could deliver up to a year’s wages.

—Wikipedia, “Black Hills Gold Rush.”

July 5                            Monica

“Nice planning, Einstein. You’ve never heard of reservations? When I say ‘five-star,’ what exactly pops into your teeny mind?” Monica put on her best glare.

Richard couldn’t meet her eyes, and a flush worked its way slowly up from his neck. “I’m sorry! How many times do I have to apologize? Look, we’ll spend very little time here hopefully. If we can find out where…”

“Yeah, yeah. Pan for gold, everyone’s rich, isn’t it wonderful. I know the drill. But if that bed ends up having a coin-slot, you’re gonna hear about it, buster.”

The drive to the Black Hills had gone without incident, and they arrived ahead of schedule. A steady stream of other vehicles going ten to fifteen mph above the posted limit gave them the cover they needed to push things a little.

However, summer was high season in the area, and there was a dearth of available accommodations. After much searching and phoning, they ended up with a couple of rooms in a Super 8 in Deadwood, a fact that was not sitting well with Monica.

“Hey, at least we each get a bed,” Erin said. “The guys have to all fit into one room and two of them will have to sleep on those fold-out abominations.”

“Two rooms was all we could get…” Richard started to explain.

“Oh, boo-hoo. You owe me dinner for this, bub.” Monica figured she had played this for all it was worth, and it was time to give the poor fish a little bit of slack line.

“No problem, whatever you want,” Richard replied, rising to the bait as expected.

And that’s how it’s done, thought Monica, and winked at Erin.

“Okay folks,” Richard announced, obviously trying to salvage a little dignity. “Dinner, then a couple of us will ask around about tours and such. If we can avoid having to go on one, we’ll save some time. We just have to get the vehicles close to where we want to be, pop over, and do our thing.

“So, now, restaurant. Opinions?”

Monica smiled at Richard. Now you pay.

Study Session

July 6                            Suzie

Suzie and her friends were in the Union for another study session. However, as happened too often lately, the conversation moved to current affairs and actual study got short shrift.

This time, they’d gotten into it with another group. Frankie, as usual, seemed ready to get into an argument about anything or everything.

“You’re kidding, right? Conspiracy?” Frankie said. “Better yet, government conspiracy?”

“And why is that surprising?” the loudest of the other group asked. “You’re telling me they won’t do what’s best for them and screw the rest of us?”

“Well, if they were Republicans, yes!” Frankie replied with a nasty smile. “That’s exactly what you expect Republicans to do!”

This produced a glare of rage from the other guy. Although he hadn’t admitted to his political leanings, the degree of vitriol he displayed about the current administration left little doubt.

Suzie knew that Frankie enjoyed arguments like this. He didn’t care about the specific subject matter that much, but baiting blowhards of any stripe was always premium entertainment for him.

Suzie waggled her fingers at him. “Hey. Frankie. Study Session, remember? Late Antiquity? Exam coming up? Passing grade? Any of this ringing a bell?”

Frankie and the other guy both looked sheepish. The other group’s study session had also been derailed by the growing storm.

Everyone settled back in their chairs, turned to their various reading materials, and prepared to get down to work.

“It’s still a conspiracy…” The other guy muttered. A wadded piece of paper bounced off his head, and everyone broke up in laughter.

“Regardless, did you hear the latest?” Maddie said. “A road literally melted in Yellowstone. They’re saying the magma shifted or something, and it’s heated the ground so much the asphalt melted. It’s cut off part of the park.”

“I saw that story,” Suzie said. “But they say that happens quite often. No cause for concern.”

The other guy snorted.

Frankie grinned. “I have to agree with conspiracy guy on that one. They’re always saying, ‘Nothing to worry about.’ I’ve started to visualize Officer Barbrady whenever I hear that: Nothing to see here. Move along. Move along.”

Outland

July 6                            Richard

Richard started the day with a feeling of anticipation. Yesterday evening’s scouting expedition had gone better than expected. They had found out everything they needed to know so wouldn’t have to take a tour. Even better, they had found a parking lot a stone’s throw from where they wanted to be. Piece of cake.

Or not. The parking lot was very busy, very public, and not at all suitable for setting up a bunch of scientific equipment and opening a portal.

“Oh, bloody hell!” Richard exclaimed. “Really?” He looked to heaven. “You really are a bastard, aren’t you?” He imagined he could hear a deep laugh coming from above.

After a few seconds, Richard sighed and turned to the others, only to find Monica glaring at him.

“Your plan, oh great leader?”

Richard could see Bill in the background, wearing that damned smug smile. He deliberately looked straight at Monica. “Maybe we can find a place to park where we can get some privacy. Even if it’s a little farther away. How about we split up?” He gestured to Kevin, “You stay with the vehicles, the rest of us will look for something that might work. A lane, access road, old abandoned property, I dunno…”

They split up, heading off on foot in ones and twos.

They met back at the parking lot an hour later.

Richard pointed back up the access road. “Believe it or not, I actually found something. There’s an overgrown side road a little ways back, although ‘road’ might be charitable. It’s not paved. But it curves so you lose sight of the main road right away. It’s a bit farther from the creek of course. We’ll have to use compass bearings to make sure we don’t get lost.”

“Or spray paint cans, for marking the trail,” Bill added. “That’s why I brought them.”

They all piled into the vehicles and followed the van. Richard hadn’t been exaggerating. The side road was little more than two parallel wheel-tracks, it had not seen recent use and couldn’t be described as anything close to ‘flat.’

After they got out of the vehicles, Bill said, “Next time I’ll go to the bathroom first!”

But the location was perfect. They were invisible from the main road. Nothing gave any indication that people had been here recently.

The portal generation hardware, after several rounds of improvement, now consisted of a box not much bigger than a tower PC. One power cable and several fiber-optic cables ran from the portal generator box to a set of connectors labeled A through D. Each gate had corresponding cable receptacles. Bill had carefully packed the small gate with its pole, the three-foot gate, and the two large gates.

Richard and Matt manhandled the generator out of the van and placed it with the equipment. The others laid out supplies for the hike. This included weapons, basic survival equipment such as first-aid kits, axes, and machetes, as well as water and food. Beside this pile, they placed a couple of sets of screening boxes and a manual water pump.

Richard looked at the group. “Okay, I think we’re about ready to go. We don’t want another rant from Bill about scripts that require people to act like morons, so Bill and Kevin will be staying on this side, just in case.”

Richard went over the equipment and supplies and gave instructions for dividing up the loads. Erin was given a lighter load because she would have to control their guard dog.

Lucy kept trying to help. She appeared surprised that people felt her help was no help.

“Ready to go, sir!” Bill affected a military pose and threw a sloppy and insolent salute.

Ignoring Bill, Richard signaled to Kevin to activate the portal. They turned to the six-foot gate, and… nothing.

“Er, I’ll check the script again, but isn’t this the part where the gate opens?” Bill asked.

“The hell?” Richard said. “All right. Drop everything people. It’s debugging time.”

The crew removed their packs, dropped what they were carrying, and settled down to wait. Kevin methodically checked hardware from the gate back to the generator, while Richard did diagnostics on the tablet.

After several minutes, Kevin said, “There’s nothing wrong, Richard. We have power. The software is happy. The gate is happy. Just no connection.”

“Okay, let’s try the pole-cam,” Richard replied. They swapped the connections to the pole-cam, held it up, and activated it. The video window on the tablet showed a different reality.

“So, this works. Shit. Okay, let’s point it downwards.” Richard carefully angled the pole so that the camera faced down. They looked at the monitor. “Maybe it’s just me, but doesn’t the ground look closer in the monitor?”

Matt came over to look. “No question. The ground is higher on the other side. Maybe the gate doesn’t care for being opened underground.”

“Well, no, it wouldn’t,” Kevin interjected. “Unless the soil was pretty loose, the gate would have to cut the soil, and I believe I’ve already mentioned that is not possible.”

Bill rolled his eyes. “You couldn’t have brought that up earlier?”

That earned a glare from Kevin.

Richard smirked but decided to ignore the byplay. “Okay, let’s move the gate up onto the van. Maybe that’ll be enough.” They lifted the gate onto the deck of the van, reconnected it, and started up the portal. This time they were rewarded with a gate connection.

“Odd. I never would have expected the ground level to have changed like that,” Erin said. “This is like the hilliness in Lincoln…”

“Well, doesn’t matter,” Richard replied. “We’re ready. Let’s go through and get this done.”

They ducked as they walked through the large portal. Erin carefully led Lucy through on a leash. Kevin’s explanation notwithstanding, no one wanted to end up with half a dog on the other side.

There was a step down on the Outland side of less than a foot.

The noise level in the forest had an almost physical impact. To the surprised comments, Monica replied, “Welcome to real nature, people. What you get around town is nothing. Around here, everything that walks, flies, or hangs in a tree is trying to announce its territory.”

After a pause to get used to the noise level, Richard pulled out a can of spray paint and handed it to Monica. “Spray each tree as you go past it. Always to your right.”

Erin, meanwhile, looked down at the ground on this side of the portal, then scuffed her foot on the ground underneath her feet. She stared at it for several seconds, frowning.

Richard touched her shoulder briefly. “Problem?”

Erin turned to him and shook her head.

It took about twenty minutes to get to the creek, which was in the same place on the Outland side. However, the area around the creek looked quite different. The ground about thirty feet away from the actual creek bed rose into a steep bank, which left the creek in its own little valley. This was in contrast with the Earthside terrain, which had a barely detectable slope down to the creek. Richard could see Erin frowning again.

They set up their operation. Lucy stood guard, her leash connected to Erin’s belt with a carabiner. The leash gave the dog a twelve-foot radius of movement. Everyone in the group carried a pump-action shotgun, although Matt was the only one who was comfortable with it.

Erin broke out the metal detector and swept the creek bed to get a general idea of where to dig. She marked the areas with good readings using bright yellow plastic tent pegs. Matt maintained careful guard with his shotgun at ready.

Soon, Erin indicated she was satisfied with her survey. She grabbed a shovel, and they quickly settled into a routine. Erin took a shovelful of creek bed and placed it in a screening box, which Richard and Matt held. While they shook it back and forth, Monica used the hand-held pump to pour water onto the muck and gravel.

It took less than a dozen shovelfuls before they spotted their first yellow nugget. Monica yelled, “Woohoo!” and passed the nugget around.

“Heavy,” Matt said, bouncing it in his palm.

Over the next hour, Erin took shovelfuls from different parts of the surveyed area until they were able to see where they were getting the best results. After that, they concentrated in that area of creek bed. The gold bag filled fast.

***

Matt

Matt was conscientious about his guard duties. He found himself anxious about the fact that no one else had firearms experience. If there was trouble, Matt wanted to be the one doing the shooting. Really should have done some practice firing when we started. Damn.

During one of the breaks, Erin asked Matt to accompany her over to the steep bank. Erin dug into the slope for a few feet, examining the soil after each shovelful. Again, she had that frown on her face. When Matt asked her what was bothering her, she shook her head and walked back to the group. They stood up with groans and got back to work.

They had settled into the routine again when the dog started barking. Lucy had a very deep bark, and the large feline that had been creeping up on them from the trees hesitated. Then apparently unimpressed, it resumed its approach.

Everyone grabbed their shotguns. Monica seemed to have a little trouble with the pump. Seeing this, Matt moved to stand between the feline and the group.

The feline continued to approach slowly. It was obviously being very cautious with unknown prey. Matt decided to see if he could scare it away. Pointing slightly to the side, he pulled the trigger.

A twelve-gauge shotgun is impressive in action at any time, and the group had elected to get the biggest cartridges they could. The result boomed like a cannon in the close forested space, and shredded the small tree at which Matt had aimed. The reaction looked like that of the family cat when surprised. The feline jumped six feet into the air, did a backflip, and hit the ground facing away from the group and already running, spraying gravel back at them before it finally got traction and disappeared.

Matt stared bemused at the hole in the air where the cat had been, while the others risked glances in that direction. Lucy helped it on its way with a few well-deserved barks. And gradually the forest cacophony, which had ceased with the gunshot, returned to full volume.

“That,” Monica said in a small voice, “was another smilodon. Smaller, probably either juvenile or gracilis. And I may have just peed my pants.” She grinned at the others.

The experience took any feeling of vacation out of the air, though. The group got back to work and soon had the bag filled to their satisfaction.

“Time to go home,” Richard said. They headed back the way they had come, keeping the tree graffiti on their left.

***

Bill

Aw, crap. Bill looked over at Kevin. “Hey, Kev, can you give me a hand here? Little help?”

Kevin looked up. He’d been sitting in the lawn chair, staring into space, and he looked irritated at the interruption. “What?”

“I’m kind of tangled up here…” Bill replied.

Kevin stood and hurried to the side of the van, where Bill had the second portal generator powering the pole-cam. He had the cables wrapped around him and around one leg, and he teetered on the edge of losing his balance.

“How did you manage that?” Kevin asked.

“I got bored, so I set up the pole-cam. Been doing some examinations of the plant life and small animal life on the other side. I guess I lost track and got myself tangled up.”

“Well first,” Kevin said, “You don’t keep rotating in the same direction if you don’t want to get tangled up. Second, we shouldn’t be using the spare, especially not running two units off the generator. Third, we’re supposed to be watching the portal.”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Bill retorted. “Hey, here’s a thought. How about you untangle me so I can put this thing down without breaking it?”

Kevin shook his head and got to work unwinding his unruly partner-in-guarding.

He had just gotten Bill unraveled when there was a ba-bump and the van moved a little on its shocks.

“What was that?” Bill asked.

“I don’t know,” Kevin answered, “I was over here with you, not guarding.”

“Wow, you’re a pill, Kevin. Not following the rules just drives you nuts, doesn’t it?” Bill was a bit pissed and embarrassed about having pulled such a boner stunt. Normally he wouldn’t taunt Kevin like that.

“Yeah? Well hey, Bill, you like TV right? And you’re an engineer, right? Know what we learn from TV? That engineers don’t have PhDs. Plus they’re short, and live with their moms.”

Bill smiled. That was pretty lame, but Kevin had at least tried. “Okay, Kevin, you win. Let’s see what’s going on.”

They grabbed their shotguns and headed to the back of the van. As they turned the corner, they came face to face with a very large wolf. There was a moment of mutual frozen astonishment before Bill and Kevin brought up their weapons and took aim.

“Um, Bill?” Kevin said, “He’s between us and the gate. If we shoot him, we could take out the hardware.”

“If we don’t shoot him, he could take out one of us. Or both, he’s big enough,” Bill replied.

The standoff lasted for perhaps ten seconds more. Then the wolf, seemingly uncomfortable with the unknown surroundings and unknown opponents, turned and jumped back through the gate.

We're Back

Yellowstone supervolcano not about to erupt, despite rumors

Yellowstone officials, who fielded dozens of calls and emails since the video went viral this week following an earthquake in the park, said the video actually shows bison galloping down a paved road that leads deeper into the park.

"It was a spring-like day and they were frisky. Contrary to online reports, it's a natural occurrence and not the end of the world," park spokeswoman Amy Bartlett said.

– Reuters

July 6                            Richard

They arrived back at the portal area more quickly than they’d gone out, both due to familiarity with the path and to a desire to not be there any longer than necessary. However, there was no portal. They looked around in confusion for a moment, then Matt pointed upwards. About eight feet off the ground, a camera pointed at them through a hole in the air. As they looked at it, it disappeared. A few seconds later, the large portal appeared at ground level.

Richard stepped up and through the portal first. As he got out the other side, he stopped. Both Kevin and Bill had shotguns aimed in his direction, and Kevin with a shotgun was very unnerving.

“What the hell?” he exclaimed. Bill and Kevin, looking a curious combination of relieved and embarrassed, lowered their weapons. As Richard moved aside, the rest of the group came through, and Kevin shut down the portal.

“What was that all about?” Richard asked.

“Well,” Bill answered, “A funny thing happened. You’ll laugh when you hear it. Really. See, we were sitting here guarding the portal and all, sitting in our lawn chairs, when this very large wolf—a dire wolf?—comes through the portal. It stood there for several seconds, looking around, then it looked at us. I’m embarrassed to say that if it had wanted to, it would have gotten at least one of us. Kevin, preferably.”

Kevin did a double-take and looked offended.

“So, where is it?” Matt asked.

Bill answered, “We jumped up and pointed our guns at it, and it turned tail and disappeared through the portal.”

“Oh shit,” Monica said.

“After that, we decided that leaving the portal open with a welcome mat out was sub-optimal.”

Richard stared at them for a few seconds, then sighed and turned away. He put down everything he was carrying and started stowing the portal hardware.

Bill looked at Kevin, and Kevin looked at Bill. No words were necessary. The slight re-remembering of the day’s events would never be spoken of.

***

They packed up all the equipment and cleaned up after themselves, got in the vehicles, and drove back to the motel. After the necessary showers, they got together in the men’s motel room.

“We can’t just leave the portal open,” Monica said. “If things come through, it could be very bad.”

“They already have wolves around here,” Matt pointed out.

“This isn’t a standard wolf, Chuckie!” Monica shot back. “These things could eat a standard wolf.”

“Well, I like the solution that Kevin and Bill came up with, with the pole-cam. Unless something can jump eight feet into the air and sail through an eight-inch aperture, I think we’re safe. Uh…” Matt looked at Monica.

“No, nothing like that that I know of,” she replied with a wan smile.

“So we should do that whenever we go through,” Richard commented. “That way there will be no more surprises.”

“I’m going to make a suggestion, though,” Matt said. Everyone turned to him. “We should load the shotguns with alternating slugs and shot. Some things might shrug off a face-full of shot if they were angry enough, but having a six-inch hole blown straight through you is a good deal harder to ignore. Also, I think everyone needs to spend a few hours on a gun range or something. You need to get used to using the weapons. We can’t have people fumbling with them in a crisis situation.” Matt looked at Monica, who smiled sheepishly.

“You’re the expert, Matt.” Richard said. “And on that subject…” People looked at him expectantly.

“I’m beginning to realize how unprepared we are—I am—for all this. I’ve been kind of running things like I was in charge, and I’ve made some mistakes.” He looked at Monica with a wry grin. “I think I’m going to have to be a little more collaborative and a little less autocratic. That means everyone gets discussion and a vote on everything. It also means we have to consider ourselves like a company. Everyone’s a shareholder.”

Monica put her hand on his arm. “Pretty sure the university doesn’t have a course on Handling Pleistocene Excursions While Gold Prospecting. Although we could suggest it.”

Richard smiled back with a silent thank you.

“A company?” Bill exclaimed. Eyes rolled to heaven. Everyone knew Bill well enough by now to know that tone of voice. “How about Wildside Enterprises?”

“NO!” Five people yelled at once. Bill sat back, smiling. Another victory on points.

“Hey, um, how’d we do on the haul by the way?” Kevin asked.

“That’s right!” Bill added. “In all the excitement, I forgot that that was the point of all of this. Are we rich? Can we retire?”

“Oh, I think you’ll be pleased,” Matt said. He pulled up the bag from the floor and poured the contents onto the table. Given the situation, having an entire planet to themselves, the prospectors hadn’t felt the need to scrabble for every flake of gold. They’d collected only gravel-sized pieces or larger. The result, on the table, left everyone staring.

After a few seconds, Kevin asked, “Any idea how much we have there?”

“No, not really. We forgot to bring a scale,” Erin answered. “My bad. That’s my area.”

“What’s gold worth?” Kevin asked.

Matt pulled out his phone. After typing for a few seconds, and muttering about the lousy data connection, he announced, “About $40,000 per kilogram. For the Luddites among us, that’s about $18,000 per pound.”

“Hey,” called Bill, who had moved off while Matt was looking this up. “You know there’s a scale in the bathroom, right?”

There was a stampede for the bathroom. Knowing the inaccuracies of cheap bathroom scales, they weighed the bag on its own, weighed it while being held by each person, then subtracted that person’s weight. They took all the results and averaged them.

“Just a shade over six pounds,” Matt said when he had completed the calculation.

“Ho. Lee. Shit,” Richard muttered.

Monica inclined her head in Richard’s direction. “What he said.”

“Well, folks,” Bill said, “It looks like Wildside Enterprises is…”

“SHUT UP!”

The Road Home

Is US government working on secret evacuation plan in case Yellowstone megavolcano erupts?

Conspiracy theorists claim US citizens could be relocated to Australia, Brazil, and Argentina

– Daily Mail

July 7                            Richard

The next morning, Richard got up bright and early. The relief of having dodged the bullet with the smilodon, plus the excitement of having harvested over a hundred grand worth of gold on their first time out was euphoric. He woke everyone up with a promise of breakfast at the local eatery.

They were ready in record time, and got a table immediately. Everyone was smiling around the table, even before the coffee arrived.

Everyone except Erin. Her frown had returned and showed no sign of dissipating.

“What’s up, buttercup?” Monica asked.

“It’s the raised ground level on the other side,” she said. Monica raised her eyebrows in a silent question.

“It’s volcanic ash.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, volcanic ash has a unique composition and look. There was a volcanic eruption on that side that hasn’t happened here.”

“How recently?” Richard asked.

“Not very,” Erin answered. “There’s a thick layer of topsoil on top of the ash. The creek has managed to wash it away right down to the original creek bed, and that doesn’t happen fast. Not to mention that that much ash would have wiped out the ecosystem. Everything you see over there has regrown since. And there’s no visible trace of the old growth, like dead trees.”

“So…” Matt prompted.

“Not less than ten thousand years ago, and not more than a hundred thousand,” she answered. “My prof would kill me for making a sweeping statement like that based on a couple of feet of digging, but that’s what it looks like.”

Erin looked around at the group. “I have a favor to ask. Could we swing past Yellowstone?”

“Swing past?” Richard exclaimed. “It’s in the opposite direction!”

“I know, and I’m sorry to ask. We’ve got enough vehicles so that everyone doesn’t have to go.”

“Hold on,” Matt said. “Do you want to go through and explore or just look?”

“Just look. At least this time. If I see something significant, I’ll lobby for a full trip.”

“Well, okay.” Matt looked at Richard. “How about if we put one of the portal generators and the pole-cam in the back of the pickup? It’s secure with the tonneau cover. Erin and I will head that way. Monica, could take Erin’s car back home with Lucy and you could drive. And Bill and Kevin could take the van back.”

“Well, that seems workable,” Richard said, deadpan. “Any objections?” There were none.

Driving Home

July 7                            Richard

“—And they all sang, Sieg Heil! Tickle my ass, taboo…”

As they ended the last chorus, both Richard and Monica broke into uncontrollable laughter. Richard found himself driving out of his lane and got honked at, which sent them into more gales of laughter.

“Wow, that’s crude,” Richard said. “I get that your brothers thought it was funny to teach you all these drinking songs, but I don’t see why you enjoy them so much.”

“Because they’re so crude, of course! I refuse to be prim and proper and politically correct. It’s just no fun. What I can’t understand is why you know so very few of them. Where did you grow up? Salt Lake City?”

Richard chuckled. “Because that’s not stereotyping…”

He hesitated for a moment. “I’ve been in foster homes since I was ten. Not that any of them ever felt like homes. I didn’t have people teaching me drinking songs. I had people stealing my stuff, or beating me up and taking my stuff, at least until I got too big for that. I know I come off as Mr. Serious, and it’s because I always have my guard up. I had hoped that university would let me start over and make some friends, but I just fell into the same old habits.”

Richard stopped talking and stared straight ahead. He felt his ears burning. Verbal Diarrhea. Great. Way to go, moron.

Monica was silent for a few seconds before replying, “Brothers and sisters can be just as bad. I’m the youngest, and I was always the smallest, and shit runs downhill, so guess who always ended up wearing it?”

“Did it ever stop?”

“Yep. One day one of my brothers, Rico, had been eating my food off my plate, and every time I told him to stop, he’d slap me on the side of the head. So I turned, braced my feet, and pushed him right off the balcony.”

Richard’s eyes went wide and he snorted in surprise. “Wow! Was he hurt?”

“No, he landed on grass. But I looked down at him lying on his back with this surprised look on his face, and I said something like, ‘You have to sleep some time, fucktard! You get in my face again, and you’ll wake up singing soprano!’ ”

Richard couldn’t stop grinning. “How’d that work out?”

“It taught me something about taking care of myself.” She grinned at him. “I’ve had some confrontations with my brothers since, but I always make sure they pay.”

She continued after a pause, in a more serious tone. “You know we’re all your friends, right?”

Richard, still a little embarrassed, smiled at her in reply.

Side-Trip to Yellowstone

July 7                            Matt

It was a nine-hour trip from the Black Hills to Yellowstone National Park, but the time passed quickly for Matt. He spent it talking with Erin, getting to know her better, discussing school, career plans, and anything else that came to mind.

“You’ve never explained to me what it is about your parents and money,” Erin said.

“You mean the ‘We won’t support you’ thing?” At Erin’s nod, Matt continued, “My father took a plastics manufacturing company that was about to go under and turned it into a major industry player. In the process, he made a lot of money. I mean a lot. Our family had some lean years before that—I used to share a room with my older brother, and wore a lot of his hand-me-downs.

“Anyway, once we were wealthy, we started moving in those social circles.” Matt raised an eyebrow to indicate his opinion of said circles. “Dad got a look at some of the second and third generation family members. I think the nicest word Dad ever used was ‘parasite,’ and it went downhill from there.”

Matt paused for a moment and smiled. “It didn’t help that the previous owners of the plastics company had inherited it from their parents and then had run it into the ground. Harvard MBAs, too.” Matt shrugged. “Which I guess is why Dad wasn’t too unhappy about me going out to the boonies for university.”

Erin poked him in the ribs. “Hey, watch it, bucko. I’m from those boonies.”

“All the more reason to be happy about my choice,” Matt grinned at her and took her hand.

Erin rolled her eyes, said, “Nice save,” and pointed forward. “Eyes on road, please.”

Matt laughed and took his hand back.

“There was a guy.” He hesitated. “Brent something. He and a small group were always getting in trouble, and their parents were always bailing them out. Total wastes of oxygen, is what my father called them. He wanted Pete and me to understand where cake comes from.”

Erin poked him again with her index finger. “Yeah, I saw what you did there.”

***

When they got to Yellowstone, Erin directed Matt to a location on the Grand Loop Road that afforded a scenic view of the park. They were in an isolated area, so they didn’t expect any interruptions. In any case, although the park wasn’t officially closed, the geological activity over the last few weeks had made the public very reluctant to visit. Yellowstone National Park was probably experiencing its poorest season in a hundred years.

Matt and Erin got out of the van, pulled the pole-cam out, and connected things up. Matt used the inverter to run the equipment off the truck. He powered up the portal, and switched on the gate.

Matt raised the pole-cam into the air while Erin held the tablet.

“Is this good?” Matt asked.

Erin didn’t answer, just stared at the tablet.

“Erin?” Still no answer.

He switched the gate off, cutting off her feed.

She looked up at him, with a shocked, stricken expression. “It’s gone.”

“Er, what’s gone?”

She showed him the video, played back on the tablet. It showed a scene that looked nothing like the view in front of them. In the video, they could see a huge body of water, evidently an inland lake or sea. In the background, parts of some of the mountains were visible. Matt looked up and could see where the distant mountains matched up with the Yellowstone scenery.

“What are we looking at?” he asked.

“It’s a caldera,” She answered. “Collapsed magma chamber, and it didn’t get filled in by lava flows afterwards. This is what’s left of Yellowstone in Outland after what must have been a supervolcano eruption. That lake would have taken thousands of years to fill up. Maybe tens of thousands.”

“Okay, so it blew up there but not here. Why is this an issue?”

“Matt, we’ve been asking why Outland doesn’t have humans. I think this is our smoking gun.”

Yellowstone, Outland, Toba + 200

The clouds of dust and ash spread from the Yellowstone eruption as quickly as they had from the Toba eruption less than 200 years before. For ecosystems that still had not recovered from the previous event, this was devastating. In Africa, a certain type of smart ape that had just managed to pull through the first event was not so lucky this time. The last Homo sapiens died—cold, alone, and terrified—sitting in front of a dead campfire, unaware that in another reality his descendants would walk on the moon.

Cashing In

Risk of supervolcano eruption big enough to 'affect the world' far greater than thought, scientists say

Scientists have analyzed the molten rock within the dormant supervolcano beneath Yellowstone National Park and found that eruption is possible without any external trigger

— The Independent

Yellowstone Super Volcano Won't Erupt Say Experts

Peter Cervelli, a volcano expert at the US Geological Survey, said: "I have not made yet an observation at Yellowstone that causes me to be afraid or causes me to wonder if an eruption was coming."

— Huffington Post

July 7                            Omni

“I got a phone call from Erin,” Monica said. “They’re on their way back from Yellowstone.” She grabbed a piece of pizza from the fridge. “It was very cryptic, though. She refused to discuss it. Just the minimum amount of talking necessary to update me, then she hung up. Something’s weird.”

“Hmm, well we’ll find out in a day or two anyway,” Bill said. He turned to Richard. “So, Big Daddy, what do we have?”

Richard looked at his notes. “About six pounds of gold and cruft. After refining and commission, that’ll be somewhere around eighty-seven thou net to us. Reimbursements to members,” Richard looked around, “comes to about twelve grand, so seventy-five grand when all is said and done. Twelve grand each.”

“That’s pretty good, but we’re going to be doing this again, right?” Bill said.

“Yeah, and I wanted to talk about that,” Richard continued. “The whole motel thing freaked me out a bit. I didn’t like the idea that the van was parked outside, just waiting to be broken into. Or that we had to have the portal on out in the open. Or that we had to go to a remote site before we could do even that. I could go on…”

“I assume you have a solution?”

“Yes,” Richard answered. “Motor Home. Big honkin’ motor home. Maybe a couple of them. We can park in the parking lot. We’ll be a lot closer to the creek, so we can make multiple trips. Or if there’s a campground with hookups near enough we could just set up there. If we get a mechanical shaker table, we can process a lot more creek bed per hour. I’d bet we could even rig one up. Certainly you could.” He looked at Bill, who responded with an extravagant bow.

“Actually Kemo Sabe, that’s a pretty good idea,” Bill replied.

“What the hell does Kemo Sabe mean?” Richard asked.

“Wrong Brother,” Bill and Monica answered at the same time and laughed together. Richard looked annoyed and glared at Bill for a moment.

“As to cashing in the gold,” Richard continued.

Everyone looked to him.

“I’ve gotten the address of every assay service within a six-hour drive of us. I also got a bunch of addresses near the Black Hills for next time. We’ll divide the gold into six equal parts, and cash in at six different locations.”

“Why the cloak-and-dagger?” Monica asked.

“These assay services are used to dealing with either gold buyers, registered prospectors, or tourists. The last two are only going to be dealing with a few thousand dollars’ worth of raw gold at most. If we walk in with a hundred grand worth of raw gold nuggets, someone is going to notice.

“Also, if one of the services gives us significantly less money for our submission, we’ll know they’re skimming and avoid them in the future,” he continued. “When you go in, you give them a story about your deceased father who’s been doing recreational panning for years and never bothered to cash any of it in. It’s weak, but it’s better than nothing.”

Monica smiled. “You’re kind of a sneaky bastard, aren’t you?”

Richard returned the smile and touched her hand. Bill watched this exchange with a frown on his face.

Someone Noticed

July 8                            Lem

Lem Carpentier looked at the results of the assay. The hot chick had brought in almost fifteen grand in gold, in the form of raw nuggets. And all nuggets. Gold came in all sizes from chunks to flakes, so someone hadn’t even bothered to collect the small stuff. There hadn’t been a strike like that since the 19th century. That story she’d given about her father stunk like old fish, but what other possibility was there?

Meh. It was probably nothing. But Lem made a note of the girl’s details anyway. If this turned out to be something else, there was a good chance that Andy would pay him well for the tip.

In The News

Yellowstone continues to show unusual levels of activity. The USGS reports that Yellowstone Lake has overflowed its banks on the Southeast Arm due to extensive ground lift in the area of the caldera. Lava has begun oozing from several locations in what the USGS describes as “weak basaltic flows”.

There have been reports of hoarding and runs on supermarkets in nearby cities. The Governor of Wyoming urges calm. “Yellowstone has done this or similar things many times. It always rumbles for a while then calms down.” Governors of neighboring states have similarly urged the public to remain calm while assuring us that they are taking steps to mitigate any possible events.

Monsters From The Deep

July 9                            Bill

Bill looked around the theatre, then pointed to some seats dead center and a few rows back. He and Monica hustled to get there before someone else claimed them. Juggling the popcorn and drinks, they settled in.

Monica settled the popcorn bucket on her lap. “I can’t believe I didn’t know about this place. I plead brain-damage.”

“Well, it’s not like they advertise. Not much, anyway. Mostly they show foreign and artsy films and such, but every Saturday afternoon, they have Monstar Matinee—” They both completed the sentence together, “—With an ‘A’!” Bill grabbed a handful of popcorn, despite Monica’s attempt to keep the bucket out of reach.

He continued around a mouthful of popcorn. “All the old black and whites, some of the best of the worst. They’ve even had Outer Limits marathons.”

“Well, you can count me in. I used to love watching this schlock on TV. I had nightmares for weeks after watching Day of the Triffids. My mom told me I couldn’t watch those movies any more. So of course my brothers made a point of sneaking me downstairs to watch them.”

Bill chuckled. “Brothers are good for something after all. Although I’m betting they weren’t doing that to be nice.”

“And you’d win that bet. They were trying to freak me out. Dad drew the line when they tried to get me to watch The Exorcist. But still, I never stopped loving old movies, especially old sci-fi and horror.”

“Well, prepare for a treat today. We have a double bill: Island of Terror and Fiend Without a Face. Guaranteed to scare the pants off you. Er, wait…” Bill stopped, putting on a show of chagrin.

Monica went into peals of laughter, loud enough to make other patrons turn, and punched him in the shoulder. “Good one.”

At that moment, the lights started to dim.

Okay, Bill. Don’t push it. You know you’re no good at this, so don’t overreach. Bill had decided that Homer Simpson’s advice applied in this case: Trying leads to failure. So never try.

Bill settled back to watch a bad movie in good company.

Second Road Trip

“The effects could be sufficiently severe to threaten the fabric of civilisation”

— From a 2005 report by the Geological Society of London on a potential Yellowstone super-eruption

July 10              Omni

The group used some of the profit from the first trip to rent a couple of large motor homes. They divided the equipment and supplies between the two vehicles, with enough adjustment so that the women could sleep in one and the men in the other.

The land yachts got terrible gas mileage, but driving them was a dream. The huge captain’s chair and large steering wheel were very comfortable, and the vehicles tracked dead straight on the highway. The cruise control was accurate and didn’t need to be fussed over every time the slope changed.

