The Brown Mountain Lights and the Mesozoic Phoenix

PROLOGUE

How are you doing, Dave? Colonel Randy Caldwell asked. His hawk-like eyes were peering through the steam rising off the coffee cup he was sipping on. Any luck yet?

Dr. Dave Wolfram, a slightly overweight, balding, middle-aged man, wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of one of his rolled up sleeves, then looked up from the dual trace oscilloscope that he had been intently staring at and answered, Randy, I just don’t know what else to do. We have gone through the hardware at least a dozen times since Monday and everything still checks out.

Now calm down, Dave, said Colonel Caldwell as he set his coffee mug down on the edge of a technician’s desk. I’m not trying to pressure you, but unfortunately I have to tell you that if this magnegraph of yours is not working by Friday afternoon, the Pentagon is probably going to tell us to scrap it. They never were that excited about it anyway.

Dr. Wolfram was extremely frustrated and was becoming very agitated. He got up and went to the drinking fountain and slipped a lithium carbonate tablet into his mouth.

Dave, are you alright? Colonel Caldwell asked.

Yeah…Yeah, I’m alright, replied Dr. Wolfram while turning away from the drinking fountain. It’s just heartburn from the sausage biscuit I ate this morning. Dr. Wolfram had managed to keep his bipolar affective disorder secret from the Department of Defense. He knew that they never would have accepted his small company’s bid to provide a novel tracking system if they knew that the owner, who also happened to be the chief scientist, was manic-depressive.

Look Dave, it’s Thursday morning, said Colonel Caldwell, "which means you have two days left. Just keep at it and I am sure you will solve your problem. In the meantime, I will stay out of your way, but let me know if there is anything that I can do for you.

I asked before and I’ll keep asking, pleaded Dr. Wolfram, please send a pilot up for a visual.

Doggone it, Dave, said Colonel Caldwell taking his cap off and running his fingers across his short, flat cut hair. We have been through this before. You just don’t know what you are asking.

Randy, I don’t know what else to do, said Dr. Wolfram. We have checked out all of the hardware and software in the main processor and display terminal numerous times, and location crews have checked and rechecked the field sensors. I’m telling you that the field perturbation is real.

CHAPTER 1

THE LIBRARY

The baby Hadrosaurid was knocked down and trampled by a large Triceratops charging toward the ominous shadow rapidly approaching from the other end of the river delta. The warm, moist air was full of the scent of death from the huge numbers of dinosaurs and other animals collapsing and dropping in their tracks as the shadow approached. Predators were ignoring prey as they all ran from what they did not understand. The shadow seemed to fly right through an ash filled plume from a volcano near the river. On a small rise the maternal Tyrannosaurus rex staggered one last step before she collapsed as she desperately tried to get to her new hatchlings. It was already too late because they were gone before they had taken their first steps. This huge monster of the past was felled by something she did not understand or had ever seen before. Even though she was the greatest predator to ever walk the Earth, she was no match for her foe. She rolled onto her side as she took her final breath, and then just before her last remnant of consciousness faded away, a reflection was barely visible in her skyward facing eye…

Hey Derek, I’m glad I caught you before you left. Derek jumped and almost fell out of his desk chair as he woke up and immediately recognized the booming voice of his good friend Jeff Mackenzie, whom everybody called Mac. Derek turned to see Mac’s hulking frame filling up the doorway. Derek thought to himself, I swear Mac seems to get bigger every time I see him.

It was a typical Atlanta spring evening, cold, wet and rainy. Derek Burdette had been sitting at his lab desk running through his x-ray diffraction data and had fallen asleep. He was dreaming when Mac woke him up. Hey, I thought you were supposed to be up here finishing up your lab work and I find you asleep, said Mac as he grinned at Derek through his huge, bushy, blonde beard, and you about jumped right out of your chair.

I guess I dozed off and heard you stomping down the hall, and then I started dreaming about dinosaurs. Derek was a ruggedly handsome man just over 30 years-old with jet-black hair and bright, green eyes that were alert yet reassuring. With his mustache that curled slightly down at the edges and slightly larger than average size, muscular frame he was anything but what a scientist is supposed to look like.

Mac’s long golden-colored hair and full beard glistened with tiny droplets of water as he maneuvered his huge body through the doorway. Mac was such an imposing figure of a man, to look at him made one think of an ancient Viking warrior. Mac shook himself like a wet dog, creating such a shower that Derek shouted, Watch out, Mac! That rainstorm you are creating will short out the instruments.

