The Gods of Thunder

Copyright © 2008 - 2019 - This is an original work by Zeb Carter and is protected under copyright by U.S. copyright law. It is only submitted at Literotica.Com and any submission to any other site has not been authorized by the Author.

Author's Note: This story has no sex in it, so if that is what you are looking for please move on.

The street lights were blinking and the sky was rumbling as the lightning struck the tree in front of the house, lighting up the sky with a display of sparks and flame. Ducking for cover I rolled behind the brick wall that protected the flower garden, crushing the beautiful blooms beneath my body. Looking into the black sky I could see them, ghostly figures flitting from cloud to cloud as they attempted to hit one of us with their lethal package of electric force.

Raising my pulse rifle up to my shoulder, I lined the sights up on the almost imperceptible glow on the edge of the cloud above me. As the glow became brighter I pulled the trigger losing a bolt of superheated plasma toward the heavens. The glow died to nothing as the ghostly figure was consumed by the white-hot flow of plasma. One down and thirty trillion to go, and was he really down and out?

In the United States, there are approximately three hundred people injured and eighty killed by lightning strikes each year. Worldwide injuries are unknown, as statistics on lightning strikes are not recorded in a lot of countries. Lately, though more and more people have been struck by the bolts of energy from the sky, and we of the MDD have been busier than usual. You see we are at war! With vaporous beings in the sky who, have learned to control the build-up of static energy in the Earths weather systems, and are able to stave off the discharge of energy and control points of impact with some precision.

Over the years the sky beings have learned to control and direct the energy of lightning. All these years, maybe even eons, humans have been being struck by lightning and we thought it was just chance. Well, some of it was but not all. People struck by lightning have reported mental and emotional problems that were thought to result from the lightning strike itself. But being struck by lightning was not the cause. Being struck by lightning opened neural pathways in the brain, pathways we never knew existed. Pathways, that once connected, increased your range of vision in such a way as to allow you to see things, which anybody who has not been struck by lightning couldn't see.

You could see the sky beings as they flitted from cloud to cloud in the sky. You could see them during a storm, holding and controlling the release of a cloud's static charge. This is what drove most people over the edge so those who had not been struck by lightning thought the mental state of those who had was unbalanced. In 1923 the Department of Meteorological Defense was formed. It was a black department, shrouded in secrecy. To be a member of this department you had to have been struck by lightning. To pledge your life and honor to protect those who are at risk and to fight the sky beings.

I became one of the few back in 1978.

It was summer, the sky was clear, the sun shining. There was one lonely cloud floating across the late afternoon sky, a light, fluffy cloud that looked like a duck floating on a pond of blue. I didn't even see it coming. There was a brilliant flash and I was face down in the soft earth between the rows of corn. When I came too and sat up, I was in the middle of a ten-foot scorched circle of earth. I had a bald spot on my head where the bolt had hit me, which hurt when touched. I was dazed but knew what had happened, heat lightning, it was the only explanation.

As I gazed up into the sky I thought I had gone crazy. There on that lone cloud stood several translucent beings. Closing my eyes and rubbing them didn't help chase away the vision. Standing, I looked up again and saw the beings, they appeared to be laughing. The cloud also appeared different, more substantial. The color of the sky had also shifted to a deeper, brighter blue. All the colors had shifted to the deeper side of the spectrum. Everything was more delineated, sharper, more in focus. I was able to distinguish many more shades of color than I remembered. The leaves on the corn were now a multi-striped green where the center of the leave was a deep, dark green slowly shifting to lighter and lighter greens outward.

As I stood there gazing around me, my dad came roaring up on the tractor yelling at me. He was asking if I was alright. I just stood there and stared into the sky. He shook my shoulder.

"Son, are you alright?" Again with the shaking, it was then that I realized I had a terrible headache.

"Quit shouting Dad. I have a splitting headache." My hands were now covering my ears and massaging my temples at the same time.

"We better get you to a hospital." I had never seen my Dad look so worried. He walked me over to the tractor helping me get in the seat before climbing up in front of me. We roared off to the house about two miles away on the north side of the cornfield. Once there he bundled me into the car and took off to the hospital.

