by Akart, Bobby
Chapter 19
Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station
Antarctica
Dr. Amber Hagood had become used to the solitude. She’d used a pair of scissors to cut off her only pair of blue jeans to create shorts. One of her long-sleeved sweatshirts was similarly altered so that nothing more than a sleeveless garment exposing her midriff remained. She’d pulled two chairs out of Amundsen-Scott’s dining area and set them opposite one another as if she were preparing to face off in a debate with another scientist. Only, she was all alone and about to do something that had never been done in the history of modern mankind—lay out in the sun at the South Pole.
Temperatures had risen to seventy-five degrees over the past several weeks. The rapid ice melt around Amundsen-Scott was astonishing. The two matching buildings, which from above resembled the symbol for pi, P P, were connected by a single passageway that provided the scientists quick ingress and egress to the normally snowy surface. Now the snow had melted, leaving the massive support pillars exposed above the rocky surface.
Dr. Hagood propped her feet up in the chair across from her, slid on her snow goggles, the only form of polarized sunglasses available to her, and opened up her laptop to review the dozens of hypotheticals she’d run over the last month.
She returned to her original hypothesis formed before the geostorms struck the Northern Hemisphere. The time-lapse model showed the impact of the slowly warming temperatures on Antarctica. Her original hypothetical scenarios assumed a gradual, two-year climb in global temperatures, during which time the southernmost continent would break apart, sending enormous glaciers adrift toward surrounding land masses—Australia, South Africa, and Argentina in South America.
Based upon satellite data she monitored during every waking moment, Dr. Hagood repeatedly modified her projections. The rapid pole shift changed the face of the planet.
The Earth was on fire in a hundred different places. Volcanoes erupted like bubbles atop a pot of boiling water, spewing out huge fields of lava and dark smoke that began to cast a pall of gray haze over the planet near the eruptions.
The constant rainfall generated by the Svensmark effect provided the Northern Hemisphere some protection from the noxious gases from these volcanic eruptions, which would’ve enveloped the earth. However, the rain, coupled with the melting polar ice caps created an ever-growing threat for mankind nonetheless.
Water was consuming the planet. Dr. Hagood expected the ice melt to cause exponential rises in sea levels. Satellite images revealed receding shorelines and then disappearing land masses. Fresh water that ordinarily found tributaries leading to the seas was now staying in valleys and hollows, unable to escape. Massive lakes were being created, and existing waterways were widening at a phenomenal rate.
In the last week, she began to study wind patterns. With the pole shift, coupled with the creation of multiple poles, the planet’s atmosphere was being stripped away. Windstorms of unimaginable power swept across the oceans, twisting the volcanic debris into vortexes that spun in all directions. When the tempests made landfall, at least that portion of the planet that had not been devoured by the oceans already, the destruction was incomprehensible. Entire mountains were pulverized; plant material and man-made structures disappeared in an instant as the winds uprooted them from their foundations and carried them away.
Tsunamis were generated as mountain ranges along the coasts succumbed to erosion. As the continents were squeezed by the angry, churning oceans, billions of tons of earthen material crashed into the water, creating a whirlpool that sucked the earthen material toward the ocean floor.
Dr. Hagood sighed and closed the windows revealing her most recent computer simulation. It was not based on the current conditions, which she’d just reviewed, but rather, what was yet to come. She considered it a reasonably accurate depiction of the consequences of the geologic changes brought about by the rapid pole shift.
Because she had nothing else to do each day except work on her hypotheticals and simulations, as well as her tan, Dr. Hagood continued to send her work to contacts at NASA, NOAA, Cheyenne Mountain, and any other international governmental agency she had in her address book.
She scooted down in her chair, allowing her shrinking stomach to take on more sun. She’d begun rationing food supplies early on when she became unsure as to when someone would come for her, if ever. She’d been judicious with her supplies, calculating she could live for three and a half years without a resupply. Surely to god, she’d thought to herself at the time, assuming this would all end at some point. Lately, she wasn’t so sure.
With the MacBook computer sitting open on her lap, she tilted her head back to soak in the rays. It was the best tan she’d ever had, one that was unknowingly causing severe damage to her skin without her knowledge. So much so, in fact, that if she didn’t eliminate this daily habit soon, the amount of food stored in the supply depot of Amundsen-Scott would become a moot point.
Ding!
She chuckled to herself as she thought her mind was playing tricks on her. The ding used to be an indication that she’d received a new message or that someone was initiating a FaceTime conversation. The heat from the sun baked into her skin. It felt good. It felt like home.
Ding!
She couldn’t ignore it the second time. Dr. Hagood scrambled in her seat and shot upright with her feet planted firmly on the rocky ground. She pulled her laptop closer on her lap and shielded her eyes with her hands so she could see the screen without the goggles on.
It was a FaceTime request from an unknown contact at Cheyenne Mountain.
She entered a few keystrokes on the open MacBook and allowed her screen to enlarge the FaceTime app. She adjusted her position so the camera shot only her face and not her scantily clad suntanned body. After adjusting her hair to look more presentable, Dr. Hagood accepted the request. A man dressed in olive, tan, and brown military fatigues stood in the middle of a conference room, surrounded by other personnel, some military and some civilian.
