Using a broad spectrum filter we saw, on the screen of our instrument, what we thought might be three small spectral spikes towards the north east. Narrowing the filter we saw a broad spectrum, spike of low amplitude and a higher amplitude, narrower, spectrum spike at two other positions. Each of these latter presentations showed a peak level at a slightly different location though both of similar frequency, amplitude and direction. We noted the direction of each indication so that we would be able to triangulate with further readings at different points on our journey.
We continued down to the valley floor going almost due west. The snow remained a hindrance but this time we were greatly assisted by being able to see further, though still severely limited in the valley by what appeared as a moderate mist. Progress, therefore, was more rapid than on our previous outings. The day would have been pleasant but the sun, when visible through the veil, remained weak and provided little, if any, warmth.
The temperature, even during the day, remained well below zero resulting, due to our protective clothing, in a sweat while performing exercise which would then uncomfortable freeze while we rested. In addition touching any form of metal, without gloves, would have been extremely hazardous due to the freezing of the liquid of the hand then acting as glue as it rapidly froze the hand to the metal. This could result in the very uncomfortable loss of skin on attempted removal.
We proceeded into the valley and were, in the improved visibility, able to observe the old river basin meandering through the valley. We could discern no movement and feeling more secure we proceeded further westward towards the rising valley floor. The ground itself was frozen solid and had been scraped clean, probably, by earlier inundations. The floor had only a moderate covering of soft, powdery snow which then afforded limited restriction to our progress.
We proceeded for about an hour and a half covering slightly more than two and a half kilometres; this being good going in the prevailing conditions. This was especially encouraging considering our exercise, for most of the past six months, had been restricted to limited, though admittedly enthusiastic, periods on our exercise machines.
The valley became narrower and the ground rose rather more sharply than before. Here we were able to see fairly clearly about two kilometres up the valley. Within this distance we now observed a further restriction of the valley rising a further eighty meters above our then position. This restriction effectively blocked further vision in that direction. We could see that this restriction was blocked with debris to a considerable height; nearly reaching the height of the valley restriction itself. We estimated, with the help of a map, that at its upper level the restriction height was probably slightly above that of our shelter.
This was a considerable relief as if that dam burst the height of the flow, even if it had then reached a level considerably above that of the restriction, would, on expanding into the open valley, reducing in height very rapidly helped by the lower valley floor below where our shelter was situated. We would, therefore, be able to advise that staying within our shelter would result, with a reasonable level of certainty, in the safety of the inmates; from this danger at least.
We arrived at the blockage within the constriction of the valley. We had climbed so that we maintained our height at the highest point of this part of the valley wall to improve our security. We were therefore able to examine the highest point of the restriction from above allowing us to observe its material makeup. This was the first time we had the misfortune of seeing bodies within the debris and it was not a sight on which to maintain ones attention. The bodies we saw were mostly animals though I believe I saw others which might have been human. The smell was not as offensive as I had expected. This was probably due to the severe cold preventing further corruption. I looked no more as I could not help anyone within that debris and knowledge of what was there would not help us complete our mission.
Of greater importance at this time was the fact that we saw no movement in the constricted material and it appeared to be frozen solid. From this observation we considered that the risk of crossing the valley would, currently, be acceptable. We took another set of bearings for our electromagnetic survey; this time seeing two spectral elements close together. We set up our tent above the blockage level and spent a reasonably comfortable and secure night there.
The following morning after a good breakfast which, if I remember correctly, was warm we retreated back into the valley. We crossed the frozen river and proceeded to the rich mans shelter. We continued using our original path which, in spite of our previous efforts at disguise and partly due to the small amount of snow that had fallen since, remained quite visible. We arrived at the shelter taking great care, accepting the possibility of further guests, well before nightfall. Our speed on this occasion was considerably superior to our previous efforts the land being frozen and we benefited from being better able to see to a reasonable distance.
I believe we were all somewhat disappointed at finding no-one to welcome us. The finding of new personnel was one of our mission objectives and this element had been, at this time, a failure. Our first local objective was to find the bodies of our missing friends. On this occasion they were easily found being close to the position of our other two friends though about thirty meters further from the wall.
We tried to bury them to an acceptable depth to prevent the possibility of animal molestation but had to accept the impossibility of such a task. We therefore made do with a shallow grave covered, again, by material from the wall. We knew, by now, that the chances of molestation by large animals were negligible as the bodies had not been attacked before. We were, therefore, not overly concerned by that possibility though burying them somehow seemed the right thing to do.
