Girl with all the Pain

by Michael Herman

  Rafa digs into his eggs, puts a forkful into his mouth and says with a full mouth, “So what’s the agenda? We see the array? Wherever that is.”

  Twizzle pulls out her phone, plays with the display and then reads, “The Starshot Breakthrough laser array will be a 1 square kilometer array of 10 KW ground-based lasers in the Atacama Desert. Perched high atop a plateau at an altitude of 15,700 feet above sea level, it is above much of Earth’s atmosphere which blurs and distorts light. Its location is the driest place on Earth, which means it is nearly free of clouds and light-distorting moisture. Some weather stations in the desert have never received rain.” She pages down the display and then continues, “Approximately 5 miles east of ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) next to Cerro Chajnantor, it is in one of the harshest environments on Earth. Amid volcanoes, desert plains, bitter winds, intense ultraviolet radiation, and low temperatures, it is a testament to man’s adapting to and withstanding the environment. The atmosphere is so desperately thin that to work there, people need supplementary oxygen.” She looks up from the display and adds, “The actual operations support facility is outside San Pedro de Atacama, about 50 miles west of the laser array and at a much more hospitable altitude of 9,500 feet above sea level.”

  Rafa laughs. “Couldn’t just give me the abbreviated version? Had to give me the full monty.”

  Twizzle pockets the phone and says, “You asked.”

  “So it’s a new facility?”

  “Borrowed space from the ALMA support facility. Temporary.”

  Suddenly the building begins to rattle and shake. Their plates and glasses on the table tremble and jitter. One of the outside doors starts to slowly swing closed. Dust rains down from the wood ceiling. The vibrations last almost a minute before subsiding into nothing.

  “Second one this morning,” Rafa says.

  “They’re so commonplace they barely deserve notice.”

  “This stuff affects the laser array?”

  Twizzle shakes her head. “Not really. Only if it occurred during a plasma push. The projectors adjust their trajectory in response to the moving nanoprobes with their solar sails. Once the probes are launched and their orbit reaches the appropriate coordinates, then the lasers kick in and home in on the probes sending them out towards their target with a continuous blast.”

  “When is the launch?”

  “Later this morning the probes will be in orbit and in place for the array to do its job.”

  “Where will we be?”

  “We watch from the temporary shared facilities at ALMA operations.”

  Rafa looks around the nearly empty hotel dining room. “Nice place. I assume this isn’t one of the local $1,000 per person per night local hotels?”

  Twizzle smiles. “We get the inexpensive digs today. Casa Don Esteban Hotel Rural. Nice name, don’t you think?”

  “Down to earth basics. Food is good. Not crowded. Not inside the seething metropolis that is San Pedro de Atacama,” Rafa says facetiously.

  “The small downtown is pleasant. Get a hotel there and the walk to restaurants is easy.” She frowns when her phone vibrates and rings. She pulls it from her pocket, answers it, listens, and then engages in minor response. When she finishes, she pockets it once again. “Possible problems. The minor earthquakes we’ve been having recently are affecting the local volcanoes. Lincanabur is reportedly pumping a little smoke out of the small pond in its crater. Cerro Zapaleri, which was formerly extinct, is now suddenly smoking. Guayaques is showing signs of activity. Very worrisome. The smoke may shut the array down. They need clear skies.”

  Rafa shakes his head slowly. “I have no idea what that means. There are over 2,000 volcanoes in Chile. What do those three have to do with us?”

  “They’re all in the immediate vicinity of the array. They bound the array on the east, west, and north.”

  “Damn. Whose idea was it to place the array near them?”

  “They should not be active. The question is: Will it get worse? Any one of those alone could spew ash and clouds of heated gas that would completely disrupt the array’s plasma push.”

  “Just how close is the array? Any chance of magma or debris making it to the site?”

  “Can’t tell.”

  “And what about us? We a safe distance from these volcanoes?”

  “No one seems concerned right now. They just worry about the array.”

  “And the probe launch?”

  “Completely different site and different country. Just weather to contend with there.”

  “So the probes are launched and released into an orbit that intersects with the beam that the array will produce, correct?”

