Roll Over Play Dead

by Dan Milton

  As they arrived, Pyotr waved them in and said, “Let’s go to the table. I’ll read it there.”

  Pyotr had trouble controlling his voice as he began reading the first few pages of Alexei’s journal. To learn the thoughts of the son he had not seen since 1944 was very exciting and yet very sad. He wanted Grigory and Tasha to hear Alexei’s words together at the same time; he considered both of them as part of his family. It’s a shame that his sister Alexandra was not still alive. She had always had faith in Alexei and knew he would return some day. The journal, Pyotr held, was not Alexei, but it sure felt good to have something of his.

  As Pyotr read through the diary, he made comments and emphasized certain points. For example, Pyotr said, “The story of them being attacked by a German Stuka airplane and how scared he was. Even so, he was still able to warn those around him to take cover. It was all because of Grigory and his highly tuned sense of hearing. It was great for them to pair up with another family when they walked to Saratov. His closing comment was Tasha; I do miss her.”

  Tasha, with a lump in her throat, exclaimed, “I had no idea he cared!”

  Pyotr continued, “How about the comment he made that I must be more vigilant concerning the parcel or his story about the Shaman and his healing powers. The Shaman telling him you have the power, and the dream he had on the boat to Kuybyshev in which he saw his mother.”

  They read where Alexei had exchanged the gold and one of the Icons for diamonds in Molotov and the close call they had with a thief. They learned the location of the diamonds; hidden in a hole drilled into the block of wood on which was the painted second Icon. Tears came to Pyotr’s eyes when he read Alexei’s comment: Father, I miss you so. I am afraid I will lose you as I did mother. They all laughed at the story of the dog he named Lev that had become his constant companion. Tasha was again struck by his comments when he was in Novosibirsk. They were all touched by his comment in Vladivostok: Hope to see you soon so that we can all be home.

  A few weeks after reading and re-reading the journal, Pyotr received a letter from Ernie Donald. Grigory also received a letter. It took a couple of weeks to get the two letters translated from English to Russian. The letters asked about the attitude in the village since Alexei and the village’s wealth went missing.

  About a month later, Ernie received a reply and learned that the Village Elder was Pyotr, Alexei’s father. He also learned that the Parish Priest was Grigory, Alexei’s best friend. The letter said that, other than Grigory, Tasha and himself, the rest of the community felt there was no wreck. They felt that Alexei had taken the money and gone off to a new life in America. Or, if there had been a wreck, he had survived and gone off with the village’s wealth. Pyotr closing comments were, “The villagers have made our lives difficult. Even so, we know in our hearts, especially after reading Alexei’s journal that Alexei would have done everything in his power to preserve the village’s property, even to giving up his life.”

  “Grigory, Tasha and I know that there was a wreck. We are very encouraged when you said that you would continue to look for Alexei and the parcel. We wish we could help in some way. Thank you.”

  After Ernie read the letter from Pyotr he called Jeff and said, “Come on over. I just received a letter from Pyotr.”

  “I’ll be there in 15 minutes.”

  Jeff read the letter from Pyotr and said, “Seems like the majority of the village agrees with our ‘bad boy’ scenario. But, I put 100% more relevance in what Pyotr had to say. As far as it concerns me, the ‘bad boy’ scenario is, excuse the pun, a dead issue.”

  “I agree. My feeling is that the boat, lost in a mighty storm, lies somewhere off one of the islands near Kokhanok. Let’s find it!”

  Jeff said, “Okay… Let’s find it!”

  4 Minutes 38 Seconds – March 27, 1964

  At 5:35pm Owen Hammond had just walked out of the hanger with packages and mail for Lake Iliamna. He smiled slightly as at an old friend, seeing his Grumman Widgeon parked on the tarmac about 75 feet from the hanger door of the Anchorage airport cargo terminal. It was Good Friday, and he was about to leave for Lake Iliamna where he would spend the weekend with friends. About 10 minutes ago he had dropped off a couple of charter passengers at the private aircraft terminal. He had then taxied over to the cargo terminal.

