Extinction 2038

by P. R. Garcia

  “Much like yourselves,” the Commander said matter-of-factly. “Just as with military personnel, the world often forgets the sacrifices scientists perform to ensure our future.”

  “Have you, Dr. Q?” asked the Ensign. “”Have you ensured our future?”

  “You’re out of line, Ensign O’Neil,” the Commander disciplined.

  “I don’t mind, Commander,” Dr. Q said. “And as one of our rescuers, the least I can do is answer his question. Can we ensure humanity's future? No. But we can help. We know what the virus was and is. Although we don’t have a definitive answer on why some humans and animals are immune while others die within hours or days, we are close. With luck, we can keep this from happening again.”

  “So you do have a cure?” the Commander asked.

  “Yes and no,” the doctor replied in truth. “Mr. Fitzpatrick may already have a cure waiting for us in Tennessee, made from the blood of his two vulture friends. And if not, we do believe the virus has pretty much run its course. The real cure I speak of, Commander Lucio, Ensign O’Neil, is mankind itself. We have the capability of reshaping our future and, with the help of scientist like ourselves, ensure whatever else is hidden in the frozen ice of Antarctica is never released again. Mankind now has a choice: We can continue down our former path of destruction, continue to take what we want because we want it like the pirates you destroyed. Or, we can learn from our mistakes and cherish this planet we live on. With or without us, Mother Nature will restore life as she did sixty-five million years ago. If man is a part of that restoration, it is up to each of us.”

  “Look,” Max shouted, pointed to the north as a giant blimp came into view. “Is that her?”

  “Yes, that is your ride home,” the Commander confirmed. “The Queen Victoria. She’ll have you home in about thirty hours.”

  “Thirty hours?” Gayle sighed. “I can’t believe it.”

  “Professor Stans, if you would show my men what needs to go with you as you continue your journey, they will prepare it for departure.”

  “Follow me, men,” Max smiled. Max didn’t want to correct the Commander and tell him he wasn’t a professor, just a grad student. Besides, he kind of liked being referred to that way. “Just call me Max. It’s a little cramped down here. And watch your heads. The ceilings are pretty low.”

  “Can’t be any worse than the sub,” one of the sailors replied.

  “How’s the doctor doing?” Commander Lucio asked the medic.

  “At least two broken ribs,” the Medic reported. “I won't know until we get him aboard the Queen Victoria, but one lung may also be punctured. I've given him something for the pain. I’d prefer to put him to sleep, but he insists on seeing how he’s going to get aboard the Airlander from a boat.”

  “How are we going to get aboard?” Gayle asked.

  “The Queen Victoria is one remarkable ship,” the Commander replied. “She can land anywhere: on land, in water, even on a large ship. She was built solely for the purpose of rescue.” Seeing further explanation was needed, the Commander continued. “She will actually glide down and land on the water relatively close to your vessel. We’ll then secure her between your boat and ours. Once secured, they’ll extend a long ramp to reach your ship, and you will simply walk across. Or, in the doctor’s and your case, be carried across.”

  “She can come that close?” a slightly drugged Lachlan asked, watching their rescue ship grow larger with each passing minute.

  “She’s designed so the balloon part of the vessel is far above the basket,” the Commander said. “She can slide up to a third-story building with no fear of damaging her. Plus, her sides are made of an extra light, extra durable secret material that does not easily tear. She can even sustain some bullet holes without affecting her ability to fly.”

  “I don’t want to miss walking across to go inside,” Dr. Q said, his words slightly slurred as his head slipped down on Gayle’s shoulder. “Make sure I’m awake, Gayle. Going to ride in the big balloon. Just like going to the fair.” His eyes closed.

  “I think you’ll be carrying him,” Gayle laughed.

  THE FUTURE

  “I can’t believe I missed the entire thing,” Dr. Q grumbled, sitting in his hospital bed at the research facility in Tennessee. “Not only did I miss seeing her land, but I missed our entire trip here. I can’t believe it.”

