Continuance Read online

  Continuance

  Copyright 2017 Claire Rye

  Published by Claire Rye at Smashwords

  Smashwords Edition License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  The Doomsday Vault.

  Chapter Two

  Far South to Far North.

  Chapter Three

  This changes everything.

  Chapter Four

  What lies beneath?

  Chapter 5

  Break-through.

  Chapter 6

  Natures Wonderland.

  Chapter 7

  History never repeats.

  Chapter 8

  PRESS RELEASE

  Chapter 9

  Questions.

  Chapter 10

  A step too far.

  Chapter 11

  A losing battle.

  Chapter 12

  Press Release

  Chapter 13

  Demoralized.

  Chapter 14

  The Sacrifice.

  Chapter 15

  The end?

  Prologue

  My watering eyes begin to focus on the imposing concrete wedge in front of me; it bursts out of the snow, like an office building that had crash-landed into the side of a mountain. Three stories of concrete covered with a chandelier style glass roof. A dramatic design in an undramatic location. I start to wonder at the logistics of a building in such a remote and cold area.

  My thoughts are interrupted by a dramatic speech being delivered by an overly enthusiastic man standing beside me.

  “Before you is the future of our species, the last chance for the existence of life, the only hope for the continued evolution of this planet and all that it contains. A doomsday salvation, an apocalyptic refuge… You are about to enter the future birthplace of humanity… Are you ready”?

  Trying to make the best impression I can on my first day at work, I turn towards him, give a stern and considered look and firmly reply “yes” while internally rolling my eyes and trying to hide my agitation at the delay in getting us out of the freezing wind.

  Finally after a dramatic pause, the doors swing open and I am disappointed to see a very long, cold and very boring corrugated iron tunnel heading deep into the mountainside ….

  Birthplace of the future of humanity? Really?

  And with this anti-climactic start, my role in the story that will disprove theories, question common ideals and alter mankind’s thinking forever …. Has begun.

  Chapter 1

  The Doomsday Vault.

  One thousand three hundred kilometres north of the Arctic Circle is the Government’s Global Seed Vault and it is the world's largest secure seed storage vault.

  Crates of seeds are sent there, from all over the globe for safe and secure long-term storage in cold and dry rock vaults. The aim of the Seed Vault is to preserve the vast genetic variation in crops, worldwide. Each seed sample is potentially of great benefit to farmers, researchers and processors, as they supply food to an increasing world population.

  The Global Seed Vault (TGSV) is a worldwide insurance project for the food supply of future generations and in the event that the ecosystem is destroyed, will enable a new beginning. Some call it “the doomsday vault” a dramatic term for a rather straightforward and practical place.

  But I must admit, that when asked where I work, I do, on occasion reply “the doomsday vault”. The look on critics faces makes up for the immediate lack of interest when I start to explain what I mean.

  A typical day at work is long, repetitive and cold, freezing cold. The vault is kept at a constant 18 degrees below zero and is designed for a virtually infinite lifetime, which ironically, is what some days can feel like. By building the vault 130 meters into the rock and 130 meters above sea level the facility is robustly secured against external hazards, variations of climate and also against anything of interest or excitement.

  The vaults themselves, three large tombs at the end of a long tunnel, look more like a police evidence room than a global conservation effort. Inside a large cage there are basic library style shelves filled with crates and postal boxes. A rather uninspiring description of a worldwide collaboration that downplays the amazing efforts of my employer but believe me it is accurate.

  I do remind myself daily that the work they are doing here is important and one day may prove invaluable, but the overheated ridicule that society has directed towards us seems to be more of a threat that the far-fetched and alarmist idea of the end of humanity.

  It’s been 30 years since the opening of the vault in 2008 and with the successful deflection of the “extinction level event” (ELE) aka the earth destroying meteor ELE001 in 2019 and so, humanity feels invincible. We now control all of the threats of climate change and have a prosperous and sustainable future ahead of us.

  Long gone is the belief that we are a fragile and insignificant existence on a tiny planet, this sort of thinking is no longer relevant. We are the masters of our destiny; we have controlled our world and influenced the universe around us. Deep space travel, a dream when the vault was first opened, is now a commonplace and the novelty of discovery is a previous generation’s thrill. So why on earth would we need a “backup plan” in the form of a global seed vault?

  Most of my time is spent with the founder of TGSV, Edward Lloyd. He is well past retirement age but works harder and longer than anyone on staff. His long silver hair and tall skinny frame gives him the look of a mad scientist. It suits him. His determination and conviction that realised the dream of a global seed program has all but left him now, but his passion and excitement in his “doomsday vault” has not deteriorated at all. Nor does his belief that we do actually need one.

