Articles with lada

Halloween Surprise (pt. 29/30)

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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. 24/30)

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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. 20/30)

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Small car, but not this one

Joe rushed forward to give both of them a friendly handshake. “Hey, guys! Great to see you.”

“What are you doing here?” Lila asked when she got her voice back.

“Helping out, a little this and that, you know.” Joe spoke evasively.

Ian said derisively, “You’re here to baby-sit us, aren’t you?”

“Nope, not me.” Joe then broke into a grin. “Well, maybe. Not like I’d pick one of the colder places on the planet to visit when it’s almost winter. No, sir, not me. Gimme Thailand or maybe Vietnam for its beaches.”

“I didn’t know Vietnam’s beaches were famous,” Lila commented.

“Oh, definitely,” Joe affirmed enthusiastically. “I highly recommend Nha Trang or Phu Quoc Island. Even China Beach, where the U.S. troops used to go, is a pretty amazing place with a nice 5-star hotel.  But we’re getting off track.” He paused. “Lila, how’s your Russian?”

“Better than yours,” Lila shot back.

“Oh, yeah?” Joe smirked. “My team beat yours at the language bowl last year,” he said referring to their departmental Jeopardy-style foreign language and culture game that was waged annually in December.

“You cheated,” Lila protested. “We should have won easily, but you guys pulled in a ringer. He was Lebanese, so of course he was fluent in Arabic. No fair!”

“Don’t be a hater,” Joe jokingly admonished before turning serious. “So, you’re here to visit Bilibino.”

“That’s right.” Lila glanced at Ian who had been silent during the Lila and Joe’s easy back and forth banter.

Ian shrugged. “I guess we’re here to see a reactor.”

“I’m the man for you.” Joe pounded his chest. “Reactor Tours Limited is here to provide you with the best and most up close Russian reactor experience possible.”

Lila burst out laughing. “You are such a ham. Is there really such a company?”

“Absolutely. In fact,” Joe rooted around in his pocket and pulled out business card, “here’s a card for you.”

Lila admired the oversized photo of Joe beaming while standing in front of a nuclear reactor building. “Very nice,” she said, snickering. “You look like a used reactor salesperson.”

“What can I say, I’m a man who loves a reactor. Now back to your Russian.” Joe returned the focus to Lila.

“I’m a level 2 probably. Not perfect, fairly intermediate.” She looked at Joe expectantly. “Why?”

“Because we’re about to take an awesome tour by none other than yours truly.” Joe whipped out a set of keys. “In fact we’re going over right now.”

Lila groaned. “I’m tired. And hungry,” she complained.

“But you have all those things in your bag. Find something to eat. Maybe a pickle would take the edge off,” Ian said with a gleam in his eye.

Lila looked thoughtful. “Beggars can’t be choosy,” she muttered and began dragging items from her bag. “Let’s see, chocolate bar, oh, and here’s that pickle,” she said triumphantly tearing it open and eating it.

Ian exchanged looks with Joe. “I see some things haven’t changed,” Joe motioned toward Lila, “she still likes her food.”

“Yep,” Ian gave a mock sigh.

Lila finished her snack and then she and Ian decked themselves out in the winter gear he had brought. “Ready,” she announced.

Joe shepherded Ian and Lila out to the parking area. “Everyone pile into Uncle Joe’s lovely Lada,” he said referring to the Russian manufactured vehicle parked near the terminal.

“No Land Rover?” Lila teased.

Joe patted the small car’s hood. “This baby will get you everywhere you need to go. I’ve driven these through rivers and they kept on going.”

Lila seated herself in the narrow back seat, the frozen plastic upholstery crackling under her. She yelped, “It’s cold!”

“No kidding,” Ian said mildly and looked back at her from the front passenger seat. “I’d offer to let you sit on my lap, but I think that would make driving here even less safe.”

Joe started up the vehicle and pulled onto the gravel track that passed for the road to Bilibino. His eyes flickered repeatedly to the mirror, while Ian casually glanced at the side view mirror.“We’ve got a friend behind us.” Ian said quietly, his lips scarcely moving.