Uprising 2050

www.dr2050up.com

PROLOGUE

July 2050

Montana

Carol Finley was on her way to drop off her husband’s lunch. He’d left it on the kitchen counter during the mayhem of getting the three boys herded out the door in time to catch the school bus. Within about a mile of the turn off for the Thermal Nuclear Research lab, the road was blocked by a rather substantial barricade. In the middle of it was a sign that read: Road Closed. There was no way to get around it. Mike, her husband, hadn’t mentioned anything about the road being closed. Her earlier attempt to contact him to tell him she would be bringing his lunch had failed, only static could be heard. Her attempt to try again as she was parked in front of the sign resulted in just static also. It wasn’t even possible to leave a voice mail or send a text. As she was pondering her next move and thinking that things were for sure not going her way this morning, off in the direction of the lab she saw what looked like a helicopter landing. She made a mental note to ask Mike why a helicopter landed at the lab. Hopefully no one needed to be transported to the Deaconess Hospital in Bozeman. After turning her car around to leave the area her curiosity was peaking; no service where it should have worked, the road blocked off with no explanation, a helicopter landing. And then the air smelled funny, no real odor, just something different. The readouts on her dash looked normal.

CHAPTER 1

David felt it was his responsibility to get the whole group to the top of the mountain safely. He didn’t know for sure if burying a few ounces of congealed soil would bring closure for his daughter Christine. He did know it was something she really wanted to do. So his heart was into getting this mission accomplished, mostly to help her. A year ago today her world was turned upside down. The last year had been a nightmare, not just for Christine but for a lot of people. For Christine it started when her husband Spencer went to work one morning, and then just vanished into thin air as the headline in the Bozeman Chronicle read the next day.

David made sure the group got an early start. They needed to be at the top of the mountain before it got too hot. Spencer’s mother was David’s main concern. Even though she worked out a couple times a week and liked to go for long walks, this hike would still be rough on her. Coming from near sea level, then starting this hike at 7000 feet and reaching the summit of Livingston Peak at 9,314 feet would be no walk in the park. But even though Deanna was diabetic with an insulin pump, she was as determined as Christine to get Spencer’s remains or last evidence of him memorialized in an appropriate manner and place. Livingston Peak was special to Christine and Spencer. It was their place.

At seven thirty they had been on the trail for about an hour. David had hoped to get started hiking right at six, but he was happy that at six thirty the group was on their way. They had passed the one mile marker a short ways back. David was happy with the progress. He decided to call the first rest stop. Everyone was doing well so far and in good spirits. David knew that the steep part was yet to come. He paced everyone accordingly. The group consisted of himself and his wife Elaine, Christine and her two children, Emmy age 7, Adam age 5. Spencer’s entire family had come up from Texas for the memorial service; Phillip 39, Seth 34, Elizabeth 31. Spencer was 36 when he vanished. Spencer’s Dad was a young 61 and his mother Deanna was 56. Spencer’s absence was hard on the group. It was especially hard for Emmy to comprehend. At the age of 6 a child just starts to comprehend factual life and then something happens that cannot be explained. Her Father goes to work one morning, she remembers kissing him goodbye, then she never sees him again, nobody does.

Spencer along with twenty three people vanished, poof, they’re gone. Was it aliens, the government, foreign enemies, a project gone wrong? The mystery just can’t be explained to a six year old, or to anyone else for that matter. And even though different people have some theories, nothing gives Emmy and the rest of the family much closure. Even after a year, tears come often; not just for Emmy, Christine still breaks down every time the occurrence is discussed. Maybe this memorial service will lessen the sorrow just a fraction. The government as a whole seems to be elusive about the incident.

David and Christine have learned a few things from FBI Special Agent Charles Weber. Charles is the agent assigned to Christine. A special agent was assigned to the next of kin of each of the twenty four people who vanished from the facility. Even after a year, seven of the people still have their special agent assigned to them, including Christine. The survivors of the twenty four were given a dollar amount settlement in exchange for an open ended time for extensive interviews and investigation. Christine and the other families were each awarded 1.7 million over a five year period. The awards were tax free and exempt from the rule of six. The next of kin of the single staff members were given lesser amounts.

The incident was regarded as a matter of national security so amounts and agreements were settled within a month. Both Christine and David regard Charles Weber as a friend even though they realized that his sole job is to glean as much information from them as possible.

