Thunder: A Nap Lapkin Story (part 4 of 6)

“So the question remains… why does it look like a bowling pin?” Nap asked as they drove towards where the mysterious spacecraft had set down. “If it’s not of this world, it must mean something.”

Sam nodded and then made a face that seemed to indicate she was unsure about how what she had to say on the topic would be received.

“Out with it” Nap advised.

“When I first heard, I immediately thought about hearing thunder when I was a little girl. How scary it was and how my mother said it was just the sound of the angels bowling.”

“But thunder is just the rapid expansion of the air in the path of a lightning bolt. Wouldn’t that have been more comforting?” he asked innocently.

“No. No it would not” she replied curtly. “Not to a nine year old. My point is, it’s only been the last hundred years or so that our minds would jump to aliens and not something supernatural. Not little green men but gods. Mythology.”

Nap sat back and wrestled with the implications of her comment. So much so that he ended up adjusting his seat to accommodate the aftermath of the sitting back process. That’s why he tended to avoid such things. “Angels bowl?”

“That Nap sure is a lucky guy” said one of the many cadets sitting at an outdoor table on the grounds of the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

“Why’s that?” asked another.

“Remember that girl, Sam Brook? The one that was here a few weeks back?”

Given the reaction of the other cadets it was very apparent that they did indeed remember. While I wouldn’t go as far as to say there was hooting and hollering, this was the FBI Academy after all, it was obvious that many of them not only remembered but probably pleasured themselves to her memory. And would again later that day.

“She went out to Los Alamos to meet up with him on a case. If I know Nap…,” his cohorts all making the universally recognized ‘and I think you do’ face as one, “He’ll be hitting that moments after she lands.”

While exactly who was responsible for them will remain lost in the mists of time, this statement was followed by at least one hoot and three hollers.

And one very interested eavesdropper.

“You don’t say” said this eavesdropper. Her voice made all of the hollers dry up instantly and there were some in the crowd who would never hoot again. She walked slowly up to the table and the men fell silent. Tall. Statuesque. Fiery red hair. It was none other than Madonna Axion. The kind of woman that men wouldn’t dare pleasure themselves to. It would be like trying to play air guitar to Eruption (ironically enough).

They would only disappoint themselves.

“So where exactly did she head off to?” she inquired in a tone dripping with malice.

A few hours later she was on a plane bound for Los Alamos. (… via Chicago of course. Sometimes with these thrilling stories writers get so caught up that they gloss over the fact that there are very few direct flights between Dulles International Airport and Albuquerque) (Santa Fe is actually closer to Los Alamos but Albuquerque is a much more whimsical name)

When Nap and Sam finally arrived they saw the looming structure was as advertised; a giant bowling pin. White with two red stripes near the top. “Well this is a bowling endorsement deal waiting to happen” Nap said as he climbed out of the car.

“Are they sure it’s not just a PBA publicity stunt?” Sam added.

“PBA?” Nap asked.

“Professional Bowlers Association” she answered.

“There are people who bowl professionally?”

“It’s America Nap, there are people who do everything professionally.”

The pair made their way into one of the many tents that surrounded the pin and finally found someone in a position of authority who could bring them up to speed.

“It’s a technological treasure trove Nap” said the older man wearing a dozen or more medals and insignias. “Just fell out of the sky and into our laps. Stuffed with advanced technology that even the nerds have never seen before.”

“At Los Alamos of all places. What a coincidence” Nap said with a hint of sarcasm.

The older man did not catch even a whiff of the sarcasm and barreled on with the story. How it fell. How the Army cleared everyone away from the site and then how they eventually found a front door that opened and allowed their scientists to just walk in.

“Just as easy as that huh?” Nap did not sound convinced.

The man nodded earnestly.

“The very spot where they created the atomic bomb. Makes you wonder if another pin fell back then as well” wondered Sam.

“Maybe that was the lightning…” Nap replied and then they all went silent for awhile. Dramatically, like in the movies.