The Encounter

by Donal Myrick

  Sergei remarked, “As you can see, there have been some changes made since you were here. For instance, we have some new roads; we can drive all of the way up to the rift.” As they headed off down the newly graded dirt road, the pickup with their supplies fell in behind them.

  Miguel was anxious to show off his new quarters. Upon arriving, Scott said, “Wow, you did get an upgrade. Did you get a pay raise also?”

  “Si, si, it came with the territory.” You could say that Miguel was a ‘ happy camper’. Miguel pointed to a nearby open area and suggested that Max set up their operations there.

  After the soldiers unloaded the truck and returned to the Russian base of operations, Miguel invited Max, Scott, and Sergei to join him in his new dining tent for a few beers.

  As they sat around Miguel’s conference/dining table, Miguel passed out some cold beer’s which he brought to everyone’s attention that they were, in fact, thanks to his new refrigerator, ‘cold beers’.

  Sergei opened the discussions with a statement, “Like you Americans like to say, let’s put our cards on the table. While I believe that everything you have told me is true, I also believe that there is a lot that you haven’t shared. I’m not blaming you or faulting you, I’m just stating the facts. I am sure that if I were in your position, I would be careful with what I shared as well. So, I’ll tell you what we know and what we suspect. We recently were able to successfully lower a camera down the pit. On the bottom, we noted the bags of equipment that you lost as you were exiting the cave. We also noticed several other things on the bottom. One was a high tech wire reel, which obviously was used to measure the depth of the pit and probably some other parameters as well. Another was a curious device enclosed in an interesting net. I am very curious as to how you just happened to have that obviously specialized net in your inventory, you must tell me all about that sometime. Some of our scientists have opined that this device was used to profile the pit. Are we correct? And, if you profiled the pit, you must be aware of the unusual anomalous structure that exists two hundred meters down. Since you have added Dr. Schillinger to your expedition personnel, I gather that you have formed a rather solid opinion as to what caused that anomaly. Am I correct again?”

  Max nodded in agreement, and Scott said, “You are correct on all counts. Ted noted that the spherical anomaly was definitely not natural, and must have been caused by a very large explosion, and considering the glassy character of the walls of the cave, he almost immediately came to the conclusion that the explosion had to be nuclear. He spent most of his time collecting samples to support his thesis. So, yes, when you showed up, we were immediately suspicious that your government was somehow involved. By the way, if that is the case, we don’t want to be involved. We know nothing, we’ve seen nothing. We just want to explore the pit. On the other hand, if as Ted and Dr. Schillinger believe, the explosion is ancient, and hence no modern government is involved. All they want to do is research the event. They believe that geologic history may be made at this site, and they want to write that history.”

  Sergei asked, “Why do they believe that it was an ancient event?”

  Scott said, “No radiation, I’m sure that you noticed that as well.”

  “Yes, of course, we did. We did not conclude that it was an ancient event, however. Now, the big question, will you share with me your government’s opinions regarding this anomalous event?”

  Max said, “Our government is totally clueless. They have no idea as to what is really going on here or as to what we have found or observed. As far as they know, we are just a bunch of cavers that have somehow gotten involved with a bunch of Russians. What they really want to know is what are you Russians doing here, and specifically, what are your interests in the area. They want to know about every conversation that we have with you. They are probably watching us from a satellite right now. If they thought nuclear anything was involved, they would be crawling all over this place like beetles on a pile of dung.”

  Scott also pointed out that, “If they had a clue or if they thought nuclear was involved, they wouldn’t allow us to be here. You know, we need to continue these discussions, but the rest of our crew also needs to be involved, especially Dr. Baldridge and Dr. Schillinger.”

  Sergei said, “Let’s reconvene tomorrow after you all get settled in. My scientists have a theory that they will share with you. They have an alternate theory to the nuclear supposition that I am sure you will find interesting.”

