The Corps of Discovery Trilogy Box Set: Books 1-3: A multiverse series of alternate history

by James S. Peet

  As it was now approaching noon, Mindy recommended they eat at the base’s mess hall. “Food’s better than what we’ll be eating for the next couple of weeks,” she said, rising from her chair. The others followed suit.

  “Now that we’ve got some replacements, we’ll be heading out in the morning,” Mindy said as the four walked. “We’ll be based out of Carib.” It took a couple of seconds to place Carib, but then remembered it was the Hayek name for the island he knew as Cuba.

  “Based on the fact that none of you have much experience,” she nodded to Stine, “including you, and that our commander broke her ankle and is no longer here, I’m assigned as Survey Commander. That means you do what I say, when I say it, without question. You can ask questions afterward, but not during. Got it?” she asked the three of them. Everyone nodded.

  At the mess hall, they joined a rapidly growing line of people at the self-serve aisle. Just like on Hayek, Explorers were expected to serve and clean up after themselves, at least to the point of busing their trays. With the exception of the cutlery and trays, everything was compostable. The food was good, spicy, and filling, as usual. Bill particularly enjoyed the fresh bread slathered with butter. There was nothing quite like the taste and sensation of digging one’s teeth into a piping hot hard roll with freshly applied butter just melting in it.

  After lunch, the crew headed back to the craft where Mindy showed them the particulars of it and tested their knowledge on the various remote sensing and GIS software and hardware. To access the software, they used their Corps usernames but had to create passwords specific to the craft. The craft even had wi-fi, so one didn’t need to be at a workstation to actually access the software. Of course, using the more powerful computers at the workstations was a lot easier and faster than trying to use a tablet while in a crash seat. Satisfied that the two knew their stuff, she proclaimed the survey ready to go. “You won’t really have any duties until we arrive in Carib, so enjoy your free time during our flight down. Crap out, read, watch videos, play games, whatever. We might want you to spell us, though, so keep that in mind.

  “We sleep in the plane, so be ready to go just after sunrise. I’d like to get as much flying time as possible, so that means an early pre-flight and takeoff. Besides, at barely 330 klicks an hour, it’s gonna take us at least fifteen hours of flight time, and that doesn’t include refueling stops. I figure we’ll get there late Wednesday.”

  Mindy explained that small airfields were set up every 500 kilometers, giving the Corps a fairly widespread system, but one that wasn’t impossible to make from any other field. They would be carrying a spare load of fuel with them to help out at the Carib base. The CL-415 was originally developed to fight fires, so instead of carrying water, they transported bladders of aviation fuel as part of their duties. C-123 Providers did the same thing. For overseas operations, airfields were developed near harbors and bays suitable for port operations, and the fuel was flown in and transferred to ocean-going vessels, usually small tankers. It took a lot of trips, but it was the most effective method developed to date for the rough field conditions the Explorers operated under.

  Mindy excused herself to let the field manager know that CL-214-Z21 was ready to go. She told the crew to join her at the mess hall for supper in fifteen minutes and to bring toiletries, as they would be taking the last hot shower they’d get for a while. Leaving as early as possible meant bathing the night before. The three Explorers decided they might as well head over at the same time as Mindy, so they joined her for the short walk after grabbing towels, toiletries, and rifles.

  After supper, the crew took showers and then returned to craft. The walk back was Bill’s first exposure to a totally untamed wilderness. While he had experienced some of that on Hayek during survival training, this was a totally new experience. With the dark closing down on them, Bill felt exposed. Not only to the elements, as a cool wind had picked up, but also to the wildlife. He could occasionally hear the roar of some feline predator, along with the howl of wolves. He kept his rifle slung in front of him in the ready position, right hand grasping the stock with his finger along the trigger guard. The heft of the rifle felt comforting. And then a pack of coyotes howled close by, and he nearly lost it. Up came the rifle and clamped down went the sphincter. Looking around, he didn’t see anything, but it didn’t stop him from seeking the source of the canine cacophony. He was glad to see he wasn’t the only one reacting—Kim had her rifle up, too. Then he heard Stine laughing.