  “That’s it in a nutshell.” Her phone pings that a text message has arrived.

  “You might as well leave that thing on the table, you’re getting so much action this morning.”

  She pulls it from her pocket and reads the display. “Sonnet says they are just finishing breakfast and getting ready to go spelunking.”

  “I think I’d rather be here near volcanoes than there near the scream.”

  “The twin says she wants everyone to be with them when it happens.”

  “Not you?”

  “I told her she would survive without us. She wasn’t happy, but let it go in the end.”

  “She’s not explaining things?”

  “No. I get the sense that even she isn’t sure how this is going to go.”

  “Like playing with a nuclear bomb.”

  “And standing next to it when it detonates.” She fishes into her pocket and comes out with a key on a key chain that she throws down on the table.

  Rafa looks down at it and then up at her. “What’s that?”

  “A surprise for you.”

  He picks the keys up and reads “Shaman ATV” in the key dongle, gives her a quizzical look and says, “You got us an ATV?”

  “Not just any ATV. Shaman is a Russian ATV made by Atvoros. Should I google it on my phone for you or would you rather step outside and see it firsthand?”

  His lips part into a broad smile. “And I thought we were going to be stuck with the ordinary rental we picked up in San Pedro de Atacama.”

  Twizzle stands and leads him out to the parking area, where a huge orange and black military style vehicle sits. Measuring 20.7 feet long by 8.8 high by 8.2 feet wide, it dwarfs the car next to it.

  Rafa exclaims, “Eight wheels!? Insane!”

  The behemoth is almost all wheels with four large wheels, front to back, on each side of the vehicle. Each tire is oversized, wide and relatively soft with large knobs on their treads.

  “Tires are low pressure for better traction,” Twizzle says as she pats the knobs on one of the tires. “Each wheel has independent suspension which gives you unmatched off-road capabilities. The vehicle has three handling options. You can steer with only the front wheels, which is convenient when traveling at high speeds. Steering only back wheels is perfect for handling soft turns. Side wheel steering is useful for turning without moving, and avoiding hard obstacles.”

  “Side wheel steering?”

  “All eight of the wheels turn in the same direction. Also, the closed frame protects the transmission components.”

  “How fast?”

  “Top speed is 50 mph. Not really made for shooting down the highway. More for rough terrain. This is the ‘Hunter’ version that has benches on each side instead of seats. The benches can be transformed into beds.”

  Rafa opens the driver side door and peers in at a cockpit where the steering is centered with only one seat at the driving wheel. The driver’s seat is surrounded on three sides by consoles of controls. “Sweet. Captain and Commander of the ship controls,” he comments. Looking back into the rest of the vehicle he observes two chairs flanking a center aisle. Each chair has its seat folded up. Behind each chair is a bench seat that runs front to back so people sitting on the bench seats face one another.

  “146 Horsepower. 350Nm
torque. 260-liter tank. 25 liter per hundred kilometers. Rollover angle is 47 degrees. Maximum ramp slope 45 degrees.”

  “New or used?” Rafa asks.

  “New. Flown in and delivered here as a surprise. I was hoping Zed would be here to appreciate it. He’s been so antsy about exploring the Atacama Desert. Thought this would make that much more enjoyable.”

  “He’s going to crap when he sees this.” He steps back out to inspect the tires and notes that they rise nearly to the bottom of his sternum. “Ground clearance?”

  “1.5 feet.”

  “So you driving or am I?” Rafa asks.

  “I gave you the keys.”

  He pulls her to him, plants a big kiss on her lips and says softly, “You definitely know the way to a man’s heart.”

  Chapter 40

  Day 5

  Santiago, Chile

  Standing before the mineshaft entry, Forbes experiences déjà vu. The abandoned mine where his family had accessed their California Gi, years ago, was much like this with its stale odor of uncovered earth, and half-buried light rail running along the mine floor and disappearing into the mine’s dark stagnant recess. Like walking into the hollow bones of Mother Earth, it was claustrophobic, mysterious, and otherworldly. As a teenager, entering that mine with his family to go to Gi, watching his parents go avatar for the last time, then saying a final goodbye to them, was the saddest moment of his young life and something that could have led to long-term melancholy but for his new responsibility; raising two-month-old Zed and fourteen-month-old Sonnet. Tough job for a sixteen-year-old.

