Water Hazard

The little group of huts might take on the looks of a village if they would survive the bad weather.  It had only taken two weeks to assemble the small ‘fair weather’ shelters; one for each family and a larger one with a community room and kitchen.  All were made of corrugated metal and exactly alike, two rooms each, one including a communications station-- something Alphans hated being without worse than running water.  The bathrooms and showers were at the center of the cluster of buildings, one on either side of the community center. 

Alex and Emma had taken their father’s trainings to heart and found ways to assist in the fair weather work on Loki as much as possible.  Alex and his family had been on Loki for most of the Autumn.  Emma, like her parents, had too many responsibilities on Alpha to simply move to Loki for the season, but she had found this project on the boards, in a list of ‘Help Wanted’ projects Dover’s CAdmin had uploaded at Koenig’s insistence. 

The valley was nestled between two tall mountain ranges.  The climate boys who had spent the last two decades tracking Lokian weather patterns had targeted it as an ideal location for growing grains.  Fields would have to be cleared of Lokian plants, ploughed and planted.  That would be the most labor-intensive part of the project.  A couple of caretakers could remain behind during the growing season, just as a precaution.  Then a team would be needed to harvest and transport the grain to storehouses on Alpha and at Dover.  The new settlement of Sauique had started as just such a place.  It was to the north of this unnamed valley and more conducive to truck farming than this climate.  Wheat, corn and soy would be the primary crops here, all much needed by the Alphans across the Loki system.

Emma had taken charge of the project.  She found an agrarian to provide expertise, Ed and Shermeen Collin’s oldest son, John and his wife, Akiko.  Emma rounded up the equipment John listed as needed, four tractors, plough and sowing attachments, two front end loaders, a land car, which Emma’s husband Alan continued to call a ‘pickup’, and survey equipment.  They would need a crew of at least ten adults.  Emma found that easy to recruit, although John Collins probably would never have imagined recruiting a team where over half were on, or had been on, the command staff at one time or the other.  Alex and his wife Dinah were her first recruits, then their friends Josh and Hilly Devers.  Dinah’s parents decided to join in; her mother, Annette rather reluctantly, her father Bill Fraser, with more enthusiasm.  Annette had never cared for the outdoors, even on Earth, and had as little to do with Loki as possible, but with her two grandchildren coming along, she decided to come and help with child care while the younger adults were working.  Emma’s husband Alan was coming, of course; he agreed with John that the best way to encourage people to volunteer for service on Loki was to do it yourself.  Although more at home in space, Eagle or Alpha, he had always spent a good portion of the fair weather doing whatever was needed on Loki.  Emma’s parents, Commander and Doctor Koenig were the last recruited.  John Koenig’s schedule was always subject to whatever emergencies or crises might occur at any of the three widely separated communities that made up human presence in the Loki system.  Both of Emma’s parents enjoyed some time in the sunshine, and although he would end up spending hours each evening in communication with his staff on Alpha, he would do his fair share of work and more, still having an incredible amount of energy in his seventies. 

The team also included children, of course.  The second generation was gratifyingly prolific. Besides Emma’s five-year-old, there were her niece Bella, also five, and her nephew  Deep, just turning two.  Hilly and Josh Devers also had a five year old, Hillary, and a one year old, Natalie.  The Collins had a five year old as well, named Tony. 

A high energy group, they set to work as soon as they were off the Eagles.  The older adults had all done this sort of work many seasons ago when they had first arrived on Loki.  John Collins, whom they all immediately dubbed JC to avoid confusion with the man he had been named for, John Koenig, went over the aerial maps they had and pointed out the various areas where they would plant the different crops.  The plan was to utilize the natural contour of the land to provide optimum conditions for the various grains they would be growing.

Helena immediately took charge of the survey equipment, which she had used before and taking Bill in tow, headed out to set the survey markers for the different fields they would be planting.

John, Alan and Alex were right behind them.  John and Alex took the largest front-end loader and headed out to search for boulders in the area.  Josh and Alan manned the other and headed in the opposite direction.  They would follow Helena and Bill’s initial survey lines and remove boulders to the edges of the fields.

Akiko and JC prepared a small kitchen garden to be used for fresh food while they lived here.  They prepared an acre with sets of tomatoes, onions, lettuce, squash, melons and strawberries, and assembled a portable irrigation system to supply the water.  Dinah helped Hilly stock the kitchen and plan the meals while Annette tied on a large sun hat and watched the children, the older four already kicking a soccer ball across the field between the riverbank and the collection of huts.

