Mulvan stepped out of his hut, placed a finger up into the air, and then waited.
"Yep, storm is coming." He said walking over to the strung up pipes hanging from the porch of his home and banged them loud. He moved the second door to the nearby large, closed up building dug into a large hill and then propped the door open as the townspeople all made their way quickly to it's entrance. A small boy who was dragging the arm of a stranger caught his eye, the child obviously directing the man to the best place to be in the situation, and the man did not look at all worried. He in fact was almost annoyed by the situation, but in a calm way. This man obviously had no notion of what the storms were like on Eradmu. He would likely soon find out how lucky he was the boy had found him. Before too long, the sky would be pelting chunks of dried lava, some the size of a man's fist. They often killed those who got caught in their path if they hit you in the wrong spot.
It had been happening since the Empire had found this planet and decimated the quarries until they got their fill of the minerals or whatever it was they held that the Empire had needed leaving the ground scarred and the geysers open and prone to what they had started to call "Stone season".
Mulvan rubbed the head of his granddaughter who had moved in for a hug after finding shelter, then he smiled as she ran off to join her friends. One of the town teachers had gathered some of the children for their lessons in the one corner of the shelter as this was how they had evolved during the pelting seasons. He noticed that a few of the townspeople hadn't arrived in the shelter, most likely having decided to stay inside their homes rather than gather with the others. He hoped that was the case, and he as the town's leader would take it upon himself to check on them after the storm. He hoped this one would be short, maybe only a couple of cycles rather than what happened the last time where it was nearly ten cycles of waiting it out. One old stubborn woman had decided last time to stay home alone, and she had been found dead in her home after the all clear. She had been unable to access her own supplies of water and food after a fall was what they had conjectured, or maybe it was just her time. Once a whole family had perished when after a long storm, they had been buried in the debris and had starved before they could be dug out.
Mulvan surveyed the crowd again, then motioned for some of the men to take an inventory of the stores. It was done weekly even when they weren't all housed here, but it was always done after the doors were closed just prior to the storm warning. There might still be time for someone to make an emergency run outside the bunker if absolutely necessary. As he was giving directions, the mysterious newcomer stood up and walked towards the entrance.
"Hey, you. Stay in your section while we are still counting. I don't believe the count has finished," Mulvan shouted gesturing for the man to sit down and wait for further instructions.
"Sorry. I just don't understand the danger," the young man said, lifting his hood and looking out among the crowds.
"I take it you are not from this planet? If you were, you would know what we are facing. We don't get too many strangers visiting from other sectors, let alone, other planets. Even those from other towns know enough to avoid traveling during the stone season," Mulvan said moving closer to the man.
The man nodded then lifted his hood back onto his head.
Soon, there was a pounding and the alarm bell outside the large door began to ring indicating someone else who had needed shelter. Mulvan checked the view finder, sighed, then moved towards the door to raise it just a bit.
"Viniv. I'm opening just a little, you will have to squeeze through quickly," Mulvan directed noting the pelting of rocks had already begun.
Viniv was standing with a large metal sheet held over his head in one hand, and his hand clutching a bundle under his cloak in the other and was in great distress. He could barely get the words out, "Salmy and Belva are right behind me." Mulvan knew Salmy being Viniv's wife and Belva his young daughter.
Viniv brought the bundle from under his cloak, unwrapped it revealing his infant son, and then pushed the baby under the door. He couldn't bring himself to come in. He cowered near the door and cried out for the rest of his family.
"Viniv, come through!" Mulvan shouted as the mysterious stranger made his way towards the door.
The baby was crying loudly and the young man bent down and picked him up. He rocked him and then touched his face and the baby quieted to a mild calm coo. The man spoke, "Open the door wider."
"Viniv!" Mulvan shouted in frustration bidding his fellow villager in as the gravel started to come down harder. "I'm sure they've found shelter. Think of the baby!"
"Open the door wider," the stranger ordered calmly.
Mulvan was already frustrated with the situation with Viniv being stubborn leaning on the door and calling out to his wife and daughter. Small pebbles were falling in and other villagers were making work brushing them out of the way to keep them from getting stuck underneath.
Mulvan looked at the stranger who removed his hood and raised his hand, "Trust me."
Mulvan felt a sense of calm as the door began to open, and the stones flew away from it. Viniv, briefly in awe caught his bearings as he found his wife covered and huddled over his daughter some feet away shivering. Pebbles were no longer pelting her. He helped her up and they walked into the shelter calmly.
"Shut the door, shut the door!" Mulvan shouted as the pebbles began to belt down again after Viniv's family were safe inside.
Mulvan walked up to the stranger who seemed unphased by the event, "You did something. Some magic. What are you?"
The stranger then put his hand on Mulvan's shoulder. "Call me, Luke."
