Prue and Piper hurried across the grounds of the university campus. It hadn't been hard to get directions to Phoebe's classroom. One of her classmates had been in the union and had told them exactly where it was. Many of the professors had already announced their classes were cancelled for the rest of the day and it was expected that the Chancellor would cancel them all very shortly.
As they hurried to the psych building, the two sisters saw small groups of people gathered around the campus. Many were crying, others were talking, nearly shouting, angrily. Everyone was in shock. Some of the older teachers involved in some of the conversations made mention of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Everyone was on edge.
As Prue and Piper reached the psych building, Phoebe and several other students were just coming out. She looked up to see her two older sisters and just stared at them for a minute.
"What are you guys doing here?" she asked.
"I was taking Piper to work and we figured we'd stop off and say hi," Prue said. "I guess you heard the news. It's all over campus apparently."
"It's all over the news, too," Phoebe said. "My psych professor has had CNN on all morning. They say the President is going to address the nation shortly. Talk is that it was a terrorist attack. Apparently they hijacked some commercial airliners and used them as weapons, crashing them into the two towers."
"Didn't Tom Clancy write a story something like that a few years back?" Piper asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Phoebe said. "I didn't know you liked those kinds of books."
"Just his," Piper said. "Who would have ever thought it would really happen."
"That's not all," said a young man just coming out of the building. "There's a report that another airliner crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. And something about another one in Pennsylvania somewhere. The reports on that one are kind of sketchy."
"Tom Harkens, my sisters, Prue and Piper," Phoebe said, introducing the three.
"Hi," said Tom. "Nice to meet you. Phoebe, I need to get going. I'm sure my dad is going to be on alert. I should get home so I can be with my mom."
"Sure, Tom," Phoebe said, "I'll see you later."
Tom turned and hurried toward the parking lot.
"His dad is a career army officer," Phoebe said. "He's stationed in Germany right now."
"That has to be rough," said Prue. "If it was terrorists, they'll probably put the whole nation on alert."
"Well, my classes have all been cancelled for the day," Phoebe said. "A lot of the professors said they probably wouldn't have any tomorrow, either. And more than a few of the students are trying to get flights back to New York. Considering how it was done, I'm betting there aren't going to be any flights at all for at least a few days."
"Phoebe, what about friends you had in New York?" asked Piper. "Do you think any of them might have been in the towers this morning?"
"Probably not," Phoebe said. "Most of the World Trade Center was offices and such. And none of my friends would have gone shopping in any of the stores there. Still, I am going to make a few phone calls when I get home. Just to be sure."
"Well, don't worry about the phone bill," Prue said. "Considering the circumstances, I think Piper and I can help foot the bill for it."
"Thanks guys," Phoebe said. "I appreciate it. There are a couple of friends I'm really worried about. One was a teacher who worked about two blocks from the towers."
"Phoebe," asked Piper, "do you know who that is?"
Phoebe looked where Piper was pointing. A young man was collecting some books and papers he had apparently dropped. He looked to be a bit younger than Phoebe but it was apparent he was of Arab descent. As he collected his books, five boys wearing lettermen jackets were walking toward him.
"Oh, great," Phoebe said. "That's Rashid Fashi. His parents came over from Saudi Arabia before he was born. The big guy in the letterman jacket is Gregg Harken. He's the captain of the football team. I don't know any of the others."
"Well, it looks like there's going to be some trouble," Prue said. "And I don't like the odds. I think we'd better get over there. Things could get real ugly real fast."
Hurriedly, the three sisters began to move toward the six young men.