Emma almost immediately found herself to be the full-time mechanic.  Everything seemed to require tuning and tweaking to keep it working.  One of the front-end loaders was almost immediately broken.  John and Alex managed to return it to fuel depot, spitting and sputtering.  When Alan got a look at later on, he realized it was one of the first such devices they had manufactured, well before Emma was born.  All the equipment loaned for their endeavor was of similar age.  Emma began spending her days making repairs and trying to anticipate breakdowns.  Preston became her faithful grease monkey, spending hours crouched underneath tractors beside her, handing her spanners, running errands.

By the end of the first week, all had settled into a routine, eating a communal breakfast, heading out to the fields for plowing and planting, a quick lunch break at noontime, more planting in the afternoon and another communal dinner as the sun set.  Usually the older children persuaded their fathers and mothers to swim at a pool formed by a bend in the river below or join them for games of football after supper.  Sometimes Bill joined them.  John claimed to have no talent for the game and Alan concurred.  As an American, John couldn’t be trusted not to pick up the ball and run with it.

A call came in as they enjoyed a quiet sunset in the middle of the second week.  Most of the adults were playing football with the children.  John Koenig took the call on his slate.  It was Maya. 

“Hello John, are you enjoying your sabbatical on Loki?”

“Very much, Maya.  We’re just sitting here watching the sunset.  Not a sight we get to see very often.”

“I’ve called to tell you there may be some bad weather headed your way.  A front is moving slowly across the continent and should reach you by tomorrow night or the following morning at the latest.”

Helena stood and leaned over her husband’s shoulder.  “Any severe weather, Maya?”

Maya smiled at her friend.  “Helena, good to see you.  No, it doesn’t look like there’s anything serious, but the winds will be blowing off the coast and up into those mountains to the East of you.  You can expect a lot of precipitation, as well as precipitation in the mountains that will probably swell the river you’re next to.”

John nodded.  “That’s why this site was chosen, for it’s rainfall.”

“True, but I thought you should be warned.  It looks like you’re in for a few days of rain.”

“Thanks, Maya,” Helena said, putting her arms around her husband’s neck.  “We could use a day off.”

Emma arrived then, toweling her hair dry after working to get the day’s grease and grime out of it.  “Is that Maya?  Is Tony around?”

“Yes, it’s Maya,” her father replied.  “Maya, is Tony around?  Emma wants to talk to him.”

“He’s downstairs.  I can get him.”

“No, don’t bother,”  Emma answered, leaning over her father’s other shoulder.  “Just tell him that I’ll be sending him a list of parts I need expedited for this wonderful equipment we’ve been saddled with.  I have a feeling someone decided to clean out the equipment bay and give us all the stuff that doesn’t work anymore.”

Maya smiled.  “I’ll tell him, Emma.  Make a list, copy me, and I’ll make sure it gets done.”

“Thanks, Maya.”

Two days later, Emma awoke to a white noise sound before dawn.  She stirred under the blanket.  “Rain?”

“Rain,” Alan confirmed sleepily.  He rolled over and curled around her.  “Good day for sleeping in.”

“Now what would we do in bed all day long?” she asked facetiously.

“Hmm, I could make a list,” Alan suggested, moving his hand up and down her body.

She laughed and turned over.  Before she could move closer to him a small fast moving body landed on the bed.

“It’s raining!”  Preston said, landing on top of his parents.

“So it is, mate,” Alan laughed as his son snuggled down between his parents.

Rain kept everyone indoors for three full days.  The children were still full of energy and not used to having their play-places off-limits.  Both Dover and Alpha had plenty of spaces to play, and there was never bad weather on Alpha.  Emma was finally persuaded to move the tractors out of the covered equipment bay so there was some place for the children to expend some of their energy.  She insisted that each tractor be carefully greased and tarped prior to being put out into the weather.  She had just about got them all running smoothly and didn’t want her hard work wasted.  The adults kept up games of cards in the commons room as the rain continued to pour down, and the older children had time to continue their reading and math lessons by slate.  Alex and his mother-in-law were the main teachers.  Alex had a way with the kids and they seemed to enjoy learning from him.  Annette had been a teacher in Alpha’s schools since Dinah and Emma were little, and was well versed at keeping the children’s attention even in the exotic surroundings and with the unusual event of rain outside their door.

By the fourth day, the rain began to taper off, and everyone got back to work.  The fields that had been planted first were showing the benefits of three days of rain, with tiny green shoots carpeting the area.  The sets in the kitchen garden had more than doubled in size over this short period.  Water had soaked into the ground making additional plowing and sowing slower work, even with the tractors running well.  One of the tractors sank up to its axles in mud and had to be pulled from the wet ground by their other equipment. 