  Now he is as much their responsibility as they are his.

  Will this be another life-changing event? While he’s pondering the dangers of what they are about to do, movement from a blackbird, launching into the air a few yards from him, catches his attention. Distracted, he follows its path skyward. As he looks beyond it to the cirrus clouds above, his mind wanders to his parents and uncle, who are spread out into the magnetosphere surrounding the planet. Are they watching him right now? Are they even aware of his existence? What is it like to be them in their inhuman form?

  Intent in his contemplation, the world around him drops away; barking nearby from the farm dog doesn’t register; nor does a Southern Lapwing crying in alarm somewhere to his left; nor the gravel crunching under his feet when he shifts his weight.

  “Uncle Forbes? You with us?”

  His reverie is broken by Sonnet’s words spoken only a few feet from him. She and he are the tail end of their small group. The twin and Ángel are well past the carved mine entry. Sister Mary, Isabel, and Zed follow some paces behind.

  He lowers his focus to her, studies her face then turns his eyes towards the pastoral farm they just came from. “When my parents entered the old mineshaft in Julian, they left you and Zed for Twizzle and me to care of.”

  For a brief heavy-with-emotion moment, his words hang in the air until he adds wistfully, “Leaving that mine was the last I ever saw of them.”

  Touched by his sadness, she caresses his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Uncle Forbes. It must have been tough for you.”

  He turns back to her. “This goes bad, I hope you know that I did my best raising you and Zed.” Worry, resignation, and an unspoken request for unnamed forgiveness hover over his words. In the distance, a wailing siren from an emergency vehicle sets the farm dog howling as an accent to his words.

  She wants to laugh in nervousness, to downplay what they are about to do, but when she looks into his eyes, she is drawn into his worries and insecurities. Embracing him, she offers consolingly, “I know you did, Uncle Forbes.”

  A second dog accompanying the siren becomes a portentous background soundtrack.

  From inside the unlit mine entry, Zed, stopped and facing them, calls out to them, “Come on you guys.”

  Off in the distance, a third dog joins the howling. Like wolves baying at the moon, the sounds have the ring of omen.

  Inside the mine, next to Zed, Isabel turns back to see Forbes and Sonnet peel away from each other. “Are they okay?” she asks him.

  Sensing Forbes’ trepidation, Zed downplays it for Isabel. “My Uncle is so tall, small places like this make him nervous.”

  Isabel turns back to Ángel, who is stooped to avoid the low ceiling and says, “Maybe Ángel should help him.”

  “I think Sonnet has it covered. They’re coming now,” he says as Forbes, now turned and walking toward them, meets his eyes.

  The siren fades as the vehicle distances itself from the farm and, one by one, the dogs slowly cease.

  Sister Mary, concerned that Isabel has stopped, asks her, “Are you okay, my love? You aren’t frightened by this?”

  Isabel is anything but frightened. When she woke this morning and saw Sister Mary sleeping in the bed next to her, a surge of happiness sent her heart flying into the air. Sister Mary’s presence made her feel even better than it had the day before. It was a thrill to even look at her.

  For her, this is a “new improved Isabel” adventure. She’s never been inside a mine shaft. Accompanied by Sister Mary and all these people, she has no fears, especially with Ángel leading. The smells, the muted sounds of their footsteps and the cool earth air make the event special. She can’t wait to see the caves and other things they promised her they would encounter.

  “No Sister Mary. I’m not frightened. This is fun.”

  A Chilean Tinamou singing nearby, melodic and sweet, brightens the experience.

  Sister Mary smiles and squeezes Isabel’s hand, glad that the young child is so happily fearless. In fact, her confidence and good cheer assuage Sister Mary’s nervousness. She points her LED lantern into the mine depths, breathes deeply and then exhales. Better to keep moving and try not to think about what they are about to do. Even with the twin’s assurances that Isabel would be okay, Sister Mary is still nervous.

