Escape to Canamith

by Richard Friedman

  Massey finished his conversation. He still clutched the phone in one hand. He sat stoically for a moment and glanced at Lila and Aldo. Doctors Morales and Goldman entered the room laughing; their smiles faded when they saw the pained expression on Massey’s face.

  “I’m afraid I have distressing news concerning our whales. They’re dead. The government killed them early this morning.”

  Gasps of anguish rose from the group. Lila slammed her hand down on the desk, sending her beverage flying on the cold marble floor. The hot liquid spilled out of the cup.

  “This is inexcusable. It’s a crime, I tell you, a damn crime!” shouted Morales.

  “Can we get those samples you were requesting?” said a rather stoic Dr. Goldman.

  “Emily, please!” said Morales. Using her first name was uncommon, but he was too upset to use his formal training.

  “I’ll check on the tissue samples for you, Dr. Goldman,” said Massey. “This is a national travesty. I finished speaking with General Anderson at the Coastal Control station a minute ago and he gave me the news. The whales were ‘neutralized’ as he put it. I’d like to ‘neutralize’ him. Damn it!”

  Lila was busy cleaning her coffee spill and asked, “Why didn’t they give us the hours they promised?”

  “Anderson said the situation changed and they hadn’t heard from us. They went ahead with Plan B.”

  “Great,” said Lila, “another man in charge with a Plan B. I wonder if he knows my father.”

  Gorrell raised an eyebrow at Lila. “I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned your father.”

  “I have my reasons, trust me.”

  Massey continued. “The general told me that they have removed all the barrels and they don’t believe there is any danger to the community at this time.”

  “That’s a laugh. You want to eat the fish that have been swimming around in that hazardous waste? I don’t,” said Dr. Goldman.

  “Anderson told me that our ABC group was selected to represent the college in the capital. We’re going there to review the strange behaviors going on in the world. I’m afraid I haven’t been completely forthcoming with any of you, and for that, I’m sorry, but I’ve been sworn to secrecy for several months and unable to discuss any of this with anybody. The whales are a recent and dare I say the largest example of what the government is referring to as an ‘episode’. There have been numerous smaller events that the government’s been trying to deal with and keep out of the media. Traditional steps to understand these odd behaviors and episodes haven’t worked out.”

  “How come I wasn’t notified?” asked Lila, perplexed and disturbed to think that government bureaucrats were bypassing people at her level.

  “You weren’t singled out. The top government scientists have requested our help. It doesn’t matter when they asked. The point is that they have asked now. Let’s not confuse the message and messenger. This was not my choice. I was told in a clear and direct manner that I was forbidden to discuss this with anyone. That means you, Morales, Goldman, or the parking lot attendant. That was the then, and now, due to many factors, the government has chosen to go in another direction. They want our help and I informed them that we would be willing to jump in and help wherever we can. I know I can count on your support.”

  Aldo was silent. Lila sat fuming while Goldman and Morales stared out the windows.

  “I need to know. Are you in? Or out?” asked Massey.

  “Count me in, Dr. Massey. I wouldn’t turn down the chance to learn more about what’s happening,” said Lila.

  “Count me in too,” said Morales.

  At the Applegate School of Medicine, where Morales ran the Cytology Department years ago, he parlayed his education into a million dollar a year job as the CEO of Cell-Techular, the industry leader in the growing field of studying organisms at the cellular level, specifically understanding if those cells were cancerous. Morales sold his cell-testing equipment around the world and his patented equipment treated more than seventeen different forms of cancer.

  His unique way of looking at problems was his greatest strength. People looked at a forest and saw trees. Morales asked: “What is behind the forest?” or “What is below the forest?” Morales was always making notes, or speaking into his portable audio device, allowing him to review his notes at a later date.

  Lila drove Dr. Massey crazy with her own checklists and notebooks full of scribbled notes. She was a perfect match for Morales. The two of them sat next to each other making lists.

  “There’s no ABC without me. You know I’m in,” said Goldman.