Every few hours, they would pull the convoy over to a rest stop, stretch their legs, and switch around occupants and drivers. On this occasion, Bill, Monica, and Richard had ended up in the same vehicle, with Bill driving. The two men were making a concerted—and not completely successful—effort to remain pleasant, or at least polite. Monica seemed oblivious to the undercurrent of tension.

Richard talked while poking away at his phone. “This time, we’ll be doing a couple of days of prospecting, and we’ll spend some concentrated time at it. I’m laughing at myself for saying this, but a hundred grand a day just doesn’t cut it.”

“Can’t disagree,” Bill replied. “If you consider expenses, we might as well just get day-jobs.” He gave a tight-lipped smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “This time around, I’d like to come out with at least enough to pay off next year.”

He looked at Richard. “Hey, boss-man, are we going to have someplace to stay this time? Or are we winging it again? Because that was so much fun last time.”

Richard gave Bill a look that was just short of a glare. “I phoned around before we left. I found a campground with hookups, and they say they always have available spaces. Yes, even in high season.”

“And we have plugs for hair dryers,” Monica said, still seemingly oblivious, as Bill and Richard continued their glaring contest.

***

Matt looked in the rear-view mirror. He could see Kevin lying down in the dining area.

He looked over at Erin, who was sitting in the passenger seat. “Not sure we should have let those three get into the same vehicle. Only two might come out.”

Erin made a face, pantomiming fear. “Or one, if they make Monica angry.”

“To be fair,” Matt replied, “Bill and Richard have never been best of buds. On our first meeting, I thought Richard was going to leap across the table and strangle him.”

Erin laughed, then covered her mouth and turned to check on Kevin. She looked back at Matt. “And don’t expect Monica to do anything about it. She loves it when two guys fight over her.”

Matt sighed. “I hate this crap.”

Erin gave Matt a look of astonishment. “For someone who fights competitively, you’re not big on conflict.”

Matt gave her a lopsided smile. “Consistency is overrated.”

***

They arrived a little later than on the previous trip. The motor homes were slower in traffic, and having to stay in the right lane at all times had been inconvenient. They drove into the campground, paid for three days, and got a couple of spots near the back of the grounds.

Richard announced that the first order of business would be a campfire. Things had been so hectic the last several weeks that it was nice to have an evening to relax. Marshmallows were brought out to be duly incinerated.

They settled around the fire in collapsible camp chairs. Richard pulled out some telescoping roasting sticks and handed them out.

“Sure are roughing it,” Monica commented.

Erin brought out a package of wieners. “The name-brand kind,” she said with a cryptic smile.

Bill brought out a cooler of beer, and everyone sat back to relax.

“Oh, yeah,” Bill said, beer in one hand, extended stick in the other. At the other end of the stick, a wiener was being offered up to the fire god.

“Mm-hmm,” Monica answered, while giving all due attention to achieving the perfect toasted marshmallow. Of course, the failures had to be eaten…

The fire crackled, sending up occasional small sparks. The smell of burning pine mixed with the aroma of sizzling wieners, a scent that said camping in a way that could not be argued. As the sun set and the air cooled, they hitched their chairs closer to the fire. The only sounds were the rustling of the trees and the occasional pop from the burning logs.

This state lasted for about fifteen minutes, while the tension drained.

Finally, Richard lowered his phone and looked at Erin. “Okay, Erin. Inquiring minds want to know. What happened with Yellowstone?”

Erin looked around the campfire at the others. All eyes were on her. She pulled out her tablet and passed it around with the video queued up for replay.

“Here’s what I think. I’d love to get my prof involved, but I understand why that can’t happen. We have the following facts: One, there appear to be no humans on Outland. Or at least not in North America—neither Europeans nor Native Americans. Two, around 75,000 years ago on our Earth, Toba blew its stack and almost but not quite obliterated the human race. Three, on Outland, Yellowstone blew up sometime in the last hundred thousand years. I think Yellowstone is the reason there are no people there.”

“Okay,” Bill said, “but we assumed something did it, so why is Yellowstone in particular bothering you?”

“I know Kevin said that there’s no reason for the two Earths to operate in lockstep. In fact, this proves that. But still, they’re going to be similar, especially at the large scale. Both sides have gold deposits in the same places.” Erin smiled and pointed a thumb over her shoulder at the motor homes.

“Both sides apparently took a hit from the Yucatan asteroid, otherwise we’d be looking at raptors instead of smilodons. Both sides have Yellowstone, I’ll bet both sides have Hawaii and Toba. Something on the Outland side tipped the scales to cause Yellowstone to erupt, and that implies that it has the potential on this side.”

Richard held out his hands in a stop motion. “Whoa, you said before that Yellowstone erupted at least ten thousand years ago on the Outland side. Erin, are we looking at an imminent eruption or not?”

Erin looked down in silence for a few seconds. “No, not really. I think I’m just having a bit of confirmation bias. This doesn’t really increase the odds of Yellowstone erupting, compared to a week ago. And the news stories are right about the Yellowstone activity here. We’ve seen this before, and nothing happened in the end.”

She shrugged and smiled at the others. “It’s just that having it in my face like that kind of brings it home. To be honest, I don’t feel quite so much like laughing at Bill’s paranoia right now.”

Bill grinned in acknowledgment at her. “Maybe we could set aside some money and resources to set something up on the other side at the warehouse, some kind of storage and supplies. We could get one of those big sheds that farmers buy that are supposed to be critter-proof and can be put up by one or two people.”

Bill pointed to the motor homes. “And remember, once we go public, the gold panning is finished. Everyone else on the planet will have the same idea, and gold prices will tank.”

He paused to retrieve the wiener from the end of his roasting stick, using a hot-dog bun. He waved his dinner at Erin. “So once we have the money rolling in, let’s stock up a bolt-hole. Maybe we need it, maybe we don’t. Maybe we start a colony, maybe we just have wild parties. But with the amount of money we’ve been talking about getting from our little sideline here, who’s going to say no to a little on-line shopping?” Bill grinned and waved his hot-dog again.

“He’s got my vote!” Monica said with a laugh, and raised her beer in response.

“Fair enough,” Richard said. “Even when the portal becomes public, it’ll still be nice to have our own vacation spot on the other side, right? Maybe we’ll be able to claim squatter’s rights to our own little acreage. I mean, when the land rush starts, if we’re already there I’m pretty sure we’d be the de facto owners.”

Bill shrugged and sat back in his chair to enjoy his hot dog. An easy silence descended on the group. People went back to nursing beers and incinerating marshmallows and wieners.

Prospecting

July 11              Omni

Setting up was a breeze this time. The motor homes were on hook-up, so there was no issue with generators or inverters; and they had set up the gate inside, so there was no issue of anyone seeing them in operation. They closed the curtains to prevent snooping.

Once they were ready to go, Matt held up a canvas bag containing boxes of ammo for the shotguns. “We’re going to have a bit of practice when we go through,” he announced. “You need to at least have a feel for using the guns.”

With no further discussion they opened the gate and climbed through. As before, the ground on the other side was higher, so there was very little stepping down involved. As soon as they had all stepped through, Bill and Kevin closed the large gate and opened the small one, about eight feet off the ground. The Outland group looked up to see the camera peering at them from a hole in the air. Erin smiled and waved.

Matt held up the ammo bag. “Okay, let’s do this. First, single shots, just to get used to the kick.”

Each person took a turn firing their shotgun and pumping another round in. Monica squealed the first time she fired. By the third try however, she was massacring trees with a grin on her face.

“All right. Everyone make sure you’re reloaded,” Matt said. As they reloaded their weapons, the forest sounds started to return.

“Now, we’re going to go full Swartzenneger. Pump and fire as fast as you can until you’ve emptied your gun. I will stand guard.”

Monica fired first, followed within seconds by the rest of the group. The BOOM BOOM BOOM of three pump-action shotguns being repeatedly fired once again shut down the forest cacophony. Lucy tried her best to burrow into the ground.

The group stopped when they ran out of ammo, and reloaded according to Matt’s instructions, alternating slugs and buckshot. Once they were done, they paused to look around. The area looked like a giant weed-eater had been at work. Underbrush was gone, and several smaller trees had been cut through. The rest looked severely shredded.

“Think we’ll be able to find the place again?” Richard said with a chuckle. “Okay, people, let’s march. Compass says this way. Monica, got the spray paint?”

Monica held it up in confirmation. Picking up the disassembled pieces of shaker table, they headed toward the creek.

***

The work went a lot faster this time. It took only a few minutes to assemble the shaker table that Bill had built. A small gas engine provided just enough power for the table mechanism.

As they had done on the previous expedition, they figured out which areas of the creek had the best pickings, and how deep they could dig before results petered out. The person on shovel duty dug in a methodical line, using the detritus from each trench to fill in the previous one.

The last expedition had been treated as a sort of proof of concept, and they hadn’t pushed it. This time around, they worked with determination and almost military precision. Someone was always on guard duty, but they alternated every half hour or so, so everyone got a break.

Lucy was interested in everything, but didn’t give any indication of approaching danger. As Matt commented at one point, given the earlier practice session with the guns, any potential danger was already making a beeline for the horizon.

***

By the time they decided to pack it in for the day, they had amassed several bags, each larger than the one they’d filled the first time.

“Ugh,” Monica said. “I’m beat.”

“Yeah, but look at the haul.” Matt pointed to the bags of gold, leaning against the table legs.

“Shall we leave the table here?” Erin asked.

“Might as well,” Richard replied. “I doubt it’s interesting to animals. Plus it will smell strange. Worst comes to worst, we still have the manual screens, although I have to say I really like the modern conveniences.”

They made their way back to the clearing without incident. When they arrived, the hole in the air disappeared and the large gate appeared. The weary group climbed through to civilization.

***

Day two did not start out like day one. On day one, everyone had been bright, fresh, optimistic, and ready to go. On day two, a bunch of academics learned the consequences of a full day of unaccustomed manual labor. There were groans of discomfort when the alarm went off.

Bill got up and started making coffee. Maybe a large pot, this morning. When the coffee was ready, he called out, “Come and get it!”

Matt moaned, “Can’t. Move. Or. Talk. At. Normal. Rate.”

Bill said, “Dammit, what’d I say to you about treading on my turf?”

“Sight. Returning. Brain. Rebooting,” Matt muttered.

“Will you shut. The fuck. Up,” came from Richard’s bed.

Maybe two pots. Bill laughed and poured several cups of the elixir of life.

He then walked over to the other motor home and banged on the door. “Time to get up,” he called out.

“Get Lost.”

“Fuck off.”

“Coffee’s ready,” Bill replied.

“Be right there.”

“I love you.”

Bill smiled. Much better.

***

It took two more pots of coffee before everyone had managed to sufficiently caffeinate themselves. Matt got up and organized the weapons and ammo. He paused to look at the other three explorers, who were still looking less than enthusiastic. I hope they don’t shoot their own feet off today.

The team departed a little later than the previous day, but since they didn’t have a shooting session, they ended up at the creek-bed at about the same time. There, they discovered that stiff and sore university students don’t work as fast as fresh and healthy ones. Frequent rests were required.

During a rest break later in the afternoon, Lucy started barking. The four looked up and realized that they were facing a small pack of dire wolves. Without the gun session that morning, wildlife hadn’t been driven from the area, and some of it was now interested in a potential meal.

Big mistake. Four sore, cranky, tired potential meals took exception. Without preamble, discussion, or hesitation, four pump-action shotguns cut loose. BOOM BOOM BOOM. Several wolves fell over in the first volley. One wolf all but disintegrated.

Monica yelled, “Rate of fire, motherfucker!” while continuing to pump and fire.

Matt managed a smile, recognizing the reference. Bill would be proud.

Lucy, as usual when shooting started, was trying to emulate a gopher. The few wolves still standing after the initial rounds took off at full speed.

Matt realized that emptying all the weapons at the same time might not be a good idea, so he stopped with several rounds left. Monica stopped early as well, stretching her gun-pumping arm and grimacing in discomfort. They were all left panting, looking at the carnage.

“Well, that was not well thought out,” Matt said. “The area is now covered in blood, and it’s going to attract more predators and scavengers. We may be done for the day.”

“That’s fine by me,” Erin said. “I think I’m done anyway.”

They went over, donned their packs, then turned to look at the shaker table.

“About a hundred bucks to build,” Richard said. They looked at the bags stuffed with gold. “Nawww,” Richard said. As one, they turned and headed off, leaving the table in the clearing.

Tallying Up

"The chance of that happening in our lifetimes is exceedingly insignificant," said Cervelli, a scientist with the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.

— Reuters. “Scientists Dismiss Claims that Yellowstone Volcano About to Erupt.”

July 11              Richard

“Well, son of a bitch,” Richard said, with awe in his voice.

They had brought an accurate scale this time. Weighing the haul had produced a grand total of just a shade over thirty pounds. “That’s, uh…” Matt worked the calculator on his phone. “A little under $450,000. Same assumptions as last time,” he added, looking at Richard.

“That’ll do, pig. That’ll do,” Bill said.

“Have we exhausted the strike?” Kevin asked.

Erin shook her head. “No, Kevin. There’s a lot of uncertainty about how much was extracted from Deadwood, of course. But within an order of magnitude, we could probably get fifty million out before we had to start using serious extraction methods. Then we could always just go to the Homestead lode and start digging.”

Matt added, “And if we ever came close to exhausting that, Pike’s Peak is about the same drive from home.”

“So you’re saying money is no longer an issue,” Kevin finished, his voice shaking a little.

“Ah, yep,” Erin answered.

“I can’t stop smiling,” Bill said. “My face is starting to hurt. Make it stop!”

“Okay, let’s get serious for a second,” Richard said. “We still have to cash this in. We’ll spread it around a little more this time, which means more driving. I’ve got a total of thirteen places we can do that. That’s still around thirty-five grand at each service. I’d like to bring about half that to the places we’ve already been, and more to the places we haven’t. I’ll work it out in more detail later.

“Meanwhile, I think a dividend is in order. Maybe ten thou each, just for pocket money?” Richard looked around. Every head was nodding vigorously.

“All right,” he continued. “Now back to your regularly scheduled laughing and frolicking.”

People let out whoops.

Monica started waving her arms in the air and dancing. Richard’s IQ plummeted.

In the News

The FAA has issued a directive making the area within two hundred miles of Yellowstone a no-fly zone for commercial airline traffic. Airlines are scrambling to re-route their flights, and are promising customers that they will refund any tickets on request.

Government agencies have reported a dramatic increase in chatter on known terrorist channels. They have announced that they are issuing warnings about possible attacks in undisclosed locations.

“Extremist groups see the Yellowstone activity as a direct message from God, and are using it as a rallying call,” said one unnamed source.

Trouble Brewing

July 13              Lem

Lem considered his options. That was two ridiculously large assay submissions within a week, both by kids who had no business being in the business. So to speak. This kid had given some lame explanation about a group expedition and pooling their finds, but Lem knew BS when he was being showered in it. He’d made a note of the kid’s contact info, and he retrieved his notes from the earlier visit.

Andy always paid well for useful information. This could turn into a weekend in Vegas for him if it turned out to be something. He thought for a few seconds, took a breath, and picked up the phone.

***

Andy

Andrew Petrelli put the phone down, and considered the information he’d been given.

Andrew and his associates were minor members of the local underworld. In this modern era of street gangs, they were old-school. They’d managed to leave the big city at a good time (for their health, of course) and had taken up residence in Lincoln just when there was a power vacuum due to a police sweep. Once they were in, they were hard to remove, and Andrew’s reputed Italian heritage made others reluctant to confront him. If pressed, Andrew would point out that he had never claimed to be a Family member as such, but if people insisted on making assumptions, who was he to correct them?

The three of them, Andy, Bluto, and Charles, made a living off the usual low-level stuff: stolen goods, drugs, prostitution, and the occasional bit of strong-arming and extortion. They would never get rich, but it was a living. And the people who had urged Andy and his friends to leave their former location seemed disinclined to follow up as long as they stayed gone.

Andy looked somewhat like a Mafia Don, or at least the TV version of one. Impeccably dressed and manicured, the effect was marred by a gut that tended to hang over his belt.

“Gentlemen, I think we have something interesting here,” he said.

Charles and Bluto looked up from their card game.

Andy relayed what Lem had told him. “I think we should send a gift his way. This sounds like it could be very lucrative.” He handed Charles a slip of paper. “See what you can find out about these kids. Lem said they seemed naïve enough that they might have given him their real addresses.”

Charles took the note without comment, read the contents, and placed it in a billfold.

Charles was large, black, and impressively bald. The baldness was a fashion choice. As with many shaven-headed men, he felt it made him look more dangerous. In his case it served to offset his habitually thoughtful expression. Although Charles was capable of violence when the job demanded it, it was a choice he made with reluctance. He’d taken flak from Bluto about it many times in the past.

“Can we just squeeze it out of them?” Bluto asked.

Charles rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and if they’re legit, they run straight to the cops. Good thinking, Trevor!”

“Don’t fucking call me that!” Bluto did not like the name his mother had given him. It had resulted in many beatings in school, until Trevor had hit puberty and gone from the smallest kid in his class to the largest by a significant margin. The joy he’d gotten from extracting payback had strongly influenced his subsequent career choice. Unlike Charles, violence was Bluto’s first choice.

Now as an adult, Bluto was a very large man—not muscular, just big. A shade over six feet tall, thick and round, he had long black hair and affected a scraggly beard. Andy suspected he was trying to look like the eponymous cartoon character, but had never bothered to ask.

“Be that as it may,” Andy said. “Keep it clean, very light touch. If there’s something we can use, perhaps we can sell them some accident insurance.”

The three smiled at their shared joke. Bluto in particular liked selling accident insurance as much as he liked squeezing.

Back At the Warehouse

July 15              Bill

It had been a very good trip overall, Bill admitted to himself. He looked around the warehouse and smiled at the disorganized stacks of equipment and supplies.

They had cashed in all the gold. They’d had to come up with another cover story, and Bill was pretty sure that they would start to sound very lame very soon.

Now they were making good on Bill’s request. They had taken delivery of a couple of metal sheds. These were the largest they could find that could be assembled by a couple of people without special equipment, or so the ad said, anyway. They came with skylights to provide good light inside even without power.

With the cash influx, Bill had been able to finish the construction of the parts for the truck-sized gate. He added some detail to make the gate modular, so it could be disassembled into four segments when not in use. It didn’t have support plating, and was open on both sides.

Richard had also ordered the parts for more portal generators. With Bill’s natural paranoia and some recent instances of things going not as planned, it looked like Richard was beginning to appreciate Bill’s philosophy of backups for the backups.

Matt had already delivered a half-dozen new controller cards, one for the third portal generator and a bunch of spares. And Bill was building more gates.

At Monica’s insistence, they had gone out gun shopping. They now had an arsenal that would make a survivalist salivate. In fact, they’d been trolling survivalist websites to get ideas for weapons. Bill had taken to affecting a bad Arkansas accent.

“Now,” Bill said, “we need to start buying stuff.”

“And all that is what, exactly?” Matt replied, pointing to the piles of merchandise already in the warehouse.

“That’s just the beginning,” Bill said. “Look, chances are this will come to nothing. We’ll publish the portal information, some of us will get rich, some will get Nobels, everyone’s happy. The world gets a second planet to pollute up and overpopulate and fight over. Whoop-de-doo. But,” Bill held up a finger and put on his most portentous look. “If Erin turns out not to be the Cassandra we’ve all pegged her as—” Bill gave Erin a raised eyebrow and she stuck her tongue out at him in reply. “—then I for one want to have a TV and DVD player in Outland. Minimum.”

“Hah!” Monica waved her index finger at him with mock severity. “I can see you sitting in your LazyBoy watching the TV while a smilodon sniffs your empty snack bowl.” Everyone laughed at this image. “Speaking of which, you’re looking a little more trim, Sunshine. Been doing laps?”

Bill felt himself blush. “I think it’s all this nature stuff we’re doing. More exercise than I’ve gotten in the previous year.”

Richard jumped in. “Okay, Bill, admittedly your paranoia is beginning to rub off on everyone. But we’re not forming a colony, right?”

Bill shrugged. Maybe, maybe not. Stuff happens, dude. All kinds of stuff.

At the Gun Range

July 16              Matt

Matt watched as Monica pushed the switch to send her target to the maximum distance. She adjusted her safety glasses and hearing protection, raised the Glock to ready position, aimed and began firing.

Richard looked over from the next lane, his eyes getting wider. He waited until she’d emptied her clip.

“Good God, woman. You’re enjoying this way too much. What happened to the shy, retiring wallflower that I met a few short weeks ago?”

Monica pressed the button to retrieve her target. “Yeah, that’s me. Shy and quiet. But it turns out that I like guns. Go figure.”

Erin, who had been in the opposite lane, leaned around the partition and commented, “I don’t see how it’s a surprise, Monica. What is surprising is that it took you so long to discover them.”

“Hey, contrary to popular clichés, not all Italian families are Family, if youz knowz what I meanz. My parents are democrats.”

Richard looked over to Matt. “Okay Matt, I’m done. You can have the lane. I’ll be outside at the rifle range. We’re going to try out the new AR-15s.”

“Ooooh!” Monica exclaimed. “Me too! Me too! I want to try out the new assault rifle!”

Matt looked at Richard and raised an eyebrow. “Girls and their toys…” he said sardonically.

Monica left, dragging Richard along behind her.

Like a squirrel towing a moose, Matt thought, watching them walk away. A very energetic squirrel…

He paused to look at Monica’s target, which she hadn’t bothered to take down. There were two very close-spaced groupings of bullet holes: one dead center on the chest, and one right in the groin.

A possibly rabid squirrel.

***

Matt and Erin caught up with Richard and Monica at the outdoor range. Monica had set up with the AR-15 and was methodically squeezing off shots. Richard watched the target with binoculars. He turned to them. “She scares me. I’ve never seen anyone take to something like this. I like to think I’m a pretty good shot, but shit!” He inclined his head towards Monica to emphasize his point. “So where are Bill and Kevin?” he asked.

Matt chuckled. “Kevin did the bare minimum necessary to learn how to shoot and called it a lifetime. I don’t think he likes guns…

“Bill is still on the gun range. He takes a few shots, does a Dirty Harry quote, takes a few shots… The guy is seriously deranged.”

“He just needs a girlfriend,” Monica said. She safetied the rifle, swapped clips, and handed it to Richard. “You’re up, sunshine. Do try to hit the target this time, hmm?” She smiled to take the sting out of the comment.

Richard rolled his eyes and moved into position.

“I’ll want to go over our inventory next time we’re back at the warehouse,” Monica said to Matt and Erin. “We kind of neglected the handgun factor when we did our first round of purchases. We definitely need something for short-range work.”

“First round?” Matt exclaimed. “What are you ramping up for? A war?”

“Well, first… Oh God, I’m starting to sound like Kevin.” They all laughed, and Monica continued, “You have to remember that my introduction to this little escapade was a smilodon trying to eat me. I’m a little sensitive about that. And we’re going to be going, probably many times, into an environment that hasn’t been thinned out by the scourge known as humanity. There’s a full-on ecosystem on the other side, and it’s got a lot of apex predators, and a lot of prey animals that have learned how to fight back. One thing that Bill is right about is that movie characters always go in underprepared and overconfident. I intend to go in overprepared, armed to the teeth, and ready to shoot anything that even looks at me funny.”

Erin smiled. “Well, you ain’t wrong…” They laughed at Richard’s favorite line. Richard gritted his teeth and took another shot.

Casing the Joint

July 17              Charles

Charles and Bluto sat in the SUV, watching the building. It had taken them very little time to trace the names and addresses. Turned out these eggheads really were that naïve. Following the twerps had been easy; they were completely oblivious. He’d determined that they were renting warehouse space in the building across the street, one of those businesses that rented out short-term or long-term storage and warehouse units. The larger units had a rollup delivery door to the outside as well as the inside entrance.

Right now, several of them were in there. Charles, a veteran of this kind of surveillance, had kept careful track of how many went in and how many came out. There was just the tall guy and his hot girlfriend left right now. Once they were gone, it would be time for a look around.

Charles didn’t have to wait long. The two came out and walked to a nearby vehicle. Charles waited until they had driven out of sight, then nudged Bluto. They got out of the SUV, locked it, and walked across to the building. Entering the tenant-only area presented no problem— Charles could pick a standard door lock without breaking stride. They moved down the hall to the proper door.

The door was locked with a common retail padlock. Easy breazy, thought Charles, and pulled out his tools again. It was a matter of seconds to open the lock, and voila! They were in.

Charles and Bluto looked around. Charles was not sure what he had expected, but this wasn’t it. There was a kitchen area, with a fridge, microwave, kettle, toaster, big-ass coffee maker, and some empty beer bottles and pizza boxes. On the warehouse floor, he could see a bewildering array of very scientific-looking equipment, some unidentified crates, and several pallets of what looked like supplies: water, food, camping equipment, tools, and the kits for those big metal sheds that you buy and put up yourself. Pretty good quality too. Real steel, not the tinny ones that would blow over in the first stiff breeze.

What the hell? Are they making the gold? Charles wandered around, lost in thought.

Bluto, meanwhile, was checking out the kitchen. After considering the situation, Charles turned to him and said, “Come on, Bluto. This makes no sense. We’re going to have to talk to Andy. Some squeezing may be involved, after all.”

Bluto licked his fingers to get the last of the tomato sauce from the piece of pizza, wiped them on his pants, and smiled at the mention of squeezing.

In the News

More activity from Yellowstone. USGS spokespersons report that the lava flow from the recent fissures has increased. After two instances of hydrothermal explosions, representatives stress that these are small events and do not provide any indication of future activity. Nevertheless, in consideration of public safety, the park has now been closed. We have reports of a steady exodus of residents from the nearby towns of West Yellowstone, Gardiner, and Cooke City.

---

Al Jazeera has broadcast a video rant from a senior Al Qaeda  representative in which he claims that the activity in Yellowstone is a warning from Allah that the West should give up their materialist ways and embrace Islam. He further warns that if the USA doesn’t obey immediately, they will be obliterated. He then calls on all “faithful Muslims” to be prepared for the great battle.

Ways and Means

July 17              Omni

Andy sat back and thought a moment. “So these kids have a warehouse full of junk, stuff that looks like they’ve been on an on-line buying spree. Which means lots of money, and recent money at that.

“Lem called me again today,” he continued, looking over at Charles. “He’s been talking to a few people he knows in the business—his business, that is.” Andy chuckled at his own joke. “And it seems all of them can remember a couple of instances of kids coming in with large amounts of raw gold and a familiar lame story. Lem has suggested there could be as much as a million dollars’ worth involved, depending on how many places they visited.”

“We don’t know for sure they’re doing something illegal,” Charles pointed out.

“True,” Andy replied. “But they are doing something secret. And secrecy is always worth something. We simply need to figure out how much it’s worth to them. And of course whether we threaten to spill their secret or share it with them.” Andy smiled. Even Bluto understood what share meant in this context.

“Do you think they could actually be making gold?” Charles asked Andy.

“No, not really. I’m no squint, but I don’t think that’s possible.”

Andy was actually better educated than he let on. He had gone through a couple of years of university before deciding that there were better ways to make a living.

He thought for a moment before continuing. “I think a soft touch is still in order. These are kids from the kind of families that the cops listen to when they scream for help. We want to be sure we have some good leverage before moving in. It would be nice to have enough of a nest-egg to be able to separate ourselves from the more high-risk components of our portfolio.”

Bluto and Charles both nodded. Old-school or not, crime was a dangerous and increasingly young person’s game. And pressure from other gangs on their drug trafficking business was increasing, which had negatively affected profits. Andy did not like negatively affected profits.

Shopping

July 18              Bill

On-line shopping is one of the truly perfect activities, Bill shook his head in amused disbelief. Especially when you don’t have to worry about money.

He sat in a deck chair in the shade outside the warehouse door, with a laptop in front of him, a small side-table with a beer on it, and a cooler below that with additional supplies.

It had been a busy morning. Bill had discovered earlier, to no one’s surprise, that survivalists had been thinking about the whole return-to-the-wild thing for a long time. Granted their focus wasn’t quite the same; nevertheless the information on the websites about weapons, first aid, supplies, and living off the land was pretty damned encyclopedic. All you had to do was ignore the occasional conspiracy rant. He was using them as a reference, and was working his way through the list of possible purchases.

Bill tried to give his imagination free rein. What would Colonel O’Neill need? What would Dr. Jackson need? What weird kind of jams might they find themselves in? What piece of equipment would they wish they had brought? Bill considered himself a connoisseur of ironic plot twists and seemingly insoluble cliffhangers, and he was determined to out-think God on this one.

ATVs. Dirt bikes? Sure, who wants to hoof it all day? For that matter, ultralights. I wonder if we need to worry about snow? Solar cells…

And of course, one mustn’t forget the basic necessities of life. Like coffee. A coffeemaker that size needs a comparable supply to do it justice. Bill smiled at this thought.

He was so wrapped up in his internal dialog that he didn’t notice the two large men standing in the shade a hundred feet or so away, watching him.

“He seems to be just web surfing. All day,” Charles said.

“Nice work if you can get it,” Bluto commented.

They continued the seemingly pointless surveillance for the rest of the afternoon.

***

Erin

“Now this is what I’m talking about!” Monica had stopped in front of a shoe display and was examining the featured items.

Once they had cashed in the gold, Richard had distributed the dividend to the group. Erin and Monica declared a Field Trip, which was their code phrase for a shopping expedition. Monica voiced an urge to visit Nordstrom, so they drove to Kansas City with Intent to Shop.

Now they were at their destination, determined to go through the entire wad of cash. Monica was in the shoe department, staring at some Jimmy Choos with lust.

“Not very practical for hiking through Pleistocene forest,” Erin commented. “Or for running from smilodons.”

“Hah! My running days are over. Some cat comes at me, I’ll blow it away, and I’ll do it in style!” Monica replied with a flourish.

“Um, yeah, but we may need to make another trip back to the hotel to drop off packages,” Erin said. “My arms are getting sore.”

“Spoils of war, buttercup. It’s a good pain.

“Next,” Monica continued, “handbags!” The two made their way to the accessories department, hampered by the bags they already carried.

Neither noticed a large, well-dressed man who had been staying just at the edge of view for most of their shopping spree.

***

Later, at the hotel room, the girls unwrapped everything. Monica threatened to pile every single purchase on the bed and swim in it, which made Erin collapse in laughter. They spent a few hours trying everything on, even the items they had already tried on at the store. After that, they decided to break for dinner.

“Wearing my Manolos like Carey Bradshaw. Hello, lover!” Monica said, laughing.

“You’re strange. Just. Strange.” Erin replied, shaking her head.

Kind of Scary

July 20              Suzie

Suzie and her friends were sitting in the rec room at the Union. They’d agreed to get together to talk about their latest assignment in Late Antiquity. However, someone had left the TV on CNN, and the network was playing an almost continuous loop about the Yellowstone activity. In fact, no one in the room was paying much attention to anything but the TV.

“That is so freaky!” Frankie said. There were nods of agreement around the table.

“I was talking to one of the geology students,” Suzie said, “and he insisted that this activity isn’t significant enough to be alarming. He said if Yellowstone didn’t act up like this every hundred years or so, it would be a surprise.”

“Funny, I don’t feel better,” Frankie answered. “That’s still a whole lot of fire and brimstone.”

“Yeah, well, don’t go there on vacation this summer,” Stephanie said.

“You get vacations?” Maddie asked, mock-surprised.

Stephanie made a face. “You know what I mean.”

“Wouldn’t it be neat if it did erupt, though?” Frankie asked.

This comment was met with stares of disbelief. “Neat?” Suzie asked. “What do you mean?”

“You know, romantic. Back to medieval life, battling nature, heroes and villains, all that.” Frankie’s tone made it obvious that he was kidding.

“Better not say that around the geology people. They have no sense of humor where this all is concerned.”

“Well, look, we’ve had at least three major volcanoes that I can think of in the last fifty years, and we’re still here,” Joy commented.

“Yes, but Professor Collins is tossing around the word supervolcano, and I for one don’t care for that,” Suzie said.

“I for one don’t care for that,” Frankie laughed. “You, my dear, are a master of understatement.”

Suzie bowed to him.

They all turned to the TV again as the endless loop of repeated reporting again started displaying close-ups of impressive volcanic activity.

Third Expedition

July 20-23              Charles

The group met as usual at the warehouse, with two rented motor homes. This system had worked so well last time, why mess with it? They loaded up the land yachts, locked up, and drove off. As they left the warehouse complex, a black SUV pulled away from the curb and drove in the same direction.

***

“They didn’t do anything, Andy!” Charles was beyond frustrated at what he felt had been a total waste of his time. Four days that he would never get back, driving for hours, or sitting for hours watching a couple of motor homes where nothing ever happened. And to make things worse, his boss didn’t believe him.

“So, let’s go over this again, Charles. They drove to the Black Hills area.”

“Yes.”

“They rented a couple of spots in a camping ground.”

“Again, yes.”

“And other than some evenings around a campfire, they never left their motor homes the entire weekend?”

“That’s correct. Yes. Then on the third morning, they checked out and came home. Unpacked all that equipment at the warehouse, and returned the rented motor homes. Absolutely, utterly pointless.”

Bluto didn’t say a word, but he nodded in agreement at every statement.

“We went back and visited their warehouse operation again earlier this evening,” Charles said, “to see if we could learn anything new. There’s even more stuff in there. They’re starting to look like survivalists to me. Where are they planning to go, though?”

Andy got a thoughtful look on his face. He started to respond but at that moment, his phone rang. “One second…” Andy said to Charles.

“Hello. Yes, it is I. No, that’s okay. Uh huh. I see. How much? Thank you. Yes, most appreciated. Good bye.”

Andrew turned to Charles. “That was our good friend Lem, who advises me that another random kid came into his place of business today with a lame story and dropped off what to Lem’s experienced eye looks like about three pounds of raw gold. Given that Lem thinks they may be distributing their gold across as many as ten offices, that works out to over five hundred thousand dollars, earned through four days in a couple of motor homes.

“And it would seem, Charles, that they managed to do this right under your nose.”

“I’m not an idiot, Andy, and I didn’t fall asleep. There’s something more involved.”

“To be frank, Charles, I am inclined to agree with you. I believe there is more going on here than meets the eye. Remember all that scientific equipment you were saying they loaded and unloaded? And they went to a location that once had a monumental gold rush. And there are these shopping sprees that we have been observing. Nouveau Riche indeed. Yes, more than meets the eye.” Andy thought for a second.

“I believe I have divined their secret. We will pay a visit to our new partners tomorrow.”

“Will there be leaning?” Bluto asked.

Andy smiled. “There may well be, my friend. There may well be.”

A Visit from the Mob

July 24              Matt

Matt and Erin walked into the warehouse, to find everyone else already there.

“You’re late,” Bill called to Matt.

“No,” Matt replied, “you’re early.”

Erin rolled her eyes, gave Matt’s hand a quick squeeze, and went to talk to Monica.