  When the twin took her aside last night and convinced her of Isabel’s unique quality, it confirmed Sister Mary’s suspicions. Being told that Isabel needed to undergo a transformation that could only take place down in the caverns, stretched her suspension of disbelief, but when the twin demonstrated her avatar powers, Sister Mary was won over. But the seriousness of it affected her sleep all night, making her toss and turn, leaving her fatigued in the morning.

  At a turn in the shaft, the twin places her hand on a rock formation in the shaft wall, and the rocks suddenly peel away with a sucking sound to reveal another carved-out pathway inside the mountain.

  Isabel is impressed. “Like magic,” she says wide-eyed. Sister Mary quietly concurs.

  The walls, floor and ceiling of the rock tube they enter are covered in bioluminescent mold that glows green, bathing them in its minor light. As they follow Ángel and the twin, the sound of their footfalls diminishes to nothing against the spongy floor beyond the magic entry. Isabel runs her finger along the furry wall and comes up with glowing green on her finger. She brings her finger to her nose and sniffs the sponge-like growth. It is musty and slightly acrid with a hint of sulphur. When she wipes it off on her jeans, it leaves a glowing green smudge behind.

  They travel down the rock tube until it opens up into a large cavern whose floor is filled with what appears to be white light-emitting water that is replete with white pinhead-size lights. Beyond the light pool, a large silvery thing, which looks like a cucumber with warts, sticks out of the opposite cavern wall. The cucumber thing is at least the size of a small building. It is very different from what she imagined. When the twin described it at breakfast her mind painted an entirely different picture. The reality is much better.

  Isabel stops at the pool’s edge and watches as the twin and Ángel wade out into the white water, creating white-light waves as their feet splash through it. When they halt midway, the white lights crawl up their legs to completely cover them. Ángel turns towards Isabel and waves like a snowman sending good cheer. The image tickles Isabel, she smiles and waves back much like a child would wave to
another on an amusement ride. Then the white light coating their bodies goes blank and drops from them like sand.

  Zed takes Isabel’s free hand and says, “Our turn. Don’t be afraid. It’s fun. You’ll like it.”

  Isabel gives him an unsure look.

  “Trust me, Isabel. I’ve done this sort of thing a million times. It tickles, makes me laugh sometimes. When the light covers your eyes, it’s like looking through colored glasses.” He steps into the light pool, bends down and scoops up a handful.

  “Hold your hand out,” he says. He pours some onto his other hand and then some into her hand.

  Isabel watches in fascination as the light things adhere to their skin and crawl around.

  “Feels like ants, funny,” she observes.

  Zed nods Sister Mary forward and she bravely takes a step into the light pool.

  “Come on,” Zed prods Isabel.

  She steps into the light pool and splashes white watery light a few inches into the air. Zed leads the way deeper into the light pool. When he stops in the middle of the small lake, the light things crawl up their legs to eventually coat them just as they did to the twin and Ángel. Isabel is surprised to find that looking through them makes the world much brighter and more colorful. When the light things finally go out and fall from her, she laughs and says, “Wow! That was so amazing.”

  Zed looks over to Sister Mary, who is all smiles. “Lovely!” she pronounces.

  Turning, they follow Ángel and the twin to the cucumber thing and are helped into the entry by Ángel. Inside, Isabel marvels over the odd interior. Multiple tube-like pathways lead off in different directions. Huge glistening ribs travel along the corridors, making it seem like one is inside a huge snake. Parts of the floor undulate with a life all their own. Sections of the walls glow reddish-yellow, bathing them in carnival light. The air is moist, almost steamy and filled with floating particles like pollen in springtime.

  Isabel almost laughs when her exhaled breath makes small eddies in the thick air. Everything is so colorful and strange, like being inside the funhouse of a circus she once saw on television. Her fingers trace the lines and indentations of the walls that are fleshy and soft. She looks over to Sister Mary, who appears mesmerized by it all, her eyes filled with wonder. When she touches Sister Mary’s hand and they make eye contact, her youthful enthusiasm and lack of fear are just what Sister Mary needs. She can tell just by the warm smile that spreads across Sister Mary’s face.