  As he loaded the boxes and mail into the rear compartment of the Widgeon, he heard a faint rumbling sound and the ground began to shake. For the first few seconds, it started out gently. He moved away from the aircraft toward the hanger. As the shaking worsened, he decided to stay where he was.

  The date was March 27, 1964. During the next 4 minutes and 38 seconds, the ground shook as if it would never stop. Owen was bounced to the ground several times. With all his strength, he held tight to a tie down hook in the tarmac. He had nowhere to go. He feared the hanger would collapse at any time. Pieces of the building were already falling near him. He watched in fascination as the 68-foot airport control tower toppled over. His Widgeon bounced up and down on its rubber tires. He hoped that the landing gear would not collapse. Fissures began to open up in the tarmac. He was glad he had not tied the plane down. He knew the extra rigidity of the tie downs would have pulled the aircraft apart. His hope was that the Widgeon would float with and above the seismic waves.

  As Owen experienced a lifetime of fear in those four and a half minutes, the city of Anchorage was experiencing a lifetime of destruction. Thirty blocks of residences and commercial buildings laid flat. A whole row of stores fell some 12 feet below street level. The entire infrastructure suffered severe damage; paved streets, sidewalks, water, sewer and gas mains, and electrical systems. It was fortunate that the day was Good Friday with many stores closed. It was also fortunate that it was a holiday and many people were away for the weekend.

  The denser Pacific Plate, in its move north, pushed into and under the more buoyant North American Plate along the Aleutian Megathrust Fault. The result of this activity created a moment magnitude 9.2 megathrust earthquake, felt worldwide; the most powerful recorded earthquake in US history.

  The epicenter of the earthquake was in the Prince William Sound six miles east of the mouth of College Fjord at a depth of 15 miles. In the little village of Chenega on Chenega Island, in the Prince William Sound, one of the older residents felt the initial tremor. He ran out into the street and shouted, “Earthquake, earthquake! Head for higher ground.”

  Fortunately, there was a hill, very close to town, where the older residents headed. The younger people were running around confused. They had not lived through the experience of what a tsunami can do immediately following an earthquake. Those running for the hill kept shouting, “Run, run for your life.”

  Four minutes after the earthquake stopped, a wall of water, some 65 feet high, powered its way out of Prince William Sound. A massive underwater landslide spawned it. The huge wave struck the Chenega Island and in just a few seconds, the village was destroyed. Forty-five of the 68 residents, who had heeded the warning and climbed high enough up the hill, survived the disaster. The others, like the village, did not survive.

  During the third of those four earthquake minutes, as the seismic waves built in power, the infrastructure of an unnamed and uninhabited island near Kokhanok, in Lake Iliamna, began to crumble. A previous seismic event, thousands of years before, had thrust the island up to a height of almost 100 feet above the lake’s surface. Now, in just minutes, all that rock tumbled down and slid beneath the water. Nothing was left to mark the island except for what was below the waves. A once proud island, that had seen much sunshine over the centuries, was no more.

  Some 50 feet below the lake surface, a once proud boat rested. It had gracefully laid on the bottom for the last 20 years without being disturbed. Now it was almost entirely covered with rock and debris from the island.

  * * *

  After what seemed like an eternity, Owen walked to his plane and climbed into the pilot’s seat. He dialed the tower frequency and tri
ed to raise one of the controllers. He got no response. He continued to call on all frequencies used at the airport but got no answer. He thought: Guess I’m on my own. There is going to be a lot of people coming here to help. I’m probably needed more at Lake Iliamna.

  He checked the aircraft physically for any external damage, and it looked okay. He calculated that he had enough fuel to reach the Lake. He knew ‘the Russian’ always kept aviation fuel on the dock at Lake Clark. He thought: The portion of the runway still usable may not be long enough for me to take off!

  He walked along the taxiway to the runway. The taxiway had a few craters, but he found a way around them. When he got to the main runway, it was a different story. As he walked down the runway about a half mile, he came across a fissure about 15 feet wide cutting diagonally across the runway. He estimated he would have about 3000 feet of usable runway up to the fissure. It should be more than enough to take off with the very light load he carried. As he walked back to his plane, he hoped that the control people had reached all the incoming traffic and diverted them as well as putting a hold on all outgoing.