Sorry, Mac apologized, a bunch of us are getting together at The Library for a few beers. How about joining us?

Sounds great, replied Derek, feeling as though he had been rescued, just let me finish locking up the lab. By the way, who is coming?

The usual geology department crowd and I think even old Dr. Kalle is coming. Mac leaned his huge frame against a lab bench.

Derek was hurriedly gathering up papers off his desk, then suddenly dropped them as he looked over at Mac. I can grade these papers on Monday. Come on, let’s go!

On his way out the lab door Derek turned to Mac and said, Will you turn out the lights and pull the door shut? I’ve got to run next door to lock up the storeroom.

Yeah, sure thing, said Mac who had become interested in an article in a newspaper that an undergraduate student had left on the lab bench.

Derek finished locking the storeroom, then started back towards his lab where Mac had become thoroughly engrossed in the newspaper.

Come on, Mac, you can bring that with you, and what is so interesting anyway? Derek asked as he grabbed the collar of Mac’s wet, red and black flannel jacket and made a feeble effort to pull his huge friend towards the door.

There were earth tremors in Oregon early this morning and the epicenter was in the Mt. Hood area, said Mac with more than a hint of excitement in hisvoice. The quake measured 3.5 on the Richter scale. Mac’s eyes were glued on the newspaper as he walked towards the door with Derek.

Ah Mac, you know a 3.5 quake is not enough to shake up the trout fishermen out there. Derek pulled the lab door shut.

Derek and Mac walked down the ramp towards the elevator. Kell Hall, which housed not only the geology department, but chemistry, biology and physics, was a converted parking garage so that to get anywhere you had to walk up or down; none of the halls were flat.

Derek and Mac were trying to squeeze into the tiny ancient elevator when Derek said, I think it’s funny that someone who creates earthquakes by merely walking around would be so interested in seismology. And by the way, would you inhale so that I can shut the elevator door.

I’m not that big, said Mac still clutching the newspaper as he turned sideways while Derek strained at the door.

Not that big! Derek laughed. I’m six feet tall, weigh 200 pounds, work out regularly, and you make me feel like a midget.

Mac was six feet, six inches tall and weighed 310 pounds. He was a power lifter who gave up competitive lifting because even though he was tremendously strong, he could not compete with shorter men. By now Derek was running behind Mac in the rain towards The Library thinking that he hoped nobody got in Mac’s way because it would be like stepping in front of a charging bull elephant.

The rain was pouring down, thoroughly soaking Derek and Mac as they splashed down Ivy Street towards The Library. Derek was thinking how glad he was that his windbreaker had a hood to keep his head from getting soaked.

As Derek followed Mac into the dry, cozy warmth of The Library he remarked, I am beginning to understand why people in Atlanta always carry umbrellas to work. The Library was fairly crowded that night and nearly every table was filled to capacity with people celebrating the end of the week. The Library was conveniently located between Georgia State University and numerous office buildings and was a favorite hangout for both students and professors from the geology department at GSU. It was built to resemble an old library with tables tucked away in dimly lit nooks and crannies that were surrounded by shelves filled with old classics or at least books that were supposed to look like old classics, but it really didn’t matter because nobody ever read them anyway.

Derek and Mac made their way through the maze of bookshelves and tables towards the back room where they could hear familiar voices. Stan and Allan were jokingly harassing Dr. Kalle at one end of the long oak table about someimpossible problem that he had given them on their crystallography final last quarter. Nancy and Sam were sitting in a corner off to themselves having a quiet discussion and gazing longingly into each other’s eyes. Bob and Dr. Hayworth were having an in-depth discussion concerning whether the waitress was completely braless or just had on one of those new flimsy, natural looking bras when they noticed Derek and Mac coming through the swinging doors that formed the entrance to the back room and motioned them over to the table.

Come on over, joked Dr. Hayworth. We have room for three more.

I really do not appreciate your humor, grumbled Mac. He pulled off his flannel jacket revealing his massive upper body, which did not seem to intimidate Dr. Hayworth the least bit. Mac reluctantly ambled over and sat down with his wet newspaper as far away from Hayworth as he could.

Just kidding—just be glad you’re not short like Bob here.

Dr. Hayworth slapped Bob on the back, which caused him to inhale nearly half of his mug of beer that he subsequently spewed out all over the table in front of him. Bob looked over at Derek and out of the corner of his mouth whispered, What an asshole!

Dr. Hayworth was a relatively tall, scrawny man of 40 with faded, graying hair and facial creases formed by years of a permanent shit-eating grin. He was one of those chronic pricks who loved to insult students because he knew they would not fight back as long as he could lord it over them in class.

