Artifact 32: A Dark and Stormy Night

We're back to Josh in 2027. His cargo is gone and his hypercar has a flat tire, so he's hanging out with two Toms and a Joan. The storm is gaining intensity.

Artifact 32: A Dark and Stormy Night

 

            Last we checked with him, circa May 2027, Josh had an appointment on the West Coast to deliver what he simply referred to as his “cargo.” It was a very strange and mysterious cargo residing in, of all places, a vintage cigar box, but when the “cargo” disappeared, Josh thought he knew where it went, or, who had taken it.

Meanwhile, without a pressing agenda and strung-out from the road, Josh got a flat tire because he drove where he should not have. Assuming a moniker of “John,” he quickly made friends with local farmers Tom and Joan and their son Tom not to mention Harv the dog. With a storm closing in, they hustled to harvest as most of Tom’s vegetable crop as they could in a short period-of-time. 

 

            Shouting over the roaring winds, Tom yelled, “That’s it John, good enough, head back to the house with Joan! I’m taking the truck to the garage.” Tom then turned to trot back to his truck though it wasn’t a beeline because of the strong cross winds. A bright flash of lightning tore Josh’s attention from Tom. A rolling, chest-rumbling thunderclap came seconds later. Debris and dust blew about as Josh saw the hanging plants on the porch vigorously swinging back and forth. At the same time, Tom started the engine, spun the truck’s tires, and shot directly into the open garage door.

From the porch, Joan yelled for Harv to come. Josh looked over his shoulder as he stepped up on the porch now watching Tom try to swing the old-fashioned garage door shut just as a heavy gust hit.  

“Damn! Look!”  Joan said, “Tom can’t hold that huge door in this wind; C’mon Tom just let it go!”

Josh knew Tom couldn’t hear her because it was just a suggestion for common sense. Disregarding her own common sense, Joan started down off the porch. At that moment, the winds flipped the porch chairs over, slung the wind chimes back and forth making a noise like a metal crusher while one of the plants crashed to the floor. Joan turned back to the noise with a second thought to let Harv in the house who scratched and whimpered at the door. 

“I’ll go give him a hand,” Josh yelled over the din. He leaped off the porch.

            The dust and sand blew into his eyes, nose, and mouth while Tom still struggled with the door. As Josh trotted to him, Tom propped a shovel under the door’s edge to try and control its movement with the shovel’s leverage digging into the ground, but the force on the door pushed the shovel along making a curved trench. As Josh almost got to Tom, a corn stalk whipped across from the field wrapping around his leg and tripped him up, almost causing him to fall, but he skipped once, kicked the stalk away and kept going. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw the stalk spin up into the sky and away.

Tom apparently was not about to give up on his garage door to the forceful wind. Josh knew that the door would soon become unhinged and become a dangerous flying object under the wind’s might. Tom now forced his back against the door, heels digging into the ground for traction while hanging onto the shovel handle. The shovel still dug deep. Josh noticed Tom’s hat had long gone away and mud had formed on his cheeks from his tearing eyes and blowing dust. A bolt of lightning lit up the surroundings in white-hot brightness. Ear rattling thunder boomed a split-second later.

            Josh ran up beside Tom and forced his shoulder into the door against the mighty unremitting wind. With the two men moving it with starts and fits, the door finally clanged shut twice before bottoming out long enough for Tom to throw the latch home. Even though the door still rattled in the wind, Josh thought there was nothing else they could do. Even so, Tom jammed the shovel into the ground and pushed it into the door as a prop that helped to lessen the rattling a little. Another bolt of lightning flashed followed immediately by a deafening cannon fire of thunder.  

Tom yelled something Josh couldn’t understand with the thunder and wind all around. Tom motioned to the house. Josh nodded and both ran with the wind whipping their clothes flittering and flapping. Josh saw Harv’s collapsed ball bouncing crazily along the ground before ricocheting against a shrub, off the corner of the house, and like that�"it was gone. The two men bounded up the stairs and across the porch in one leap apiece. Tom opened the door with a firm grip against the wind and Josh ran through. Tom backed in and pulled the door shut making sure it latched. The wind whistled through and rattled the door.

            “Whew!” Josh said brushing his hair out of his eyes. “I’ve never experienced anything like that before!”

