Breakthrough (21 page)

“I understand.  If you would be so kind as to follow me, I can escort you.”  Dyson led her to a small SUV and opened the door for her.  “If you do get hungry, I would recommend you not drink anything.  There is no toilet on this plane.”

“Good tip.”  She closed the door and leaned her seat back.

The plane waiting for her was a surprise.  Even with her limited knowledge of the military she recognized the famed SR71 Blackbird when they approached in the car.  The Blackbird was a result of the cold war and the need for the US to have a faster spy plane after an earlier model was shot down over the Soviet Union.  The SR71’s shape was unmistakable.  Most US citizens had seen several pictures of it over the years.

“Um, didn’t I read that these planes were officially decommissioned not too long ago?”

Dyson smiled.  “Well, you may have read that.”

He opened the back lift gate of the SUV and pulled out a pressurized pilot suit in her size. 

“I have to wear that?” Kathryn asked surprised.

“I’m afraid so.  The good news is that this plane is very fast and the flight will not be long.  The bad news is that you will be traveling above the speed of sound
, and you will need this suit for protection.”

“Okay, this is ridiculous.  Who the hell wants me back so fast that I need to wear protection
inside
the plane?”

Dyson shook his head helplessly.  “I’m afraid I don’t know, ma’am.”

“Fine!”  She removed her parka and flung it into the car.  Next she removed her boots, put a hand on Dyson’s shoulder for balance and slid a leg into the suit.

31

Everyone was standing when President Carr entered the underground conference room at JAX twelve hours later.  Vice President Edward Bailey followed him in. 
Bailey’s stockiness at five foot eight inches stood out in contrast to Carr’s taller slender frame.  Both were in their mid-fifties, but while Carr had a long established political career, Bailey’s spanned less than half of Carr’s.

Carr walked to the head of the table, and Bailey stood to his right.  “Gentlemen, please have a seat.”  He remained standing and continued.  “Thank you for getting here quickly.  I have just gotten off a call with several heads of state; Russia, China, Britain, and several others.  I have informed them of some of our developments here, and I’m sure you can imagine that they were all rather surprised.  I will say however that I have not provided all of the details yet as we are obviously still trying to piece things together ourselves.  I will also tell you that the United Nations is putting together a team of their top people and plan to have them here within a couple days.  What
this means is this situation is about to get very political and very messy.”

“Secretary Miller has briefed me on the latest developments which we are all here to discuss.  You might also be curious why it took us twelve hours to convene.  The reason is that we have added a couple people to the invite.  The first is Mr. Lawrence.” 
Carr motioned to the man sitting across from Langford.  “Mr. Lawrence heads the research department of the Department of Energy.  He is fully up to speed.”  Carr glanced at his watch.  “The second person has just arrived and is being escorted to our room.  As soon as we have everyone here, I would like to do a formal round of introductions so everyone knows who is who.  I would also-”

Carr was suddenly interrupted by the conference room door opening and one of the guards ushering in Kathryn Lokke, who looked disheveled to put it mildly.  She walked into a room and looked around, surprised at the large attendance.  “Ah Ms. Lokke,” Carr greeted her. “Please do come in.”  Mason got up and offered her his seat.  “Let me first apologize for the urgency involved in getting you here.  I know you have had a very rough couple of days.  Do you feel alright and can we get you anything?”

Kathryn was exhausted and not happy about being thrown into what appeared to be some kind of national security meeting with very little sleep in the last forty-eight hours.  She was also now starving, had a growing headache, and had the displeasure of sitting next to Stevas, a man that she had come to loathe.

“No thank you, I’m fine.”  Kathryn replied.

Carr nodded sympathetically.  “I know you have just returned from a terrible ordeal.  I am very sorry to put you on the spot here, but judging from what has been relayed to me about you and your team, I think you will agree that time is of the essence.”

Kathryn was reserved.  “I would.”

“Unfortunately, most of the men in this room are not up to date on our last meeting or what has transpired since then.   Do you feel you have the energy to give us a detailed summary?”  

“Gladly.”  Kathryn replied and slowly stood back up.

