Our asteroid survival: A fictitional history of the ten year survival of a large ELE asteroid impact by a small, pre advised, group

by Lionel Woodhead

  Everybody but the two strongest men, who were employed breaking and clearing the path, and the female child would pull the two sledges. The men broke a path lessening the task of those pulling the sledges. Using this technique we moved quite efficiently across the treacherous surface. We reached the other side of the primary danger area within thirty minutes and the path breakers returned to assist sledge pulling. The crossing had been completed in half our time in the opposite direction. While on the sludge we felt movement and vibration which definitely encouraged us to greater effort.

  We crossed the valley in good order but about three hours later while climbing the upward slope to our shelter we felt the ground give a continuous shudder. We had climbed well over one hundred and fifty meters (based on the GPS) above the valley floor and reached an area we considered safe. This task had been performed as fast as we had been able with the personnel available and we were all totally spent. The additional effort, however, proved to have been providential. Although we could not see the material moving down the valley, such was the violence of the movement under our feet that we were aware of its proximity. The violence indicated the possibility of a future danger to our home if the blockage, at the unseen restriction of the valley, could grow to a height sufficient to overwhelm us.

  The danger having past we took an hour’s well deserved rest in nervous anticipation. When the vibration had reduced to a level that was strangely comforting and we were sufficiently rested we continued. The passing of time allowed us to move, with less risk of falling or slipping down the slope due to loss of concentration, towards the shelter in much improved physical condition. We could still hear and feel the debris moving some distance below warning us that the buildup had been considerable.

  This indicated that the risk from the higher parts of the mountain had not really receded. We would have to find a way of observing this danger as soon as possible. The map had shown a constriction in the valley some distance from where we were and we would have to investigate this area, as a priority task, on any future expedition. This would not be necessary immediately as the restriction barrier had now been released.

  We carefully approached our shelter area as the GPS was becoming unreliable; at least at that moment. We were afraid of being required to perform a grid search; possibly in the wrong direction. Such a search in our then physical condition would have been most unwelcome. We were, however, fortunate in finding the remains of the road over the hill with surprising ease. We knew that this was the road that passed the access slope to the shelter compound; it being the only road on this part of the hill. We were able to see the road as it had not been much eroded at this higher level.

  After finding the road it was then a small step to our objective. On arrival we immediately moved, with considerable relief, into our quarantine area for the then defined period of two weeks. The ladies spent some time removing the grease from their exposed skin which, though it had protected them, was, in this new environment, distressingly uncomfortable.

  We contacted the main shelter via the installed analogue telephone link. We described the incident at the other shelter and explained the rational for eliminating the three men. It appeared, however, that our decision, with respect to those men, did not meet with universal approval. We were roundly condemned for our action due, strangely, to the loss of potential personnel. At the time, and even when writing this account, I considered that criticism unwarranted and made by people that had been comfortable within the security of the shelter while we were at risk of our lives.

  That censure is something I have considered unwarranted ever since. Those who condemned us had not been there. While it is true that I still feel a great guilt about what we did in the defence of our “original group” this is what happens to those with a conscience. To be condemned by those who had not had to make such a decision greatly inflamed my feelings. I spent considerable time over the next few weeks examining my action and from that examination I remained convinced that the decision was not only correct but, in reality, the only solution to a potentially dangerous problem.

  We had expected that quarantine would be uncomfortable, boring and frightening for any new inmates but we had hoped that the provision of a small 3D video system, cards and games, books and music would help to pass the time. It was hoped that our guests would see their current situation as being a minor interlude to the superior benefits available to them in the near future. This was what happened and our new friends found the quarantine shelter quite amenable compared to their previous accommodation and situation. If there had been a shower to remove the dirt and grease from their bodies the accommodation would have been very acceptable; potentially quite comfortable.

  Food was cooked in the cellar using smaller insulated container powered from the shelter generator. The opening of the cooking container helped, a little, to warm the environment slightly improving our condition for a short period after each meal.

  The air was circulated directly from the outside by a fan using the main shelter power. Unfortunately we had not been able to provide a heat exchanger into the system which resulted in the incoming air being cold and the inmates required several layers of clothing. We could not take a shower due to lack of a water heating system though a blanket wash was possible, if considerably less comfortable than a warm shower, with only cold, and it was cold, water.

  The facilities of the cellar were not comfortable during our stay but it was the best we could arrange at that time. Having experienced the problems we would definitely arrange that the shelter group would make an effort to improve our guest welcome facility once our quarantine period was over. We would provide a shower even though we would have to find solutions to the problems of the provision of water from the well and the disposal of the waste. With planning, however, these shortcomings were overcome with little effort.

