Alex and Christa exchanged uneasy glances, both wondering what had happened since they had left the University. Alex looked at Judy. “We haven’t. What’s going on?”
“Some of the oil wells are going dry.”
“Where?” Alex asked.
“California, Texas, and Oklahoma. Do you know what’s going on?”
Christa nodded. “It’s very complicated. I think it’s best if Alex tells you about it.”
Alex grabbed the remote control for the television and switched stations to the headline news broadcast, and they all listened to the female announcer:
‘We have reports that some the offshore oil wells have suddenly gone dry with no explanation as to how or why. Our correspondents in the Middle East report OPEC has called a special meeting and are in contact with our representatives at the White House, but there is no official word yet as to why. Reliable sources say there is a similar crisis with the OPEC oil wells.’
The phone rang and Alex grabbed it. “Martin?” he asked.
“No, it’s Bull. Have you heard?”
“I just found out. What about the oil wells up there?”
“Not yet, but we had to shut down the pumps, just in case it happens here.”
“Let me talk to him,” Christa interrupted.
“I’ll call you after I’ve talked to Martin,” Alex told him. “Hang on a second.”
Christa grabbed the phone. “Bull, it’s Christa. Do you have any crude left at all?”
“Yes. As a precaution, I have ten barrels hidden away where no one can get to them.”
“Put them under heavy guard and get them to my laboratory in Valdez. It’s very important that I have a supply of crude when I arrive.”
Bull heard the desperation in her voice. “Okay. It’ll take a full day, by the time I round up some guards and get them loaded onto trucks. How soon will you be here?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll have to catch a flight from here, but Alex says the schedules are erratic.”
“Okay. I’ll be waiting.”
Christa hung up and looked at Alex. “Now the problem is getting to Valdez.”
“Will somebody tell me what the hell’s going on?” Judy blurted irritably.
Alex reached over and took her hand. “I need a big favor. Do you still have your plane, your Cessna?”
“Yes. It’s at the airport waiting for an annual tune up.”
“Could you fly Christa to Valdez for me?”
“That’s a long way, Alex. I’m not sure if I have the range. I can’t do anything until I talk to the mechanic in the morning.”
Alex stood, hurried to his den, and returned with an atlas and ruler. He opened the atlas to the North American continent, and using the scale at the top of the page, he moved the ruler to measure the distance. “Nearly fifteen-hundred miles,” he told Judy.
Judy shook her head. “Too far. I’ll have to stop somewhere along the way.”
Alex studied the map for a moment, gently tapping the ruler against the counter. He abruptly ceased and pointed at Washington State. “The Naval Air Station on Whidbey Island. I remember hearing they have a flying club. I’ll make arrangements for you to land there and refuel.”
Judy stared at him for a moment. “Not until you tell me what’s going on.”
Alex sighed and was about to explain when the phone rang. He snatched it up. “Hello.”
“Alex, it’s Martin.”
“How bad is it?”
“It’s turning into a nightmare, Alex. Everyone’s running scared because no one knows how or why this is happening, except us.”
“We’re onto something here. I’m trying to get Christa back to Valdez to make sure, but we suspect the ampoule contains some type of enzyme that turns the crude oil into the crystals.”
“My God. Pickowski said there were thousands of those ampoules passed out!”
“Exactly.”
“Is there a way to reverse what’s happening?”
“We won’t know until Christa can experiment with some crude oil and the enzymes. There is still some crude in Alaska. My friend from All Alaska is going to try and get it from Cook Inlet to Valdez.” Alex heard a beep on the phone, indicating he had a call waiting, but ignored it temporarily. “Also, we need arrangements for a private plane to refuel at the Navy base on Whidbey Island in Washington State.”
“No problem.”
“Thanks, Martin. Any word of Menno Simons?”
“He was seen in northern Utah, and then he crossed into Idaho. We lost him near a town called Orofino. We’re still searching.”
“All right, I’ll call you later.” Alex pressed the clear button to retrieve the next caller. “Hello?”