After three and a half hours of being poked and prodded, I was released and told to go home and rest for a couple of days. They had been unable to find anything wrong with me except the little burnt patch of skin on my head which they said would heal in a couple of days. When we got home Mom was waiting, it looked as if she had been crying. Why she was crying I don't know, because I was fine.

I was lying in bed when the doorbell rang. Now, who would that be? I heard Mom open the door and a muted conversation ensued. After about two minutes it was quiet and then the sound of someone climbing the stairs. There was a soft knock on my door and my mother's head peeked in.

"Are you up for some visitors?" Someone was here to visit me? Who? Why?

"Sure I guess so. Who is it, Mom?"

"Some people from the government. They want to talk to you about what happened earlier today. You know the lightning." I was puzzled by the way my mother was acting.

"Sure, send them up." I had no qualms about talking to anyone about what happened. I felt it was no big deal, I mean I was fine, never felt better in my entire but short life. I was nineteen and home from college for the summer to help my parents on the farm.

Mom closed the door and I could hear her go back downstairs. I then heard another lighter tread on the stairway. The door opened and the bright smiling face of the prettiest woman I had ever laid my eyes on peeked around the door. The rest of her that followed her cheerful face was just as beautiful.

"Hi, Tracy, my name is Sally." She said in a sweet lilting voice as she extended her hand to me.

"Hello, Sally," I replied taking her delicate hand in mine. Her hand was soft and warm and squeezed mine firmly. "Please call me Trace."

"Ok Trace, I'm here to talk to you about what happened to you earlier today."

"Are you a Doctor?" I asked.

"Yes, but not the kind you are thinking about. I have a Ph.D. in Neurobiology and Keraunopathology so I am very interested in your case. I too have been struck by lightning." She was smiling the whole time, her light brown hair outlining her features.

"What is Keraunopathology?"

"It's the study of lightning and the effects it has on us humans."

"Ah, okay what would you like to know?"

"What have you been seeing since you were struck?"

"What do you mean?"

"How is your vision? Have things changed colors? Have you seen...seen...things in the sky?" Her eyebrows rose at the last question. She almost looked like Mom when she knew you wouldn't be telling her the truth.

Looking closely at her face I could now see the resemblance to my mom. Who was this woman?

"Sally, what is your last name?"

She seemed surprised by my question. The smile disappeared from her face for an instant and returned with such speed as to lead you to believe it had never left. She looked into my eyes smiling all the while.

"Trace, my last name is the same as yours. I am your older sister. They didn't tell you about me did they?" She was now frowning, which did nothing to become her.

"Sister? You can't be my sister! She died in a car accident eighteen years ago!" I'm sure my eyes were wide with disbelief.

"No Trace, eighteen years ago I was struck by lightning. I was five when it happened; you were one. A year later I was placed in an asylum because Mom and Dad thought I was crazy. I was lucky though. One of the Doctors there was studying people who were struck by lightning and she took me under her wing. I am your sister." Tears were leaking from her eyes as she looked at me.

It was all too much in such a short time. I think I passed out because the next thing I remember is that it was dark out and Mom was sitting in my room. When she noticed that I was awake, she shushed me and told me to go back to sleep and that we would talk in the morning. I nodded and lay back down. After several minutes I heard her get up and leave my room, closing the door after her.

I lay there for the longest time with questions running through my mind at the speed of lightning. A sister, I had an older sister! Why hadn't Mom and Dad told me about her? She was pretty too! She looked exactly like Mom when she was that age. I knew because I had seen pictures in the album of her when she was Sally's age. Why hadn't I seen any pictures of Sally? I would have been two when Sally was sent away. Why don't I remember her? I should remember her. Shaking my head I rolled over and drifted off to sleep.

I woke to the sun shining in my eyes, as I lay there trying to orientate myself I heard yelling downstairs. It was Mom and Sally as the two voices where female. Dad was probably out in the fields by now and I should be out there helping him. Getting up I dressed and headed downstairs. They must have heard me coming for the yelling stopped well before I entered the kitchen.

Mom was at the stove cooking some bacon and eggs while Sally was sitting at the kitchen table sipping coffee. When she saw me she jumped up almost spilling her coffee and rushed to me, wrapping me in a hug and giving me a quick peck on the cheek. Mom was scowling at her although she didn't say a word.

