Sundial

by C. F. Fruzzetti

  As usual, the sight of the food made me hungry. The fresh pastries and jam made me forget about everything else for a moment. I was glad to take a place at the table.

  Mr. Parks sat beside me and asked me how I was feeling.

  “Much better, thanks. I’m trying not to be too bitter toward macadamia nuts. This food allergy may come in handy in about twelve hours. Which reminds me, Helga, are these pastries nut-free?” I asked, showing Reid my new resolve to be cautious.

  “You do know Helga can tell the ingredients by touch, right?” Reid muttered to me. He gave Helga a worried glance. “Save it for the restaurants.”

  “It’s all right, Reid. Whitney, that was awful what happened and it scared all of us. We are glad you are all right. Keep remembering to check. That is important,” Helga said as she carried some French toast to the table. It smelled sweet and hearty. “It’s a big adjustment.”

  “Well, it’s a livable adjustment. It’s not like we are outcasts or something.” Reid shrugged. His black turtleneck sweater made his brown eyes seem lighter and they glowed with gentleness as he relaxed in the wooden kitchen chair.

  “Hopefully, it will stay that way. People don’t advocate ostracizing until they are afraid of something or something inconveniences them. Our future depends on people teaching children to live life with an extended hand and not a closed fist,” I muttered. Reid had a perplexed look on his face. I knew I sounded overly serious. I chased away a shudder that went through me. Food allergy seemed like a small condition, but often, small differences could create big rifts.

  “I know what you mean, Whitney. It is a simple rule to treat people as you would like to be treated but one that is the most often broken. Dehumanizing others has almost ended the human race before. It won’t surprise me if it happens again.” Helga’s brown eyes were misty and I knew she was remembering something from the concentration camp.

  “Yes,” I agreed. “It is easy to alienate a group once you devalue their rights and divest them from having feelings. Women, slaves, immigrants…This sorting process is the springboard of hate and fear.” I had no doubt that these emotions were combustible and powerful weapons. Vlad Dune must have experienced plenty of both in his lifetime and it shaped who he had become—someone who hated himself and the world.

  “But you are only talking about a food allergy,” Reid said with a laugh. “How can you make such a sweeping statement? Whit, that’s ridiculous!”

  “I know it seems ridiculous. Unfortunately, I have seen parents who think children with food allergies should be home schooled or expelled because they don’t want to be inconvenienced. It is annoying to them to change their routine to accommodate someone else. At the moment, this is in the future, Reid,” I wrestled back. I wished the vision of angry parents protesting a food allergic child on CNN never blipped into my mind. I would have rather not seen it. “You said it yourself—it is not something you advertise. It is a way to be socially isolated.”

  “Now, now. Perhaps it will change when the population learns that there is scientific evidence that proves it is our embracing empathy that has actually preserved mankind. It is our very unique ability to care that has saved the human race from extinction time and again,” Dr. West weighed in from across the table.

  He always enjoyed a psychological debate. It was interesting to me that he had channeled his precognition into future research. It relaxed my concerns about releasing the pure energy into the atmosphere and I tried to shake the cold feeling I had in the pit of my stomach.

  “Transcendence takes courage. Not everyone is brave. Don’t give up on humanity yet.” Mr. Parks sighed. He folded his arms resolutely across his zipped tracksuit jacket.

  Suddenly, the chiming bells of “Stars and Stripes Forever” burst into my mind space and Dr. West was grinning at me. It was a jolting reminder of the Netherlands Carillon and the Iwo Jima Memorial from the scavenger hunt. I recalled the Lincoln Memorial and The Three Soldiers statue. I understood his point. Horrible situations were heroic opportunities. I had to believe in humankind and myself. The scavenger hunt was a lesson not to lose faith. It was a valuable gift and one that I could see would come in handy.

  “Come, Whitney. You need to do your exercises and restore your strength. You are tired and we have to leave before dawn. You can sleep on the way there,” Mr. Parks suggested. He was right. I was tired. I nodded and followed him into the living room. Admiral Bennett and Dr. West also got up to leave and they both followed us.

