Eternity Base

Chapter 13

Another exciting Monday morning. Bob Weaver rubbed his eyes as he looked at the message lying on top of his in box. He had no idea what the connection was between all the requests for information (RFIs) listed in it, but he also knew it wasn’t his place to know. He was just here to find and forward. He started typing in the data, looking for answers to the questions:

“Hydroponics!” Devlin exclaimed, looking at the diagram of the base and the label for unit C3. “I knew I’d seen that somewhere before. They have a setup like that at UCLA.” “What’s hydroponics?” Lallo asked.

“It’s the cultivation of plants in water rather than soil. They set aside unit C3 to grow food just like the greenhouse in CI, except this one uses water instead of dirt.” Devlin shook his head. “But I don’t understand why they’d need to dedicate two units of their base to growing food when they have the ice storage tunnels.” He pointed down at the diagram. “The one blocked ice tunnel to the west looks like it’s as large as the one to the east. That’s a lot of food and supplies.”

“It doesn’t seem as though they were counting on a resupply,” Conner remarked.

The binder listed the locations of equipment and supplies along with instructions for the use of various equipment, but it didn’t say anything about the purpose of the base or who was supposed to use it.

“Look how far away they offset the reactor,” Devlin commented. “More than a quarter mile. All that ice in between serves as a very effective shield for the main base.”

Conner focused on the one unit they hadn’t been able to look at. “Check out the label on unit Al: special supply and armory.” She glanced up. “We have to get into that. If we can record weapons on tape, we have a direct violation of the treaty.”

“What about the letter?” Devlin prompted. “Will you open it?” Riley handed Conner a pocketknife with the blade open. She slit the top of the letter and pulled out a one-page hand-written note. “Read it aloud,” Devlin said. Conner cleared her throat and began reading.

Glaston — sounds a lot like Claxton, the name Freely had mentioned, Conner thought. They now had the name of the murderer. “The bastards set up a survival base down here!” Devlin exclaimed. Riley looked at Devlin and shook his head. “You mean you just figured that out? Hell, why else do you think someone would put something like this down here and stock it so full of supplies? Why do you think they have the greenhouse and the hydroponics?”

Devlin was rubbing his chin. “Well, they certainly picked the best continent to put it on. In the event of an all out nuclear exchange, there are no worthwhile targets in Antarctica. The winds off the coast would keep the fallout to a minimum. And we’ve already seen how the cold and lack of humidity preserve things.”

“Let’s remember also that this base was set up in 1971 when the Cold War was still going strong,” Lallo added.

Devlin was still focusing on the base. “They were smart — not only putting it in Antarctica but in this specific location. It’s as remote as you can get. Straight north of here you hit the South Pacific Ocean. A spot there is the world’s farthest point from dry land. Without having an intermediary base like McMurdo, it would be almost impossible to fly straight to this location.”

“There’s in-flight refueling,” Riley disagreed. “Yes,” Devlin admitted irritably. “But you have to admit that this is the most isolated location you could possibly find.”

Riley ignored Devlin and turned to Conner. “You’ve got your story. What do you want to do now?”

“Aren’t you guys interested in the identity of Peter?” Sammy asked. ‘That seems to be the key question, wouldn’t you say? He had to be the one giving the orders and in charge of this place. He’s the one we want. After Glaston,” she added.

“I don’t think we’re going to find the answer here,” Riley said. “Well, you don’t need to be in any rush, whatever you want to do.”

Swenson spoke for the first time. “I just poked my head out the door and the weather’s totally gone to crap.” He pointed over his shoulder as Vickers stormed in wearing his cold-weather gear. “And your man here has some more good news for you.”

Vickers slid his radio gear onto the table and forced open the lid. The metal looked as if it had been smashed with an ax. “Someone got to my gear. The transmitter is destroyed. We won’t be sending any messages.”

“And we won’t be flying anywhere either,” Swenson added. “We’re cut off from the rest of the world.”

“Who had access to your gear?” Riley asked.

Vickers laughed bitterly. “Shit, everyone. It was lying there in the corridor with the other equipment while we were running around doing all that other stuff. It could have been anyone.”

Conner stood up. “All right. Everyone calm down.” She pointed. “I want my crew to go to the other unit where the baggage is and wait there. I’d like to talk to Sammy, Riley, and Devlin.”

When the four were alone she looked at Sammy. “Have you been with Riley the entire time since we entered the base?”

“Listen, Conner. You’ve got no proof of anything, so don’t go making accusations. I—”

“Just answer my question, damnit!” Conner banged her fist on the tabletop.

It was Riley who answered. “No. We weren’t together the whole time. I went to the east tunnel and got some food supplies while she started getting things ready for the meal.” He leaned forward. “But I didn’t smash the radio.”

“How do we know that?” Devlin countered.

Riley didn’t even spare him a glance as his eyes bored into Conner’s. “Because it was stupid, and I don’t do stupid things. If I wanted to keep you from finding this place or getting the story out, you can be damn sure you all wouldn’t be here right now.”

“Why do you say it was stupid?” Sammy asked, forestalling Conner’s angry reply.

Riley finally broke eye contact with Conner. He slumped back in his chair. “It was stupid because I know how we can still send a message to Atlanta.”