"Good Morning, Trace," Sally whispered in my ear, letting go of me and returning to the table.

"Good Morning Sally. Mom if you could, would you put those eggs and bacon on some bread, so I can eat them on my way out to the field?" Mom looked a little shocked but nodded her head as she reached for the bread on the counter.

"Trace, I really would like to talk to you..." I cut her off with a wave of my hand.

"I have to help Dad with the harvest, we can talk tonight," I told her grabbing the sandwich from Mom and heading out the door. I could hear Mom saying something to Sally but just couldn't make out the words. Then I heard Mom laughing.

As I was walking out to the field Dad was working in, I choked down the bacon and egg sandwich. Just as I finished I was startled by Sally running up behind me. She had changed into jeans and a t-shirt. She had her hair tucked up under one of my old ball caps. She looked stunning.

"So, what are we going to be doing out here?" She looked at me quizzically.

"Sally, you don't have to help."

"Oh, but I want too! And Mom and I aren't getting along this morning." She lowered her eyes as she relayed that information to me.

"But, I heard Mom laugh as I left the house!"

"She was laughing at me when I told her I was going to help in the fields."

"Tell me something, Sally. You have obviously been out of the asylum for quite some time. Why haven't you been by the house?" She took my hand in hers as she stopped.

"I did, I did. They, Mom and Pop, said that they didn't want me around you. They didn't want me poisoning your mind. They said you had a future."

"But you are successful. You have two Doctorates!" I was amazed by what I was hearing. My parents had disowned their own daughter.

"I am? In our parent's eyes, I'm not. I have Doctorates in two useless fields of study as far as they are concerned, even though I tried to explain to them what I did, they said it was useless." She was almost in tears now. I knew my parents were really conservative but to disown your own daughter... A shiver ran up my spine.

I pulled Sally to me and held her there in the middle of the cornfield. After a few seconds, she pushed herself away from me. Her face was again bright with her charming smile while her eyes twinkled with what I thought was happiness. We continued walking in silence for a while. Once we had caught up with Dad he stopped the combine and jumped down next to us.

"Trace, are you alright?" He took me by the shoulders and peered into my eyes.

"Dad, I'm fine. I'm fine." I shrugged out of his grasp.

"Dad?" Sally asked tentatively.

Dad turned toward her and looked her up and down. He stood there for a long time just looking into her eyes. Then I saw something I had only seen once before and would never see again. Tears started to well up in Dad's eyes. Sally rushed to him and hugged him hard. Dad actually hugged her back. And he was smiling! The two of them, father and daughter, stood there for the longest time in a soft embrace, holding on to each other, racked with sobs of what could have been. Dad was the first to push away.

"We have work to do!" He shouted as he started to climb back up in the combine.

Sally wiped her eyes dry with a tissue she pulled from her pocket. She then turned to me.

"Ok, what do we have to do?"

So I told her and showed her. She picked it up pretty quick and before we knew it Dad had stopped the combine at the edge of the field we had been working.

"Lunch!" Dad called out to us as we finished the last row. Sally and I ran to catch up with Dad as he walked back to the house. Dad put himself between us, wrapping his arms around us as we walked.

"Trace, I want to apologize for not telling you about Sally. Can you forgive me?" He squeezed me as he asked.

"Dad, everything has come so fast and I haven't really adjusted to the fact that I have a sister yet. But, that being said, I was upset at you and Mom for not telling me, yet at this moment I feel no ill will toward you. And I'm excited to get to know my older sister."

"Good. Good. Now when we get to the house you two, run upstairs and wash up while I have a word with your Mother. We were wrong to do what we did. Sally, I now realize when you came to see us we should have changed our position. After all, you are our daughter, no matter what."

Dad was smiling at Sally as if she was a newborn baby in his arms. I think he really missed her all these years. I was also coming to some conclusions of my own. I think I knew why Dad was such a sullen man while I was growing up and why Mom was sad most of the time. When I had left for college, they both had tears in their eyes as they put me on the bus to the university.

We arrived at the house arm in arm. Sally and I hurried upstairs to wash up. When we were done we sat at the top of the stairs and listened to Mom and Dad. They were talking in hush tones. Mom was crying as was Dad.