“Alex, its Marcia. I’ve been listening to the news. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“No, we’ve had a change of plans. We just finished arranging for Christa to fly to Valdez, Alaska. I’ll be taking her and Judy to the airport in the morning.”
“Okay. Stop by the University on the way. I’ll give her the computer disks with all our information. She’ll need it for her experiments.”
“All right, we’ll meet you there.” Alex hung up and looked at the women. “Okay. Let’s try to get some sleep.”
As Christa and Alex started walking down the hall, Judy grabbed his arm. “I need to talk to you for a minute,” she told him.
Christa stopped and turned to listen. “In private,” Judy said, looking at her.
Christa nodded. “See you in the morning,” she said and walked to her bedroom, closing the door.
Alex looked at Judy. “What is it?”
“Where am I supposed to sleep?”
Alex nodded to the couch. “I’ll get you some blankets.”
Judy smiled and shook her head. “Not if you want me to fly that woman to Alaska.”
“What?”
“I’m sleeping with you, or no deal.”
Alex shook his head. “Judy, I can’t do that. Not now.”
Judy folded her arms across her chest and looked at him sternly. “That’s the deal.”
“That’s blackmail.” Alex said coldly.
Judy shrugged “Call it what you will.”
Alex glanced down the hall, and then looked at Judy. “All right.”
Judy smiled, grabbed his arm, and led him down the hall.
Christa lay in bed, listening. She heard the door to Alex’s bedroom close, and was about to nod off when she heard Judy’s voice. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she rolled over and buried her face in the pillow to muffle her sobs.
*
In the morning, Christa was the first one up, unable to sleep much during the night. She put on some coffee and sat at the counter, thinking, and then the door to Alex’s room opened, and Judy stepped out.
Judy walked down the hall, and smiled at Christa. “Sleep well?” she asked smugly.
Christa ignored her tone and forced a smile. “Just fine.”
Alex stepped into the hall, and when he looked at Christa, felt a deep sense of remorse. How can I explain this to her, he thought. He watched her look at him for a second, then turn away. He saw Christa’s bags on the floor by the door, and tried to think of something to say to her, but could not think of anything appropriate. “We’d better get going.”
The trio didn’t speak much on the way, and when they arrived at the University, they found the laboratory deserted. A quick search found David asleep in the faculty lounge.
Alex gently shook his shoulder and David opened his eyes. “Have you seen Marcia,” Alex asked.
David nodded. “Yeah,” he said groggily. “Woke me a while ago. Said to tell you she’d be right back.” David closed his eyes and rolled onto his side. “Electricity,” he mumbled.
“What was that, David?” Alex asked.
“The crystal. It reacts to electricity,” he mumbled, and fell back asleep.
They walked back to the laboratory, and Christa grabbed the crystal off the counter, shoved i
t into one of her coat pockets, and then placed the box with the small ampoule into the other. The computer disks were lying there, and she tucked them into her purse. A few moments later, they met Marcia in the hallway. “I’m all set,” she told them and smiled.
Alex stared at her. “All set for what?”
“I’m going with Christa to Valdez. They can do without me here for a while, and I’d like to help with the experiments. I put my bag in the back of your Blazer.”
Alex nodded. “All right, let’s go.”
On the way to the parking lot, Alex introduced Marcia to Judy, and explained the situation and travel plans. The highway was nearly deserted, as well as the airport. Judy showed her private access pass to a guard at the gate, and they drove through. They stopped by the flight office to file a flight plan, and Alex followed Judy inside.
They found only one person on duty. “Where is everyone?” Judy asked.
The man behind the desk shrugged. “The airport’s shut down, so everyone went home.”
“Will I be able to take off?”
The man chuckled. “Sure, lady, if you already have fuel. There isn’t an airport within a thousand miles that would give you any fuel. Haven’t you heard? The government put a restriction on the sale of any kind of fuel. Hell, you can’t hardly buy gasoline anymore.”