“Dr. Amber Hagood?” he asked.
“Yes, sir,” she replied nervously.
“I am Major General Andrew McGinty with the United States Air Force. I’ve initiated this call from the EOC at Cheyenne Mountain.”
“Um, hello, General, and, um, everyone.” Dr. Hagood cringed at her nervous introduction. She’d been on numerous high-level conference calls throughout her career, but this one was extraordinary. She regained her composure. “I’m glad to hear from someone. Well, truthfully, anyone.”
The general scowled. “Are you alone at the station, Dr. Hagood?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you have sufficient electricity and food supplies? Do you require medical attention?”
“I’m fine, sir. The isolation was getting to me, but I’ve continued my work. Every day, I send reports to governmental agencies around the world, hoping my findings reach someone.”
The general glanced around the room and then returned his attention to the FaceTime call. “Dr. Hagood, we have several things to discuss, but I need to inform you of one thing first. At present, we do not have a means to bring you home. We hope, with the research you’ve provided us, that can change. Will you be able to hang on until arrangements are made?”
Dr. Hagood felt energized. “Yes, sir, General. Knowing that I haven’t been forgotten makes a world of difference.”
“Good. Now, we’ve been constantly adjusting our communications satellites to enhance our ability to stay in touch. I want you to understand that we’re in uncharted territory here. Our scientific teams from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA, and NOAA are working around the clock to adapt our protocols to the change in the earth’s atmosphere. Frankly, we’re in a never-ending battle with the sun and cosmic rays, as you can imagine.”
“Yes, sir. I can imagine, to be frank. I’ve continuously monitored the data streams from orbiting satellites. It’s hit or miss for me, but I’m fairly confident in my simulations.”
“Well, Doctor, they’ve been very helpful to our team. We’ve downloaded them as often as they come to us here at Cheyenne. Clearly, our efforts to return the favor with reciprocal information hasn’t worked. We’ll continue to work on providing the benefit of our own data and simulation models.”
“Thank you, sir.”
There was a moment in which the FaceTime screen became blurred and eventually stuck. Dr. Hagood shouted at the device out of frustration.
“Crap! Crap! Crap! Not now, dammit!”
The FaceTime app began to work again, catching the general in mid-sentence.
“…evidence do you have for your quadrupolar theory?”
“Actually, General, I firmly believe that our planet has formed a strong octupolar system.”
Dr. Hagood went on to explain to the group about her proprietary software and the data used to form her hypothesis. A member of the JPL team was invited by General McGinty to take over the FaceTime chat. They shared information, answered one another’s questions, and eventually agreed that eight distinct polar regions had formed around the planet. They compared notes on locations and approximate size. Then they revealed a bombshell.
“Dr. Hagood,” began the general as he took over the face-to-face chat session, “based upon our evidence-gathering from around the world, the team here at Cheyenne Mountain believes the wandering poles appear to have found a resting place. The rapid pole shift has stopped.”
The general didn’t smile as he delivered this seemingly good news. He furrowed his brow and leaned into the camera so that his face appeared to pop through Dr. Hagood’s monitor.
“That’s the good news. The bad news, according to the USGS geologists and the JPL scientists, is that this is just the beginning of the planet adjusting to the exponential increase in surface water. The sea levels are not receding and are not likely to unless the poles return to their original positions. The stress this is placing on the earth’s crust and tectonic plates means we’re in for a pretty rough ride for an indeterminate amount of time.”
Dr. Hagood leaned back into her chair and rolled her eyes. She mumbled to herself, “Well, that’s just peachy.” Then the FaceTime call was abruptly disconnected.
Chapter 20
Pinnacle Overlook
Cumberland Gap
Southeast Kentucky
It was a glorious, warm day that mid-October, and the Boone party was getting settled into their routine. The day before, Levi had shot an eight-point buck, average by most antlered deer standards. It might be average to most, but under these circumstances, it was the perfect way to boost the morale of the group.
The hunting was slow going, as the buck was only the second deer he and Carly had observed on their hunting expeditions. Each day, they ventured a little farther away from camp, working their way into the woods and down the sides of the ridge, both along the Virginia border and toward the Kentucky side where they’d come from.
With a sizable amount of meat garnered from the three-hundred-pound buck, Levi and Carly elected to stick around camp for a couple of days to assist in clearing the perimeter and to assess whether the soil was suitable for planting.
Using their horses, the guys were able to haul cleaned tree trunks up the incline to the parking lot of the Pinnacle Overlook. Sarah led her crew, as she called them, which included Kristi, Isabella, and Jesse. They worked together to strip the bark off the pines and then operated the two-man crosscut saw to cut the logs into twelve-foot lengths, the distance between the support posts holding up the roof of the overlook’s restroom facility.
The plan was to create a large home utilizing the existing roof and block building and the pine logs as exterior walls. Once the logs were cut to size, Levi would plane two opposite sides of the logs with the chainsaw to create a flat surface. He’d then create notches on each end to fit into cross-logs, ensuring the stability of the walls.
The project was slow going, as they had to overcome a learning curve, but now their system and job assignments were in place, and their new home was coming along.
