by Lee Emerick
Extinction Theory
Lee Emerick
Copyright 2011 by Lee Emerick
Kindle Edition
Kindle Edition, License Notes
The right of Lee Emerick to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by other means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
Published by Lee Emerick Publishing
www.leeemerick.co.uk
Edited by Matthew Robinson
Revised 26/09/2011
Dedicated to my loving wife Alison, my daughter Libbi and my son William who mean the world to me
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank the following people for their help, support and inspiration in the making of this book:
Alison Emerick, Libbi Emerick, William Emerick and a special big thank you to Holly the family dog.
Prologue
The deep drilling rig Lazarus was in a race against time. They were so close to breaking through to oil but a large storm threatened the whole venture. Already well over time and budget, they could not afford any more delays. If they could just break through to oil before the storm hit they would be within their contract. If they did not get through, their bonus would be forfeit.
The wind howled outside as waves battered the support pillars. The rig shook left to right. The Lazarus was nearing 20 years of age now. Already she had exceeded her intended service life by a few years.
Although she was old, she still had some life left in her and was not going to fail now.
A warning light lit up followed by a buzzer in the dimly illuminated control room. The Engineer operating the drill controls looked up to the Captain.
"Sir, we have hit something hard. I don't know if we will be able to get through it."
The Captain looked displeased as he bellowed back at the Engineer.
"Drill on man, if you want a bonus we need to get through it!"
The Engineer returned to his controls.
Following the Captain’s orders, he increased power to the drill engines. Warning lights lit up, analogue gauges indicated the rise in pressure and temperature as the needles rose into the red zones. This was not good thought the Engineer. They were beyond safe levels. He grimaced and hesitantly pushed the controls to the maximum.
The drill raced on, with full speed and force applied, the drill whined loudly. Slowly it ate through the blockage on the seabed.
As the engines squealed, temperature readouts far exceeded safety levels. Alarms sounded as the drill struggled on.
"She can't take this Captain!" shouted the Engineer over the noise.
"We are going to lose her any second!"
"Keep going man!" bellowed the Captain over the noise of the engines.
He got from his seat and raced across to the Engineer who began to ease back on the controls, not wanting to risk an explosion. The Captain reached down and tightly held the Engineer’s hand in place. He was not going to let him back off now.
The platform jerked as the drill punched through throwing the Captain off his feet. The rig groaned under the strain whilst it shook from left to right. As the drill pushed deeper into the seabed a yellow gas began to seep from the drilled hole. As the drill dug deeper, larger and larger quantities of gas were freed and raced towards the surface.
"Captain, the drill’s broke through!” exclaimed the Engineer. “It won't be long now until we are through to the oil reserve!"
The Captain pulled himself onto his feet.
"Excellent, about time something went right today," he shouted.
A big grin broke out across his bearded face. It looked like they would get a bonus after all.
As the sea bashed against the supporting pillars the gas bubbled up through the surface. As the water hissed and bubbled the gas rose into the air settling over and engulfing the rig.
As workers went about their business, outside the gas cloud descended over them. They began to cough and gasp for air. Trying to cover their mouths with anything they could reach for. The sickly yellow gas filled their unprotected lungs and one by one, they dropped to the floor unconscious.
The gas slowly found its way into the Rig’s air conditioning systems and was sucked in. As it was circulated around, it bellowed out of the vents on to the bridge. The Captain sniffed at the air where he could smell something odd. Putting a handkerchief over his mouth, he looked towards the Engineer.
"What is this stuff?" he shouted between coughs.
The Engineer started to panic as his lungs began to burn.
"We must have hit a pocket of something Captain, perhaps sulphur gas?" Covering his mouth, he struggled for breath.
The Captain tried to get up from his chair but collapsed back down. With his last breath, he shouted out to the Engineer.
"Send a distress call, let them…" the Captain slumped back into his chair unconscious.
