The Temporal Storm

The strange tingling sensation of teleportation overcame Clark as the teleporter in the greenhouse began to work. He closed his eyes and braced himself as he awaited his inevitable instant rematerializion in the bunker beneath their house.

“Dad,” started Sam. “Did everything go alright?”

Clark, his eyes still shut, nodded briefly to his eldest son as he tried to get over the nauseating effects of teleportation. He sighed as the feeling passed, allowing him to get his bearings straight. He hated how much of an anomaly he was. Rarely did people get sick from teleportation.

The shelter was used as a haven during particularly bad storms. Furnishings, cabinets, closets, and other amenities were substantially updated from when Clark’s parents had been in possession of it. Food, weapons, and supplies were tucked away inconspicuously. The teleporter was situated in a corner of the spacious bunker, with white concrete walls enclosing the spacious room. On the far side was a narrow stairwell leading upward.

“For the most part, yes, things went ok. Where are Kira and Aiden?”

“Upstairs playing a game from the sound of it. We got the shields running now.”

Clark nodded. “It may be wise to take shelter here for a bit. We don’t know all of the effects this storm may have, so let’s get everyone together and transfer primary control to the console down here.” He intended to tell them about the intruder in the greenhouse but decided to wait until everyone was there to hear.

Clark made a slow start towards the stairs, still trying to make sure he had his bearings straight. He doubted that the teleporter could be modified to affect him less, but if it could be done, it would be his wife who could make it happen. She was brilliant with technology and seemed to be able to accomplish anything she put her mind to. Considering her current condition, however, he was not going to mention it to her.

He made his way up the stairs to the ground floor. The pitter-patter of the rain on the roof was much more noticeable now as the storm continued. He knew the weather was getting worse as he started to make his way to the stairs leading to the second floor.

Clark paused at the top of the stairs, listening to Sam as he tried to usher Kira and Aiden to the basement to continue their game.

He then moved to the bedroom where his wife was convalescing. There she sat at the edge of the bed, having gotten dressed sometime earlier. He quickly moved to her side, having recalled her having a fever earlier. “What are you doing?” he asked with only a hint of frustration.

“Getting up Clark,” she said, her eyes flashing defiantly. She steadied herself with her arms as she sat still, eyeing her husband.

“I told you to rest while I--”

She interrupted him, one eyebrow in the air. “Called a doctor again? Clark they know. Besides, with this storm that just came in, it’s too late.”

He crossed his arms, eyeing her intently. “What exactly makes you think that?”

Rebecca raised her arm and pointed to the window. “They’re yellow, Clark. That means temporal. Rain droplets create tiny temporal anomalies. The lightning is the bad stuff. A strike has the potential to either send something from our time careening into another time and place or bring something from another time and place to us.”

Clark was not the least bit surprised that she knew the effects of this storm. It was her intelligence that had attracted him the first time he met her. And since then, he had seen her work on different things throughout the greenhouse and their home before the big accident. From elaborately timed sprinklers to complex storm shields, she was the “go-to” woman to fix anything technical. So if he could count on anyone besides himself to know all about these storms, it was her.

She added, “I saw a storm just like this when I was younger. They’re highly abnormal. Did you get the shields up?”

Clark closed his open jaw as he suddenly remembered why he had come. “That’s actually what I was planning to come and tell you. I put on the shields for both the house and farm. We should be fine now.”

She gave him an exasperated sigh. “We won’t truly know until the storm passes.”

Clark sighed as he stood up. “Come on, let’s get to the basement and make sure everyone is safe.” He knew he still needed to tell them all about what he found in the greenhouse but now was not the time.

She huffed tiredly. He knew the radiation poisoning was taking a toll on her.

“Come on,” he said in a deeper, more authoritative voice.

“Yes dear,” she jested, her eyes showing mock submission.

She smiled as she brought her hands above her head, reaching in a child-like gesture for Clark. He scooped her up into his arms and proceeded out the bedroom door. He could feel the heat from her head radiating against his shoulder as he moved. The fever was not a good sign, and he would have been lying if he had told anyone that he believed aid would come in time. He would do anything to give her a fighting chance.