At the end of the day, which was midafternoon after hours of nonstop work that began at sunrise, Sarah coordinated the preparation of dinner while some of the others discussed what their plans for the next day were. That afternoon, Carly suggested they spend some time in the newly created clearing to take a look at the soil.
They were still in the initial stages of creating the four-hundred-twenty-foot-wide arc that stretched from the rocky cliff overlooking the Cumberland Gap back to the asphalt road leading from Middlesboro to the Pinnacle Overlook. The guys had begun their cuts at the lowest point of the ridge before the slope dropped off dramatically.
Over the next several days, until they’d accumulated sufficient logs to make their enclosure around the restroom building, and firewood to burn that winter, the cutting would continue toward their camp at the top of the overlook. The closer they got to the parking lot, the flatter the terrain became and was identified early on as the most logical place to plant crops in the spring. Their goal was to increase the depth of the open field to nearly four hundred feet, resulting in a four-acre plot to plant their gardens and graze their horses.
Just like in the early days of pioneering, farming would be very crude for the Boones. The antique farm implements they’d found in a barn one night made a tremendous difference in their capabilities. Levi cautioned that the wood and steel farm tools could easily be broken, so they’d have to be treated with care. Also, their horses were not accustomed to that kind of work. They all agreed that the older horses should be used primarily for riding, and the younger ones would handle farm duties.
Carly and Levi walked ahead of the other adults. Levi would stop periodically to dig his shovel into the ground, not an easy task, as it turned out. As the blade was continually met with resistance from tree roots and rock, everyone who walked along with them was beginning to get the picture.
Finally, Levi came to a stop near the edge of the cliff and leaned on the handle of the shovel to talk. “Listen, y’all. Farming is a whole lot harder than people realize. It ain’t just a matter of digging a hole, puttin’ in the seeds, and adding water. Heck, I’m not even sure we could get past the diggin’ a hole part up here.”
Chapman wandered around the edge of the cliff and looked down toward the water that surrounded the south face of the overlook. “All of the good dirt is down there, somewhere.”
“That’s right,” said Levi. “It took a long, long time, but that’s why I made that initial suggestion we consider settling in a valley.”
“But where?” asked Kristi.
Carly was about to speak, but Levi put his arm on his wife’s shoulders to stop her. He’d calmed down in the week since their arrival and saw that everyone was making an effort to contribute and get along. It wasn’t necessary to be at odds, especially over a major decision like this one.
“First, let me say this,” he began as he gestured toward the clearing. “Everything we’ve done here will not be a waste. It could take us weeks or even months to make our way through the woods to find the right spot. Then we may have to clear it. Plus build cabins. Being on top of this mountain ensures our protection from others while we go through that process.”
Tommy chuckled. “What others? We haven’t seen any signs of humanity since we arrived.”
“He’s right,” added Chapman. “With every tree we’ve cut down and stripped, I question why.”
Levi nodded and smiled. “I admit, I thought that survivors of the earthquake would’ve come this way by now. Again, that doesn’t mean this was a wasted effort. We needed the logs for shelter and the open space to create a security barrier. And there are some parts of this ground that can be planted. Mom and Carly bought a ton of heirloom seeds. We can till enough soil to plant onions, spinach, peas, and asparagus.”
“That’s right,” added Carly. “Even in Indiana, those vegetables did well in winter. If Chapman is correct, the winter might be eve
n milder with this whole pole shift thing.”
“In theory, yes,” said Chapman with a shrug. “But remember, nothing is predictable now. We’re kinda starting from scratch in terms of weather patterns.”
Levi appeared upbeat. “You know we need to generate some vegetables to supplement our deer meat supply. Eating nothing but protein can be hard on our systems. Tomorrow, we plan on working our way down the ridge a little deeper into the Kentucky side of the mountains. Based on what we can see from the overlook, the terrain to what used to be Cumberland Gap is steep, and there wouldn’t be anyplace to farm down there anyway.”
Chapman was the first to feel the tremor. It built slowly at first, an imperceptible shudder beneath his feet. He looked to Isabella, whose eyes began to grow wider.
Then it happened again. This time more violent. Trees began to sway slightly, and the wind picked up, blowing straight up the mountainside.
Chapman shouted to his family, “Run! Hurry!”
The six of them scurried across the clearing, tripping over tree roots and slipping on loose rocks as they raced toward the trail used by the horses to drag the trees up to the parking lot.
Sarah and the kids were screaming to them from the parking lot, but could barely be heard over the howling winds.
A lone pine tree began to crack halfway up its seventy-foot trunk. The top-heavy pine snapped as the wind overcame it, toppling it downward toward the trail.
“Look out!” shouted Levi as it landed just ahead of them, blocking the trail.
“This way!” Tommy stood off to the side and waved for them to follow. This part of the woods separating the overlook from the clearing was more dense, full of deep-rooted white oak trees that had withstood the onslaught of storms over many decades.
They ducked as tree limbs were broken off and sent sailing toward the ground. The continuous shaking of the earth made it difficult to keep their footing, but they helped one another stay upright as they dodged debris to reach the parking lot.