Calm Before the Storm: A Provectus Network Novella

By M.L. Stover

Taking place twenty years after the events of PROVECTUS: Survival of the Fittest, M. L. Stover's much-anticipated follow-up novella Calm Before the Storm follows the adventures of the Mariani and Greene families as they fight for survival during the latest evolution of the human species.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Feb 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9781667883632

M.L. Stover

M. L. Stover holds a master's degree in anthropology and is certified in forensic identification. Stover brings her real-life interests and experiences, including work at the Ventura County Crime Lab, to the novels she writes. She lives in Southern California with her music producer husband.

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Calm Before the Storm

a Provectus Network Novella

©2022 M. L. Stover

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

print ISBN: 978-1-66788-362-5

ebook ISBN: 978-1-66788-363-2

For my fans.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 1

Mediterranean Sea, Early August 2045

Eye sockets filled with seawater and sand stared up at Marcus Greene from the wet ground before him.

Who are you to disturb my rest? they seemed to say.

The man had died some 20,000 years ago of an apparent blow to the head. That much was clear. But it wasn’t how he died that Marcus needed to know. It’s how he lived that mattered.

The survival of Marcus’s own daughter depended on the answer to that question.

Marcus carefully rinsed away the fine-grained mud from the skull with a handheld water pick. The archaeological dig was surrounded on all sides by the Mediterranean Sea. The site itself would normally be under about twenty feet of salt water, if not for the large protective walls that had been set up around the perimeter. Heavy-duty hydraulic pumps kept sucking out the water that seeped up from the ground and under the walls, thus keeping it from re-filling the dig site. If these walls gave way, he and his crew would be swallowed up by thousands of cubic tons of salt water.

He was not worried, however. He’d been working at this site every summer for decades now. Marcus was a specialist in Ice Age archaeology.

His dark skin glistened in the sun as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his arm. It wasn’t as warm as it should be this time of year, but it was enough to make lying this close to the sand a bit stifling. Marcus looked up at the sky and took a deep breath of salty sea air. Hearing the squish of footsteps in the mud behind him, Marcus turned to see an attractive young graduate student.

Doctor Greene? She looked cool and composed in her crisp white shoes and pink t-shirt. Her strawberry blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

By comparison, Marcus felt a bit dishevelled with his muddy green cargo pants and sweaty black tank top. He turned off the water pick, sat back on the ground, and stretched out his legs with a sigh of relief. This was not an easy career for a man in his mid-fifties.

Hi, Paige, he said. He forced a smile through his exhaustion, knowing that he had a tendency to intimidate his grad students. In his younger years, he’d be more inclined to date them. But that was before he met his wife, Jem.

This cute young woman didn’t seem intimidated, however. She smiled at him and said, Your wife’s on the line. Want me to tell her you’ll call her back? She popped her bubble gum and raised an eyebrow in question.

No, no. I’m coming. He jotted a few quick notes onto his field tablet. He started to get up, then stopped. On second thought, why don’t you go on ahead? I’m right behind you.

When she was gone, he slowly rolled over onto his knees and pushed himself up to standing. He stretched backward and groaned, pushing against his lower back until he heard the pop pop pop of his spine.

With a sigh, he rolled up his tablet and began to muck his way through the wet sand to the edge of the dig. The smell of seawater receded as he climbed a makeshift stairway that led up to relatively dry ground.

Marcus ducked into the tent that served as the communications station for the dig. He swiped at the air and a fuzzy hologram of his wife appeared before him. Even outdated technology couldn’t hide Jem’s exotic beauty, with her dark chocolate skin and high cheekbones.

Marcus smiled at the sight of her.

Hey Baby! Jem said.

Hey yourself! Marcus sat down heavily in a chair with an "Oof!"

Rough day already? she asked, laughing.

Great day, actually! When you called, I was uncovering our fifteenth human skeleton. Well, skull anyway. I won’t know how intact it is until I’ve had a chance to completely uncover it.

These are the humans that lived during the last ice age? Jem asked.

Glacial period, yes, he said.

Ice age. Glacial period. Same thing, she said.