Matt walked over to where Bill and Richard were poring over some documents. The back of one of the pages indicated that it was the instructions for building the metal sheds that Bill had purchased.

Bill smiled at Matt. “Richard and I seem to have different opinions about how this is supposed to go together.”

Richard looked up. “That’s the first thing he’s said that’s correct.” He smiled for a brief moment before returning his gaze to the document.

Was that a joke? Matt was surprised. He looked at Bill, but he was too absorbed in the problem at hand.

Matt sighed and looked around the warehouse. The agenda for today included a good bit of organizing, as well as construction of the metal sheds. The buying sprees had resulted in large haphazard piles of goods scattered around the warehouse. It was time to start making use of their purchases, starting with setting up a presence in Outland.

Monica and Erin walked over to join the group.

“We ready to get started?” Monica asked.

Richard and Bill put down the installation instructions. Richard said to Bill, “We’ll have another look at this once we have the area prepped. For now, let’s get the gate opened and get stuff across, okay?”

Monica headed to the kitchen to grab some leftover pizza, while Richard and Kevin set up the truck-sized gate.

Richard had rented a bobcat with a shovel attachment and a forklift attachment, and a compact backhoe for trenches. This had raised some eyebrows at the rental company, but the credit card passed muster, and business is business.

Bill had a shotgun near at hand in case something decided to investigate from the other side, but experience had shown that the sudden appearance of a hole in the air tended to scare off the local wildlife.

As they turned on the gate, Monica’s voice came from the corner, dripping with annoyance. “Someone’s been eating my porridge.”

“Huh?”

“The pizza. There were still three pieces left. I know this because I put them in the fridge myself. They’re gone. Which one of you crumbs ate my snack?”

Everyone exchanged glances. “Did anyone come in late last night or early this morning?” Richard asked. He waited for a response, but was met with silence.

“Well, that’s odd,” Richard muttered. “Have we been broken into? Everyone look around please. See if anything’s missing. Other than pizza, I mean.”

They had just started heading in various directions to look things over, when a voice from the doorway said, “Perhaps I can help you gentlemen, and ladies, with that question.”

Matt looked over to see three men entering the warehouse. They were each holding handguns and waving them quite nonchalantly.

“Good afternoon,” continued the man who seemed to be in charge. “My name is Andrew Petrelli, and these are my associates. We’d like to talk to you about some large gold transactions that you have made in the recent past.”

“You’re cops?”

“No, of course not. We’re just concerned citizens.” The man smiled, but it never reached his eyes. “Initially my associates conjectured that you might be making gold in the manner of the medieval alchemists, but I see from that—” pointing to the open gate, “—that there is another possibility. Time travel perhaps? Seems like a dangerous pastime, particularly for a group of college kids with no experience in that area.”

“We were thinking you might need some accident insurance,” the largest one added.

Mr Petrelli frowned at this interruption. “Please let me take care of the negotiations, Trevor.”

Trevor said nothing, but his face got very red and he scowled at the back of his boss’ head.

Matt realized that his friends had been in the process of scattering around the warehouse when they were stopped by the goons. This placed the goons at a disadvantage as they now had to look in several directions to keep track of everyone. Matt expected that their next step would be to herd everyone together in one spot, and that would leave the group helpless. Time for a distraction.

Matt stepped forward, getting as close to Mr. Petrelli as he dared. Slouching and trying for a whiny voice, he said, “This is none of your business. Hit the road, or we call the cops.”

Petrelli looked at him for a moment in disbelief, then laughed. “You got moxie, kid.”

He actually said ‘moxie’, Matt thought. Is this guy straight out of a movie?

“How about you shut up now and I don’t have to hurt you.” Petrelli continued, with a sneer on his face.

Matt looked out of the corner of his eye. Erin stood between one goon and a pile of camping gear. She was resting her hand casually on a small portable propane canister. Richard had managed to sidle just outside of the other goon’s peripheral vision. And Bill had the shotgun, if he could be given the time to grab it.

Now or never, Matt thought, and put on his best sneer. “What’re you gonna do, fatso? Sit on me? Or maybe get Trevor there to do it?”

Petrelli got very red and angry, and Trevor actually snarled. The third goon rolled his eyes.

Trevor stepped forward at the same time as Petrelli raised his gun to pistol-whip Matt. Matt, expecting this, relaxed into the zone and watched the world go into slow-motion.

As Petrelli’s right hand came down at Matt’s head, Matt raised his left arm to block. While that arm redirected the blow to the outside, his right hand shot up to strike Petrelli in the point of the chin with an open-palm strike. Petrelli was a big man, but the jaw and teeth aren’t protected by a whole lot of muscle. Petrelli broke several teeth and missed a broken jaw only because Matt didn’t have the angle. Matt’s knee came up into Petrelli’s abdomen, just below the breastbone. There was a woofff as Petrelli lost any breath he may have had and folded at the waist. Matt pushed down on the back of Petrelli’s head and pulled up on his right shoulder. Petrelli did a perfect horizontal pirouette, marred only by a face-first landing on the concrete floor as he completed the rotation. There was a loud crunch as his nose shattered.

***

Richard

Meanwhile, Charles had brought up his gun, possibly to take a shot, possibly to make threats. Before he could make his intentions known, Richard whispered, “Hey asshole.”

As Charles turned towards him, Richard delivered a horizontal elbow strike to the center of Charles’ forehead. Since the blow was backed by 220 pounds of angry physicist, Charles went down without an argument.

***

Bluto

Bluto was momentarily frozen as he witnessed attacks on both Charles and Andy. He made a decision and moved to help his boss. In doing so, he dismissed Erin and Monica as non-combatants.

In Bluto’s world, women didn’t fight. Women screamed while holding their faces. Or women ran while screaming. Or best yet, women grabbed their boyfriend’s arm and tried to drag them away from the fight, in effect hobbling them.

The first indication that Bluto had miscalculated was a propane canister spranging into the side of his head. The canister made a surprisingly pure ping sound, and Bluto saw stars. There was another ping and more stars as Erin applied a second treatment. Then Monica came around in front of Bluto and wound up into a full-on punt kick where it would do him the least good. The effort was marred by a bad angle and by Bluto’s thick thighs, but it was still more than enough to make him lose interest in his boss’ problems.

Somehow, Bluto didn’t lose his gun, and he didn’t quite go to his knees. Gathering every ounce of strength he had, he forced out “You bitch!” while slowly bringing up the gun.

The girls squealed and ran in different directions. As Bluto started to swivel and aim, he heard a clickety-click. He turned his head to see one of the kids bearing down on him holding a pump-action shotgun. The kid had murder on his face, and he had the drop on Bluto. Bluto decided to depend on the general principle that decent law-abiding people won’t shoot you in the back. He turned, grabbed his boss by the collar, and yanked him off the ground.

Andy came up, his face a swollen and bleeding mass of red with two unfocused eyes staring out of the mess. Bluto turned toward the exit, but the damned kid with the twelve-gauge had cut him off. The bitch that had nutted him was yelling at the kid to shoot, and she looked like she was running to get a weapon herself. Charles was staggering to his feet, but didn’t look like he was going to be much help for a while. Bluto looked around frantically. Normally, he took orders from Andy. Andy did management. Bluto did the work.

He looked at the big open door to the field outside. Bluto had a moment of puzzlement—he was sure they hadn’t driven far enough to be completely out of town. But it was an exit, it didn’t have a kid with a gun in front of it, and they could always circle around and come back once they regrouped.

And when they did, these kids would get a lesson in manners.

Bluto dragged himself and his boss through the big exit to the meadow— and freedom— beyond. Charles, still wobbly, grabbed his gun from the floor and dove through the exit as well, running to catch up with his associates.

***

Omni

Richard stomped over to the gate, grabbed one of the cables, and yanked it out. The gate closed. “And fuck you very much!” he yelled into the air.

There was a moment of stunned, frozen silence as everyone tried to take in the events of the last few minutes. Erin stood there with her hands over her mouth, gasping. Monica had an expression on her face that suggested she’d like to go another round. Kevin was off to the side, bent over and moaning, “Oh god, oh god.” From the odor, he had thrown up. Bill stood in place, staring down at the shotgun in his hand.

“What the hell just happened?” Bill asked. For once, he had no witticisms or movie references to offer.

“We just got a visit from the mob, I think,” Richard said.

“Mob, hell,” Monica retorted. “If that guy was Italian, I’m Mike the Knight. Did you hear him? He talked like Fat Tony from the Simpsons.”

Matt smiled weakly. “Moxie.”

Richard said, “Okay, so those were some local tough guys who thought they’d muscle in on us. Which raises the question, of course: How in the nine circles of hell did they find out about us?”

“You heard what he said,” Erin replied. “ ‘Large gold transactions.’ Someone blabbed.” She went over to sit down at the kitchen table.

“Well this is just fucking great.” Richard exclaimed. “We can’t use any of those offices anymore?”

“Holy hell,” Bill chimed in. “This was supposed to be so straightforward. Got a cool new invention, go get gold, trade for money, live happily ever after. Not so much, as it turns out.”

Richard sat down and put his head in his hands. “I can’t believe the extent to which I keep getting things wrong.”

There was a moment of silence. “So what now?” Matt asked.

Richard started to reply, hesitated for a moment, then said, “We have well over a million in the bank. We can walk away right now.”

“Two hundred thou each, give or take,” Matt said. “It’s nice money, and no question it’s life-changing, but you can’t retire on it. We’d still all have to get jobs, or—”

Monica interrupted, almost shouting. “Y’know what? I bet our faux mobsters there are it. I bet it’s just the three of them, otherwise they’d have brought more. Some small-town tough guys who are used to beating on crack-heads. I am not going to let them rule my life. I say we just keep to the plan.”

Monica’s speech seemed to give everyone new heart. They stood a little straighter, looked more resolute.

“Hey guys?” it was Kevin. He was cleaning up after himself. He looked hangdog and shame-faced. “Does anyone remember that those guys went through the gate? They’re on the other side.”

“So? Fuck’em.” Monica said.

“It’s not just that. I’m not happy about leaving them to die, even if they did point guns at us. But they’ll come back once they figure out there’s no civilization out there. We can’t set up our storage sheds here. They still have guns. Two, anyways.”

Everyone was silent for a few seconds.

“All right, how about this?” Monica said. “We put a written message on the other side, on a piece of plywood or something. We’ll check every day at some specified time for some number of days, using the pole-cam. We’ll bring them back if they toss their guns through first and come through with their hands up. If they don’t come back, there’s nothing we could do anyway. None of us is a tracker.”

“That sounds like a good compromise,” Richard said. “And if they talk about our operation, we’ll press charges. Not foolproof, but better than a kick in the crotch.”

Monica chuckled and blushed a little.

“Meanwhile,” Richard continued, “we’ll have to find another base. If there are more goons, they know about this place, and if we get these three back, you can bet they won’t just walk away. Matt, as of now we pull the controller cards when we’re not using the portals. They’re boat anchors without those.”

Bill piped up, “Listen, Richard, the assay services are only a risk because we’re bringing in raw gold. That’s unusual enough to get attention. But gold buyers bring in gold all the time, and I bet in pretty significant quantities. All we have to do is smelt the gold ourselves. I could set up a small furnace easily enough.”

Matt looked at Bill, looked around the warehouse, and said, “Hey, why not? You’ve already pretty much taken over.”

Richard grimaced. “Wish we’d done that in the first place.”

Monica went up to him. “Come on, big guy, don’t be so hard on yourself. None of us thought of any of this. It’s not like there’s a manual for this stuff.”

Richard sighed and smiled at Monica, before continuing. “Okay, let’s get this done. Bill, put up a sign on the other side. Matt, collect the other controller cards. I’ll start a search for another warehouse, as far from here as possible.”

Mid-Day Move

“No active geology happening anywhere within a thousand miles of here, and yet, we’re actually looking at the result of a truly cataclysmic eruption…”

Mike Voorhies, paleontologist.

From Super Volcano: The Ticking Time Bomb Beneath Yellowstone National Park

July 26              Omni

Another move was complete, this one in the middle of the day, so they were glad it was Saturday. Both of the warehouse complexes were quiet, and traffic was light. They moved the kitchen, then all their purchased supplies and arsenal, then last of all the portal equipment.

They stood in the new warehouse, looking at everything that they had accumulated. The rented moving van was still parked outside the rolling door, waiting to have the last cargo run unloaded.

They had kept to their word and checked for several days at the old location, but the goons had never reappeared. At this point, everyone agreed that the goons were probably dead. This caused a certain amount of guilt, and there had been some talk of getting the police involved. Monica had squelched this by suggesting that they would call the cops once they came up with what they would say. It had taken more than an hour of ‘um’ and ‘er’ before everyone came to the realization that every version of an explanation would put them in a thorough shit-storm of trouble, both with the law and with any potential associates of Mr Petrelli.

In normal human fashion, they decided not to rock the boat. The goons would likely never be found, and they would not likely be missed. The group agreed that the cops would not be sorry to see them gone.

***

“Okay, we’re here,” Richard said. “And we’ve got this warehouse not registered in any of our names. As stupid as I feel saying it—I hate to sound like Bill—we’ll have to watch for tails when coming and going.”

“I’m just glad we hadn’t already started putting up the sheds at the old place,” Bill said. “Can we get going on that? I feel kind of stupid myself with all this stuff—” He motioned to the stacks of equipment and supplies. “—just lying around.”

“I’d be happier,” Erin added.

Richard waved a hand. “Okay, guys. Point taken. Plus we’ve been paying rental on the bobcat and backhoe and not doing anything with them. That gets me right in the wallet.” He grinned at them.

“Well I’m done for the day, I think.” Bill said, stretching. “What say we work on that tomorrow?”

No one argued. It had been a long, physical day, and everyone had had enough.

Matt rose from his chair with a theatrical groan, went to the truck and moved it inside the warehouse through the delivery door, and they locked up.

Activity

July 27              Omni

True to their word, the men met early Sunday morning at the warehouse.

Richard said, “Erin and Monica will be in later. Something about a shoe emergency. So meanwhile, let’s see about these sheds.”

They reviewed the instructions for the sheds. Bill and Richard renewed their argument, then eventually agreed to wait until the ground was set up and they were ready to build. Finally, they decided they could start work.

Matt moved the van back outside, through the delivery doors. Bill and Kevin unloaded a portal generator from the van and set up the truck gate inside the warehouse, while Richard and Matt went to prep the bobcat and the backhoe. As soon as they opened the truck gate, Richard drove the bobcat through and began flattening the area needed for two large sheds. Matt took the backhoe and started digging trenches for the walls, taking direction from Bill, who was laying out the location. Kevin, per standard operational procedures, stayed Earthside in case something went wrong with the gate.

Once they had laid the groundwork, they swapped the forklift attachment onto the bobcat. Matt began driving supplies through the gate, starting with the shed pallets. Bill and Richard started building the sheds.

They discovered, however, that the claim that the large sheds could be assembled by two people was barely true, and only if you had a lot of spare time. They drafted Matt and the bobcat to help with assembly. Using the forklift to raise sections sped up the work considerably. The men got into a routine, and before long they had one shed assembled and the second one laid out in preparation.

At this point, Richard called lunch break.

They shut down the equipment, stepped back Earthside, and Kevin turned off the gate.

With no pizza delivery on a Sunday afternoon, Matt and Bill drove out in Matt’s truck and did a pick-up order. Soon they were all sitting around the warehouse kitchen table, eating pizza and drinking beer.

“Can’t operate heavy machinery, now,” Bill said, holding up the beer.

Kevin snickered.

At that moment, Monica and Erin burst into the warehouse, out of breath. “Have you seen the news?” Erin exclaimed.

The men looked at each other in consternation, then at Erin. “No, what’s up?” Matt asked.

“Yellowstone. It’s become more active. Very much more active. It’s got more lava flows and almost constant tremblors. And there’ve been more hydrothermal explosions.”

“More what?” Matt replied. He reached over to the TV and turned it on. Monica, meanwhile, helped herself to some pizza.

“Lava flows,” Erin answered. “A lot of lava glooping out. Generally you can walk fast and stay in front of it. Yellowstone had an episode similar to this about 70,000 years ago. That’s where the lava came from that fills most of the Yellowstone caldera today.

“However, the hydrothermal explosions are an added bonus. That’s what’s getting people agitated.”

“Well that’s unfortunate for the park of course,” Bill answered. “But does it affect us?”

“Hmm, as it is, maybe some ash, maybe some smoke, maybe even a big earthquake or two. Small potatoes. But if this is a precursor, it could be worse. Much worse.”

“Okay,” Bill said, “I’ll bite. How much worse?”

“End of civilization?” Erin replied.

“Oh wow…” Kevin said.

“It’s, the, end of the world as we know it…” Bill started to sing.

“SHUT UP!” five voices shouted in unison.

Matt tuned to CNN. The TV showed a view of a large fissure with lava flowing from it. The caption below it read “YELLOWSTONE LIVE”. The video was being shot from a helicopter with maximum magnification—it had that shaky, won’t-stay-in-focus aura so common in extreme-distance shots. Off-screen, a commentator described the scene and regurgitated quotes from the USGS and the Governor’s office.

“They’re too close,” Erin commented.

“What?” Monica asked.

“The helicopter. They’re too close if it erupts.”

“How far would be far enough?” Monica asked.

“Um…” Erin replied, “hundred miles minimum,” and turned away.

The group attempted to get back to moving equipment out of the van, but it soon became obvious that nothing was going to get done any time soon. Richard locked the van, and they all came to the kitchen and sat down to watch.

In the middle of an interview, one of the anchors interrupted the latest expert talking head. “We’re taking you back to Yellowstone, where our reporters have informed us that activity has dramatically increased.”

The view cut to the same uber-magnified view of Yellowstone, but there were now a lot more cracks and fissures opening up and oozing lava. In several places, explosions threw large masses of rock through the air. As the reporter tried to describe what the viewers were already seeing, there was a sudden blinding flash. The TV image saturated, while screams and curses were heard from the chopper. Then the feed cut out.

The station cut back to the news anchors, who were all staring off-screen with their jaws hanging. There was dead silence for several seconds before one of the women put her hands to her mouth and started to sob.

The camera immediately cut to another anchor, who said in a neutral voice, “We seem to have lost our signal. We’ll keep you informed as we receive updates.” He looked to the side and began to say something as the picture cut to a recorded interview with another expert.

It's Actually Happened

How do you get food, how do you get supplies, how do you get in and out, even after the eruption?

Michael Rampino, Associate Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences

From Super Volcano: The Ticking Time Bomb Beneath Yellowstone National Park

Aug 1                            Richard

Richard turned to look at Erin, who was still staring wide-eyed at the TV. He could see everyone else staring at her, as well.

Monica was the first to speak. “Did what I think just happened, just happen?”

Erin said nothing for a few seconds, blinked twice, and said, “What time is it, someone? Exactly!”

Matt looked at his phone. “2:32. Why?”

Erin replied, “We have—” She stopped and looked up in thought. “—between two and five minutes to get ourselves to a safe spot. There’s going to be an earthquake, and I think it’ll be severe!”

“How severe?” Monica asked.

When Erin didn’t respond, Bill piped up, “It goes all the way to eleven, man!” in a stoner voice.

“Not the time, Bill,” Richard said.

“Sorry.”

“He’s not necessarily wrong, though,” Erin said. “Think Japan, 2011 only more so. I’m hoping the distance will temper it a bit.”

“Okay, everyone up,” Richard said, once again taking charge. “Assume this building is coming down. If you have anything you need to save, grab it now. Matt, here are the van keys. Move the van to the middle of the parking lot. Everyone else, run to the middle of the parking lot.”

Everyone got moving. As soon as they were all out of the warehouse, Richard secured the delivery door, then ran to catch up with the rest.

Erin had her phone to her ear. She talked into it as she walked. “Mom and Dad, it’s Erin. Yellowstone has erupted. If you’re screening your calls, there’s going to be an earthquake within a minute or two. Be ready. Otherwise, when you get this message, pack necessities and get in the truck and get out. You have to be at least a thousand miles away from Yellowstone. If your passports are still good, go north across the border to Winnipeg then head west to Vancouver. That’s outside of the path of the ash. If you can’t do that, head east. Try for something on the shore of one of the Great Lakes. But do it fast. Bye. I love you.”

The van was parked near the center of the parking area, away from any light poles. The group gathered near it. “Let’s move away from the van, okay?” Richard said. “Things start bouncing around, you don’t want it on top of you.” Looking shocked, they milled around for a few seconds, then somehow formed a group decision and moved about a hundred feet from the van.

“Time?” Erin asked.

“2:35,” Matt answered.

“Okay then,” Erin said. “We’re now in the envelope.”

They stood, looking at each other. Then without warning, the ground heaved! Everyone went down with exclamations of fear and surprise. The earthquake continued for perhaps a minute, with the ground moving back and forth and a loud grinding and thudding sound assaulting their ears. Car and building alarms went off all around. Something exploded in the distance. Cracks appeared in the pavement. From the corner of his eye, Richard could see the van bouncing around on its suspension.

After what seemed like forever, the shaking stopped. A few alarms were still going off. In the distance, sirens began to wail. The group slowly picked themselves off the ground. They looked at each other. Everyone’s eyes were showing a lot of white.

“Everyone okay?” Richard asked. There were nods, a few grunts. Even Bill was silent except for a muttered comment about ACME earthquake pills.

“Well that wasn’t so bad…” Erin said. The looks from the others suggested she had lost her marbles. “No, seriously. Those were Raleigh waves, and they are slower than the P and S waves, so that’s about as bad as it’s going to get. I’d bet there’s a lot less damage overall than there could have been.”

The mention of damage brought things back into focus. “I need to check the equipment,” Richard said.

“I’ll check the warehouse,” Bill added.

Matt went with Richard to the van. The rest took off to the warehouse.

Richard unlocked the van and pushed up the rolling door, not sure what to expect. For a wonder, everything appeared to be still in place.

“Well, bless Bill and his engineering ‘anything-worth-doing-is-worth-overdoing’ heart,” Matt said. “We always kidded him about packing for Armageddon.”

“Who knew?” Richard replied with a wry smile.

***

Bill

Meanwhile, Bill reached the warehouse with Kevin, Erin, and Monica right behind him. Upon inspection, the building did not appear to have any obvious structural damage. There were cracks, a couple of awnings had fallen down, and the outside lights were off, but the structure itself was intact.

Bill unlocked and attempted to open the delivery door. “Oomph,” he said as the door refused to budge. Erin moved to give him a hand, followed by Kevin and Monica. They managed to get their fingers under the skirt of the door far enough to get a grip. Bill said, “1, 2, 3, lift.” The door resisted for a fraction of a second, then rose with a squeal of rubbing metal.

They entered the now-dark warehouse. Emergency lights were on, but were only good for finding the way to an exit, not for getting anything done. Kevin went to the kitchen and retrieved the emergency flashlights from the electrical outlets where they had been charging. He handed one to Monica and turned his on.

They examined the interior of the warehouse. Again, it looked like they had been lucky. The pallets of equipment and supplies were in disarray, with many items having spilled to the floor. However, since nothing had been stacked very high in the first place, there wasn’t a lot of opportunity for things to actually fall.

At that moment, the van pulled up to the warehouse door. The engine died, and Richard and Matt got out.

“Can’t believe that thing is still working,” Bill said, shaking his head.

Coming in to the warehouse, Richard said, “We need to have a discussion about what to do now. Erin, you’re the expert in this situation. What can we expect next?”

“First, do we have any communications or anything?” Erin asked.

Matt checked his phone, shook his head. “No signal.”

Kevin went and checked the TV. “Erm, the TV didn’t survive. Not that we have power…”

“Okay, then,” Erin said. “Assumptions: We’ve just had a supervolcano eruption. That’s a pretty safe bet. We can quibble about details like how big some other time. Now for the bad news.” She tried to smile but gave up after a moment. “The last couple of times Yellowstone erupted, this area was in or at the edge of the heaviest ash deposition. The jet stream goes east from Yellowstone, right over us. The eruption will put a minimum of a thousand cubic kilometers of crud into the air, and most of that will fall within a thousand miles downwind. That’s us. We could be buried up to ten feet deep.”

“They could clear it with snowplow equipment,” Kevin ventured.

“Sure,” Erin replied. “That’ll work, assuming they can figure out where to put it, right up until the fine dust in the air destroys the vehicle engines. My bet is they’ll run out of pistons before they run out of gas.”

She continued, “And that’s not to mention what the gas and dust will do to lungs. Mortality rates—animal and human—are going to be close to 100% for anyone or anything still in the zone with no protection.”

“Seriously? From dust?” Bill exclaimed.

“You should look up Marie’s Disease on the web, if we ever get the internet back, that is. It is one of the worst, most painful ways to die there is. It takes days to die, slowly asphyxiating in your own bodily fluids while racked with pain and almost completely unable to move. I’d rather be burned at the stake.”

This was a shock. Like most non-professionals, the others had thought of danger from volcanoes in terms of staying out of the way of the lava—and perhaps avoiding pyroclastic flows, thanks to recent Discovery Channel shows.

“One hundred percent?” Matt repeated in disbelief.

“Let me put it this way: everyone in town right now is dead. Period. Think Pompeii. Unless they have a working vehicle, and the freeways are still navigable, they’re all dead. Or they stay in their homes for weeks and don’t go out at all. The smart ones will be getting into their cars right now. There are no other options. Everyone’s got to breathe.”

“How long until the ash gets here?” Matt asked.

“One to two hundred miles per hour jet stream,” Erin said. “Seven hundred and fifty miles to Yellowstone. Average it out, it’ll be starting to come down by the time it gets dark. By morning you won’t be able to move out in the open.”

“Holy,” Bill said.

“Shit,” Richard finished.

Eruption

Yellowstone plateau bursts at the seams with explosions of magma more powerful than the largest nuclear weapon ever built. Thousands of cubic kilometers of rock, magma, ash and dust are blown into the air. The entire Yellowstone plateau (the part of it that hasn’t just been vaporized) falls into the now-empty magma chamber. The billowing clouds of smoke, ash, water vapor and poisonous gases rise more than 30 kilometers into the sky, lit by lightning storms, burning rock, and the reflection of the bright red hell below. Pyroclastic flows at temperatures of 1000 degrees Centigrade and more race outward at 700 kilometers per hour, reaching as much as 150 kilometers away. Jackson, Cody, Powell, Rexburg, Idaho Falls, Livingston are wiped out.

Radio and phone communications are disrupted as electrically charged ash creates a maelstrom of interference. Ash clogs air filters and abrades metal parts. Turbines, cooling equipment, and engines—unless specially protected—fail within hours of exposure to the toxic, abrasive brew.

What Now?

Aug 1                            Suzie

Someone was banging on Suzie’s door and calling her name. She got up and opened her door to find Maddie and Joy standing there with fearful expressions. “What?” she asked, more abruptly than she had intended.

“It’s erupted. Yellowstone!” Maddie said, breathless. The two pushed their way into her room without waiting for an invitation. Suzie closed the door and turned to them.

“We were watching CNN in the common room. They had a chopper covering it, and suddenly it all disappeared. I mean, there was a flash, and the signal was cut off.”

Suzie thought for a second. “Have they said anything else? Do they know how big? Will we feel anything here?”

“Don’t know,” Joy answered. “The CNN anchors don’t seem to know anything more than us. Come on, Suzie. Let’s get back to the TV!”

Suzie pulled on some jeans and runners, and the three girls took off for the common area.

A crowd had already gathered by the time they got there. Normally Suzie wouldn’t expect to see this many people in the residence during summer, but everyone on the floor was there at the moment. People called out questions and made comments, and the noise level climbed as people tried to talk over each other.

Then the floor heaved, and the building started to sway. There were screams, and several people hit the ground hard. The rest followed as the shaking and swaying got more pronounced. It sounded like several people were sobbing in fear. At some point during the shaking, the power went out, and the lights and TV blinked off.

After about a minute, the earthquake died down. They could hear alarms and sirens in the distance, and at least one explosion. People picked themselves up off the floor and looked around. No one appeared to be badly injured, although some were rubbing various parts of their bodies and looking unhappy.

“We should go outside,” Suzie said.

“Why?” someone asked.

“In case there’s another one,” Someone else answered.

“I’m fine here,” said the first person.

Suzie turned to her friends. “I’m going to get cleaned up then get my backpack and go up to the Union. Unless the power comes on soon, the light’s better there. Maybe someone will even have some answers.”

Joy nodded tightly. “Meet back here in a bit.”

***

They met back in the common area, each with a backpack over her shoulder. Joy said, “I guess we should take the stairs.” There were wan smiles at this glib understatement, and they all made for the staircase.

They got to the ground floor of Harper Hall without incident, thanks to emergency lighting, and made their way out of the building. They had to take a moment to orient themselves, as they weren’t used to leaving by this door, then they headed toward the Union Building.

They’d been walking for a while when an unimaginably loud roar came out of nowhere, as if every thunderstorm in history had replayed itself at once. All three girls crouched down in defense and held their ears. The sound went on for what felt like hours but couldn’t have been more than a minute.

Finally, the roar died down. The girls looked at each other in shock. “So,” said Maddie, “I think we’ve confirmed an eruption.” She gave a lopsided smile.

As they continued on their way, they noticed a crowd gathering near the University Health Center. Changing direction, they went over to investigate.

When they got there, they were perplexed to see a moving van with some equipment set out on the grass in front of it. Near the equipment, two men were standing, holding shotguns!

Let's Get Moving

Probably within two, three weeks of the time that the ash first fell, everything on the landscape was dead

Mike Voorhies, paleontologist

From Super Volcano: The Ticking Time Bomb Beneath Yellowstone National Park

Aug 1                            Richard

“Well, there is another option,” Kevin said. “We have the portals. We have a whole world with clean air. And we have a couple of hours to get people across.”

Richard turned in surprise, since Kevin didn’t often volunteer an opinion on anything not math-related.

“So they can get eaten by sabertooth cats?” Matt asked.

“It’s still better than the alternative,” Erin replied.

Richard thought for a few seconds. “How about this? The Uni is close by, and even in summer there’s a significant population. We’ll keep one of the portal generators here, with the truck gate. Some of us will start humping supplies across. We’ll have to stand guard because the goons might still be out there and alive. Although in that case, we hope they’re hanging out at the old location.”

He gestured toward the van. “The rest will take the van and two sets of portal equipment to the university, set up a gate in as public a place as possible, and start getting people through. It’s about a forty-five minute walk here to there in civilization, so maybe a couple of hours on the other side, assuming there aren’t any deep streams or rivers that we don’t know about. You’ll have to set up the second gate on the other side, then come through that, shut down the first one, and bring it through. Then hike over here with however many people you’ve been able to round up.”

“If we get a bunch of people, that’s just a big travelling buffet lunch to anything on the other side,” Matt pointed out. “The Uni group is going to have to take a major inventory of weapons and hand them out to whoever says they can use one.”

“Also,” Monica added, “and not to put too fine a point on it, but do we actually know that we can open the gate from the other side? And if we do, will we get this side or something else?”

There was dead silence as the question sank in. No one wanted to open a gate to Greenhouse Earth. Or worse. They all turned to Kevin.

“First,” Kevin said, “it should work from any Earth. There’s nothing special about this Earth. We aren’t Earth Prime or anything like that.

“Second, there’s only one dimension involved. Right/Left. From Outland, use the same setting as we used here to get Greenhouse Earth and you’ll get us. Left is left and right is right.”

The group hurried to get organized. They loaded about half of their weapons and ammo back into the truck. Bill thought for a few seconds, grabbed several boxes labeled Night Vision Goggles and put them in the van, followed by several packages of batteries. He smiled enigmatically at the raised eyebrows.

They agreed to a plan. Richard, Erin, and Kevin would take the van to the university, while Matt, Monica, and Bill would stay at the warehouse and move supplies through. Monica had volunteered to stay and stand guard, having expressed a desire for an opportunity to give the goons another piece of her mind.

Walkie-talkies were taken out, tested, and set up. Last, Matt handed Erin a relief map of the city and a compass. He started to describe to her how to find her way to the warehouse on the other side, but Erin stopped him. “Hello. Geology student. Field trips. Camping.”

“Right,” Matt said, smiling at her and trying not to look concerned. “Just be careful and make it back, okay?” Erin squeezed his hand and kissed him.

“And listen,” he added, “if you can’t make it to the Uni by road, come back and we’ll try to get over there from the other side. That’ll be slower, but you work with what you’ve got.”

In The News

In a statement from the White House, officials have assured the public that FEMA, with the full support of the National Guard and other military as required, is prepared to handle the emergency. A spokesperson noted that the primary danger for the public from this point would be breathing the ash and that citizens should stay at home, keep doors and windows closed, turn off forced-air heating and air-conditioning systems to avoid having ash particles sucked into the residence, and above all not to go in or out any more than absolutely necessary.

---

There has been no contact with individuals or organizations closer to the eruption than about 100 miles. One eyewitness that contacted us from Billings, Montana has said, “The column of ash is rising higher than anything I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s smearing to the south-west partway up, then bending to the East at the top.”

A USGS representative, when asked about this, explained, “The prevailing winds and the jet stream aren’t necessarily going in the same direction at any time. This means there will at least two major downwind ash falls”.

---

The governors of Wyoming and all surrounding states have declared a state of emergency and called out the National Guard. All law enforcement and emergency personnel have been called in to active duty.

---

The Governor of Wyoming and several officials from surrounding states have gone on the air to plead for calm. “We’ll get through this. We are the greatest nation on Earth. We have the resources to weather the storm, if people can just be a little patient.”

Rescue Operation

You’d be dead

Michael Rampino, Associate Prof of Earth and Environmental Sciences

From Super Volcano: The Ticking Time Bomb Beneath Yellowstone National Park

Aug 1                            Erin

Richard drove the van towards the university, watching for unexpected obstacles like fallen structures or cracks in the pavement. Dust and smoke hung in the air—Erin assured them that it had all been kicked up by the earthquake. While the earthquake hadn’t been severe enough to open a fissure capable of swallowing the van, something big enough to total the suspension would be sufficient to end their expedition.

“Sure is dead,” Erin commented. “Er, I mean deserted.”

Richard chuckled. “I’m guessing everyone headed for home as soon as the shaking stopped. That’s probably some kind of instinct.”

“And it’s Sunday,” Kevin added.

“Look, over there.” Erin pointed to a couple of people walking slowly along the sidewalk, with one supporting the other. They drove up and rolled down the window.

The pair stopped. They were two youngish men, casually dressed. Their clothes looked like they’d been rolling around on the ground.

I’m sure that’s exactly what we look like, Erin thought.

“Don’t suppose your cell is working?” one of them asked Erin.

“No,” she replied. “That’s a general problem right now. I wouldn’t get your hopes up either.”

“Hmm. Looks like you’re going in the wrong direction, or I’d ask for a ride. Gerry here twisted his ankle in the quake. I’m Rick, by the way.”

