Dante Valderez glanced out the large windows of the control tower to see the dissipating, twisted columns of orange-tinged steam still rising into the dark, dense orange cloud that had formed high over the rotating Quadristar. He returned his focus to the green console screen in front of him, adjusting the power output slider gradually down to zero. As he did so, the vibrations rattling the control tower subsided and the movement of the horizon subsided with it. “Starburst sequence complete! Returning reactor power to standby and slowing air and water turbines to idle,” he shouted out to everyone in the room, and gave a nod to General Thompson, who was standing unsteadily by one of the windows and holding tightly onto a handrail. The General had a perplexed look on his face, as he looked up through the window at the dark, orange cloud above them.

“Impressive, Commander,” a disembodied voice called out from loudspeakers near the bank of CCTV monitors showing various views of the QuadriStar and the roiling orange cloud and ocean surrounding it.

“Ah, Mr. President! That is only the beginning of the demonstration,” General Thompson called out, regaining his composure and releasing the handrail, “Starburst has only just set a seeded cloud in motion, we have yet to see if the conditions were right to produce a storm that will move inland.”

“And by inland, you mean coastal California?” the President asked, from his remote location, relayed to the QuadriStar. “What exactly was the cloud seeded with?”

“Yes, if the prevailing winds and the energy from the heated ocean below it are able to propel it in that direction. It may even grow in strength and become a powerful storm, or it may just weaken and disappear,” Commander Valderez answered quickly, cutting off General Thompson from attempting to respond. “We have only seeded the cloud with a harmless tracer agent, for tracking purposes.”

“Interesting. What else could the cloud be seeded with?” the President asked.

“That would-,” Dante started to say.

“I’m glad you asked!” General Thompson blurted out quickly, talking over from Dante and shooting a sharp look at him. “We could seed the cloud with any water soluble payload: herbicides, acids, radioactive isotopes, microbes, spores…”

“The QuadriStar was not intended-“ Dante started to say again.

“The QuadriStar is a weapon of war, Commander, not a multi-billion dollar sprinkler system to water your rose gardens! I have yet to see any evidence that the clouds generated by Starburst can turn into destructive hurricanes and typhoons, but I can certainly see how it can rain poison on our enemies!” the General almost shouted at Dante, and then calmed down to address the President, “and sir, let’s be realistic. The weather generation feature of this battle station is only one of its many offensive capabilities. It is a platform for medium and long-range ballistic missiles and guided missiles. It is a high-capacity helicopter carrier. It can change the shape of its hull to turn and change direction quickly for a battle station of this size. Think of it! A fleet of QuadriStars could effectively make our land bases in South-East Asia mobile, dozens of floating bases at the ready!” The General’s face turned flush and his eyes became unfocussed as he talked, and Dante withdrew his interest in adding to the conversation, instead focusing on glowing green screen in front of him and making adjustments to it.

“Thank you for this demonstration of the QuadriStar, General, Commander. I would like a report of the result of this particular episode, if the weather generation made landfall or not. Have a good day, gentlemen!” the President said from the speakers, and there was a click and burst of static as he disconnected.

The General turned to Dante, scowling angrily. “I’d like to remind you, Commander, that you have one day to come up with a complete list of CIM targets,” he said, walking across the room to exit the command tower. “And as the President ordered us, I want a detailed report of the effect of this afternoon’s Starburst drill.”

“Yes, sir,” Dante said quietly, “I will have both ready by tomorrow morning.” As the General left, Dante called out to the communications officers nearby, “Call back the helicopters, and have them return to the QuadriStar immediately!” The young men in light grey uniforms around him quickly started coordinating the return of the helicopters hovering in a ring around the battle station, watching them break formation through the command tower’s windows. Like bees heading back to the hive, the helicopters drew closer, lining up to land on the elevator landing pads.

“Complete the retraction of the Starburst configuration,” Dante addressed one of the command tower captains, “and follow the generated weather formation, tracking its size and movement. I am returning to my quarters; send me regular updates.” The captain nodded, and took over the console that Dante stepped away from. The towering man in all-black uniform, his face half-covered with a breathing mask, exited the command room to a spiral staircase leading down to the lower decks. Dante went down the stairwell and through a door, stepping outside to an overcast sky, the sun obscured by the dark orange cloud hanging menacingly above the QuadriStar. He headed across the outdoor deck to a landing pad with the large black helicopter he had arrived on earlier in the afternoon was resting. The helicopter pilot and a couple of officers were working in and around the aircraft, all of whom stood to attention on seeing the dark figure striding towards them.

Addressing the two officers in light grey uniforms, Dante said, “Return to the command tower, and take your posts. Pilot, I will be staying on the QuadriStar for the remainder of the day, but be prepared to leave at any time.” Lucky and James looked up inside the helicopter to the young woman sitting on the rear bench inside, prompting Dante to add, “Don’t worry about our Silver Princess, here. I will bring her to my quarters for further questioning.” The two young men hesitated for a moment, prompting the older man to growl at them, “That is all! You are dismissed!” They both left immediately, along with the pilot, leaving Dante alone with Leanna.

“What do you want with me? I can see now what this monstrous battle station is designed to do. Weather control is impressively ambitious,” she said, peering up at the orange cloud drifting away from them, “and incredibly dangerous. You don’t seriously believe you can actually make a storm do your bidding!”

“Come with me,” Dante commanded her, and noted the tool chest under the bench she was sitting on, “and assist me with bringing this chest to my quarters.”

Leanna muttered under her breath, “I might have known.” Together, the two of them pulled the chest out across the helicopter cabin floor and lifted it down the deck, each holding a handle on the ends. 

“Follow me,” Dante said as he led her across the deck of the massive ship, through various doors and down winding hallways, until he stopped her in the middle of one deserted hallway. They put the chest down on the floor, and Dante pressed on a concealed panel to reveal a lock and handle. He unlocked the secret door, and pushed the chest into the dark room it hid, closing the door again and locking it. The door was made indistinguishable for the hallway wall again.

“This way,” he said to Leanna, who obliged him as one who had little choice in the matter. They went up a short flight of stairs to an unmarked door, which Dante unlocked and waited for Leanna to enter before following her in to lock the door behind them. A light came on in the ceiling above them to reveal another door in front of them, and that they were in a small, windowless man trap. It would also be featureless, except for a panel on the wall with various knobs, buttons and dials. Dante pressed some of the buttons and adjusted the dials, looking at the gauges next to them. There was a slight hiss and rush of air into the mantrap, and after a few moments Dante opened the second door into another darkened room.

“Go in,” Dante commanded Leanna, letting her take a few tentative steps into the much larger room before closing the second door behind them and turn on the lights. “Welcome to my home,” Dante said, gesturing for her to sit at a table in the center of the sparsely furnished room. She saw that the room functioned as Dante’s modest living quarters, and wasn’t much bigger than a small apartment. She saw also that one wall of the room was floor to ceiling glass, and on the other side of it was a lush garden lit with natural light from above.

“Now, you will help me identify all the locations of the Cooperative’s hidden treasure,” Dante said, waving his hand at the objects on the table top. Leanna blinked in surprise at seeing the picture slides and their holders scattered across the table, on top of a large map of California. “I see you recognize the slides I confiscated from you when you were attempting to meet up with your CIM friends at Joshua Tree Park in the Morongo Valley. You know as well as I do that they mark the locations of buried Cooperative gold, which you were intending to hand over to the Movement to fund California independence! Rather, I am now enlisting you to ensure that all of it returns to its rightful owner!”
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*** This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. ***