The next morning they woke to a feeling of damp coolness. Calli sat up and looked around her wonderingly. They were surrounded by a soft, damp roiling fog. She shook Jack awake.
"Jack, look", she said. "Fog! We have fog!" He looked at her questioningly. To Jack this wasn't unusual.
"So?", he said, leaning on an elbow to observe her.
"You don't understand. We've been coming here for years. I've never seen fog and it never rains." Jack pulled her back down beside him, covering them with the blanket against the coolness.
"You changed the land, Calli. You brought in a river and trees. Things change, you know." She hugged him close, happy for the first time in a long time. Sometimes they change for the better.
They left most of their supplies under the shade of a large maple growing on the bank. After all, who was going to steal it here? They got on the rickety raft and took up paddles to make the trip down the dark tunnel. They did bring lanterns, which served to light the featureless tunnel in front and back of the small raft. It was like travelling into an eternal dark unknown, but suddenly the blackness widened out and they were floating in the lake of a huge cave.
Jack took out a flare gun and shot it off. It barely illuminated a ceiling high overhead. The walls weren't visible. He reached down and scooped up some water, tasting it.
"This is salt water.", he said.
"Yeah, I know.", Calli said drily. "It's got access to the sea somewhere, probably underwater since there's no light in here."
"Your Pip-boy has a GPS locator on it, doesn't it?", he asked.
"Well, yeah, but it only tells me where I am if it's already on a map."
"But it can tell you longitude and latitude, can't it?"
"Sure"., she said, wondering where this was going.
"Then mark where we're at. I have an idea where this place is. You know I've been mapping the coastline, since it's changed so much due to the war. If I'm right, that wall over there", he pointed to the southeast, "just separates this place from the coast. We'll check my maps when we get back to the ship."
Calli was excited. "Let's see if we can locate the far wall."
"Okay", Jack grinned, amused at her enthusiasm. "It's going to be pretty hard to stay in a straight line in total dark. How about we row along the wall and see how long it takes us to circle the cave?"
"Good idea!", Calli agreed. That's how they discovered the beach area, a large section of dry land at the edge of the lake. Since it was already late in the day they stopped on the beach to have a quick meal, surrounded by the encompassing dark. Leaving the beach they stayed on the same side of the wall and discovered it wasn't far from this side to the mouth of the river.
Paddling back up the river wasn't nearly as easy as floating down it. By the time they exited the tunnel and pulled the raft onto the shore it was once again night time. This wasn't a problem. They were happy to spend another night under the stars together. It would take all the next day to make the trek back to the oasis.
They got back to the oasis just before dinner. Calli went to help Mattie get the evening meal while Jack played with the kids.
"It was amazing Mattie. When we woke up this morning we were surrounded by fog. I've never seen anything like it here.", she said excitedly.
"Really?", Mattie asked. "It's been foggy for the last few weeks. I just figured it was because the nights are getting colder after such warm days."
"Has it? I guess I haven't been here overnight this summer at all, have I? You wouldn't know there's never been fog here before. Has it rained, too?", she asked hopefully.
"Not a drop.", Mattie said. "Hand me those potatoes, would you?"
The day following their return from the tunnel, Jack and Calli were allowed to take Joel and Lori and walk through the entrance tunnel beside the shuttle rails. At the end of the tunnel they stared out at the empty Valley of Death. The children were startled when Calli held her arm into the Valley and it screamed a shrill warning. She showed them the reading. They were never to approach the Valley.
"I don't see anything.", Lori said. "How can it kill you?"
Jack said, "Can you see the air?"
"Well, no.", Lori said, mystified.
"If you don't have air, can it kill you?", Jack asked.
"Sure, you'd suffocate.", she said in a tone that said she thought a grown up should know that. Calli smiled to herself.
"You can't see everything, Lori. Sometimes we need the things we can't see, sometimes they can kill us. That Valley is full of radiation. You can't see it, you can't feel it, but it will kill you. That's why we have detectors like Calli's Pip-boy, so we can stay safe", Jack explained.
"Oh.", she said, wide-eyed. This Lori found impressive.
They stayed for four days. Calli convinced Jack the children would be better off staying in the safety of Arhome. Now that he knew where they were and that he could be with them whenever he chose he was more amenable to the arrangement. He liked Mattie and Joe and were appreciative that they were willing to foster the twins. Calli was right. Their enemies were numerous, powerful and unscrupulous. They wouldn't hesitate to use vulnerable, defenseless infants to get to them.