“There’s a place close-by you can go to get some help,” Erin replied. She gave them the warehouse address. “They’ve got supplies and stuff there, and it’ll be the safest place to be once the ash starts to fall. Unless you’ve got a ride out of town waiting wherever you’re heading to.”

Rick frowned and replied, “And why in particular would you be making this offer?”

“Because if I don’t, you’ll probably die,” Erin replied. His face registered shock at the brutal frankness of her comment. “Your choice,” she continued. “If you see anyone else, give them the address as well. We’re going to try to save as many people as we can.”

“Uh, yeah… Okay,” Rick said, still looking shocked. Erin rolled up the window, and they drove off.

“Why did you do that?” Richard asked. “Not that I disagree, but…”

Erin replied, “Richard, publishing the portal information when we were first talking about this could have saved a lot of people now. I don’t blame any of us; this is all twenty-twenty hindsight. No one thought Yellowstone was actually going to cut loose. But now we have a situation, and we have a way to help, so I guess I feel a moral obligation.”

Richard offered a bleak smile. “Well, you ain’t wrong.” He paused. “How serious are you about that 100% prediction?”

“For animals out in the open,” she responded, “it’s certain. For people who have masks, they’ll be okay. Even drywalling masks are good enough. If people stay indoors for a couple of weeks, they’ll be okay, as long as they turn off forced-air furnaces. Of course then they’ll have the problem of no water and probably no food left. Water treatment plants will choke and die pretty fast. At that point, people will go out and try to look for supplies or help. If they get too much gunk into their lungs, their lungs can’t clear it out. And that’s fatal.”

As they continued towards the university, they would sometimes see other people walking along or just standing looking dazed. Wherever they could, they gave them the address of the warehouse and told them to go there if they didn’t have an alternative plan. Most people looked skeptical. Erin hoped that at least some of them would make the right choice.

It took some inventive driving by Richard, and more than one parking meter had to be sacrificed, but eventually they did make it to the university. They pulled up into the grassy area near the University Health Center. It was central to the campus and a likely place for students to gather after the quake. In any case, it was as good a place as any to start. They opened the van, pulled out the portal equipment, and set it up. They started up the generator but didn’t open the gate yet. While the university’s population in summer was low compared to the rest of the year, there were still a significant number of people around. By the time they had the portal ready to go, they had attracted a crowd of perhaps forty.

Erin stepped to the fore and took a breath to talk with as much volume as she could manage. “Can I have your attention please? As you’ve probably heard by now, Yellowstone has erupted.”

If Erin had been arranging it for showmanship, she could not have done better. At that moment the sound from the eruption arrived in Lincoln. The Krakatoa explosion had been audible up to 2000 miles away. This was orders of magnitude more powerful. People fell to their knees holding their ears. Windows cracked or shattered in several buildings. A few minutes lapsed after it died down before everyone’s ears recovered enough for Erin to continue.

“Yellowstone has erupted. I guess you know that.”

There were derisive laughs from the audience and shouts of “Thank you, Captain Obvious!” and “What gave it away?”

Erin ignored them and continued. “In a couple of hours the ash will start to fall. Within two or three weeks, you’ll all be dead unless you have some way to get at least five hundred miles from here in the next twenty-four hours.” That produced a loud silence. “Breathing the ash causes pulmonary disease. It also destroys equipment. Chances are there will be no food deliveries into town for quite a while. Chances are the power will not be coming back on, at least not for long. Chances are the water system will fail within a week.

“In the longer term, we may be able to get back on our feet. In the short term, it’s not going to be pleasant. We have a way out, through here.” She gestured to the gate. “It’s not civilized, so we’re going to bring out some shotguns before opening it. Please don’t be alarmed.”

Students looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Some started laughing until Richard and Kevin came around carrying shotguns. Kevin was visibly uncomfortable.

Richard pumped the shotgun with a loud clickety click and looked over to Erin. She held up her tablet and pressed OK.

The gate came to life, and showed trees, meadow, and a very large and very startled moose. The moose gave a bellow of alarm and left in a hurry. Several students showed signs of having the same idea.

“If you don’t want to come, we understand. It’s a free country. You can go ahead and try whatever you think will save your life. But you’ll know by now that there’s no easy way out. If you’re here right now, you probably don’t have a ride out of town, and getting out of town is your only alternative. We have a location on the other side with supplies. We have weapons in the van. We offer no guarantees, just a chance at getting out of this alive. If you’re interested, please hang around. Everyone else, better start on whatever it is you are planning to do.”

There was a lot of shuffling of feet and uncertain looks. A few students went running off, but most stayed.

“Now,” Erin continued, “we want to save as many people as we can. I need as many of you as possible to make an attempt to find other people on campus and send them here. Don’t get long-winded. Just tell them someone’s organizing something here.

“Also, if you have anything or know of any equipment or supplies that’s easily accessible and would be useful, now would be the time to go get it,” she added.

Many students broke into groups, discussed tactics, then took off in ones and twos.

The students who continued to hang around the portal asked some questions, and several people peeked through the gate to convince themselves it was real. A couple of students were allowed to walk through the gate with Richard. They stepped through, looked around for a minute or two, and stepped back through the portal looking boggled. One remarked, “Frigging cool!”

There were many questions, and Richard tried to give a capsule summary of the gates. Erin kept repeating that right now they should be searching for other people to bring along or supplies and equipment to take.

A couple of students came forward and stated that they had weapons experience. Richard questioned them briefly, then started handing out shotguns and assault rifles.

“Holy crap,” one student said. “You’re not playing games!”

Richard smiled and replied, “Wait until you meet your first smilodon. You’ll be happy to be carrying that, believe me!”

Richard stepped forward to face the crowd. “All right people,” he announced in a loud voice. “We need to move some of the items in the van through the gate to the other side. These guys,” pointing to the two recruits, “will guard. Could I get a couple of people to help haul things across?”

People were happy to have something to do, even manual labor. There was no shortage of volunteers, and in short order they had moved the weapons and other supplies that had been grabbed in a hurry at the warehouse.

Soon more people were trickling into the area. Many of them were injured and were being supported by others. It was obvious that the searchers were finding a lot of people still on campus. One of the very few pluses of the earthquake was that it had kicked the attitude out of most people. Now they were willing to stand still and listen where there was an offer of aid, food, and shelter.

By now the explanation for the gate had been repeated enough times that Erin and Richard no longer had to be involved. As new bodies came to the group, they received explanations, albeit not always completely correct, for the gate and the guns. Students would discuss the situation, then one or two would take off at a run. And people were coming back with supplies.

“Medical supplies,” Richard nodded with approval. “I think we might have skimped on those.”

“That’s because Captain Reference can’t stand the sight of blood,” Erin commented.

Kevin meanwhile set up the second portal on the other side. At this point Kevin stopped, looked stricken, and said, “Oh, fuck. Fuckitty fuck fuck.”

Richard looked at Kevin in surprise, this being very un-Kevinish behavior. “What?” he asked.

“We have two portals, and one generator.”

Richard looked at the gate, at the generator, and at Kevin. “Oh fuck”.

“Wait. Inverter!” Kevin said. “I think the van has one!” He rushed off to the van. “Yesssssss!” he called from the cab.

It took some talking to convince several students that they weren’t about to be abandoned on the other side, but soon they had managed to turn off the first gate, plug it into the inverter, move the generator through the reactivated gate, and start up the second portal on the other side. Everyone was relieved when a second gate opened beside the first one on Earthside.

One of the students who had just returned to the group came up to Richard. “Hey, listen. There’s a bunch of livestock in the Animal Sciences Complex. Can we do anything about them?”

Richard looked at Erin, who looked stricken. “These gates aren’t big enough to push a cow through, even if the cow was cooperative, which I very much doubt would be the case. Horses ditto. Chickens, yes. Pigs as long as they’re greased.” She smiled, but her heart wasn’t in it.

“Look, Erin. We need that livestock, so we’re not going to abandon them. People come first, but once we have everyone safe, we’ll come back for them. Is two days in a livestock building going to harm them?”

“If the building collapses, yes,” Erin replied.

“Aw crap. Okay.” Richard turned to the man they’d been talking to, whose name was also Richard.

“Call me Dick,” he said.

“Well, better you than me,” Richard replied. “Okay, Dick, how many people would it take to herd all the animals through a couple of miles of wilderness?”

Dick thought for a moment. “We’d lose the chickens and pigs right away. But the cattle, sheep and horses would be okay, as long as the horses were being ridden. There are eight horses in residence right now, I think. So eight people minimum.”

“Right.” Richard turned to Erin. “Erin, we’ll get everyone through, then come back with the truck gate and do what we can. Good enough?”

Erin sighed. “We don’t have a choice. None of this is ideal.”

Richard assigned Dick the task of organizing the rescue party. Dick walked away, already calling to people and discussing details.

“You know,” Richard said to Erin, “there’s a good chance that there are a lot of other things we should be looking for right now at the university. Seeds from Plant Sciences, tools and equipment from Engineering, God knows what-all else. You have to know we’re going to think of them too late.” He looked around at all the activity. “Not that there will be time to act on any of it anyway.”

Erin nodded in silent agreement. She looked around, looked at her watch, and thought for a second. She called to some people who were standing nearby. “Hey, guys, this is taking a lot longer than I expected. We won’t be able to get to our warehouse camp before dark. So we’re going to have to camp tonight. We’ll need fuel for fires. Can you organize a scavenger party? Furniture, bookshelves, whatever. Enough to keep a dozen small fires going all night.”

The students talked to others nearby, then about twenty of them scattered.

Erin heaved a tired sigh. Unbelievable. I’ll have to get Bill to explain to me why this stuff is so simple on TV.

Reactions

The eruption was a ratings hit for local and network news. Throughout the Midwest, people hurried home to sit glued to their TVs. In the modern era, where so much violence and calamity happens on TV without any effect on the viewer, it was unsurprising that people took a concerned but casual attitude towards the eruption. Yes, the pictures were dramatic, and yes, there had been an earthquake, but that was over. And yes, experts were predicting a fall of volcanic ash, but there had been ash from Mt St Helen’s, Mt Pinatubo, and that unpronounceable Iceland volcano. The worst effect of those had been some cars needing a new paint job when owners unwisely tried to wipe the ash off.

So there were volcano house parties, volcano barbecue parties, and volcano cocktail parties. People invited neighbors over, set up the TV on the patio, and chatted, comparing notes. Officials continued to advise calm. Law enforcement continued to reassure. And many people, accustomed to listening to the voice of authority, took them at their word and stayed put.

Other people took the issue a little more seriously, but still viewed it as a hunker-down-and-wait-it-out situation. There were runs on banks and grocery stores. Weapons shops did a brisk business, especially if they were flexible about paperwork. Home-improvement stores sold out of dust-masks and respirators in record time. People made a point of refilling their water coolers and stocking up on spare jugs of water.

The smart ones got out right away. Families that threw the absolute basics into the car and headed for the highway would make up most of the survivors.

Moving Out

The model shows that the fallout from a Yellowstone super-eruption could affect three quarters of the US. The greatest danger would be within 1,000 km of the blast where 90 per cent of people could be killed.

BBC— Science & Nature. “Supervolcano: The World’s Biggest Bang.”

Aug 1                            Monica

Bill, Matt, and Monica were busy for most of the afternoon. They had amassed a lot of equipment and supplies over the last few weeks.

Monica was scrupulous about her guard duties. She made frequent use of a pair of binoculars to scan the area for movement. And of course she got plenty of practice spotting local wildlife. Which isn’t a bad thing, she said to herself. Herd of deer grazing equals no goons or predators nearby.

Matt and Bill were having a great time with the bobcat. In fact they were arguing constantly about whose turn it was to drive it and how long someone had worked with it. Boys and toys, she thought—while conceding that she’d like to have a go at it too. Of course I’d never admit anything like that.

In late afternoon, the walkie-talkie started squawking, and they had an exchange with Kevin. The exchange went slowly because Kevin couldn’t keep the push-to-talk/release-to-listen concept straight, but eventually they determined that the university group was running behind and would have to do an overnighter.

Then Kevin started explaining about the livestock in the Animal Sciences Complex.

“Crap, we have to save the livestock if we can,” Bill said.

“And not only because we’re wonderful, caring people,” Monica added. “If we have to stay in Outland for a long time, livestock will be good to have.”

“True dat,” Bill replied. Monica faked gagging at him.

Matt said, “Y’know, I think we can make this work.”

In The News

We have received reports that an increasing number of merchants, closer to the location of the eruption, are no longer accepting credit cards. One vendor when contacted said, “Cash only. A bunch of information on a computer tape doesn’t put food on my table, especially if the mainframe goes down. I’ll take cash, gold, or barter. Nothing else.”

---

There have been unconfirmed reports of more explosions in Washington DC. Officials have commented that witness descriptions are indicative of terrorist-style attacks. So far, no group has taken responsibility.

---

Fundamentalist churches throughout the nation have declared the Yellowstone eruption to be the first volley in the final war of Armageddon. “The unbelievers, the atheists, the idolaters, are being punished. The only hope is through God,” said one pastor on a local cable broadcast. It is not clear however that the faithful are faring any better than the average person. Critics have been quick to point out that the southern, primarily fundamentalist states will be right in the path of the Ash.

---

Police are reporting runs on banks, food stores, weapons stores, and construction and home improvement retailers. There have been reports of violence in cases where weapons retailers have insisted on the legally mandated waiting periods before purchasing weapons.

There have also been numerous reports of looting, and police are receiving a steady stream of reported shooting incidents.

On The Way

Aug 1                            Omni

“What about going and getting the truck gate?” Erin asked.

“In the van?” Richard replied. “It’ll take forever to go there and back in that thing. You remember the drive out here, right?”

Kevin walked up to the two, waving the walkie-talkie. “I think we have a way to save the livestock. I talked it over with the guys at the warehouse. They’ve about finished moving stuff across, so Matt has suggested driving the big gate over here in his pickup.”

“Well, hell,” Richard replied, “that thing can scale a vertical cliff in four-low. And he’s got the clearance to get over most of the crap I had to dodge. It’ll take him maybe twenty minutes to get here.”

“Matt said ten,” Kevin interjected.

“He may not know how rough it’ll be. Tell him to take it easy, and aim for twenty. What about Bill and Monica?”

“They’ll go through to Outland first, to guard the stuff and keep working on the sheds. Monica says we’d better all get there with the gates, or she’ll be right pissed.”

Erin smiled. “I’d be pretty pissed to be marooned on the other side too. Kevin, please tell Matt it’s a go. I’ll get things organized at this end.”

Erin went off to talk to the students who had originally brought up the issue of the livestock.

***

About twenty minutes, later Matt drove up to the group around the van. He turned off the engine and got out. “Hey guys. What’s the sit?”

“Matt, this is Dick. He’s the guy who brought up the whole thing. Dick, you’re up.”

Dick looked a little hesitant at first but got into it once he started talking. “Okay, I’ve sent a bunch of aggie students ahead to prep things. We’ll ride the horses, herd the cattle and sheep, we’ll put the birds in cages in the back of the pickup. We’ll have to release the pigs on the other side— they’re too much trouble to herd, and too much trouble to keep unless you already have a good, fenced-off area. We’re hoping they’ll go feral before they all get eaten. We might be able to trap some of them eventually and build up an inventory again. Otherwise they’ll revert to wild type in a couple of generations. Not that that’s terrible, it’s just that they’re meaner.”

Richard stepped in. “We’ll give you an extra portal generator and six-foot gate so you can bring both gates through when you’re done. We can’t give you the generator, or we’ll have nothing, so you’ll have to hope the power is still on or there’s a generator at the complex.”

“They have several portables there, including a big trailer-mounted generator,” Dick said.

“Well, good. Let’s bring them over. Even if you don’t have room for them on this trip, leave them on the Outland side and tie a tarp around them or something. Erin’s pretty sure that the roof will come down before we can get back, so anything we want to save has to go overside today.”

“One other thing,” Richard said. Handing Dick a stack of boxes, he continued, “Bill will be insufferable if anyone tells him, but these should be handy.”

Dick looked at the boxes labeled Night Vision Goggles and asked, “Who’s Bill?”

Richard shook his head. “Just go.”

Dick gave Richard a thumbs-up and looked to Matt. Matt gestured to the passenger side, then got into his pickup. A few seconds later, they were on their way.

As they watched the pickup drive off, Richard turned to Erin. “What’s that saying about the best laid plans?”

“The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley,” Erin replied in perfect Gaelic brogue.

Richard raised his eyebrows in appreciation at the performance and sighed. “I think I’m going to have that tattooed on my forehead. I suck at this.”

Setting Up

Aug 1                            Bill

Matt had just driven off with the truck gate, on Earthside, heading for the university. That meant that all three portal generators were on Earthside, with the others. Bill and Monica were now alone, the only human beings on an entire planet. If something were to go wrong, they would be stuck here.

The new Adam and Eve, Bill mused. It does have its upside… He shook his head. Nice movie script, but I’m not a teenager any more.

Bill looked over at Monica, who was glaring at the piles and pallets of supplies as if she could intimidate them into order.

Bill sighed. It was going to be a long twenty-four hours.

They had sacrificed neatness in favor of speed when bringing everything over. Now they were faced with a disaster of disorganization. Somehow, they were going to have to get all this stuff under cover as soon as possible.

Bill looked at the second shed, which was still only half-finished. “Monica, I think we’re going to have to concentrate on supplies that will attract predators first.”

Monica turned to him, her glare softening to a friendly smile, and replied, “That, and items that wouldn’t react well to being left outside in the rain. Just in case.” She looked up at the almost cloudless blue sky.

They spent some time identifying the highest priority items and arranging them on pallets for easy transport.

Once that was done, Bill turned to the bobcat, only to find Monica sitting in it.

“Something you wanted?” she said, glaring at him.

Bill laughed and waved his hand in concession. “Fair’s fair, I guess. And I don’t know why I should be surprised. Have at it, Tank Girl.”

Monica grinned back at him, and started up the bobcat.

While Monica moved items into the shed, Bill set up a fence line around the front of the sheds. He had bought several stacks of modular construction fence panels. He dragged the panels into position and linked them up. When he was done, they had a fenced-off area that would keep most of the Pleistocene fauna out. The few species that could potentially jump the fence would be very visible when doing so, and could be taken care of with the shotguns.

Finally, as the sun was getting low in the western sky, Bill pegged the end panel down against the shed wall with a couple of pieces of rebar.

He waved to Monica. She turned off the bobcat as he walked towards her.

“Dinnertime?” he said.

“Cold pizza. Woo hoo!”

They grabbed a couple of beers and the box of leftover pizza. Although the fridge hadn’t been plugged in for most of the afternoon, the contents were still cold.

“We’re going to have to get a generator going soon,” Bill said, motioning to the beer still in the fridge.

“One thing at a time,” Monica replied. “First the pizza, then reality.”

They unfolded a couple of aluminum lawn chairs and settled back with paper plates, pizza, and bottles of Corona. The tension drained away as they as enjoyed their meal and the view.

“Not much of a sunset,” Monica commented. The sun was going down, and although the western sky had a bit of red and orange to it, the colors were very subdued.

“Not much dust in the air, I guess.” Bill motioned to the sun with his half-empty bottle. “Modern civilization has contributed a lot to the sunsets we’ve gotten used to. Here, all you have are buffalo farts.”

Monica grinned at him. “Bison farts. Geez.”

By the end of the second beer, the sun had set, and night was falling.

“Hmm, looks like we’d better find the flashlights while we can still see the shed,” Bill said.

They got up and dug out flashlights. They bagged their dinner garbage to avoid attracting predators, then set up sleeping bags inside the shed.

Finally, exhausted from a hard day’s labor, they closed the shed doors and climbed into their sleeping bags. They were asleep within seconds.

In The News

Officials have confirmed earlier reports of several terrorist bombings in Washington DC. They also acknowledge a number of bombings of government buildings in other states, which they characterize as domestic terrorists attempting to take advantage of the situation.

---

The president has announced that he is recalling all military personnel and equipment back to the U.S. “Right now we need to protect our home soil and our citizenry.”

---

Air travel has been suspended indefinitely worldwide, citing the danger of damage to aircraft engines from volcanic ash. Some countries have also suspended rail service, fearing damage to locomotive engines, moving parts of rolling stock, and even the actual rails.

---

Dr. Andrew Kensington of the USGS has issued a statement concerning the Yellowstone eruption. “This is far more powerful than our models predicted,” he said. “We are estimating well over 3000 cubic kilometers of ejecta in total. This would make it the largest eruption from the Yellowstone hotspot in its existence.”

When asked how this would affect the country, Dr. Kensington replied, “This is going to affect the planet! There has already been plenty of coverage in the news of the possible effects of a supervolcano eruption… Just triple that.”

Getting There

Aug 1                            Erin

They were finally done at the university. Everyone who had shown up had been moved through to Outland. When the ash started to fall, and they hadn’t had a new refugee in a half hour, Erin decided to call it. They moved through the last of the supplies and kindling, then shut down the portal.

There had been much discussion of strategies and plans while preparing and waiting for the final move. Erin was impressed at how quickly people had accepted and adjusted to the reality of an alternate universe. But she admitted to herself that having it right in front of them helped a lot.

Everyone agreed loudly that they should continue to re-open the gate and try to find more survivors, but the words were said with haunted eyes. People were beginning to realize that once the ash started to fall, the death sentence had been pronounced. No one was willing to volunteer to trudge through ash-covered streets looking for survivors, and they had no other way to locate refugees. They had to hope that most people had done the smart thing and hit the road as soon as possible. And that the roads had been passable, because they wouldn’t be by morning.

In all, they’d managed to bring across a little over two hundred and fifty people, mostly students, and a smattering of faculty and two security guards who’d been on campus.

The two security guards, Fred Mack and Anson Rutherford, were both retired cops who, according to them, had taken the security jobs to stave off terminal boredom. “You spend your entire career in the thick of things, then you retire and bam! Eight hours a day in front of the TV,” Anson explained. “Couldn’t take it. The security job is an easy gig, good for extra pocket money, and generally the most critical issue we face is timing our breaks so we get the fresh pot of coffee.”

Fred smiled in agreement.

Getting organized had taken a lot longer than expected, and it was getting dark before they were anywhere near ready to move. The idea of trying to shepherd this many people through the wilderness in pitch-black night was ludicrous. And those who might have suggested it would change their mind once darkness fell. Modern urban humans don’t have a real appreciation of how dark night is without artificial illumination and sky-glow.

The situation was made worse by the simple fact that it was summer, and people had been wearing summer clothes. These were grossly inadequate for the cooler Outland night air.

Erin suggested to Fred Mack that perhaps he and Anson should be in charge, but Fred shook his head. “No way, darlin’. You’re doing fine. The kids listen to you. They’d just tune out a couple of old farts. But we’ll help anywhere you need it.”

Erin immediately deputized the two to organize security for the night. Fred and Anson discussed it for perhaps thirty seconds, then set to work. They organized eight fires into a ring and split up the scavenged fuel between them. A few people were assigned to each fire to make sure the wood didn’t get burned too quickly, as a larger fire would burn through their supply much faster without providing any extra benefit.

“The fires are more for protection than for heat,” Erin said to people in general. “We want to keep the night life away from us. So don’t get the bright idea of going around to the outside of the fire ring to get close to one of the fires, unless you want to be a midnight snack. Take a page from emperor penguins— form a nice tight group and keep each other warm. This is no time for bashfulness.

“We’ll also need to organize guard duty,” Erin continued. “Anyone who has ever handled a weapon should speak up. We’ll need eight people for each two-hour shift. Fred and Anson will take care of the details.” She gestured to the two, who gave her a couple of sloppy salutes and got to work.

It took another hour before they had everything set up to everyone’s satisfaction. By this time, full night was settling in. The first guard shift stepped up, weapons in hand, and the rest settled onto the hard ground, on blankets and tarps wherever possible, and tried to get some sleep.

***

Omni

The night-life of Outland was in its own way as loud as the day shift. The biomass of an untouched wild planet is orders of magnitude greater than what humans had left standing on Earthside. On one occasion during the night some tortured soul stood up and yelled at the top of his lungs, “Will you shut the fuck up!” That produced a lot of laughs from the other campers, but no more than a few seconds relief.

There were shots fired a number of times, but there were no major incidents and no loss of human life. There was one close call when a large cat almost managed to sneak past a dozing guard. A scream from an insomniac camper brought the guard back to full wakefulness. And a near miss from a full load of buckshot sent the cat scrambling for the darkness, lighter by about two lives and one dump.

After a few more encounters, the local predators decided that easier meals could be had elsewhere, and the attempted incursions trailed off. The noise level however didn’t abate all night. As some of the less rested would later report, the night calls segued smoothly into the morning cacophony of birdcalls without a break.

Going Over

Aug 1                            Suzie

Suzie was getting very frightened. First the eruption on TV, then the earthquake, the sound of the eruption, and now this! These people, who claimed to be other UNL students, were telling the crowd that staying in Lincoln could be fatal. To be fair, their explanation made a lot of sense. And most people seemed to be taking them seriously. She looked at Joy and Maddie, and she could see that they were just as scared. There had been a lot of activity over the last couple of hours: people looked for other students and brought injured people here to the University Health Center. Students ransacked buildings looking for burnable furniture. Students even made plans to move the animals out of the livestock buildings!

Now the ash had started to fall. Suzie knew enough about this stuff to realize that the people with the gate were right. She discussed it with her friends, and they decided that they would take the offer.

Suzie took a few minutes to look through the crowd. She spotted Frankie and Stephanie a short distance away and waved frantically at them. After a few seconds, Stephanie saw her and waved back. The two pushed their way through the crowd towards Suzie.

“Frankie and Steph are coming. As soon as they get here, we should go through,” Suzie said to Maddie and Joy.

By the time Frankie and Steph got to them, the ash was falling in earnest. They got into the line that had formed and stepped through the gate when their turn came.

By now, the light was fading. Students had been bringing burnable items for the last little while and carrying them through the gate. Now that they were on the other side, she could see several large piles of wood, mostly furniture but also some less recognizable objects. A couple of security guards were organizing people and directing the creation of eight different fires in a ring.

Suzie watched all this and was amazed at how organized they seemed to be. One of the people who owned the gate—she’d learned his name was Richard, and he was très hot—was handing out weapons from a crate. Suzie had no experience with firearms and had no desire to change that, but she still found herself hanging out in the immediate area.

With only backpacks for pillows, the five friends settled down to try to get some sleep inside the ring of fires. They were surprised at how cold it was getting for summer, so they huddled together for warmth.

“Are we going to be all right?” Stephanie asked.

“We’ll live,” Suzie answered. “They’ve got lots of weapons. They seem to have been prepared for this, though. I don’t understand how they could have done that.”

“Maybe they have a time machine too. Or maybe the gate actually is a time machine, and they’re shitting us about the parallel Earth story,” Frankie mused. “Or maybe they were just more realistic about Yellowstone.”

He thought for a moment, then continued, “I’ve been watching the news, and for weeks we’ve been hearing reassurance after reassurance from government. I’m wondering if maybe they were just trying to keep everyone calm. Maybe they knew more than they were letting on.”

“Another government conspiracy? Give me a break,” Maddie responded. “You’re always saying those morons couldn’t find their own assholes with both hands and a flashlight, and now you’re suggesting they’ve engineered a whole conspiracy thing.”

Frankie got up on one elbow. “It doesn’t have to be a conspiracy, Maddie. Corporations everywhere work to keep corporate taxes low. They don’t have to get together and plan it— each corporation is just doing what it can to that end. But they’re all pulling in the same direction, so it ends up looking like a conspiracy.”

He continued, “Each government department, the cops, FBI, Department of Sanitation, whatever, just wants to minimize trouble in their area. And the way to do that is the same for them all—keep the public calm at all costs.”

Suzie looked at him with one raised eyebrow. “Say, are you sure you’re not secretly enrolled in pol-sci?”

Frankie laughed. “No, but my boyfriend Darren is. Even a picture of an argument will set him off! Sometimes despite myself I actually listen to him.”

The discussion continued for some time. No one was sleepy nor was the environment conducive to relaxing. It was a long time before Suzie was able to get to sleep, and she woke up surprised that she had done so.

Reactions

The ash had been falling for hours now. Within about five hundred miles of the eruption, it was more than two feet deep and was showing no signs of abating. Buildings with flat or gently sloped roofs had almost all collapsed, usually killing any occupants. Anyone who by chance survived the collapse would have died within minutes of suffocation since the collapse would saturate the air with both coarse and fine ash. Cloth would not be at all adequate to filter it out.

Buildings with more sloped roofs fared somewhat better. However the ash sliding off to the sides built up quickly. Unlike snow, it didn’t compress at all. Many people escaped a crushing death only to find themselves buried alive.

For many people, the accumulation of significant ash-fall had been a major wake-up call. The number of vehicles heading out of town jumped by a factor of ten. An surge in traffic several times higher than the worst rush-hour crush that city planners had ever conceived brought the roads to complete gridlock. Attempts by drivers to go around the mess by unconventional driving were stymied by other drivers trying to go around them. Soon the sidewalks, parks, roads, and even lanes heading the opposite way were as gridlocked as the rest. Those with vehicles modified for off-road driving fared somewhat better by going cross-country.

At this point, many people abandoned their vehicles. Some intended to try to catch a ride with those who were still moving; others intended to trade places at the point of a gun. Yet others tried to take shelter in the closest standing structures. In all cases, the current occupants resisted strenuously. The death toll mounted.

The Last Leg

Aug 2                            Omni

The next morning dawned with no casualties, but most campers had gotten very little sleep. Between the shots fired early in the night, and the sound of scavengers loudly arguing over the fallen, or just the general sound level, many people had been unable to close their eyes. Very few had gotten anything near to their desired eight hours. So it was a cold, tired, sore, and damp group of people who slowly stood up on the first morning in Outland to discover the first of many new realities: no coffee.

At this revelation, there was a near-mutiny. Add a cold, scary, sleepless night and no breakfast, and many people expressed regret for having come across.

On hearing the complaints, Erin ordered Richard and Kevin to turn on the gate.

As the gate opened, a cloud of dust puffed through the opening and what looked like cigarette ash fell through. Looking through the gate, people could see a blanket of ash over two feet deep. Buildings were covered in it. At least one building within sight had collapsed. Everything had a uniform gray-brown color.

Erin took a deep breath. “I’ve explained about ash-induced diseases. I won’t bore you with that again. I’ve explained about ash-induced building collapses, power-grid collapses, equipment failures, and shortened growing seasons. This isn’t theory. It’s happening now. Anyone can go back if they want, but they’d be a total fool.

“And this rescue isn’t being run by some far-off government body. It’s us, all of us. Anyone who has any ideas to improve things in any way, we would love to hear it. We’re all working this out as we go along.

“Now, you want to go back? Here’s your chance.” And she motioned at the gate. There was a lot of motion as people took the opportunity to get a look, but no one accepted the offer.

After that, people seemed far less inclined to complain. Her statements about not having any special knowledge or experience in this situation had given people a lift.

Someone yelled out, “So where are we going?”

Erin replied, “We have a stockpile that we moved from a warehouse downtown to this side. It’s about a forty-five minute walk from the university. It’ll be the same distance here, but with no sidewalks it’ll take a little longer.”

“Can we go back once the ash stops?”

“Sure, as long as you don’t need to eat. Or drink water. The other side is toast, people. There will be no clean water. There will be no electricity. There will be no food deliveries. Of course I could be wrong, and anyone is welcome at any time to go across and check it out. In fact, we’ll probably develop a system of popping across and scavenging. But understand this please: this side is paradise, compared to what used to be home.”

“I’m not a cat person anymore!” someone yelled from the back. That got general laughs.

“Is there coffee at the other camp?” from someone else.

Erin replied, “There’d better goddam be, or I’m going to lose it.”

That drew more laughter from the crowd, and someone else yelled, “Which way?”

Erin signaled Kevin and Richard to turn off the gate. Crisis averted. She consulted the map, her compass, and pointed. Fred and Anson chivvied everyone into groups and organized outriders to guard the procession.

“So what about the cattle drive?” Richard asked Erin, while things were getting organized.

“It’s about a mile from us, and they’ll be a while getting over here,” Erin replied. “When they do, they’ll just follow the mess we’re making as we travel.”

Richard looked around and grinned. “Yeah, couple hundred people sure leave a trail.”

Erin smiled. “They’ll likely be a half-day behind us by the time we get to the warehouse camp. For all that the aggie students know about horses and cattle, I doubt if any of them has ever done an actual cattle drive. Pretty sure if Bill were here, he could come up with a lot of material…”

“Then let’s consider ourselves lucky he’s not here.” Richard rolled his eyes.

Erin grinned back, and they joined the march.

Getting Up

Aug2                            Bill

Bill and Monica woke up at 6 a.m. to a new day, one filled with noisy neighbors who apparently had no concept of sleeping in.

“I goddam hate nature,” Monica muttered. “Pave it all over, I say!”

Bill smiled weakly. He’d hadn’t slept as well as expected. Having Monica right there all night with no one else around had strained his self-control to the limit.

“I don’t suppose that ginormous coffee maker of yours will work without electricity?” Monica asked.

“No, although we have generators somewhere in this disaster,” Bill answered, sweeping his arm to take in the whole shed. “However, I present for your approval two important items: a Coleman stove—” Bill pointed to a pallet. “—and a camping-style coffee maker.” He pointed a little to the left of the stove. “No need to use a backhoe for a spade-sized task.”

Monica’s eyes grew rounder. “I knew there was a reason I decided not to kill you!” She hugged him, making Bill’s IQ drop by half, and went over to dig out the stove and coffee maker.

It took only a few minutes to move the required equipment out of the shed to the fenced-off area. Bill brought out a couple of folding tables, and they proceeded to brew that all-important first cup.

In The News

Three known survivalist strongholds, one in Nevada and two in Utah, have declared independence from the USA. They have published an ultimatum to all military and law enforcement to leave their respective states within twenty-four hours or be declared outlaw. It is not clear if the two groups in Utah are working in cooperation or competition.

---

OPEC has announced that all oil shipments from OPEC nations will be temporarily suspended pending clarification of the situation.

---

In more local news, there have been eight more instances of individuals or small groups going on murderous rampages. In one case, forty-two people were killed before law enforcement cornered the suspects, who reacted by killing themselves with an explosive device. In all such cases, the suspects have committed or attempted to commit suicide.

---

White House officials have released a statement in response to Dr. Kensington’s earlier comments about the eruption. In it, they deny the stated severity of the event, and refer to Dr. Kensington’s statements as premature and ill-advised.

“This is not the end of the world. This is a volcano. We went through something similar with the Iceland volcanic eruption of 2010. There were disruptions. There were inconveniences. But we’re still here.”

Dr. Kensington could not be reached for comment, and his office states that he is ‘currently on leave’.