Clark finally made it to the bunker and gently let his wife down on the couch. Kira and Aiden were still heavily involved in their board game. Sam stood near one of the windows at the top of the stairs watching as the rain picked up.

Clark’s thoughts were running rampant in his mind. At the forefront of his mind was the potential intruder in the greenhouse. They were safe in the bunker due to his lockout of the computer systems before he teleported over. However, he had no idea what to expect when they decided to go back to the greenhouse when the storm was over. The medical supplies were long overdue as well. Without the necessary assistance, his wife would die.

He sat down on the couch next to his wife and cleared his throat. “Alright you guys, we need to talk,” he said, sounding serious.

Sam turned with a bit of hesitancy. Kira and Aiden both turned, knowing that their father meant business when he cleared his throat that way.

“We have a couple of issues that need to be discussed. First, I found one of the greenhouse back doors opened. It was almost as though someone had forced it open. Did any of you have anything to do with that?”

All three children looked at him blankly and shook their heads. Sam spoke up. “Does that mean someone else has?” he asked his father with raised eyebrows.

Clark sighed heavily. “Most likely, yes. We’ll need to do a thorough search of the place. Sam, you and I can do that. Kira, Aiden, you both watch after your mom.”

Rebecca spoke up with a slight smile. “And what about me?”

Clark rubbed the back of his neck. “You know you have to stay here.” He then quickly turned his attention to everyone else and added, “Which brings me to our next order of business....”

Almost as if interrupting Clark, a four note tune sounded from a nearby console, indicating a communication through their telephone.

Clark immediately moved to the console allowing the communication to transmit to the basement speaker and microphone. “This is Clark Lawson.”

“Mr. Lawson, this is Dr. Amy Flowers. We are nearing your airspace with the medical supplies you requested and are requesting a good spot to land.”

Clark could not help but laugh, the stress of what could have been evaporating off of his shoulders like rain having been touched by hot sunlight. “Yes, absolutely! I’ll send you coordinates right away. Just a second”

He then swiped the communique to the side as he accessed a digital map on the console. He immediately located their home, farm, and the land surrounding it on all sides. There was a pasture not far from their house that was suitable for an airship of any size to land. He then input the coordinates into the communication line and said, “It’s a pasture not far from here. Take it easy landing. We will meet you as soon as we can!”

“We will see you soon Mr. Lawson.” And with that, the doctor clicked off of the line.

Clark put his hands up in the air for victory. Sam and Kira shouted in jubilee. Aiden, of course, was jumping up and down wordlessly, his enormous smile stretched from ear to ear. Rebecca’s eyes were happy but tired.

Clark quickly moved to her and embraced her. “They’re here! Everything’s going to be fine.”

Rebecca couldn’t help but chuckle lightly as everyone celebrated.

Clark ran upstairs to see if he could spot the airship in the storm. As he got to the ground floor, he could see out of the corner of his eye, a silver metallic object flying towards their house and ultimately the pasture he had indicated to them.

Sam joined him upstairs. “Is that it?” he asked his father.

“Sure seems like it son,” Clark replied. “I think, finally, things will start turning back to normal around here.”

Just as Clark turned to his son to give him a plan of operation, the window lit up with a blinding yellow burst of light. After a heartbeat, a loud clap of thunder assaulted their ears. The pair flinched at the sudden strike of lightning. When their eyes finally adjusted, they found the airship had been struck and had drastically changed in appearance.

Instead of having a sleek grey metal body, the airship was now black and the shape was wildly different. Clark stood in disbelief and squinted his eyes to get a better look. It appeared to be that the airship was on fire and that a crash landing was imminent with the nose of the airship pointed right at them.

Clark’s heart stopped as he recalled the effects of the storm. He could hear his wife saying, “The lightning is the bad stuff…”

He and Sam watched as the nose began to tilt upward just enough to miss the house. The ship flew over and out of sight in the direction of the greenhouse. Before the pair could reach the windows on the other side of the house, however, a loud crash could be heard. Clark was positive the ship had struck at least part of the greenhouse structure, if not all of it. He was mentally preparing for damage control and determining whether anyone was still alive on that airship.