“Is there anyone manning the control tower?” Judy asked.
“Nope.”
Judy filed her flight plan, and then they returned to the Blazer and drove to the hangars. Alex recognized Judy’s Cessna and stopped beside it.
As Alex helped Christa and Marcia into the airplane, the mechanic walked over from outside the hangar and stopped to talk with Judy. Alex could hear them arguing, and saw the mechanic wave his arms for a second before turning and walking away. Judy came back to the airplane.
“What was that all about?” Alex asked.
“He tried to ground me. He said my plane didn’t have the mandatory one-hundred hour tune-up and certification.” Judy shrugged. “It was running just fine the last time I flew.”
Alex nodded, and Judy crawled into the airplane. He closed the door behind her, and stepped back as the engines spun to life. After a few moments, Judy waved as the Cessna rolled forward to the taxiway. Alex stood next to his Blazer and watched the Cessna gain speed down the runway, and then it climbed into the air. He climbed into his car and headed back to the University.
*
Marcia and Christa sat in the back seats of the Cessna, talking, and both abruptly stopped when they heard one of the engines sputter. They sat in silence for a few moments, but the noise smoothed out and they continued talking about what they planned to do when they reached Valdez. Fifteen minutes later, they heard an engine sputter again, smooth out, and then sputter erratically. Both women moved up behind Judy, who was frantically flipping switches on the console.
“What’s wrong?” Christa asked.
Judy didn’t reply, and kept glancing out the left window at the engine. A thin streak of brown oil was blowing over the engine cowling. “Shit!” she swore and flipped the switch to shut down the engine.
Marcia and Christa looked at each other, seeing their fear reflected on each other’s faces.
“I’ll have to turn back!” Judy shouted over her shoulder. “Don’t worry. We can make it on one engine.”
Judy spoke to the man at the airport through her headset, and informed him she was returning, but as she banked the plane, the right engine sputtered for a few moments before smoothing out.
Judy looked over her shoulder at the worried expressions of her passengers. “Better sit down and fasten your seat belts,” she told them in a tense voice. “It might be a rough ride back.”
Marcia and Christa returned to their seats, their adrenaline level rising with their sense of foreboding and fear. They fastened their seat belts and nervously glanced at each other, the right engine, and the back of Judy’s head.
The right engine began to sputter, and the women felt their stomachs rise as the plane lost altitude. Christa saw the terror stricken look on Marcia’s face, and reached over to give a reassuring squeeze to Marcia’s hand, but knew she probably had the same look herself. She tried to smile comfortingly, but couldn’t maintain it as the plane continued to drop.
The engine continued to sputter while Judy stared through the forward and side windows, desperately looking for a clear area to land, but seeing only the tops of the pine trees. There was some sort of clearing about three miles ahead and to the left, but she couldn’t tell how large it was. A glance at the falling altimeter told her she didn’t have much choice, and she banked to the left and lined up on the clearing.
The treetops seemed to be rising up, as if to grab the fragile plane. Judy watched the clearing draw near and realized it wasn’t nearly large enough to land in, but she was committed and had no other choice. The thought of her passengers flashed through her mind as she concentrated on controlling the airplane. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled.
They were within one-hundred-feet of the small clearing when they felt a thump from a tree top against the bottom of the airplane, followed by several more thumps in rapid succession. At the last possible second, Judy lowered the landing gear and slid the throttle back as she pulled on the steering yoke.
The airplane seemed to drop from beneath them as they cleared the trees, and everyone was forced against their seatbelts as the wheels pounded into the ground. The right wheel collapsed under the wing, and everyone was tossed violently against the restraints. The wing dug into the ground, throwing the airplane into a flat spin. As the tail spun around, the left wheel collapsed and the nose wheel acted like a rudder, causing the plane to slide tail first. The momentum kept the airplane bouncing backward, its belly sliding across the field. When the tail section reached the trees on the opposite side, it miraculously slid between two massive trunks.
