Fire

Jerry was looking at a scene from Hell. Cliche though it was, hell was simply the only word to describe what was in front of him. Bright flames engulfed the trees, turned the grass to ash, sent sparks into the sky in greedy search for more prey. Smoke filled the air and crept inside his mask to form black runnels of sweat down his cheeks. But the worst thing was the noise. A roar, like waves pounding at the base of a cliff, battered his ears as the main fire front clawed and leapt its way towards them.

Jerry rolled his aching shoulders inside the yellow suit and shifted the hose a little to the right, aiming it at the base of the fire. Sara was at his back, helping carry the heavy weight, keeping a watchful eye out to make sure the fire didn't get behind them. They had been working on this front for what seemed like hours but the fire appeared as fierce as ever. Like every person on the team, Jerry was praying for the promised cool change to come early. Preferably a couple of days early.

A poisonous brown snake slithered over his boot, too intent on escape to pose a threat. Jerry couldn't bear to think of all the animals that would die today, kookaburras and kangaroos had the best chance, but koalas couldn't move fast enough. Sara handed him a bottle of water. He gulped down a couple of mouthfuls before she snatched it back with a laugh, "That's my bottle. I'm not going to let you drink it all, just because your daddy didn't hug you much when you were little."

Jerry summoned up a grin he didn't know he had in him. He took a deep breath, rolled his shoulders again, and took a firmer grip on the hose. Only another couple of hours until they could have a break.

XXX

Exhausted, they leant against the side of the truck taking their half hour break, gulping down slightly grubby sandwiches and guzzling water. Sara had taken off her helmet and poured a bottle of water over her head, wishing futilely that she could risk taking off her protective suit for a minute. She glistened wetly for all of two minutes before the water evaporated.

Lightning flashed overhead, but the roll of thunder was drowned out by the roar of the fire. A bolt of lightning hit the ground about ten metres in front of the truck, making both of them jump.

"Shit!"

"That was a bit too close for comfort!" agreed Jerry.

"What's that? On the ground where the lightning hit," asked Sara.

"What? Oh, that. Looks like a metal bar. Do you think the lightning hit it?"

"Don't touch it, idiot!"

"I wasn't going to, at least, not until I've poured some water on it first," replied Jerry, suiting the action to the words. There was a hiss of steam about a metre high. When it cleared, Jerry could see a long silver bar shining brightly in the ash.

"What on earth?" he exclaimed as he bent to pick up the object. "It's like those weapons the police have, what do they call them? Expandable batons." He passed it across to Sara to have a look. She hefted it in one hand then swirled it round expertly.

"Where do you think it came from?"

"The sky?" he joked. "I've heard that lightning can melt metal, but it wouldn't produce anything like this. It must have been here before, we just didn't see it."

"Well, if it's expandable, there must be a trick to it. I can't budge it," Sara examined the object for a moment then passed the baton back to Jerry.

He stroked his hand lightly up the length of it. He couldn't feel a button or an indentation but evidently he hit something because suddenly the baton extended into a metre long shining rod.

"Wow!" said Sara.

Jerry gave a surprised laugh. "It looks like something from Star Wars."

He took up a pose and brandished the baton at the fire burning on the other side of the gully. "By the power of Grayskull ..." his voice trailed away as the fire went out. All at once, as if the oxygen had been sucked out of it.

Sara looked up, as if expecting to see a water bomber above them, but there was nothing in the sky except smoke. They exchanged looks of sheer disbelief.

"How did that happen?"

"I don't know. Has the wind changed?"

"Not from where I'm standing."

They both looked at the silver baton in Jerry's hand.

"Try it again," said Sara.

With a nervous laugh, Jerry looked around for another glimpse of the fire. The truck was supposed to be safely behind the fireline so there was nothing immediately visible apart from smoke.

"I'm sure it was just co-incidence, but I'll take it along with us on our next stint," said Jerry. "Just in case."