outdoor

Halloween Surprise (pt. 29/30)

home_lights
Looking for the lights of home

“So what do we do?” Joe asked.

Lila shrugged. “We push it back into normal mode. I want to be gone long before this whole thing gets discovered. I mean someone’s gonna show up when there’s no boom. But I also don’t want something really bad to happen because the procedure wasn’t done right. I had a year internship at San Onofre nuclear power plant before they decommissioned it. I know that even though shutdown is automated, there are certain functions that need to be shepherded.”

Lila pointed to a section on the instrument panel. “This area shows the reactor targets: the pressure, temperatures and flow rate.” She tapped another section. “Over here is the manual override, which is basically what we did to stop the self destruct sequence.”

She shook her head. “There’s a whole series of procedures to follow and if it’s an emergency shutdown, at some point you hit this SCRAM button,” she pointed to the button in the middle. “This will shove the control rods into the reactor in four seconds.”

Clicking through the computer menu options, Lila mumbled, “Okay, where’s the ‘return to normal’ sequence in all this.” She raised her head to look over at Ian. “You’ve been awfully quiet.”

“I figure, unless I can add something good to the situation to keep quiet,” Ian said.

“Good policy, “ Lila approved. “Wait, I think… yeah, this is it.” She quickly punched in a set of instructions. “I’m just guessing on most of this, but what else is new.”

For several minutes Lila peered closely at the control panel, watching the reactor target gauge to make sure levels didn’t rise dangerously. She breathed a sigh of relief. “I think it’s done. Yay, us,” she said tiredly, the previous adrenaline rushes leaving her drained and shaky now the crisis seemed to be over.

At that moment they heard the outer door’s deadbolt turn. The three of them froze, their eyes meeting before they frantically looked around the room for a place to take cover. There was nothing, not even a table under which to hide.

“Shit,” Lila mouthed silently.

Joe motioned toward the inner door and punched his hand into his fist indicating they should take out whomever it was before that person could raise the alarm. He moved up to stand next to the side where the door opened, taking up an attack position and resting his hand on the door handle. Ian and Lila hung back, letting Joe take the lead on beating up the unfortunate individual on the other side of the door.

As soon as the door handle started to move downward, Joe yanked the door inward as hard as he could with his left hand, pulling the other person’s head into his right fist. Lila winced as the person went down with a muffled grunt. Joe dragged the body completely across the threshold. “Let’s go,” he said in a low voice.

Ian and Lila followed him out the door, nearly stumbling across the person lying prone on the floor. They rapidly exited the outer door and edged their way beneath the tarp to the other side of the RV, feeling their way carefully to their original entrance point and keeping the flashlight off to avoid giving away their position.

Lila slid down the RV’s cold metal surface to lie flat on the frozen ground, peering out from under the canvas covering. Seeing no one outside, she tugged on Ian’s pant leg to let him know it was safe to exit.

She slid out from under the tarp, followed shortly by Ian and Joe, and they took off in headlong rush to the Lada guided only by the tiny sliver of moonlight illuminating their path.

They reached the Lada in record time, piling in as soon as the doors were unlocked. Joe revved up the engine and they bumped their way down the road.

No one said anything for several minutes as they tried to catch their breath.

Lila leaned her head against the back seat and yawned hugely. “I gotta say, Joe, you give a hell of a tour.”

Joe grinned. “I do, don’t I?”

Ian tapped the door handle. “So where are we headed?”

“Back to the airport. I’ve got a charter plane on standby. Figured we might need a quick pickup.”

“Let’s just hope there’s not a welcoming committee to greet us,” Lila said grimly.

Halloween Surprise (pt. 27/30)

redSunset
After sunset

Lila reached for the logbook at the same time as Joe. Their hands collided and they fought over the document.

Finally Ian reached between them and grabbed the thin book. “Let’s put it here on the counter where we call all have a look.”

“But you don’t even read Russian,” Lila said incredulously.

“Doesn’t matter,” Ian admonished. “Maybe I’ll see something you miss.”

Lila ran her hand across the cover, smoothing the wrinkled paper. “Let’s start with the front. This looks like some sort of code. I’m hoping for this.” She swept her hands to include the whole setup around them.

Joe picked up from where she left off. “It took Ian going through two locks to get to it, so obviously it’s important. Maybe it’s a disarming sequence.” He looked around for anywhere they could input the numbers. There were two keyboards, one on each side of the vehicle.

Joe quickly walked to one of the keyboards and Lila assumed the ready position by the other one.

“Joe,” Lila called out quietly, “do you see where it says alternate monitor on the screen area? Click into that area and open up an interface.” Joe rapidly did as she said. Lila mumbled to herself as she searched through the system for the right computer program.

Joe motioned toward them. “I’ve found it. Go in through the internal dialogue box where it says system functions.”