  “Oh, man. You should see you two, just from a couple of ‘yotes.”

  “Yeah, well, we’re not used to this stuff,” Bill grumbled.

  “You will be,” Mindy said. “Or you’ll be dead. Seriously, though, good reaction. Shows you’re on the ball.”

  Still feeling the adrenaline coursing through him, Bill was a bit shaky boarding the plane. He wondered if he’d ever fall asleep after that.

  Soon, though, the crew was settled into their bunks with the craft buttoned up. As the CL-415 wasn’t designed for high-altitude operations, it had small portals that could be opened. Some of these were left slightly open—not enough for anything dangerous to enter, but sufficient to keep the interior cool and dehumidified. It also helped with any residual fumes in the fuel bladders under the cabin of the fuselage.

  Bill awoke to the smell of brewing coffee. Rolling over and sliding aside the curtain from his bunk, he saw Mindy standing before a brewing pot in the tiny galley, cup in hand. She looks like a lioness about to leap, he sleepily thought. He looked at his chronograph; it was barely six o’clock. Another hour before sunrise, but I guess I better get out of the sack.

  Bill had worn boxers and a T-shirt to bed, so when he sat up, he reached for his flight suit, which he had put on a small hook near the foot of the bunk. After getting his uniform on he dug a pair of socks out of the small drawer under his bunk. The drawer included socks, underwear, and his toiletries. Everything else was stashed in his primary survival kit. His tablet, which was in a small nook inside his bunk, went into the cargo pocket on his flight suit leg. Once his boots were on he was ready to go. It was warm enough in the cabin he didn’t need his jacket, but he suspected he would need it once he stepped outside.

  Raising an eyebrow in question, Mindy pointed to a small cupboard to the left of the coffee machine. Bill opened it and discovered three mugs. Grabbing one, he filled it and took a sip, nodding his thanks to the Survey Commander. He took a seat at the small table, which was about what one would see in a small camper, set between two lightly padded benches. The others stirred, and soon, all four were seated, sipping coffee.

  Mindy said they’d get some breakfast first, and if anyone needed to visit the toilet it would be a good time to do so. “Partner up at all times,” she cautioned. “You never know what nasty critter is out there looking for a free meal.” After breakfast would come the pre-flight, then wheels up at first light, or as close to it as possible.

  After coffee, rifles in hand, they headed to the mess hall, being sure to keep their heads on swivels for any sign of danger. Breakfast was like supper, serve yourself. Also, like supper, there wasn’t much variety, but plenty of food and the four ate well.

  All four decided a trip to the toilet was in order. After all, it’d be a while before they saw another civilized toilet. And the one in the 415, while functional, wasn’t as spacious.

  On their way back to the plane Mindy made one more quick stop in the Field Operations building, asking the others to wait for her. Bill could feel the cold air tickle his nostrils. His breath condensed as he released it, which made him smile a bit. Yep, fall is definitely here.

  Mindy came out in just a couple of minutes and announced, “We’re set to go. Let’s get back to the bird and get her in the air.” She was carrying a cloth sack with the word MAIL stenciled across it. Seeing Bill and Kim eyeing it, she explained that every flight carried mail. “Mail’s one of those important morale things. Better than coffee and beer. So, the Corps make
s sure it gets delivered as soon as possible. We’ll drop sacks off at every base en route, and it’ll get distributed to the ground crews from there.”

  By the time they made it back to the plane the morning twilight was fading into sunrise. They could see the edge of the sun peeking up over the hills to their east as they pre-flighted the bird. Bill and Kim followed Mindy and Doug as they did the actual pre-flight. Mindy had wanted them with her so that all could take a hand and verify everything was okay. Bill got to remove the chocks under one set of wheels while Kim got the other.