  On hearing of our injured personnel the doctor immediately volunteered to join us. We described, as well as we were able without the ability to perform a full medical examination, the injuries. Fortunately, with the assistance of the new surgical nurse, the injuries were described in, at least, acceptable detail. Having this information the doctor brought a suitable medical bag to, hopefully, deal with the situation.

  Having examined the injuries the doctor was shocked and explained that one of the ladies would require surgery in the near future or she might become very seriously ill. On hearing this one of the vets joined us having been advised that we had a surgical nurse to assist him. The operation was performed under anaesthetic in an area that had been cleaned and sanitized as well as we were able. It was, however, no surgical unit and left much to be desired; not least with respect to the available lighting.

  On completion the operation was described, by the medical team, as a success in that the lady would live but her treatment in the rich mans shelter would require some of our limited anti bacterial medicine. In addition her injuries, unfortunately, had resulted in her being unable to have a child which was considered a major loss to our community.

  The young girl had a displaced fracture of a bone in the foot caused by one of the violent men stamping on her when he was dissatisfied with something. The girl was never asked to describe the circumstances and she never volunteered any information. This injury was set by the vet, with a minor operation, resulting in the girl having, up to this date, no long term problems. Other injuries were looked at and treated hence the healing process, for our guests, began in that cellar.

  Our new guests were the original females Isabel with daughter Rosaline, Liliana, Clarissa with son Jesus 12, Alicia and Lilia; new females, Carmen, Casey, Carolina and Rafaela with her husband Alonso. We now had a total of 118 inmates. This small increase in personnel appeared to improve both the mental and physical state of all the inmates. It also demonstrated that survival outside of our facility was possible and we were hopeful of finding further survivors to join us rather than merely being afraid of them.

  After two week
s in quarantine we were accepted into the shelter. Before we left the quarantine area we cleaned and tidied the cellar for possible future occupants. Our transfer to the shelter was just a short walk, in the extreme cold, to the welcoming entrance of what was to become a new life for our guests. The young girl had to be carried to the entrance and lowered gently into the shelter. Shortly afterwards she was able to walk with the aid of crutches and later to walk without any discernable limp. Our medical facilities had performed well.

  Our new guest’s accommodations, within the shelter, had been prepared as soon as advice of numbers had been provided. The husband and wife were given a room with two of the original woman from the rich mans shelter. The ladies with the two children had a room and the remainder of the group were given another standard accommodation unit. Everyone was happy with the new situation. The “original group” had new friends and those friends entered a lifestyle that only a short while ago would have been a dream. Now the quarantine shelter was closed and the entrances disguised to the extent reasonably achievable; we threw some rubbish against the door.

  All those from the quarantine shelter, on entering the shelter, were allowed a very welcome extended three minute shower to remove the remains of the protecting grease and grime their companions of so many days without a real wash. For our new guests this was a luxury upon which they would expound at great length. They had had nothing remotely similar since the impact. They even found that their accommodation provided privacy, almost comfortable warmth and, even better, after their previous experience, security. After their post impact experiences up to then they were well satisfied with what they had accepted.

  Our detection systems would, from this moment, be monitored with greater care. This vigilance was necessary even though, from our experience outside the shelter, I considered the possibility of a dangerous number of unwanted guests invading our shelter to be vanishingly small.

  To counter such a supposition, however, was the small group that had successfully invaded the rich mans shelter. They had done so through the prevailing conditions though it was true they had not travelled any great distance without accommodation. Their number was also, in reality, insufficient, even in the worst possible scenario, to present our shelter with any real danger. We would later look for the village they had originally attacked but from what we had been told, and so it proved, the chances of finding any survivors there was very small. The village had been too badly ravaged by the invaders and their reserves stolen leaving little possibility for their survival in the village.

  On entry into the shelter everything we had brought into the shelter was removed for examination, cleaning and storing. All the new group, and us adventurers, were not only given the privileged of the shower but a specially prepared meal and afterwards they were given a selection of nearly new clothes. The clothes provided from our stores could not be described as stylish or luxurious but compared to what they had worn for so long they were comforting to their bodies and self esteem. A short time later they were given direct access to our clothes store allowing them to choose something they would find even more suitable to their personality. Our new tailors were then in great demand and they performed well; fitting the chosen clothes to the guests.

  Overall our guests were more than satisfied with the conditions and facilities made available to them. They made a tremendous effort to forget their horrifying past and fitted well into our society. My worries as to their acceptability were erased. We had become a community that accepted the misfortunes of others and were willing to help. We were all aware that it was numbers and a community spirit that would finally bring into being our new civilization.

  Chapter 8. A New Technology Base.

