Book?

“Let’s go,” Hal said to Jacques as they walked back to camp leaving their bootprints in the snow.

Jacques looked up from his watch, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Hal. “Go where?”

“Back to where you were last night,” Hal responded nonchalantly. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jacques responded in the same nonchalant tone. Jacques changed the subject. “What were those pieces you were looking at last night?”

“Pieces?” Hal asked confused. He chuckled. “You mean the pages from your book?”

“Book? I hate to sound dumb here but I’ve never heard of that before.”

“Photographic memory, remember?” “Ha, I do.” “Books are something that people used to read to learn things, for entertainment, they were used to teach people, I mean they were everywhere. I don’t remember how long ago they were all burned though. This is all the information I get from listening to people like me, who remember every single thing.”

Jacques just started at him.

“Anyways, you ready to go?”

“What did they say?”

“What did who say?”

“The pieces–I mean the book.”

“I just started reading them. I took them from the back of your book. They say the last pieces of a book spoil it for you.” Hal smiled again.

“Alright, let’s go,” Jacques said looking at Hal slightly bewildered.  

“Really?” Hal asked not believing Jacques at first.

“Really,” Jacques said tilting his head a bit. “We can leave in a few hours.”

“HAL”

It was nearly 6 a.m. and Jacques had just returned to the drill site and he was quietly trying to reenter his personal quarters. He could enter from the back side of the camp without encountering any of the other men in their sleeping quarters. 

Jacques opened the door and then he jumped. Hal was sitting quietly on Jacque’s bed studying some kind of pieces, they looked similar to the ones Jaqcques had found in his sleeping quarters the first night of their dill. Hal looked up at him but his gaze was unwavering and serious. He had just met Hal. He was quiet, always had his head down looking at shoes. Jacques never thought much of it.

“What are you doing in here–or better yet how did you get in here? Jacques stammered out stumbling over some of his words. His voice could be characterized as a whisper yell as he was trying not to wake the other men.

“I was waiting for you, I wanted to know where you went.” Hal said in a somber tone.

“I didn’t go anywhere. Now, how did you get in here?”

“It’s fine, you don’t have to tell me anything. I’m not like them though, I’m just curious about things like you, I swear.”

“How did you get in here?!”

“Oh right, sorry. I memorized your pass code.”

“What?!”

“Your passcode, the digits you enter to open the chamber door.”

“I know what it is. I mean, how? When?”

“A couple days ago maybe. It wasn’t on purpose I swear. Everytime I look at something it gets stored away in this mental crate forever,” Hal said tapping a finger to the side of his head. He still wore a serious look on his face. 

Jacques mumbled something under his breath. “Let’s just get ready to start drilling”

Hal looked pensive, almost as if he was going to say something. He must have changed his mind though because he just looked up from his pieces and nodded at Jacques. Jacques opened the back door of the camp and they started walking towards the drill site.

“Beacon”

“Send me those coordinates right now, B3,” spoke Command.

“Yes, sir. Working on it right now, sir,” Agent B3 spoke into his watch.

“Work harder!!!!” barrelled the low distorted voice through the agent’s watch.

The headquarters system had been notified as to movement of a tracking beacon at 3 a.m. last night when no one was officially monitoring the system. The tracking devices are programmed to alert the system to movements at odd hours or any movement well outside the triangualized drilling area. 

All of the resourcers had tracking chips under their skin but without their sub zero watches it was made much harder to actually track their path of movement in comparison to their real-time location, which the tracking beacon showed. Agent B3 was currently trying to access the history log of the tracking chip and see where Jacques had gone and at what time he had returned back to the drilling site.

It was imperative that all resources remained in a specific mapped out area. All movement outside of this triangulation was forbidden, for safety reasons. Every individual who did not follow protocol was subject to trial and in extremem situations, termination. 

B3 frantically typed away at his computer.

“6,230”

Headquarters was preparing a new team to head down to Antarctica to continue the drilling. Jacque’s crew had all been extracted the day of the explosion. Jacques was determined to go with the new team. Jacques was the best man to lead an oil extraction crew and headquarters knew it. Once they found out he could still hear, there was no way to deem him physically unfit. Regardless of whether or not command approved of him as lead, he would be on that jet. 

As soon as the men got off the jet they all started looking a little uneasy, all now more aware of the fact that a man similar to them had just lost his life out here on the ice. Noticing the crew’s demeanor he told them that they should head into camp noting that they would get a jump on the morning. 

“I’m going to place these geophones and get a new seismic read, so we are ready to start right away in the morning. Men, at ease, head into base for the evening” Jacques yelled out to the weary faces before him.

The men started nodding and mumbling and formed a version of a line as they all trekked into the dome to try to get some sleep, even as the bright sun illuminated the ice.

Jacques started placing the geophones and as soon as he had finished he started to mildly panic. He had no idea where they were. They could be miles and miles away from their last drill site or only meters, but he had to find that book. It was the key to understanding why the government had hidden Antarctica all this time. It was going to explain why his life was like this. He was sure of it. Of course, all of this lied on the pretense that command didn’t already have the book.