  Shortly after that Bill and Kim were seated in their crash seats while the two pilots took their seats and got things going. Within minutes both turboprop engines were roaring and the propellers were spinning. Everyone was wearing their headphones, so Bill heard Mindy call in for permission to take off. The tower granted it, providing her with the time, altimeter reading, and winds. Mindy gunned the engines and the big seaplane began moving. Soon it was on the threshold of the runway, and Mindy and Doug gave it more power. It began to roll down the runway gaining speed until suddenly it was airborne.

  Looking out the port window, Bill could see land rapidly falling away as Mindy took the plane higher. The land looked similar to Hayek and Earth, with the notable exception of no signs of civilization. Anywhere.

  Mindy announced, “Welcome aboard flight Zombie Two-One, bound for ports of call as yet unidentified. Please keep your seatbelts fastened until such time as the smoking lamp is lit. As this is a non-smoking flight, there is no smoking lamp, so don’t wait for it to be lit.” Bill chuckled.

  “Our destination today is points southeast. We’ll be landing in 1,000 kilometers for our first refueling stop at that garden spot of the world we know as the Great Salt Lake. And yes, it stinks as much here as it does on Earth. As you look out your windows you’ll be able to see the Great Basin and Range system, made up mainly of desert, which is the main reason we’ll be flying over it, so we don’t have to drive through it. That is all.”

  Bill and Kim watched the terrain pass under them, both still amazed at the lack of signs of civilization. There were no roads or interstate highways, no dams with reservoirs behind them, and most obviously missing were the crop circles that indicated the center pivot irrigation systems so prevalent throughout the western United States. While it wasn’t something he had really noticed on Hayek, mostly because he was focused on his training, he had still been aware of the obvious signs of agriculture there. Here, it was in-your-face obvious that there was no human civilization around.

  Bill wondered what the forward bases would be like.

  17

  After an hour of gawking Bill lost interest in the ground below, mostly due to the monotony. Other than basins and ranges, it pretty much all looked the same. He retrieved his tablet and decided to see if he could pull up the craft’s wi-fi and tie into the GIS system.

  Once he was in, he decided to find out where all the field bases were. One of the datasets was labeled Secondary Fields, so he pulled that one up first. Little dots appeared on the map of Ti’ichem. They seemed to radiate out from the airfield they had taken off from. On the west coast, there was a base in the San Francisco Bay, another one at the tip of the Gulf of Baja, where the Colorado River ran into it, and another in the islands that he knew of as the Alaska Panhandle. A final field was in one of the bays in south-central Alaska. Bill wasn’t too sure, but he thought it might be Prince William Sound.

  Looking to the east, he could see a string of bases scattered across the continent. There was currently only one in the Caribbean. Boy, we’ll really be out on the edge, he thought.

  He then decided to access some of the field reports to see what type of fauna he could expect. For the next couple of hours, he learned all he could about the fauna of Zion, along with some other items of interest. One of these, and most directly related to his duties, was that due to the massive amount of anthropogenic impact to the landscape on Earth, the shorelines of Zion were considerably different. While the overall picture remained the same, the devil was in the details: in this case, the shorelines, rivers, and other smaller features that can have a big impact.

  Reading these reports took up several more hours, but by then Bill had run out of material to learn from. Looking out his window, he could see that the sun was fairly high in the sky; it was almost noon. Since Mindy and Doug were flying, he asked on the intercom, “I’m cooking lunch. Who’s hungry?”

  “Me,” everyone replied.

  “Flight rats for all,” he declared, then took off intercom headset and made his way back to the galley. Digging into one of the cupboards, he pulled out four flight rations. Each ration contained a pre-made entree and a dessert. The flight rations differed from field rations in their variety, contents, and weight. The Corps actually had three types of rations. Flight rations were, obviously, for use in airplanes with amenities such as microwaves. While edible cold, they were better warmed, and the packaging was designed to allow for microwaving. These came in sealed dishes and included an accessory packet containing coffee or tea, sugar, and a non-dairy creamer. As flight crews could carry condiments and spices, none were provided. Nor were any utensils. Flight rations were broken down into breakfast and lunch/supper meals. Most were vegetarian, but some had fish or meat.