“I don’t see it,” Lila said in frustrated tones. “Oh, wait, I got it. Now what?”

“There’s a place on the left hand side to enter letters, and digits on the right. Do you see it?” Joe asked Lila. He glanced at his watch. “And I hope you see it really quickly as we have less than 15 minutes to get this done.” Lila grunted in frustration as she scrolled through screens and received error messages, but she finally managed to access the menu.

“I’m guessing we have to enter everything at the same time. Joe, do you see the little lock icon on the top right of the final square?”

“Yep,” Joe said calmly. “Wait for me at the end and we’ll press enter together.”

“I’ll read out the code,” Lila offered. Ian took up a position beside her and aimed the flashlight at the cover, holding it up in front of Lila. She began to read aloud the series of number and letters. “S, no С. Wait.” She rubbed her eyes briefly. “I’m mixing my languages. Maybe Joe should do this.”

“Steady,” Ian told her, “Take a breath and focus.”

Lila took a deep breath and began once again:

“С Р Н П 2 Х З 8 7 Ц Ю 9 Ш Б 2 4.” 

With a coordinated tap on the keyboard, Joe and Lila entered the last digit simultaneously.

“Ready?” Lila asked Joe.

“Ready,” he replied softly. “On the count of one press enter. One!”

They hit enter at the same moment.

There was a pause in the countdown, but then they heard a beeping noise.

“Shit. Error.” Lila’s eyebrows drew together and she pulled the cover closer. “Ian shine the light right… there. Yes, that’s it.” She studied it for a moment. “Crap, it’s Щ not Ш.”

She wiped the moisture from her forehead, perspiring heavily in spite of the rapidly dropping nighttime temperatures.

“It says that we get one more chance,” Joe pointed to the blinking message line on the right side of the screen.

Halloween Surprise (pt. 25/30)

shadowsOnTheWall
Shadows on the wall

It was dark and spooky beneath the tarp, with a deadened feel in the air. Lila crept over to the closest window and stood on tiptoes to peer inside the vehicle. Shining the red light from her flashlight through the glass, she had a feeling that at any moment she was about to see a horde of shambling zombies lunging toward her from inside the RV. Lila shivered.

“Creepy much,” she whispered.

Lila felt Ian slide in beside her to peer through the window.

“Wow.” He whistled almost silently.

The interior of the RV looked almost exactly like the control room of the Bilibino nuclear power plant that they had just toured, except everything was compacted into about a third of the space. The room was slightly illuminated by the flickering lights on the instrument panel. From what she could see of the space, there didn’t appear to be anyone currently in the vehicle.

Joe was acutely aware of how the canvas covering would move around them as they repositioned themselves. He pushed his hands against Ian’s and Lila’s shoulders, warning them to stay tightly pressed against the vehicle’s surface. “Slide,” he breathed into their ears.

One at a time, with Lila in the lead, they edged their way around the vehicle until they reached its door. Trying to find a joint or handhold, Lila ran her fingers carefully across the icy metal surface. She gave up in frustration after a couple of minutes and moved to the other side of the door to aim the flashlight at the door’s surface.

Ian moved in front of the door and identified what appeared to be a locking mechanism. He withdrew a fancy looking 3-in-1 tool from his pocket, from which he removed a finger-length piece of metal. He inserted the metal tip into the lock and pulled a clamp connected by a wire from the other side of the tool, which he fastened to the edge of the lock.

Pushing a button on the main body of the device, there was a brief surge of current and a spark emitted from the lock, after which Lila heard a smooth click. The door popped open so quickly it nearly brained Ian, and it was only Joe’s quick reflexes pulling him out of the way that kept him from being hurt.

They looked at each other apprehensively, and then Lila reached her foot up onto the first step and started climbing into the RV, taking hold of the railing alongside the short staircase to maintain her balance. She cautiously climbed the steps, keeping her flashlight trained on the area directly in front of her feet. As Lila reached the main level, she could see a closed and presumably locked door in front of her. She leaned down to wave Ian and Joe forward, waiting for them to reach the area next to her before continuing to the door.

Ian knelt down to study the door’s dead bolt before going through the same unlocking procedure with his device. He stretched out his hand, gently pulling downward on the European style handle. At that same moment they heard what sounded like a toilet flushing.

Lila blanched, her eyes huge. Scarcely daring to breathe, Ian released the door handle in slow increments and backed toward the bus entrance. Joe stopped Ian’s and Lila’s backward movement by the simple expedient of placing a hand on each of their backs. He gestured for them to stay in position, and they stood there for a few minutes until there was no further noise. At that point, Joe edged forward to once again open the door in front of them.

Halloween Surprise (pt. 24/30)

light
Watch the lights…

Joe steered through yet another long glide across the frozen earth as Lila clung to the door handle to keep from sliding across the seat. Looking out the window, her eyes viewed the rocky surface covered in snow.

