Extinction 2038

by P. R. Garcia

  “Some might call that karma,” Gayle stated.

  “Or God’s justice,” Max added.

  Excited by the sound of the colony, Twinkles continued to flap his wings. “Come on,” Dr. Q said. “It appears there’s a trail over here we can walk down.”

  As soon as Gayle lifted Twinkles out of the arctic cat, he squirmed his way free of her grip. He ran towards the trail, sliding down on his belly when he reached the incline. He zoomed down the hill and out onto the shelf ice, then stood and waddled as fast as he could to a group of penguins not far away.

  Running to keep up with their friend, Gayle, Max and Lachlan slid down the slippery hill, waving their arms in the air to keep their balance. Upon reaching the bottom, Lachlan held out his arms stopping the other two from going any farther. “I think we should stay here.”

  “But we haven’t said goodbye,” Gayle protested.

  “Right now he wants to be with them,” Lachlan said. “If we follow and say goodbye, he might change his mind and decide to stay with us.”

  In both sadness and joy, Gayle watched the small penguin reach the first group of birds. They squawked and hooted, exchanging greetings. Finally, he turned and looked at his friends. He flapped his wings and squawked.

  Tears rolled down Gayle’s face, warm water drops against her cold skin. “You go on, Twinkles. You go have a good and long life. Hatch lots of eggs.” Twinkles turned back around and waddled off after his newly- found penguin friends. To the humans’ knowledge, the funny feathered bird never looked back at them. If he did, they were already gone, heading back to the confinement of the Station and their relentless research on how to save Twinkles and his new friends along with the rest of the world.

  The ride back was quiet. Although it took the same amount of time, it felt so much longer. Perhaps it was their heavy hearts that made the trip seem so long. Upon entering the Station, Gayle immediately noticed a yellow tennis ball laying outside the kitchen in the hallway. Twinkles had loved playing ball, chasing the yellow spheres all around the Station. She didn’t remember there being a ball there when they left. “Do you think he and the others will be okay?”

  “With so many humans gone, the fishing fleets will not go out and pull in thousands of pounds of fish and krill,” Lachlan answered. “If some fish have survived, they should multiply and the penguins will once again have enough food to eat. If the penguins can hold on for another few years, yes, I believe they will make it.”

  “And if the fish and krill don’t survive the virus?” Gayle asked, not really wanting to hear his answer.

  “I believe, as an archaeologist, you already know the answer to that question.”

  Yes, she knew it. The penguins would go extinct like the majority of life on the planet. Then, millions of years in the future, some other life form might dig up their remains, their fossils and hypothesize about what they were like, how they lived, what killed them. “Max, I’m ready for that next tape.”

  “It’s already been a long day,” Lachlan stated. “Plus, it’s so far past lunch it’s dinner time. I say let's make some dinner, play hooky and watch a movie. We didn’t get to see the one you wanted to watch the other night.”

  “I’d rather stay busy,” Gayle said. “Can’t save Twinkles and his friends if we don’t find how to synthesize the cure. Call me when dinner is ready.” Without another word, she hung up her parka, removed her boots and walked over to the laptop in the lab.

  Max wished he could give the two some privacy, but in such a small living arrangement there was little room for such things. He walked over and poured two cups of that morning’s coffee, still hot in the carafe. He carried both over to where Professor Dilbert was sitting. “This new taping is located just south of where you initially sighted the sloths. I saw a few more that were alive while recording it. I’m not sure, but I think I saw a few other animals moving around too. One might even be a tapir. It’s a more secluded area, so perhaps the virus didn’t reach there.”

  Gayle gave no answer, something Lachlan took note of. He began to fix dinner. For the hundredth time, he wondered how the three of them were going to survive the long days of darkness there in Antarctica. Already their confinement was starting to take its toll on them, and the weather hadn’t even gotten bad yet. They could still go outside, run around, have snowball fights, see the sun and enjoy its warmth on their face. But the days were getting shorter and the blackness of night closing in. He estimated that they had another two or three weeks left of more daylight than night. Then it would change. The nights would become longer until there would virtually be no daylight at all. The coldness outside would become so severe that they dared not venture outside. And to make matters worse, they were running out of material to investigate. Unless they could figure out a way to see past the equator and over the horizons, they would exhaust their field information in three weeks. What were they going to do to keep from going insane until Spring?

  Leaving the professor to her sorrow, Max went over to the computer. He entered in his password and brought up the view of the penguin colony Twinkles was now a member of. “Hey, I’ve got Twinkles on the satellite feed. Anyone want to see?” Quickly Gayle rushed over. “He’s the penguin right here.” Max pointed to one of the penguins.

  “How can you tell that’s him?” Gayle asked, doubting Max really knew. He was just trying to cheer her up.

  “By that blue tag I put on his right flipper,” Max announced. “Remember, I tagged him when he first came here.”

  “I forgot about that,” Gayle said, the sound of joy in her voice. She really was watching Twinkles.

  “And if he doesn’t knock the transmitter off, we should be able to track him when he goes back into the ocean come spring,” Max said.