  Field rations were more like the US Army’s HDRs, Humanitarian Daily Rations, with the meals and some sundries in vacuum-packed retort pouches rather than cans. There were some differences between the Corps field rats, as they were called, and HDRs. For example, spoons weren’t included, because each Explorer was supposed to already have a spork on them, and the variety of desserts was limited, with more effort spent on providing nutrition than variety and taste. There was no hard candy, only a fruit roll. A favorite of the Explorers was a rather large chocolate-covered coconut bar. Each field rat also came with a small chocolate bar, specifically designed for the tropics, so it wouldn’t melt in the tropical heat (or even in one’s mouth), crackers, and peanut butter. Bill was originally surprised by that but then figured that it made sense since the founders were originally Americans. An accessory packet similar to the flight rations was included. A major difference between the field rations and other rations was that it was the only ration that had field toilet paper included in the accessory packet.

  The final ration type was the Emergency Ration, or E-rat. E-rats were more like the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) rations that were kept in lifeboats on ocean-going vessels on Earth. Dense, nutrient-rich, and they allowed the user to eat them without much water consumption, but they didn’t have much variety and were used only as a last resort—typically even after hunting, fishing, or trapping game and foraging for nuts and berries when trekking. No accessories came with the E-rats, just the block of dense, nutritional food.

  As each meal was done heating, Bill took it to one of the crew members. First to be served, of course, was the Survey Commander and Pilot, Mindy. Doug had to wait until Mindy was done eating before he could take the time to eat. Mindy didn’t want both pilots stuffing their faces in the event something bad happened to the plane. Bill also started another pot of coffee while heating the rations.

  Kim thanked him and sat at the small dining table while Bill finished heating his lunch, then joined her.

  Soon Mindy announced she was done, so Bill interrupted his meal to heat up Doug’s. By this time the coffee was ready, so he grabbed some of the insulated spill-proof mugs and poured cups all around.

  The flight continued for several hours, passing over mountain ranges and playas, until finally the Great Salt Lake, or Lake Timpanogos as it was known on Hayek, and on Zion, according to the maps Bill had looked at earlier, was below them. Mindy told the crew they would be landing shortly and to secure any loose objects and get buckled in. Bill and Kim made sure the detritus from the lunches was put away and then got into their crash seats and buckled up.

  Mindy began speaking to the tower, getting cleared for landing and being provi
ded all the necessary atmospheric information.

  Bill was thinking that, since they were flying in a seaplane, they would land on the lake. He was surprised when he heard the sound of the wheels going down. They landed on a short gravel field near one of the several rivers feeding into the endorheic lake. As soon as they were down and slowing, the stench of the lake assaulted his nose.

  “Yep, welcome to the world’s stinkiest lake,” Stine announced from the co-pilot’s seat. Bill had experienced the stench before on a trip through Salt Lake City to Moab during one of his spring breaks. It still wasn’t pleasant.

  The seaplane taxied up to a small building with a sign above the door declaring it to be Base Operations. Mindy shut the engines down, and then the only sounds Bill could hear were the wind on the fuselage, the ticking of the cooling engines, and the water flowing in the creek.

  “All out for a break,” Mindy announced, unbuckling and leading the exit from the craft. “Be sure you’ve got your belt and rifle with you.” She had struggled into her belt during the short walk from her pilot’s seat to the exit. Bill noticed that it seemed second nature for her to grab her rifle from the rack attached near the exit. She opened the door, and before stepping out, charged the rifle and, holding it ready, looked around the airfield. It was obvious she wasn’t looking just to take in the scenery. After a short pause, she jumped the short distance from the plane to the ground and waited for the others to catch up, all the while looking around with her head on a swivel.

  Bill decided then and there that stuff was serious, and he better act like it. Slinging his belt on and buckling it, he headed for the door, trailing behind Doug and Kim. Doug had grabbed the mail sack and was carrying it in one hand while he carried his rifle in another. Grabbing his rifle from the rack, Bill ran the bolt back and forth, charging the rifle. Now he was ready.