Charles had provided them with information that never showed up in the media. The most significant being the fact that the investigation so far seems to suggest that one person was removed from the lab by the helicopter Carol Finley observed near the facility that day. Further evidence suggests that the most likely person was Barbara Morning Star. Charles leveled with Christine about what they learned about the helicopter. They know it was small, room for the pilot and one passenger. Christine and a lot of the other people hoped that just maybe it was their loved one who got plucked from the facility that morning. However all of the evidence seems to point to Barbara. The agent assigned to her could not locate any known next of kin. Even after months of investigating he wasn’t able to find out much about her. There were other suspicious activities that made her a person of real interest. The day before the incident she had invited all the wives of the married employees to a luncheon. The investigators concluded that it was during this luncheon that every staff member’s house was invaded and searched by an intruder. A lot of notebooks and even some personal records came up missing early in the investigation. All computing devices had their hard drives completely erased. The night before the incident the same message came up on all the staff’s computers they had at home. The message stated that a virus had infected their computer and it was necessary for them to leave the devise turned on, but not to use it for twenty four hours while their virus protection tools searched and deleted the virus. After twenty four hours everything would be ok. Believing this message was authentic, no one questioned it until they tried to use the device after the 24 hour period. The computers failed to boot up. Nothing could be activated on any of them. The media never reported anything about Barbara Morning Star. The terms of the money settlement restricted any of the staff’s families from sharing the information they learned from the investigators. The consequences were that they would lose their payment if they did so. Any information the next of kin received was considered a matter of national security. Christine and David were very happy to get any information they could. They never considered sharing any information with the media. Not being kept in the loop would be worse than losing their payments. Another stipulation of the agreement was that the families were not supposed to discuss anything about the incident with each other, just with their investigator. This requirement was not always adhered to.

*******

David called out that they would rest for a few minutes. He stopped the group where there was ample shade among the towering Lodge Pole Pine trees. A small clearing gave everyone a chance to sit or sprawl and rest. Water bottles were broke out. Emmy and Adam sat by Elaine, they knew who had the goodies. David explained again the importance of staying together, especially on the next part of the trail. On past trips through this section David had observed a lot of bear sign. When he traveled alone he made a lot of noise. He didn’t believe in bear bells. He felt that in some instances Yellowstone Park bears were conditioned to bear bells. Bear bell could mean food to the bears. It was possible that some trouble bears might have been transported to this area from Yellowstone Park. Or because Yellowstone was so close, it would be possible for bears to move into this area. David was a real believer in pepper spray. He did repel a charging Grizzly one time on the Rainbow Plateau, not all that far from where they were now. The wind was right. The bear received a face full of spray. It did continue its charge but was so confused by the spray that it veered past David, bawling, roaring and trying to rub the spray from its eyes all while running at a good clip. David heard it long after it was out of sight, crashing through the timber.

David explained that they were over one third of the way. The next part of the trail would be a little steeper, but promised to maintain a comfortable pace and would stop anytime some-one needed a rest. He told them they would have another long rest at the saddle which was over two thirds of the way. As an enticement he explained from there they could see the whole valley. He said it would be quite a view.

Before starting up the trail, David removed his pepper spray from its holster and once again went through the basics. He had demonstrated how to use the spray when he gave canisters of it to Christine, Phillip and Seth that morning. He would have fired off a few bursts then if there had been enough wind. Even now the air was too still so he went over the procedure for removing the safety clip, explaining that pushing the bright orange lever down would release the spray. He demonstrated how to aim at what they wanted to hit. He also told them to spray with the wind rather than against it. David did admit that if a bear was charging, there probably wouldn’t be time for determining the direction of the wind.

He also explained there would be a down slope wind most of the trip up, and then on the way down there would probably be an up slope wind, generally speaking. He asked that they keep the same positions on the trail again. He would lead. Emmy and Adam would follow right behind him, then Elaine. Elaine was best at keeping Emmy and Adam on track. For only being seven and five they were pretty good hikers. Next in line came Deanna, Phillip, Alan, Elizabeth, Seth. Christine brought up the rear.

As everyone else stood up there were a few stretches and moans. David asked how everyone’s feet were holding up. There were no major complaints. He then asked Emmy if she recognized any of the wildflowers in the clearing. She said she did and pointed out the Lupine and Sticky Geranium in the clearing and the Arnica back in the trees.

I’m impressed. Deanna said.

Do you know the names of all the wildflowers? Deanna asked.

Just the ones that Papa has taught me. She answered with a smile as she looked over at David.

Adam wasn’t to be left out. I know the names of a lot of birds.

You sure do. If we see a bird on this hike, we’ll just ask you the name of it. You are our ornithologist and Emmy is our wildflower expert. David said proudly.