  A BLINKING RED LIGHT

  Dr. Q woke up shivering. He pulled the covers over his body and tried snuggling closer to Gayle for some added body heat. It was freezing in the room again. For the past three days, the temperatures had dipped down to -20F with a wind of 22 mph. The heaters were having trouble keeping the chill out of the Station.

  Winter had arrived, but it was only the beginning. It would be almost six months before spring arrived again. If the heaters couldn’t combat the cold, he doubted they’d survive to see it. How had the Australians planned on staying all winter? What were they missing?

  Unable to stop shivering, Lachlan reluctantly crawled out of bed. He grabbed his parka and slipped it on. At least that helped a little. Hurrying across the small room, he held his hands out over the heater. There was heat coming out, warm heat. He presumed the heater just wasn’t large enough to compensate for the extreme cold outside.

  A knocking sound down the hallway caught his attention. He was pretty sure he knew what it was, but since he was already up he decided to check it out. As he walked into the living area, he saw Max standing in the dark next to the large heater hitting it with a crowbar. Lachlan flicked on the light switch.

  “I’m sorry, Dr. Q,” Max apologized. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

  “You didn’t,” Dr. Q answered, walking over to feel the warmth of the larger heater. But, as he feared, it was only lukewarm. That was why Max was pounding on it, to get it working properly again. After another few hits they heard the heater kick on and felt the heat pouring out.

  “Your room cold too?” Max asked.

  “It passed cold about four hours ago,” Lachlan replied. “I think if Twinkles was here even he’d have trouble staying in the room.” He held his hands over the rising heat, feeling its warmth start to spread over the rest of his body.

  “Doc, I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but once winter REALLY gets here the temperature is going to drop another thirty, maybe even fifty degrees.”

  “You don’t have to say anymore,” Lachlan stated. “I’ve been thinking the same thing. I think that, starting tomorrow, we need to move our three cots and whatever heaters we can in here. If we block off the rest of the Station, we should be a
ble to survive the cold.”

  “We’ll need to keep heaters in the storage room where the fuel is kept,” Max stated, turning around to warm his backside. “If that fuel freezes we won’t be able to run the generator, which runs the heaters. In fact, without the fuel, we’ll be ice sickles within a day.”

  “I think if we close off the bedrooms, the larger storage room where Twinkles was and the lab, we can make a big enough impact to keep this place warm,” Dr. Q stated. “Since the drum of fuel is too large to move, we’ll keep two heaters back there. They can keep the fuel from freezing, keep the water heater going and warm the bathroom.”

  “And if that doesn’t work?”

  “We’ll have to close everything up here, and all live in the bedroom at the end of the hall. That would mean no kitchen and no computer connection to the satellite, so let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  Max was already having trouble dealing with their isolation. How would he ever survive if they had to give up the computer? It gave them some distraction from being cut off from the world.

  “Well, goodnight again, Max. I think I’ll turn back in. Do you want me to turn the light back off?”

  “No, you can leave it on. The satellite should be coming in range in the next twenty-four minutes. With the possibility of losing our connection, I think I’ll try to survey some other areas tonight. See you in the morning, Doc.”

  Lachlan turned, grabbing Gayle’s parka as he walked by the coat rack. Hopefully, with the primary heater pushing out heat, their bedroom would warm up. But in case it didn’t, he covered Gayle with her parka. That should keep her warm.

  The next day the three started preparing the Station for the long, cold winter. The first priority was to create room for their cots and belongings. They boxed up everything in the main room that was not essential, including most of the biologists’ research, reference books and knickknacks. One by one they carried the filled boxes down to the large storage room, stacking them high against the wall for added insulation. Next, they carried down as much furniture as they could spare – two bookcases, a coffee table, rocker, high back chair and two lamps. When it came to the couch, all decided it should stay. It would give them at least one piece of comfortable furniture. Since they would be converting a section of the kitchen into a new lab, they also moved the kitchen table and chairs. When the storage room became full, they piled the items in the extra bedrooms. Next, they carried up their beds and personal belongings, which were few. Since none of them had planned on staying long, their clothing and other personal items were limited. The three cots were lined up beside each other in front of the inside east wall. It was the warmest and most insulated location in the Station. And close to the main heater.

  Wanting to finish the majority of the task before bedtime, the three skipped meals, munching on field rations at noon and five. Wishing to diminish their bathroom breaks, they limited their liquid intake to a cup of coffee with the field rations and one glass of water between meals.

  By the time bedtime arrived, they had moved everything that needed to be moved. Although not set up, everything they would need for the new lab was piled on the counter and stove. Their personal belongings were in three crates sitting on the couch. They did not have time to seal up the unneeded rooms, but they had made a lot of progress. Their last act of the day was to hang a blanket over the hallway entrance to trap the heat from the heater inside the room. Exhausted, each climbed into their cot and were asleep within minutes. Not one woke up during the night shivering. Nor did anyone see the blinking red light now visible above the computer.

  The next morning, Dr. Q insisted that they take the time to have a good breakfast since they had skimped on their meals the day before. Gayle made a large pot of oatmeal and fried some strips of processed meat that reminded her of Spam. While she prepared breakfast, Lachlan and Max started covering the windows in the bedrooms with opened cardboard boxes. Thankfully, they had found several weeks earlier two huge containers of insulation tape. They were now putting it to good use. They had just taped the last window when they heard Gayle announce breakfast was ready.

