The Adventures of Dr. Long and Tomkins

Episode One

The night of February 12th, 2016, there was a meteor storm. Not a shower, mind you-the hunks of rock falling to the earth were considerably larger than the usual little specks that came with the showers. No, this was a storm, and among the meteors hurling towards the earth, there was a fist-sized space rock headed straight for Lynchburg, Virginia.

In a laboratory atop a small mountain near Liberty University, Dr. Long was beginning a long night of experiments on the properties of some lunar dust he'd recently collected. Don't ask how-that's a long story.

The laboratory was for his own, personal use. He'd built it himself years ago, and the only other person who ever went inside, or even knew about it, was Tomkins ... who happened to be stuck in traffic after a football game at the university at the precise moment the meteor storm began.

Dr. Long checked his phone yet again. Nothing from Tomkins. He shook his head. Was it too much to ask that Tomkins text him when he was headed for the lab? Apparently so. Oh well; he wouldn't need Tomkins' assistance for another hour or so.

Placing a sample of lunar dust under the microscope, Dr. Long proceeded to examine it and record his observations. His notebook, filled with scribblings and drawings dating years back, lay open on the desk next to his microscope while he worked. It was beginning to fall apart-he really ought to invest in a new one-but he couldn't bring himself to part with the little book.

Outside, the wind began to pick up. A tree limb scratched against the building, distracting Dr. Long from his lunar dust. He squinted over at the window. It surely got dark quickly! He checked his watch-well, it was later than he thought. Still, it seemed awfully dark for that time of night, and the moon was due to be up within the half-hour.

Dr. Long went to the window. Something thudded against the roof. He frowned up at the ceiling, and a moment later, another thud sounded from somewhere else on the roof.

The lab door banged open. A gust of wind howled into the room, accompanied by Tomkins in a yellow rain poncho. "Whoa!" he cried, grabbing for the door. He managed to wrestle it closed despite the shrieking winds. Adjusting his soaked poncho, he lifted his bushy eyebrows and exclaimed, "Quite the gale out there! I wasn't sure I was going to make it! I thought the sky was supposed to be clear tonight. It started raining right as I was leaving. Golly! It got heavy quick!"

"There wasn't a storm in the forecast," Dr. Long mused. "Did you hear something hit the roof?"

"Yeah, there's meteors up there." Tomkins joined him at the window and peered out. Dr. Long saw a flash of light, then another, far up in the sky. Must be the meteors entering the atmosphere. Usually they were small and harmless, but he didn't like the sound of that wind or the thumping of unknown objects on his roof.

"Lots of 'em!" Tomkins went on. "Wow ..." He gaped up at the black sky, and Dr. Long stepped away to avoid getting his shoes wet from the water dripping off Tomkins' poncho.

Just then, his phone rang. Dr. Long paused when he saw 'Unknown' listed above the number and put it to his ear. "Hello?"

The line crackled briefly. Must have been the storm interfering with reception-all he could hear was an occasional word. "... long ... meteor ... clouds ... don't ... coat ..."

"Hello?" he repeated. "Who is this?"

But the static grew worse, and then the line went dead.

"Who was that?" Tomkins asked.

"I don't know." Dr. Long clipped his phone back to its case on his belt. "You're late again, Tomkins. Come on, we need to finish looking at these samples tonight."