  “When they got you aboard, the doctors discovered that both of your lungs had been punctured,” Professor Dilbert explained. “They had to operate immediately. You were losing a lot of blood internally. They didn’t even think you’d make it, Sweetheart.”

  “But I missed the entire trip,” he grumbled again. “When am I ever going to get another chance to fly in one of those things? There’s only two or three of them in the world.”

  “Actually, Doc, she’s the only one,” Max stated.

  “Don’t tell him that,” Gayle chastised.

  “Great,” Dr. Q replied. “Now, for sure, I’ll never get a chance.”

  “I am certain that when the Airlander returns, the Captain will give you a ride,” Gayle reassured her new husband. “After all, you are being called the savior of man.”

  Dr. Q just rolled his eyes. Being referred to as a savior was the last thing he wanted. Besides, Gayle, Max, the astronauts and many others were just as responsible. “When are they scheduled to return?”

  “It took some doing, but Mr. Fitzpatrick was able to locate Major Wesley’s family,” Max answered. “He started using ham radio operators to contact people around the Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge area. Remember, Paul told you that’s where he and his wife had bought a home to retire to. Word spread of what the Major had done, and it didn’t take long for Mr. Fitzpatrick to locate the family. Thankfully, all were alive. The Queen Victoria is going down to get the family and bring them here so we can personally thank Paul’s widow for what he did.”

  “We do have his recording, right?” Dr. Q immediately asked.

  “Yes, it’s safe here in a vault,” Gayle reassured the doctor.

  “Any luck in locating any of the other families?” Dr. Q asked, hoping somehow they too had survived.

  “Paul and John were the only two astronauts from the United States,” Gayle answered. “So far there’s been no word on John’s family. The other three astronauts were from Europe. Radio operators are doing their best to locate them, but we only have a possible location for Uli’s.”

  Dr. Q took a deep breath, closed his eyes. Just the thought of the answer to the question he was about to ask had his heart pounding. Preparing for the worst, he took a deep breath, opened his eyes and asked. “What’s the death toll?”

  Gayle looked at Max and nodded her confirmation to tell him the truth. “From the little we’ve been told, it appears that our estimates were a little low,” Max said. “It’s hard to get an accurate count since there is no way to communicate other than ham radios and Morse Code, but they estimate eighty-two percent of humans were lost.”

  “So less than twenty percent survived?” Dr. Q asked, horrified to hear the news. “That’s what, a little more than a billion and a half people around the world are still alive?”

  “Yes.”

  “And what of the animals kingdom?” he asked.

  “The animal kingdom did better this time,” Max continued. “Again, these are only estimates, but they believe eighty percent of all animal life was lost. Of the one point three million known invertebrates, they estimate a little over two hundred and fifty thousand still exist. As for the sixty-six thousand known vertebrate species, about twelve thousand still exists. Of those, birds are number one.”

  “And mammals?” Dr. Q inquired.

  “Second to the last,” Gayle answered. “Just in front of Amphibians.”

  “The estimates could go higher or lower, depending on the length of time the virus can exist,” Mr. Fitzpatrick clarified as he walked in, overhearing the conversation. “If the virus is dead, as we believe, the estimates will go
higher. There are large isolated pockets of life throughout the world that were sufficiently hidden. It is possible life there was spared. But if the virus still lives, then those areas could be infected, and their lifeforms will succumb to the disease.”

  “Grad student Walter Fitzpatrick, I presume,” Dr. Q stated, holding out his hand.

  “Guilty as charged,” the young man said, accepting the doctor's hand. “It is a great pleasure to finally meet you, Dr. Quartermaine.”

  “Believe me, Walter, the pleasure is mine,” Dr. Q stated. “Had it not been for your discovery of the Space Station using Morse Code, the three of us would be lying dead at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.”

  “While that may be correct, Doctor, it was your foresight to have the military retrieve my birds and me and bring us here. I don’t know if I would have noticed their signal in Africa. And even if I had, I would have had no way to respond back,” Walter said.