We performed another electromagnetic survey, this time noting the bearings of three signals, and entered the shelter. In the shelter we carefully set up and started a generator to provide for our comfort. We charged all the batteries and laid back to enjoyed the benefits of light and cooking. Having arranged acceptable bedding we had a warm meal, using the shelters supplies, for both content and warmth. Even during that early evening it was uncomfortably cold and we knew that later it would be even colder. We then in acceptable if somewhat uncomfortable conditions set to study the results of our survey using a local map that we had brought with us.
From the obstruction we had noted only two transmissions of interest but it later appeared that the two elements were of almost the same frequency and almost along a single line of bearing. Our other two observation points indicated 3 elements. Using triangulation we obtained information justifying, from our perspective, the visiting of the points indicated if we considered it possible. Firstly using data from the original detector position and our current position this indicated a small village in a high valley. The other results indicated two points unrelated to any structure on the map though both were close together at high points in the mountains some distance past the village.
The village itself was relatively near being, by our calculations, about 9 kilometres from our current position. As this village was the closest and on what appeared to be a road, hence easy travelling, we decided to make it our first destination. The road to the village continued along the valley and we saw that it would take us more or less directly to the other two more distant points. Our work gave us hope that our discoveries might produce beneficial results.
After a good night’s sleep and a well prepared breakfast we set out, feeling refreshed and enthusiastic, to the village. The trail we saw looked easy as, within our vision, it followed an old road that appeared only slightly damaged. We immediately saw that given a vehicle we could probably drive there in a standard car.
Fortunately for our further adventures, as it turned out, one of our group had examined the house and seen, in the attached garage, a small 4 wheel drive vehicle. We had seen this vehicle before on a previous visit before the impact but had somehow forgotten its existance. There was a small amount of diesel
in the tank so we brought, to the vehicle, one of the previous nights charged batteries to attempt to start the engine. We knew that we were possibly (actually very probably) breaking the accepted rules but there had been some leeway. With such a vehicle we could accomplish so much more in a shorter time with considerably less risk. I believed these positive elements fully justified our use of the vehicle.
Starting the vehicle took quite a bit of effort as it was necessary to warm the frozen mechanics first. This was required as the oil in the engine, gearboxes and differentials proved to be almost frozen solid. This we noted when attempting to measure the engine oil with the old fashioned dipstick. We were also worried that the diesel fuel might have frozen in the pipes; it was a good thing it was not petrol as this would have been solid and defrosting such material in the manner we were using would have been much more dangerous. Another possibility that worries us was that frozen water might have damaged the radiator or the aluminium engine. Fortunately we had emptied and stored the liquid on our previous visit and we found, in the garage, another twenty litres of very concentrated antifreeze in some containers.
We began by putting cloth around the bottom of the vehicle and then lit a small wood fire under the engine. In this manner we warmed under the chassis though primarily, from our point of view, the fuel, engine, differentials and gearbox. The fire also had the beneficial effect of slightly warming the garage making working on the vehicle a lot easier.
We then warmed the upper engine with boiling water (a possible waste of energy here but the heat was obtained from sustainable wood so we considered this extravagance acceptable). After all this work, which took about three hours, we filled the radiator with warmed diluted antifreeze and started the engine. The brakes and clutch were then rather brutally released and we were ready to go. We decided we could use ten litres of our precious fuel reserve added to the little in the tank and then took another five litres in a portable tank for emergencies. With considerable excitement off we went on our new adventure in what was then unbelievable comfort.
Did we feel guilty at this apparently extravagant use of our fuel? Yes we did; as would a child with a disallowed toy; but as with that child it was exciting. In our minds, however, our argument for this fuel use was irrefutable in that it allowed us to visit a village in the high mountain in short order, with greater comfort and with much reduced physical risk to ourselves. In addition if we found anything the vehicle would allow us to bring it, or them if they wished, to the rich mans shelter. If we had walked it would have taken us at least two days for the return journey and any recovery of material would have presented logistical problems. If we had wanted to transport additional units, including humans, then for the latter we would have had to consider their physical condition. The journey itself would have been most enervating for unexercised persons.
That day we drove carefully keeping our weapons ready. In only about thirty minutes we were able to see our objective. It should be noted that had we begun walking when we found the vehicle we would probably, by this time, not have arrived at where we now stood.
At this point we left the vehicle, it being a difficult to disguise, and preceded to the village on foot. Actually it was a small town originally, we estimated, having about a thousand inhabitants. Using our binoculars we carefully studied the buildings from about half a kilometre. We were looking for any signs of life or other characteristics of interest. Several of the nearest houses appeared to be almost undamaged. We knew that observation, if confirmed by a closer look, would be of great interest to our companions in the primary shelter. Lightly damaged houses would allow the possibility of taking over the village when we left our shelter. It appeared that the area had been protected, by the southern mountains, from the main effects of the blast and the village was too high to have been greatly affected by the flowing water of the following inundation.