  The first of half my 10-hour shift is spent listening to his story of TGSV’s heyday. When people were full of enthusiasm and interest, and when TGSV was a real beacon of hope. The second half is spent alone, going about duties on autopilot and smiling as I replayed our conversations in my head.

  The many hours I spent wandering the tunnels and triple checking locks and monitoring air quality along with statistic data that never changes, has given me time to reflect on just how the hell I got here. How I ended working on the side of a mountain 14,333 kilometres from home, where the highlight of my day is sharing a coffee with the mad scientist.

  Chapter 2

  Far South to Far North.

  My story to this point is not an extraordinary one.

  Born and bred in Australia, with a normal upbringing, no great successes and no desperate disadvantages. Middle class and now middle-aged I am so average I am a baseline. Average weight, average height, average looking and now, thanks to this new job, average income.

  I used to have a well-paid job with the Department of Meteorology and Science (DOMAS), spending most of my adult life working through the ranks from office clerk to digital service analysis; I had no time for children and no time for personal relationships. Some people would say I am lonely and childless, but in reality I am single and childfree - there is a difference.

  The “one world” policy introduced 3 years earlier meant that business, trade and currency went global. No borders meant no boundaries or so the slogan said and with this “fair and equal” way of doing business, came some not so fair, and
not so equal changes, one of which, was my employment.

  One world meant that my role with DOMAS was no more.

  The computer-generated face from my “employment status update” video message sounded far too positive for my liking. “Your long history with the department means that you will be offered plenty of new and exciting opportunities”, I guess they thought bad news would be better received if I had no real person to blame. But real people make this decision, real people are affected, and I blame the real people.

  The aforementioned no children and no partner meant that all the ‘exciting new opportunities’ I had on offer where in remote and isolated regions. Ranging from the far East to the far West to the far South! I have an interest in biology and I fare better in cold weather than hot, so on that simple and limited selection criteria I accepted the position in the far south, that of “operations support member” at the Global Seed Vault.

  The girl from an island continent 5,250 kilometres from the South Pole took a job 2,102 kilometres from the North Pole. So here I am, Charlotte Rose, literally sitting on top of the world, although some days I didn’t really feel that way.

  Chapter 3

  This changes everything.

  A notification on my computer screen tells me a memo has arrived.

  “The decision has been made to expand our inventory to include biological samples as well as the current organic stock.”

  Wait, what? Biological samples … what does this mean? Animals, People, DNA? Biology covers pretty much every living thing, are we going to be a global Noah’s ark now? Where are we going to store all these “biological samples”? The vault itself is almost at full capacity. How can such a major change be instigated with a one-word sentence? I must have this all wrong …. I need more details...

  Calm down Charlotte, it’s not that big of a deal. Edward starts to explain. “With this expansion comes more money, but it’s not really “privatisation” as such”

  “Privatisation!? Who said anything about privatisation?” I exclaimed

  Without acknowledging my question he continues, “basically we found a way to boost our funding by selling space for the world richest people to have their DNA stored. So in the event of an ELE they will be the genetic basis of our human evolution, I mean who wouldn’t pay big bucks for that!?”

  “Genetic basis? Should the selection be on more than just a bank balance … and besides if everything is destroyed, how are we going to clone DNA?’” I enquired.

  He paused, as if to consider it for the first time, we will keep all the facilities and equipment safe in the vault... “Along with the samples… but look, it’s not just rich people. Zoos and sanctuaries have expressed an interest in storing animal samples as well; we can build a whole new world…. But... Exactly the same as our old one it’s an exciting development, I thought you would be on board immediately”

  “Oh yeah, I am, it’s a good idea, I mean on the face of it, it seems like a good idea but …”

  Edward interrupted my thoughts; “we can expand down into the mountain, it can be two maybe three levels, depending on how much people are willing to pay. We can our expand or organic stock, add new genetic material and expand into other conservation areas like, maybe storing artefacts and memorabilia - move away from this whole ‘doomsday’ thing and promote ourselves as a …..”

  “Time capsule?” I volunteered.

  “Yes”, Edward laughed “a one-stop apocalyptic shop”

  “World goes bang, we keep ya thangs”, I teased.

  “Oh yes”! Joked Edward, “this changes everything!”

  The things he said had a much deeper meaning than the light-hearted banter had suggested.

  The decision to expand would indeed, change everything.

  Chapter 4

  What lies beneath?

  The site for the GSV was decided on because of many things, one of which was the fact that the mountain that surrounds the site is full of natural caverns, the huge hollow areas seemed perfect to house the vaults. First attempts to penetrate into the caverns failed, as did the second and third attempts. With a tight timeframe and pressure to deliver “on time” the decision was made to create our own hollows on top of the natural phenomenon. A disappointment at the time, but in light of the recent decision to expand, a blessing in disguise. More money and more time will mean the extra effort can be taken to blast through to the natural caves underneath and use them to realise the original concept.