The Engineer picked up the radio handset. Looking at his hand, he panicked as he noticed that the skin looked red and blistered. It must be a chemical leak he thought to himself. Could it be something that leaked from the exhausted drill engines? He wheezed loudly but his chest felt very tight. As the Engineer struggled for breath, he started to feel dizzy. Knowing he was going to lose consciousness any moment he brought the radio handset to his mouth, but it was too late. Everything went cold and black as he slipped into unconsciousness…
Chapter 1
It was 3am in the morning. Carlyle Wally sat back on his chair with his feet placed on the control desk. He sipped a cup of coffee. Not long now and it would be the end of his shift he thought. It had been a long quiet night. Although a heavy storm was brewing outside business had been surprisingly quiet.
Carlyle looked at the weather radar monitor. The display showed strong winds blowing in their direction. Torrential rain would arrive any moment.
"One more hour and it will be home time," he said to himself as he reached for his drink.
He took a long sip and loudly placed the mug down on the control desk.
Getting to his feet, Carlyle stretched and yawned loudly then turned for the door. Just as he placed his hand on the door handle, the emergency phone rang.
Typical, he thought to himself as he walked back over to the control desk. You're having a laugh if you think you are sending me out in this weather. He picked up the handset and mumbled.
"Coast Guard, how can I help?"
"Carlyle, its Norwood. I hope I haven't woken you up over there?"
As usual, Norwood was his usual sarcastic self.
"Yes, very good Norwood" Carlyle said, sighing to him self. "What have you got for me?"
Norwood paused a moment before continuing.
"We might have a bit of a situation on the Lazarus…"
Carlyle laughed out loud which echoed around the room.
"That makes a change. The thing’s a death trap!"
There usually was a situation with the Lazarus. The communication equipment had been so faulty lately they were forever heading over there when a storm grounded the company’s helicopter fleet.
Norwood was in charge of communications for his company’s rigs. They were at the budget end of oil exploration, hence the low cost, faulty equipment.
"Take it you have lost contact with them for a change?" he said sarcastically.
"Seriously Carlyle, this is not like the usual communications blackout. We have had no contact with the Lazarus for five hours now. We are showing that there is nothing wrong with the communica
tion equipment. It's just no one is answering" said Norwood. He genuinely sounded concerned.
"Ok Norwood. We will head straight out there. I am sure it is nothing to worry about. They are probably just on strike."
Carlyle placed the handset down and looked at his watch. He only had 45 minutes of his shift left. Oh well, he thought. It was time to get to work.
Slamming his hand down on the action button, he ran for the door. Commotion could already be heard downstairs as people rushed to get ready for action. At the end of the day, the oil company was a large donator to the Coast Guard. However, they sure took full advantage of their services.
The alarm continued ringing as Carlyle ran down the stairs towards the changing room. He burst through the doors and reached for his all weather gear. The rest of his team were already getting changed.
On the night shift there were five Coast Guards including himself. All though they all had medical training, one of the team by the name of Erik was a qualified doctor so he was affectionately referred to as the team's Medic. Another of the team by the name of Kasey was the designated radio operator. The last two were known as Donny and Jessey. They were the general dog's bodies. All of them were good men and a credit to the emergency services.
Carlyle climbed into his waterproof gear and put on a life jacket.
The rest of the team were mostly assembled now. He turned his attention to a window and looked out to sea. The storm looked really fierce now. It was not going to be easy getting out to the Lazarus.
Once the men were dressed and ready they made their way out to the rescue boat. Quickly they all boarded the vessel and departed at full speed towards the rig.
"Right guys" Carlyle shouted above the roar of the ocean. "There has been no communication with the rig Lazarus for several hours now. Reports show that there is no problem with the communication gear there, its just no one is answering."
He could barely hear him self think over the noise of the storm. After pausing for a moment, he continued.
"We need to check if anybody is home or if they have nipped out for a quick beer."
Laughter broke out across the men. At least they were in relatively good spirits for the ridiculous weather they were being called out in.
The weather was gruelling outside. Strong winds kept pushing the boat off course. Heavy rain lashed down and beat on the roof. The boat rose out of the water and fell in between waves, crashing back down into the ocean. Carlyle felt his stomach going. It had been a while since he was last at sea in such rough conditions.