He needed to lose the watch so command could stop spying on him but without it he had no indication of the time. The sun sat still in one place and over here a minute sometimes felt like an hour. He recalled that a single individual walked around 3 miles in an hour and calculated that someone of his stature would probably take 2,250 steps per hour. He hung his watch on the geophone and he began counting. 

In what he assumed to be 6 miles of walking and around 2 hours he had seen nothing except exactly what he had seen 6 miles and 2 hours ago. He had also decided he had around 5 hours with which he could continue walking before he would have to turn directly around. 

“6,221…6,222…6,223…6,224…6,225…6,226…6,227…6,228…6,229…6,230…” Jacques mumbled the numbers as he watched his breath in front of him condensate with every number.

Just as he was beginning to lose complete sense of anything and as his eyes were about to be frozen shut he saw something he could have never imagined.

“Black Cloud”

Once again, headquarters, more commonly referred to among the resourcers as “command,” had sent new equipment. It had only taken them a week to create a cement that would not freeze immediately and crack in cold temperatures. However, the crew needed to adjust their drilling parameters slightly because the original drilling hole was compromised. 

As Tuck went to start up the rig something terrible happened. There was a flash of orange and then Jacques couldn’t see. As he opened his eyes he realized he couldn’t hear. He kept trying to see what was happening but couldn’t hear anything and was extremely disoriented. It was one big black dust cloud. Eventually, he saw the specks that were men coming from the corners of the drilling site start running towards him. They must have felt the impact of the explosion. 

“They’re sending in a helicopter boss,” Darren said, reaching out to asses Jacques.

Jacques just blinked. He saw Darren’s lips moving but he could not hear him. He was extremely fearful that he would never hear again. 

On the helicopter, amidst the silence, only one thing could be heard. 

“It’s all my fault, it’s all my fault, it’s all my fault, it’s all my fault,” Jacques said over and over again.

Tuck had died. The only other individual closest to the explosion was Jacques and he hadn’t opened his eyes for three days. The doctors had reported consistently good vitals, however, they explained that it was likely a shock-induced coma and that they hoped that he would wake up very soon. 

Command’s men walked into the room.

“Likely, he will never hear again,” the doctors explained to the command’s men. “An explosion like that can cause irreparable damage.” 

Command shook hands with the doctors as they left the room. “It’s a shame about what happens to resourcers after they’re no longer useful to command,” said one of the command men to the other. 

“It’s just a fact of life, Judge,” the other one offered.

 “Did you hear that command set him up? Something about being afraid he knew too much.” Judge whispered.

“You don’t have to whisper dude, the guy’s deaf,” He replied. “His watch reported charting a route different from the coordinates command sent out”

Judge nodded. “Are you ready?” he asked, tilting his head towards the door.

The other guy nodded and they turned to leave. 

Turns out, Jacques still had one good ear, and he had woken up 10 minutes ago.

“Headquarters”

As Jacque walked into the site all of the men turned to face him. 

“Did you find anything, sir?” Winston asked.

“Nothing worth expending our energy on extracting I’m afraid,” Jacques replied with a tight-lipped smile.

The men nodded in approval. Headquarters had agreed to send out a newly developed drill bit, that was quoted to be 20x the strength of their original drill bit.

Jacques could barely keep his eyes open but he wanted to finish examining all the pieces of the object. A lot of the sketches were of the landscape. He even found one that resembled the open water he had stumbled upon earlier. Others were sketches of wildlife. Wildlife he had never seen before. Some roamed above land and others he assumed must be of the water. There were sketches of rock formations, a mountainous landscape, and something that looked like a volcano. How could a volcano exist amidst the most frigid, inhabitable land on earth? Many of the other pieces were filled with countless scribbles of words. However, they stopped teaching individuals how to write and read he believed around 100 years ago. His father told him there used to be buildings dedicated just to teaching individuals about the workings of the world. Even buildings dedicated to housing objects just like the one he held in his hands. He had no means of deciphering the object and as far as he was concerned no individual he could confide in to help him.

The next day the crew went out to begin the drill process. The new drill bit proved to be successful and the crew was able to drill a hole deep enough through the ice. However, when they went to pour the cement to seal the hole it immediately froze and cracked. Without the seal they wouldn’t be able to begin extraction. The crew was also set to leave in two weeks with the next crew jetting in due to the harsh environment of Antarctica.

“I can’t believe headquarters didn’t think about the translation from the drilling process in the Dakotas to the drilling process here, in the coldest place on Earth,” Tuck said with a bite as the wind broke through his voice.

“Why should they care about us, we are just resources,” Jacques yelled back through the wind.

Tuck walked over to Jacques. “We are not just resourcers,” Tuck said shoving his finger into Jacques's chest with each word. “This is our task and you’re our lead, now act like it,” Tuck said and turned to head back to his post. 