“Not the best area in which to be driving,” she commented.

“Nope,” Joe said curtly.

“Wonder if they’ve got snow tires on here.”

“Yep,” Joe replied shortly.

“Kind of tense,” Lila said with a small grin.

Joe made a growling noise in his throat.

Ian, who had remained quiet up to this point, cleared his throat. “I think we’re getting close.”

“Why do you say that?” Lila asked skeptically.

“Because we’ve been on the road almost 40 minutes and since we’re going in the right direction, I figure we should be there any minute.” Ian checked his wrist watch GPS to confirm. “Yep, almost there.” He scanned the horizon.

Joe continued driving slowly along the dirt track, which paralleled a wide river. Ian shook his head in amazement at the difficult driving conditions. “I can see why they use ice roads here. This weather is no joke.”

“Yeah, driving on permafrost takes special skills,” Lila added.

The Lada inched its way into the mining town as it was getting dark in the early twilight of the far north.

Car headlights aglow, they drove directly toward the mine, Ian navigating with his GPS. “Straight ahead,” he muttered. “There! On the right.”

Joe pulled into a portion of the road where the snow had been cleared away. The three of them got out of the car quickly and hiked toward the mine entrance.

A slow trickle of workers made their way from the mine, walking slowly down the path. The trio felt conspicuous in their outdoor gear in comparison to the miners, who wore red and white helmets with mounted headlamps, and gray, blue and camouflage jackets, some with reflective strips circling their arms and chests.

Keeping their heads down, Ian, Lila and Joe trekked up toward the mine works, scanning for anything resembling a nuclear recreational vehicle.

“Nothing yet,” Lila mumbled. “Keep an eye out for a brown RV that looks like something your parents would be vacationing in if they were Russian nuclear scientists.”

“Ha ha,” Joe said sarcastically. “I can’t picture my parents having anything to do with an RV, even if they were nuclear scientists, which they definitely aren’t.”

“Well, how do you know what they would be like then? I mean, if they were interested in having their own mobile nuclear power plant, they’d be very forward thinking. After all, they’d never have to think about another power bill,” Lila said thoughtfully.

“Just a sudden meltdown or other hazards,” Joe pointed out in an offhanded manner.

“Well, there’s always a downside to everything,” Lila quipped.

“Some more serious than others,” Ian agreed.

They walked over a ridge and saw the entrance to the main mineshaft, which appeared to be supported by sections of corrugated steel.

“Fancy,” Lila remarked.

“Indeed,” Ian said wryly. “Decorated à la corrugation. Are you sure we actually have to go into the mine to find this thing? Is it supposed to be buried inside or sitting around waiting to be found outside?”

“I’m not sure,” Lila said meditatively. “Look over on that side,” she motioned to the side of the entrance, “and let’s see if anything looks out of place.”

They walked around the side and then crawled up to the top of the hill, keeping a close eye out for anything that looked large and nuclear.

“Over there,” Lila said quietly, and motioned subtly toward what looked to be a large rectangular box covered by dark brown squares of canvas. They looked cautiously about, but no one seemed to be in this area.

The sun had almost completely set, and Ian pulled out a small red light LED flashlight. “Keep what vision we’ve got,” he explained softly.

They crept to the side of the tented object and the three of them lifted up the edge of the tarpaulin. Lila reached for Ian’s flashlight and ducked underneath.

Halloween Surprise (pt. 16/30)

hollywoodAtSunset3
Leaving L.A./Hollywood sign at sunset

They left the park and drove back to their condo where they parked their car. Lila stuffed her favorite black non-wrinkling travel clothes into a carryon, and Ian threw into his backpack some sub zero cold weather parkas that folded down into small packets, along with warm socks and thermal underwear.

“You’re packing like we’re headed to the Arctic,” Lila commented.

“We are,” Ian pointed out, “we’ll be north of the Arctic Circle in Bilibino.” He checked a phone app to look up the local temperature. “Today the high temperature is, dum, dum, dum, five degrees, with a low of minus 4 degrees.”

“Holy…” Lila’s mouth dropped open. “We’re going to need a whole lot more winter gear than that!” She pointed at the backpacks.

“Well, this is all we have time for, and if they want us to be prepared, they’re gonna have to provide it or we’ll buy it once we get there. I’m sure they stock clothing suitable for the weather there in the area.”

“I am never moving from Los Angeles,” Lila said determinedly. She looked at her phone app and quoted the day’s temperatures. “84 degrees for the high, and a low of 58. I love this place,” she said with conviction.

“I know, I’ve heard you say that often enough,” Ian laughed. “Let’s go. We’re heading out now.”

As they were walking over to the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital, Ian received a text on his cell phone. “Top floor. Go now.”