  “And how are your birds?”Dr. Q asked, realizing they could argue the point of who saved whom forever.

  “They’re doing very well,” he answered. “When you’re better, I’ll take you to meet them. They have a lovely new home in an outdoor aviary behind the entrance to the research facility. Thanks to global warming, the winters down here don’t get that cold anymore, so they can hopefully remain outside all year. There’s not a lot of excess energy around for a heated aviary. If it does get too cold, they’ll be brought into a holding area underground.”

  “The world owes those birds a lot,” Dr. Q stated. “I will make sure they get the heat they need. I look forward to meeting them.”

  “Doctor Quartermaine needs to rest now,” a male nurse said upon entering the room. He handed the doctor three pills and a glass of water. He walked over and checked one of the three medicine bags hanging on the IV pole. “Your body still has a lot of healing to do. How’s the breathing doing? Any problems?”

  “I’m not in much pain,” Dr. Q replied. “And I’m not having any problems breathing.”

  “The doctor wants you to stay on the oxygen for now,” the male nurse stated.

  “I’ll see you later, Sweetheart,” Gayle said, leaning over and giving him a small kiss.

  “Okay, Mrs. Quartermaine,” Dr. Q smiled. He liked calling her that.

  “I didn’t know they were married,” Walter whispered to Max as they walked out of the room.

  “Professor Dilbert had the captain on the Airlander marry them before Dr. Q went into surgery,” Max said. “It was feared Dr. Q would not survive the surgery and she wanted them to be wed in case the worst happened. Since Dr. Q doesn’t remember it, they plan on having another ceremony in several days.”

  “How about you?” Walter asked. “Have a wife or kids?”

  “Never had the time,” Max said. “But I think I'll make time after all that’s happened. You?”

  “Always too busy examining one thing or another,” Walter confessed. “But I’m in agreement. If this tragedy has taught me anything, it’s that life is too unpredictable, too short, not to make time.”

  ____________

  True to his word, three weeks later Walter took Dr. Q, Max and Gayle outside to meet Curly, Moe and Larry, the three vultures who had beat the odds and survived the virus after becoming ill. Even though they were quite ugly, all three scientists thought they were the most beautiful birds they had ever seen.

  The air was crisp. The sky was a robin egg blue with a few fluffy clouds floating here and there. The sun was shining brightly. A light snow had fallen overnight, and the grass crunched beneath their feet. The fir trees were a nice contrast to the naked hardwoods that dotted the hillsides. Had they not known better, they would have surmised it was a normal day with an Earth filled with life.

  “It’s not too cold out here for them?” Gayle asked.

  “Plans are to move them to their underground location this afternoon,” Walter replied. “They’re predicting our first major winter storm should be hitting the area this evening.”

  “Snow. Didn’t we just leave this weather?” Max asked

  “At least it doesn’t get as cold here as it did down there,” Lachlan said, walking closer to the cage. “Were you able to determine why these three survived when others didn’t?”

  “Not a clue,” Walter said. “I could find nothing that distinguished them from their co-vultures. Their blood was the same, their enzymes were the same, and their chromosomes were the same. I even checked their digestive enzymes and could find no variation.”

  “Did any of the other vultures survive?” Max asked.

  “By the time we left, I counted approximately thirty vultures that were thriving,” Walter answered.

  “And your three birds ate the same tainted food as the ones that died?” Dr. Q asked. “Drank the same water?”

  “They did nothing different,” Walter answered. “There is no reason these three got sick, then got better and are still alive. What about your findings?”

  “The same,” Dr. Q said, closing his eyes and feeling the warmth of the sun on his face. After being on the boat, he missed feeling the sun on his body. “We knew birds were surviving more than other animals, but we deduced that was logical. Since birds evolved from the dinosaurs that survived the last extinction, they had whatever gave the original survivors the advantage. Yet, not all birds survived. We thought perhaps it was related to their diet. But, as with your birds, scavenger birds, who should have been surviving, were dying. As were numerous birds of prey. Seed eating birds such as macaws and budgies were fell victim to the LO Virus, while small song birds survived. Some fish eating penguin species died, while other species lived. Diet didn't seem to be a factor after all. Nothing about the virus made any sense.”