  “Don’t worry, Wink. I know you’ll be fine,” Dr. West said as he hugged me tight. I laughed at his precognitive reassurance. If anyone would know, it would be him. He may have been willing to allow Reid to take a lead role in guarding me, but he had not given up being a protector. He would not let me go unless he could be sure I was coming back.

  “I’ll call your dad from the secure phone line, Whitney. I’ll let him know you are doing well. Have Yoshi call me as soon as you can so I can let them know you are safe. I’ll see you when you get back,” Admiral Bennett said. He gave me a hug with several firm pats on the back.

  An hour later, we had changed into Soviet uniforms and were climbing into a Ural Soviet truck. The military truck was shielded with lead plates on the inside and had a large red star on the door. Helga had already stored our equipment and bags inside. I was surprised when I climbed in the back of the truck to find it outfitted with a double mattress.

  “You and Reid will sleep for the next couple of hours while we drive to the Ukraine. Once we get to the checkpoints, Reid will drive and I will ride next to him since we can speak to the guards if necessary. OK?” Helga asked. She had tucked all her hair inside her hat and stuffed the uniform to give her a robust, manly shape.

  “Got it,” I agreed. I was exhausted and there was no place I would rather be than next to Reid. Just being close to him relaxed me and I didn’t think lulling myself to sleep would be a problem, especially since the cabin of the truck opened into the truck bed.

  Reid undid the clip in my hair and it fell loose in waves. “You can’t sleep with this, right?” he asked with a smirk as he held up the clip. I had a feeling his interest in my hair cascading down my back was not only out of concern for my comfort. I looked at him for an explanation.

  He held onto my arm and I was pulled into his mind. I saw him watching my hair come undone as he ripped off my black hood in our sparring match. The image of me in his mind would make it hard for him to go to sleep. “Just for old times’ sake,” he answered with a sparkle in his eye.

  “Don’t make that seem like a last request. I am not leaving without you,” I said, sliding my arms around him. I listened to his heart and thought how I could not live without it. As it drummed reassuringly, I recalled the warning of Mr. Parks that at the heart of every crane was a phoenix.

  Reid didn’t say anything in response and that worried me. It alerted me that something was off. I knew Reid was going to be taking some dangerous risks with unpredictable outcomes, but the outcomes had been predicted, right? I remained perfectly still and my head was lying lightly on Reid’s chest. I didn’t want him to suspect a thing, but my mind was now racing.

  I thought about how Dr. West said he knew I was coming back but he didn’t say Reid’s name. Was that because he didn’t see him if all went according to plan? I realized there was a good chance that WAS part of the plan. Reid was not coming out of reactor four.

  My fight response rocketed into high gear. I knew our objective was for us to get the vial into the lava but Reid’s survival was not a variable. Unknowns would limit my strategy but I would not follow a plan that would allow Reid to die. I knew what I had to do and I was prepared to do it. I was going into reactor four. I closed off my mind to everyone except myself.

  I woke up hearing Reid’s voice speaking Russian. We were crossing through one of the three radiation checkpoints in the exclusion zone. Reid handed the guard two passports and a bottle of vodka. Vodka was good currency. Helga told me the
guards conveniently believed it was an effective antidote to radiation. We had no problem clearing the remaining next point either. Helga’s homework had paid off.

  I started to put on the nuclear biological chemical suit Helga had bought for me. It was made of an impermeable rubber-coated canvas and lined with charcoal-infused felt. She explained that it would be cold and dark when Reid and I went into Pripyat so overheating in a rubber suit would not be a problem; that left only radiation and not getting caught.

  Pripyat had watchtowers and was patrolled to keep out looters. Reid and I were walking the half-mile to the gate outside of the power plant and sneaking through it. Then Reid was going into the reactor to put the vial into the lava while I watched the door. At least, that was the plan.