  He reached his plane, climbed in and began the pre-flight check. Everything checked out okay. He taxied toward the runway, weaving around the small craters. When he was finally lined up on the runway, he held the brakes on as he brought the engines to full power. He released the brakes and headed down the runway keeping his eye on the point where it ended in that large fissure. About halfway down the runway the aircraft began to bounce around as a magnitude 6.0 aftershock occurred. He managed to keep the plane under control as he went wheels up about 25 feet before the fissure. He breathed a sigh of relief as he set the course for Lake Iliamna.

  * * *

  Ernie was grabbing a piece of pizza for dinner when he heard the devastating news of the earthquake in Alaska on a local Seattle radio station. He tried calling Owen to find out if he was okay, but there was no answer. He called Jeff. When Jeff answered, Ernie said, “Do you have the news on?”

  “No. I just got in.”

  “Switch on the radio. Alaska just had a devastating earthquake. I tried calling Owen but could not reach him. Don’t know much more than what is on the news. I’ll call if I hear anything from Owen.” Ernie said goodbye as he hung up the phone. He was glued to the radio as a ham radio operator described scene after scene of the massive devastation while the network radio stations broadcast tsunami warnings.

  During the flight to Lake Iliamna, Owen radioed the lodge at Iliamna to speak to the owner. When the call went through, Owen said, “This is Owen. How are things on the ground? Is there any damage?”

  The owner replied, “We seem to have had only minor damage. The Lake is in turmoil. Looks like some landslides occurred at the upper end of the lake. I wouldn’t suggest you try to land on the lake. I inspected the runway here, and it is okay.”

  “Fine… I should be there in about 45 minutes. Can you put me up for the night?”

  “Yes. No problem. I have several spare rooms.”

  “On my way, I will swing over to Lake Clark and get an idea of how things are there.”

  Owen radioed the weather people in King Salmon to get the latest. He also radioed the general store in Kokhanok and asked how things were there. He received word that a few injuries and some damage occurred, but nothing serious. Owen let them know that he would be flying over tomorrow if the lake landing conditions improved.

  ‘The Russian’ received a call on his radio just as the shaking ended. He looked out the front window that overlooked Lake Clark and noticed that the water level at the dock was lower than it normally was. As he continued to watch the level began to rise until it was over the top of the dock. The boats tied to the dock were straining at the lines. In a few minutes, the level had dropped again. This motion continued for quite some time.

  A call came through on his radio from a fisherman who lived at the upper end of the lake. He said that a massive slide had taken place about a half-mile from his home. He said tons of rock had slid into the lake probably causing a large wave to head down the lake. ‘The Russian’ thanked him and said that the wave had just gone through in front of his home. He radioed several people he knew that lived at the western end of the lake. He warned them that the wave was coming and may cause flooding. They said they would call everyone nearby to let them know.

  As Owen was flying over Lake Clark, he noticed several large landslides had occurred at the upper end of the lake. He radioed ‘the Russian’ as he passed over Port Alsworth and asked him if everything was alright. He said it was, and asked Owen to fly over the lower end of the lake to see if they sustained any significant damage because of the wave caused by the landslides. Owen said he would.

  When Owen flew a low tight circle over the bottom end of Lake Clark, he noticed that some of the houses were damaged by the wave though the water had receded by this time and had continued past them into the lower lake and Nondalton. He also noticed that the Newhalen River was overflowing her banks as it flowed toward Lake Iliamna.

  He then headed the Widgeon toward the landing strip at Iliamna and came in for a smooth landing. The Lodge owner heard him and drove to the landing strip in the van to pick him up.

  Later that evening, Owen was able to get through to Ernie and let him know he was safe. Ernie called Jeff and let him know.

  Next morning, Owen checked the weather conditions with King Salmon and radioed the general store owner at Kokhanok. He learned the landing conditions in the bay were good; he could land there and then drive up on the gravel beach to the left of the dock.

