Storm (Swipe Series)

or two or three or four, but all told there couldn’t have been more than fifty or sixty buildings in the whole place—post-Unity, every one of them, but each with a simple, wooden, pre-Unity style.
    By the looks of it, many of them were empty. But from where Logan sat, all seemed inviting.
    Past the town’s edge and to the right was a field, where landscaping would clearly have been maintained were it not for the drought. Browning shrubs and trees lined what must have been considered a park, complete with a baseball diamond and a handful of benches that surrounded a small, wooden stage in its center, clearly set aside for outdoor gatherings and celebrations.
    Juxtaposed oddly with these simplicities, of course, were all the modern conveniences of any Marked settlement: rollersticks; roadside Markscans for candy or toys; the glow, in many windows, of television frames left on overnight; wallscreens displaying family pictures or virtual landscapes; the occasional blip of a tablet at some early bird’s morning table . . .
    And, most striking of all, the weather mill, just east of town, its huge, industrial structure silhouetted against the rising sun. The empty plain between it and Main Street was dotted with long tubes that angled up into the sky—rocket launchers, twenty-five of them, all told—though their presence was hardly menacing.These launchers didn’t fire bombs—they fired the projectiles that seeded the clouds. Or they were supposed to, anyway. Logan was here to ensure that they would.
    “We can’t ride in on these horses,” Hailey said, pulling Logan from his thoughts of the place. “They’re going to need to stay out here.”
    “I hate to leave them,” Logan said.
    And Hailey shrugged sadly, hopping off her own saddle and onto the ground. “With any luck, we’ll be back before they know it.”
    “And without luck?” Logan asked, stepping down.
    Hailey frowned. “Why don’t we just assume we have some left—and leave it at that.”
    The horses shuffled their feet and sniffed loudly as Logan and Hailey hugged them both around the neck.
    “See you soon,” Logan said.
    And he and Hailey turned to leave, crouching down low.
    Together they snuck into Lahoma under the gaze of the rising sun.

NINE
    STANDOFF
    1
    I T WASN’T EASY, BRINGING A TOWN TOGETHER the way Steve and Sally had done for Connor today. But as the sun reached its highest point, Lahoma’s Central Square was buzzing with an energy it hadn’t seen since the general’s visit last fall.
    All along Main Street, volunteers at grills cooked up tempeh burgers and veggie patties. On the Lahoma Park lawn, kids played games, throwing hoverdisks through hoops and running augmented reality races through virtual lava pits. Floats shaped like rain clouds rode through town, Lahomans dancing on top to pre-Unity classics like “Shelter from the Storm,” and “Purple Rain,” and “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head.” The mayor showed up, speaking briefly at his podium in front of the crowd and awarding framed certificates to a dozen mill workers who’d shown exceptional dedication and drive in bringing Lahoma’s weather mill back online. Above them, hanging proudly across the town hall, was a banner to commemorate the day. “Celebrate the Rain!” it read, and everyone talked and laughed about enjoying one last picnic before the evening’s storm, as eagerly welcomed as it was after so many days of dry, hot sun.
    For her part, Sally Summers had been running around all morning, delivering food to volunteers and laying out picnic blankets and game stations all across Central Square. Steve Larkin oversaw the float construction, and both of them together went door to door to remind everyone in town not to miss the afternoon’s celebration.
    “If this doesn’t cheer up Connor,” Sally had said, “then I have no idea what will.”
    And yet now, a few short hours later, she and Steve stood on Sally’s front porch overlooking Main Street . . . and the one person they couldn’t spot in the crowd was Connor.
    “Where is he?” Steve asked, growing anxious as the festivities began to die down.
    “He must be here,” Sally said. And yet she too hadn’t seen him all day. “He’s been counting on this. He hasn’t been able to stop talking about it!”
    Steve frowned. “Keep your eyes peeled, I guess.”
    Before them, everyone in town danced and ate and sang and laughed.
    And somehow the person it all was for was nowhere to be