They raced on as fast as they could, slowly closing in on the rig. Donney swung the ship’s light around and shone it over the horizon to where the rig should be located. The rain lashed down at his face stinging as it hit. In the distance a faint flashing light could be seen in between the waves, the rig was insight.
"Carlyle" shouted Donney. "She's insight straight ahead."
Lightning forked in the distance lighting up the sky. Loud rumblings were heard all around from the thunder. The rig looked ominous as it loomed above them. It stood alone in the middle of the ocean, a tall solitary figure.
The rescue boat manoeuvred underneath the Lazarus and positioned itself into the mooring pen. Once centred the rescue boat was lifted out of the water and waves by an automatic mooring system.
"At least they still have power, saves us climbing up a support strut!" joked Jessey, "I wonder what's up with them..."
Chapter 2
Sydney Trent stood in front of a large group of students. He was a Professor at the local college. He specialised in Fungal Biology and was keenly interested in the theories he had researched regarding the role of fungi during the great extinctions.
He stood in a large auditorium. In his early 30s, he had already become a world authority in his subject. Placing the board marker he held down on the podium, he turned to address his audience.
"So, as you see at every mass extinction there follows a time where fungus becomes the dominant life form on earth. Great extinctions provide an excellent opportunity for fungi to spread unhindered. Eventually though, it exhausts its food supply by eating though everything in its path and as a result dies out. However, I believe this is not the full story. Through my current research I have reached the conclusion that fungus was in fact the direct cause of the mass extinctions."
He paused looking at peoples faces making sure they were following him.
"Looking through the fossil record there is evidence of a larger more carnivorous species of fungus that appears around the exact time of the mass extinctions. The species appears very similar in each of the mass extinctions. Although I have yet to find the full evidence needed to support my theory and it is, as I say a theory, I believe this carnivorous species of fungus targeted living organisms as opposed to decaying matter."
A young man raised his hand. Sydney pointed him out to ask his question.
"Professor, have you any evidence to support this at present or is it entirely speculation?"
"Thank you for the question young man" Sydney said.
He walked over to a table covered by a sheet which he pulled back revealing a fossil. The fossilised remains were of a species of dinosaur that appeared to have a large protrusion extending from its abdominal cavity. The bones were bent at peculiar angles as if the creature was trying to walk on its back.
"This fossil which was discovered in Mexico appears to support my theory. The protrusion extending from the abdominal cavity, as you may be able to see is a large fungal growth. From my studies, it appears to have been fruiting from what was at the time, a live dinosaur."
The bell rang signalling the end of his lecture.
"Right! Remember that I need your essays in by next week!"
There was commotion all around as the students left the auditorium. Sydney looked at the bizarre fossil then to his scrawl on the white board. It has happened before and it will happen again, he thought. He just needed more evidence to prove this theory.
He packed his books and materials in a brown leather bag and then wiped the board clean. Sydney was sure of his theory but required more evidence and time to prove it. If he could just find unshakable proof, he could turn the whole history of mass extinctions on its head. Sydney departed the College building and headed towards his car. Walking towards him was one of his students who waved at Sydney for his attention.
"Professor Trent" said the student by the name of Stew Lewis. "I really enjoyed your lecture today."
"My pleasure Stew, I hope you learnt something," said Sydney, pleased with the compliment.
"Do you really think that a species of fungus could be so aggressive? I mean physically attacking or even controlling living organisms instead of feeding on the dead?" asked Stew.
"Of course" said Sydney. "It happens all the time in nature. As an example, Fungus can change a creature's behaviour, in effect taking control of the host for its own benefit. An example would be insects, where their behaviour is altered by certain species of parasitic fungus. As a result of infection, the host will find higher ground. Once in an ideal position the fungus will fruit, releasing its spores over a wider area greatly increasing the infection rate. It is really quite creepy."
Stew thought this over before he asked his next question.
"Do you think this fungus could have had the ability to take control of various populations of varying fauna? It does sound a bit far fetched to be honest."