  “Mr. Gorrell, I’m extending an invitation to you too. We’ll need somebody to manage assorted details. Can you handle that?”

  Aldo sighed.

  “Dr. Massey, I’d have to cancel my dates with the cheerleading squad, but if the country is calling, then I’m in.”

  “Your humor fails again to strike a chord with me. How Professor Jenkins is able to tolerate your lack of grace is beyond my comprehension,” smirked Massey.

  “I’ll work on that, Dr. Massey.” Drops of sweat ran down the back of Aldo’s neck. He grabbed the dirty towels from Lila’s spill and gave his neck a quick wipe.

  “I received the overnight wire reports. I must tell you, Mr. Gorrell, I may have judged you too harshly when you tried to bring these issues up to my attention. It seems that the episodes that we’ve reviewed are reaching treacherous levels. That’s precisely why the government is asking us to convene at the capital to discuss this problem with scientists from around the globe. Aldo, I apologize, and I will try to listen respectfully in the future. There, I said it. Now don’t tell a living soul that I apologized to you or my entire reputation will be washed away in an instant.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m not saying a word,” Aldo chuckled. “They wouldn’t believe me anyhow.”

  “I took the liberty of packing up the computers. Our plane leaves in one hour. Any questions?” He didn’t wait for any and continued, “Excellent. We’ll meet downstairs in thirty minutes. I realize that doesn’t give you much time to prepare, but do the best you can. Things are happening quickly and we haven’t a moment to waste.”

  “Thirty minutes!” declared Lila. “I must talk to J.J. I’m not even packed.”

  “Dear old Dr. Massey has thought of everything. I tracked J.J. down and filled him in on the plan. He was not pleased with me. I’ve sent staffers to your house and had them make a quick emergency wardrobe run for you and it will be waiting for you at the airport. Mr. Gorrell, I had the pleasure of speaking to your parents early today. Nice people. I’d like to meet them one day. They indicated you prefer not to fly. That’s unfortunate. There’s no choice for this trip. Your mother wanted to know if you would be flying on an empty stomach? Anything the other passengers and I should be wary of?”

  Humiliated Aldo mumbled, “I’ll be fine. I always get sick when I fly. My mom says I shouldn’t eat before I fly.”

  “That’s nonsense, young man. There’s your problem.”

  Massey picked up his mobile phone and pressed a series of buttons.

  “Not to worry, Mr. Gorrell, I’ve ordered food that will be waiting for us at the airport. I requested a meal that will stick to the walls of your stomach. I suspect hot pancakes and syrup will do the trick.”

  Lila dismissed herself and called J.J. from the other room to fill him in on her sudden departure.

  “Yeah, babe,” said J.J., “Dr. Massey told me you had to leave in a hurry. He called right after I spoke to you earlier. He said it was a national emergency. He sounded concerned, but he always sounds like it’s the end of the world when he calls here. Are you sure it’s a great idea for you to get involved at the next level?”

  “Yes. You know the ABC Squad. We can’t say no to the president. Massey said he asked for us specifically. I’m getting up to speed on events happening today. I’ll call you when I get to the capital. How’s my baby girl?”

  “She misses her mommy, I can
tell you that.”

  “Please tell Kate thanks for her help. I love you, J.J. Kiss Sophie for me, okay? Bye for now. I’ll call you as soon as we land in the capital.”

  CHAPTER 15

  There wasn’t much conversation during the short drive to Sanderell Airport. The driver raced through town in fifteen minutes to make it to the waiting private jet, and on the tarmac. The engines purred, anticipating full throttle. The wings of the twelve-seat plane glistened in the morning sun.

  “Ready, Professor Jenkins?” said Gorrell.

  “Ready, Aldo. I love to fly. When Man figured out how to travel vast distances at incredible speed, it changed everything,” said Lila.

  “I’m glad you’re all happy. I’ll guzzle down a few shots of alcohol and fall asleep until the plane lands,” said Aldo.