The river next to their campsite continued to rise.  No fields had been planted on the other side of the river, which was now a broad flood plane, covered with about thirty centimeters of water.  There was a small bluff on their side of the river, the bank being higher here, keeping the water at bay.  The main current splashed and rushed by the bluff, overrunning the quiet bend where they had been swimming the week before.  The sound of rushing water permeated their lives as the runoff from the mountains above them collected and headed downstream. 

As the area dried out Hilly decided to serve their evening meal outside as a change.  Everyone took off a bit early that afternoon, and the meal became a celebration when Tony and Maya arrived in one of the small fast Sparrows.  They had a packet of spare parts for Emma and accepted an invitation to spend the evening with their friends.

After dinner, the older adults were enjoying another beautiful sunset while the children coaxed several of their parents to join them in a game of football.  They dashed across the area with much laughing and cheering on the part of the grandmothers.  Tony Verdeschi and John Koenig walked over to the bluff to take a look at the swollen river.  Emma, never a fan of football, joined them, putting her arm around her father’s waist as they watched the water, now lapping at the edge of the two meter bank.  They were discussing the possibility of rice fields in the flood plain below as the soccer ball bounced by them, accompanied by shouts of dismay from the players behind them.

Normally, John Koenig’s reflexes would have allowed him to catch up with the soccer ball, but his arm was around his daughter, and she was between him and the ball.  Preston was dashing from the field, chasing the ball as it bounced in front of his mother and grandfather and over the edge into the rushing water.

“I’ll get it,” he called, running at full speed.

Emma barely had time to call “NO!” to her son when he gave a tremendous leap just as the ball passed over the edge.  Preston practically flew over the edge and into the swollen river, immediately whisked downstream behind the ball in the current.  Without hesitation, Emma took two steps to the edge of the bank and made a neat dive into the water behind her son.  She could hardly hear her father’s shout of dismay over the roar of the water around her.

Alan and Alex arrived next at the bank just as Emma surfaced and began to stroke through the water toward Preston.  Alan gave a shout to his wife and was about to dive in himself but Tony and John each caught him by the arm.  “No, Alan, it’s too dangerous!”

“They’ll be killed!”  Alan’s face was a study in anguish as his wife and son both disappeared around a bend in the strongest part of the current. 

Alex didn’t even hesitate long enough to remove the workboots he was still wearing.  He ran downstream about ten meters and launched himself into the current after his sister and nephew.

Tony Verdeschi had the presence of mind to tug on Alan.  “Come on, Alan.  Let’s get the pickup truck.  John, do we have any rope?”

JC and Josh had joined them by that time.  Dinah and Annette were rounding up the other children. Helena looked ashen as she rushed up to the others. 

JC nodded.  “There’s some rope in one of the storage bins.”

“Get it and meet us at the truck,” Tony ordered.  He and Alan took off for the truck with John right behind them.  Josh and JC went running for the storeroom.

The water in the river was colder than it had been the week before when it was sun-warmed from a lazy shallow trip along the valley floor.  Emma could see her son intermittently in the water ahead of her, his head still above water.  Thankfully, he was a strong swimmer and she could tell he was floating bravely along, not struggling against the current, which would tire him out more quickly. 

A splash beside her startled her as Alex surfaced.  Brother and sister exchanged glances and Emma pointed toward Preston, about 15 meters downstream from them.  With strong strokes they moved with the current.  Preston was still intent on the soccer ball, bobbing along just a bit ahead of him.  The little boy paddled along, floating as he had been taught in the much calmer pool on Alpha and on vacation a few months before at the beach by his father.

The ball had become caught in an eddy just below a sizeable boulder.  He paddled his way toward it and reached out for the ball.  The eddy would have sucked the small boy under had his hands not grasped the ball.  He clung to it with both hands, using it as a float and kicked out, his feet hitting the boulder.  He pushed off, and was in the rapids again, ball clutched tightly to him. 

Emma came up for air just as the boulder loomed in front of her.  Alex quickly grabbed her by the back of her shirt and gave a tug so that both of them slid just past the boulder.  They continued their downstream ride side by side.  As waves picked them up they could spot Preston ahead of them, but then would lose him as another wave in front of them would block their view. 

She heard another noise over the rushing of the water and looked up at the bank above them to see the pickup along the bank.  The pickup’s horn honked again, and she gave a brief wave before spotting another boulder in their path.  This time she grabbed for Alex and gave him enough lateral motion to avoid hitting the rock head on.  It banged against his shoulder however, and she heard a gasp of pain from him.

Ahead they could hear the roaring intensify.  They had not explored this river this far to the north, but she thought she remembered seeing on the aerial photos that there was a sudden drop in elevation as the river joined another that flowed from the mountains to the west of them.  That would mean more rapids, and perhaps even a waterfall. 