“Oh, that’s nothing. Happens all the time out here,” smiled a cool, calm Joan.  

Tom made a sound like steam releasing. “Yeah right. I would be out of here if that happened ALL the time!” He said wagging his thumb at the window.

Tom picked up his phone. He touched the screen. “Let’s see what this storm looks like from a radar perspective.”

Tom flipped open the back of the cell phone, rotated two rods out and then pulled on the finger ring for the flex screen. The phone’s screen image now filled the twelve-inch square flex screen.   

            Josh and Joan looked over Tom’s shoulder as the Doppler-S Radar Image filled in the screen. One after another, the images filled in as the continuous loop of radar returns started to run.

“Okay. This looks like the satellite placement of the gust front and we’re here.” Tom took the point of his finger, placing an “x” on the county overlay. “The main area of the precipitation is just coming on the screen now; look�"the rain itself really doesn’t look so bad.”

 He pointed and slid his finger down to move the image to the southwest in the direction the storm was coming from. 

            “Could fool me, that looks bad to me,” Josh said, pointing at the image. 

            “Ah, the enhancement shows like a hundred shades of precipitation, so it looks worse than it is. If there were shades of red and then white, look out! Only yellow, blue and green so far.” He smiled. The weather channel link displayed a warning for high winds issued over two hours ago. “Would have been nice if I had checked this a little earlier, huh?”

He quickly ducked down when he saw Joan trying to cuff him aside of the head, but instead she caught the side of Josh’s head by mistake.

            “Oh no, John! I’m so sorry,” she said, putting a hand on his head while hiding her face with her other hand. 

            “No damage done, damage done, damage done.” Josh smirked with a wobbly head and googly eyes.

            “Yeah right, thanks,” she said with a smile.

            The three of them looked out the window. Punctuating the black sky, lightning bolts streaked from the cloud to the ground and from cloud-to-cloud. The winds still blew hard but not as high as the gusts they had experienced earlier. As they watched, Tom pointed out the pickup truck rounding the corner of the street to the driveway.  

 “Fool kids! I thought Tommy would wait out the storm at Sheri’s place.” Joan said with a note of irritation in her voice. “That boy!” 

            “You know kids, they really don’t pay attention to their safety,” Tom replied.   “Well anyhow, they’re here safe now, so I’ll grab the door for them,” he said, heading for the back door. 

"Would you like anything John…maybe a beer?” Asked Joan.

            “Sure, that sounds good.”

             Joan opened the shiny round-fronted refrigerator, rotated the lazy susan shelf, pulled out three beers, setting two on the table.

“Here you go,” she said handing him one. 

He nodded his thanks, twisted off the top, and took a swig. By then, Josh heard the wind gush in the back door, felt the wind stream through the house and heard the door slam with feet shuffling and three voices talking. Tom Junior came first to kitchen with Sheri talking to Tom Senior who followed close behind. 

“…and we were going to buy something and take it down to the park when that wind came through. What a blow,” Sheri was saying.

 Josh saw a typical Midwest college girl or so he imagined. Sheri was probably 5 foot 5 or so, not skinny but sturdily built, not especially pretty but not unattractive either, off-blond hair pulled down in two tails that draped one forward on back over her shoulders, the tails windblown for sure. She wore black jeans faded on the thighs and a cotton print top with a well-worn, too large windbreaker pulled open that looked probably like it belonged to Tom Junior. The lightning continued to flash frequently, but the thunder rolls seemed to be later and farther off.

            “Hey John, I see you guys made it through okay,” Tom Junior said as he walked over to the refrigerator, pulled out a couple more beers.

            “We had a few things to take care of, but we got ‘er done,” Tom senior answered.

“So you guys were lucky not to be caught out in this mess, huh?” Tom junior asked Josh.  

            “Well, we were out in it when we sort of rescued the garage door from taking off.  The major wind gusts caught it just as your Dad was closing it.” 

“So did the wind take it down?” Tom junior asked with a concerned edge.

“Oh no, your father wrestled with for a few minutes before I went out there and gave him a hand.”

             Tom handed Sheri the other beer and looked out the window. He saw the shovel propped up against the door, that seemed to be doing the job and looked toward the garden.

            “Geess…most of the taller plants out in the garden look flat.  Doesn’t look good. Lose anything Dad?”