Suddenly, everyone was hurled violently back into their seats as the wings were torn from the plane in a screech of tortured metal before the plane slid to a stop among the trees.
It was several minutes before anyone moved. The speed and intensity of the event left everyone in stunned shock.
Christa heard a moan beside her, and turned to look at Marcia. The window beside Marcia’s head was shattered, and a small trickle of crimson ran down her cheek and dripped off the end of her chin. Christa looked forward and saw Judy’s head slumped forward. Oh dear God, they’re hurt, she thought, and fumbled to unlatch her seat belt.
Using the seat for support, Christa stumbled across to Marcia and grabbed her shoulder. “Marcia? Can you hear me?” Marcia’s eyes looked dazed as she slowly opened them. “Marcia, it’s me, Christa. How bad are you hurt?”
Marcia slowly came out of her foggy dream and saw someone leaning over her. The features were indistinct for a moment, and then became more focused and she recognized Christa. “Umm,” she mumbled and reached up to the side of her head. “Ah!” she winced, and brought her hand back down.
“You have a nasty cut on your head,” Christa told her. “Do you hurt anywhere else?”
“Ah, I don’t think so. Just my head.”
“All right, now just sit still while I check on Judy.”
Christa turned and grabbed the back of the forward seats for support as she staggered up the aisle. She knelt next to Judy and looked her over carefully. The only apparent injury was a large red welt on her forehead, near the hairline. Christa gripped Judy’s right wrist and felt a strong pulse.
“Judy? Can you hear me?” Judy didn’t reply and Christa shook her shoulder. “Judy! Wake up!” she shouted, but Judy didn’t stir.
Christa tried to gather her thoughts. “First aid,” she said to herself. “There should be a first aid kit around here somewhere.” She looked all around the walls of the interior, but didn’t see it. “Damn,” she mumbled, then a thought occurred to her and she knelt on the floor and looked under the seats “Yes!” she shouted elatedly and reached under to rel
ease the latches holding the first aid kit.
She pulled it out, carried it back down the aisle, and sat next to Marcia. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine. My head hurts, but otherwise I think I’m okay.”
Christa grabbed a few gauze pads. “Okay. I need to wipe away some of the blood and take a look.” Marcia winced in pain when Christa began, but didn’t utter a word. “It’s not real bad, and it looks like the bleeding has stopped.”
Marcia nodded slowly and Christa placed a dry pad over the wound. When she was through, Marcia held it in place and nodded toward Judy. “How is she?”
“I think she was knocked out. She doesn’t respond, and has a bad bruise on her forehead. As soon as you’re up to it, we’ll try and get her out of the plane and . . .”
“Fire,” Marcia mumbled.
It took a moment for the word to register. “What?”
“We have to get Judy out first. There could be a fire.”
Fear suddenly coursed through her body, and Christa spun her head around, quickly looking through all the windows. “Not yet,” she managed to say, though her adrenaline level continued to rise. “I’ll get her out. You stay here and rest a moment.”
Christa hurried forward and released Judy’s seat belts, grabbing her across the chest as she toppled forward. She didn’t have time to consider how hard it might be for a woman her size to drag a limp body from the plane. Her only thought was to get Judy out. Christa wrapped her arms under Judy’s shoulders and pulled her from behind the steering yoke. Grunting with the effort, she dragged her down the walkway. She gently laid Judy on the floor and tried to open the door of the plane, but it was jammed.
“Damn!” she mumbled, and put her shoulder against the door, shoving with all her weight, but it wouldn’t budge. “Open, damn it!” she yelled, grunting with pain each time her shoulder bounced off the unyielding metal.
She turned around, put her back against a seat opposite the door, and kicked the metal with her foot, but the door held fast. She brought both knees up against her chest. “AHHHHH,” she growled and put every ounce of strength into her thrust. With a screech of grinding metal, the door burst open.
The Alex Cave Series. Books 1, 2, & 3.: Box set Page 17