  By the following afternoon, with the help of Sergei’s crew, Max’s camp was set up and organized. It was, however, not nearly as opulent as Miguel’s digs. It was about four in the afternoon as everyone was tapering down from a busy day’s work when Sergei and some of his comrades showed up. These men did not appear to be military or political operative types but rather academics of some sort.

  Sergei said, “I hope that we haven’t come at an inconvenient time, but I was hoping to continue our discussions that we were having yesterday.”

  Max greeted them and said, “Not at all, we were just finishing up, and now is a good time for a break. Let’s meet over there in Miguel’s dining tent. Let me round up my crew, and we will meet you there.”

  Miguel’s dining tent was a bit crowded, but somehow everyone managed to find a place to sit. Sergei began with introductions, “This is Dr. Pavel Ramanski, our lead scientist. Dr. Ramanski is a professor of physics at the University of Moscow. Dr. Dmitry Ormant and Dr. Yuri Kuznetsov are professors of geology with the Lenin Institute of Mining.”

  Max then introduced the members of his crew. After handshakes all around, Ted said, “I understand that you have a theory regarding the anomalous nature of this cave system. Is that correct?”

  Sergei said, “We have a number of things that we would like to discuss, and yes, that is one of them.”

  Dr. Ramanski began, “I believe that you all discussed yesterday the possibility that the anomaly was caused by some sort of nuclear explosion. We agree that is a possibility, and we have not discounted it. Such an event would explain a lot of what we have observed. However, to be conclusive, we need much more information and rock samples. The lack of any residual radiation is a conundrum. Is it possible that this is such an ancient event that the radiation is completely dissipated? That does not seem to be possible, so we are forced to consider other possibilities.”

  Dr. Shillinger asked, “Do you have a plausible alternative theory?”

  Dr. Ramanski replied, “Plausible, yes. But just how plausible is an open question. You are familiar with Nikola Tesla, yes.”

  Everyone nodded in the affirmative. Dr. Ramaski continued, “Tesla did extensive research on ball lightning and elucidated extensively on what he believed were its properties, yet to date still little is really known about the phenomena. As a possibility, we believe that a huge quantity of ball lightning may have somehow become encapsulated in the ancient rock of this mountain. How or why it might have been encapsulated, we have no idea, but an encapsulate plasma the size of the geologic anomaly observed two hundred meters down the pit would contain pent up energy comparable to a mid-sized nuclear bomb. If an earthquake occurred that caused a breach in the rock encapsulating the plasma, the release of energy would have been sufficient to cause the glassification of the rock, which we all have observed. Now, this is just a theory, but we believe it is equally as plausible as the nuclear explosion theory. Both theories have giant holes that require explanation before either can be accepted as fact.”

  Dr. Schillinger remarked, “I congratulate you on your theory. It certainly seems plausible, and the idea never crossed any of our minds. You know, the Catatumbo Lightning of Lake Maracaibo may be a long term artifact of such an event like you are postulating. We obviously need a bunch of samples, especially from the spherical anomaly area.”

  Ted pointed out that getting samples from the spherical anomaly area might be difficult to the point of being impossible, but surely there would be debris on the bottom from the area
which could be collected.

  That brought up the next point that Sergei wanted to discuss. Sergei said, “I propose that we collaborate on this effort. We are not prepared to descend the pit, but you are. We have already set up an analytical laboratory where we can chemically and physically assay the samples. You collect, and we analyze. Drs. Ormant and Kuznetsov are prepared to do whatever analysis is appropriate, and Drs. Baldridge and Schillinger can participate in the analysis in whatever capacity they desire. This would be a win-win situation for both of our expeditions. You spelunkers would get credit for descending and exploring the pit, the ‘pit from hell’ as some of my men have described it. And, both of our science teams would get the data they need to validate/invalidate one or both of the theories. The scientist can jointly author papers on the findings. That is my proposition. I hope that you will give it serious consideration. Together we are more likely to succeed than if we work separately. By the way, for your information, I can assure you that our government is not currently conducting, and never has in the past conducted any type of nuclear activity in this area.”