President Carr quickly went around the table introducing Langford, Clay, Caesare, and Borger from Naval Investigations.  He also introduced doctors Harding and Wong as well as Lawrence from The Energy Department.  The rest of the men - Miller, Stevas, Mason, Bullman, and Bishop she had met before at the White House.

Kathryn looked around the room and exhaled.  She had had a long time to think on her way back.  People that she knew and respected died because of game playing between her and others in this room.  That was why she had barely slept in two days.  She could not stop thinking about them, and their families.  Had any of these men lost any sleep over them?

She lowered her head and took a deep breath.  “I’m Kathryn Lokke, and I am the Director of the United States Geological Survey.  Late last evening, seven of my colleagues died during a sudden earthquake along the top of the Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica.  We were assessing the aftermath of an earlier quake which runs the length of the shelf and threatens to dislodge a giant glacier.  If this glacier breaks from the shelf and falls into the ocean, there is little doubt that it would create a tsunami like we have never seen.  It would likely wipe out most life along both sides of the Atlantic seaboard.”

Clay and Caesare looked at each other quietly.

Kathryn looked sternly at the men on Stevas’ side of the table.  “The reason that my team was on the shelf is because when I presented this information to some of you at the White House, you ignored my warning and preferred to portray me as non-credible.  Well now we are in far more danger, and frankly I don’t give a damn what you think of me.”  Now Carr’s team looked at each other.  “The next quake came much sooner that even I had feared and was much worse.  Not only have good people died, but the time we have left to deal with this is greatly shortened.  Let me put it in a way many of you will understand,” she said sarcastically, “we are now staring down the barrel of a gun.”  She looked around the room and stopped on Stevas, giving him an icy glare.  “I don’t care what you do to me.  I don’t care what you do to my reputation, and I don’t care what you do to my career.  Fire me if you want.  Arrest me.  Do whatever you like, but I am not going to cower to politicians who would rather be
jackasses
than to do the right thing!”  She finally took her eyes off Stevas and looked at the door.  “You can find someone else to be your puppet!  But when this nightmare happens, I’m going to tell anyone that will listen that some of you simply didn’t give a shit!”

Kathryn pushed her chair out of the way and walked toward the door.  She yanked it open and stepped through when she heard “STOP!”  She turned around to see Carr standing again at the head of the table.

“Okay.” he said.  “Okay.  We deserved that.  You’re right, we didn’t listen.  And I am truly sorry for your colleagues.  But we’re listening
now
.”  Carr gestured to her chair.  “Please.”  He gestured again.  “Please stay.”

Kathryn stood in the doorway, wondering if she
were in shock.  Partly for realizing what she had just said to the President of the United States, and partly for hearing him actually apologize.  When was the last time that happened?  She was so angry.  She wanted to leave.  But if she was right about the Ronne, then they had very little time.  She could not just walk away, she had to do something.  She tried to get a handle on her emotions and to calm her breathing.  Hate was not going to help anything.  She let the door close slowly behind her and walked back to her chair.

Carr nodded his thanks and then sat down.  Kathryn sighed and remained standing again.  “If the shelf itself collapsed,” she started, “it would be a small issue.  Ice breaks off all the time and ice floats.  The glacier
however, is very large.  It’s one of the largest solid land masses in the Antarctic.  If that detaches from the ice which holds it in place and collapses, it goes straight down.  And when it does it will displace an enormous amount of water and energy.  We know that these things have happened in the distant past, and we know that they have been absolutely devastating.”

Clay raised his hand.

“Yes?” she asked.

“Any ideas on what is causing this?”

Kathryn took a deep breath.  “Some will tell you that it is part of the larger Global Warming trend.  The ice is melting at both poles.  With the Ronne shelf being so large, the underlying ice floating on the ocean surface is melting away, losing strength and the ability to hold the glacier in place.”  She straightened up and put her hands on her hips.  “However, I think it’s something different.  My belief is that while the ice is indeed melting it is not happening as quickly as others claim, and instead the actual volume of water is decreasing which is what is exerting pressure and causing the shelf to separate.”

“What do you mean the water volume is decreasing?” asked Miller.

She shrugged.  “To put it simply there is less water under the ice than there used to be.”

“And what happened to the water?” he asked.

“That I don’t know.  But I believe it is a global phenomenon.  I have put forth a scientific paper with my calculations, but in all honesty no one believes me.”