  From the memo to the first day of the new project was only a matter of weeks. Clearly indicating that the idea of expansion and the plan to find additional funding had been in the planning stage for much longer than I, or anyone in the crew, had realised. The memo was merely an FYI, a formality and in such, reminding me I was not really a part of the team of decision makers but really just a worker for them. Edward always made me feel inclusive, made me feel like my opinions count. They didn’t, and I sometimes wished he wouldn’t make me feel like they do. Reality is a downer.

  The first day of the new project was an explosion of people. My boring menial days were now busy and full of activity. Trying to move all our stock to a temporary vault was bad enough but to keep them at constant temperature with a stable humidity was proving stressful. 25 people to move the samples and 1 person to keep a full account of them, who had authorised this?!

  Complaining was not an option, well for a start I had no time to. So on with the job.

  What felt like a lifetime but turned out to be only 9 days later and the vault was clear and ready to be used as the new construction headquarters. I’m sure it was all very busy and important, but I was not a witness to most of this, I was primarily located at the temporary vault making sure all our efforts at removal and storage was not going to waste. Occasionally I would visit the old site, which was rapidly turning into the new site. Exciting.

  Breaking through to the new area below was proving as difficult as predicted, but the extra money invested and modern machinery was making some headway... Slowly.

  The crew was very much use to breaking rock in this region and the construction of the original GSV meant they were familiar with the formation of this particular mountain. They didn’t seem to be alarmed, focusing more on the how than the why. No-one stopped nor cared to understand why this natural formation was here. I guess a brief idea of maybe some volcano activity a few thousand years ago, or a possible water basin that eroded soft material and left only the toughest of material for the shell was briefly mentioned but the fact remained, it was there and we needed to get in and without tangible progress, heads will roll.

  The main obstacle seemed to be that the upper crust of the opening below was very tough. It was only about ½ metre thick but was unusually strong. Most people saw this as a bonus, “nature has created the perfect vault” I overheard one geologist comment but I was less enthusiastic. “It really shouldn’t be this hard? And a perfect 500mm band of impenetrable substance surrounding a massive ideally formed hole in the side of a mountain... Am I the only one who thinks this is too perfect?”

  “Oh Charlotte, Trust you to overthink everything” laughed Edward. “Too perfect? Who would complain about that?”

  I protested a little more by summarising all the ‘amazing co-incidences’ of our secondary tomb and I noticed Edward starting to nod, he was agreeing with me!

  “Yes yes, maybe she is right, this is a little suspicious. It is a little ‘too perfect’ like she says.

  The team seemed a little more receptive to Edward than me, but rather than completely ignore him like they did me, they acknowledged his points and then completely ignored him.

  Well, look at that, I thought. Respect buys time, but doesn’t change outcomes.

  And so the project continued. On time, as planned. No changes

  It wasn’t until much later that Edward confessed he didn’t actually agree with me, he was just trying to lend weight to my agreement to help create the appearance of tension, drama. Apparently
this makes for better TV and better TV means more viewers, more viewers equals more money, and well you can fill in the rest from there can’t you.

  So my moment of glory was no more than a rating stunt. Lesson learnt.

  Chapter 5

  Break-through.

  “Is everyone clear? Sector one...? Clear! Sector two…? Clear! Sector three … All clear!”

  “We are good for a go… repeat we are all clear and ready to go. Starting ignition sequence. Okay people, this is it. Detonation in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1”

  A thud of air hits my chest, I feel that maybe I shouldn’t have accepted Edwards offer to be “front row” to the biggest non-military explosion in the northern hemisphere.

  An involuntary gasp of air escapes me and Edward turns and faces me, he has the smile of a satisfied and excited child.

  I muster a reassuring grin. Half my attention is with him and the other half is making sure the whole mountain isn’t about to implode on top of us.

  The mountain holds firm and a mixture of relief and excitement takes over the room.

  The explosion was bigger than I thought, louder than I expected and, after the fear wears off, much more exciting than I could imagine. My apprehension of the ‘too perfect’ scenario is gone. Vast caverns in nature are completely normal and the earth is the greatest natural insulation. Of course they would insist on this place, and if I wasn’t so suspicious and cynical I would have too. Time to stop wondering why and start to enjoy the gift we were given. My self-talk pays off and I start to believe it is a great time to be part of this team. Suddenly the boredom and isolation of my jobs seem worthwhile.

  Congratulations are plenty when it is confirmed that the explosion was not only textbook correct but also successfully destructive - Finally we have access, in a few hours the explosive after-effects will have settled, Air quality will have stabilised. The engineers will give the all clear and I, Edward plus his excited team of geologists will be the first to explore our new and improved vault site.