  We pulled into the desolate city that once had almost 50,000 inhabitants. The second Reid turned off the truck we all moved into motion. The clock was ticking. We wanted the least amount of radiation exposure as possible so we needed to get in and out quickly.

  I climbed out of the truck and adjusted the hood and respirator of my hazmat suit. I clicked on my Geiger counter. The area surrounding me was totally silent. It was strangely frightening and I wanted to get going before my legs froze up from fear.

  Reid was beside me and he grabbed my arm, pulling me into the shadows of the 1970s-style apartment buildings. We turned in the direction of the looming power plant. It rose up from the dark horizon like a specter of death.

  Helga and Yoshi would provide a distraction for the guards with a case of vodka while Reid disarmed the alarm wired to the fence around the power plant. They would give us a five-minute head start to arrive.

  We were almost to the gate when the truck rumbled by us. Mr. Parks raised his arm in acknowledgment that he knew our location. The truck idled at the checkpoint building and I could hear Helga talking to the guard. A soldier sleepily approached the truck but he became much more animated when he saw the vodka.

  Meanwhile, Reid found the alarm system control panel. He moved his hand over the numbers and then punched in the code. We slipped through the fence undetected, careful not to leave the asphalt road. The natural ground was significantly more contaminated with radiation.

  In the dim light from the building, I glanced at my rapidly escalating Geiger counter. I wondered how much higher it could go. The light faded as we were immersed back into the shadows of the power plant.

  Through the darkness, I saw the construction cranes hovering over reactors five and six. They were being built at the time of the accident. The original Soviet plan was to have a huge power plant here—the biggest in the Soviet Union—and they still had not scrapped the idea. Construction was simply on hold. It was hard to fathom anyone ever returning to this location to finish the job. They couldn’t even use robots to clean up reactor four. The radiation kept frying the electrical components.

  We edged closer to reactor four. I refocused on getting the job done. I had my Glock handgun out and ready. I was not taking any chances.

  We reached the door to the sarcophagus and Reid easily punched in the correct numbers of the combination lock. Reid held onto my shoulder and signaled for me to wait. He thought of Admiral Bennett’s warning in his mind and communicated it to me. It was a reminder that if Reid was not out of reactor four in forty-five seconds, I was to leave my lookout position and get back to the truck.

  They had implied that I was going to go back to the truck to launch a rescue mission for Reid. I realized from the phrasing of Dr. West’s comment that was not the case. Saving myself, Helga, Mr. Parks, and the members of Sunrise—that was the rescue mission. Going back for Reid was suicide. We would all drive away, leaving Reid to burn inside the reactor. I reminded myself that I was the asset and this plan was designed so that I could live. That didn’t apply to Reid. Mr. Parks had warned me Reid was a phoenix and that sometimes I would need to protect him. This was one of those times.

  I kept my mind closed from Reid and nodded agreement. I tapped my wrist impatiently like I was hitting a watch, telling him to hurry. He disappeared into the concrete tomb. I waited a few seconds and wedged a rock into the doorway to prop the door open. Then I abandoned my post and followed him.

  Inside, it was a world of unimaginable industrial ruin. The toppled wreckage and amount of debris was astounding. Huge pieces of concrete slabs were scattered about and massive steel cables were strewn on the ground. Metal jutted out from the walls and piles of white dust were everywhere. It embodied the word destruction. Everything was completely destroyed.

  I immediately felt the heat. The reactor was still hot and inside the sarcophagus it was like roasting inside an oven. My rubber suit did not help as it retained the heat.

  I was on one of the upper decks of the reactor. Below on a lower level, I saw Reid sprint around a corner and toward a steel railing. He had climbed down a set of fused and melted pipes that he had scaled like a tree trunk. Even with his protective potassium iodide blood, that was a risky choice. The metal would be loaded with radiation.

  He was running toward the pit that contained the radioactive lava of chemicals and water. This was the final destination of the pure energy vial. I watched with relief as the metal tube landed into the middle of the chemical soup. He had done it. Now we just needed to get out here.