“So,” said President Carr, “what should we do?”

Kathryn leaned forward putting her hands on the table and looked up from her tussled hair.  “We blow it up.”

More looks were exchanged around the table.  “We blow what up?” asked the Vice President.

“We blow up the shelf, preemptively.”  She walked over to a large whiteboard on the wall.  Picking up a pen she drew a rough horseshoe shape of the ice shelf.  She then added a large oval to the inside ridge where the glacier was located.  “Here is the glacier.  And this line,” she drew a squiggly line around the inside, “is where the crack is, created by the earthquake, also called an ice quake.”  She switched colors and drew another line further out from the crack.  “If we can intentionally break the shelf closer to the water, we should be able to alleviate enough pressure and weight currently pulling against the glacier.”

The room was silent with all eyes on her drawing.  “And how much would we have to
blow up
?”  Carr asked.

Kathryn shook her head as she thought it over.  “I don’t know.  We would have to run some computer simulations.  I would guess at least fifty miles worth.”

“Has anything like this been done before?” Miller asked.

“No.” she replied.  “Not by a long shot.”

“And how long would it take to set this up?”  Carr followed.

“I don’t know,” she said with an inquisitive look at Carr.  “It depends on what kind of resources we are given.”

“Fair enough.”  He looked around the room.  “Okay, thank you Ms. Lokke.  I would like to ask that you stay on base as we all figure this out.” 

“Fine.”  She nodded. “But what happens to my team?”

Miller leaned forward.  “At the moment they should be quite comfortable on base in the Falklands.  I think we would all agree that we need to keep things quiet until we figure out exactly what our game plan is.  Unfortunately, bringing your team back too soon could severely compromise things.  Ms. Lokke, is there information or data to be compiled from your expedition?”

“Yes.  A lot of data.”

Miller looked at the President.  “I suggest keeping them where they are and giving them an interim project.  Compiling their data seems logical and then Ms. Lokke can bring them into the next phase as needed.”

Carr looked at Kathryn.  “Any objections, Ms. Lokke?”

“No.  As long as they are safe.”

“They should have access to anything they need.”  Miller said.  “Of course you do understand that we will need to apply some level of lockdown when it comes to communications, for example
to family and friends.”

“I understand.”  She replied.  “But I want to be honest with them.  They deserve that.  They’re responsible adults
and after what we just went through, they can appreciate the danger and risk involved with how this is handled.”

“Fine.”  Carr nodded.  “Let’s just make sure that we’re in agreement with what you communicate to them.  In the meantime, you deserve some rest.  We have accommodations arranged for you, and the sergeant outside will provide anything you need. 
Including a good meal which I’m guessing is probably long overdue.”

Kathryn adjusted her shirt and brushed some hair behind her ear.  “It is.” 

Clay noticed that Lokke seemed to visibly relax.  She also suddenly looked very tired.

As she walked toward the door, everyone in the room stood up.

“Thank you.” was all she said before opening the door and stepping through.

They remained standing quietly as the door clicked shut.  President Carr sighed and leaned forward onto the table.  “I haven’t been dressed down like that in a long time.”  Some of the men let a small grin slip out.  The President motioned to the others and sat back down.  “As you were.”

As everyone sat back down, Caesare leaned toward Clay.  “I like her,” he whispered.

“So do I.”

“Thoughts?” asked the President.

Langford
cleared his throat.  “Well, I think we may know where all of her water has disappeared to.”

Carr raised his eyebrows and frowned.  “Indeed.”  He leaned slightly back in his chair.  “Let’s hear from our science experts.  Mr. Borger?”

“Yes sir?”

“So tell us, is this
in fact, some kind of portal?”

“I believe so.”  He looked across the table to Harding.  “From everything we can measure, the direction of water flow is one way, into the ring.  What happens to it from there we don’t know, but the most logical conclusion is off planet.”

“Mr. Harding?  Do you concur?”

Harding looked at the President.  “Yes sir.”

Bill Mason, Carr’s Chief of Staff, who had been noticeably silent throughout spoke up.  “We’re going to have to stop the water flow one way or another.”

“I agree.” Stevas quickly added.

There were several nods around the room.