            “Don’t know, but I guess we’ll see what happens when the rain comes through,” and handed his phone to Tom Junior.

“Ah, just a quicky gully washer, as you’d call it!” He commented on the display.

Joan pulled on the sleeve of Sheri’s windbreaker. “Nice high style jacket.” 

“You bet! Nothing but the best to impress!” Sheri said smiling looking Josh’s way with her head tilted down.

             “Oh, sorry, John this is Sheri, ah Sheri Erickson. Leave it to Tom Junior not to make introductions�"hear that son?”

            “Yeah, I know, mom.” 

            Sheri seemed the straightforward type Josh thought, and she proved it as he finished the thought.  Sheri held out her hand and Josh took it as he stood up and took a step closer. 

            “Tom told me you kind of dropped in after you broke down with a way cool car with some kind of proto-rocket motor or something like that. I didn’t understand three-quarters of what he told me, but I could tell he was impressed.” She spoke rather animatedly, swinging her head side to side. “You know you’re his hero now, right?” She grinned wide, ear-to-ear. “Hey, you have a girl back home?” She asked eyeing Tom Junior.

            “Hey! Cut that out!” He yelled. “I pay you plenty of attention Sharon Holtzman.”

            “Holtzman, huh, from around here in the Midwest?” Josh asked.

             “Originally from Virginia, ahhh, Richmond to be exact before coming to college here.  I live across the border in North Carolina and met him on a road trip.”

            “No way. I have an aunt and uncle Holtzman in Richmond. Haven’t talked to them, let’s see now, probably forever, ‘cause my dad and his brother had a falling out and…you know. I don’t even know the kids’ names at all. Anyway, wouldn’t it be cool if we found out we may be relatives of some kind!”

 “Yeah! Small world and all that,” she paused glancing to Tom. “Tom said you’re going to tell him ‘all about your super car.’ So let’s get on with story time because I hope it’s really good because I had a flick in mind for tonight until this weather mess came along,” Sheri pointed with her thumb underhanded.  “How about the grand car story starting with, hmmm, it was a dark and stormy night. Prowling a shadowy, dusty and cobwebby abandoned garage…hmmm, where old automobile skeletal remains lay in repose of past glory days of racin’ and roadin...he suddenly heard a noise coming from…” Sheri grinned ear to ear while bent over.

            “Ohhh, Sheri, cut it out,” Tom Junior warned.

            “You seem mighty touchy tonight,” she said nudging him in the ribs.

            Josh ignored the pattering back and forth between the two to enjoy his beer, but he decided to feed the fire.

            “Well, it just so happened…” He said with a smile.   

            “Sure John just egg her on some more,” Joan said, “Let’s go to the living room.”

            “I’ve got popcorn duty,” said Tom Junior, pulling out some bowls and the popcorn.

            “Okay, let’s go,” Tom senior said, picking up his phone and beer.

            They sat talking about the day’s activities, while listening to the popcorn ricochet around in the microwave bowl popper in the kitchen. 

“Hey, the rain is finally starting after all the racket that storm put out,” Tom yelled from the kitchen, “Huge drops too!”

            Tom Senior pulled open a curtain to look out, “Yeah, those huge drops that sometimes turn to hail.” He took a long breath. “Nothing we can do about it.”  He said with a shrug and then tipping up his beer to finish it off. “Another anyone?”

             Everyone answered in the negative in unison as he headed out to the kitchen as Tom Junior came in with the popcorn passing his father on the way.

 “I could’ve brought you a beer Dad.”

            “That’s okay, just wanted to look at the other side of the house and see what the garden looked like after that last big gust.”

            Josh turned to Joan.  “Tom really takes that garden seriously, I don’t know if I could get behind farming or gardening like that.  Seems like a lot of dedication and commitment the way he worries about it.” 

             “Sure he takes it to heart that’s for sure. His job in the military was a real meat grinder, the job, the politics you know when one gains rank. He needed something to calm himself down but keep himself occupied and then his Mom died, so he inherited this place.” She added waving an arm in a semi-circle around herself. “How it all worked out in the end.”

            “Yeah, I guess I saw some of the stress when he told me about his duty in New Mexico, but it also appeared to me that he was really into the military�" he enjoyed the stress.”

            “You might say that, now,” Tom said, walking back in with his beer. 

