Issue 13 - Ray Gun Revival

"The Second Ascension," by R. Cruz Pg. 1
M. Deirdra
by Richard S. Levine
“...’tis a noble and heroic thing, the wind!
Who ever conquered it? In every fight it has
the last and bitterest blow. Run tilting at it,
and you but run through it. Ha! A coward
wind that strikes stark naked men, but will
not stand to receive a single blow. Even Ahab
is a braver thing—a nobler thing than that.”
– Herman Melville, Moby Dick
Below me, huge gray clouds circled counterclockwise
and glowed as bolts of
lightning struck the Gulf of Mexico. Over the roar
of my scowplane I heard, “Quad II here. Massive,
where are you?”
I said, “On my way, dad.”
“Hey, Captain Bahar to you. We’re in M.
Deidra’s eye, and we’ve got to move this thing
somewhere safe. Get here quick. Quad II out.”
The Massive was a fine scowplane, named
to honor the M designation for hurricanes with
winds greater than 250 miles per hour. It had been
twenty years since the last category M storm. My
heart raced.
The flight computer spoke. “Captain Bahar.
This area of the storm will be violent.”
I replied, “Thank you, Toby. Call me Michelle.”
I took the Massive down into the clouds. Rain
smacked the windows. Thunder echoed off our
hull. I could feel my heart pounding as I headed
towards Deidra’s eye.
Toby reported, “Winds at 250 miles per hour.”
I asked, “Where’s Deidra headed?”
“The Newer Orleans area.”
A large population, modern city, that wasn’t
what I wanted to hear.
A break in the clouds revealed a churning,
green gulf with clipped whitecaps and spray that
looked like shattered glass. The plane shook in
every direction.
I said, “Toby, take over until we reach the eye.
Get dad back on the comm.”
Soon I heard my dad’s deep voice. “Michelle,
you’re late.”
“We’re almost there.”
The Massive shuddered. Sunlight and blue sky
filtered through the eye of the storm.
I shouted, “I see you!”
Dad replied, “About time.”
I could see dad’s plane and two others of our
team near the middle of the eye. A towering white
wall of clouds encircled us. I said, “Toby, give me
back the controls.”
As all four planes traveled in a circular path
in the center of M. Deidra’s eye, Toby ordered
our target guidance mirror into position. I saw
the other planes tilt their mirrors in a kind of synchronized
dance. We waited for the microwave
transmissions from space.
Ray Gun Revival magazine Issue 13, January 01, 2007
#
Then, at dusk, light flashed all around us.
Toby reported first. “Masing has begun.”
Dad said, “Quad II here. Nice job. Stay in
formation.”
I asked, “Captain Bahar, where are we going
to give M. Deidra her funeral?”
“Our orders are to bury her to the northeast