Page 143 of Through the Storms

“I’ll buy Oakley a beer then,” Riley added.

Lana smiled. “Deal.”

Oakley took Lana’s hand. “You guys coming to watch?”

“We can see from here,” Chloe said.

“We have to be up close.” Riley bounced on the balls of her feet.

Chloe gave her a sideways glance and then shrugged. “I guess we’re coming with.”

As they approached the camera crew, Lana asked Oakley, “Do you really think it was necessary to cover the car with a tarp?”

“What can I say? I have a flair for the dramatics.” Oakley put up her hands and shook them.

Lana wrinkled her nose. “You did not just do jazz hands, did you?”

“Looked like jazz hands to me.” Chloe laughed.

“Geesh,” Oakley said. “You’re the television personality, I thought that’s what you do.”

Lana snorted, but before she could say more, she was whisked to her mark, and the television crew talked to her all at once while they set up the scene.

The cameraman held up his fingers and counted down. When he dropped his final digit, she looked into the camera. “This is Lana Monroe, reporting thirty miles east of Oklahoma City where a powerful supercell has been forming.”

Lana pointed over her shoulder. “I’m sure you can see it behind me, but if the camera would zoom in, you’ll get a better look.”

She waited a few beats for the camera to take it in. “As I’ve said many times on this broadcast, there is still much to learn abouttornadoes, but meteorologists are doing all they can to discover more.”

Lana turned to where Oakley stood. She chuckled to herself. She’d not warned Oakley she was going to do this. “In fact, we have one of those meteorologists here. Someone I know very well.” She motioned to the astonished Oakley.

The normally cocky Oakley practically tiptoed in front of the camera. “I’d like to introduce you to my soon-to-be wife, Oakley Pierce.” Oakley waved at the camera. “We’ll be attempting to launch sensors into the incoming storm. Sensors that will hopefully give scientists more data to work with.”

Lana turned to Oakley. “Would you tell the viewers a little about the history of the VORTEX project?”

“Sure.” Oakley flashed a smile into the camera. “The VORTEX project was developed to gather more data about what really happens in a tornado.” Oakley smiled. “If you ever saw the movieTwister,it was based off the work of VORTEX1.”

“When was VORTEX1?” Lana asked, feeding Oakley a cue.

“It occurred in the mid-nineties. Their work helped increase tornado warning times.”

“The nineties was a long time ago. Is that the last time something like this has been attempted?” Lana asked, knowing the answer.

“VORTEX2 ran from 2009 to 2010. Once again, the idea was to get more data on what goes on inside the storm.”

“So you’re telling the viewers that we still don’t know?”

“I’m saying that, although we’ve learned a lot, we don’t know enough. We still can’t say definitively which supercells will produce tornadoes and which won’t.”

Lana turned and motioned toward the covered car as if she were a game show hostess. “And this is how you plan on getting that information.”

A huge smile broke out on Oakley’s face.

Asher and Britt moved up beside the car, and each grabbed a corner of the tarp that covered it. Asher sported the same grin that Oakley had.

Lana shot Oakley a sideways glance. What was she up to? One of the cameramen moved toward the car, while another stayed focused on her and Oakley.

“Can you tell us a bit about the car before you unveil it?”