The Farm

Clark and Sam sprinted across the long grassy yard to the farm. The yellow clouds were moving fast, the wind gleefully trying to knock over the pair as it ripped through the air around them. The door opened, granting the pair entry to the sizeable greenhouse that held crops and plants of many varieties. The varying colors of the peppers, grapes, and assorted berries were the very first things to be seen upon entering.

“Kira! Aiden! Get over here!” yelled Clark as he stepped inside quickly with Sam at his heels.

The dim, yellow tinted sky roiled with faint thunder as the kids hurried downstairs on the far side of the greenhouse.

“Dad!” she yelled, her brunette curls bouncing to and fro, as she and Aiden ran down the interior path of the greenhouse to him. “What kind of storm is that?”

Clark sighed as he watched the yellow clouds push the grey ones further east. “I believe they’re temporal clouds,” he commented as he started moving to an advanced computer console on their left.

Aiden’s dark face scrunched up in thought. Kira’s eyebrows shot to the top of her forehead. And Sam turned to face his dad, a look of absolute astonishment on his face.

“Temporal?” both Kira and Sam said at the same time.

“Yes,” he replied as a memory surfaced of his first encounter with these clouds.

“Temporal, time-bending. I saw it when I was little, about eight years old when clouds just like this rushed in. Not a lot of rain in them, but if it does rain, strange things start happening. Things disappear and reappear somewhere else. Other times things just show up out of nowhere. The lightning is probably the worst of it all though. Bright, terrifying, and does whatever the rain does but a whole lot worse.”

“So as long as it doesn’t rain, we’ll be safe?” Sam asked, his voice a mixture of intense curiosity and fear.

“I was eight, son. I can’t be certain of anything.” He saw the look on Sam’s face and quickly added. “But we’ll be ok. Storms like this are rare and getting information from the rest of the world on it is scarce. I don’t want to rely on rumor, so we need to be very careful.”

“They’re coming in pretty fast,” Sam said urgently. “The winds nearly knocked us over!”

“I know!” he replied as his hands danced across the screen in order to access emergency shield and infrastructure systems of the greenhouse.

Clark faced them, pushing his frustration aside for the moment. “That’s why you need to go back to the house. All three of you. I’m going to get the shields on and hopefully get the structure reinforcements in place before we find out what this storm will do.”

“We can help Dad!” interjected Kira.

“No! You need to get home. Mom is upstairs and the shields are down there. You guys need to get those up and running. Keep the teleporter on just in case. If I have to use it, then I’ll let you know.”

Sam went to the back of the door they came through to see the grey clouds quickly disappearing, being rapidly replaced by the sickly yellow. “C’mon you two! Let’s go!”

Aiden was the first at Sam’s side with a look of determination. His eyes were trained on the house in the distance. Kira was a bit more stubborn, choosing to look between Sam and their father.

“Kira!” said Sam exasperatedly.

“No, I am not leaving dad behind! We ought to go together! Dad, you even said, working together as a team is better for everyone. If we help, we can get the job done faster!” she insisted.

Clark stopped and looked down at her. “Honey, you’re right, it would go faster. But that would leave your mother unattended and at risk if this storm moves too quickly. Just trust me and go!”

Kira gritted her teeth and stomped her way to Sam.

“On the count of three,” the eldest said while Kira just pushed past him and ran for the house.

With a grunt of frustration, Sam bolted out of the greenhouse with Aiden.

Clark was alone now and needed to work quickly. He was able to access the emergency structural reinforcements for the garden. He put a finger on the application icon so it could prep and launch. Once activated, steel beams rose from the ground to add additional support to the superstructure. Furthermore, steel walls rose along the edges of the building. The windows were not totally covered, but it was enough to at least maintain the basic structure of the building, in case very strong winds blasted through their region.

Clark did a quick walk through, ensuring that all systems were working properly. While he confirmed that the beams were working, he also could feel a draft in the building. He already knew the main entryway was shut when the kids left. He looked up and found the waterways on the ceiling were closed.

He walked to the rear of the greenhouse and felt more and more air moving. As he moved closer to the source, he eventually found a rarely used door that had been slid open. Clark sprinted to it and tried pulling it shut.

After one failed attempt, he checked it out to find that the lower half of the sliding door was stuck on the interior of the wall. It looked as though part of the door had been torn or blown apart, but he couldn’t confirm it from his point of view. He’d have to get it loose somehow or pull with all his strength. If he did the latter, he knew he would risk further damage to the door or the interior wall.

The sky briefly lit up, and after a few seconds, the loud crack of thunder was heard resounding through the sky. The storm front was nearly on them.

Even with the shields on, anything could fly through the open sliding door and cause internal damage to the greenhouse. Clark took a firm hold on the sliding door and pulled with all of his might. A screeching sound emitted as the door was dragged forcefully from its stuck position. After a bit of pulling, the door came loose and fully shut the rest of the way.

The damage had been done. A hole was shown in the metal door near where a lock ought to have been. No way was this done by the kids. A sense of uneasiness fell upon him as he wondered at what point the lock had been removed. Was the culprit still around?

Clark turned to the foliage of the building. Anyone could have broken in and remained hidden in this place. It was used as a makeshift farm with multiple levels of different plants. The plants stared back at him, silent sentinels giving nothing away.

He moved back to the front of the greenhouse, the tapping of rain just beginning to fall on the glass of the structure. The storm was practically on them now.

Clark hurriedly accessed the computer systems and activated the shields. While the shields wouldn’t provide protection from flying debris, it would help filter out the effects of storms entering the area. They would help reduce the damage lightning had on the structure, as well.

He then rerouted all primary commands to the console at home.

Clark opened the main door a crack, determining whether it was safe to traverse the field. The pitter patter of the rain on the ground was certainly calming, but he knew the feeling was deceiving. The effects of the rain varied depending on the type of storm. Getting soaked now was not worth the risk. He would have to use the teleporter.

The teleportation chamber was located at the far left of the main entryway into the greenhouse. At first glance it looked like nothing more than a large walk-in closet. However, upon entering, the room was clearly spherical in design rising to a height of 20 feet with large metal walls instead of clear glass window panes like the greenhouse. Lining the wall were several dozen lights for illumination. In the center of the room on the floor were nine circular metal plates that glowed similar to the lights on the walls. A computer display hung at the entrance with the ability to control all teleportation within the chamber.

Clark input the coordinates of home with practiced precision and entered a delayed lockout of the system. He then stood on one of the circular lights in the center of the chamber. Whatever food they had at home would have to suffice until the storm passed. And when it did, he would be ready to come back to the farm prepared to do a more thorough investigation.