They reluctantly said goodbye and took the shuttle through the Valley of Death to Cave entrance. Calli would deliver Jack to the Tradewind ll aboard the motorcycle. She figured Hawk would meet them at River Port. Of course, he would expect them to be already aboard the ship, since she had left him a note telling him that was where she was going. He probably wouldn't be too surprised to find she had changed her plans.
It was late afternoon before they boarded the ship, having left the motorcycle secured in one of Calli's warehouses. Jack relieved Dawson to have some shore leave. Calli was staying until they reached the Island. They had books to go over and charts to peruse. Hawk wasn't there but he had left a note to be delivered to her. She was to meet him at their home on the 13th, just five days away. Jack knew what was meant by home now. He wondered jealously how many secrets the partners shared he would never be allowed to know. Calli would never be wholly his. He didn't consider he would never be wholly hers.
Aileen was so happy to see them coming back together. She had been so worried, especially after Dawson told her what Calli had said before she ran off into the wasteland after Jack. Calli hugged Aileen tightly.
"I've missed you, girl", Calli said. She leaned back to smile at Aileen. "Jack and I have something to tell you." Aileen could tell from her expression that it was big news.
The new ship was bigger than the old one had been. Jack had a small office off their room, and had installed a private bath for Calli. One of the three passenger rooms had been supersized and furnished for Hawk who shared equally with Calli in part ownership of the new shipping company. The others were furnished for Aileen and Brent. Jack had considered making a room directly off theirs for Aileen but neither Aileen nor Calli had been comfortable with that. They might share him but they didn't want to share him at the same time.
The desalinization equipment was more than sufficient for the needs of the crew and any passengers who might choose to purchase tickets to other ports, though passenger space was limited to a few bunks in the hold near the crew's quarters. It was mostly a trading vessel with a large spacious hold and crates on deck to hold goods out of the weather. There were even refrigerated containers for more perishable products.
Calli and Jack spent the evening going over charts of the coast and comparing the longitude and latitude with the readings Calli had taken in various areas of the Arhome lake cave.
"Look here', Jack said, transposing the readings over his map. "This area of the lake. The wall here looks to be really thin. It corresponds to a section of coastline that is a small cove, it's deep with an outcropping that hides it from the ocean , though it's not too much bigger than the ship. I know this cove. It's completely enclosed by mountain. I mean really craggy cliffs so no one goes there. There isn't even any beach area. We only found it because we like to explore as well as trade.", he grinned. "I think if we could blast open the wall here", he pointed at a place on the map, "it would open up the lake to the sea and we could sail right in. It would be hidden, too! Just think, we could get large supplies in and out of Arhome in complete secrecy! The lake tunnel isn't big enough for the Tradewind but a small boat could get through."
Calli was excited but cautious. "Maybe. That would be great. But we can't do this ourselves. It's taken us years to do what we have done. We're going to need engineers and builders. Anyone we bring in will have to stay in Arhome and become permanent residents. Where are we going to find these people?"
"Didn't Vault 101 open its doors several years ago now and become a training center for wasteland kids?", Aileen asked. She had joined them after putting Brent to bed.
"That's right, they did.", Calli agreed. "They didn't have much to offer the wasteland when they opened up except their educational facilities and a safe haven for any families that could afford to purchase residency there. They graduated their first group of young people years ago. I think I'll get a list and start scouting for those who would be interested in leaving the wasteland behind for a safe place to work and make a living. I don't think there are many opportunities for engineers and scientists out there."
Jack agreed. They put away the maps and ledgers.
"Come with me, Calli. I have a house in Baton Rouge. I got it for all of us. We could make a home to take the kids to. Not all the time, I know you want them raised in Arhome. Just sometimes, when they're older. I'd like my family to know about them. It would make Mom so happy. ", he pleaded.
"Please come.", Aileen interjected. "We miss you so much. Brent adores you, you know, and he really would like to have a brother and sister."
Calli considered. "I don't see why you shouldn't tell your family. If the wasteland hears rumors you have kids they'll just think they belong to you and Aileen and you leave them in Baton Rouge. I can't come this year, not while they're so little. I have to be here for them. You can see us again when you come back next month." Jack didn't like it but it was probably for the best.