Storm Chasers

Image by Elias Sch. from PixabayChandler, Alex, and Ben were not your average storm chasers.

Sure, they got as close as possible to tornados and collected every form of data available, but they had a purpose beyond predicting the next storm.

They saw tornados as sources of immeasurable energy.

Now, while standing in a field of clover a safe distance from the EF4 storm, they each held a Pabst Blue Ribbon at arm’s distance, ready to pull the tab. The prototype they’d been working on for seven years was directly in the path of the storm.

“Gentlemen,” Ben said, and cracked open his can, wincing when his nose was sprayed with foam. “Today is the day—”

“You jinxed it!” Alex said. “You weren’t supposed to open it until we see power levels over five percent!”

“It’s going to work,” Ben said.

“But you jinxed it!”

“It’ll work. The centering A.I. worked like a charm in an EF2. Our generator has gone in the wind tunnel at speeds double that of this monster for hours at a time. The only thing we’re really testing is the stabilizing effect of Chandler’s new gear differential.

Chandler popped his can.

Alex put out his hands to stop the two from drinking. “Guys! There’s a lot we still don’t know. Like, what kind of a beating will it get from debris? And we know the counter-rotation will slow the storm, but by how much?”

The storm hit, and their phones buzzed. Nobody checked their messages though, because the bright lights in the distance proved their design.

“The spotlights are on,” Ben said.

“The device remains stationary,” Chandler said, his voice an octave higher than normal.

The buzzing of their phones continued. Alex checked his, and cracked open his beer.

Ben raised his beer. “Gentlemen, today is the day…”

~~~~~~~~~~
Did you enjoy this story? Join my newsletter to get an exclusive novella that you will also enjoy, and hear about future projects first!

The post Storm Chasers appeared first on Ichabod Ebenezer.