The skies darkened as Solo and Kuryakin headed down the interstate. There was crackling and snapping on the radio just as a bolt of lightning shot out from the ominous clouds above them.
"That is odd," Illya said,"the sky looks almost green. The wind is picking up as well."
To their left Napoleon saw it first, a funnel was forming and he immediately stopped the car. Kuryakin, never having seen a tornado before opened the car door and stepped out to get a better look.
For moment he was mesmerized.
"GET IN!" Napoleon shouted.
Illya barely had time to shut the door as Solo put the car in reverse; hitting the gas pedal he pinned the wheel and spun the car around.
Hail pelted the car as the tires screeched on the pavement beneath them.
As they sped down the road, Illya looked back; he was still fascinated and watched watch as the tornado crossed the highway just where they'd been.
Less than a minute later the funnel disappeared.
"What did you think of that tovarisch?"
"I am thinking that there is nothing to compare to the power of nature."
Napoleon turned the car around again, this time not to escape but to begin a mission of mercy. They'd passed a house and if it were hit, and anyone caught in that, they might be trapped beneath the rubble.
Within minutes they came upon the remnants of what once was a house...a home that was now a pile of debris. Wood was splintered into pieces like they'd been toothpicks. There was shattered glass and furniture everywhere, bits and bobs of someone's life.
"Look at that!" Illya pointed. A hubcap was embedded in a tree. The power of the tornado was mind boggling to the Russian. He'd been through many's the storm in his life so far, but nothing compared to the might of this.
"Hello!" Napoleon called out as he and Kuryakin stepped gingerly through the carnage.
"Listen, do you hear it?" Illya stood still, his hand to his ear. "It sounds like a baby!"
Together they began to dig, tossing aside bits of furniture until they found it, a little baby girl wrapped in a thick pink blanket. She was snuggled in a bassinette beneath a heavy table, and on top of that had fallen a door, which most likely protected her from being hit by further debris.
"Shush, sweetheart," Napoleon picked her up, holding her close to him and rocking her." It's okay you're safe now. Shusssh."
His head suddenly canted to one side."I hear a voice. Someone's calling for help...there!"
Illya began digging frantically to where his partner pointed, until he uncovered a woman with a bloody gash on her head. He grabbed a nearby towel and pressed it on the wound.
"Are you injured anywhere else Miss?"
She hesitated for a second, obviously shaken. "I don't think so...my baby, where's my baby? Oh my God!"
"She is fine, my friend has her. Come with me." Illya helped her to the car where Napoleon had taken the child.
"Thank you!" The mother gasped at the sight of her little one, taking the infant in her arms.
"Was there anyone else in the house?" Napoleon asked.
"My dog...a black and white collie. Her name is Lady, oh please find her? She was near me when the twister hit."
"We will go look, just stay here in the car for now. What is your name?" Illya asked.
"Caroline Johnson, and this is Chloe." The baby was quiet now and apparently unharmed.
"My name is Illya and this is Napoleon."
"Thank you so much for saving us."
"Just stay here and try to think calm thoughts Caroline. You're both alive, focus on that. We'll go look for your dog. Come on Illya."
For a split second there was a hesitation on the part of Kuryakin. Napoleon knew Illya didn't like dogs but this was different, it was an emergency.
"Come on tovarisch, it's not going to hurt you to look."
Illya nodded his acceptance and returned to the rubble where he'd found the woman. There they began digging again, and they found the pooch. At first Napoleon thought it was dead, but slowly it stirred and got to its feet.
"Come on Lady. That's a good girl," he called to it.
She climbed to him with a whimper, and Solo scooped the dog up in his arms as it was small, a miniature collie from the looks of her. She too seemed to be unhurt.
Considering the condition of the home, it was amazing anyone survived, much less the three of them.
When he appeared with the dog, Caroline burst into tears, thanking the two men over and over again. Still the fear was evident in her voice. The reality of what had happened finally hit her and she began to cry.
"Caroline, you must calm yourself, you are safe now." Illya said. "We will take you to get some medical attention."He got behind the wheel this time. Napoleon got in the back seat and wrapped his arms around Caroline to comfort her.
"It's okay honey, you're safe now," he crooned as he brushed her blonde hair out of her eyes.