  Over breakfast, they discussed what needed to be accomplished that day. Any room they would not need access to would be sealed with cardboard and tape, just like the windows. Once the cardboard ran out, the doors would only be taped shut. It was necessary to have access to the room where the generator was housed, which was, unfortunately, at the end of the hallway. It had been purposely placed there when the structure was built to vent the fumes outside and to keep any harmful fumes from infiltrating the living areas. Keeping the hallway open meant they would lose a substantial amount of heat down the corridor. After a brief discussion, it was decided that at night the blanket would be drawn over the hallway entrance to help warm the living area. During the day, the blanket would be up, allowing the heat to permeate the hall and also keep the bathroom somewhat tolerable.

  The duration of light was already down to five hours and shortening each day, so the team decided there was no need for the windows in the living area. To ensure even more warmth, the former crew’s clothing was stuffed into the window frames as insulation, followed by a towel nailed around the window frame. Over that, sheets of plastic were taped. The only window left alone was the one on the door which faced the helicopter and shed where the arctic cat was kept.

  By the time dinner rolled around that evening, the Station was insulated as much as possible. They could now relax and take their time to set up the new lab and rearrange the living area as needed. For a job well done, Dr. Q suggested they enjoy the evening sitting on the couch eating the cookies and boxed brownies they had found and play Monopoly. Since they had already watched several movies, he thought the board game would be a nice change.

  The following day life returned to its regular routine. Max viewed the satellite tapes of any new towns or cities discovered for life, while Gayle viewed the ones on the wildlife in hopes of finding more species that had survived. Lachlan set up the small pathology lab, then went over his notes again trying to find some commonality between the various animals that seemed immune to the LO virus. Tried as he did, he just couldn’t find a connection. What could a sloth, vulture, beetle, parrot, tapir, penguin, centipede, rhinoceros beetle, python, hagfish and river otter have in common? Was there a common gene they all possessed which gave them their immunity to the virus? And where were the primates? He knew that Walter Fitzpatrick had survived besides the three of them, so some humans were also immune. And if humans were, it was logical that some primates were also. Yet they had found no evidence of any surviving primates. Were they too deep in the forest to be seen? Perhaps they were north of the equator and not detectable in their limited satellite view. Or could the worst have happened, and none survived? He’d have to ask Max to concentrate the satellite images over the jungles for the next few days.

  Now that they weren't falling into bed from exhaustion, they realized one disadvantage of everyone sleeping in the same room – everyone needed to go to sleep at the same time. The room was too small to permit one person light enough to work by.

  Dr. Q lowered the blanket over the hallway entrance that night, then walked over and flipped off the light. Heading towards his cot, he noticed a small red light blinking above the computer. “Max, you forgot to shut the monitor off.” He knew it would not harm the screen to be left on, but they needed to conserve electricity.

  “No, Dr. Q, I made sure it was off,” Max replied. “I always unplug it. Even off it drains some electricity.”

  “Then what’s that red blinking light?”

  Max sat up in bed, noticing the red light for the first time. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen it before.”

  Dr. Q walked back to the light switch and flicked it back on. Max stood and walked over to investigate the unknown light. “It appears to be the satellite box.”

  “Why do you think it’s coming from the satellite?” Gayle asked, now also standing.

&nbs
p; Max picked up the box and turned its back towards the two, showing them its label. “Because it says ‘Property of NASA’ on the back. We’re using their satellite.”

  “Has it ever blinked before?” Dr. Q asked.

  “I don’t know,” Max answered. “Before we moved everything, it was on that small table on the side of the desk, hidden behind some books and pictures. When I moved the table, the only place I had to put the box was on the shelf. It might have been blinking since we arrived.”

  “The added hours of darkness makes it more noticeable,” Gayle said, a twinkle appearing in her eyes. “I don’t know about you two, but I’m not really tired. Besides, in any movie I’ve ever seen where things are hopeless, a blinking red light always indicates some kind of message.”

  “Do you really think so?” Max asked, a twinkle now in his eyes.

  “Only one way to find out,” Lachlan said, a youthful look of excitement on his face. All three rushed to the computer, Gayle and Max grabbing a chair and stool to sit on. Before long, Max had worked his magic and found the program that contained messages from the satellite. The screen showed they had five messages.

  “It appears these messages were received some time ago,” Max said, looking at the menu displayed. “The first one occurred before we arrived. The second the day after we arrived. And the last three during the first three weeks after our arrival. It appears they were always sent on the same day of the week – Wednesday. And at the same time. 0-eleven hundred hours.”

  “Can you tell who sent them or where they originated from?” Dr. Q asked.

  “The ID is the same for all of them,” Max replied. “SpaceST.”

  “The Space Station?” Dr. Q repeated in surprise.

  “Oh my gosh,” Gayle yelled out in horror. “The Space Station. I forgot all about those guys.” She saw the blank look on her colleagues’ faces. “Think about it, you guys. They’re trapped up there. There is probably no one left who can bring them home.”