Cattle Drive

Aug 2                            Matt

Matt and Dick looked the situation over.

“Looks like we lost two—a cow and calf,” Dick said. “They must have panicked and run off. I’m pretty sure we didn’t let anything get close enough to take them down.”

They looked out over the scene. They still had sixteen head of cattle, including four calves. There were also a dozen sheep. The horses had been tied up in their own group. All of this menagerie had been gathered into as small an area as possible.

They’d found whatever they could that would burn and brought it across, but they only had fuel enough to keep one fire going all night. To keep the predators at bay, they had erected construction spotlights on telescoping stands that ran off the biggest generator. Outland nightlife didn’t like blindingly bright halogen lights, so harassment had been minimal.

Dick continued his report. “The pigs are long gone by now. We can only hope they’re still in one piece. They’ll stay in the general area, so if and when we’re ready to, we can just come and get them.”

“Greased pig roundup! Woot!” one of the other students said, waving his fist in the air. A couple of others laughed.

Matt shuddered. I don’t see how that’s fun.

They looked over to the pickup, which was half-full of cages stacked as high as could be managed, filled with unhappy chickens. The rest of the pickup contained the portal hardware, which Matt had refused to even consider leaving behind.

A couple of students were getting the horses ready for the cattle drive. Dick chuckled. “Sixteen head of cattle. Yeah, we’re real cowpokes all right. This should be pretty funny.”

“Funnier than trying to get them through the gate last night?”

“Oh, much. So many more opportunities on a cattle drive. Haven’t you ever seen City Slickers?”

Matt gave Dick the hairy eyeball. “That isn’t a habit, is it?”

Dick just grinned.

Eventually they got everybody organized. All the riders mounted up, and four people crowded into the pickup with Matt.

Dick turned around on his horse, waved his hand in the air, yelled “Head ’em up and move ’em out!” and pointed.

“Another one. Great,” Matt muttered. “Richard will have a shit.”

Aftermath

As the ash falls and accumulates, it will kill all vegetation beneath it. Pasture grasses and crops begin to die, as do the microorganisms in the soil.

Domestic livestock and wild fauna within 1500 kilometers will die from starvation or respiratory illness.

Freshly fallen ash floats, and it absorbs water in the same way as sand, leaving little for animals, clogging up streams and rivers. Ash blocks sewers and pipes, further destroying infrastructure. Water supply and sewer systems are quickly overwhelmed and break down.

The Mississippi River, the Columbia River, the Sacramento River, and all other major North American waterways will become semi-solid sludge as the ash washes downstream, making them useless for transportation. With water, air, rail and road transportation all unusable or destroyed, the infrastructure of society will begin to break down.

Urban centers rarely contain more than three days food at any time. Hoarding, looting, and destruction of supplies from collapsing buildings will shrink that estimate considerably.

Arrival

Aug 2                            Omni

The hike was going slowly. Not everyone was a born hiker, and many of the students were wearing unsuitable shoes. A couple of dozen people were injured and had to be helped—or even carried.

Over the course of the march, people tended to spread out more as the faster walkers outpaced the slower. Fred and Anson had to stop the front group every once in a while to let the slower walkers catch up, explaining that they didn’t have enough guards to cover such a long parade. Fred also made a point of getting the fastest walkers to help with the wounded and injured, since they seemed to have the most energy to spare.

By nature, university students tended to be optimistic and upbeat, which already showed. Many of them seemed to be treating this as a nature outing. Some were taking selfies and pictures of the animals with their phones. A couple of people had actually tried to send texts, forgetting the complete lack of service on this side. Those incidents got good laughs, at the expense of the forgetful.

***

Erin

Erin talked with a couple of students as they walked.

“Can’t believe the climate over here,” one said. “Wetter, cooler, actual trees, and what are those things sticking up everywhere? Hills? Nebraska doesn’t have hills. Or trees, come to that.”

Erin smiled. While he might have been exaggerating, it wasn’t by much.

“Different recent geological history,” she replied. “No humans, an extra volcano or two… I’m a little surprised too. I wish Professor Collins were here.”

A girl that had been walking along with them said, “His assistant is.”

Oh, shit. “Jenson?”

“That’s right.”

Erin rolled her eyes. Yep. Bill was right. God is a B-movie director.

A flock of birds took off in the distance. People were still not used to the amount of wildlife on this side, and a flock of birds darkening half the sky made many stop and watch in awe. Almost as impressive was the sheer variety of wildlife. Half the species they encountered had never been seen by human beings, while more had been obliterated soon after encountering humans on Earthside.

Closer to the procession, herds of deer jockeyed for grazing position with moose, elk, and less recognizable animals. They could see some mammoths and one large cat at a distance. A pair of giant sloths a bit closer fascinated the hikers, as they were unlike anything they had ever seen on Earthside— certainly nothing like their small lethargic South American cousin, as seen on National Geographic specials. People did, however, heed Erin’s warning to stay away and to try not to appear aggressive.

At one point, Erin listened in on an argument that a couple of people were having about the portals.

“They should be handing this technology over to the government. At least they would be able to use it nationally to save a lot of lives.”

“How exactly?”

“How, what? Handing it over, or using it nationally?”

“Both! Do you have a phone number handy? 1-800-SAVE-USA? Maybe the Department of Useful Inventions for Saving the Day? Does the word bureaucracy ring a bell? If you wanted to hand over something like this, I bet it would take months of argument just to get to talk to someone who would understand you. And then, before they can use it to save lots of people, they’d have to build a bunch of portals. How? Area 51? Maybe using the alien duplicating machine?”

“Well there’s no need to get sarcastic.”

“Actually, there kind of is. Sometimes mockery is the only way to get people to think about what they’re saying. And by the way, what makes you think there’ll even be a government in a week? This isn’t Mt. St. Helens. This is the stuff that ends civilization.”

“Oh, you’re exaggerating.”

…and so on. Erin had to bite her tongue to keep from chiming in. She agreed with the pessimist, but she felt the argument was moot at this point.

Kevin meanwhile kept the warehouse camp updated on the hikers’ progress via walkie-talkie. Matt gave updates on the status of the cattle drive, which was ahead of schedule and might even catch up with the hikers by the time they reached the warehouse camp.

Erin found Fred and Anson, who were on perimeter guard duty. “Hey guys. Holding up okay?”

Fred grinned. He and Anson had stayed up almost all night, each taking only a single two-hour break.

“Pffft,” Fred said. “We did any number of double and triple shifts when we were still working. This was a piece of cake, right?” He looked over to Anson, who nodded in reply.

Erin put on her best casual tone. “I was wondering, while you were still on the force, did you ever run into an Andrew Petrelli?”

“Petrelli? Andy Petrelli?” Fred and Anson both burst into laughter. “Andy Peters you mean. If that guy’s Italian, I’m Peter Panini. He’s from Portland, darlin’. Moved here after he lost an argument with some hippies or something. Had some luck and found himself a niche. He’s always fancied himself a mobster, but he’s just small stuff. Him and those other two, the big dumb one and the black guy.”

Fred shook his head. “I kind of liked Charles Eaton. He didn’t really enjoy what he was doing, but was too good for a day job, if you know what I mean. That Bluto, though. Trevor Pavoni. The only real Italian in the bunch. Dumber than a bag of hammers. All he wanted to do was break things. Nasty bastard. So, why do you ask? You meet them at some point?”

“You might say that.” Erin told Fred and Anson about the confrontation at the warehouse. She left out nothing, and didn’t try to excuse their actions, or their half-assed rescue attempt after the fact.

Both men laughed at the end of the story. “Serves them right,” said Anson. “They should have stuck to pushing around the lowlifes they’re used to dealing with.”

Fred added, “I wouldn’t worry too much. No one will miss them. Worst you’d ever get is some variation on failing to report criminal activity or something, and only if the cops were really bored.”

Anson said, “So your boyfriend—the guy with the pickup—beat up on Andy, did he? I’ll have to show him more respect.”

Erin grinned at them. She felt better for the talk, and felt reassured that the two ex-cops now knew about the possibility of human predators out there.

***

Eventually, the refugees spotted the warehouse camp in the distance. It was hard to miss the large steel shed, with another half-assembled shed beside it. The pace of the group picked up, and in a short time they had arrived.

The area in front of the sheds was fenced off, but a section had been opened up to allow access. A man and woman sat in folding lawn-chairs inside the fence.

As the crowd got to the area just outside the fence, they developed an odd shyness. No one seemed to be willing to be the first to step into the de facto camp, so the crowd instead formed a half circle, watching and waiting for someone else to make the first move.

The man got up and stepped through the opened section of fence. Smiling to the crowd, he waved a mug in the air and called out, “Welcome to Rivendell. Who wants coffee?”

PART 2 - OUTLAND

Survival

Aug 4                            Charles

Bluto and Charles worked their way slowly through the berry patch. Charles was happy for the calories, and he liked blackberries anyway. But a diet heavy in berries was having unfortunate consequences on digestive systems that were used to a lot more protein.

Could be worse. Just ask Andy. Charles gave a single snort at the thought. Andy hadn’t survived their first day here. All that blood all over him had been a cat magnet. Charles still shivered with horror at the memory of being chased by those two animals. Honest-to-God saber-tooth tigers! The animals had gone straight for Andy, giving Bluto and Charles time to climb a nearby tree. They’d had to watch and listen as Andy was taken down, then slowly eaten. They didn’t bother to kill him first! Charles shuddered.

Bluto had been enraged, and had started shooting as soon as he was able to get a stable stance in the tree. He’d killed one cat with a lucky shot, and the other had run off, limping. But it was too late for Andy.

They’d frisked the body for anything useful. They’d found an extra magazine, but of course the gun that went with it was still back in the kids’ warehouse. They didn’t have any tools to bury him; in the end they’d had to leave the body for the scavengers. Bluto still muttered about the whole episode.

He liked Andy. Or at least liked working for him. It remained unclear to Charles if Bluto had ever actually liked anyone.

After that, life became a case of day-by-day survival. Twice they’d managed to shoot a young deer, and had eaten well. A folding knife wasn’t ideal for butchering, but it did the job. The rest of the time they survived on berries and the occasional fruit tree.

Fires seemed to keep the animals at bay at night, although the two men still camped close to a tree, just in case. Fortunately a lighter formed part of Bluto’s toolkit the way lock picks were part of Charles’.

And what’s the point, in the end? Spend the rest of our lives running? We’ll run out of bullets eventually, then what? And the answer always came back: The damned kids won’t abandon this place just because we’re here. They’ll just move. If they can connect to a different year, then we’re screwed. Otherwise, we just keep watching.

In the News

Today, without warning, the satellite broadcasts for all of the major American network channels dropped out. Local experts are baffled. One unnamed source is quoted as saying “It would take a large infrastructure collapse for all transmission sources to be simultaneously cut off in this manner. It is reasonable to suspect deliberate planning was involved.”

---

There were labor riots again today in France as workers express concern over possible loss of employment entitlements due to the impending economic contraction.

---

There are credible reports that Iran is preparing to invade Iraq on the tail of the US withdrawal from the Middle East. Satellite images show massive troop movements towards the Iran/Iraq border.

---

There have been several large explosions in Israeli towns near the Palestine border. Statements from Palestinian sources are threating obliteration of the state of Israel, “now that they no longer have their powerful protector to rely on.”

Israel has responded by stating, “Any attack on the State of Israel will result in retaliation. We will deliver unacceptable levels of damage to any aggressor.”

First Meetings

Aug 4                            Richard

“Can I have your attention please!” Richard bellowed at the top of his lungs. Over two hundred and seventy people sat on the ground in front of him, and many of them were more intent on their own conversations. Slowly, the background buzz died down as people turned to him.

“Okay, we don’t have a P.A. system, one of the few things Bill forgot to buy! So you’re going to have to be very quiet and listen. I’m going to ask you, if your neighbors start a side conversation, to punch them in the arm until they shut up.” There were laughs and a few loud ouches.

“If you really, really feel the need to have a chat, please go into one of the sheds or to the other end of the lawn so the rest of us can get this done. Thank you.”

Richard waited. When there was no immediate movement and no sign of the background buzz starting up again, he resumed, still shouting.

“There’s no point in having a meeting like this, with this many people. My voice has about two minutes of life left, so we’re going to organize committees. If you have an idea or a suggestion or want to head up a group, please meet in front of the left shed in about ten minutes. Everyone else please park it somewhere else. Thank you.”

Richard took a deep breath as he finished. There were whoops and ironic applause from the audience. Okay, I’ll never be a politician. Sue me.

A short time later, about forty people grouped in front of the shed, a manageable number for discussion. However, everyone wanted to be a chief and many people had the same ideas.

They wrangled for hours, but ended up with some good results.

“All right then,” Richard said in a loud voice. “We will be forming groups to handle the following: scavenging, security, scouting, livestock, infrastructure, and technology. These guys will each be in charge of a section—“ Richard gestured to a group of people standing near him, “—so the rest of you, please attach yourselves to the group of your choice. We’ll be asking the general population to volunteer for a group if they have relevant skills, or to be assigned tasks on a rotating basis.”

***

“Hey, Bill, what did you want to see me about?” Richard had gone to the second shed after a runner had tracked him down with a message from Bill.

“Oh, nothing much,” Bill said. “Just…” He turned a monitor around with a flourish. “Satellite TV!”

Richard’s jaw dropped. Right there in front of him, BBC News was playing. The date on the broadcast was correct, and they were talking about post-eruption issues, so it was unlikely that it was a recording.

“Cross-dimensional TV reception? Bill, I’m impressed!” Richard’s face was a mix of surprise and pleasure. “Okay but seriously, how are you doing this?”

Bill tried and failed to look humble. “Well it’s being received by a hacked satellite decoder so it’s technically pirated. And I’m receiving the broadcast live through that,” and he pointed to his left.

Richard followed Bill’s gesture to a small satellite dish that pointed through the three-foot gate. The gate had a plastic cover across it to block the ash that still fell on the other side.

“It took a while to get things lined up, but now we can get the news whenever we want.”

Bill lost his smile and looked down for a moment before continuing. “On the other hand, we may not be so glad we did. I watched this for about twenty minutes before I sent someone to find you. Things are way the hell worse Earthside than anyone expected. I don’t want to start a general panic. I was thinking maybe we could get the Gate Owners together and talk about it.”

Richard responded with a nod. “Good call, Bill. Turn it off for now, and let’s go find everyone else. We can discuss it when we’re all together.”

Bill turned off the gate and all the electronics, then took the controller tablet with him.

***

The group gathered at one end of the fenced compound. Richard watched the livestock with a thoughtful expression on his face. The animals were herded outside the fenced area for part of each day so they could graze. The grazing was very good in this version of Earth, so the livestock seemed happy. Guards with guns, mounted on ATVs and horses, made sure that the local predators didn’t get any ideas. A couple of confrontations with wolf packs had ended badly for the wolves, so they rarely bothered the livestock any more.

Richard turned to the others and said, “This is really Bill’s meeting, so I’ll lob it to him.” He made a tossing motion to Bill.

Bill gave a sardonic half-smile. “I wish I had a movie reference or something to cut the tension a little, but I’m coming up blank today. Bottom line, things are going to hell Earthside. They’re saying now that Yellowstone pumped well over three thousand cubic kilometers of crud into the atmosphere.”

Erin gasped in horror.

Bill looked at Erin before continuing. “It also pumped the crud higher into the upper atmosphere than any normal volcano has ever done. So the fallout is going to be more widespread, and the very fine stuff is going to stay aloft a lot longer.”

He looked down for a second. “Plus of course, Homo moronus has to make a bad situation worse. Some countries have stopped exporting food and oil, so other countries are threatening to go in and take it. Israel’s enemies have taken the opportunity to attack when Israel’s allies are on their knees, and you know how well Israel takes that kind of thing. The BBC says nukes have been used.”

Bill took a moment to look around, trying to keep his composure. “Russia appears to be invading several nearby countries to ensure ongoing supplies. China has closed its borders completely and severed all communications with anybody whatsoever. Africa is mostly self-destructing. Oh, and have I mentioned? Washington appears to have fallen. Near as I can tell, the government is operating out of an undisclosed location. Except that at least three other governments have popped up and declared independence. I’m pretty sure the USA doesn’t exist as a nation anymore, people.”

Bill looked at his friends. Haunted expressions looked back at him.

“One of the things you didn’t catch, Richard, was that I was tuned to the BBC. That’s because there are no longer any American stations on the satellite feed. No Fox, no CNN, no MSNBC. I’ve managed to get something from Western Canada, but they aren’t having a wonderful time either. Some of the European feeds have dropped out, but I can still get more than half of them. There’s very little coming from anything south of the equator.”

He finished with a shrug. “I think we might be on our own, guys.”

Monica squared her shoulders. “Okay then, this means we have to get moving with the scavenging operations. This isn’t convenience anymore; this could be life or death for us.” She gave Richard a determined look. “We should call a meeting with the scavenging team right away and crank up the heat.”

Bill turned to Erin. “What do you think that volcanic crud figure will mean for the planet?”

Erin still wore a haunted look. “It means that enough is going to get across the equator to send both hemispheres into perpetual winter for a number of years, far worse than with any of the previous supervolcanoes. It means there will be more ash, over a wider area, killing more ecosystems.

“The human race is going to experience a severe die-back.”

“How bad?” Richard asked.

“Speaking from a conservative scientific viewpoint, I can justify an estimate of a billion people at minimum. And that doesn’t count deaths from wars.

“Personally, off the cuff, I think we’re looking at as much as fifty percent of the global population by the time it’s done.”

There were more shocked looks. Three to four billion people might be dead within a couple of years.

Reactions

Aug 4                            Richard

Richard looked over the crowd. Some people were stunned into silence, their eyes glazed. Others sobbed openly. One person had exchanged a few heated words with another, then punched him. Bystanders had ended it by sitting on the attacker.

One man stood, yelling at Richard. It wasn’t coherent enough to make out specifics, but Richard thought the gist was that he blamed Richard and his friends for all of it. A few people were attempting to shout him down, pointing out very reasonably that the gate owners had saved them, and had not caused the catastrophe.

“How do we know that?” the heckler countered. “How do we know that they didn’t cause it?”

Richard’s eyes opened wider. You’ve got to be kidding me!

“How do we know you didn’t cause it?” the voice yelled.

“What?” the heckler said, momentarily derailed.

“Maybe you are responsible,” the voice continued. “Or maybe it was leprechauns! Or maybe Santa Claus got tired of delivering presents every year, as long as we’re flinging around stupid baseless accusations.”

The heckler stood for a few seconds more, his mouth working like a fish trying to breathe. Then he put his head down, balled his fists, slowly sat down, and covered his face with his hands. There were a few seconds of sympathetic silence.

Richard said in what he hoped was a reasonable voice, “Look, we’re going to have to take this a day at a time. At least we have options. We can always return Earthside once it’s safe. Meanwhile this place is at least livable.

“Bottom line, though, we’re going to have to start treating this like a longer-term situation. We have to move up the scavenging operations. Joseph Leung is the Lead for that; he’ll be coordinating.”

With that, Richard held up a hand for a moment, turned, and walked away. As he did so, the noise level rose sharply as dozens of conversations started.

He spotted Joseph, who had been forewarned and was standing nearby. Richard nodded to him and continued on to the shed.

Rivendell

Aug 5                            Suzie

Suzie woke up to her sixth morning in what most people were now calling Rivendell. A few people referred to it as the Colony, but that wasn’t as popular since it implied a certain level of permanence. Most people hoped that their time here was temporary, and once things cleared up Earthside, they’d be going back to something like normal life.

She had heard a more pessimistic undercurrent of speculation, though, that the world they knew was finished. The news that they’d been able to get through satellite TV mostly supported this viewpoint. Suzie fervently hoped they were wrong. Among the many problems she had with a pioneer lifestyle was the fact that her nearly-complete history degree would be less than useless.

Suzie was amazed at the amount of equipment and supplies that the gate owners— people were calling them the G.O.— had accumulated in the sheds. She’d heard the story they were telling, but she found it a little hard to believe. After all, who assumes there’s going to be an event like Yellowstone? How paranoid do you have to be? The answer of course was as paranoid as Bill Rustad. Apparently, he watched a little too much TV, or something.

The story of the G.O. had by now been told and retold around the camp. Between Greenhouse Earth, the gold expeditions, and the visit from the Mafia, Suzie wasn’t sure how much was exaggeration or outright fabrication, and how much was for real. Made for a great story, though.

As part of trying to survive on this side, the G.O. had created a committee to organize duties. People were asked to volunteer for tasks that they were good at. Otherwise they would be assigned to a rotation for less desirable duties. People were being assigned tasks like scouting, guard duty, gathering wood, tending to the livestock, fence building, maintenance—including latrine digging—and cooking. Suzie was very happy that they had an excavator thingy for digging— she did not in any way look forward to the idea of digging latrines, or worse yet filling them in when they got full and needed to be replaced. Ugh!

Suzie and Joy had volunteered for cooking duty. They were determining what food was available in the mass of supplies, and how long they estimated they could feed the entire colony. It took very little time to determine that the stocks weren’t intended for several hundred people and wouldn’t last long with that many mouths to feed.

Someone pointed out that there were tons of protein running around in plain sight on this Earth, so hunting was added to the list of urgent tasks. Then someone else pointed out that hunting went with gathering, so another group was organized to look for edible growing things. The agro students would know what to look for. Soon the entire colony was buzzing like a bee hive.

The days were fine. Everyone had lots to keep them busy. The nights were far more difficult. Every night, Suzie could hear the occasional sob over the sounds of quiet crying. People worried about their families, their friends, and their future. Camping is one thing; living in the Stone Age forever is something else completely.

Suzie found herself trying to be wherever Richard Nadeski was, perhaps a little too much. Hot or not, she didn’t want to be one of those desperate girls who followed a guy around. He hasn’t even talked to me, for crying out loud. Get a grip! In fact, he seemed to pay far too much attention to that Italian woman— the loud one, Monica something.

In the end, Suzie decided the best thing to do would be to just keep her head down, stay out of trouble, and ride this out. Hopefully soon things would start to return to sanity.

In the News

Aug 9

The steady stream of refugees from the states most affected by the Eruption has prompted the governments of surrounding states to enact border controls and create refugee camps. Civil Rights groups are appalled. “These are US citizens, in their own country, and they’re being shoved into fenced camps like illegal immigrants. This contravenes basic constitutional guarantees on so many levels…”

Government officials counter that they simply don’t have the infrastructure to absorb the influx. “A complete economic breakdown would benefit neither the existing citizenry nor the refugees.”

---

There are confirmed reports that Israel has retaliated against Palestine with missile attacks. Israel has declared that they are moving in to “quell the Palestinian uprising.” Said one unnamed source, “In these uncertain times, we cannot afford to have an enemy on the doorstep who will take advantage of our perceived weakness. It is time to end this.”

---

Washington military sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, have told us that there are indications of one or more nuclear strikes in the Middle East.

Loss

Aug 9                            Bill

Bill was looking for Monica, ostensibly to remind her about dinner. In fact, he was hoping to sit with her tonight before Richard moved in. It seemed to Bill that every time he went looking for Monica, he found Richard with her. It was getting old. Bill was honest enough with himself to admit that he was trying to do the same thing. But all’s fair…

Eventually, he found her at the back of the second shed. Walking up to her, he said in a light tone, “Hey Monica, it’s almost dinner time. You don’t want to miss it. It’s your favorite again: food!”

Bill belatedly realized that something was wrong. Monica had turned her head away from him and wasn’t speaking. He sat beside her and took her hand. “Hey, kid, what’s up?” he asked as gently as he could.

After a moment, Monica turned to him, tears in her eyes. She tried to smile. “Sorry, Bill. I’m not good company right now. I think the whole end-of-the-world thing just hit me. I’m starting to realize I may never see anyone in my family again.” She squeezed his hand and hung her head.

Bill could hear sniffles, barely choked back. He decided to take a chance and put his arm around her. She turned and leaned into him.

“You know, we’re all going through that,” Bill said in a low voice. “You can go away to university for a couple of years, but there’s always been the option of going home. Now it’s different. There’s been a lot of quiet crying at night.”

Monica’s voice was muffled, her face pressed against his jacket. “My parents are in Italy with one of my sisters. Even if no one in my family dies, I still probably won’t ever see them again.”

Bill hesitated a moment. He wasn’t sure if he was about to be helpful or make things worse. “You’re lucky. They’re alive, and very likely to stay that way. I don’t know what the situation is with my family. Mortality in North America is going to be significant.” He put his hand to his forehead as he realized that he was now dooming most of her siblings.

“Look, I know it’s hard. But we’re all here for each other, right?” Bill gave her a squeeze and settled down for the duration.

After a while, Monica straightened up and turned to look at him. “You’re right. I know I hear crying every night from one direction or another. I’ve always thought of myself a little tougher than this…” She smiled sadly. “Guess not, as it turns out.”

She wiped her eyes, tried to straighten herself out. “Okay. I’m better. Let’s see about that food.”

Explorations

Aug 9                            Alex

Trish Lopez and Alex Shaw rode up over the top of the low hill, and they could now see the gleaming towers of Rivendell. Well, the metal sheds of Rivendell, Alex corrected himself.

The two were doing reconnaissance of the area around the colony on horseback. Experienced riders both, they had jumped at the chance for the outing. They had already completed a circuit roughly a couple of miles radius, crossing this side’s equivalent of Salt Creek twice. Alex had taken notes, as one of their duties was to look for a short-term water supply.

Now, late in the afternoon, they were returning to Rivendell.

Trish hadn’t stopped smiling for the entire outing. She explained that back home in New Mexico, she had been able to ride every day. Since going to UNL, she’d desperately missed the feeling of freedom that riding gave her.

Alex was more of a weekend rider, but still a dedicated and enthusiastic horse person. The two had spent the day talking and comparing notes.

“Must have been great, growing up on a ranch,” Alex said to her. “Your horse always right there, all that space…”

Trish laughed. “Sure, and if I managed to finish my chores in a reasonable time, I could actually do something about it. We didn’t live on a dude ranch, Alex. It was a working ranch, and we didn’t have a bunch of employees to do the work. When I wasn’t at school, I was shoveling manure or fixing fences, or tending to the cattle and the chickens, on and on until I was ready to scream.

“Meanwhile, other than in school, I very rarely got to see my friends. It’s not like I could just walk up the block. Jenny was closest and she was five miles away. And no buses.”

Alex admitted to himself that all that sounded like fun too, but he was pretty sure that saying so would just get him another lecture. Instead he said, “I guess it’s one of those grass is greener things. I lived in the city and only got out to my uncle’s place on weekends to take care of the horses. I’d have killed to live closer. Honestly, I hated living in the city. Too many people, too busy, traffic everywhere. This right here works for me.”

Trish expressed agreement, and they let the subject die. As they rode towards Rivendell in the light of the setting sun, Alex started whistling the Magnificent Seven theme. Trish laughed and then smiled at him.

Alex smiled back, and as he turned away his smile turned into a grin. This might end up being an even better night!

Paydirt

Aug 10              Charles

“Hey, Charles, look!” Charles turned his attention to the direction that Bluto pointed. In the distance, he saw horses with riders on them.

Bingo! Charles was gratified that his logic had been correct. The kids, or someone, had set up somewhere else and probably somewhere close. Charles looked at his watch. Late afternoon.

“We have to be close to high ground before dark,” he said to Bluto. “We’ll need to try to spot their camp. Hopefully they’ll have lights up or fires or something.”

“I’m not thrilled with spending the whole night in a tree,” Bluto replied. “So we’d better have our own fire ready.”

“Fair enough, but make sure it’s out of sight. We don’t want them discovering us.”

Charles reasoned that given the time of day, the riders were more likely headed back to their camp rather than away from it. With that in mind, the two took off in the direction that the riders had been going.

As dusk fell, they decided that they couldn’t afford to put off setting up their own camp any longer. They had by necessity become fast experts on the whole process. They found a reasonable spot, gathered fuel for their fire, and laid everything out.

Before they lit the fire, Charles examined the darkened sky. “There,” he said, pointing.

The faint glow on the horizon had nothing to do with a setting sun or rising moon. Charles made a point of poking a couple of sticks into the ground to indicate the direction. Then they turned to their camp and set up for the night.

In the News

Aug 11

South Korea’s largest news agency reports that North Korea has begun amassing troops on the border between the two countries. In addition, the North Korean Navy has positioned itself just outside of South Korea’s territorial boundary. Military experts point out that North Korea has traditionally been dependent on China for the resources to provide for its populace— even at the sub-poverty level at which the North Korean proletariat exists. With the recent Chinese withdrawal of military and economic aide, North Korea is looking for alternative sources of supply.

---

In a shocking move, six of the most debt-ridden nations on the planet— Greece, Italy, Egypt, Portugal, Spain, and France— have announced jointly that they will no longer be servicing their national debts. All except Egypt have also announced that they will no longer consider themselves part of the EU. World markets, which were already taking a beating due to the Yellowstone crisis, dropped sharply from their already historic lows.

---

We have credible reports of multiple explosions in several U.S. state capitols. Several groups have claimed responsibility. At least one is a domestic American revolutionary group.

Planning

Aug 12              Richard

Richard called the Rivendell Planning Committee to order. Seated around the table with Richard were Krista Tolleffson, Joseph Leung, Bill, Fred, and Anson.

Krista represented the Medical group. She had just completed her final year of pre-med, and had been intending to transfer to University of Nebraska at Omaha for her medical training. Yellowstone had put an indefinite hold on those plans. However, like most people who are truly interested in their chosen fields, Krista’s practical knowledge far outstripped her formal educational record.

Joseph Leung was there as team lead for the Scavenging group; Bill, as lead of Science and Technology; Fred Mack, who had agreed to take on Security; and Anson Rutherford for Scouting.

And last, Dick Thompson, who had organized the livestock rescue, had become lead for Agriculture Science.

Richard looked down at his notes for a moment. “Okay, so we now have to look at this as a long-term thing. That means we’re going to need things we might not have bothered with otherwise. That will include digging a well for water, coming up with a more long-term plan for the latrines, building better pens and fencing for the livestock— personally, I’m tired of them as room-mates.” There were some chuckles around the table. No one was happy when a cow wandered through the sleeping area.

“Short-term, we need tents and tarps for all our people. Longer term, we’ll want to start building something more permanent. All of this will require significant scavenging effort.

“As time goes on, it’s going to get harder and harder to find stuff in Lincoln. Buildings will continue to collapse. Windows will break and let in drifting ash, and so on.”

“If you’ve ever seen Life After People,” Bill added, “you’ll know how quickly things break down.”

Richard inclined his head in Bill’s direction, then continued, “So we’re going to have to go Earthside and start looking for things sooner rather than later. I kind of doubt the internet is still up, so in a lot of cases we’re going to have to work from memory. We’ve put together a list of things we must have. If anything is missing, bring it up.

“Joseph, you’ll need to organize some expeditions. We can’t cross the gates over, because we’ll have multiple groups going at the same time; so we’ll have to work out a protocol to open the gate at the proper spot once you find something.”

“On that subject, Richard,” Bill cut in, “I may have a partial solution. Meet me in my mad scientist lab after the meeting.”

***

Bill’s mad scientist lab was a section of the second shed where he had the satellite TV set up. Now it had been officially set aside for the SciTech Department. When Richard got there, Bill had the pole-cam going. As Richard came up, Bill handed him the control tablet. Richard looked at it. As well as the video output from the pole-cam camera, the tablet displayed a window with GPS information. The location it specified was the address of their current warehouse on Earthside.

Richard looked at Bill, his eyebrows rising almost to his hairline. “You sure like the dramatic reveal, don’t you? Same principle as the satellite TV?”

Bill nodded. “I have one of those external GPS receivers up beside the camera. When the pole-cam is turned on, I can crank the receiver through the gate with this.” Bill pointed to another piece of rigging on the pole, similar to the one that was used to tilt the gate forward and back.

Richard shook his head and smiled ruefully. “Engineers. Geez.” He continued after a moment, “So the Scavenging party can use the pole-cam to scout and to determine locations from this side…”

“And to communicate with the search parties from this side.” Bill added. “I’ve also rigged up an external antenna for the walkie-talkie. As long as the pole-cam is open, everyone has full cross-dimensional communication.” Bill smiled in triumph.

Scavenging Party

Aug 13              Omni

“Okay guys, you’ve all seen the priority list and the list of places we want to try.

“We’re going to split into several groups. If you find something worth taking, radio me. I’ll make a note of the coordinates and contents. We’ll prioritize what we locate and try to work out a schedule for retrieving contents over the next couple of weeks.”

The milling group organized into smaller teams and each team selected a target location. They had talked about doing the travelling on Outland then gating over when they reached their destination; however, that would require checking spots one at a time. This way, they could check multiple possibilities at once, then scavenge at leisure.

Bill opened the truck gate, and people started pouring through. There was still far too much ash, both fine particles in the air and loose ash on the ground, for them to risk taking vehicles across. This meant that this round of investigation would be done on foot, and everyone would be wearing masks.

***

The crew of three had been tasked with checking out the local Home Depot for fencing supplies and useful equipment. There had been a lot of concern that the building would have collapsed, given the huge flat roofs.

Now they stood in the warehouse and scanned around with their flashlights. “Well I’ll be damned,” Josh said. The roof had indeed buckled. However, it had only collapsed as far as the tall, industrial-strength shelving units. Everything below the top of the shelves was still clear and accessible.

“They supplied their own columns,” Lea commented.

“Let’s go out to the yard and see what’s there,” Josh said.

They circled the building and came to the open-air part of the store. This area had also been roofed, and the roof had also collapsed to the shelving units. They wandered a bit until they found the fencing supplies. There were large stocks of fence posts and roll after roll of metal fencing and barbed wire.

“Cool,” Josh said. “One last thing— post-hole digger. Anyone know where the rental office is?”

“We passed it on the way around, O Blind One,” Lea answered. “It looked locked. We may have to borrow a ten-pound lock-pick.”

Josh chuckled. “Right, I’ll radio Joseph and let him know. Who’s got the GPS?” Alan held up the Tomtom.

***

Phil and Pete had volunteered to check out some nearby gas stations. Both had worked as gas jockeys while in school, so they knew their way around. As soon as the scavenging parties had crossed over, the pair headed for a nearby Shell station. It looked like the gas station had been abandoned in a hurry after the earthquake. Things hadn’t even been locked up.

Phil knew how to use the dipstick to check the contents of the tanks. This took perhaps ten minutes including the time to clean the area around the access port.

Having found a supply of gasoline and diesel that would last the colony for months, the two decided that this called for a break. Pete patted his jacket pocket, smiled, and they found a good protected spot to sit and relax. Pete had several joints already rolled, so in no time they were enjoying better living through botany. There would be plenty of time to call in their find.

***

The crew looked at the front of the Walgreens.

“Wow, that does not look good,” Patrick said.

