Fortune {Star Trek Enterprise Fan Fiction}

The Funnel Cloud

"... you can't just wish this away." – Travis Mayweather

=/\=

There was a sound of thunder, almost immediately after lightning. It was loud.

Norri jumped a little, "Gaah!" she exclaimed when Melissa touched her arm, "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Sneak up like that. You know I hate thunder and lightning."

"Er, sorry. It looks bad."

"I've seen thunder snow before," Malcolm said, "It was on a planet – I'm blanking on the name now."

"I don't know as I've seen it here since we settled here," Doug said, "Uh, let's watch how we behave in front of the kids, okay?"

"Sure," Norri said, trembling a little.

"Dad, when are we going to see Mom and Dec?" Joss asked.

"Uh, soon," Doug said distractedly. That had been the plan, but now it seemed unlikely. He clicked open a communicator to call Lili, but only got static.

Melissa saw this, and took out a PADD. She turned it on, and it came up all right, clear and brightly-lit, "Huh," she said quietly. She showed it to Malcolm.

The two of them went into a corner, "No grid reception, eh?" he said, "That's not good."

"I just have whatever's on the drive," she said, "Try yours."

He did, with the same results. He swallowed hard. What if this meant that something had happened in Fep City? Was the Med Center still intact? Were Lili and Declan all right? He turned around.

"Mackum, you sad?" asked Tommy. He didn't speak too much, what with being so young, but he did sometimes.

"I just, I miss Lili," Malcolm said. No sense in projecting anything else to the kids.

Doug looked at him, and came over. He very quietly said, "Careful. Keep it together, Reed."

=/\=

"You have enough stress." – Dayah

"Lili's winding down anyway. This one should be my last child." – Doug Beckett

=/\=

For Lili's part, she was fine. She came out of the anesthesia in time to see Yicha and Miva coming in. Yicha was holding Declan.

Her room had a decent-sized bed in it and a small bassinet, plus a little changing area. Lili smiled, "Ah, my little love," she said, as Yicha gave her the baby to nurse.

"We are very healthy," Yicha said, "He's four point oh eight kilograms in weight, and fifty-three point thirty-four centimeters. He's nice and pink, as you can see, and his pulse rate is where it's supposed to be – over one hundred."

"Plus there's a good, strong cry and he's got good muscle flexion," Miva said, "He demonstrated on the way here."

"Has he been fed? Have you been fed?" Lili asked Declan directly. He responded by looking at her, his eyes matching hers.

"He's gotten a little bit of milk from a bottle," Yicha said, "But I bet he'd like more."

"Ah, yes," Lili said. She pulled back a tab on the hospital shift she was wearing, "Here ya go," he made a face and gasped a little, a slight cry, "Oh, hang on, I'll get closer," she did so, but he gasped again. Then he figured out what to do, "There. Now, that was tough, I know. But you're doing fine."

Miva smiled and said, "I wanted to tell you. We did the ovarian scans. You are completely menopausal."

"Wow. Last one in," Lili said, "Hear that, Dec? You're really, really special," he just did what he was doing.

"Are you hungry?" Yicha asked, bringing in a small tray.

"Yeah, now that I think about it," Lili said, "Thanks."

"We'll leave you," Miva said, "Get to know one another."

"Did you, uh, did Malcolm contact the Med Center?" Lili asked.

"I don't know," Miva said, "But we heard reports that there were problems with reception on the grid. Some sort of a weather system near the dishes on Point Abic."

"Oh. Well, let me know if it clears up," Lili said, and they left her and Declan alone.

=/\=

"More beautiful than I thought." – Doug Hayes

=/\=

The clouds got darker. Norri looked out the front picture window, "Oh, man."

"What?" asked Doug, "Keep it quiet, Digiorno."

"Doug, I grew up in Oklahoma City."

"Yeah?"

"So I've seen tornadoes. See that cloud? It's looking like it's going to become a funnel," she said, "You got a cellar, right?"

"Yeah," he said, "We are not gonna panic the kids."

"Understood," she said, "But we need to get food, water, blankets and diapers down there. Right now."

"I'm on it," he said, and turned, "Reed, you're with me."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," Doug said, "Come and help me," he silently nodded toward the window.

"That's not possible," Malcolm said, "I wonder how – and why – that's happening."

"Never mind that," Doug replied, "Help me with this."