Derek had taken a seat at the end of the table opposite from Dr. Kalle and was thinking quietly, what a bunch of characters.

Sorry about that, Bob, said Dr. Hayworth as he called the waitress over to the table. Let me buy you another beer.

Bring us another pitcher and two more mugs and some pretzels, please, Dr. Hayworth asked the waitress while never taking his eyes off of her chest. Derek could understand why Hayworth was staring at the waitress. She was apparently new because he had not seen her before and she was beautiful. She had long jet black, straight hair that was almost down to her waist and extraordinarily large sky blue eyes. As she turned to go fill the order, Derek noticed that she was one of those few fortunate young women with a nice slender waist and hips tightly packed into her stretch blue jeans and slightly larger than average breasts. And because her nipples were obviously erect underneath her light blue tank top, Derek accurately observed that she was indeed braless. Derek thought to himself, she is the type that is always going with someone else.

Say Derek, said Dr. Kalle puffing on his pipe and turning his attention away from Stan and Allan and the crystallography final. I have been meaning to ask what made you leave the chemical industry and start another career in geology.

Derek thought for a moment as everybody focused their attention on him, then said, After I received my M.S. in chemistry from M.I.T. I accepted a job with a large chemical plant in Michigan. I was in a research position with a group that was studying new methods of increasing the surface energy of polyolefin films. Derek hesitated for a moment as the waitress returned with the pretzels and beer. He caught a glimpse of her looking at him, which prompted him to sit up straight and thrust out his lower jaw. Derek continued, After about five years of corporate politics, nepotism, a marriage that wasn’t working and Michigan’s ceaseless, cold, dreary weather, I decided that I had enough and started looking for another job. Mac was passing the pretzels around and Sam was refilling everyone’s mugs as Derek continued, The only problem was that all of my job offers were in the north and I wanted to try the south even though all of my friends at the time warned me that the south was crawling with snakes and rednecks. That last statement broke everyone into laughter, then Derek finished with, Mac and I actually grew up together in Portsmouth, Ohio. We stayed in touch, and then he convinced me to come down to Georgia and go to grad school in geology, so here I am.

Dr. Hayworth stood up suddenly, looked at his watch and said, I just remembered that I am supposed to pick up my wife over at Five Points, and he rushed through the swinging doors.

Dr. Kalle sat there puffing calmly on his pipe and asked, Do you all realize that Hayworth got out of here without paying his share again? Everyone just shook their head.

Stan spoke up and said, Dr. Hayworth is still sore at us for what we did to him last summer. Everybody started laughing at the mere thought of it.

Boy, I must have really missed out on something good, said Derek. He knew what the other students and faculty thought of Dr. Hayworth.

It happened before you came here, said Stan. He looked around the table then asked, Should I tell him?

Sure, said Nancy. In fact, I can’t believe he hasn’t heard about it already.

Let Bob tell it, said Allan. He looked at Bob, and then grinned. It was his dastardly deed.

Bob began, A bunch of us escorted the freshman geology class to Jekyll Island last summer. We took them on a field trip to study wave action and beach erosion and one night we were all sitting around a campfire on the beach after finishing a clambake when we realized that Dr. Hayworth was not there. Someone said he was back in the van grading test papers which stimulated a lot of discussion about what a turkey Dr. Hayworth was.

Only Hayworth would be grading test papers at the beach, interjected Nancy.

We decided to play a trick on him, Bob continued, and I had wanted to get back at him for all of those short jokes that he is always telling about me. Well, everybody hid behind sand dunes and saw grass, and then I sneaked up through some bushes by the van with just my swimsuit on such that he could not see me very well. Then I told him that everyone was skinny-dipping down at the beach.

Hayworth about killed himself getting out of the van and asked, Girls too?

Yeah, everybody, I replied as I turned and ran toward the beach in the shadows. Well, about 20 seconds later Dr. Hayworth came running full tilt down to the beach as naked as a jaybird, and then everybody jumped out fully clothed and laughing. All of the girls were pointing down at him and giggling. He ran back to the van so red-faced he practically glowed in the dark and would not talk to any of us for three days. Nobody got an A that quarter, but it was worth it."

Derek and everybody else were roaring with laughter at Bob’s story when Nancy said, That lecher got what he deserved. Just about that time Mac’s wet newspaper fell out of his flannel jacket that he had thrown over the ceiling beam and hit the table right in front of Sam with a loud smack. That scared Sam so bad he fell over backwards in his chair. That started everyone laughing again as soon as they realized that Sam was okay.