  I scanned the area. The concrete walls and corrugated iron panels were held together with scaffolding. Ropes dangled from the temporary work platforms. No one had taken the extra time to put them away.

  Reid didn’t reappear. I walked closer to the edge of the top walkway, trying to catch a glimpse of him. I could not see him. It was taking too long and panic went through me. Something was wrong.

  The ropes. I raced to where a rope had pooled into a heap on the ground and secured it to a steel beam. I tossed it over the edge of the upper deck to the lower deck where Reid had disappeared. I grabbed it with my gloved hands and slid down it.

  I rounded the corner and saw Reid in the distance. He was struggling to move forward but was being pulled back against his will toward the hot iron paneling of the interior structure. Whatever force was pulling him backward was winning. He slid a few more inches toward the heated metal with each passing second.

  A spark distracted my attention and I saw a rogue cable from the reactor touching against a metal support beam of the wall. My brain recognized Reid’s serious situation. His uniquely magnetized blood had him caught in an invisible but powerful force field. Reid was being held prisoner by an electromagnet.

  I processed my options. My body mass might not be enough of a shield to completely wrench him free. I needed to break the field, at least for a couple of seconds, so he could gain more distance and I could get behind him.

  Reid’s face turned toward me. His eyes met mine through the clear portion of the mask and he used them to beam panic and anger at me like a laser. He fiercely shook his head no in an effort to dissuade me from helping him. In that instant, I could mentally hear him yelling at me to go back even though I had closed my mind.

  I ignored him as my eyes raced over the wreckage to locate the source of the spark. I knew we were both running out of time. Neither of us knew how long my hazmat suit would protect me, and if the magnet pulled Reid into the hot iron pane, it would immediately burn through his nylon suit and kill him instantly.

  I picked up a long and narrow piece of concrete from the floor and a circular piece of hard rubble. The concrete was much heavier than my field hockey stick but I had to make this shot count. I needed to knock the cable away from the metal wall to break the connection. I narrowed my focus at the thick cable and took my aim. I wielded the piece of concrete and shot the makeshift ball like lightning. It hit its mark.

  I ran behind him and pushed him forward. I didn’t know if the cable would reconnect and reactivate but distance was our best hope. I used my body encased in the rubber suit to provide some additional protection. He picked me up onto his back and it was then I had realized I had no idea how we were
getting out of the bottom level. I hoped Reid did.

  I held onto him with all my might. He raced back to the twisted mass of metal that provided him hand and footholds to climb to the top deck. I thought he would stop and put me down but he just kept running. We had wasted precious time and we had to get out.

  We burst through the door of reactor four and I fought the urge to take off my hood and respirator. We had escaped the heat but we were not out of danger. The vial started to heat up the moment it was put into the lava. Reid being trapped had put us minutes behind and we needed to make sure we were back in the truck, through the checkpoints, and at least forty miles away before it started to release as a gas into the atmosphere. In the form of a vapor, it shouldn’t trigger a chemical reaction in the reactor…but nothing was certain.

  No energy source was without risk and I had the uneasy feeling that Chernobyl was not a tragic aberration. Human error was not separate from the technology of the people who design and use it. Unlike the scientists and engineers of Chernobyl, Dr. West had no delusions. He knew this was not all under control. Dr. West had no problem telling me he simply did not know what was going to happen when the pure energy started to evaporate. His only advice to me was to get away as fast as I could and I was doing my best in following his recommendation.

  Finally, the truck was in sight. The truck was safe. We just had to make it to the truck, I kept telling myself. Run for the truck.

  I knew I was right about no rescue for Reid when I looked at the tremendous relief on Helga’s and Mr. Parks’ face as we both appeared from the clearing. Helga crossed herself in thanks and Mr. Parks nodded his head in approval that I had figured it out.

  At the back of the truck, Helga had set up a transportable decontamination system. It was a series of small, portable lead changing chambers that attached to the flat bed. Helga was waiting for us and directed Reid and me into separate compartments. She handed me a radioactive bag for all of my clothing and then waited for me in the next portion of the sealed room.