THE ARK

Day 90

The helicopter flew low; about a hundred feet above the desert, occasionally it would climb because of something on the ground but it would just as quickly settle back down after it had cleared the object.

RJ rode in the co-pilot’s seat and was clearly impressed at the skill that Captain Amy Travers had developed in the three months that she had been flying again.

Amy had originally joined the Army to fly and had flown helicopters for several years. Unfortunately, the policy of keeping women out of combat had greatly limited her options, and eventually, she had decided she had enough frustration and that she would either leave the military or take on a new career within the Army.

She had a degree in biology from her pre-military life and had met then Lt. Colonel Matt Fitch at a social gathering. They had gotten to know each other and Matt had offered to have her transferred to his team. Amy had learned to love the military life and was willing to give up flying for the chance to stay in uniform.

Since it was essential to get Amy some usable skills for after the long sleep, and since the future sleepers would not be bound by any current military policies, it had seemed like a good idea to return to flying.

Amy had also completed her basic medical and weapons training all the while directing the sleep team.

At first, the added stress of training while taking over command of the sleep project was immense. Add that to the death of a good friend, and mentor, and Amy was overwhelmed. She managed her grief by diving into the training and working the project too. She had no free time and no time to grieve. She is so tired after the first month that the flight instructor grounded her and General Fitch finally stepped in.

Amy was given a week of leave and she spent some time with a grief counselor. Fitch continued to assist and support her when she came back to work. By then, she was maintaining a healthier pace, and delegating more and more to other members of the sleep project.

Suddenly Travers pulled the helicopter into a steep climb and flew over the mountain. She then rapidly descended directly onto the landing pad at the mouth of the tunnel.

“I think you’re enjoying this too much,” RJ said with a grin.

“I think you’re right. I had almost forgotten how good it feels to fly.”

They sat together as the aircraft powered down. There were two large eighteen wheel semis lined up at the large mouth of the tunnel. Beyond them, there were heavy cranes lowering the last of the massive underground fuel storage tanks into the ground.

Finally, they got out of the helicopter and started for the tunnel entrance, and were met by a soldier in a Humvee who took them the half-mile long journey into the tunnel. As they approached the elevator that led to the pit, they saw two brand new identical red and white ambulances lined up behind one another. A woman was attaching magnetic signs to the sides that listed exactly where in the pit they would be stored. There was also a large bar code on the label stuck to the side so that the vehicle could be scanned and tracked in the computers.

“Let’s go see how things are progressing,” Amy said.

“That sounds good.”

They stepped onto the massive elevator at the same time the woman with the signs was stepping off. They stood by the side of the rearmost ambulance and rode the elevator down.

When they got off, they saw two more tractor-trailers backed into the massive room. There were forklifts emptying the cargo off the trucks. They walked past the trucks and could see that the massive chamber was about a quarter of the way filled.

A forklift quickly passed them carrying three pallets of IV fluids. The second was removing toilet paper from the other truck. They went past where the forklifts were delivering the cargo in organized areas and could see rows and rows of vehicles. There were several new cement mixers, bulldozers, and front-end loaders in a row.

In the next row behind them were four different types of fire trucks and near the North East corner were several dozen large green tractors and other pieces of farm equipment.

Amy noticed that the vehicles were mostly up on blocks and their tires were removed. They continued and saw a new dump truck on blocks; a team was removing the tires and using large paint brushes to cover the tires with a foul smelling substance.

RJ saw the confusion on Travers’ face. “The rubber in the tires will dry out and crack, long before we wake up, so they remove them and cover them in that gel that prevents drying. They’ll do the same thing with all the belts and hoses too.”

“I guess that makes sense” Amy commented.

There was a sudden beeping noise and they both turned to see the two ambulances backing into their designated spots. They started back towards the elevator and made it just in time to ride up with the two, now empty semi-trucks.

“I’m going to check on the two sleep chambers down below,” Amy said.

“Ok, I’ll be in the command center,” RJ said

They both descended to the main level and from there split up.

Amy Travers went to the right to check on the two smaller sleep chambers on either side of this corridor. She first went to the passage on the right that lead to the large open room as she approached she was surprised to see that the large pressure door was closed and the digital indicators showed that the chamber was pressurized.

She looked through the thick glass window and saw the one hundred and fifty pedestal like beds, and then noticed that six of those beds had sleepers on them. She could see the IV lines and the masks on their faces. The wires for cardiac monitoring were visible going under their shirts. The tubing for the un-needed waste catheters was neatly coiled at the foot of each bed. The output of a sleeper during just a few weeks was almost immeasurable. For the long term sleep, however, these waste removal systems would be imperative.

This room would sleep most of the team members who would be involved in the initial assessment following the awakening.

Amy was pleased to see the progress. The schedule did not have this room ready for a live test for several weeks.

The guilt she felt over delegating the preparation of these chambers to her less experienced staff faded, just a little.

Amy left this chamber and headed to the chamber across the hall. This chamber was physically just as large but would hold only fifty sleepers.

As you approached this chamber, the first thing you noticed was that there were two pressurized doors. An inner door and an outer door with a ten-foot space between them. This space was used as an airlock. Since the specialists in this chamber could be called upon to awaken during the sleep to deal with problems that develop, it was necessary to design the environment so that people could come and go without causing a problem for the rest of the sleepers.

Amy walked through the two sets of pressure doors and saw the chamber filled with individual sleep capsules. They had returned to the use of individual capsules in here. It better enabled the individual sleepers to awaken to perform needed functions and to later return to sleep.

Captain Travers was glad to see that all the capsules were in place. One group of technicians was hooking all the tubing to the capsules, while a second group was attaching the modified hinged covers. Work in this chamber seemed to be right on schedule.

Amy moved to the table at the side of the room and began reading over the progress reports and lists of tasks that still needed to be completed. As she reviewed the work her appreciation for the rest of her team increased. Not only had they finished the two primary chambers and the main chamber on this floor, but also the animal chamber was scheduled for completion in a month and this chamber in two months. That would bring their work to completion almost two months ahead of the planned date.

She decided to go see General Fitch, but first, she would go back to the pit and get a look at the animal chamber.

RJ entered the command center and headed to the office. General Fitch was not there and she soon learned from a technician at a communications terminal that he was in his quarters. Apparently, he was feeling ill and had gone to bed.

RJ was looking over status reports when Travers came in.

“How are things coming, Amy?”

“Excellent, everything is well ahead of schedule. The animal chamber will be fully operational in a month. I was just there and things are looking good. Our sleep chamber is the last one to be finished, and it looks like it’ll be done soon. How are the rest of the things progressing?”

“Good. The underground fuel storage tanks are the last major piece of construction. Final deliveries are all scheduled. Most of the food will be here over a month ahead of time,” RJ explained

“Sounds great, what about the animals?”

“They will start arriving in five weeks. As soon as they’re all here we’ll put them all out.”

“Good, I need to be back for training in the morning. What time do you want me to pick you up?”

“I’m not sure yet. I’ll page you two hours before I need to be picked up.”

“Sounds good,” Amy said

Captain Travers turned and left the command center and headed for her helicopter.