Change - ch. 4

Screaming engines and sirens flooded the filled parking lot south of the grey smog infested concrete kingdom of downtown Houston. The wind had picked up and storm season was amongst them. Traffic was congested on every major highway. It was storm season and the people on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico had learned to be paranoid after the disaster and peril left behind by Hurricane Katrina a few years ago.

Beyond the endless miles of break lights and screaming motorists there was a news van covering the excitement of a category three hurricane that the weather experts had dubbed Henry. According to these experts, the storm was to be as deadly as Katrina was and the hurricane appeared to be on a direct course to the shore. It was expected to drive right through Galveston and slam into the heart of the largest metropolitan city in Texas.

The driver of the van slammed the horn of his two ton van and cursed at an eighteen wheeler that just randomly decided to change lanes even though the big rig had no room to maneuver. This was what the locals called a “Houston Lane Change.” It was Darwin’s theory in the most practical sense. Drive or be driven.

“Calm down Henry! Christ, screaming at the traffic isn’t going to get us moving any faster!” Jerry was prepping his equipment to ensure the giant top of the line beta cam was ready to record. The camera was the size of a German shepherd and it probably weighed just as much.

“Jerry, I bet we’re missing all the good shots. Whatever is going on at the Johnson Space Center is probably going to be over by the time we get off this damned road!” Henry was red in the face and the familiar vein on the side of his head was swollen and pulsing rapidly.

The newscaster only chuckled and shook his head. He looked out the rearview mirror and saw the Houston cityscape. He then looked down the highway and it appeared to be a giant parking lot for the criminally insane.

“Both of y’all just be quiet!” A voice demanded from the passenger seat up front next to Henry. He leaned over and turned up the radio to hear the latest on the NASA incident. It wasn’t much, but the news media was on top of things and making up the story as they go. They say in the field, any story is better than no story. Valid and direct reporting of all events was a thing of the past. The masses just wanted to hear something exciting anymore. “If it bleeds it leads” they often said.

The passenger points to a green road sign on the side of the highway overpass, “Exit here, we could circle around.” The exit was in a quarter mile so the sign read.

Henry looks to him and nods, “I’m on it.” He turns the wheel sharply and works his own Houston lane change.

The radio squeaked and came into focus. Holly was already at the site and was reporting for Jerry’s rival news agency. She somehow always found a way to get there before anyone else and she always received the credit. Many speculated she was the next to receive a Pulitzer award for best reporting this year.

“Turn that off, man! I don’t need to hear her half-assed crazed stories!” Jerry spat out like he had eaten something wretched.

The passenger looks over his shoulder to Jerry and chuckles. Instead of turning down the voice she screamed through all the speakers with the loudest annoying voice, “On site at the Johnson Space Center, this is Holly Samuels. It’s still unclear what has happened within the heart of the NASA space program but the latest report was from an anonymous telephone call from inside the building which allegedly told his wife to leave town immediately.”

She was cut off before continuing, another voice was heard in the background, “Ma’am you must leave this premises. This has been quarantined. Please move your equipment immediately.”

There was shuffling of sound and equipment shook around violently scraping against the microphones. Unlike the edited news, this was all live feed from the media news radio.

Holly replied to the microphone, hoping to get her word out to her agency, “Apparently we’re being told to move farther from the scene of this incident. The entire parking lot has been quarantined by soldiers wearing black suits and armor wearing gas masks.”

She was cut off the airwaves.

“Damn it Henry, get us over there!” Jerry was frustrated now. The passenger agreed with him and also yelled at Henry.

“Jesus guys! You see this shit don’t you? I can’t go anywhere!”

“Well, hurry the hell up! Knock that piss ant Jaguar out of your way. Do something!” The passenger should have been driving he had thought. They would have already been there, he would say.

Jerry looks to the two up front, “The equipment is all prepped and ready. We have to get there soon. My gut is telling me something big is about to happen!”