They picked up their pace, quickly entering the hospital and taking the elevator to the top floor.

“I’m glad we’re flying out of here, instead of flying in,” Ian said grimly.

Lila nodded in agreement.

A man wearing a yellow vest met them at the top and addressed them in turn. “Ian? Lila?”

“That’s us,” Lila yelled over the pounding noise from the waiting helicopter.

“ID?” the vest wearing man continued.

Ian and Lila dug out their passports to show him.

He motioned for them to get on the helicopter.

As they ducked and raced to enter the passenger seats, Lila called out, “It’s really loud!”

“What?”

“I said it’s really loud!” Lila shouted again.

Ian shook his head. “Can’t hear you,” he mouthed.

They seated themselves and strapped in, gazing out in awe at the city lights beneath them.

Lila grinned. “This is so awesome. I love flying at night!”

Ian looked a bit grim. “Bad memories from my last night flight,” he mumbled.

Lila could barely hear him. “Baghdad?”

“Medevac over the Euphrates. Cool view of the river, but less than desirable circumstances.”

They traveled in silence to the airport where they flew high over the runways before making a pinnacle landing in a steep descent onto the LAX west helipad. Before they exited the helicopter, the pilot turned to give them a set of tickets. Lila clutched them in her hands as they raced underneath the whirling blades of the helicopter.

They slowed to a walk and Lila eagerly tore into the ticket envelopes.

Ian laughed. “You’re like the announcer on the Miss World contest opening the winning envelope.”

“Well, the winner is… nonstop to Moscow, flight to Magadan,” Lila’s eyes lit up. “Hey, that’s where Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman went in Long Way Round.”

“And then?” Ian asked patiently.

“Then a flight to Keperveyem Airport.” Lila’s eyes sparkled.

Halloween Surprise (pt. 15/30)

confab
Confab

“You were talking with him. He is still able to converse in his current form.”

“But… he’s dead.” Lila said incredulously.

“Well, yes, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t able to converse with others. It is true he vibrates on a higher level than most – but not all – people. People such as yourselves will be able to see him, as you are more sensitive than others.”

The voice directed the following comment toward both Ian and Lila. “That was one of your tests, when you were able to interact with him at the Trianon. It shows that you are two of those people who have that ability.”

“Great,” Lila muttered, “just what I needed to have, the gift to see – what do you call him?”

“He is an entity, as are we. There is no reason that energy has to disappear, it simply changes form, as your Einstein so sagely wrote. Matter may convert to energy, but the energy is not lost, it has simply changed form. This is what has happened with Sergey.”

“And us, someday,” Lila mused. “In a way it’s nice to know that I may be spooking some people in the future.” She grinned unrepentantly. “I know a few people I’d like to haunt.”

“They will not be able to hear you, but perhaps will sense a tiny bit of disruption around them, unless they are as you are – sensitive to interaction with others.”

“I guess that’s a good thing,” Lila said hesitantly.

“It is most definitely for us. Now let us plan for how you will prevent this potential nuclear holocaust”

Ian interrupted the voice – was it one person or all of them speaking? – to ask cynically, “What is your stake in all of this? Why do you care?”

“We have a vested interest in what goes on here on this planet as we are currently home based here. The ecology is already dire in places like the ocean surrounding Japan, but the possible nuclear meltdown in this location in the Chuvan Mountains is very near our headquarters. There is almost no traffic or disturbances in this area as it is only accessible through an ice road in the winter. It is ideal for our,” the voice paused, “studies.”

“What kind of studies are you doing?” Lila asked suspiciously, thinking about how aliens used humans as a food supply on the 1980s TV show V.

“We gain energy through processing the output of human emotions. It is a simple and harmless technique we use.”

Lila snorted. “Like what, sucking their brain waves from their skulls?”

“Nothing so drastic. We are also conducting further research in the laboratory where you were at this evening. It was useful to see how you interacted so easily with the interface. You are truly gifted.”

“Okay, down to basics.” Ian interrupted.  “We need to figure out how, if a crisis is looming on the horizon, we are going to get from here to there.”

“There will be a helicopter waiting for you at the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital helipad.”

Lila nodded. “That’s near where we live.”

“Where to from there?” Ian asked skeptically. “It’s a long way from here to Vladivostok, or at least the nearest airport to Bilibino.”

“You are correct. There is a rough road leading from Keperveyem Airport to Bilibino. You will take it one leg of the journey at a time and we will provide tickets along the way.”

“What about food?” Lila demanded. “I’m not going hungry.”

“You will be supplied as needed. Return to the upper level now.” One of the entities waved its hand and Ian and Lila were drawn against their will back to the tree where they found themselves once again standing.

“Hell of a ride.” Ian beamed.

Lila nodded grimly. “But what will tomorrow bring? And what will we find in Bilibino?”