"Is there a local hospital?" Illya asked as he started the car.
"Yes it's about five miles down the interstate. That way."
As they drove along the road they witnessed a swath of devastation the tornado had cut across the land. Buildings on one side of the road were destroyed, while those on the opposite side remained completely untouched. It was if an immense hand had swept through, picking and choosing its targets.
They arrived at the hospital, though it was swamped with people seeking help. The power had been knocked out but a triage had been set up outside in the parking lot. It was there they left Caroline, Chloe and Lady in safe hands.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Illya asked a nurse.
"Unless you have medical training, then no. Thank you for helping Mrs. Johnson. Her husband will be relieved to know she and their daughter are alive and well. He's the town sheriff, and he's mighty busy right now."
Napoleon and Illya said their goodbyes. Getting in their car; they continued down the interstate to their final destination, the town of Henryville where they were meeting April Dancer and Mark Slate who'd finished up an assignment in the area.
Their car had broken down, but since Solo and Kuryakin were in the area it was decided they'd do the retrieval rather than them waiting on a mechanic to fix their car, as the information they carried needed to be brought to headquarters in New York as soon as possible.
Solo and Kuryakin pulled up to the motel where Dancer and Slate were staying and found them watching the news about the tornado in their room.
"We were worried about you," April sighed with relief."We couldn't get a signal on our communicators."
"I am sure the changes in atmospheric pressure from the storm did that," Illya flopped on one of the beds.
" Did you see it? What did you do mates?"
"Yes we saw it; we turned tail and ran. Fortunately we were able to get away from it, but some people weren't as lucky." Napoleon poured himself a mug of coffee from a carafe on a table.
"We stopped at a house that had been flattened," Illya said. "There we rescued a woman and her baby."
"Don't forget the dog too." Napoleon gulped down his coffee.
"You rescued a dog Illya?" April beamed.
"Not really, it was Napoleon."
"I had a feeling you weren't too happy about doing it," Solo grinned.
"Well I did help."
"Yes you did tovarisch, yes you did," Napoleon winked.
Illya turned his attention to the black and white television set on a nearby stand. He rose and fiddled with the dials, adjusting down the volume control, and darkening the screen to almost black.
Sitting there on the edge of the bed in front of it; he stared intently.
"May I ask what you're doing?" Napoleon asked.
"A man named Newton Weller from Iowa, discovered that lightning and tornadoes generate a signal near the frequency of 55 megacycles, to which this particular television station is set. I adjusted the brightness from another channel which is the high end of the frequency band though not affected and darkened it on this channel. Atmospheric events such as a tornado will override the brightness control. If one is within 15 to 20 miles it will cause the screen to go totally white and remain white. With a portable radio, lightning often associated with tornados will cause intermittent static on a transistor tuned on 550 kilocycles. A tornado will cause steady, continuous static."
"That's handy information mate," Mark seemed a bit nervous as he'd never experienced a twister before.
April reached into her purse, pulling out her communicator which was also disguised as as a working transistor radio; she turned it on. There was the immediate crackling of static.
"Does that mean there's a tornado coming?" Mark's eyes went wide.
"Not necessarily,"Illya shook his head,"it means there is electrical activity from a storm in the vicinity."
"Not all tornadoes have lightning either,"April said."Remember I grew up in the midwest, and let's say I've seen my share of twisters."
Napoleon parted the window curtains and peeked outside."The sky's getting dark so there's definitely a storm on the way….whoa!" There was an immense lightning bolt followed by a sharp thunder clap. He stepped back, and turned to the others.
"Look at the television," Illya calmly said. The blackened screen had gone completely white."
The four of them looked at it, transfixed for a moment until in the distance they heard the wail of a siren.
April's radio came to life, though the transmission was being broken up by static, they heard all they needed.
"Tornado...five miles….seek shelter…"
Grabbing their gear, they headed out to Solo and Kuryakin's car.
"Where do we go?" Illya slipped into the driver's seat.
"Away from that!" April yelled, pointing to a dark funnel that was now heading their way. There was no use trying to remain at the motel as it would be quickly destroyed. The only cover there would be a bathtub, and not enough room for the four of them.
After tossing their bags into the trunk, they climbed into the car and Illya floored the gas pedal, heading down the road yet again.