With renewed strength she swam harder, Alex keeping up the pace, although she could tell he was in pain. 

“Mama!”  She heard Preston call her and it sounded fairly close.  There were more rocks here and they were working hard to dodge them while staying together.  They swept past a large boulder and Preston, who had managed to pause in the still water behind the boulder reached out and grabbed for her hand. 

Emma quickly grabbed the boy by his shorts and turned to float, feet first, downstream.  Alex had a tight grip on her shirt, she held the boy by his shorts as well as his hand, Preston kept a tight grip on the ball.

“Em!”  Alex shouted in her ear.  “We need to try to head for the bank.”

She nodded, not sure Alex would be able to hear her.  They turned and she murmured to Preston to kick as hard as he could.  Emma kicked as well and so did Alex.  They made little progress and the roaring was growing louder. 

There was a splash just in front of them and a rope flashed by, too fast for her to grab.  It was out of reach in a heartbeat. 

“Em!  I tried to reach the rope, but my left shoulder isn’t working,” Alex shouted.  He was holding her with his right hand.

She nodded and let go of Preston’s hand, trusting Alex to hang on to her  “Hang on to me, Pres!” she ordered.

Preston turned and also took a handful of her shirt.  She watched above them, and saw the rope splash into the water again and drag toward them.  She waited until it came within reach and quickly grabbed for the loop.  She pulled the loop around her wrist and tugged.  She felt a responding tug almost immediately.

The three in the water kicked toward the shore, and the rope drew them steadily in.  It had been secured to the pickup which was backing steadily away from the river.  JC was driving the pickup while John, Tony and Alan steadied the rope and waited for those in the water to come in reach. 

Tony reached over the edge as they came close and plucked Preston, still holding the ball, from the water. 

“Alex hurt his shoulder,” Emma shouted up to the others.

John reached down and grabbed his son’s collar, pulling him to the bank.  Alex gasped with pain and turned over, crawling painfully on to land.  Emma tried to get her feet under her but the clay of the bank was slippery.  She slid back into the water and went under.  The rope checked her with a jerk, cutting into her wrist.  She tried to twist and grasp it as a wave washed over her.  She gasped at just the wrong moment, receiving a mouthful of water.  There was a tremendous tug on the rope, intense pain in her wrist, then she was clear of the water.  Hands grabbed her arms and she was lifted onto the bank by her father and her husband. 

Alan quickly rolled her onto her stomach and she began coughing up the river water she had swallowed.  When she was able to sit up, she found her husband sitting on the ground beside her holding tightly to their wet son, football by their side.  Alex was nearby, his shirt sleeve ripped from his shoulder, skin raw from shoulder to elbow from the encounter with that boulder.

Her mother was spraying an antiseptic on Alex’s arm.  Her father brought her a blanket.

“I got the ball, Daddy,” Preston was explaining to his father.

Alan hugged his son, but then pulled back and looked him in the eye.  “Yes, you did, Pres, but a ball can be replaced.  You and your mom and your uncle can’t.  We could have lost you.”  He held out his hand to Emma who took it and squeezed it tightly.

Helena, having finished with Alex’s arm knelt beside the family to have a look at the rope burns on Emma’s arm.  “Your Daddy is right, Preston.  You have to think before you act.  We could have followed the ball downstream and found it later.”

Emma wasn’t sure they would have ever found the ball.  She could hear the roar of the waterfall close by.  She understood her son’s reasoning for putting his life in danger to retrieve his toy.  Preston loved to play football, and if they lost the ball it might be weeks before they were able to replace it.  They might not be able to get another one before they went home to Alpha.  While her mother looked at her wrist she pulled Preston into her own lap and leaned against Alan. 

She kissed the top of her son’s head.  “It’s okay, Pres.  It worked out all right and we’re all safe.  But you could have been hurt, and we can’t replace you.  Ever.”  She winced slightly as her mother touched a tender spot.   “Next time, look before you leap.”

Preston looked up at her with a smile.  “Okay, Mommy.”  He was completely sincere, but Emma knew her little daredevil would find himself in other fixes, acting before he thought things through. 

They stood and made their way to the truck.  Alex was already sitting in the back, the others climbed in as well, and Helena got in the cab with John, who was driving.

Preston cuddled tightly against his mother.  He leaned up and whispered in his mother’s ear, “But it was kinda fun, wasn’t it, Mom?”

Emma laughed softly, remembering the churning water and the incredible rush of the adventure.  “Yes, but we’d better keep that our secret.”

Preston solemnly traced an ‘x’ over his heart. 

Ellen Lindow

December, 2003