Origin - Season Two Read Online Free Page B
said.
“Everything is on schedule, sir,” Ji said. “We reached 18,900 meters last night.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Rhee said. “The dear leader will be too; I have no doubt.”
They walked down a narrow path through a cluster of trees. When they emerged on the other side, they were standing at the edge of a large clearing. At the far end stood an enormous concrete structure that began several hundred feet from the foot of the hill and disappeared into it, as if a great landside had buried one end of the building. To the right of the building there was a small train yard lined with narrow-gauge tracks full of empty mine cars. Two of these tracks led inside, while another wound its way along the base of the hill before disappearing from view. As they watched, a train of over a dozen cars filled with dirt and loose rocks passed through the doors at the side of the building and made its way slowly down the track.
Rhee followed the colonel inside and spent a moment taking in the scene. The place was a hive of activity. Everywhere men were going about their business, some with tools, others with clipboards, and all wearing the same olive boiler suits. At the opposite end of the building a tunnel at least six yards in diameter disappeared into the side of the hill at the base of a concrete wall that rose halfway to the ceiling. Both sets of tracks ran into it alongside a thick steel pipe. From somewhere deep inside came the faint rumbling of machinery.
“Colonel,” Rhee said.
“Yes, sir.”
“I received your letter,” Rhee said. “Unfortunately, I cannot grant your request.”
“I understand, sir,” Ji said.
“But you may rest assured your wife will receive the best treatment available.”
“Thank you, sir. I’m very grateful.”
“Of course when your work is done here you will be free to return to your unit. And I will see to it personally that you are granted generous leave.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Rhee regarded the man for a moment, wondering how much of this lie he actually believed. That none of the personnel assigned to the project would ever return to their previous lives was a decision that had been made long before most of them arrived. A lucky few might find themselves transferred to labor camps, but Rhee thought even that was unlikely.
“Keep up the good work, Colonel,” Rhee said, turning for the door. “I can see myself back to the car.”
Chapter 4
Aurora
Thursday 7 June 2007
0900 EEST
Mitch and Heinz watched as the crane on the Karl Gustav lifted the enormous diesel generator from the open cargo hold and lowered it onto the newly constructed dock.
A small marvel of engineering, the dock was really just a large concrete shelf built into the vertical cliff face of the island and supported by several pylons that jutted from the dark blue waters of the Baltic like the stone pillars of some ancient submerged temple. At the base of the cliff, a set of steel doors opened onto a small chamber from which an elevator shaft ran several hundred feet up to the new research center, a two-story concrete disk that jutted out over the edge of the cliff on thick steel supports.
The official lease on the island had finally been granted by the Estonian parliament less than six months earlier. Valid for twenty-five years, it entitled Arman Tenner, a German research and design subsidiary of the Karl Gustav Foundation, to construct a facility on the island for the purpose of testing systems that used dangerous elements, such as Fluorine and Rubidium. In reality, it was the culmination of two decades of lobbying by the foundation aimed at both securing Aurora and ending its dependence on the Callisto.
Captain MacDonald, the Karl Gustav’s skipper, saw them and waved them aboard. They crossed the narrow gangway and made their way to the bridge just as the crew began to cast off the lines.
Less than twenty minutes later the Pandora, anchored only a few miles away, appeared on the
“Everything is on schedule, sir,” Ji said. “We reached 18,900 meters last night.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Rhee said. “The dear leader will be too; I have no doubt.”
They walked down a narrow path through a cluster of trees. When they emerged on the other side, they were standing at the edge of a large clearing. At the far end stood an enormous concrete structure that began several hundred feet from the foot of the hill and disappeared into it, as if a great landside had buried one end of the building. To the right of the building there was a small train yard lined with narrow-gauge tracks full of empty mine cars. Two of these tracks led inside, while another wound its way along the base of the hill before disappearing from view. As they watched, a train of over a dozen cars filled with dirt and loose rocks passed through the doors at the side of the building and made its way slowly down the track.
Rhee followed the colonel inside and spent a moment taking in the scene. The place was a hive of activity. Everywhere men were going about their business, some with tools, others with clipboards, and all wearing the same olive boiler suits. At the opposite end of the building a tunnel at least six yards in diameter disappeared into the side of the hill at the base of a concrete wall that rose halfway to the ceiling. Both sets of tracks ran into it alongside a thick steel pipe. From somewhere deep inside came the faint rumbling of machinery.
“Colonel,” Rhee said.
“Yes, sir.”
“I received your letter,” Rhee said. “Unfortunately, I cannot grant your request.”
“I understand, sir,” Ji said.
“But you may rest assured your wife will receive the best treatment available.”
“Thank you, sir. I’m very grateful.”
“Of course when your work is done here you will be free to return to your unit. And I will see to it personally that you are granted generous leave.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Rhee regarded the man for a moment, wondering how much of this lie he actually believed. That none of the personnel assigned to the project would ever return to their previous lives was a decision that had been made long before most of them arrived. A lucky few might find themselves transferred to labor camps, but Rhee thought even that was unlikely.
“Keep up the good work, Colonel,” Rhee said, turning for the door. “I can see myself back to the car.”
Chapter 4
Aurora
Thursday 7 June 2007
0900 EEST
Mitch and Heinz watched as the crane on the Karl Gustav lifted the enormous diesel generator from the open cargo hold and lowered it onto the newly constructed dock.
A small marvel of engineering, the dock was really just a large concrete shelf built into the vertical cliff face of the island and supported by several pylons that jutted from the dark blue waters of the Baltic like the stone pillars of some ancient submerged temple. At the base of the cliff, a set of steel doors opened onto a small chamber from which an elevator shaft ran several hundred feet up to the new research center, a two-story concrete disk that jutted out over the edge of the cliff on thick steel supports.
The official lease on the island had finally been granted by the Estonian parliament less than six months earlier. Valid for twenty-five years, it entitled Arman Tenner, a German research and design subsidiary of the Karl Gustav Foundation, to construct a facility on the island for the purpose of testing systems that used dangerous elements, such as Fluorine and Rubidium. In reality, it was the culmination of two decades of lobbying by the foundation aimed at both securing Aurora and ending its dependence on the Callisto.
Captain MacDonald, the Karl Gustav’s skipper, saw them and waved them aboard. They crossed the narrow gangway and made their way to the bridge just as the crew began to cast off the lines.
Less than twenty minutes later the Pandora, anchored only a few miles away, appeared on the
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