The building indeed looked like it was one stiff breeze away from total collapse. The entire front wall had pancaked. The front entrance existed only as a scattering of shattered glass and twisted metal. They walked slowly around the building, looking for a way in.

About halfway around, they found a service entrance. The wall at this end appeared to be in better condition. Overall, it looked like the roof had collapsed at the front of the building, which had been enough to dislodge most of the ash, preventing a total collapse. However, the service entrance was specifically designed to prevent break-ins, so try as they might, they couldn’t find a way in.

“I think we’ll have to come back with the pole-cam,” Hernando said.

“And one of the gates,” Linda added.

The three agreed this was a reasonable course of action, and prepared to radio in their report.

***

Gerry and Cathy looked up at the Scheels logo. “This looks like the place,” Gerry said.

They carefully examined the building. The big central section of the store had shed the ash off its sloped roof. However, the rest of the structure had not been so lucky. The roof had partially collapsed in several places, and ash had flowed down to bury the collapsed sections.

Gerry had a broom handle that he’d picked up along the way; he’d been amusing himself by trying to come up with a reason why it would be just leaning there against a wall. He poked at the pile of ash in front of a collapsed section, looking for cavities.

Finally he found what he was looking for when the stick went right through without meeting any resistance. Gerry made sure his mask was tight to his face and that he had his goggles on right. Then he leaned in and started scooping ash out of the way. Cathy stepped back quickly and waved her hands in front of her to keep the ash away.

It only took a few seconds, and Gerry had found a gap in the collapsed wall. He motioned for the flashlight that Cathy held, and shone it into the dark interior. Sure enough, a lot of the inside was still accessible, and the inventory seemed to be in good shape. Gerry backed out, handed the flashlight back to Cathy, and patted himself down to get rid of excess ash.

“We are in business,” he said. “Camping Supplies R Us. Should be enough tents and sleeping bags in there for most of the population.”

“Good,” Cathy said. “I don’t want to have to squeeze into those two sheds with close to three hundred other people again, like last time it rained.”

Gerry pulled out the radio and prepared to deliver his report.

***

“Woo hoo! Would you look at all this stuff?” Charlie exclaimed.

They’d been given a general mandate to find any construction or lumberyards with significant stock. This business in the industrial area certainly fit the bill. The downside was that a lot of it was open-air, so the unprotected stacks of product were partly buried by ash.

“Wow, this’ll take forever to load across,” Ken said.

“Yeah, and it looks like a lot of it will have to be carried through the gate lengthwise. No way that I can think of to use a forklift for that.”

“Well, not our problem, unless we end up on the chain gangs.”

Charlie lifted his walkie-talkie to report.

Refugees

Aug 14              Omni

Phil and Pete were walking back to the rendezvous. As they came around a corner, they almost ran head-on into a man and a boy who had been coming the other way. The man jumped back in surprise and fear. Pete and Phil were still somewhat medicated, so had a more laid-back reaction.

The man’s eyes widened as he examined the two and saw the shotguns slung over their shoulders. He fumbled for a pistol in his waistband. However, he was obviously nowhere near an expert, and it took several seconds before he had the weapon out and the safety off. At that point he seemed to realize that Pete and Phil hadn’t moved. He stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, with the pistol half raised, then sighed and lowered the pistol.

Pete and Phil smiled. Pete said, “Dude, not to worry, okay?”

The man half-smiled, still looking embarrassed. The boy with him looked apprehensive, but took his lead from the adult.

“I guess you’re looking for food, too,” the man said.

“Er, no,” Pete replied. “Food we’ve got. We were looking for fuel.”

The man’s eyes lit up. “Can you spare some? I haven’t been able to find enough to feed my family in days. Uh, I’m Nick by the way. This is my son, Enso.”

“Pete,” Pete said, pointing to himself, “and Phil. Listen, where’s your family? You don’t need to hang around here. We’ve got way better digs.”

Nick was instantly suspicious. “And where would that be?”

“You wouldn’t believe me. We’ll have to show you. Then you can decide.”

***

Pete and Phil grinned, watching Nick try to take it in. His eyes bugged out at the Pleistocene landscape and inhabitants. Enso hopped from foot to foot, pointing things out to his father with a running stream of excited commentary.

Joseph Leung walked up to stand beside Nick. “So Nick, what do you do for a living?”

Nick, with obvious effort, focused on the man speaking to him. “Um, construction. Residential, industrial, whatever. Foreman and subcontractor. Kind of a Jack of all trades, to be honest.”

Joseph smiled. “Excellent. I think you’ll find yourself very busy over here. Now, shall we see about the rest of your family?”

Still looking somewhat boggled, Nick nodded slowly. “Wife and two more kids. I hope you don’t have a limit or something.”

Joseph laughed. “Not likely. Food we have. Space we have. People, we’re kind of short on. Your kids will have to do chores…”

“Damn right they will,” Nick answered.

Results

Aug 15              Richard

“Well, we’re not doing badly at all,” Richard said. He looked around at the others. “We’ve got a Home Depot that we can plunder; Pete and Phil managed to keep it together long enough to find a huge cache of fuel—” Pete and Phil were rapidly attaining legendary status for their stoner ways. “—and they even brought back Nick, here, who has some construction experience.” At this last comment, Richard motioned to Nick McCormack, who had been invited to the meeting.

“And we’ve also located a local construction supply yard with ridiculous amounts of inventory.”

“We may have gotten a break with the Walgreens. Our guys think a lot of the contents are still intact, but we’ll have to gate in from this side. Same with the rental office at the Home Depot.” Even with the ten-pound sledgehammer, Josh had done nothing more than dent the door.

“We’ve got a number of buildings at the university that we’ll want to hit, but we need to clean out the local stuff first. Setting up safe enclosures for the livestock is first priority; getting our infrastructure together is next.”

Richard paused for a moment, and looked around. These people, only days before, had been students— whose most pressing concern was passing the next exam or getting the assignments done. Now they were in effect the government of what could end up being the last bastion of civilization. Richard sighed. Like Bill says, shit happens. Speaking of which…

“Bill, can we have your report?”

Bill looked up from his notes. “Right. Our main concerns right now are a potable water supply and a long-term plan for an electrical supply. For the first one, it would have been great to find a well-drilling rig, but no luck so far. Failing that, we’ll use an auger from the Home Depot. With that and some sections of steel pipe, I can rig up a system for ‘jet’ drilling. It’s not capable of drilling a really deep well, but we don’t need a deep one. The water table is pretty close to the surface around here.

“For the electrical, I’m thinking of putting together a wind turbine using an Archimedes Screw. There’s a company in Europe that’s been selling something along those lines, and they claim it can generate power even in low wind speeds.”

Bill put down his notes and sat back.

Richard turned to the next person around the circle, which was Dick Thompson.

“Dick? Animals?”

Dick looked around the table. “I think everyone is getting pretty tired of the livestock wandering around in the same area where we sleep. Leaving aside the unexpected gifts they leave lying around, a couple of people have been stepped on. No broken bones, but it couldn’t have been fun.

“We’re bringing across enough equipment and supplies to start building a fence line. We’re going to get work crews starting on it today or tomorrow. Once it’s all done, we’ll look at putting up some simple shelters for the animals. After that, we’re going to go pig-hunting.”

Richard smiled and looked over to Nick McCormack. “Nick?”

Nick looked around the table. “Happily you guys put the latrines downhill in the first place, so we’re going to expand that into a proper septic system. And once we can get the supplies across, we’re going to start building residences. Just big single-room communal lodges for the first cut. That’ll get us through the first winter. A lot of the fine detail design will have to wait until the water supply system is better defined, though.” Nick mimed throwing it back to Richard.

Richard turned to Joseph.

Joseph sighed. “Same as always. Ten times as many requests as I have people or gates or equipment for. I’ve adopted a fatalistic attitude; you tell me what the priority is, and we’ll do it. Anyone else starts yelling in my ear, I point them at you.

“I will however, take this opportunity to point out yet again that we could use more vehicles.”

Richard groaned. “I know, Joseph. But that’ll just change the bottleneck. We could probably find things a little faster, but we couldn’t retrieve them any faster, because we don’t have enough bodies or gates. If it isn’t one thing, it’s a dozen other, right?”

Richard waited for an argument from Joseph. Joseph shook his head.

Richard glanced over at Dick again, and said to the group, “Dick has brought up a potential problem. We’re a little light on agriculture expertise. Oh, we’ve got aggie students who can rattle off different breeds of wheat and stuff, but we don’t have much in the way of practical experience with running an agricultural operation. I’m going to talk to a couple of people about that later. We may have to go looking.”

Again, Richard looked around the table. No one showed an inclination to add anything, so after a moment Richard closed the meeting, saying, “Okay, people, thanks. As ever, if something concerns you, bring it up.”

Sunny Days

Aug 16              Suzie

The sun was out again today in Rivendell. Suzie and Joy had decided to take a break. It wasn’t against the rules— there weren’t actually any rules at all. You pitched in when you could, and you were free otherwise.

The colony had adopted a routine of two meals a day— breakfast and dinner. A lot of people were having trouble with that. Suzie chuckled at the thought. A lot of people were having trouble with a lack of snacks. And truthfully, a lot of people would be better off without them. Meow. God, I’m a bitch.

The two girls had worked the breakfast shift, and wouldn’t be required to do anything until mid-afternoon when they’d start preparing for dinner. Hmm, I wonder what we’ll make, Suzie thought. Venison Chili stew? Or maybe Buffalo Chili stew? Or maybe Buffalo burgers, without the buns? Or buffalo steaks? Or Venison steaks?

One of the first things that the scavenging parties had gone looking for was food. And unfortunately, that was the one thing that every other resident of Lincoln had also gone looking for, whether they were holing up in the city or heading for somewhere else. Short of breaking into individual homes, there was very little food left to be found Earthside. That left the supplies that Bill had originally purchased, plus anything that could be acquired on this side. They were in no danger of starving to death, but there would be adjustments.

They’d managed to coax the chickens into an egg-laying routine, but a dozen eggs a day for a couple hundred people wouldn’t go very far. So instead, they were going to hatch as many of the eggs as they could to try to build up the inventory. In addition to their obvious duties, the two roosters had become the colony’s alarm clocks— and the most hated denizens of Rivendell.

Meanwhile, breakfast very much resembled dinner except for the location of the sun in the sky.

The aggie students had managed to locate wild herbs and onions and a couple of other vegetable-ish plants, so there was at least some variety to the meals. Someone said that they had recovered some seeds from a couple of businesses Earthside and would be trying to grow some late-summer crops. That would help as well.

Suzie sighed. Low carb diet. No problem, now.

She lay in the lawn chair, enjoying the feeling of warmth, refusing to let herself worry about the food situation. As on most days, the sky was not completely clear. Clouds were always scudding through, the fluffy kind of clouds that would block the sun for a few minutes at a time. She looked around. There were a couple of dozen people, sitting or lying down on the cheap folding Walmart beach chairs, including that Josh character who never seemed to be working.

Suzie laughed a bit. Joy opened her eyes and turned to her. “What’s funny?”

Suzie smiled. “Oh, I was just looking around. This place is such a weird mix of wild west pioneer and modern suburbia. We’re sitting in these chairs, sun-tanning, while people are riding around on horses, hunting, and other people race around on dirt-bikes. Meanwhile, there’s a crew digging latrines, another hauling water, while yet another crew uses an interdimensional portal to go raiding another universe for supplies. It’s bizarre.”

Joy chuckled. “I wonder if they’ll make a movie out of it. Or a TV series.” She sighed. “I guess that’s not very likely right now, is it?”

“Maybe not this month. But things might improve.”

Suzie looked up. A couple of other people were coming over, carrying folding chairs. She saw it was Pete and Phil.

“Hello, ladies,” Pete said, as they unfolded the chairs. Suzie smiled at them in greeting. Some guys were relentless and had to be fended off constantly, but Pete and Phil were harmless. They just wanted to find a way to slack off.

“So what are you guys working on these days?” Suzie asked.

“Scouting,” Phil said. “We kind of used up all our talents on the scavenging end of things when we found the fuel at the gas station. They’ll probably call on us again, but meanwhile our job is to ride around on dirt bikes. It’s a hell…”

“So why aren’t you out there today?” Suzie asked.

“Al broke one of the dirt bikes,” Pete answered. “He’s fixing it right now, and Richard Nadeski told him he’s cut off for a week. Al is some pissed.”

“That dude is insane,” Phil added. “Dirt biking is his main thing in life. I think they’re planning on doing a scavenging expedition to his home at some point to pick up all his stuff, including all his bikes. Then he can break those instead of the colony’s bikes.”

“There’s so much stuff we need…” Pete mused. “It seems like every five minutes someone is asking Joseph Leung to arrange an expedition to get some other thing. He wants to go hit auto dealerships and scavenge some vehicles so they can grab more things at once. But he can’t get people to leave him alone long enough.”

They let the silence stretch for a few minutes. There was no feeling of awkwardness, nor need to fill the quiet with chatter. The warmth and slight breeze melted away any feeling of urgency. Suzie felt herself start to drift…

“You guys think we’ll ever get back to civilization?” Joy’s voice brought Suzie back from the brink. It was a measure of her level of relaxation that she didn’t even mind.

“Honestly,” Pete answered, “I couldn’t care less if we never do.”

This made Suzie open one eye and look at him. “Really?”

“Yeah. Mind you, ask me again in a month when we’ve gone through our stash, but I’m not sure we aren’t better off now. Earth was getting way too complicated, crowded, and stressed. I know we’re going to miss stuff eventually, but right now I feel like if I had a button in front of me to bring the old world back, I wouldn’t press it.”

“Maybe you should talk to the agro folks,” Joy said. “I’m sure your stash has some seeds in it.”

Pete and Phil both sat up straight and looked at each other. “Son of a bitch!” Pete said.

They leapt off their chairs and went charging off, with a, “Watch our stuff,” yelled back to the girls.

Joy and Suzie laughed at this turn of events. “You sure know how to clear a room,” Suzie said.

Joy took a bow from her chair.

In The News

Aug 16

Russia has completed annexation of all former soviet-bloc countries on its borders. There are reports that Russia is now attempting to gain control of some Chinese border provinces.

---

Today, Iran released a statement that they have successfully annexed Iraq and will be absorbing the former nation into their own borders. In an odd twist, Iraq later released a statement that they had successfully repelled the Iranian invasion force and are poised to advance on the Iranian capital.

---

India, Brazil, and China have announced in separate releases that they will be ending food exports to in order to provide for their own populations. Economists speculate that other net food exporting countries will soon follow suit.

Mealtime

Aug 17              Bill

“Wow, what a friggin’ day.” Bill lowered himself to the ground carefully and arranged his plate on his lap. Monica glanced at him for a moment, then returned her attention to her plate of something-chili stew.

Mealtimes had become routine, but there was a large flavor of camping in the process. Kitchen volunteers cooked the meals in some impressively large pots that had been rescued from a restaurant on Earthside in the first couple of days. Other kitchen staff served the food cafeteria-style. People lined up, then found a spot on the lawn, as the fenced-off area was now called, and sat down to eat.

There was no shortage of food, and the food was healthier than the average pre-eruption diet had been, but a vegetarian would have had a hard time. Animal protein figured prominently, and most people didn’t even ask any more. It was something stew again.

The G.O. had a favorite spot where they sat for every meal. As Bill looked around, he realized that other groups had developed similar routines. It always seemed to be the same people sitting near them.

And here came Pete and Phil. The stoners could be depended on to never miss a meal, and they sometimes made for some hilarious conversation. Monica in particular seemed to like them, probably because of their non-conformist attitude.

The two sat down, plates heaped as high as physically possible, nodded a greeting to everyone, and started to dig in.

And lastly, Richard arrived and settled down. Bill noticed once again that the blonde in the next group over seemed to always be very aware of Richard’s arrival. I wonder if I can encourage that, somehow.

“I miss bread,” Richard said out of nowhere.

“Eh?” Bill was surprised. Richard was usually all business, even at mealtimes.

“Bread,” Richard repeated. “Buns. Sandwiches. Amazing what trivial things you suddenly get a twinge about.”

Erin smiled. “I know. I never thought I’d find myself wishing for more vegetables. My mom would have a laughing fit if she heard me.”

At the mention of her mom, Erin’s face fell. There were several moments of silence as the rest of the group went through similar emotions.

After a few seconds, Erin asked Richard, “How are things in committee?”

Richard was quick to help with the change of subject. “Same old. Too many things to do, not enough time or resources. At least we haven’t had any power struggles. In TV shows and movies—” Richard looked at Bill with one eyebrow raised, “—there’s always some twit who wants to be in charge at any cost. But that doesn’t seem to be happening here, at least so far.”

“Too goddam busy,” Monica commented. “Everyone has more than enough responsibility, without having to go looking for it. Give it a year, Richard.”

“Are we still going to be here?” Pete asked. His plate empty, he’d finally come up for air.

Monica shrugged, and motioned to Bill. Because he watched the satellite broadcasts more than anyone else, Bill had become the de facto expert on Earthside status.

Bill lay back, supporting himself on his elbows. “I think we’ll be here a little longer than that, Pete. Things are still spiraling downwards Earthside, and they aren’t going to stop doing so for a while.

“The ash from the eruption has halted most forms of transportation, which means no food deliveries, no fuel deliveries, and no travel. The only resources available to people are what’s within walking distance. Most urban areas don’t have much in the way of food-producing industries close by, so once the stuff in the supermarkets is used up, people will start migrating to look for food. That’ll be generally south, although south of Yellowstone is a bad bet.

“One of the things I picked up a while back was that Mexico has closed their border to the American exodus, and yes, they’re being deliberately retaliatory. The announcement was just dripping with irony, slathered on with a trowel.” Bill rolled his eyes and shook his head in disapproval.

“Anyway, the point is that there’s now a much smaller percentage of land on the planet that’s suitable for producing food, at the same time that our technical ability to sustain intensive high-yield agriculture is disappearing. Add to that the fact that there’s not much left in the way of fish and wildlife to harvest in our modern world, you can see where it’s going to go…”

“Why can’t we bring people across to this side?” Phil asked.

Phil normally didn’t get involved in these types of serious discussions, so there was a moment of surprised silence before Richard replied.

“Well, we could, if we could get to them. The thing is, Phil, on Earthside probably everyone will have left Nebraska by now. In fact, within about fifteen hundred miles of Yellowstone, you could probably go days without seeing another human being. As Bill said, they’ve all migrated, looking for food—other than the occasional individual or family that we’ve managed to find.

“In order to find people to bring across, we’d have to travel. East, west, north, whatever. And the highways are full of broken-down vehicles that people attempted to use in the middle of the worst ash-fall. So how do we get to California, for instance?”

Phil thought about this for a few seconds, then sighed and hung his head.

“And that isn’t the worst of it,” Bill added. People turned to him, apprehension on their faces.

“There’s more?” Phil looked like he regretted asking.

“Mm, yeah. See, the eruption will knock civilization back to a pre-industrial or early industrial level. Eventually, the ash will clear and ecosystems will start to recover, but then what? Humanity has been intensively extracting all the coal, metals, and oil from the Earth for a long time now. We’ve taken out the easily accessible stuff, the moderately accessible stuff, and in the last fifty years or so we’ve been attacking the deeply buried stuff that can only be gotten at with high technology.

“When things start to recover, you’ll have a pre-industrial society with no access to any of the raw resources that we had lying around the first time around. Humanity will never recover on Earth Prime. There’s nothing left to recover with.”

That was the final straw. Phil picked up his plate, got up, and headed to the cafeteria line-up for seconds.

“Damn, that’s bleak,” Matt said.

Bill sat up and rubbed his forehead. “Phil’s right, though. In the longer term, we have to go looking for people. We have to bring them across, and we have to start again on this side. There’s simply no other option.”

Surveillance

Aug 17              Charles

It was a long way from the trees to the camp in the distance, but Charles could make out the general activity, which included a lot of coming and going. Occasionally small groups would drive off on ATVs or dirt bikes.

“We have to get some of those weapons,” Bluto said. “We’re outgunned right now. And almost out of ammo.”

Charles considered. “I don’t see how we can get close enough to take them out by hand. I don’t want to tip off the camp with gunfire, and we can’t just set up way far away and hope they’ll show up to be mugged.”

“Dirt bikes make noise,” Bluto commented.

Charles looked surprised for a moment, then assumed a neutral expression. Bluto having ideas was unusual. Good ideas, even more so.

“Good point, Bluto. We still have to wait for them to slow or stop, but I think the engines will drown out any noise from our pea-shooters.”

***

Bluto

Bluto shrugged, happy that he’d come up with an idea; and happier that it would allow him to shoot someone.

Bluto could never be described by anyone as peaceful. He tended to view violence as a tactic of first resort, and he enjoyed his work. But with these kids, it was personal. They’d taken him down; that short little bitch had nutted him good. He’d had to move carefully for days after that. He’d been cold. He’d been rained on. He was always hungry. Andy was dead. And it was all their fault.

“Little bastards are going to pay,” Bluto muttered. “They’re going to pay for Andy, they’re going to pay for what they did to me, they’re going to pay for making me sleep in a tree…”

Charles glanced sideways at Bluto, sighed softly, and resumed watching.

The two lay there most of the day, watching the activity, trying to identify patterns, looking for locations where one or two victims could be intercepted out of sight of anyone else.

While they lay there, Bluto ruminated on the recent past. Remembered Andy being dragged down by a couple of large cats. Remembered running. Remembered being afraid— an emotion he hadn’t felt since before puberty. Remembered sleeping in trees, remembered eating random plants because he was so hungry. And Bluto felt his hate rising for the people who had done that to him. Oh, there’d be payback. Just wait…

University

Aug 17              Ben

The scavenging group slogged through the University grounds, hunched forward, heads down. There was no longer any detectable ash in the air, and recent rains had turned the ash on the ground into a gummy mess with the consistency of very soft clay. This had the desirable effect of preventing ash clouds rising from their footsteps, but made those same footsteps much more difficult. The three were sweating from the walk, and it was not a hot day.

In fact, Ben couldn’t decide how to describe the current weather. He’d read a short story once entitled Becalmed in Hell. The only details he remembered were the title and floating in a gray mist, and that seemed to be very appropriate for the current conditions. The sky was gray—not from clouds, not from overcast—the sky itself looked gray, as if blue had been deleted from the color spectrum. A brighter patch indicated where the sun must be, but there was no texture visible there, either. The ash, caked onto everything, leeched the color out of the landscape and left nothing but a dull brownish-gray.

The air was cool and still, but far more humid than seemed possible for the temperature. It seemed like Ben couldn’t get a breath, even though from moment to moment his body was getting enough oxygen.

The group had been given a list of buildings to check out and report on. At the moment, they were making their way to the Scott Engineering Center. Ben had started humming the Volga Boat Song, but had given it up after a minute as too much effort. No one commented.

***

Andrews

Private Andrews watched the figures moving across the campus in the distance. He lowered the binoculars and turned to Timminson, who had cleared a space on a low wall and was sitting down. “They’ve got guns, but they’re not doing anything illegal. No real need to pursue, right?”

Timminson grimaced. “I’m not moving for anything short of the crack of doom. Another crack of doom, I mean.” They both grunted, neither having the strength to spare for actual laughter. “This is like a cold clammy version of hell.”

Andrews made a note of date, time, location, and description of the subjects for his report. No evidence that these are looters. Pursuit not indicated.

Food

Aug 17              Omni

Joseph took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. He turned to the rest of the group. “Yeah, it’s a bit dangerous. We have to try, though. If there are any surviving pockets in there, it would be a major score.”

They were standing in front of a one-time supermarket. As was all too common with this style of building, the roof had collapsed under the weight of the ash. The collapse had been uneven, rather than the entire roof pancaking, so the scavengers decided to check for any non-crushed pockets. Joseph and a few others were Earthside, providing an outside perspective via walkie-talkie to the other group, who were pole-camming the inside of the supermarket from Overside.

Finally, a break. The radio crackled, then, “We’ve found an open area. Looks like loads of stuff. Definitely cans of food at least.”

Joseph and his group whooped, and there were high-fives all around.

A few minutes later, the six-foot gate opened up, and they walked through.

***

It took hours to unload the open section. No one complained, though. They found not only cans and jars of food, but also flour, sugar, powdered milk, dried pasta, and boxes and bags of cereal. The crew was euphoric. The haul would mean weeks’ worth of meals free from chili, or months’ worth of meals with some added variety.

Jacked Again

Aug 18              Timminson

Timminson looked at the empty shelves in disgust. They’d just spent close to two days carefully removing debris and shoring up portions of the building, trying to make it safe enough to enter. Now they were finally in the supermarket, the part that hadn’t been flattened anyway, to find that the shelves had been cleaned out. Every can, every package of food was gone. There were footprints all over the place inside, but there had been no indication outside that this cache had been discovered.

Chavez will have a shit.

***

Chavez

“Again? We’ve been beaten to it again?” Chavez was, as expected, not taking it well. The corporal, when angry, got very quiet, and this made the other soldiers more nervous than a good old-fashioned cussing-out would have. Soldiers jockeyed to position themselves behind their fellows, so as not to be in immediate view.

Chavez took a deep breath and spent a few moments fighting for control. “Whoever this group is, they have some technique or something that we don’t. More importantly though, they’re taking supplies that we need in order to keep our civilian charges alive. We are not keeping up with needs, and I’m tired of it. As of now, we’re on a looter hunt. Weapons hot, and if you happen to shoot one or two of them, I’m not going to notice. Clear?”

Chavez glared around at the soldiers before continuing. “You see anyone, and I mean anyone, and you take them into custody. If they aren’t part of this group we’re looking for, and they aren’t looting, we can apologize and let them go. But no one gets away without scrutiny.”

In the News

Aug 18

Today we present a global scorecard. The regions that have stopped broadcasting and with whom there are no dependable communications include:

-          The United States of America

-          Eastern Canada

-          Mexico, Central America and the northern part of South America

-          Africa, except South Africa

-          The Middle East, except Iran and Iraq

-          China

-          Parts of southern Europe

-          South-East Asia

---

We have credible reports that North and South Korea have executed a nuclear exchange. MI6 has confirmed the events via satellite surveillance. No word on the amount of damage or casualties.

Ultralight

Aug 19              Bill

“No wonder the company account was going down so fast.” Richard stood, arms akimbo, staring at one of two ultralight kits. The other kit had been opened and was halfway to becoming an actual aircraft. A half-dozen people were milling around, looking at instructions, arguing, and generally getting in each other’s way.

“Mind you,” Bill answered with a smug look, “we never got around to paying for a lot of stuff I’d ordered. Yellowstone kind of interrupted the billing cycle, if you know what I mean.”

“You are un-fucking-believable.” Richard tried to keep a straight face, but a grin kept breaking through. “So, do you know how to fly one?”

“Um, I’ve taken lessons, but don’t have a lot of hours. A couple of these guys, though—” Bill indicated the group that was attempting to construct the aircraft. “— are experienced pilots. One of them has an Instrument rating, and several do gliders as well. I think we’re covered.”

Richard nodded. “I noticed someone out with the bobcat this morning, plowing up an area outside the fence. That’s your doing, I guess?”

Bill shrugged, palms up. “Runway. Gotta have one.”

“Fine. Okay, Orville, but don’t kill yourself, all right?” Richard turned and walked away.

***

“And, done.” Goro slapped the airframe.

“All checked out?” Bill asked, walking around the aircraft.

“Ready to fly, boss-man. You want to do the honors?”

Bill shook his head. “I’m willing to forgo that honor, if you’re volunteering. Just a short proving flight, then come back. We’ll re-fuel, and I’ll go up with you.”

Goro grinned. “You got it!”

Goro Yoshida was their licensed pilot. It had been an offhand comment of his at one of the SciTech meetings that had reminded Bill about the ultralights. Goro had been bemoaning the likelihood that he’d never fly again, and Bill had done an immediate facepalm.

“It looks like the bobcat’s finished flattening the runway,” one of the guys said.

The group very carefully opened up the construction fence and moved the ultralight out of the protected area. Several people had shotguns, just in case.

Once through, they moved to the runway. Goro did the required preflights, even though he’d done the same checks twenty minutes earlier, then climbed aboard and started it up.

“Nice and quiet,” he said to Bill.

Bill gestured toward the engine and propeller. “I never could stand the noisy ones that sound like lawn mowers. I made sure I bought a model that advertised a low decibel rating.” He stepped back, and motioned to Goro to take off.

Goro gave him a thumbs-up, and taxied down the runway. The ultralight needed very little space to get aloft, and within seconds, Goro was circling Rivendell. People stopped what they were doing and pointed. There were several cheers.

After a few minutes, Goro landed. They refueled and re-checked, then Bill and Goro climbed in. The take-off took only a little more runway with two people.

As they did the obligatory circuit around Rivendell, Bill got his first chance to see Pleistocene Nebraska from the air.

Holy crap on a cracker! Bill was sure he was gawking like a tourist, but didn’t care. Nebraska in Outland was hillier than Earthside. It also had a lot more trees, although not anywhere near the dense forest typical of the west coast. The trees were mostly deciduous, with what looked like maple, oak, and birch dominating, although Bill could see pine and cedar here and there.

The important thing was to get a good overview of the land within a five-mile radius or so. Bill had instructed Goro to spiral outwards for as long as fuel allowed.

Bill took picture after picture with the tablet, frequently adding voice annotations. He noted clear, flat areas for farming; hillier, open areas for grazing; and groves of trees that looked large enough to be able to handle a partial harvest. One of the principles that the new colony had already laid down was that they would not raze the environment like a cloud of locusts.

Goro kept going off course to get a better look at various herds of animals, and Bill didn’t complain. The ultralight was quiet enough that the animals didn’t notice them as long as the aircraft didn’t come in too low. Bill got excellent aerial shots of several mammoth family groups, a couple of giant sloths, and a huge herd of bison.

Finally, Goro indicated that it was time to head back. Bill was disappointed that it was over so soon, and promised himself that he would get in the hours to become a proficient pilot.

Scavenging

Aug 20              Matt

“Yep. This is it.” Bill looked at the GPS display. He turned to Matt, who was sitting in his pickup with the engine idling. “Let’s set up.”

Show time. Matt signaled to his passengers, turned off the engine, and everyone piled out of the truck.

They unloaded the truck gate and the portal generator and set everything up.

Meanwhile, Bill walked around with the pole-cam, watching the video feed. In a minute or so, he stopped. “This is inside the rental office right here. Ground level is close enough. We can open up here.”

They assembled the truck gate, moved it into position, and Bill powered up the portal. There was the usual blurring, then they saw the inside of the Home Depot rental office. Bill walked around and looked at the other side of the gate, which showed the inside of the office in the opposite direction. He grinned and shook his head. “That is so cool!”

They’d previously discussed strategy and duties. It took less than fifteen minutes to pull everything through from the other side. People returned through the gate, laden down with equipment.

On the Outland side, Matt watched people pop out of the gate from both sides, walking in opposite directions. That’s just wrong. It’s actually making me dizzy.

Finally, they were done. They shut down the gate, covered all of the plundered equipment with tarps, and loaded the portal hardware back onto the truck.

“This is going to take forever,” Matt commented. “We’re looking at about eight trips. And at the speed I’ll have to drive, it’ll be a half day per trip.”

One of the guys on the team walked around to the back of the pickup. “You know you have a trailer hitch on your truck, right?” he said. “Doesn’t Home Depot sell trailers?”

There was a moment of frozen, indignant silence shared by everyone, then the sound of multiple palms striking foreheads. “Right,” Matt said. “Let’s see if we can find one.” Off came the portal hardware, and the search began.

Richard would be happy to know he’s not the only one who feels like a moron some days, Matt thought. I guess none of us is an expert at this.

Fences

Aug 21              Frankie

Frankie stopped to wipe the sweat from his face. Trish grinned at him and said, “Having trouble, fresh meat?”

Frankie grinned back. He liked Trish. She had a take-no-prisoners style and was enormously self-reliant. I pity the fool who tries to push her around.

Frankie admitted to himself that if his interests had leaned in that direction, she’d be the direction he would lean. On the other hand, Alex over there was obviously leaning that way. The poor sap was going to blow it if he didn’t back off a bit. Frankie made a promise to himself to have a quiet word with Alex. Gotta do what you can to help out young love.

They’d been putting up six-foot fencing for a couple of days now. The first group used post-hole diggers to lay out the fence line. Another group put the posts in. A third group laid on the welded wire fence. And Frankie’s group was putting up the top row of barbed wire. Frankie was pretty sure he had more holes in him than a pin-cushion by now. A very sweaty pin-cushion. The constant light wind helped of course, but this was still far more physical labor than he was used to. Trish and Alex didn’t seem bothered at all. Their fourth member, Jerry, was sweating a bit; but unlike Frankie, he wasn’t breathing hard yet.

Frankie stretched a bit and turned to Trish. “Anything you can do, I can do better, bi-atch.” She laughed at him, which earned him a nasty look from Alex, and they got back to work.

Farmer

Aug 23              Joaquin

Al and Joaquin sped down the side of the road, dodging back and forth from pavement to shoulder as necessary to get around the abandoned vehicles. Joaquin was sweating profusely. Trying to keep up with Al on a motorbike was nerve-wracking. There’s a reason they call him crazy. Al wouldn’t slow down an iota for Joaquin, but he would stop occasionally to wait if Joaquin got too far behind. When that happened, there’d always be some comment about Joaquin’s skill. Or lack of it.

The two were on a tour of the farming communities around Lincoln, looking for supplies and equipment that would help set up an agricultural base in Rivendell. So far, all they had found were abandoned farmhouses and dead livestock. And worse. Joaquin’s eyes teared up for a moment, recalling some of the scenes that he’d never be able to un-see.

Now, up ahead, Al had turned down another long driveway. Joaquin followed at a saner pace. As he turned the corner, he glanced at the mailbox, labeled ‘Wildman’.

They got to the front of the farmhouse, killed their engines and dismounted. As Joaquin placed his helmet over his bike’s handle, he heard a soft click. Turning to the sound, he found himself starting down the business end of a rifle, with an angry-looking man at the other end.

“Get back on the bikes and get off my property,” the man said. Joaquin could see a woman peeking out from behind some curtains.

“Sir, we are not looters. We’re not a threat. We’re just—”

“Not interested, sonny. You’ve got five seconds to get moving.”

“Mr. Wildman, you are making a mistake. This isn’t—”

There was a muzzle flash and a bullet buried itself at Joaquin’s feet.

“Not as big a mistake as you are going to be making if you don’t get moving.”

Joaquin sighed. He motioned to Al. They donned their helmets, started the bikes, and drove towards the end of the driveway. Joaquin’s shoulder-blades itched the whole way, wondering if the man would suddenly decide five seconds was up.

Once they got to the end of the drive, they stopped to discuss the situation.

“Dude,” Al said. “Just move on. If he don’t want us, we don’t want him.”

