Vegas: Resistance2
"Or close the wall up with our English dead!"
10 years after invasion.
Moira Sheppard sighs. She shoves strands of her hair out of her face and stares at the latest computer models, but they are all telling her the same thing. She shakes her head, taps on the keyboard and watches the inexorable advance of the continents as they merge once more, leaving an oddly circular sea in the middle.
The Earth is changing, and there is nothing to be done about it.
"That bad?" Rodney asks, joining her at the table. He eyes the model on the computer screen. It resembles a misshapen bagel swimming on a blue ocean. He suddenly remembers that he is quite hungry and glances round for any sign of food.
"Worse. Maybe not in our lifetime, but in our children's, yes. The rate of subduction has tripled and now that the sea levels have risen even more…" Moira sighs. "We were already in the middle of the sixth extinction before all of this happened. Before the Wraith invaded. But these processes should be taking millions of years! It shouldn't be happening this fast!"
"Yet it is. Even from space you can see the continental shifting. It looks like Pangaea, that supercontinent from over 250 million years ago is going to form again."
"Novopangaea, or Ultima Pangaea they are calling it," Moira agrees. "The Wilson Cycle never predicted anything like this."
"No one ever predicted the crash of an enormous Hive ship into our planet, or the massive disruption of the magnetic fields, and the opening of a time/space rift." Rodney sighs and shakes his head, his disillusion mirroring Moira's.
"Why do I always walk in on science talk?" John quips, entering the lab. He is holding the hand of his eldest son who dutifully follows, staring round with curiosity. In his other arm is perched the baby Emily, who is prattling and gurgling happily. On his heels follows his younger son Seamus, calling after his father and finding it difficult to keep up with the man's long strides.
"Because you are in a science lab, detective," Moira scolds, but she smiles seeing her children and her husband. "Back already?"
"Mommy, mommy!" Seamus runs to her, all smiles.
"Yes. I'm dropping off the squad here so I can get some work done. And?" John raises a brow, glancing at the computer screens.
"You don't wanna know. Hey, sport," Rodney smiles as Johnny moves to him.
"Uncle Rod, is it true that the moon is getting closer to us?"
"Yes, it is, but that's a natural occurrence," Rodney assures. He exchanges a look with Moira and takes the little boy's hand. "In fact I can show you exactly how the moon orbits our planet and how now that the Earth's axis is tilted the moon appears to be closer to us this time of year." He leads the little boy to another monitor across the room.
"I wanna see!" Seamus grins and rushes after them.
John smiles and shakes his head. He sets Emily into Moira's lap, takes the seat vacated by Rodney. "There is no way that both of my sons are going to be scientists! I'm telling you now, Moy, that ain't gonna happen."
Moira smiles. "We'll just see about that, sweetie. How was the flyover?"
"The usual." John shrugs. "Yellowstone is secure. The caldera is quiet, or so they tell me. The coastlines are creeping closer and closer, but we expected that. Mount Saint Helena's due to erupt again but what else is new these days?"
"Yes." Moira cuddled the baby as the little girl prattled sleepily, snuggling against her mother. "There hasn't been an earthquake alert today, so I think it is safe for us to go home for a while."
"Good. Let me wrap up things here and then we can go." John stands. He steps close to Moira and kisses her. A long, almost lazy motion of his mouth on hers. "You can tell me later all about the plate tectonics and the movement of the subduction zone and blah blah blah, all right?"
"I will, sweetie, don't worry." She smiles at the pained expression on his handsome face. But she becomes somber. "John…the, the prisoners…"
"That's outta my hands, sweetheart. But there's no way in hell they will be moved here." He kisses her again. "Back in thirty or so."
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The drive across the desert is torturous, or would be if John didn't have the air conditioning in his red car cranked up to the highest setting. The children are all strapped in the back seat, playing and squabbling and oblivious to the changes around them. The red car speeds along the open road, heading for the city of Vegas.
Moira stares bleakly out of the window. The desert hasn't changed much but the temperatures are more extreme. Only the cacti are tough enough to survive in the newly harsh environment. Most of the scrub has died away to tumbleweeds that blow across the road and cause the children to exclaim with delight and wonder. A lone coyote runs along the side of the road, tongue lolling out of its mouth and Moira feels a pang of sympathy for the animal, but predators are clever and it will adapt much as the human race has to their evolving planet.
John stares ahead of him, driving swiftly but carefully, mindful of the precious cargo in the back of the car. He adjusts his shades against the glare of the sun. Even though it is mid-afternoon the sun is a blinding gold ball in the pale, pale sky. He can feel the sweat trickling down his neck and back although the air conditioning is working in the car. He glances at Moira. Her long hair is tied back into a ponytail and her beige shirt is sticking to her curves. A smile forms on his lips, and he opens his mouth to make a salacious comment when she speaks first.
"John, there's talk of moving the facility again. To higher ground since the quake zone is becoming more active. I don't want to move again."
John shrugs. "If we have to move we move, Moy. Simple as that."
"No, it's not, John. We finally have a home, of sorts, and the children have a regular routine now. I won't disrupt any of that unless we absolutely have to disrupt it."
"Whatever," he says, finding it easier to agree at this point then to argue. Although he does enjoy arguing with her.
Moira glances at him, her brown eyes narrowing. "Stop that."
"Stop what?"
"Stop that. I'm not going to get into it now just you can get a hard-on," she snaps, but a smile tugs her lips and she tries not to laugh.
He grins. "Why the hell not, baby? I sure as hell want to get into—"
"Daddy! Daddy, what that?" Seamus exclaims, pointing out the window.
John looks over to see a herd of bison thundering along the desert sands. "Wow! Why don't you handle this one, Moy? Just go easy on the Latin."
"Seamus, those are bison. They are herbivores, even-toed ungulates of the sub-family Bovinae, the American bison or buffalo, bison bison. They are following their new migratory patterns and the herd will travel several miles in search of food and water. Interestingly enough their prehistoric ancestors were less robustly built and had smaller horns. The Bison menneri looked more like cattle but the Bison priscus was similar to our modern species and they—"
"Enough, doctor!" John protests, and the children laugh. "Geez! He didn't ask for a lecture, just what they were!" he complains, but smirks as she glares at him and hits his arm. "Hey!"
"Enough, detective! Keep driving!" She turns to the children. "There were once millions of bison roaming all over North America, but they were almost hunted to extinction. Now they are starting to thrive again since their territory has been expanded since the formation of the Great Crater and they are no longer overhunted. Can anyone tell me what can prey on them?"
"Wolves!" shouts Johnny.
"Wolves!" echoes Seamus with a grin. "Daddy, daddy, right?"
"Yeah, I guess, son," John says, but he laughs and fondly sighs as Moira launches into an explanation of wolves for the children.
Despite the changes to the planet and to their lives some things have remained the same.