Sorry about that, said Mac as he reached over and lifted Sam up with one hand then picked up the newspaper and started reading it again.

What is so interesting? Nancy inquired as she inquisitively looked over at Mac. Were there six murders instead of the usual five today?

Could be, said Mac, but I have been reading an article on an earthquake that struck the Mt. Hood area this morning.

I heard something about that, said Dr. Kalle. It measured 3.5 on the Rich-ter scale, didn’t it? He started puffing more vigorously on his pipe as he usually did when he became interested in something.

Some people are predicting another major quake for the Carolinas, said Allan leaning back in his chair with his hands locked behind his head.

You must be referring to the work that is being done at Tech, said Stan in a tone that indicated he did not entirely believe in those predictions.

Sam who normally did not have much to say suddenly developed a very grim expression on his face, then groaned, It’s Armageddon!

What do you mean, Armageddon? Nancy asked as she turned to face Sam.

You know, the apocalypse, the big battle, the natural catastrophe, just read Revelation 16:12-21, replied Sam. Just look at what has happened recently with the Mt. St. Helens eruptions, the mudslides in California, earthquakes in Oregon and now it’s earthquakes in the southeast.

Sam, I don’t understand you, said Nancy shaking her head at Sam. They were lovers, but completely disagreed with each other professionally. You are trying to become a professional geologist and here you are taking a perfectly natural tectonic phenomenon such as an earthquake and exaggerating it all out of proportion making out like it was some kind of supernatural thing.

Derek, who had been quietly drinking his beer suddenly spoke up and said, I believe there is some truth in what Sam is saying although I do not agree with him on how the catastrophe will happen.

What do you mean, Derek? asked Dr. Kalle who by now was puffing on his pipe so hard that the room was half filled with smoke.

Everybody turned towards Derek to listen to his reply because they knew he usually made sense. Derek began by saying, You know how nature manages its own population control with various predators, and those animals that do manage to overpopulate will sometimes kill themselves off such as the lemmings marching over a cliff. Well, people have no natural predators other than themselves in our modern world so we have wars and murder each other in the streets. Look at what rats do when you lock them up in a cage and let their population grow unchecked. Pretty soon they start to attack each other. Derek did not notice that Allan was becoming disturbed as he was talking. Derek continued, Well, there is a good portion of the world where the birth rate is totally out of control such as Central America. Some demographic experts predict that Mexico City could have a population as high as 28 million by the year 2000. Here in the U.S., even though our present birthrate is not that high, there is a tremendous demographic shift from productive to nonproductive taking place. The people least likely to be able to support a family and give them a good education are the ones having all of the children. Unbeknownst to Derek, Allan was becoming quite agitated as Derek continued, "It looks like most of the new jobs that will be created in the next decade will be computer related high technology jobs. Jobs for menial laborers will disappear as they are replaced by robots. If society cannot find a way to limit the population growth of less productive people we are going to have.

Suddenly Allan jumped up with his fists clenched, glared at Derek and growled, What you mean is that we have got to figure out a way to limit theblack population! Mac, anticipating trouble stood up and positioned himself between Allan and Derek.

Derek was shocked and hurt by Allan’s reaction, and apologetically he said, Hey, Allan, you’ve taken me all wrong, I’m not picking on any race in particular, just people in general.

Allan, still very upset, said, Man, I don’t know where you are coming from, but I do know that I do not have to sit here and listen to this racist bullshit! With that Allan headed for the swinging doors.

Derek started to say, Allan, I…’m sorry, I… But it was too late; Allan had already stormed out. The once jovial atmosphere had vanished like a bomb had gone off, and Derek felt as though someone had just placed a three hundred pound weight on his back.

Stan reassuringly said, Derek, my Yankee friend, you have a lot to learn about living in the south. There are some things that you just do not discuss openly.

I had no idea, said Derek as he plopped back down in his chair.

Dr. Kalle, in one of those rare moments, actually took his pipe out of his mouth, emptied it out into the ashtray, and then said to Derek, I know what you are going through Derek. I had to learn the hard way myself when I moved down here from Minnesota ten years ago and started teaching.

Stan gripped Derek’s shoulder and said, Derek, don’t let it ruin your weekend, Allan is a cool dude. He’ll calm down by Monday. He just had a little too much to drink tonight. Also, you should remember that Allan and I still remember the days when we were small children and we had to sit at the back of the buses and use separate drinking fountains.

"To tell you the truth, I have never