The tornado seemed to be dogging them, following them as hail began to fall. The windshield wipers were doing little good, and Illya had to crank open the side window to see the road.
As they headed into the nearby town a uniformed deputy waved them to a stop, now in the pouring rain.
"You can't out run it! Get out of the car and follow me now!"
The agents leapt from the car and ran after the man, who led them into a nearby general store.
"That way," he pointed to a door."Get to the basement!"
"You too!"Napoleon shouted. The noise outside sounded sounded like freight train roaring towards them, and they could feel the pressure changing painfully in their ears.
Everything not nailed down outside began to blow away in down the street.
"No, gotta make sure everyone's safe!"
"It's too late," April grabbed the officer's arm, and between she and Solo, they dragged him with them down the stairs with Illya and Mark right behind them.
Once down in the basement, the saw the frightened faces of others who'd sought shelter there.
"Get towards the back wall and down on the floor!" April called.
They all ducked, covering their heads with their arms as the building began to shake. The lights went out and a few of the women screamed.
It was over quickly, though it seemed like it had lasted an eternity. The roar above them had been deafening.
Slowly the agents and the deputy led the way as they climbed the stairs. Opening the door took some effort as it was apparently blocked by debris, but they finally succeeded in clearing it.
It was complete devastation. What had been a small general store was now reduced to splintered wood and rags as was a good part of other nearby buildings. Just as Napoleon and Illya had seen previously, the tornado had cut a swath through the town, leaving some structures intact and undamaged.
Leaving the basement; they helped the others out, one by one; most of them with faces pale from shock.
The car wasn't where they'd left it, and looking down the street, it was spotted or rather what was left of it as it was crumpled like an accordion and lying on its side.
"That was too close for comfort,"Solo whispered.
"Yes twice in one day is a bit much for me," Illya mumbled. That was about as much emotion as he was going to show on the matter." Mr. Waverly is not going to be happy about the car."
"Yep, looks like we won't be taking a 'spin' in it will we?" Napoleon quipped.
"Please, none of your puns?" Illya moaned.
"Tovarisch, he'd be more unhappy if we were in it when the tornado hit," Napoleon said.
"Tell you what guv, I hope that's the first and land tornado I ever see," Mark ran his fingers through his hair before replacing his corduroy hat on his head.
"Well let's see if we can retrieve our luggage from that mess, darlings," April said. "Having to put the loss of the car on an expense report will be bad enough, but all our belongings lost would just be rubbing salt into the wound. Mr. Waverly's not going to be happy either way."
"Yes, especially with Napoleon's clothing," Mark chuckled,"maybe even more than the car."
"Et tu Brute?" Solo's upper lip raised in disdain.
"Well you do tend to pack rather expensive clothing,"Illya chimed in as well. And for once the loss of the car can not be blamed on me.
"As my Aunt Amy taught me; a man must always look his best. But at the moment the luggage needs to wait."
"Yes, we need to sift through this mess as I think helping anyone who is trapped takes precedence over retrieving our luggage." Illya headed across the street, followed by the others, stopping where a few people were digging in the debris.
After the work was done, they sat on a nearby curb drinking cups of coffee provided by a Red Cross worker, along with some chocolate chip cookies.
It was time to report to Mr. Waverly, though Solo was dreading it.
"Open Channel D- Mr. Waverly please," he said; his voice was dog tired.
"Mr. Solo I was beginning to become concerned as there were reports of several tornados in your vicinity."
"We're all right sir, though the town around us isn't as well as our car, and possibly our luggage. Messrs Kuryakin and Slate are attempting to extricate our suitcases from what's left of the trunk."
"Very well. I'm pleased you're all unhurt. We're sending a helicopter out from our Louisville field office to retrieve you. It should arrive in the next ten to fifteen minutes. And please do try to recover the luggage, especially you Mr. Solo. Waverly out."
"See I told you darling," Dancer leaned over to Napoleon, planting a kiss on his cheek.
"Hey, nobody likes an 'I told you so."
April stuck her tongue out at him. Silliness was a bit of release at the moment. She'd never become accustomed to twisters, and never would. Though she was a trained agent, used to facing death, tornados still frightened her. It was easy to see it had frightened the others as well, though only one who knew them well enough could tell.
This was going to make for some story back at headquarters.