We have a couple of budding biologists that may just take after their Papa. Christine said.

Christine was thankful that she and Spencer had moved back to Bozeman soon after Adam was born. The two children were able to spend a lot of time with David and Elaine. Even before Spencer’s disappearance they spent a lot of time on David and Elaine’s small acreage in the country. Shortly after the incident David and Elaine decided it was time to give up their country home. They lucked out and were able to find two houses for sale side by side. David presented the idea that Christine would almost have a built-in baby sitter if she sold her house and moved into the house next to theirs. The house looked quite suitable to Christine and she liked having her parents right next door. David purchased both houses and when Christine’s house sold, she reimbursed Dave and Elaine. The arrangement worked well for both families.

David realized that his planned fifteen minute rest stop had gone a bit over so he quickly announced that they had better hit the trail to beat the heat of the day. Everyone assumed their assigned places and they were on their way. They would soon be crossing Lion Creek. David knew there would be Monkey flowers growing along the creek so he hoped that someone would ask Emmy their name. He knew she would know it. They might even see a Water Ouzel or Dipper as they are sometimes called. David knew Adam would call out its name.

There would also be more thick underbrush so he would watch very closely and do some loud talking to avoid surprising any bears that might be lurking about. As they got closer to the stream he kept up a conversation with Emmy and Adam to announce their presence.

As they neared the stream Emmy spotted the Monkey Flowers and announced their name. David halted the group so everyone could get a good look at the crimson red Monkey Flowers. No Dippers were in sight. David had seen no fresh bear sign so far. He was a little relieved. Some of the pressure was off. The trail got considerably steep after they left the stream. Soon the switchbacks started. The mountainside was more open now. There were only a few trees with no underbrush; the openness lessened the bear danger. The group was a little more spread out but that would be ok now. Emmy and Adam could wave to their Mom and the others as they were walking below them in the opposite direction. As they approached the saddle the trail allowed exposure to the valley below. The group could see the M90 off in the far distance if they looked real hard. David called a few brief rest stops so everyone could catch their breath as well as take in the view. It was really a beautiful morning. The grass was still green on the mountainside. There was just a gentle cool breeze. The sun was mostly to their backs.

Only a few clouds were building in the West. The few building were white and fluffy, no danger for a while.

As they approached the saddle, David called back that they were over two thirds of the way now and they would take about a half hour rest on the saddle. That brought a smile to most of the party. Adam asked if there would be more switchbacks. David said there would be no more on the way up but it would be just as much fun going down the ones they came up. He then pointed out the ridge that would take them to Livingston Peak.

Cool said Emmy.

This was the first time up this trail for Emmy and Adam. They had hiked many trails with Christine and Spencer, some with David and Elaine along, but not this one. Christine and Spencer would have probably brought them up here soon. It just never came to be, until now without Spencer.

As everyone was getting comfortable, getting re-hydrated and breaking out the snacks, Emmy was on a mission. She was picking a bouquet of Lupine, Indian Paintbrush, Wild Geraniums, and some other wildflowers. She had a small vase in her backpack for the flowers. They would be for her Dad. She and Christine had talked about this a few times. It would sooth Emmy when she was really missing her Dad. Emmy and Adam still hoped the Aliens would return their Daddy to them one day. The event that took place at the facility was so mystifying that it was impossible to eliminate alien abduction. A lot of theories were published in the local and national news media. Some of the news outlets came up with some really weird theories. During the first few months after Spencer disappeared, Christine would screen all the media that came into the house. She would record sections of the newscasts and flip through them at night when Emmy and Adam were asleep. Most of her information came from Charles Weber or from David and Elaine when she didn’t have time to meet with Charles. After several months Christine would share some of the theories with Emmy and sometimes with Adam. She never let them lose hope that their Daddy might someday, somehow, come back to them. She hung on to that hope also. Even after a year, Christine still shared Emmy and Adams’s hope even though she knew the chance was very slim. The most frustrating thing for her was that no one really knew anything for sure. There were things that Charles told her that were fact, but nothing as to what really happened to Spencer and the other people at the facility.

As they progressed up the trail, David would look back and notice that Christine was sometimes in a kind of a daze, seeming to be in a world of her own. That’s what bothered David. His daughter needed some closure on this matter.