Clark took a deep breath and exhaled, hoping to maintain whatever composure he could muster before turning once again to Sam with instructions. “Get downstairs and make sure everything is okay down there.”

Sam rebutted. “What are you going to do?”

He turned away from him slowly as he spoke. “I’m going to investigate what happened.”

“Clark!” yelled Rebecca from the basement.

Clark followed Sam quickly down the stairs.

As soon as he locked eyes with his wife, she looked at him sternly and said, “You can not go out into that storm like that.”

Rebecca stood up with much effort and made her way to a closed door near the teleporter. As she neared the storage area, Clark quickly moved to help keep her steady.

She put a numbered code into the door’s keypad and the closet swiftly opened. It had many gadgets adorning the interior wall. It was also strictly her closet, so Clark rarely saw the various projects she had hidden within. She typically did her best work without his two cents, and he respected that.

As she turned around to face Clark, she brought her hand to his own and placed a medallion in it. The medallion was a silver, metallic oval encasing a small, clear gem. “What’s this?--” Clark immediately asked before his wife put a finger to his lips to silence him.

She then quickly typed in another code into the keypad, allowing another closet on the perpendicular wall to open up.

This time, a suit of special armor was revealed. Clark moved to the closet as his wife went back to take a seat. Black metal plates coalesced with grey leather-like joints, providing extensive protection and decent mobility for the wearer. The helmet’s faceplate was dark and extended all the way to the wearer’s peripheral vision. Two flashlights were embedded on both sides of the helmet with a speaker located at the chin. The chest piece was hefty with small blue lights starting at the shoulder and cascading down in a row on each side. On each side were two ports for interchangeable high-tech devices. On the pants, a long blue strip of light on each outer thigh extended down to the knee. With a bit less plating than other parts of the suit, the trousers had significant mobility.

Clark reached out for the helmet, his hands running along each side of the smooth black matte finish. It was cool to the touch with not a single blemish or knick to be seen. The soft interior padding formed to the contours of his face. The fresh scent of the materials reminded him of test driving a new vehicle when he was a teen.

“Is this the same suit--” started Clark.

“You used in Clearmont? Yes, it is.” finished Rebecca with a smirk. “I fixed it, made some adjustments, and added a few upgrades.”

Clark had been a longstanding member of a security team allied with the Ascendancy when he last wore a similar suit. On his last mission, unbeknownst to him and the rest of the team, the people of Clearmont had activated an Influence portal in the hopes of meeting the Influence. In order to stop the locals, they had destroyed the portal altogether. When the people of Clearmont found out, Clark was the only one who had managed to escape their fury alive. Clark never laid a foot in Clearmont again, knowing that the majority of people there supported the idea of the Influence taking over. His old armor had ended up in a storage closet, never to have been used again.

Rebecca then pointed to the medallion in Clark’s hand. “There is a place for that on the right side of your torso piece. It will provide you with some shielding from the storm.”

“I can’t believe you fixed it! I thought the blasted thing was nothing but broken circuits and misplaced parts.” he said aloud as the speakers came on.

Rebecca held her gaze on him with a satisfied look as he suited up. The kids had encircled him, watching in awe the spectacle before them. It was the first time they had ever seen their father put on armor.

After Clark had finished donning the ensemble, the internal sensors came online adjusting the programming to his physical build. He then inserted the medallion into its place on his armor. When it connected, he felt a strange tingling sensation go over his skin as the temporal shields came online. The suit was designed to read his brain’s electrical signals and augment his movements, making it possible to do extraordinary physical tasks. As the suit continued coming online, external sensors collected information about his surroundings and related them to the heads-up-display in his helmet.

He flexed his hands and jumped a few times in place to test it, speaking aloud through the speakers embedded in his helmet. “This is almost like new!”

As much as he would have liked to stay and test out each feature of the new suit, he had to go, knowing that lives were potentially waiting on him. Clark spoke to his wife and children. “Stay put. I’ll be back. And keep an eye on the com-lines. I’ll get a hold of you when I can.”

He turned swiftly, not waiting for their reactions, bolting up the stairs and out the front door.