  “Massey would love that. A drunken teacher’s assistant ready to begin his biggest assignment ever? That’s a great idea, Aldo. Why don’t you suck it up, sit down and try not to look as though your breakfast is going to land two seats in front of you?

  “Thanks for the moral support. And I thought Massey was tough on me? He’s a dream compared to you!”

  They both chuckled as Aldo helped Lila into the aircraft’s narrow opening.

  Lila plopped down in the window seat of row three.

  “Is this seat taken, young lady?” said Dr. Massey from the rear of the cabin.

  “Please, be my guest. Are you ready to sit on the same plane with the ‘flying puke machine?’” asked Lila.

  “You mean Aldo? He’ll be fine. He sure loved that breakfast. I filled him up with pancakes, syrup, juice, you name it.”

  “Aldo? What were you thinking?” asked Lila.

  “I don’t know. Dr. Massey told me to eat it. So I ate. I figure if I puke, then I can blame him for stuffing all that food in me, and if I don’t? Then maybe I’ve got this air sickness thing figured out.”

  “There’s no way you’re sitting behind me! You better keep those relief bags close at hand.”

  Two hours later, as the airplane was gliding through the three hour flight to the Capital, Aldo’s breakfast made a full and complete arrival in a brown paper bag, and parts of row two, seats A, B, and C.

  “Oh, man, that food smelled better when you ate it than it does now!” said a disgusted Lila.

  “Thanks for trying, Dr. Massey, but I think your plan needs tinkering,” said Aldo, now turning several shades greener than his Caucasian skin usually looked.

  “Go get washed up, Aldo, we’ll be landing soon. You can’t meet General Taft looking like that.”

  Morales and Goldman were sitting in the rear of the plane. They spent the entire flight with their laptops on, energetically filling notebooks with ideas.

  Massey seized this opportunity to use the Captain’s microphone to talk to his team of experts.

  “There’s too much cabin noise for me to talk to all of you without screaming. This way I know you’ll be able to hear me.” Massey read aloud the reports about dogs turning on their owners and biting them. Many dogs were set loose from their homes and formed roaming packs that were terrorizing neighborhoods. This provoked retaliation and dogs were hunted down and killed. There were stories of panic in third world countries that faced a crisis due to lack of potable water. Meteorologists predicted wetter and colder weather in the coming months. This would cripple the Midwest’s ability to harvest enough corn to meet supply. And lastly, Massey read the growing concerns of parents whose children were succumbing to diseases because previously capable antibiotics no longer stopped strains of bacteria.

  Dr. Goldman stuck her two cents worth into the conversation. “I’ve been screaming for years about the overuse of antibiotics in pediatric medicine, but my calls fell on deaf ears. I was horrified to read the actual number of childhood deaths far surpassed the number that had been reported through traditional government reporting agencies. I believe the data was altered to avoid a panic. Now it’s time to panic.”

  Massey continued. “There were challenging problems at water filtration facilities on the east coast, and several other plants throughout the world. Insects have damaged four nuclear power plants across the country. There were reports of enormous flocks of birds flying into a hydroelectric plant. The damage caused a six month delay in the completion of the facility.”

  Massey summed up his talk with more depressing news. “There are problems with the water, problems with the food supply and problems popping up all over. The President is counting on us to come up with ideas that can fix one, or all of these issues, and fast, before panic takes hold. If you’ve ever seen a group of panic-stricken people, let me tell you, it’s not a pretty sight. It’s kill or be killed when it comes right down to it. Neighbors will fight neighbors for the last morsel of food if it means their child will eat that night. I’m not saying it’ll come to that, but that’s the road we’re headed down, and it’s ugly. Professor Jenkins, you’re the animal expert. We need you to decipher why the animal kingdom is off-kilter. Morales, you can tell us what’s going on at the cellular level. What changes have occurred to these animals? Dr. Goldman, we’re counting on you to help put all the pieces together. The President told me that we’d be working with a Mr. Drake once we get to the capital. I don’t know much about him. He’s not a scientist. Communications is his deal. How that fits in to what we’re doing, I don’t know and I don’t care. The President said to work with him. Please don’t tell me what a jerk he is. Keep him busy, find a project to keep him out of your hair and that way I can tell the President he’s part of the team. That’s it for now. I’ve passed out a number of pieces of literature for you to read while we finish the flight to the Capital. I appreciate your attention.”

