They had a relatively soft landing for all of that. Gramps let go of the sheet at the last second so that he and his family fell the last couple of feet.

     THUNK! 

     Alison and Abby let go of Gramps to gain their footing on the continent of Naturia. 

​     All three of them got a look around. 

     What they saw was chaos. 

     The continent had convulsed. 

     Devastation everywhere. 

     The first thing Abby caught was the scent, like the air had filled with pollen. Abby almost sneezed, the scent was so strong.

     And as far as what she ​saw was concerned: 

     She saw, first, that all the hovercars had dropped, and their riders were now lying, a lot of times, hurt and wailing in the streets. Abby saw broken buildings, but no concrete, no glass. Everything was plant derived, so the devastation reminded her much more of a neighborhood after a hurricane than, say, 911. 

     Some buildings looked sliced in half. 

     Others were in pieces. 

     And the people. Abby figured that maybe only half of them were actual humans. Abby saw blood and people nursing the parts of their bodies that had been damaged. Abby saw a botanical whose left arm had been sheared off. To look at the remaining stump was like looking at lettuce or cabbage sliced in half. 

     What Abby saw next kind of amazed her, given the circumstances. 

     She saw connectivity. 

     Abby saw no fighting, no arguing. What she saw, instead, were people, first, examining themselves to see if they were harmed, then, if they weren't, looking around to see if there was someone else they could help. She saw people pull other people out of dirty rubble, She saw one group of half a dozen people lift a wall up so that an older woman could crawl free.

     "You've got dust all over you," Winston said to Alison.

     "Pollen," Alison replied.

     "Right, pollen. Let me get it off you a little." He swiped at Alison's shoulders like his fingers were a whisk broom. 

     She pulled away. "Don't. I'll do it."

     "This will only take..." 

     "Don't! Mom, could you..." 

     "Of course, dear. I'm dirty, too. We can clean each other off." 

​     Gramps got on his communicator. "Cathy? Skip? You still there?"

     Niki's face came up on Gramps' screen.

     "Hey Gramps," she said. "What's new?" 

     "Where are my grandchildren?" 

     "We're here. Hey Gramps," Cathy said, putting her chin on Niki's shoulder so that her grandfather would see her and see that she was all right. 

     "We're on the surface of Naturia," Gramps said. "On the outskirts of New Seatrailia. You need to come get us." 

     "You want me to let off another blast first?" Niki asked. 

     Gramps observed the devastation that surrounded him.

     "No, I think we're fine with that," he said. "Just get here." 

     "We're getting a fix on you now. I'm sure it won't...okay. Here we go. Will five minutes be too long?"

     "As quick as you can." 

                                                       CONTINUE