  The title of this chapter was indeed problematical. Could our life in the shelter, described here, be justifiably described as new technology based or even the early stage of development of such a base? We had taken into our shelter much of our latest technology, largely stolen (borrowed?) from abandoned universities, retail outlets, homes and factories, in order to make our lives as comfortable and productive as possible while incarcerated in our little box.

  It was as unfortunate, as it was inevitable, that much of the pre impact technology we were able to obtain would be lost, during our incarceration in the shelter, to entropy or accident. Any loss of that wonderful, previous, technology would be unrecoverable in the medium or probably even longer term. We would eventually need to accept a new, considerably lower, level of technology than we would be able to benefit from during our time in the shelter; this loss would probably be to the detriment of our then lifestyles.

  Because of the amazing condensing of electronic components within our pre-impact, electronic chips being itself based on chemical interactions it was inevitable that entropy would remove from us the benefits of those ultimate examples of mans advances. The more condensed the component packaging the greater the potential effect of entropy. We would, in order to maintain some semblance of our previous lifestyle, eventually have to develop new versions of the previous technologies. This development would, hopefully, create the ability to maintain a technology sufficient to maintain our technological future at an acceptable (for us) level. From this lower level we should then be able to redevelop what had been before more quickly than had occurred previous to the impact. This should be possible as we knew it was achievable and our books would provide a recipe for the creation of what we required.

  Our pre impact units would only be serviceable for a relatively short time. After their demise they would become merely a memory. Such facilities as very efficient generators, special magnets, LED light bulbs, even our supply of paper, candles and soap would eventually run out, fail to function or become unusable within our group. We would, by then, either have been able to recreate some means of developing what would be our then required level of technology or revert to a level of barbarism brought on by our failure to produce such elements. In order to survive and develop our required technologies we would need a greater population, spread of education, capabilities and knowledge in order to develop and produce what we would eventually require.

  These principles were partly the reason for our choice of original partners. The fall from our initial technology base would be enhanced by our incapacity to manufacture individual items that we would need; very few people could have manufactured a bar of soap before the impact. We would have our period of grace whilst within the shelter. This should allow us to work towards the objective of achieving an acceptable alternate level of technology. We would have to manufacture material with such technical equipment as we were able to develop and produce.

  On leaving the protection of the shelter we would have to set up our future lifestyle then at a far lower level of technology than when we had entered. We would be in the position of a rich man who, through misfortune and loss, had to accept a much lower standard of living. Having accepted that restriction he would, as would we, have to start again in order to return to his previous lifestyle.

  Our technical advantage for our future development would be that we had the knowledge that our previous technology was achievable. We would be limited only by our personnel being, initially, incapable of producing the necessary chemicals, materials and the many other items required. We intended to develop technology to a point that manufacturing our requirements could begin when we had sufficiently increased our numbers. I believed that, with luck and hard work, we should be on the road to recovery our original technology within a generation of leaving the shelter.

  The development of the needed technologies would be of incredible interest to us and although the reverse engineering of components would not, at least in the near term, be practical our books would give us a fantastic road map that would lead us into many possibilities. At the very least our education, into the development and production of the necessary technologies, whilst in the shelter would be of the greatest fascination to us all. It was to be expected that our interest in our work
would be sufficient to somewhat overcome our anxiety as to our situation during this period. There is nothing like concentrating ones mind on difficult problems to orientate that vessel away from other distractions.

  We would also have to redevelop many simple technologies for small scale production; such as the aforementioned problem of making of soap requiring the fats and chemicals obtainable from tree ash (recovered by the burning of ash for example). For the making of soap a solution was found from a grandmother’s demonstration to her daughter some years before; though obtaining the ingredients; fats and cinders during our time in our shelter would be problematical. Fortunately we had foreseen this problem and brought in sufficient simple soaps, mostly basic and unperfumed, for the medium to long term.

  We also needed to find ways of producing paper, raw sugar, grinding systems for grass seeds to produce flour, salt production (or rather obtaining – we were not near the sea) and the myriad of other technologies known to our distant ancestors but, because of major industries, had been forgotten by the general population. We were required to recreate manufacturing plant to efficiently produce sufficient material for our limited (a problem when considering industrial production) requirements that would release others to perform necessary tasks, manufacture and develop other useful products. An important personage in this development, that we had not initially considered, was an experimental archaeologist who had studied such systems from the past.

  Because these technologies were simple we were confident that we would be able to find solutions before exiting our shelter. Other more advanced technologies, however, would be more testing. We would make our best efforts to develop them, again, before permanently leaving our shelter. These included such simple developments as making good walking shoes, mechanical farming, producing various forms of twine or mechanically making socks etc.; hand knitting of such units would not be a long term solution for our society as we would not have the manpower to maintain such systems even if they resulted in a better product.