Yes, well, not exactly, he said. An ice age is— when he saw the look on her face, he stopped. Anyway, this was around twenty thousand years ago. Thanks to the extensive glaciers at the time, sea levels were about four hundred feet lower than they are today. It’s a wonder we even found the site.

The excitement in Marcus’s voice raised as it always did when he got to talking about his favorite subject: ice ages. He forgot about his exhaustion and pain and stood up to pace the tent. It would appear that the skeletons here are mostly males. Many of the remains show signs of bone damage. Healed wounds, breaks that didn’t set right, and so forth. My tentative theory is that we’re looking at a semi-nomadic hunting party. I’ll know more as we find more skeletons and study the ones we have already. But we’ve found one structure which seems to support this idea. So far, anyway.

Sounds like you’ll be there a few more weeks, then? Jem asked.

Definitely. Haven’t you noticed that the weather is becoming more unstable every day? We’re having hot weather followed by super storms that are killing hundreds of people with extremely cold temperatures. I have to find the answer to how humans survived the cold before the cold weather is all we get. Before the next glacial period.

And you think this dig site will finally have the answers you’ve been seeking? Jem asked.

It would be better if the site were a permanent settlement rather than a hunting party, but yes … Hunters had to survive the elements without the comforts of home. So it should hold some answers. He waited for her reply. Jem?

Yes?

I’m really starting to get scared. Pretty soon it will be too late to do anything about the cold. An entire species will die.

Silence. Then, Don’t do that to yourself Marcus. It’s not on you to save mankind, Jem said.

It’s not just mankind, Jem. Hannah—

Yes. I know. Hannah.

He could hear the fatigue in her voice over an argument they’d had countless times before. He felt like it was his unique responsibility—his contribution—to the cause that his friend David Mariani had done so much to further.

Anyway, I’ve been rambling again, Marcus said. Did you need something? Is everything okay? Are the kids all right?

Yes, the kids are great. Jacob has just taken his last final. He’s already referring to himself as a senior. I’m taking him for his driving test next week.

Oh, lord, Marcus said. Visions of his sixteen-year-old son driving the streets of Los Angeles were liable to end him before his natural time. He tried to push the thought from his mind. He sat down again.

I know what you’re thinking, Jem said. Banish the thought. He’s already a better driver than you are. Actually, I’m calling about your oldest son. Sam is flying out to you this weekend. Can you meet him at the airport when he arrives?

Marcus’s oldest son had started college early and at twenty-one years old was just finishing his Ph.D. after flying through his undergraduate work in just three years. Marcus was no slouch himself—he did have a doctorate degree, but his studious son put him to shame. Truth be told, Marcus couldn’t have been more proud of Sam.

Marcus? Jem asked. Are you still there? Your image keeps fading in and out.

Hmm? Oh, yes I’m here, Marcus said. Why don’t you send me his flight information? I’ll take care of it.

Jem picked up a device and swiped her hand over the screen toward Marcus. Done. Don’t forget about him, okay?

That only happened once! Marcus said.

Jem raised her eyebrows at this. One time too many.

Well, I’d best get back to saving the world, Marcus said with an uneasy chuckle. I love you. Marcus ended all of their conversations with that declaration.

I love you too, Baby. At that, she disconnected the communication and her image faded away.

With a sigh, Marcus picked up his things and headed back to the dig.

Marcus didn’t forget about his son, but he was going to be late. The gadget on his wrist had jarred him out of his reverie with a jolt of mild electric shock. He found that if he just used an audible alarm, he’d completely block out the sound when concentrating deeply. On the other hand, it was hard to ignore an electric shock.

His little vehicle sped along the road toward the Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport. As the car drove for him through the mid-day traffic, he used the opportunity to contact his son via the car’s communication system.

Sam! Marcus said as his son answered.

You’re running late again, aren’t you? Sam asked.

Yes, I’m sorry. I just got caught up in the most fascinating—

Well, at least you didn’t forget entirely.

That happened once! Marcus said with exasperation. Jeeze. You forget one kid at day camp and never live it down.

I was twelve, Dad.

Marcus shook his head. I know, I know.

His son laughed. I’m just giving you a hard time. It was a character-building experience. I survived.

You walked home. I thought your mom was going to kill me.

The car returned the controls to