  “Walter, when you first contacted us you mentioned that you and your vultures were the only things still alive,” Gayle continued. “Is that right?”

  “Yes. Everything from dung beetles and fire ants to elephants and lions littered the savanna,” Walter answered. “After I spoke with you, I did see a few monkeys feasting in a nearby fig tree, but I couldn’t tell what kind they were. I also saw a few jackals and a serval. My roommate, James. Oh, you don’t know him. He’s from Harvard too. An undergrad majoring in botany. He was down in the Amazon doing some research on a rare bromeliad that supposedly can cure cancer when the virus struck down there. He somehow made it back alive before the borders closed. He heard through the grapevine about our research project here and managed to walk across the U.S. He’s been here for a month. Anyways, he pretty much reported the same thing. Every kind of animal just dropped dead over a few days.”

  “Did he mention anything about sloths?” Max asked.

  A curious look spread across Walter's face. “That’s strange that you should ask that. He said he never saw one dead sloth. Not even a sick one.”

  “The Space Station was sending us surveillance of various regions around the planet,” Dr. Q explained. “We saw several sloths surviving. Also tapirs, some undetermined parrots, caimans and some ants. Did he mention those animals?”

  “Yes, plus a few more,” Walter said. “I’ve been compiling a list of all known surviving animals in an attempt to find a connection.”

  “Let me guess. There is none,” Max stated.

  “How did you know?” Walter asked.

  “Cause we got the same results,” Dr. Q chuckled. “How many currently on the team?”

  A huge smile passed across Walter’s face. “Currently you have a hundred and sixteen individuals from every scientific field imaginable. And perhaps some you’ve never even heard of. And the Commander of Operations gets ten to fifteen requests a week for scientists around the world to come join us.”

  “A hundred and sixteen?” Dr. Q asked, amazed at the number. “That has to be about a fourth of the entire population in this part of the States.”

  “I never thought of that, but you’re right,” Walter said. “Word has spread everywhere of what we’re doing here.”

/>   “How are they getting here?” Max asked.

  “By any means possible,” Walter replied. “Those that can have walked here. A few came by boat. Several, like me, were brought across the oceans in the Airlander.”

  “But how do you know that the requests are legitimate?” Gayle asked, remembering their encounter with the pirates. “What prevents someone from claiming to be a scientist and try to capture the Airlander? Can you imagine what some power-hungry lowlife could do if he had something like the Queen Victoria?”

  “And what about the LO Virus?” Max added. “If someone ill with the virus, or any other disease, was to come here they could potentially wipe out the entire operation.”

  “You don’t have to worry about that,” Walter chuckled. “Everyone has to go through an extensive physical exam and be in quarantine for six weeks. Thankfully, we now have blood and tissue tests that can tell us if someone has the LO virus even before they show any symptoms. As for unscrupulous individuals, those that govern this facility know that the worst of men still exist out there. Anyone wishing to enter here must verify their identity, their expertise, and their truth. It’s a pretty intensive screening process. I would say for every thirty that apply, only one or two are accepted. ”

  “So, what is to become of Larry, Moe and Curly?” Dr. Q asked, admiring the vultures.

  “Unfortunately, there’s really no way to return them to Africa where they belong,” Walter answered. “And they definitely deserve to have a better life than cramped up inside this small aviary. I am hoping that in the spring I can release them and they will migrate down to a warmer climate.”

  “Won’t that change the biological dynamics of the area where they migrate to?” Max inquired.

  “Possibly, but all areas have scavenger birds,” Walter replied. “Many of which have been wiped out or greatly reduced. My three friends would simply be filling a vacancy that needs filling. Mother Nature needs birds like these three to help clean up the corpses and prevent diseases from becoming rampant.”