The Wind Whisperer

From the time he was a toddler, Doug Preston was fascinated by weather. His first sentence was, “Storm coming, Mama,” as he pointed toward the towering black clouds just east of their home. As he grew, his talent grew with him and he could detect storms farther and farther away, long before they were visible to anyone else.

When it was time for him to decide on a major in college, he found that he wasn’t interested in anything but meteorology. Storms fascinated him, especially the way they developed, how they decided which direction to take. To him, storms had personalities, some mild and gentle, passing quickly. Others were angry and less predictable. He had his own names for them, before it became customary to name violent tropical storms and hurricanes.

He found a career as a weatherman at a Florida TV station. At first, he loved the job and took pride that his forecasts were at least as accurate as those from the National Weather Service. Doug knew when a storm would intensify or break up, whether it would turn in a different direction and, most importantly, when and where it would hit land.

Inevitably, he came to the attention of the National Weather Service and was offered a job in their research department. Doug hadn’t even had time to arrange his personal possessions in his cubicle when his supervisor called him to the conference room. He arrived to find several other people from the department already seated at a long table, surrounded by computer screens on all four walls and set into the tabletop.

Jason Adams, the department head, stood at one end of the room, sipping black coffee from a mug that said, “Job Security – There Will Always Be Weather.” He tapped his pen on the rim of the mug to call the meeting to order.

“People, we have a new member of the team joining us today. Doug Preston, would you stand and introduce yourself.”

Foreseeing he would be asked to do just that, Doug had come prepared. He quickly summarized his education and job experience and sat down again.

“Doug, you haven’t been informed of this, but it’s time you know about a new research project I want you to work on.”

Doug was surprised but, trying to look as if he could tackle anything, he smiled and sat forward, leaning his elbows on the table. A new research project was something he would relish being a part of.

Jason glanced around, noting the surprised expressions on several faces. Most of the group had no idea what their boss was talking about. He didn’t keep them waiting.

“When we ran the usual routine security background checks on Doug, we talked to people who knew him at various stages of his life, including his mother. She proudly informed us that Doug has always been interested in weather and, in fact, has been able to predict it from a very early age, when he was too young to be able to read and write. Doug’s mother and I discussed this at some length.”

Several people sat back in their chairs and crossed their arms, a classic signal they were rejecting what they were hearing. Jason noted that and continued.

“I had Melanie Carter view many hours of tapes of Doug’s TV broadcasts and compare them with the then-current weather reports from our own NWS. It was astonishing how often he was ahead of us with his predictions. I had to conclude that he knew something we didn’t. Doug, do you care to comment?”

Doug stood. “If you’re thinking I had access to information from an outside source, I can swear to you that I didn’t.” He stepped back from the table and began to pace back and forth. “I really can’t explain it, but I have always known what the weather would do, often several days out, and I can’t remember a time when my inner source was wrong. I just knew. I chose to study meteorology in college, hoping to find out why I knew things other people seemingly didn’t. In that, I failed, even as I succeeded in all of the coursework. If your new project will help me figure this out, I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

Jason took control of the meeting again. “People,” he paused and looked around the table, “I see this as an opportunity to expand our thinking about weather prediction. I want to identify other people with Doug’s talent, if there are any, and bring them here to work with us. We need to find out how he does it, and if other people can learn how to do it.”

Jason didn’t mention a follow-up project he was just beginning to think about – whether this team could learn how to affect the weather. Weather control could be weaponized and Jason did not want that to happen.

“If you want to get onboard with this project, stick around and we’ll discuss how to proceed. If you prefer to stay with with your current duties, I can respect that, but you will be expected – required – to keep this meeting and all other information that may come your way about this project confidential. We’ll take a fifteen-minute break so those of you who want to participate can clear your schedules for the rest of the day, then come back here. Everybody else can go back to work.”