  On the previous day, when Sergei said that he had things he wanted to discuss, Max had expected to be dressed down for not being totally honest with him. What max did not expect was to receive an open arms proposition for cooperation and support. Max was overwhelmed, so he thanked Sergei for the opportunity, but before he could give him an answer, the whole group would need to discuss the proposition and come to a consensus.

  Max said, “How about we let you know in the morning. You have given us a lot to think about.”

  After that, the meeting broke up into informal one-on-one discussions. After an exchange of some pleasantries and small talk, most of Max’s crew excused themselves to prepare for the next day’s activities. Ted and Dr. Schillinger started talking with Drs. Ramanski, Ormant, and Kuznetsov about the analytical capabilities they had in their field laboratory, and what level of technician support they had at their disposal. They wanted to know if the Russians had discovered anything of significance, and if they had formulated a list of specifics, they were hoping to find or not find. Dr. Ramanski indicated that they would be looking specifically for any artifacts that would indicate a nuclear event had occurred. If they could find no artifacts, that would rule out a nuclear explosion. If they found some artifacts, they would be interested in accurately determining their age. They would be especially interested if they turned out to be recent. The implications of that would be huge. Dr. Schillinger said that the preliminary tests that he had made did not turn up any unexpected radiation-related artifacts and that in itself was unexpected. Ted was wondering what sort of physical evidence could they turn up that would support the theory of a ball lightning plasma explosion.

  Dr. Kuznetsov said, “Well, if we find no fates of any known nuclear reaction, that finding would say look carefully at the next best theory, which at the moment is the ball lightning theory.” That, of course, would not constitute proof, but would simply be evidence of plausibility.

  On the other side of the tent, Max and Sergei were talking. Max told Sergei about their plans for descending the pit, the special equipment they had developed to make it possible, and what help they could use in transporting and setting the equipment up back at the pit. Max told Sergei that even if, for some reason, his crew decided that it would be inappropriate to work closely together, that he would still appreciate some help in getting the equipment back to the pit. Sergei was amused with the boldness of Max’s request should they agree not to collaborate, but as noted before, Sergei was a smooth politician, and he recognized opportunity when he saw it, so he promised his full support. Max agreed that the Russian’s route would be the most expeditious for moving the heavy equipment back to the pit and that he and Scott would oversee the effort. Max also explained that Jim, Bufford, Spider, and Peggy would be busy re-rigging the American’s original route because it would enable the most rapid means for personnel to travel to and from the pit. Max told Sergei that he would now get to see how they did it. He said, “We used drones and a Spider.”

  CHAPTER 9

  A Shaky Agreement

  Later that evening, everyone gathered at Miguel’s Diner for supper. Discussions centered around whether or not to accept Sergei’s offer. Max stated that he was in favor of accepting because Sergei could provide a huge amount of support, and they had a field laboratory to analyze samples for Ted and Dr. Schillinger. That was a big plus. He said that we are going to be crawling all over each other anyway, so there is not going to be any secrets, at least not topside of the pit. Scott pointed out that there might be hell-to-pay if or when the CIA learns that we are collaborating with the Russians. However, there is probably nothing they can do about it. Collaborating for mutual benefit should be totally legal so long as there is no exchange of money. We aren’t their agents, and they aren’t ours. We aren’t contracting to provide them anything and vice-versa.

  Ted said, “I say, let’s go for it. After all, the CIA hasn’t exactly fallen all over themselves to offer us any support.”

  Max said, “Let’s see a show of hands for who is in favor of accepting Sergei’s offer.” All hands showed in favor.

  The next morning, Max informed Sergei of the group’s decision to accept his offer, but that it must be kept informal, or else the CIA might later misconstrue our intentions. Sergei was elated with the news and true to his word, a dozen men were put at Max’s disposal to do whatever needed doing.