“We’ve been at this for two days, Al. That’s the first person we’ve seen— alive, anyway.” Joaquin grimaced. “He might be the only one in a thousand square miles. I think we have to at least give Joseph the heads-up.”

Al looked away without reply. Taking this as agreement, Joaquin pulled out the radio and prepared to report.

***

“He’s a wheat farmer, all right,” Joseph said, turning off the pole-cam. “Lots of stock seed for next year, lots of equipment. Obviously knows what he’s doing. We can’t just walk away.”

“We aren’t about to become looters, are we?” Joaquin was not happy about the idea.

Joseph made a face. “I’m not suggesting we force him to do anything, or steal anything. But we have to get past his circling the wagons mindset.”

Joseph turned to the rest of his crew. “This is why I wanted to have two gates. Here’s what we’re going to do…”

***

Samuel

Samuel Wildman sat with his family at the dinner table, eating what he supposed they should still refer to as a meal. These days, anything edible was something to be thankful for.

He looked at the meager pickings on the table and worried. He was worrying a lot lately. Since the eruption and the ash, there had been very little to the good. Maggie was as strong as ever, resourceful as ever, and his heart swelled with love— and worry— as she moved about the kitchen. The two boys were holding up well too. There’d been very little complaining and he’d rarely had to prompt them to pull their weight since the eruption. He felt justified to be so proud of them.

Samuel wondered, for the thousandth time, if he’d signed their death warrants by insisting on staying put. Oh, it was easy to be logical and rational, to point to the clogged highways and dead vehicles. But you couldn’t watch your family eating what would have been thrown in the compost in an earlier time and not wonder.

Now, today, those kids on motorcycles. Had he made a mistake there too? Admittedly, the idea of looters on motorcycles was a little ludicrous. What were they going to do, strap their loot to the back seat? But they were looters or they were guests, and there was precious little of hospitality to give.

As Samuel sat mulling over his situation, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

***

The crew had carefully scouted out the layout of the house using the pole-cam, and had set the two six-foot gates so that they could come at the kitchen from different directions. They counted down from three, then activated the gates and rushed through in as quick and coordinated a fashion as a bunch of amateurs could manage.

As hoped, they caught the family completely by surprise. And why not? Who plans for intruders entering your house from another dimension? Before anyone could react, four men with shotguns were covering them.

The woman at the table, presumably Mrs. Wildman, looked terrified and pleaded, “Please don’t hurt us. You can have whatever you want.”

Joseph noted from Mr. Wildman’s expression that he didn’t agree with that last part.

“Ma’am, we are absolutely not here to hurt you. These guns are to make sure Mr. Wildman doesn’t hurt us. He seems to be pretty free with the bullets.”

“So you’ll kill me, then?” Mr. Wildman glared at Joseph defiantly.

“If you go for a gun, I’ll have to try to wing you,” Joseph replied.

“Sonny.” Mr. Wildman briefly showed a ghost of a smile. “That’s a shotgun. At this range, there would be no winging.”

Joseph replied, “Then please don’t force the issue, sir. I’m not that good of a shot anyway.”

At that moment, one of the two boys at the table got a clear look at one of the gates. “Wow! Look at that!” he pointed at the apparition.

All heads at the table turned. At the end of the hall, a sunlit section of prairie showed through an elliptical hole in the air.

Mr. Wildman’s eyes widened and for the first time, he looked uncertain.

Recovering quickly, he looked back at Joseph. “Okay, sonny, maybe you could explain yourself, since you’re not looking to kill us.”

Joseph relaxed a little. “Okay, sir, here it is. We’re UNL students— most of us, anyway. We have a gateway to another Earth, one where Yellowstone didn’t just erupt. And one without people. Well, until we got there, anyway.”

Joseph paused to smile at the family. The woman looked a little less fearful. The boys were hanging onto his every word, eyes wide.

“Anyway, we’re trying to build a viable colony there, at least until this side becomes livable again. And one of the things we need most is agriculture.”

Mr. Wildman’s face clouded up. “So you’re taking my supplies and equipment.”

“No, sir, what we really need is you.”

Mr. Wildman sat back with an expression of surprise. Joseph continued. “Equipment and stock seed are useful, of course. The aggie students have a pretty good idea of what to do with them, and a lot of us grew up on farms. But we don’t have someone with decades of experience doing this.” Joseph looked significantly at Mr. Wildman.

Wildman’s mouth twitched, and Joseph knew that despite the man’s determination to be unimpressed, Joseph had scored.

Wildman sat silently for a few seconds. Then he asked, “So what’s the deal?”

Joseph lowered the shotgun, which he realized he’d still been brandishing. The other members of the crew were still on guard. “You and your family come to live in Rivendell—”

The two boys erupted into laughter, which their father cut off with a look.

Joseph smiled at them, sharing the Tolkien joke, and continued, “—and you show us how to grow crops. Especially wheat.”

He said, in an aside to the woman, “We find we’re kind of missing bread.” This produced the first smile from Mrs. Wildman.

Mr. Wildman saw that, and his expression softened. “Okay. Who’s in charge?”

Joseph was perplexed for a moment. “No one. There’s a committee to organize things, but you’d be on the committee and in charge of agriculture. The whole thing.”

Wildman nodded slowly and stared at the gate for a few seconds. He motioned to it. “Show me.” He turned to his sons and said to one, “Ben, go get a shovel and bring it here.”

The boy looked at the gate, then at his father in supplication, plainly terrified that he might miss something while out of the room.

Wildman glared for a moment before relenting. “Get a shovel, and you can go through and bring it to me.” That had the desired effect. Ben was gone in a flash, but now the other boy was attempting to look piteous. Wildman just sighed and shook his head.

Joseph laughed, and motioned to the gate. Wildman got up and stepped through

The sun was going down on Outland. Of course it was going down on Earth as well, but that only resulted in darker and darker grays, shading to black. On Outland, the sky was shading into the deep, rich purple of early dusk. As usual, there was very little in the way of reds and oranges.

Wildman looked around, took a deep breath, then looked down. He gave the ground a few experimental scuffs, attempting to move some of the prairie grass.

At that moment, Ben barreled through the gate, partly tangled up with his brother. “You didn’t tell Marcus he could come through!” Ben announced triumphantly as he handed his father the shovel.

Ignoring the sibling rivalry, Wildman stuck the shovel in the soil and took a good chunk out. It took considerable effort to do so, as the prairie grass had roots up to a foot deep, and this soil had never been turned.

Wildman bent down, rubbed the soil between his fingers, smelled it, and stood up.

Joseph looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Good soil,” Wildman declared. “Let’s talk.”

***

It took considerable discussion to determine what needed to be moved, what could be left, and what couldn’t be brought. Several of the larger pieces of agricultural equipment were simply too big to fit through the truck gate. Wildman was less concerned than expected, however. He explained that growing food for a couple of hundred people required a far less intensive effort than keeping a farm profitable in the modern world.

Rather than travel at night, the scavenging crew was put up in the guest bedrooms. Joseph radioed the colony to advise them of the situation, and the crew enjoyed their first sleep on mattresses in weeks.

Everyone was up early the next day. The Wildmans packed some basic necessities. Joseph was careful to make it very clear that this wasn’t a one-way trip. They could come back to their farm any time, even to stay if they decided they didn’t like Rivendell. This last statement produced looks of astonished and indignant disbelief from the two boys.

The family was placed together in Matt’s pickup. Al and Joaquin rode their dirt bikes. The rest of the crew piled onto the ATVs.

“How many children in… in…, Riverdale?” Mrs. Wildman—Maggie— asked.

The two boys tittered, and Marcus said in youthful high dudgeon, “It’s Rivendell, Mom. It’s where the elves lived.”

Maggie smiled at him and then looked at Matt.

“I think just under twenty now, with your two,” he replied. “We’ve picked up a number of families from around Lincoln over the last month, during exploration and scavenging operations.”

“Do you have plans for a school?” she asked. The boys groaned.

Matt shook his head. “No, I think it was brought up once at a committee meeting, but Richard rolled his eyes, which is the international symbol for ‘not now dammit.’ ” Matt chuckled.

“As it happens, I used to be a school teacher, so if and when you’re ready…?”

Matt looked at her in the rear-view mirror. “Well, it’s we, now, and you certainly need to mention that to the committee. Just ignore the eye rolling.

“To be honest,” he continued, “I think you’ll get more attention from your comment about making bread from scratch. Really from scratch.”

Maggie laughed. “We’ll need some kind of grinding wheel.”

Matt waved a hand in dismissal. “Not a problem. Bill, our engineer, can build pretty much anything.”

“Is he like Scotty?” one of the boys asked.

Matt grinned at him. “He’d love that comparison.”

***

Samuel Wildman looked out over the colony. Cattle, sheep, and horses grazed outside the fenced area, monitored by armed guards on ATVs. Fence lines were being extended. A longhouse was being constructed, and space was being cleared for more buildings. He could see what must be a runway off to one side of the town.

He thought of his two boys, who had gone tearing off to join a pickup soccer game, and Maggie, who was already discussing the making of bread with the youngsters in charge of meals. Samuel hadn’t seen her this happy in quite a while. He looked up at the blue sky and smiled.

Archimedes Screw

Aug 24              Bill

“What the hell is that?” Richard asked.

“Archimedes Screw,” Bill answered. “Named after the guy who invented it. You’ve heard of him?”

Richard smiled at Bill, then gestured again at the odd-looking device.

Well, look at that! Bill thought. Not too long ago I would have gotten the kilowatt glare for that dig.

“This is the wind turbine design I was talking about before,” he said. “It’s supposed to be superior for extracting power from low-speed air movement. Also stupidly easy to make. Just take a long strip of plastic or metal sheeting and wrap it around a central shaft. Cable stays are used to keep the shape and brace it against the mechanical strain. Seriously, you could build these things in your garage. Oh, wait, that’s what I’m doing.”

Bill smiled at his own joke and gestured with a wrench towards another table with hardware and tools strewn across it. “I just have to rig up a generator to it, and we’re ready to go.”

“Okay Bill, that’s great. Let me know when you have some results and some idea of how practical it’ll be.”

Richard made a note on his tablet and continued, “How’s the well drilling going?”

Bill put down the tool he’d been holding. “It helps to have a lot of people from rural backgrounds who have some knowledge about where you should and shouldn’t drill. We hit groundwater on our first attempt. It’s shallow enough that we can use a suction pump. I’ve got people building a water tower using that thousand-gallon storage tank we appropriated. That’ll give us water pressure, although not a lot, and we can cover the tank with a black plastic tarp for solar heating, so we’ll at least have warm showers. As long as it doesn’t get too cold this winter, that’ll be enough to prevent icing up, as well.

“All we need,” he gestured to the wind turbine, “is a dependable source of electricity.”

“We can run on the generators until you have that ready, right?” Richard asked.

“Sure,” Bill responded, “but it means constantly importing more fuel, which also takes fuel, and keeps us dependent on Earthside. My engineer’s heart is offended at the inefficiency.”

Richard laughed, gave Bill a goodbye wave, and walked out, heading for his next stop on his self-appointed rounds.

Bill watched Richard go. Richard is definitely a lot more relaxed these days. I think he’s actually enjoying this!

As Richard walked away, Bill realized he was hearing a whistled rendition of the Andy Griffith Show theme.

Vitamins

Aug 25              Bill

“Hey, Joseph. Almost ready to go?”

Joseph turned around at the hail. It was Bill Rustad.

“Hi Bill. Yeah, we’ll be hitting that Walgreens we found a while back. What’s the rush? Running out of coffee?” Bill’s coffee dependency was legendary. It was rumored (and Joseph didn’t doubt it) that Bill had stocked up more coffee than food.

Bill smiled. “Not in this century. No, I wanted to ask a favor. If we have time, after we unload the Walgreens, I’d like to run past the Scott Engineering Center, to see what condition it’s in. The scouting group hasn’t been able to follow up on that, and I’m getting antsy.”

Joseph thought about it for a second. “Sure. But it’ll have to be either a quick look, or we’ll have to drop you off and pick you up later.”

“Five minutes max,” Bill replied. “I’m not looking for anything specific. Just want to see if it’s still holding up.”

Joseph gestured towards the group gathered around Matt’s pickup truck, and they headed that way. The truck now sported a trailer as standard equipment.

***

Finding the Walgreens was no problem. With the pole cam active and the GPS system as a guide, they simply drove the pickup until they were at the coordinates recorded by the scavenging party. They spent a little time waving the pole-cam around until they found the back door. They moved ten feet, turned the pole-cam back on, and they were able to see a view of the inside of the store. The Pleistocene sunlight shining through the pole-cam in the gap around the camera provided more than enough light for a clear picture.

In less than ten minutes, they had selected a spot that was clear in the Walgreens, and close enough to ground level on the Outland side. They set up the truck gate, and stepped through.

This had been a large Walgreens. The building interior was a single large space with columns at regular intervals to hold up the roof. The roof hadn’t completely collapsed under the weight of the ash; instead, the supporting girders had buckled between columns. This resulted in a series of parallel tent-shaped spaces, centered on the rows of columns. A lot of shelves and goods had been flattened, but far more was still safe in the tented areas.

Joseph walked up and down the aisles. “What are we looking at, you think?” he asked. “Eight trips?”

Bill nodded. Even filling every inch of the pickup and trailer, this was going to be a huge haul. It wasn’t just the food, since a lot of that would have gone bad by now. It wasn’t even the aisle containing nothing but different brands of coffee and tea. The big score was the first-aid supplies and toiletries. It would be a few years before anyone could go to a dentist again, so toothbrushes and toothpaste were worth their weight in gold.

“Okay, then,” Joseph said. “Let’s get started.”

***

The crew was almost done emptying out the store. Bill and Joseph were more in the way than anything else, so they stepped outside to survey the immediate area. They’d left through the service entrance, which opened easily from the inside. Joseph made sure to peg it open so they could get back in.

“What are we looking for?” Joseph asked as they walked.

“Nothing really,” Bill answered. “I just wanted to take a few minutes to walk through the neighborhood.”

Bill moved over to a nearby building that looked intact and tried the door. Joseph leaned up against a wall, waiting for Bill to finish with whatever personal journey he seemed to be having.

Abruptly, they heard a shout. “Hold it right there. Drop your weapon and put your hands up!”

Bill backed away from the door and turned towards the shout, reflexively reaching for his shotgun strap. There was a gunshot, and a bullet threw up a spray of damp ash near his feet. “Put it down!”

Bill looked at Joseph, who seemed to be out of the immediate line of sight. He motioned with his head for Joseph to get moving. Joseph turned and sprinted away. There were shouts of “Stop, or we’ll fire!”— immediately followed by bullets spranging off the ground and nearby buildings.

Maybe you meant and we fire, Joseph thought irrelevantly as he turned another corner. He heard the sound of pounding feet behind him. Oh great! He tried to put on a little more speed.

As he approached the Walgreens service entrance, he yelled, “Get through the gate! We’re under attack!”

The people inside must have heard him because, by the time he got in the door, he could see their backsides going through the gate. One of the guys, Charlie, stood on the other side, holding the tablet and looking alarmed.

As he jumped through, Joseph yelled at him, “Turn it off! Close it!”

Charlie reacted immediately.

***

Chavez

Corporal Chavez gasped, trying to catch her breath without being too loud about it. She often made it loudly clear that she was as good as any man, but dammit that Stevenson could sprint like a mofo!

They moved cautiously into the door that the fugitive had run through and looked around. It was a Walgreens. It was also empty. Pretty much everything accessible had been taken from the shelves. Chavez guarded the door while Stevenson looked down every aisle and checked everywhere for hidey-holes.

Finally he came back and shook his head. “No idea how he got out, or where everything went.”

They left the store, being sure to push the door closed until the latch clicked.

As they walked up the lane, a camera peered down at them from a small circle of much bluer sky.

***

Joseph

“Unbelievable! What part of ‘lift’ is unclear to you?” Joseph was upset, and he was taking it out on everyone around him.

Per his instructions, Charlie had swapped the gate for the pole-cam and proceeded to find and watch the people who had pursued Joseph. Now Joseph and some of the other scavenging crew were hurriedly loading the portal hardware onto the pickup.

“Dickinson, you’ll need to stay here and guard the salvage. Some of it has got to smell like food. Peters, you stay too. Watson, get in the truck. Tell Matt which way.”

Matt looked up from his seat in the pickup. Reaching over, he hit the switch to lower the rear left passenger window to allow him to hear Charlie more easily.

Charlie handed the pole to Joseph and operated the tablet. He called out instructions to Matt when necessary.

Finally, he asked Matt to stop. Joseph looked at the tablet video feed while continuing to hold the pole-cam. On the screen, Bill was being shepherded into the back of an army truck while a half-dozen or so soldiers milled around the truck and a Hummer parked nearby. Charlie cranked up the volume to maximum, and they tried to make out the discussion on the other side.

After a minute or so, the soldiers got into their vehicles and drove off at a much higher speed than Matt could maintain over rough prairie.

“Well, hell,” Joseph said, “those are National Guard. And apparently, we are looters.”

“Well, we kind of are,” Charlie commented.

“Yes, but we’re the good kind,” Matt said. Everyone was too worried about Bill to laugh.

“Matt, take us back to Rivendell,” Joseph ordered. “I’ll update Peters and Dickinson on the radio, then update Rivendell. Maybe they’ll have something worked out by the time we get back. Then we’ll still have to arrange to get the Walgreens salvage back to the camp. Geez, we need more vehicles!”

Matt rolled his eyes. Everything was a priority, these days. Which meant things got done one after another based on who screamed the loudest, and some things had to wait.

***

“Into the truck. Up.” Bill felt himself being poked by the rifle barrel. He’d figured out quickly enough that these were National Guard, which at least meant they weren’t going to kill him and eat him, or worse. Pillage, THEN burn, went through his mind. He chuckled.

“Something funny, asshole?” one of the soldiers asked him. “You think this is funny? You think you’re in a funny position?”

“It would take too long to explain,” Bill answered.

“Yeah, and maybe you don’t have that long,” the soldier retorted, waving his— her— rifle in Bill’s face.

Bill took a few moments to look at the soldier. “Save it, corporal,” he said. “S.O.P. is for you to return me for interrogation. If you were undisciplined enough to ignore orders, you wouldn’t still be here on duty.” He looked her straight in the eyes.

“You’ve got a lot of attitude for a damned looter!” she responded angrily.

“Really? Really? I’m a Looter?” Bill’s sarcastic tone rocked her back for a moment.

One of the other soldiers said, “And a litterbug.”

Bill, caught by surprise, laughed out loud.

“Oh, shit,” said the corporal. “Another one.”

Bill continued in a calmer voice, “Look, you are practically the first people we’ve seen since about twenty-four hours after the eruption. We’re doing what we can to survive; we’re not stealing TV’s to support a drug habit.”

“That’s fine, but you’re still going back to base.” The corporal answered.

“And that’s fine, because I’ll be very interested in talking to your C.O.”

“Well then,” the corporal said, “this should be a pleasant Sunday drive, since we all want the same thing.” She sat back, but kept her gun pointed in his direction.

***

“Fuck fuck son of a fucking bitch motherfucker!” Richard was in full-on conniption. That he hadn’t started breaking things was due in equal parts to his few remaining shreds of self-control and the fact that there was nothing close enough worth breaking.

Joseph felt seriously uncomfortable. He knew he hadn’t done anything wrong, but right now Richard wasn’t thinking in those terms. It didn’t help either that Monica, who Joseph was a bit afraid of, also looked like she was ready to chew up the furniture and spit it out.

Eventually, Richard calmed down. He stood for a few seconds, looking down, rubbing his forehead. “Right. Does anyone know where the National Guard base is?”

One of the committee members raised a hand and said, “Yeah, it’s actually a bit west of campus. Couple of miles? Near the airport, anyway.”

Richard straightened up and looked around at the group. “Okay, we need to get over there and do some reconnaissance.”

“We also need all that stuff from the Walgreens,” Krista cut in. As Richard turned angrily on her, she quickly added, “Look, if it starts to rain we could lose it all. And we, including Bill, put a lot of effort into getting it out in the first place.”

Richard bit off what he had been about to say and pinched the bridge of his nose for a second. They heard him mutter something that sounded very Scottish involving gangs or something.

“Joseph, could the bobcat make it there and back?”

“Oh, hell yes. There are no creeks or big gullies or anything between here and the Walgreens. Just follow the path we’ve already worn with the pickup. It’ll be a lot more trips, using the bucket to haul the loot, but you can save the delicate stuff first, and maybe wrap the other stuff in tarps if necessary. For that matter, we might be able to rig up a way for the bobcat to pull the trailer…”

“Okay, Krista, can you get someone started on that when we’re done here?”

At her nod, he continued, “We certainly don’t want to start a war with the National Guard. First, because they’re the good guys. Second, and not to put too fine a point on it, they probably outgun us by a wide margin.” Richard slumped his shoulders and thought for a few seconds.

“On the other hand, we’re not leaving Bill with them,” he continued, straightening up. “That’s not an option. So we’re going to have to find out what the reality is, then take steps to rescue him.

“Joseph, that’s your job.”

***

The soldier directed Bill out of the back of the truck. He found himself in a large warehouse space. A hangar? The ones at the Lincoln Airport had sloped roofs, so that seemed like a good possibility.

The corporal had a clipped conversation with the driver, during which Bill managed to catch her last name. Chavez.

As he waited, he realized that he was looking at an indoor tent city. He turned and scanned the crowd. A quick count indicated there were around fifty people, including a number of children. They looked dirty, tired, and desperate. While we live the high life.

The corporal poked him with her rifle barrel. “These are the people that you stole food from their mouths, asshole.”

Bill turned to her. “These are the people from whose mouths you stole food.”

The corporal’s face turned red, and she looked like she could shoot him, and screw the regs.

“We’ve got six times this many refugees, corporal. You want to compare dicks? We’re doing a better job that you are.” Bill regretted that as soon as he’d said it. Poor strategy, Bill. Are you trying to get shot?

She gave him a hard shove with her rifle and Bill turned in the indicated direction. They went through a door and he found himself in a small, very bare office, with an officer standing there. The name-plate said Lt Collins.

“Have a seat,” Lieutenant Collins pointed to a chair, then sat on the edge of his desk. He took a sip from a cup of coffee and made a face. He stared at Bill in silence for a while.

This is the softening-up part, Bill thought. I get real nervous, and then try to fill the empty air with an explanation. Bill stared back with an innocent expression on his face.

After a while the lieutenant sighed. “You’ve been caught looting during a disaster, which means I can have you shot right here and now. So you’re going to give me some answers, and they’re going to be truthful. And I’ll know if you’re lying.”

Bill waited two beats before responding. “Well, no you won’t because that particular type of micro-expression training isn’t standard issue for National Guard officers. Anyway, I wasn’t caught looting, I was caught walking around in the general area of where your soldiers assumed some looting had been done.

“And please save the standard interrogation routine for your less educated prisoners. What you really want is to find out who I am, where I’m from, who else might be with me, and what other resources I might have. And I’m prepared to tell you all of that, in as much detail as you want.”

Lieutenant Collins stared at him for a second, then slowly smiled. “You’ve got some experience with this, I take it?”

“Not personal experience, no,” Bill answered. “This was my first supervolcano eruption. Up until about a month ago, I was an engineering student at UNL.”

“So then why don’t you start by telling us how many people are in your group or whatever it is?”

“Just under three hundred.”

Lieutenant Collins’ eyebrows rose at this statement. “Three hundred people, and we’ve not seen hide nor hair of you. Nothing but a lot of tracks, despite almost a month of patrolling. How does that work, pray tell?”

Bill leaned back in his chair and did his best to look casual. “Well, that’s kind of a long story.”

Lieutenant Collins spread his arms, palms up, looked around, then said to Chavez, “Corporal Chavez, please cancel all my appointments, including my date with the President.”

Chavez grinned and made typing motions into the air. After a few moments she said, “Done.” They both turned to look at Bill.

Bill grinned back, thoroughly enjoying this, and said, “I think I’m going to like it here.”

This was not the reaction they’d been expecting and it showed on their faces.

You may have the guns, lieutenant, but I’m the king of this stuff. Surrender, Dorothy.

Lieutenant Collins looked at Chavez and raised one eyebrow. Chavez said to him, “We might have to get Stevenson to translate.”

Collins raised the other eyebrow and said, “Star Trek quotes?”

Bill interrupted. “Pfft. Star Trek is for amateurs.”

Lieutenant Collins laughed out loud. Chavez muttered something about brain-damage.

Gotcha

Aug 25              Pete

Pete and Phil pulled over once they were out of sight of the camp. They had borrowed the bikes on the pretext of doing some scouting, and Pete admitted to himself that they would do some actual scouting at some point. But for now, he and Phil needed something to relax, and a chance to tend the garden.

He looked at Phil and patted his pocket. It wasn’t that they thought they’d get in trouble for smoking a little pot; after all, there were literally no cops anywhere on this planet. Well, there were the two retired guys, but they didn’t give a damn.

But Pete had a limited supply and didn’t feel like sharing with the entire student body. He motioned to a spot over by the trees, and they rode their bikes over to it.

As they came to a stop, there was a pop, and Phil staggered and fell off his bike. As Pete’s eyes widened in shock, there was another pop, and the world came to an end.

***

Charles

Charles and Bluto hit the kill switches on the dirt bikes. They quickly pulled the bodies into the trees, then rolled the bikes into hiding.

It took only moments to remove the weapons and anything else of value from their victims. Charles said, “We’ll have to bury them. We can’t spend all day parked next to a couple of corpses, and if animals come along and start dragging pieces of student around the landscape, it’s going to set off alarms.”

“So? Why don’t we just shoot anyone who comes looking?” Bluto asked.

Charles shook his head. It looked like Bluto was back to his normal level of ideas. “Bluto, there’s only two of us. If we give them time to run for their guns, we’ll be outgunned a hundred to two. We have to be able to catch them by surprise.”

“After dark?” Bluto asked. “I’m not thrilled about walking around after dark.”

Charles shrugged an agreement. “Me either. No, I was thinking around dinner time. They all gathered in that fenced area in front of the sheds yesterday. We can approach from behind the sheds. I didn’t see anyone watching on that side.”

***

Bluto nodded. A little more complicated than his idea, but it still included shooting people. A good plan.

Hostage

Aug 25              Suzie

Suzie sat with her friends, enjoying the last bits of her meal. It had been another long day. In the tradition of familiarity breeds contempt, she found herself bored more often than not. After a while, even the roars of large, supposedly extinct cats in the distance lost its edge. And once she’d seen twenty or so mammoths, she was good for life.

The days had fallen into a routine. Oh, it wasn’t the same for everyone, of course. The scavenging parties had just run into far more excitement than they wanted. But for kitchen staff, not so much.

She’d helped prepare the meal today, and once it had been handed over to the serving people she was free for the evening. Venison Chili stew again. Suzie sighed. This Bill Rustad had an unholy fascination with chili. He’d stocked up literally gallons of the stuff in those big tins. But it was better than those Meals Ready to Eat. Wow, talk about an oxymoron. She’d tried one and had decided that if someone needed to be punished it would be enough to make them live on those for a day or two.

As they ate, the friends compared notes.

“I got to help make fences again today,” Frankie said. “Oh, what fun! Not! I must have poked myself with the barbed wire a thousand times.”

“I’m on chainsaw duty,” said Maddie. “I actually enjoyed myself. Maybe if I can’t get a job as a history professor, I’ll take up lumberjacking.” She giggled.

Suzie had a sudden mental image of Maddie in a plaid shirt and a tuque. She started singing the Lumberjack Song and everyone cracked up.

Stephanie said, “I’ve been with the group that’s been inventorying what we have and trying to figure out what we need the most. We’ve finally finished, and we’re ready to give the scavenger crews a list. Up until now they’ve been bringing back everything they find, and it’s kind of getting crowded.”

It was an enjoyable moment, sitting with her friends, relaxing and talking about whatever came to mind.

Suzie saw movement by the fence, right where it abutted against the edge of the shed. Two figures were moving around. She heard a screech of rubbing metal as one of the figures pulled the fence panel up off the stake that had been holding it in place. Before she could make sense of what she was seeing, the other figure had rushed at her, grabbed her by the hair, and pushed a shotgun in her face!

Confrontation

Aug 25              Monica

Dinner time. Monica settled down with her plate of something stew.

The colony had settled into a routine of communal meals. It helped a lot that a good fraction of the students were from rural homes and knew how to convert a deer into food. A couple of gallon-sized cans of chili added to the pot produced a very serviceable stew. Meals might get monotonous, but there would never be a lack of calories.

Meals were always held inside the protected fenced area. The fence had been expanded as much as possible using every available panel. Even so, many people had to seat themselves inside the sheds during meal times.

“Hey, where’s Pete and Phil?” someone asked.

Monica looked around for them. Wow, they never miss a meal.

“The stoners are probably out getting blitzed again,” she said. “Or as they call it, ‘scouting.’ ”

“You’d think hunger would have driven them back by now,” Erin observed drily.

Monica shrugged. “Maybe they’re in one of the sheds. I’ll have a quick look.” She got up and headed for the second shed, plate in hand. Since it contained most of the equipment, it had a lot of convenient places to sit and eat.

She walked slowly through the shed, looking left and right. The lights hanging from the ceiling gave adequate if somewhat uneven illumination. Going to have to watch our fuel usage for the generators until we can get more in, she thought idly as she looked for the two miscreants.

Pallets of supplies alternated with crates of equipment and weapons. Off to one corner, the portal equipment had been stored. And there, sitting on one of the portal generators was Kevin, writing in a notebook.

“Kind of primitive, isn’t it?” Monica asked, pointing at the notebook and pencil. She was careful to smile as she said it, as Kevin had a tendency to miss social cues.

Today, Kevin was getting it. He smiled back and said, “Yeah, but running the generator just to recharge a tablet seems kind of wasteful. And in the longer term, we’re going to have to figure out how to live without it.”

Monica considered this for a moment, then brought the conversation back on topic. “So hey, I’m looking for Phil and Pete. Seem them around?”

“The stoners? No, sorry.”

Monica laughed inside at the thought that even Kevin got it where those two were concerned.

***

Erin

Erin watched Monica go into the shed. As she turned her attention back to her food, she heard a sudden grinding and scraping sound from the corner where the fence attached to the shed. She turned to look, and the sight was so unexpected that for a moment she was unable to make sense of it.

It was two of the goons from the warehouse altercation. One had yanked the fence panel off the stake, and the other had moved quickly into the compound. Before anyone could react, the black bald goon had grabbed a student by the hair and held a shotgun to her head.

He gave a nasty grin and yelled, “Nobody moves, or the kid’s brains get splattered all over! If I see a gun, if I see anyone run for the shed, if I see anything that makes me upset, the kid’s dead!”

As Erin got to her feet, she realized that the other goon, the big ugly one with the beard, was bearing down on her. Before she could think what to do, he grabbed her by the front of her shirt and pressed a pistol under her nose. She had time to see that he had a shotgun on a shoulder strap.

“Open your mouth, bitch!” he yelled at her. “Open it, or I’ll break all your teeth!”

Still trying to mentally catch up to events, Erin opened her mouth, and Bluto stuck the barrel of his gun into it.

“Now,” he said, raising his voice so that everyone could hear, “unless you want the top of her head blown off, you’re all going to do what we tell you.”

Someone piped up, “Those are Pete and Phil’s shotguns, aren’t they? Where are they? What did you do with them?”

Bluto responded with a laugh, “You mean the guys with the stash of weed? They’re lion food now, shithead. Which you’ll be in a minute, too, if you don’t shut the fuck up!”

“Now, where’s the dweeb that runs the time machine?”

People looked at each other in confusion. Finally one student said, “You mean the portal? Kevin?”

Bluto replied, “Geeky, skinny, glasses, pushes the buttons. Get him. Now!”

The student said, “I think he’s in the shed,” and gestured towards the second shed. “Will I go get him?” He clearly did not want to do anything that would anger the goons or endanger Erin or the other student.

Bluto replied, “Yeah, you do that, dweeb. But nobody else moves. And if someone comes out with a gun, boom!” He inclined his head towards Erin to emphasize his point.

***

Monica

Monica and Kevin had missed the first part of the drama out front, but caught all the dialog. Monica peeked around the corner and saw Bluto with his gun in Erin’s mouth. And she heard the part about Pete and Phil being dead. As this all sunk in, Monica’s teeth gritted and her eyes narrowed to slits. She felt herself sinking into a white hot rage, as the world narrowed down to one single imperative.

Monica had learned from her brothers at an early age that you gave no quarter and you asked for no quarter; you paid back all insults with interest; and you always maintained a scorched-earth policy.

Now the goons had killed people she knew and liked, and were holding a gun on her best friend.

This is war, you fat, impotent fucktards. Prepare to be dead.

“Kevin!” She turned to him. “You’re going to do exactly what they say. You’re going to cooperate. Don’t do anything to endanger Erin or the other student, but don’t tell them I’m here. And if they ask, we only have one portal here right now, okay? We have two, the other one is with the scavenging party. Got it?”

Kevin was already shaking with fear. As Frankie came up to them and opened his mouth to talk, Monica held up her hand to stop him and put her finger to her lips in a shushing motion. She motioned to Kevin to go back with Frankie.

Monica motioned to a group of students that had been in the shed when the excitement started. She pointed to one and said to him in a low voice, “Get me an AR-15 and some spare clips.” She pointed to a second one. “Make sure there’s an extension cord running to that corner,” and pointed to another corner of the shed. She pointed to a third student and said, “Help me move some equipment over there.”

Moving quickly, they carried one of the portal generators and a six-foot gate over to the indicated corner of the warehouse. She plugged the portal generator into an extension cord that the other student was holding, and connected the feeds from the portal generator to the gate.

Monica had watched the others operate the gates many times, and had made a point of asking questions. Now she took the tablet and fired up the gate. As the gate faded into being, the first student came and held out an assault rifle.

She took the weapon and checked it. She turned to one of the students and said, “When I’m through, turn it off. If you don’t know how, just pull out the plug. But make sure it’s off. Do not come through for at least five minutes after they go through. And make sure someone comes to get us later.”

With that, she stepped through the gate.

Reconnaissance

Aug 25              Joseph

“Well, that’s suboptimal,” Richard said.

Joseph stayed silent. He was still stinging a little from Richard’s earlier tirade. Telling himself that it hadn’t been directed at him personally didn’t seem help much.

They were looking at the National Guard base. It had not handled the ash well. The old, flat-roofed buildings hadn’t been upgraded since Eisenhower. There was no sign of life or recent occupation, although tracks around the ruins of the buildings indicated that there had been activity.

“They’ll have taken up residence somewhere else. Where?” Richard continued.

“The airport hangars?” Joseph ventured. “They don’t have flat roofs, and hangars have to be built like a brick—uh, very strong.”