  As Owen was passing over a group of islands near Kokhanok, he noticed that something appeared different from his previous flights over that same area. He had flown over those islands dozens of times over the years. But something was different this time.

  About 25 minutes later Owen landed in the bay and taxied to the gravel beach. As he went wheels down and eased the plane up onto the beach, it dawned on him what was wrong. One of the islands was missing.

  As Owen climbed out of the pilot seat, he was met by the owner of the general store. Owen said, “Am I just not seeing things clearly or has one of your islands disappeared?”

  “You are not wrong,” said the general store owner as he pointed toward the lake and added, “The Island that was right out there has disappeared.”

  Summer of ‘64

  Spread out carefully on a table in the Crumpet Shop in Seattle was the aerial photo of the lake area near Kokhanok. Ernie and Jeff sat there staring intently at it. They had just finished shopping at the Pike Place Market. The decision had been made to find the wreck with the words ‘let’s do it!’ still reverberating in their heads. Classes were out for the day, and both needed a break. They felt that, if they stared long enough, somehow the exact location of the wreck would pop out at them. They soon realized that staring at the picture did not help. Jeff said, “So, where do we start?”

  “Let’s first make a list of everything we know for sure. Then we’ll put together a list of things that may be true, but not yet verified. We’ll follow that with a list of questions. Hopefully, that will get our thinking in line with what we need to do to start the effort of finding the wreck and what happened to Alexei.”

  “Not to throw a wet blanket on everything, but perhaps the first problem we have to resolve is how to finance this little discovery expedition. I doubt that we have enough money between the two of us to finance it for more than a half day. I also know that neither the Navy nor the University will fund any part of it. We’ll have to raise the funds privately.”

  “You’re right, and we’ll need some operational help at the lake as well.”

  “We’ll need someone with diving experience. I can’t see the job done with less than three divers. Why don’t you gather everything you have and I’ll do the same. We can get together at my place next Saturday and put a plan together. The ideal time for us to be at the lake is the four weeks from mid-July to mid-August.”
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br />   “I’ll let Commander Carothers know our plans for the summer—that we will not be available from mid-April. He mentioned that he might have some work for us to do this summer. If he does, I’ll see if he can put it off until September. He said the work could be done here locally at the shipyard test tank. It would be an extension of the work we did last summer.”

  Ernie & Jeff spent a portion of the summer of 1963 in San Diego along with some of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard acoustics experts working on a US Navy contract. Their task was to test a remote imaging unit (an adaption of the latest sonar imaging with the latest camera used in aerial photography). A remote cable guided self-propelled unit houses the sonar and camera. The device operates from a hand-held guidance terminal. After the operator guides the camera into position, it begins sending real-time images. Their contract included the developmental and test phases.

  Before getting together on Saturday, Jeff reviewed the search reports again but found nothing new. He was able to contact Owen to discuss how efficient the boat and aerial searches were. He compiled all this information for Saturday’s meeting.

  Ernie went through Alexei’s journal again, but nothing new came to light. He reviewed the information provided by the boat builder, but again he could find nothing new that would help.

  On Friday, Ernie went to the Naval Shipyard and met with the Navy acoustics people. They said they had been tweaking the enhancement software and would he like to try it on the sonar image of the wreck. Ernie said, “Okay. Let’s give it another try and see what we get.”

  After several passes through the sonar data, they were able to provide a slightly clearer picture of the wreck. The head engineer said, “That’s about as good as we can get it. Should I make you a printout?”

  “Yes, thanks. Please make a couple of printouts. I don’t know about the rest of you, but that image sure looks like a boat to me. Based on the image measurements, the boat would be about 35-40 feet in length. It is sitting on the bottom and doesn’t look too bad considering that it would have taken a terrific battering in the storm before it sank. The depth of the wreck is estimated to be less than 50 feet. I appreciate all your help.” Ernie gathered up the printouts of the latest enhanced sonar image of the wreck to show Jeff.