  It turned out to be a very busy day, and everything progressed successfully and without incident. By the end of the day, the route was re-rigged, the winch and generator were installed, the special NMI rope was carefully laid out ready for use, and the communications network was checked out and certified ready for use. The primary shield was attached to the NMI rope and positioned ready for lowering. The secondary shield and NMI rope were stowed in the attic out of sight but ready for use if necessary. All systems were checked and re-checked, and it was agreed that the next day would be a ‘go for descent’.

  It was decided that Max would be the first down, followed by Bufford, then Spider, and finally Jim. Everyone else would remain topside to monitor progress, and to respond to any requests or emergencies. Considering the time that would be required for both the descent and the ascent, the group planned to spend several days, perhaps even a week, on the bottom. This meant that the first items down would be supplies to support the crew for three to four days as they explored around the bottom of the pit and collected samples for the scientists.

  When the time arrived for Max to begin his descent, every detail was checked and rechecked. In addition to his regular caving helmet, which was now outfitted with Sam’s one-of-a-kind communications gear, and his regular caving boots, Max was wearing a special lightweight wetsuit and sporting a full face mask and a state-of-the-art rebreather. The rebreather would provide up to eight hours of breathable air should the shield or winches fail and leave him stranded in the middle of the falling torrent. Dangling beneath Max would be a pack containing his climbing gear. The idea for using the rebreather was to maximize his survival time if the shield failed, thereby maximizing the time for the topside crew to come up with solutions. Everywhere a single point failure possibility was identified, a redundancy was incorporated, and when redundancy was not possible, extra robustness was provided, or a workaround was developed. As a consequence of all this preplanning, everyone held a high degree of confidence in the likely success of the plan.

  Despite all this preparation, as Max began clipping onto the descent rope beneath the shield, there was an air of serious concern as well as excitement. Caving history was about to be made, or a gigantic disaster was about to unfold. Once Max was clipped in and snugged up tight beneath the shield, the slow descent began. As he descended into the torrent, he could feel the tremendous force of the water pounding down on top of the shield. The whole rig shuddered under the load. He couldn’t help but think what a good idea it would ha
ve been to have added several additional layers of carbon fiber to the shield. Even with the noise-canceling earphones, the noise was deafening. The shield was doing its job, just as planned. The water struck the shield and then flowed along its curvature and down, creating a tunnel around and beneath Max. Max remarked, “This is freaking awesome! I can see twenty to thirty feet below me, then the tunnel collapses.” Scott queried, “How are you doing? Are you ok?” Max could barely hear him when he replied, ”Yeah, I’m ok. I can barely hear you though, it is really noisy down here.”

  Topside Jim was controlling Max’s descent. Since the spool of the parasail winch wouldn’t hold three thousand feet of rope, several coils of rope were placed around the spool. For descent, the winch spool was used as a rappel device, no power needed. For ascent, the power feature of the winch was used. Jim was being helped by Boris Anatoly, one of the Russians, and by Ted and Bufford. When it came time for Jim to descend, Ted would be in charge of controlling their descent with Scott and the Russians helping. The way they were managing the descent was to use the winch drum as the primary rappel device backed up by a six-bar rescue rappel rack. Five loops around the drum provided more than the requisite friction to control Max’s descent. While Jim managed the descent, Ted managed the feed of the rope through the rappel rack, ensuring that Jim had sufficient slack to smoothly control Max’s descent. Should the five wraps around the spool prove to insufficient, Ted could squeeze a couple of brake bars together and completely halt the descent if necessary. The five wraps worked perfectly. Periodically, Peggy would pour some water over the winch drum to ensure that it didn’t overheat and damage the rope.

  When Max was down about seven hundred feet, the noise level had diminished substantially. Max said, “This is amazing, it is like descending through heavy rain while being lashed by tongues of water. Occasionally I get a glimpse of what lies beyond the rain, but then it disappears again. You can lower me a little faster if you can. There is nothing to gain from lingering when you can’t see anything.”