Outward Borne Read Online Free PDF

winds increased, the big van
began to buck and swerve with the gusts. Tensions rose apace, for
everyone knew that if the winds got much stronger, neither the van
nor themselves would survive for long. They could not drive into a
bog and hope that their profile would be low enough to wait out the
storm for bogs rarely had a hard bottom and the heavy van might
sink out of sight. As one blast of the heavy wind almost rolled the
truck, JaDom spotted a stream off to the left and he turned to
follow it.
    The stream was little more than a
wet swath meandering between the nearly flat mounds. It did not
look promising, but it traced the lowest land and low was good. The
stream suddenly turned right, where it cut across the side of a
hillock forming a low face in the soft mud. JaDom turned hard
against the rise, rubbing the side of the van as close to the dirt
wall as possible. Sand and gravel hissed against the window and
larger chunks of something heavy rolled across the roof. The wind
picked up. It began to rain. A streambed was not the place to be
during a rainstorm. Flash floods were common on these rolling
planes, but there was no better choice. The wind would surely take
them if they tried for another, safer spot. The van was still
bucking and jerking with each gust when a loud screeching sound
tore through the air followed by a sudden stillness. Water began to
enter the van and cover the floor, slowly rising as the long night
stretched on. Tensions were high with every swath of blown rain
scrutinized for some sign that the worst had past. Hours went by;
gradually the storm decreased and the noise lessened.
    JaDom woke to a dim light coming
through the dirt-covered windows. None of the doors could be
opened; the left side of the van was covered almost to the roof.
Blown sand had filled in the space between the ledge and the van,
while the stream cut a new channel and the van became part of the
new cliff side. MaxNi crawled out of the least obstructed window,
pushed the wet dirt and sand aside, and fell into the rushing
water. It was not strong enough to carry him downstream, and he was
able to crawl up onto the far side and out of the current. Only the
side and rear windows of the van were visible. The trailer was
mostly gone, although the twisted hitch and wheels were still
attached.
    They found the trailer body, half
buried in a sand bar, but intact. Everything inside was wet and
muddy. It might still work, but they would have to launch from
where they were. HuMat pulled the equipment out of the muck and
cleaned it up, while JaDom dug the van out from the hillside. They
did have some luck in the end, the winds died down and finally
stopped, as sometimes happens after a storm. They rushed to stretch
out the wet but intact balloons and began to fill them as quickly
as they could. MaxNi would launch them both rather than wait to see
if the first was successful. They were able to successfully
complete the launch procedure for the first balloon just as the
breeze started to stir again and they rushed to get the last one
into the air. The filmy white bags quickly rose into the mist and
disappeared from view. Their progress could only be followed
electronically by mapping signals from the multiple tracking sites
and MaxNi went to the van to learn their fate. The upper level
currents carried off the first attempt. It failed soon after
launch, but the second succeeded in reaching a higher elevation
before being carried away to the east. MaxNi had obtained a
specially built camera having an extremely wide dynamic light range
and a precise positioning carriage that allowed pictures to be
taken at any angle, except that blocked by the balloon itself. He
hoped to get images of the highest cloud formations. Fortunately
for history, the camera was carried on the second
flight.
    Once the balloons were away there
was nothing more they could do. The three Das left most of their
equipment behind in the wrecked trailer and monitored the