We studied the snow for footprints or other signs of interference by animals or humans and saw no indications of any activity. We looked for any other life signs and again observed none. I cannot say whether, at that time, we saw this lack of life as a benefit or a disappointment. From my point of view I remember that I was rather disappointed. We needed additional inmates and perhaps, if we had found some, we would then have felt a little less guilty about our own survival.
We returned to the vehicle and carefully drove into the village. There, as we passed, we opened some of the doors to the houses. Those that looked interesting we entered for further investigation. As expected we found no food and only a little clothing. We did, however, find several vehicles whose tanks were empty except for a little petrol in two cars. This material we were unable to siphon as it appeared to have been frozen solid; we did not try very hard.
All the diesel vehicles had been effectively emptied of any measurable fuel. This was probably, using our original logic, because this material was far more useful as a survival aid. We were not greatly interested in petrol, at that time, so this small resource was noted but left for possible recovery at a later date.
The villagers had obviously removed themselves to a place they considered safer; probably, unfortunately, to a government shelter. There was some furniture but this was of no immediate use to us as it was too large to be carried in our vehicle with all doors shut. These pieces were, therefore, left for a later visit. We did, however, find some LED light-bulbs that we removed together with some cutlery as these items were small, easy to carry and potentially useful. This removal, in the long term, proved a small mistake as we would later place some residents here and the cutlery and light bulbs would then have to be returned.
We entered a jeweller’s shop that had also been a watch repairer. From here we removed any mechanical items, including clocks, a small manual lathe and some other tools. We also removed the stock of small modern watch batteries which hopefully would extend the lives of our considerable number of electronic watches. Apart from the mechanical clocks and other items we were very pleased to find a drawer full of what appeared to us to be delicate clock repair items and equipment. We were also very pleased to find, in another room, a small electrically powered lathe with related attachments that I thought could be used to make small metal items.
We next visited a pharmacy but found nothing useful except some antique weighing scales and two old brass microscopes. These items were removed, even though we had several more modern units in the shelter. This removal was because they might be useful rather than the fact that I found them beautiful pieces of late nineteenth century engineering; this being the technology level we wished to achieve.
We had more luck in the opticians shop. This professional must have had the surrounding villages as his customers as his local villagers would not have provided sufficient custom to support his business; this gave us some hope of finding further survivors. In our shelter we were, at this time, without the benefit of optician services so we carefully removed all his remaining lenses, glasses and equipment. As we did not fully understand what was required for a basic system we carefully put almost everything movable from that shop into some suitcases we had found in the houses. These then treasure filled suitcases were left at the door of the shop so that the material would be available and easily loaded into our vehicle when we left.
Just outside the village we found what appeared to have been a small factory. On top of the roof were several large, apparently undamaged, undirected solar panels and inside the main office was a section that had obviously contained batteries. These batteries had been removed; presumably to be used at another place; a potentially hopeful sign.
One of the wires, probably originally connected to an electronic metering system, had been cut to facilitate the removal of some equipment. For an unknowable reason, possibly someone had a sense of humour, this wire had been connected to a large electromechanical clock. The pulsing of this clock, using the small amount of energy then available from the solar panels, would appear to have provided the signal that had been picke
d up by our sensitive equipment. The square wave pulses had provided the low level broad spectrum we had observed with our equipment.
We carefully (ensuring that no short circuit would be possible) disconnected the clock and removed it from the factory to be picked up later. Reliable mechanical or electromechanical clocks were potentially useful to us as being simple technology their maintenance would be within our capabilities.
The solar panels (both water heating and electrical) were noted for removal at a later date being of limited use to us at that time due to lack of effective sunlight probably due to chemical pollution and the remaining dust in the air. This would be the case unless it was decided that we would use this virtually undamaged village to expand our empire. Of real interest, to us, was the finding of an old Walther mechanical calculator. This we took with us as it might be useful in the future, if we could figure out how it worked, and it was an interesting device.
By this time we were confident that no-one was currently, or had been recently or even for some considerable time, living in or had visited this village. We decided, based on what we saw, that the people of the village had probably taken the government’s offer of security. Being a cynic I always considered those offers were made only to calm the masses whilst the political class provided a safe haven for themselves where they had sufficient protection and supplies to keep themselves, and probably some servants, comfortable for an estimated duration of the crises. There they would presumably happily remain until they could reach out and take over, literally, any remnant of the population when the crises had past.
Our asteroid survival: A fictitional history of the ten year survival of a large ELE asteroid impact by a small, pre advised, group Page 25