Emmy had all her flowers gathered for now. She came over to the group and put her flowers in the vase. David poured a little water in the vase from his water bottle. He would have offered to carry the vase with the flowers to the top of the mountain but knew that she wanted to do it by herself. He would take her hand on the real steep areas if necessary. The trek was taking on a somber tone now. The bouquet symbolized what they were there for. The last part of the half hour rest was pretty quiet. Everybody was a little worn down also. Deanna seemed to be holding up pretty well. David knew that Elaine would do well, even with her arthritis she kept in good shape with her swimming and exercise. He knew the pace was a little slow for Emmy and Adam but they adjusted to it. Phillip, Seth and Elizabeth were all in good physical shape. Phillip had a few extra pounds that he probably wished he didn’t have on this hike. His job as a surveyor kept him on his feet so he was used to walking. Seth was a wiry 160 lbs, no extra pounds. His recreation was baseball. He was on the city league and played every game he could. Elizabeth was also slim and trim. Why she wasn’t married yet nobody knew.

At this point David was confident that everyone would be to the top in about a half hour after their break. They were actually a little over three fourths of the way now. They were pretty much on schedule and the weather was holding.

When they left the saddle the trail was not well defined so David chose the best path he could find. He kept a close eye on Emmy but she did well and soon they were all on the ridge. The ridge trail was well defined. Livingston Peak was the highest part on the North end of the ridge. It shows up as a pronounced peak from the valley. The eagerness and the exhilaration of being on the ridge got them to their destination in about 20 minutes after leaving the saddle. Although the peak was relatively safe, Emmy and Adam were told not to venture too far off by themselves.

It was only about 10:30 when the group reached the peak. Points of interest in the valley were viewed. The group then settled in for a well deserved rest. Lunch and water bottles appeared from the packs. The weather was holding, the window for the descent was large enough to afford a leisure lunch, rest and the ceremony they came here for. Emmy and Adam finished their lunch and were ready to get on with things. Emmy asked David if she could put more water in the flower vase. They filled it to the top.

Christine then asked Emmy and Adam if they could start to gather some medium sized rocks for Daddy’s marker. Pretty soon everyone was involved in rock gathering. Christine explained that they would build the marker but put the remains in a different location so it wouldn’t be dug up by curious hikers. She said they could bury the remains now. She took the small tin box from her pack. It contained some of the congealed soil that Charles obtained from the floor of the void where the facility once stood.

As she stood there holding the box she said,

After nine years of being married to Spencer, this is all I have left. The tears started to flow. Deanna walked up to Christine and they hugged for quite a while. With big tears on her cheeks, Emmy asked if she could hold the box before they buried it. Then Adam asked if he could hold it. Adam just held the box for a while and then asked Deanna if she wanted to hold it. Spencer’s remains were then passed around to everyone before Christine placed the box into its resting place. David then filled in the dirt. He asked if everyone would join hands and they said the Lord’s Prayer. Then David placed a non-descript rock over the grave. Alan gave the closing prayer.

"Father we know not how or why our Spencer

disappeared from this earth. We do know

he was greatly loved and is missed

by each one of us standing here today.

We pray that someday this mystery is

solved, and that we may obtain some peace

in our hearts. As we go about our daily

lives, he will always be remembered as

a living son to Deanna and me, as well

as to David and Elaine. He will be

remembered as a loving husband, father and

brother. We will never forget him. We’ll

always keep him in our hearts and our

prayers. Amen."

Should we build the marker now so Emmy can place her flowers on it. Christine said.

Ok Mommy. Adam replied.

The marker became a flat topped pyramid about three feet in diameter at the base. It was about two and one half feet high. The vase holding Emmy’s flowers was placed on the top of it and then surrounded with smaller rocks to hold it in place.

After the marker was finished everyone gathered around it. The tone was again somber but the flowers seemed to raise everyone’s spirits a little. David then asked if he could get a picture. He wanted to be included so he set up a small tripod he had brought with him. He set the timer and then joined the group. After taking several photos he suggested they should call Starr and the boys. Starr had wanted to join the trek, but her youngest was asthmatic and had come down with a bad cold. She didn’t think he was up to the hike. Plans were made beforehand to place a call to them from the peak and send some live video so they could see the marker. Christine and Starr were friends since age two. Star was always there for Christine and especially the past year. Through their past 36 years they had shared a lot. Sisters could not have been closer. It’s Auntie Christine to Starr’s children and Auntie Starr to Emmy and Adam. When David turned his PAD on to take the photo he noticed that he had 11 messages waiting. He felt that was unusual. He decided to check them after they made contact with Starr.

Hello David. Starr said right after the last number sounded.

Hi Starr, how are you today?

"There’s a lot going on here