Richard nodded. “Good point.” He looked to Matt, who gave a thumbs-up and got back in the truck.

I wonder if he’ll charge us for mileage. Joseph thought irrelevantly.

***

Bill

Bill took a sip of coffee. “Wow, this is bad,” he said.

“You’re welcome,” Chavez answered.

Bill shrugged. “And thanks. But you can’t tell me you’re drinking this because you like it.”

For the first time since he’d known her, Chavez smiled at him in a friendly way. “Not with a straight face, anyway. But it’s what we have. We’d have better stuff if you hadn’t cleaned out the Walgreens.”

“And on that subject,” Lieutenant Collins interrupted, “how about that dishing that you promised.”

Bill looked at him with appreciation. Not really G.I. by-the-book Joe, are you? He settled back, took another sip of coffee, shuddered, and began to dish.

***

“… and that’s how I spent my summer vacation.” Bill finished.

Lieutenant Collins and Corporal Chavez stared at him with blank faces, their jaws hanging so far down they were in danger of becoming unhinged.

“Of all the—“ Chavez sputtered.

“You’ve got to be—” Collins huffed.

“Makes sense to me,” a third voice replied over them.

Lieutenant Collins and Corporal Chavez cut off what they’d been saying and turned to Private Stevenson in astonishment.

Stevenson looked at them and waved a hand toward Bill. “You think about all the tracks that we’ve been seeing that just petered out into thin air, the buildings that had been cleaned out without apparently being opened. What better way than an interdimensional gate? Or a time machine?” Private Stevenson looked at Bill.

Bill shook his head. “Sorry, no time machine.”

Bill turned to Lieutenant Collins. “Look, we’d been intending to release this invention and collect our Nobel prizes eventually, but the eruption caught us by surprise. But it is an actual way out for people. We’ll be happy to turn everything over to the military. You can use it to save a lot more lives than we can.”

“No, we can’t. Not really,” Lieutenant Collins answered.

Bill’s eyebrows went up in surprise.

The lieutenant continued, “You’ve gotten a lot of info from your satellite TV, and it’s mostly pretty good intel. But it’s nowhere near the complete picture. The military has much better and more hardened communications. I’m probably not revealing any secrets by telling you that.”

Bill grinned and shook his head.

After a pause, Lieutenant Collins continued. “I’m not sure that there’s a USA left as such. There have been no official communications for several weeks. What we’ve been able to piece together is that Washington fell by the end of the second week. The president was unaccounted for, and they took too long to start succession proceedings. There were more attacks, and I don’t know how far down the chain of succession they ended up, but it’s possible that the White House janitor is now nominally President.

“There are up to a dozen local despots who’ve declared independence over short-wave, and what concerns me is that they haven’t been shut down. That means that they are in de facto unsecured territory.

“The situation worldwide is bad and getting worse. There were nukes used in the Middle East, the BBC was right about that. But there were also nukes used in Pakistan, which wasn’t reported because by then the news reporting channels had broken down. Also the Koreas went nuclear. Russia and China have swallowed all their satellite states and are now taking gouges out of each other. It’ll stop when neither has the resources to continue. What’s telling is that already neither one has the resources to nuke the other. It’s truly in the shitter.

“Meanwhile, we have no more resources than you to build or advertise the existence of this device, and I doubt anyone out there has the wherewithal to do anything with the information if we did.”

Lieutenant Collins’ face had a haunted look.

“We’ve been continuing to operate as the National Guard because it’s what we swore to do, and because frankly no-one has any better idea. But there have been questions about whether we should just dissolve the platoon. You’ve seen the people in the hangar. Those are people that we’ve found as we’ve been patrolling, who didn’t have anywhere to go and were slowly starving to death. We’re doing what we can, but we’re pretty limited.

“In terms of local intel, there’s nothing left that you could call a viable community for at least fifteen hundred miles from Yellowstone. Beyond that, what we’ve been able to get indicates that people are turtling, and closing their borders. Refugees have been shot and killed trying to get through barricades. I figure we’d have to go right to the East or West Coast to have any chance of finding anywhere that would take us and our refugee group. We could force our way in somewhere, given our firepower, but that doesn’t sit well with me. It wouldn’t do anything but spread the misery. Oddly enough, we’re likely better off right here as long as the scavenging holds out. Which is why we’re pretty pissed about your group beating us to everything.”

Lieutenant Collins straightened up and turned to face Bill squarely. “Look, Bill, you tell a good story. I’m having a little trouble with it. I’d like to believe you, but you may simply be a good talker trying to work his way out of being shot. I’ll have to discuss this with my people.”

Lieutenant Collins looked at his watch, then turned to Chavez and Stevenson. “Take Mr Rustad to a room and make him comfortable. But make sure he stays put.”

Rescue

Aug 25              Richard

“We’ve found him,” Charlie announced. Everyone crowded around him to look at the tablet. The video image showed Bill, lying on a wooden bench in a windowless room. As they watched, he looked up, smiled, and waved. Then he motioned to the camera to come closer.

Charlie lowered the pole-cam by dead reckoning until it hovered two feet in front of Bill’s face. This put it below the bed of the truck, where they were all standing. They looked down through the gate and they could see Bill’s face, live, smiling at them around the camera from another universe.

Richard jumped down from the truck, went over to the small gate, and whispered through it to Bill, “We can get you out. We have a six-foot gate.”

Bill shook his head and said in a low voice, “That’s fine, but I don’t want to disappear. I think we have a good possibility of getting these guys to join us. And they’ve got civilian refugees that they’re trying to care for. I can give you details on all that later. Listen, could you send someone back to Rivendell to get a big bag of my coffee?”

Richard looked at him in confusion. “Are you shitting me?”

Bill shushed him. “Look, we want these guys on our side. The coffee will be both a peace offering and an implied statement that I could have left any time.”

Richard thought about that for a second, then said, “Done.”

He turned to Joseph. “Get Rivendell on the radio. Tell them to send Crazy Al over with a bag of Nabob. Tell him it has to arrive undamaged or we take away his dirt bike privileges. Again.”

Joseph nodded and picked up the walkie-talkie.

Crazy Al had been given that name for good reason. Back in the real world, he had been a motocross, enduro, stunt, dirt, and anything else biker. If it could be done on two wheels and an engine, Crazy Al was there. He was also the best mechanic they had, so they tolerated his habits with the stricture that if he broke it, he had to fix it.

But if a pony express delivery was needed, he was their man.

It took very little time before Crazy Al appeared over the horizon, going at a speed that would have been nerve-wracking on pavement. On the prairie, he skipped from bump to bump, off the ground more often than touching it. The bike bounced back and forth from front to back wheel, but Al, up on the foot-pegs, was steady as a rock.

He came in at full speed and hit the front binders. Doing a nose wheelie for the last fifty yards, he came to a precise stop in front of the group.

Richard asked, “What took you?”

Al grinned, handed Richard his backpack, and left in a spray of dirt.

Richard opened the backpack and took out a large foil bag of coffee. He motioned to Charlie, who opened the six-foot gate. Richard handed the bag through to a waiting Bill, and they closed the gate.

***

Bill

The door opened with a bang. “Good morning, honored guest. Rise and shine!”

Bill opened one bleary eye to see Corporal Chavez glaring down at him. She was obviously enjoying this moment.

Block. Parry. Riposte. Bill sat up, reached under the hard wooden bench on which he’d barely slept— Chavez stepped back while reaching for her sidearm— and pulled out a large foil bag, prominently labeled NABOB Full City Dark. He handed it to her and said, “Give this to your boss. Let me know when coffee is ready.”

He smiled at her and lay back down. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her staring at the bag in her hand. The guard at the door was also staring. Bill was pretty sure he could have walked right out at that moment, and no one would have noticed.

Chavez turned and, with the bag still held out in front of her like a live bomb, walked slowly out the door. The guard closed the door without once looking at Bill.

Game, set, match, He thought with satisfaction, and closed his eyes.

***

There was a knock, and Corporal Chavez opened the door. “When you’re ready, the lieutenant would like to see you.”

“Ready now,” Bill replied, and stood up. Much better.

When they got to Lieutenant Collins’ office, he was sitting in his desk chair, slumped back, slowly sipping a coffee. The expression on his face said, in a way no words could, that this was not the same crap as yesterday.

Stevenson stood near the desk, holding a cup as well. He looked almost afraid to taste it.

Chavez saluted the lieutenant and made a beeline for the coffee pot. She poured one for Bill, one for herself, and one for the guard that had accompanied them. The look on the guard’s face said he’d marry her right there.

“I gave the rest of the coffee to the men,” Lieutenant Collins said. “Right now, if you ran for president, they’d all vote for you.”

Bill grinned. “Same thing I do every night. Try to take over the world.”

Lieutenant Collins sighed. “I’m not even going to ask. About the reference, I mean. The coffee, I will ask about. Starting with, is there more?”

“Craptons,” Bill said. “As I’ve said on more than one occasion, I live not only for coffee, but on coffee. Plus we have the stuff from the Walgreens, if you just want coffee.” That got a laugh from everyone.

Lieutenant Collins got serious. “Okay, Bill, I haven’t missed that you getting the coffee means you could have left by the same method. So I’m prepared to negotiate seriously. What are you looking for?”

“We don’t really have anything in the way of demands, lieutenant,” Bill replied. “Most of us would prefer to go back to the way things used to be. Failing that, we just want to survive. And save as many other people as we can find.”

“Do you still consider yourselves Americans?” Lieutenant Collins asked.

“Until someone tells us different,” Bill answered. “We’re not trying to secede, if that’s what you mean. But it also doesn’t mean we want to limit rescue to Americans. If we can get to the citizens of any other countries, that’s good, too.”

“What about coming back to this side if and when?”

Bill thought about that for a moment. “Best case, everything clears up, the weather washes most of the ash away, and ecosystems aren’t too badly damaged. We’d still be faced with a social and technological breakdown a couple of years deep. Our geology major gave us her guess that up to half the global population will be dead before we dig ourselves out.”

Lieutenant Collins didn’t look surprised at this statement.

Bill continued, “Worst case, the climate doesn’t recover for decades. We end up with sub-arctic tundra and muskeg down to the tropics. In that case we could be back to pre-industrial-era populations.

“We might be able to come back within our lifetimes, but I’m not going to depend on it, and I’m certainly not willing to push it.”

Lieutenant Collins considered that for a few moments. “We have a geologist in the refugee group, and he said something very similar.” He thought for a moment. “I’m going to make this optional for the troops. They can have an honorable discharge, effective immediately, or they can continue to serve. If they choose the latter, we’ll be on indefinite detached duty, protecting the last known outpost of America. Until and unless we find others, then it’s up for renegotiation. Good?”

Bill smiled. “Good. I don’t think we’ll need a general vote since we’ve always taken in anyone we find, but you’ll want to confirm your status with the Planning Committee.”

“Good enough. So how do we proceed?”

“Well, travel is easier on this side, so we drive to our warehouse, and they’ll let us through there.” Bill turned and looked up. “You good with that, Richard?”

A voice came from a camera suspended in the air in the corner of the room, “Sounds good. See you there.” The camera disappeared.

Bill turned to look at Lieutenant Collins, whose eyes were wide.

“Wow,” the lieutenant said. “It’s been theoretical until now. That’s how they found you?”

Bill nodded. He noticed that Private Stevenson was grinning from ear to ear. Some people just get it.

Getaway

Aug 25              Bluto

Bluto was in his glory. He had complete control of the situation. He had one of the two bitches in his power. The dweeb that controlled the time machines stood in front of him, terrified. Looks like he’s about to piss his pants. Bluto smirked in satisfaction.

“The portal’s in the shed,” Kevin said, pointing.

“Go get it. Bring them all,” Charles said.

“We only have two, and the scavenging party has the other,” Kevin replied.

“Good,” said Charles. “Get it.”

“I can’t move it on my own!”

Charles looked impatient. “Oh, Jesus H… you and you—” He pointed to two somewhat more muscular men. “Help him move it out here.”

It took only a few minutes, and the portal generator and gate were set up in the area in front of the goons and their hostages. Kevin looked at Charles, and at his nod turned on the portal. The gate faded into focus, showing the parking lot outside the warehouse, covered in damp packed-down ash.

“The fuck? You messing with me, pansy boy?” Bluto didn’t like being played the fool.

“You’ve been away for a while,” Kevin said. “Yellowstone erupted. That’s why we’re here.”

Charles looked at the ash on the other side, and turned to Bluto. “Yeah. Remember back in Portland after Mount St Helens? Same shit.”

Bluto shrugged. He would take Charles’ word for it, and it made little difference in the end. They were going home. A little ash for a few months wasn’t going to be a big deal.

Looking at Erin, he said, “Now here’s how it’s going to work. You’re going to walk through there, and if you or the other dweeb give either of us any trouble, you’ll both die right away. And we’ll take out as many of your friends as we can.” Bluto leered at her, his nastiest smile. “And later on, I’m going to teach you a lesson about manners, bitch!”

He took the gun out of Erin’s mouth and put it to her head. He and Charles started chivying their hostages to the open gate. They stepped through, then Charles pushed his hostage to her knees, aimed at the portal generator through the open gate and fired. There was a flash of sparks and the gate closed.

Charles and Bluto paused for a moment to make sure that the gate closed on their side. Then they looked around at the gray-brown landscape.

“Looks a little different now,” Bluto commented. “Still, good to be back.”

He turned to Erin. “Now, bitch, time to set the rules.” He grabbed her breast, put his face a few inches away from her, and snarled, “If you even think about trying anything, I’ll fix it so you never walk again. Got me?”

Charles watched all of this with interest, still towering over his hostage and holding her by the back of her collar. Suddenly there was a gunshot, and his head disintegrated in a spray of blood and brains.

“The fuck?” Bluto yelled and spun around, attempting to drag Erin with him to act as a human shield. Instead, Erin went limp. Bluto was a large man, but he wasn’t ready to support a hundred and thirty-odd pounds with one arm. Erin dropped from his grasp. As she hit the ash-covered ground, there was another gunshot, and Bluto staggered backwards.

Erin spit ash out of her mouth and scrambled to get out of the way, in what she hoped was a safe direction, while keeping as low as possible. There was another shot.

***

Bluto felt the impact of the bullet. He felt no pain, but the shock drove him backwards a few steps. There was a flicker of motion, and his gaze fixed on a short, curvy brunette with an assault rifle bearing down on him, her face glowing with rage. With an almost physical shock, he recognized her as the bitch who had nutted him in the warehouse.

In an unintentional parody of the last encounter, he growled, “Fucking bitch!” and raised his gun. There was another muzzle flash, and he felt another impact. This one drove him back and he staggered and sat down. Somehow he still managed to hold onto his gun, and he tried to bring it up again.

The angel of death snarled at him, “Burn in hell, motherfucker!” and squeezed off another shot.

Bluto fell backwards as the world ended.

***

Erin

Erin watched in amazement as Monica advanced on the goon, methodically squeezing off shots. She looks just like SWAT! Erin thought in admiration.

Finally Monica yelled something at the goon, shot him again, and he went over on his back. She walked up, looked down at his jerking body, and put three more quick shots into him.

Erin and the other girl got up and wiped themselves off. The other hostage was looking at Monica like she was eight feet tall and green. Monica asked her if she was okay, and the girl wordlessly nodded. Monica came over to Erin and put her arms around her.

It was like a floodgate opening. Erin started to sob, and before she knew it she was shaking and crying. Monica held her and said something that Erin couldn’t make out.

As Erin was running down and beginning to get control of herself, she heard a shout from nearby. They all looked up to see several people coming out of a gate, armed and looking for something to shoot. Erin got a sudden mental image of angry ants boiling out of a nest and she giggled uncontrollably for a second.

Monica waved to the would-be rescue party and yelled, “It’s okay. Nothing to see here. Move along. Move along.”

The men came over to the group, looked at the bodies, then at Monica. One of them said, “I guess you’ve got this all under control.”

Monica grinned at him. “You know, I never did finish my dinner. There better be food left or I’m gonna be pissed.”

Everyone looked alarmed.

***

They had stepped back through to Outland, and Erin was hosing herself down while someone else operated a hand pump. The other ex-hostage, Suzie, had already cleaned up and was enthusiastically telling her story to all who would listen, which was pretty much everyone.

Erin could see people occasionally turn to look at Monica with awe on their faces. Monica was oblivious to all this byplay; she was stuffing a second helping of venison chili stew into her mouth. Great. She’s going to have an even bigger ego now.

The Tale Grows

They were safe, back in the colony. Suzie had an abrupt feeling of disjointedness as she realized that she now thought of this as the place of safety, in effect, as home. Her friends were loudly solicitous, asking her if she was okay and hugging her. She somehow managed not to burst into tears. It’s over! She kept telling herself.

She got all the dust washed off with help from a hose and some very cold water. Someone manned the pump for her, then continued to do so when Erin Savard took the hose for her turn to get clean.

Suzie, meanwhile, was getting bombarded by questions from people. And, pleased to be the center of attention, she was happy to answer.

She left no detail out as she told the tale: the large bald black man who held a shotgun to her face and threatened to blow her head off; the rough handling as she was shoved through the gate to Earthside at gunpoint; the spray of blood, bone, and brains as the man’s head exploded. She spared no detail in telling how Monica Albertelli advanced on the other man, calmly shooting him again and again as he attempted to return fire.

Suzie swore to herself that Richard Nadeski was strictly off-limits as long as Monica showed any interest. Suzie didn’t need that kind of trouble!

Finding the Fallen

Aug 25              Omni

It took very little time to find the place where the goons had taken down Phil and Pete. They found the bikes a few feet into the trees. There was blood, shredded clothing, and discarded items that had come from the boys’ pockets. They continued to search in wider circles until there was a shout. They gathered around the location, and gazed sadly down at the two bodies. The two had been partially buried under rocks and deadwood, to make them harder to spot.

They collected the bodies, wrapped them in tarps, and took them back to the compound. After discussion, a small group took the backhoe and dug a couple of deep graves a short distance away. At the same time, the bobcat was used to gather some large rocks. Pete and Phil were buried with the entire colony in attendance. They placed the rocks over the graves to prevent any possibility of predators digging them up.

A somber crowd returned to Rivendell after the burial. The town now had a graveyard.

Joining Up

Aug 27              Bill

It took a full day for the National Guard platoon to get themselves and their civilian refugees organized, gather all their supplies, and line up for departure. Bill had reminded Lieutenant Collins that they could come back for stuff any time, but the lieutenant did not want to leave anything behind that could be a temptation for anyone. He also wanted the refugees to have time to get ready without undue stress.

Bill looked over the caravan as they assembled. There were five personnel carriers, bursting at the seams with military personnel, supplies, and refugees. Even so, some of the troops would be hoofing it. They also had three hummers with mounted machine guns up top.

Bill looked at the lieutenant. “Kind of heavily armed for disaster management, aren’t you?”

Lieutenant Collins laughed. “Those are army units. There’s a whole story behind how we ended up with them. Maybe some time I’ll tell you how I spent my summer vacation.”

***

Collins

The trip was uneventful. Even if there had been legions of looters patrolling downtown Lincoln, they wouldn’t have wanted to tangle with a fully armed and equipped National Guard platoon.

In very little time, they arrived at the address that Bill had specified. They stopped the caravan, and Bill, Lieutenant Collins, and Corporal Chavez got out.

The first thing Lieutenant Collins noticed were two corpses lying in the ash. From the look of them, they’d been there for about a day. The manner of death was graphically obvious, especially in the case of the one missing half his head.

Lieutenant Collins looked at Bill and raised an eyebrow.

Bill looked a little ill. “I recognize those assholes. I’m sure there’s a story.”

At that moment, a gate opened up in front of them, big enough to accommodate the vehicles. Richard walked through, with a couple of other men trailing him, holding weapons. The other men looked around and took up guard positions. Richard waved at the group and came walking over.

Introductions were made, and Richard said, “Thought you might want to come across and have a quick look. Then we’ll see about getting your vehicles placed.”

Lieutenant Collins pointed to the two bodies, which no one seemed to be paying any attention to, and looked a question at Richard.

Richard grimaced. “Oh, that was Monica. Those two pissed her off. Not a good idea on the best day.”

“Bit of a tough cookie, is she?” Corporal Chavez asked.

“Oh, believe it,” Bill said. “I think you and her will get along just fine.” He grinned at Chavez, and she grinned back.

Lieutenant Collins gestured to Richard to proceed, and they walked through the gate. The lieutenant staggered a bit as he stepped through, as if he’d been bracing for something that turned out not to be there.

Corporal Chavez chuckled. “Stevenson is probably peeing himself with excitement.” Private Stevenson was driving the lead vehicle and was therefore forced to stay put until ordered through.

Lieutenant Collins looked around. He saw a sea of tents, large and small, in a large fenced area. People were scattered around, some working on tasks, some just enjoying the sunny day. Collins looked up at a sky that he hadn’t seen in many weeks, wide and blue from horizon to horizon. A few clouds floated lazily above, and he could feel the sun warming his skin. In the distance, ranch-style fencing had been put up for cattle, sheep, and horses. Near at hand, people were getting up from whatever they had been doing and coming over to rubberneck. The buzz of conversation rose steadily in volume.

“Hey, sunshine! You made it back!” A short, curvy brunette made a bee-line for Bill Rustad.

Lieutenant Collins noted with interest the way the crowds parted for her. She hit Bill at full stride—the lieutenant was sure he heard an oompf—and gave him a bear-hug, practically lifting him off the ground. The lieutenant couldn’t decide if he should be envious or sympathetic.

“So, they gave you time off for good behavior?” She grinned up at Bill. He smiled back, his arms around her, and Lieutenant Collins couldn’t help noticing how little pleased Richard was with this.

Lieutenant Collins stepped forward and said to Bill, “So I’m expecting this is Monica?”

Monica turned, stuck out her hand, and said, “Monica Albertelli. Welcome to Rivendell.”

“Lieutenant Tom Collins. And before you say it, I’ve heard them all.”

Monica laughed. She had a good laugh. Lieutenant Collins understood Bill and Richard a little better.

He continued, “I saw a little of your handiwork on the way in.”

Monica’s expression clouded up. “They killed a couple of my friends. No one does that. Fuckers needed killing.”

Lieutenant Collins noted out of the corner of his eye that Corporal Chavez was nodding with approval. Oh, boy. Two of them. This is going to be interesting.

***

The trucks had come through, and the troops and refugees had been organized and bivouacked. Lieutenant Collins had a short meeting with the members of the Planning Committee. There were no real surprises, other than the amount of ordnance that they had in Rivendell. Lieutenant Collins privately admitted that he could have won a straight-out firefight, but it would have been close.

He’d also seen the coffee supplies and the professional coffee maker. Yep. Bill Rustad for President.

***

Erin

Some adjustments were necessary to make room for the refugees and military personnel. Tents had to be moved. In a couple of cases, people had set up small green spaces in front of their tents, which had to be given up. But the Guard personnel were quick and efficient. In no time, accommodations were up for the new residents.

Along with many others, Erin was doing a bit of rubbernecking, when a familiar face caught her eye. “Oh my God! Professor Collins!” she yelled, and rushed over. Just in time, she noticed a woman and two adolescents standing near the professor, so she aborted the intended bear hug, instead grabbing his hand as she reached him.

“Yellowstone erupted and it blew more than three thousand cubic kilometers of ash into the air and on this side it blew sometime in the last one hundred thousand years and that's what killed people off over here and I think it left Nebraska with more hills and a higher ground level and the climate is cooler and wetter here and I don’t know if that's global warming and without people the Pleistocene animals aren't extinct!”

Erin stopped and took a large breath. Professor Collins smiled at her and said, “We’ll go over that in detail later, I think. I’m glad to see you alive and well.”

Erin smiled back timidly and turned to the woman beside Professor Collins. “I’m Erin. I’m one of his students.”

The woman returned a friendly smile. “So I gathered. I’m Mary.” The two shook hands.

Erin turned back to Professor Collins. “So how did you end up in the National Guard refugee camp?”

The Professor gave an embarrassed chuckle. “You’d think I’d know better than to stay in town, wouldn’t you?” He shrugged. “But it took too long to gather my family together, and by the time we were ready to head out, everything was gridlocked. We stayed home until the ash fall stopped, with the intention of trying to get out of town then. But guess who shows up on my doorstep, but my little brother in a big hummer?”

Erin was blank for a two-count. Then, “Lieutenant. Collins? Duh!”

“Yep,” the professor said. “Always good to have connections in the military.”

He continued, “So how did you end up here?”

Erin looked down for a moment and considered. Where to begin?

Interludes

Aug 27              Alex

Alex stood at the stack of fence-posts, contemplating his day, when Trish came up to him from behind.

“Alex, can I talk to you for a second?”

Alex turned to her. A jolt of anxiety ran through him. Oh crap, this is it. I’m getting dumped. Just watch.

“Hi, Trish. What’s up?”

“That’s what I want to ask you. We were doing really well together, then for no reason you shut down on me.”

Alex stared at her in disbelief for a second, put his head down and said, “Aw, crap. So I made things worse. I should have told Frankie to fuck off.”

Trish tilted her head and looked at him quizzically.

Alex gave her a lopsided grin and tried to explain. “Frankie told me I was coming on too strong and I’d end up scaring you off. So I tried to back off, and it looks like I overdid it.”

Trish gave him the hairy eyeball. “Well, Frankie wasn’t entirely wrong. You did seem to be kind of all over me for a while there, but this is worse.” She laughed. “Oh God, we’ve turned back into teenagers!”

He took her hand. “I’m sorry, Trish. I didn’t want to blow it. I can’t explain it exactly, but this all seems a lot more important now. Like we’re all suddenly adults whether we like it or not.”

Trish stepped a little closer and looked down. “That’s pretty much right. This could be our home for the rest of our lives.” She looked up at him with a shy smile. “And it might not just be us. I’m late.”

“What do you mean? Late for…” Alex’s eyes got wide as his brain finally caught up with the conversation. “Oh…”

A goofy grin slowly formed on his face and got wider and wider. “Oh! Oh wow!”

Trish looked up at him with her head cocked at a slight angle. “Maybe we should discuss this at my place…”

Go big or go home, dude. “Sounds good to me!”

Birth Rate

Aug 28              Omni

The news spread through Rivendell like wildfire. If there had ever been any intention to keep it quiet, that plan was out the window. Trish Lopez, one of the scouts, had announced that she was pregnant. The perma-grin on Alex Shaw’s face left no doubt about who was to blame. Once the news hit, a couple of other women admitted that they were late as well.

The Planning Committee was in session. Lieutenant Collins was attending as the new Lead for Security and Scouting. Fred and Anson had happily bowed out with the arrival of the National Guard, stating their intention to start a Bocce and Chess Club.

Now everyone was looking at everyone else, waiting for someone to talk first.

“So anyway, we have a problem. Uh, it is a problem, right?” Richard said into the silence.

“Well, medically, yes. In about eight months, it will be,” Krista replied. “Before modern medicine, up to fifty percent of newborns didn’t survive past three months of age. We’ll beat that statistic of course, because we know about sanitation. But we’ll be nowhere near the zero point six percent we’re used to in the modern world, not without some help.” She looked at Joseph, then at Richard. “The University Health Center is already on our list of targets, but we need to bump it up now.”

“If I could get the plumbing supplies from the Home Depot,” Bill cut in, “we’d have clean water.”

“If we could go find a couple more vehicles,” Joseph added, “we could do several of these important things at once!”

“Actually, we can help you out there, since we have these army trucks sitting around now.” Lieutenant Collins pointed out. “But it would be handy to have fuel storage tanks on this side.”

“Which also would be very handy,” Nick interjected, “for getting us construction supplies for those buildings for the winter…”

“And I remind you, gentlemen,” Samuel Wildman said, “that we still have to break ground before fall if you want spring wheat!”

Richard put his head in his hands. It was going to be a long day.

Electric Company

Aug 29              Richard

Bill and Richard stood outside, surrounded by tables and stands covered with equipment, parts, and tools. Bill had two odd-looking wind turbines up on stands. The turbines were slowly turning in a breeze that, Richard admitted to himself, didn’t seem strong enough to move anything.

Bill watched his handiwork with obvious pride for a moment, then turned to the measuring instruments on the table. They had gathered a lot of equipment from one of those sustainable energy supply stores, most notably a large number of storage batteries and a charging system to buffer the generator output. The store had also contained a stack of solar panels, which were now leaning against the south side of one of the sheds.

“We’ll put the solar panels on top of the sheds and add their output to the grid when we have time,” he said, as much to himself as to Richard.

Richard stood there and waited. Bill would get there when he got there, and meanwhile Richard was content to let the day wash over him. The sun was shining—amazing weather on this side—and felt good warming his face.

He’d had an unexpectedly good time today when he ended up seated beside a girl named Suzie at breakfast. Suzie was bright, interesting, and didn’t kill people. Richard felt a little ashamed of himself, but he had to admit that Monica was turning out to be a full-time job. And that was without any real expectation of an exclusive arrangement. She seemed to be quite happy with both Bill and himself vying for her. Maybe it was time to let Bill have a clear field and look for someone who was looking for someone, so to speak.

And for maybe the first time since he was ten years old, Richard felt at home. He had people who he considered friends, who he would trust with his life. As far as he was concerned, Earthside could go jump.

Meanwhile, Bill’s monologue seemed to be running down. Richard started paying more attention.

“There’s a pretty steady breeze from the west most days,” Bill said, “and on balance it seems to be enough for us when we’re not running too much equipment, with a little left over to keep the batteries charged. The solar cells will add to that. And of course we can always add more turbines.”

“So we have full-time electricity then?” Richard asked.

“Yeah, but we should try to avoid becoming dependent on it for everything. If everyone starts running air conditioners, it’s lights out. Literally!”

“The new pioneers…” Richard mused. He grinned. “Next thing, we’ll be churning butter.”

“Mmmmm… butter…” Bill replied.

Richard laughed, gave a casual wave, and walked off, whistling the Andy Griffith theme.

Planet 4

Aug 30              Kevin

Kevin and Bill were in the mad science lair. Bill put the panel back onto the portal generator that had been shot by the goons, while Kevin watched.

“And, done,” Bill said. “I think we may have managed to salvage the device. Among their many failures, the morons shot it in the power supply. Those we can get anywhere.”

Kevin considered. “We should probably test it.”

Bill thought for a moment, then a slow smile spread on his face. “Yes we should, Kevin. You know, we could test it by just connecting up to Earthside…”

Kevin looked at Bill quizzically.

Bill continued, “But we’ve done that so many times…”

Kevin looked alarmed.

“And we do have the pressure vessel, so it would be safe…”

Kevin’s head was shaking back and forth, faster and faster.

“And you can’t tell me you aren’t curious…”

Kevin started to back away, while continuing to shake his head emphatically.

“Oh come on, Kevin. Don’t you wonder even a little bit?”

“Wonder about what?” They both turned to see Monica walking up.

“Bill wants to test the portal repairs by connecting to the next Earth,” Kevin said, in a tone that indicated his disapproval.

Monica looked at Bill. “So what’s the hold-up?”

Bill laughed, while Kevin looked at them both and said, “Oh God, I’m surrounded by lunatics.”

“Oh come on, Kevin,” Bill said. “We’ve got the pressure vessel, like I said. Richard’s dead-man switch is a good piece of engineering, though you didn’t hear it from me. We’d just have it on for a second or two.”

Kevin looked back and forth between Bill and Monica, then slumped, defeated. “Okay, but if anyone asks, I’m telling them you threatened me.”

Bill and Monica both laughed, and they started setting up. Bill moved the pressure vessel into position, while Kevin disassembled the pole-cam. In a half-hour or so, they had everything set up and the video image on the tablet showed a deactivated gate.

“Should we stand outside the shed?” Kevin asked.

“Honestly, if we end up destroying the shed, I think I’d rather go up with it,” Bill answered.

Kevin looked even more alarmed.

“Enough jawing,” Monica said. “Push the button dammit.”

Bill smiled at her, held up the tablet and pressed OK.

There was the usual momentary blurring, then the video showed an image of dense forest.

“Maybe more like jungle,” Monica said in response to the unspoken thought. “There are a lot of ferns and vines in there.”

As they watched, an animal entered the field of view. It was bipedal, about four feet tall, with bright patterned plumage in a predominantly red pattern. It also had taloned forearms and sharp teeth.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Bill said.

“Velociraptor?” Monica added, awe in her voice.

“Oh boy.” Kevin finished.

Epilogue

The southern hemisphere would not be spared. The volume of ash and gas pumped into the northern hemisphere would be more than sufficient to force significant quantities across the equatorial convergence zone, where it would spread and create similar problems in the south.

Over the longer term, the ash and dust in the stratosphere would cause up to a decade without summer. Every country on the planet eventually found its ability to produce food severely impacted. Unable to feed their own populations, formerly food-exporting countries shut down their borders. Formerly food-importing countries did not accept this decision politely. Tensions escalated.

In the end, disease, accident, starvation, collapse of infrastructure, and internecine warfare would kill more than two billion people within the first year. Deaths would continue to outnumber births for at least a decade.

Appendices

Cast of Characters

Richard Nadeski

Experimental Physics student

Bill Rustad

Engineering student

Matt Siemens

Computer Science student

Kevin Jahani

Math/Theoretical Physics student

Erin Savard

Geology student

Monica Albertelli

Zoology student

Andrew Petrelli

Self-styled mob boss

Charles Eaton

Goon #1

Bluto (Trevor Pavoni)

Goon #2

Dick Thompson

Animal Sciences student

Suzie, Frankie, Stephanie, Joy, Maddie

History students

Pete and Phil

Stoners

Professor Robert Collins

Geology professor

Jenson Hildebrandt

Professor Collins’ assistant

Joseph Leung

Team Lead, Scavenging operations

Alex Shaw, Trish Lopez

Scouting

Krista Tollefson

Team Lead, Medical

Nick McCormack

Team Lead, Infrastructure

Fred Mack, Anson Rutherford

University security guards

Samuel Wildman

Team Lead, Agriculture

Maggie, Ben, and Marcus

Samuel’s family

Charlie Watson

Scavenging group member

Lieutenant Tom Collins

National Guard C/O

Corporal Beatrice Chavez

National Guard soldier

Pvts Stevenson, Timminson, Andrews

National Guard soldiers

Goro Yoshida

Pilot

Author's Notes

During critiquing and beta reading, I was asked a number of times about the quotes and about the facts mentioned in the story. All of the quotes at the top of chapters are real, and the attributions are correct. The facts, such as the definition of supervolcano, sizes of past eruptions, and information about Toba, are also accurate.

Watch for the next book in the World-Lines series:

Earthside

References

Super Volcano
The Ticking Time Bomb Beneath Yellowstone National Park

By Greg Breining

SUPERVOLCANO
The Catastrophic Event That Changed the Course of Human History

By Dr. John Savino, PhD and Marie D. Jones