  The pilot greeted the cabin in a cheerful voice. “Good morning, fellow flyers. We want you to enjoy the ride. That even goes for our youngest passenger today. That would be Mr. Aldo Gorrell. The flight attendant has mentioned that you’ve spent a considerable amount of the flight in the bathroom. I expect you’re feeling better. We started our descent twenty minutes ago. We should be landing a little ahead of schedule. The tailwinds were kind to us today and the weather is ideal. Perfect flying conditions. The current temperature in the capital is sixty-seven degrees with winds from the west of eight miles per hour. Relative humidity is forty-four percent. Dr. Massey tells me you guys are coming to save the world. We could use it. Good luck. Lock your tray tables and please return your seats to their upright position. That’s it for now.”

  “Wonderful,” said Aldo. “We have a pilot that makes fun of me. I wish he would just fly the plane.”

  “Aldo, try taking a few deep breaths and I think you’ll feel better. That used to help me when I had to listen to the story of The Great Divide every year back in Canamith,” said Lila.

  “You’re from Canamith? No way! How come you never mentioned it?”

  “It didn’t seem important until a few days ago.”

  “What is The Great Divide?”

  “It’s the story of Canamith. We weren’t allowed to hear all of it. Allegedly there are secret writings that I’ll never see.”

  “If the writings are secret, how do you even know they exist at all, or what they said?”

  “Aldo, that’s one of the reasons I’m sitting here with you and not sitting on a stone chair back in Canamith. The Great Divide was a book written thousands of years ago that told the story of how long ago my ancestors lived amongst the world in cities that resemble any place you may have read about in history class. The story is retold to children every spring.”

  “I never knew that. I was told that the people of Canamith have historically lived in the mountain regions.”

  “You were misinformed. I hear that all the time. I never speak of it because I’m not their greatest spokesperson. I don’t correct people when I hear that stuff. People in Canamith live in houses. Not fancy ones. Did you think they lived in tents or huts?”

  “You hear a lot of rumors. What
’s the story? Come on, spill the beans.”

  “This stays between me and you. I’ve discussed this with J.J. and I’ll tell Sophie when she’s older, and of course, Dr. Massey knows where I’m from. I’m telling you now so have a better understanding of why I’m so adamant about solving this crisis with science, not faith.”

  “Yeah, I get it. That explains a lot about that whole ‘everything is explainable’ thing you have going.”

  “As I said, years ago, our people lived among the world. There was a strong Chief Elder back then, I don’t recall his name, and he believed that mankind was headed for a catastrophic ending. He led his followers back into the mountain region and began living away from the rest of society. As years went on, interaction with the world became less frequent and the people of Canamith were shunned. The people in Canamith live a much simpler life.”

  “Didn’t you have electricity?”

  “Of course we did. Everything in Canamith is measured with its effect on the planet. That was okay with me, but the overwhelming feeling in the village was that mankind was doomed and the village was building a contingency plan to survive the disaster. I desired a more challenging intellectual existence and I knew that would never happen in Canamith. That why I left there and came to Sanderell. Once I left, there was no going back home. I could never go back to that simple lifestyle, and I wouldn’t have been accepted back anyway. They believe I would contaminate the village. It’s silly. I can respect the customs and rules of any place that I’ve traveled. I never wanted to go back and live in that mountain setting without the advances of technology to make my life better, or at least what I perceived was better. I’m sure my dad would vehemently disagree with the sentiment that I live better than he does, and well, there you go. I’m here with you, and they’re living in the mountains, building tunnels as a ‘Plan B’ in case something goes wrong.”