Skype girl: Murder in the ashes of New York (in preparation)

Chapter 1:Normal for New York

Image Tornado + Fire = Firenado. 

2095: New Jersey rectenna array. 

Looking into the sable sky of New York Jennifer saw the approaching flashes of lightning and fire which advertised the superstorm was stalking her.

 "Ten miles at the base. That's big even for New Jersey" she said. She looking out through the windscreen.

"Oh crap I'm so going to die" she added   "I  so charge extra for dying on the job," she said to her self. Jennifer drove the Dodge Armadillo SUV down the road leading to the fire filled tornado in the distance. 

"Do you know how much damage say a tactical nuclear explosion would do to that Firenado coming towards us?" said Jenifer to no one in particular "Zip, nada, sweet Fanny Adams, nix, Nothing. You would have better luck using the power of a really bad asthma attack to try to stop an Abrams attack tank. I grew up in Oklahoma and we would see these all the time. Firenados not nuclear weapons. Take a tornado and add in enough combustible material, ad little electrical lightning sparks, the whole thing is like the devil himself has come to visit. This is what is about to happen in about twenty to thirty minutes and I'm driving towards it. I talk when I'm nervous and about now if you notice I'm talking a lot."

Jenifer squinted and looked at the storm cell brooding on the horizon. It was so dark the sky had gone black and the street lighting had come on during the day. Unlike most tornados this one glowed and flashed from the inside like hell had leaked from the underworld. In front of her the police pulled up and both police officers got out trailing a safety rope behind them. There was the buzz of the window winding it's self down. The rain was traveling horizontally and stung Jenifer's face as it hit.

"You Jenson from the Power company?" on of the policemen asked through the open window.

Jenifer nodded "Yeah,  you want my codes?" Jenifer shouted.

"Where did you get this one? You should go to a shelter" they said looking at her and the car.

"It was a last minute hire," said Jenifer. "Beggers can't be choosers. Look if we don't get the power grid turned off when the rectenna goes the beam will pan fry most of New Jersey. So where is the power grid control?"

"What?" shouted the policeman over the wind and rain which was picking up.

"WHERE. IS. THE. POWER. GRID. CONTROL?" shouted Jenifer.

"In there" they said pointing to a metal door in a windowless green metal building. "We will help you get in".

She gave the policeman a thumbs up and the window wound itself up leaving a pool of water on the passenger seat.

"Like tornados, fire-nados change direction," said Jenifer to herself. "If I see a cow or any other flying mammal I'm pulling out, bonus or no bonus. Yeah even a squirrel. I don't care if a billon dollar investment is at stake. I don't care about bad reviews. Look I'm here aren't I? ". Jenifer got out "OK I get to the control panel. Shut the rectenna down and get the hell out."

Jenifer was a slender looking beam pole of a girl. A happy round face which looked reassuring when she smiled was now holding nothing but a tense front.

She climbed over to the seat closer to the door. The policemen formed up their cables at full extent. They held her hand as she moved like a mountain climber to the metal door. She typed the code on the keypad on the door and the door flung open. Grabbing the edges she pulled her self into the relative calm of the control pad.

Out of the wind and rain, she rushed over to the control surface. There was a clank after clank as debris hit the metal walls. It was like living in a tin drum sounding the end of this part of New York. Jenifer concentrated on clicking the virtual buttons on the interaction surface.

"HURRY UP" shouted one of the policemen from the door. The wind was picking up if that could even be said.

"I'm nearly there you go" said Jenifer clicking. Out in space in deep orbit a huge solar farm acted on instructions from the control panel. Jenifer watched the bars decline as the power feed was switched off. She knew parts of the city were going into blackout but it was better than having a rogue power beam scrawl it's name over the city.

"CRAP," said one of the policemen. The burly 200 pound cop suddenly was clinging sideways to the door. Then before Jenifer could move he lost his grip. Jenifer ran to the side and could see the man now being flown like a kite on his safety line. The other cop had managed to get into the squad car and was trying to drive off. Jenifer's car gently lifted off the ground and then crashed into the squad car nudging it and then they both picked off the ground and were picked up to be jjuggled by the storm.

****

About 10 minutes later the storm evaporated as quickly as it had appeared. More police cars turned up to investigate.

"Are you OK? " said the female police officer to Jenifer as she sat on the control seat.

"Jeffry Johnson, I'm a technical for skyEnergy I'm in Houston. I got the whole thing on camera. It was a blast" said Jenifer. "You don't have anything sweet on you. I'm getting low. 

 "Not you, the real you the cynariod. Miss are you OK? You don't look so go. Switch that headset thing off. Tell me your name. 

"I'll speak to you in a minute Mr Johnson" said Jenifer holding her hand to her ear. "Yeah I feel a bit low. I diabetic, do you have anything on you? I was in a rush to get here."  

The police officer reached into her coat pulled out a can and pulled the ring. In moments the smell of hot coffee emerged from the can. " Drink this it will help with the shock" said the sergeant.

"Well I was hoping more doughnut but this will do" said Jenifer. 

Jenifer switched her skype girl gear off. She no longer transmitted a live feed of her senses or listened to what her controller said. She drank some of the hot sweet coffee.

"I'm Jenifer, Jenifer Archer. What happened to the policemen?" said Jenifer.

The policewoman looked into Jenifer's eyes with a bright light.

 "Well Jenifer. I'm sergeant Cheyenne Moore. They are on their way to hospital. Car ended up three of miles from here. You OK?"

"You kidding?" said Jennifer smiling " In one john. I've just earned enough to pay this months rent. I'm ecstatic.  "

Sergeant Cheyenne Moore looked out of the open door to the peaceful devastated beyond the doorway.

"That's global weirding for you," she said.

"Weird globally but normal for New York," said Jennifer. She looked at her watch she had an hour to get to another job on Manhatten the island.