100 E, 40 S

Jerry, being a well-raised and devout boy from a small community in Nebraska, phrased it politely. "What the frig happened to the South Platte?"

"I'll be damned if I know. Maybe a dam burst, around Sterling or somewhere?" replied Bert, who was driving a reefer, a refrigerated truck, full of choice pork cuts, from Omaha to Denver.

"Dam burst, my rear end," interjected Skip, who had an opinion on everything. "Its like the second coming, that's what it is. I was down there this morning, and its like God let the flood loose again. 'cept it didn't take him 40 days to do it this time, no sir. And he didn't need rain to do it. Like a thief in the night, he come, just like it says in Luke. It is like the world has turned into a giant lake. No friggin' dam could do what I saw. And it looks like the line between the waters and the land has been cut, almost like God was using a razor to divide those who would be saved and those who would be damned."

Jerry paused, and thought about that chaotic scene. He had heard that the flood occured right at the Colorado state line. At the time, he wrote it off as a coincidence, but now he was starting to wonder.

"Linda, what's ye hearing on the radio?"

The girl behind the counter responded, "Jerry, that's the weird thing. I ain't gettin' nothin' from Denver, not even KOA. Nor from Sterling, nor Julesburg, which is only four miles away. But I *can* get the piddly lidd'le signal outta KCOW in Scottsbluff. But they don't have any clues as to what's happenin' either. They're talkin' about the weird weather."

"I hadn't noticed. It does feel different today. Feels more like California, on the beach, if that makes any sense."

"Nothin' today has, Jerry. I got a sister that lives out in Fort Morgan, married to a guy who works for Pioneer Seed. I am worried for her."

Skip nodded his head, "Whatever happens, it's the Lord's will. But I'm sorry if I'm scarin' you, Linda. I hadn't thought about it, but Fort Morgan's a good ways away, probably safe from the flood. And I don't think God would kill all the folks out in Colorado. There's plenty of sin there, but, hey, I'm still here, so he can't have nabbed all of us sinners! I'll bet she's out there worryin' about you, Linda.

Don was glued to his rig, his pulse racing. The wonderful thing about ham radio was that you got something new every day. The VK6's* were booming today, and there were bunches of them, some of them working on very low power. It must be some sort of weird skip - normally the only stations on this band that you could work this time of day were stateside, out in places like Illinois or Mississippi. One of the operators from Rockingham spoke excitedly when Don told him his location. "ABC says that Nebraska has disappeared! Are you OK?" Don responded, "Journalists never get anything right. Just a beautiful day in the neighborhood here."

Eppley Airfield, Omaha, Nebraska

Sarah sat in the cockpit of her DC-9, with a lot of questions and few answers. The flight from Minneapolis was routine, but nothing since she had touched ground was. This was Sarah's first year as a pilot for one of the big lines, and she knew that she was scared as she had never been scared before. She remembered nothing like this while flying transports in the military, nor flying her first routes for the feeder airlines that she started with after she had left the service. All flights were ordered grounded, meaning that she would be stuck here in Omaha, rather than returning to Minneapolis as was planned. Fortunately for her, the Minneapolis passengers had not boarded, and so she did not have to explain anything. She was asked to stay on the DC-9, and now two big men with guns were enforcing that point. She had overheard some loose talk from the radio, something about all those flights disappearing off the radar screens, and unaccounted for. Could it be that somehow, some terrorist or wacko had sabatogued something? Her GPS was definitely fouled up - the readings were garbage - if it were to be believed, she was now somewhere in the east Indian Ocean, halfway around the world. She recognized the two men with the guns. Usually they were professional, but friendly, but today they had their business face on. Another man chattered excitedly just out of earshot on a cell phone. She had heard something about the cell phone networks being disturbed. The third man walked up to Sarah. The plane was being refueled, and they had a mission for her.

*VK6 is the amateur radio call area for Western Australia. The Rockingham referred to is near Perth, and ABC in this case refers to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Julesburg, Sterling, and Fort Morgan are small towns in northeast Colorado, and Scottsbluff and Grand Island are small cities in western and central Nebraska, respectively.

1. Follow Jerry at the truck stop.
2. Follow Don on his radio station.
3. Follow Sarah on her DC-9.

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