"Sweetheart, I am sorry for putting you through this all these years, really I am. I'm sitting here telling you I was wrong. I'm telling you I'm sorry for you, us missing our daughter growing up." Dad reached over and took Mom in his arms hugging her to him as they both cried on each other's shoulders.

Sally put her arm around me as we waited for Dad to call us to Lunch. She leaned over and kissed me gently on the cheek, then laid her head on my shoulder. We sat like that for a long time.

"Lunch!"

Dad's yell startled us both. We hurried down to the kitchen for lunch. Sally was immediately scooped up by Mom in a hug that raised her off her feet. The surprise on Sally's face slowly faded to weeping as mother whispered in her ear. Dad was sitting at the table already eating. I joined him at my usual place. Sally and Mom joined us shortly after I had started to eat. We ate in silence but the tension from this morning was gone.

After lunch, we were back in the fields until dinner time. Coming in for the night we sat and ate. Everyone was in a good mood. Dad was telling Sally stories about my growing up. We were all in high spirits, laughing and joking as Sally had always been a part of our family.

After the dinner, dishes were done and put away. Sally and I went up to my room to talk. She hadn't bugged me all day about the lightning strike. We sat on my bed as we talked.

"Trace, I have a few questions for you. Are you seeing or have you seen people in the clouds?" Sally asked first off.

"Uh, yes." She smiled at me.

"I'm glad you admitted it. Most people deny ever seeing the Eidolons."

"Eidolons?"

"Yes, the beings in the sky that live in the clouds, the Eidolons. Well, that's what we call them. We have yet to communicate with them."

"Eidolons. Ok, is there anything else you need to know?"

"Yes, there is. Are you seeing things more clearly? Are colors deeper and more delineated?"

"Yes to both questions. I was wondering about that, the world seems somehow weird now."

"You'll get used to it soon. Now I have to tell you some things that may surprise you. I can tell you this only because you have been struck by lightning and that I vouched for you to my boss. I told him that you would never, ever tell anyone about what I'm about to tell you. Mom and Dad don't know any of this. I work for a secret agency of the government, the Meteorological Defense Department. We try to protect the world from the Eidolons. For you see we are at war with them."

My mouth was agape with astonishment. War. War with those vaporous beings in the sky. It would seem to me that they had the advantage.

"War." I almost shouted out.

"Shush, you want Mom and Dad rushing in here?" Sally scolded me.

"Sorry. But there has been nothing on the news about this."

"I told you it was secret. No one knows except those people who have been struck by lightning like us. And any who refuse to join us in the fight against the Eidolons won't be believed as we have cultivated the mental disorders that go along with being struck by lightning."

"So you're here to recruit me into this agency?" I raised my eyebrow at her.

"Yes." She smiled at me and took my hand in hers. "And we will be working together."

"Uh..."

"You don't have to decide now. Take a couple of days to think about it. The only thing is you can't tell Mom or Dad." She squeezed my hand.

"Okay, I won't tell. I will think about what you have asked me. Will you be staying here for a while? The reason I ask is it would sure be nice to get to know you."

"Yes, I'll be staying for a while. I don't think Dad would let me leave very quickly. Do you?"

"No, not now."

Sally rose and bent down and kissed me on the lips. I jerked back looking at her quizzically. It had just been a little peck. She smiled as she turned for the door. I was exhausted from the days work. I jumped in the shower to wash away the sweat and dirt of the day and then climbed into bed. I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Sally stayed for three days. It was like Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled up into one. She helped in the field every day in the morning and spent the afternoons with Mom fixing dinner. Those three days spent with Sally were the happiest I have seen Mom and Dad my whole life. They were smiling all the time and joking and telling stories I had never heard.

After dinner each night Sally would come to my room and tell me more about the agency. It was fascinating. The MDD wasn't large, only about twelve hundred agents but they had a budget in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Sally told me she had a private jet waiting for us at the Le Mars Aerodrome which is the closest airfield that could handle a jet. We would have an hour's drive ahead of us to get to the airfield. Yes, I had decided to join my sister in the fight against the Eidolons. I had been lucky not to have died when struck by the lightning.