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| A work in progress. Chapters will be posted as they are written. |
You can mistrust or even hate a government, but that is not the people. We were welcomed with warmth and friendship as the helicopter landed. Over a hundred people waited on the ground for our arrival. We brought business and much-needed money, but they could have been there even without a warm welcome, that was just special to us. I turned to Professor Upwight and asked, “Who are these people? Are they Russian?”
The Professor was also looking out of the window at the people below. “They speak Russian but are Balkars. They are Turkic people from this Caucasus region. ‘Mingi-Tau’ is their name for Elbrus. The winters are really bad here but they live here year-round – even in the summer. Nighttime temperatures average 18˚ F (-8˚ C). Above the snowline, the temperature can fall as low as -22˚ F (-30˚ C) during the winter.”
The Professor sat back from the window and continued. “The Mountain once had a cable car system and huts for mountain climbers to stay in while trying to reach the summit. The Balkars or some outside terrorist group blew up the cable car and burned all the huts. It ended the tourist business. The locals seem happy with the way things turned out. However, that’s why we’re on this side of the mountain; the Balkars and Russians do not get along. The Russians are on the other side, staying out of sight.”
The helicopter landed and the door flew open. I had thought we would be roughing it, but a facility had been built years before to house research parties and to help grow food for the local population. The facility was heated geothermally, and crops were grown with the heated soil from the volcano.
Our supplies were unloaded and groups of men began to carry the heavy boxes to the headquarters. The first thing I was confronted with was that the locals had been accessing the building at will, and I would have to put a stop to that.
Each of us had our own space, with a common dining area. The locals were paid to prepare the meals and clean the building, which made it even harder for me to maintain security.
After the second week, I went to Upwight. “We need to either trust these people or do everything ourselves. I can’t control everybody. I personally don’t feel that these people are a threat. How do you wish to move forward?”
The Professor was laying out the map of the sensors he was going to place around the mountain. “Security is your field. I will never ask you where I should place these sensors, and you should never ask me how to deal with the security of this project.”
I knew how bad things could go, but I also knew the Professor’s people would prefer their pampered life over safety. I kept an eye on the locals but let them have the same freedom they had before we showed up. Life was a give-and-take thing in this harsh environment. I knew things would be stolen, but as long as it was small shit – we could live with it.
The team rotated those first few years. I was the only constant on the site. I had nowhere to go, and I figured that the side of the mountain was as good as any other place.
When it came time for her second rotation, the Professor’s assistant, Mary Ann Fargo, stayed over. At first, I thought nothing about it. But then one night, there came a knock on my door at about ten o’clock.
And there Mary was, standing before me with a bottle of Russian Wine. We were together from that night…until about half an hour ago.
We had a daughter and named her “Antevorta,” after the Roman god of the future. I called her Anna. She was so smart it was scary. By the time she was fifteen, she had more knowledge than the professors who were teaching her.
But I get ahead of myself.
The first time there seemed to be a problem was during the second year we were at Elbrus. The lava seemed to have shifted, and it was no longer considered a threat to explode. That made no sense to me, but the Professor seemed more worried about it not exploding than if it had blown its top.
We would soon know why.
Shortly after the Professor announced the lava shift, we began to get reports of abnormal events. Tides were rising around the world, the polar snowcaps – both north and south, which had been melting – were beginning to freeze at a rate never seen before. It was summer, and yet the ice, which normally moved back up the mountain during that time of the year, was instead inching closer every day.
At one of those rotations where the entire first group was together again, Professor Upwight called a meeting.
It was good to have the gang back. We had bonded during the first year and others who had come and gone just weren’t the same.
We met in the dining hall. After everyone got a cup of coffee or a soda, the Professor stood up, and we all fell silent. “I have been on a conference call with over five hundred fellow scientists from around the globe. It is our opinion that the Earth has moved off its axis by a full degree and doesn’t show signs of moving back. We’re not sure whether the movement will stop. And, if it doesn’t, the world as we know it will be destroyed.”
Panic set in instantly. When were rescuers coming to get us? We have to get back to the States. Etc. Judith Wade was crying, while Jerome Tate was mad as hell. Jake Wells and my Mary, holding our daughter in her arms, were calm – to them, it was just another problem to be solved. Me? I have to admit I didn’t have a clue as to what to do.
The Professor shouted over everybody, “Please take a seat. Carrying on like this is not helping anything. First, nobody knows for sure what is happening or if it will last. The Earth moves off its axis all the time and then moves back. Most studies have agreed that the movement of Earth on its axis is caused by the oceans moving around the Earth. With the ice melting, more water is moving, and that may be causing the larger adjustment. We just don’t know.”
Jerome stood up and asked, “When are we getting off of this damn mountain?”
Upwight took his time as he looked out over the frightened faces. “There will be no leaving until things settle down. Moscow is buried in ice, all flights are grounded. The icecap is moving down through Canada. As many people as could be evacuated from Alaska were evacuated two days ago. No flights are going over the North Pole. This is our home for now. We need to prepare for a long stay and pray for a short one. When I know more I’ll let you know. Until then, you know everything that I know.”
The Professor turned and walked out of the dining hall. I ran to catch up with him. “Professor, I don’t know if you have noticed, but the snow line on the mountain is moving closer. If it keeps coming we could be buried in snow.”
He placed his hand on my arm and whispered, “Come to my office. We need to talk about security matters.”
In his office, the Professor went behind his desk and took a seat. He indicated that I should take the chair in front of his desk. He opened a drawer and removed two glasses and a bottle of Scotch whisky. Without asking, he poured me one along with his and handed it across the desk. He drank his Scotch in one gulp. He coughed and said, “Hap, when people are trapped, they act differently than they normally would. Jerome could become a problem. The others are scared, but he is angry. We need to channel his anger, because we could be here for a very long time, and the last thing we need is a human bomb waiting to go off.”
I took a sip of my drink and set the glass back on the desk. “The wildlife will be gone soon. We will need to put up as much meat as we can. The local Balkars will need to be fed. We’ll want to bring them in as part of our planning; we can’t have them turn against us. I’ll have Jerome help me to form hunting parties and processing units for the meat. Walking out across that snow all day looking for something to shoot should keep his thoughts in line.”
Upwight poured another drink for himself and, seeing that my glass was still full, put the bottle away. “Hap, I’m going to leave all of that to you. I would just be in your way. But please keep me informed.”
He picked up his glass and turned in the chair to look out of the window at the mountain. I got up and walked out, closing the door behind me.
I knew then that we were in deep shit, but as smart as Upwight was, if he had no idea as to how we could get out of the mess we were in, then there was no need for me to worry about it. Like Jerome, I would stay busy and hope for the best.
That worked for a while.
| Copyright © 2021 by Ed Rogers |
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