“Men, it’s time to head in. There is nothing left for us to do. I have already contacted headquarters,” Jacques yelled out to the crew. 

“What about inspections?” Yosef inquired.

“There’s no need,” Jacques said as he turned to leave and head back to the site. The crew followed his lead.

“The Ice’s Secret”

Jacques flipped through the pieces of the object and looked carefully at the picture, the handmade picture. He looked down at his watch for the coordinates of their first drill today. Then he clicked on the map of the coordinates and noticed an odd similarity between the picture in his hand and the picture on his watch. The topography looked very similar, however, he assumed that all of Antarctica was practically one giant ice sheet and was entirely the same in design. Jacques was supposed to turn all foreign materials the crew discovered over to headquarters. The drone would come in, grab the package, and fly back out, yet Jacques would still have all these questions. How did the object survive the climate of Antarctica? How long had it been here? Who did it belong to? And most importantly, what did all of it mean?

The drill was proving to be tougher than he had imagined. He had been told that this drill would be tougher than the other ones but his life task as an oil driller was starting to be an assignment he wished he hadn’t received. There were technology developers, resourcers, technology fixers, and counters, although he was unsure what the specific tasks of counters were. Along with his fellow peers out here on the ice, they hadn’t passed the test. The individuals who didn’t pass the test all became resourcers. There were miners, oil drillers, and nuclear plant taskers. 

“Jacques, what is on your mind man?” Oliver called out from across the glacial pass. 

Jacques was studying the drilling bit. The men had had no luck so far breaking through the thick sheets of this frozen expanse. 

“I think I need to ask headquarters to send in new drill bits, these just aren’t going to work,” Jacques yelled back.

“Alright man, your call,” Oliver replied. “I think I’m just going to start some new studies of the ground.”

Jacques looked out over the crew. To him, it just looked like 15 black specs on a white background, identifiable only by voice. “Men, let’s start our inspections for the night. I’m going to do a visual 100-yard ground survey. We can meet back at our new site, you all have the coordinates on your watches.”

Jacques began his trek. He wanted a minute away from the men to study the object and see if he could match the sketch to the map on his watch. He kept walking, way beyond 100 yards now, and likely walking in a way that made him look lost. That’s when he saw it—something out of a dream. It was a deep deep blue, clear as looking glass—open water. Right in the middle of a vast stretch of sea ice, was a body of water that stretched on for days. This was not on his map. All he was told of Antarctica was one long sheet of ice. There were of course rumors from the elders, the counters. Again, he still didn’t know what they did just that they seemed to know everything. His father was a counter. One day his dad told him his mother was going to die that day. She died that evening. So if his father told him that Antarctica was more than just white as far as the eye could see, he was inclined to believe him. 

Jacques headed back to the site.

“The Object”

The geophone read the seismic activity for the tow. Jacques logged it. The logs were automatically sent to the supervisors at headquarters. The drilling process was set to begin in a month.

“Nothing new for you, huh Jacques?” Winston yelled out. He was reading the numbers off of the other geophone to be logged. 

Jacques looked up, all he saw was white. “I don’t know, sure is cold here” Jacques retorted. 

Winston laughed as Tuck climbed down from the tow. 

“We sure are glad to have you as lead out here Jacques” Tuck said directing his eyes toward Jacques. 

Jacques smiled. “Important work we do out here men.” 

Jacques looked at his sub zero watch. The temperature read -10 degrees Fahrenheit. It was 6p.m. The sun wouldn’t set for another three months. “The droids about to fly overhead, men let’s get back to our station” Jacques yelled out to the crew. The tow was driven into a tunnel under the surface. The geophones were packed up into the tow. Everyone grabbed a pack and the men started the trek towards their camp. No one had ventured to this area before, this was the intel Jacques was given by his supervisors. The men knew nothing of the area just as he did.

Jacques scanned his palm and the door parted open. “Alright men, at ease and to your stations. Tomorrow morning we’re moving on.” Jacques voice echoed over the sub zero watches that all the men wore in part of their uniform. The men’s drilling tech and gear was all fancy. The places they were directed to take camp at, not so much. As Jacques made his way to his headquarters he attempted hanging his parka up to stop the blinding light from shining into his sleeping chambers. Sleep was hard to come by and time was something he was losing sense of. He made his bed and began to lay his head down to sleep. His head hit something hard. He pulled the object out from underneath his sleeping quarters. It was an inch or so thick and quite a few inches tall. He attempted to open the object but it wouldn’t budge. It was frozen shut. He moved it to the heating chambers and in an hour he was able to pry open the object. Individual pieces of the object flipped over revealing stained rough sheets with scribbles and pictures but not the digital holographs he was used to. These looked hand drawn, if that was even possible. He threw the object in his bag and went to sleep, he didn’t want to raise the concern of his men and alert them to a foreign object just yet, not until he knew what it was and what threat it presented.