            Tom Junior had passed out bowls of popcorn to everyone and turned to Josh.  “So John is the car just an inheritance or something simple like a good deal you couldn’t pass up?  You hinted that there was a legend or tale behind the car and besides, to me, just the existence of that thing is fascinating.”

            “Believe it or not, it was an inheritance of sorts.” Josh replied. “But I’m not the folk tale telling sort of guy. This recounting might comes across as dumb and boring.”

            “We’ll be the judge of that. Elaborate if it’s not too exciting, and I’ll help you along with questions because I know nothing of automotive technology,” Joan said.         

            “I have given it some thought ever since Tom here said he wanted to hear about it, and I think you might find the retelling quite unbelievable in some parts. Okay. Everyone willing?”

             There was a unanimous agreement and nodding of heads.

            “Okay, for Sheri’s benefit,” Josh grinned and lifted his eyes to the ceiling as in deep recall. “It was a dark and stormy night…”

            “Oh come on. Get off that cliché opener!” She exclaimed. “I did it just to rag on you a bit.” She grinned at Tom Junior.

            Josh had to smirk as well for a second. “No, actually it was just after sunrise and the fog was thick. You see, I am driving down a secondary road all of twenty-five kilometers an hour.  I have a set of primo 1964 Chevrolet fuelie heads and an original high rise manifold off a ‘Vette in the back of my 2000 Blazer to deliver. 

            “Hey, I have an old Blazer that’s sitting around,’ said Sherie.

            “One in any kind of condition is a real classic now. Anyway, as you can guess, my Blazer was a little fixed up.” Josh smiled at Sheri and continued.  “The Blazer had a V-6 with a supercharger and reworked suspension. I had an automatic transmission in it even though I detest them.  This really does not matter too much. Unnecessary details,” Josh said looking around the room.

            “Sure, of course,” Joan said. “Because you’d have to explain who had a fooly head, what’s a manifold doing in a high rise, and what’s a veterinarian have to do with this car of yours?” She smiled smugly.

            “Oh please, mom,” Tom junior complained. “You’re making this too difficult on John.”

            “Just a bit of comic relief,” she said seriously. She gestured for Josh to continue.

            “Okay then during an early morning with thick fog you know where it is so thick the air current that’s pushed out in front of your car parts the fog like a boat in water. So, I had a delivery and was sweating it out because it was a big payday, like my trip right now,” Josh paused with a finger point outside. “You know, I’m sweating it now, literally a bit because I promised the parts a couple days ago! Well, that doesn’t matter either. So here goes the awesome car connection. The story of the car.” Josh smiled “So just to embellish a boring story: It was a dark and stormy night. A night much like tonight…”

A buzz sounded interrupting Josh’s story. Three of the others picked up their phones and looked at them.

            “Oh my!” Said Sherie.

            “What the�"?” Said Tom Junior.

            Josh looked at one after the other to gain some insight. “Another storm? He asked.

            “Hard to say by this report,” said Tom senior. “But a news headline says something about a strange unexplained event detected on satellite and radar.”

            “An unexplained, unnatural anomaly,” Sherie said with added air quotes.

            Josh jolted in reaction to the insight. “What sort of unnatural anomaly? Like an EMP?” He jumped up to look over Tom’s shoulder. “And where exactly was this detected?”

            “Ahhh,” Tom said scrolling downward. “Well, as a matter of fact they said it did have Electromagnetic Pulse characteristics. They thought it possibly was a device left over from the war. And surprisingly it occurred not all that far west from here.”

            “Do we need to worry?” Asked Joan, now looking at the report as well.           

“I don’t think so�" that’s not a device from the war,” Josh said. The others looked at him in surprise. Embarrassed, he shrugged and sheepishly said, “just a guess based on what I’ve read.”  

            “Hey Dad, Josh,” Tom junior spoke up. “This article here quoted scientists as attributing its characteristics to matching a black hole!”

            “Really?” Tom senior scoffed. “A localized black hole on the Earth�"what an implausible impossibility!”

            Josh silently sat down hard. His expression and tense demeanor alerted the others that he must have known something about this�"event.

            “John? Do you know something about this that occurred?”

            “Oh yeah, this has happened before�"a very long time ago,” Josh looked around at the expectant faces. “I need to get back on the road again right fast!”