Heart of Stone

By Girad Clacy

Global climatic changes during the early part of the 21st century have placed enormous demands on fossil fuels. Global warming has altered the once predictable weather patterns for the whole planet. The largest shifts in weather have put the United States, in the year 2004, at risk of freezing to death if something isnt done about the problem. Fossil fuels have been in the final stages of exhaustion for some time, however with the shifting weather patterns, this demand has become an unquenchable thirst. Even in late 1999 as his Presidency was ending, Bill Clintons gesture to open up the oil reserves was to no avail. The Exxon Company, one of the only oil companies left after the stock market Crash of 2000, reported that they have built two huge ships to bring back large quantities of natural gas to the United States from overseas. Will the United States freeze to death? Find out in Girad Clacys finest techno-thriller. Liquefied natural gas is both unseen and highly explosive in its pure state and the CORAZON DE PIEDRA, on her maiden voyage is filled full. Walk up the gangplank of a ship carrying 750,000 cubic feet of LNG.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Apr 29, 2001
• ISBN: 9780595880096

Girad Clacy

This is Girad Clacy’s vision of the future for members of the GLBT community and for those that are suffering at the hands of medical science. This is also Mr. Clacy’s last book of the STARCORE archive files and his last book under this pen name.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

In the not too distant future, only one company will be standing above all the rest. The Exxon Company is one of the only oil companies left after the Stock Market Crash of the year 2000. The Exxon Company was going to be held to a promise of not letting anything happen to the United States’ petroleum reserves.

"In the years that followed the Stock Market crash of the year 2000, many unscrupulous oil companies wasted some of the best petroleum producing areas in the United States. Oil in the year 2004 is a very high commodity. Anyone who has possession of oil has money and power over those who don’t. As the last of the natural gas supplies dried up, the Exxon Company funded and built two gargantuan supertankers to ever sail the seas.

"These supertankers were built in complete secrecy and out of the public eye for over four years. The Exxon Company manufactured these two ships at their restricted shipbuilding yards in Rhode Island. As the United States is now hearing more reports of another early and possibly worse winter than previous years, fuel oil prices have skyrocketed. The average price per gallon of fuel oil, in most regions of the U.S., is around $ 24.99 a gallon.

"Matters are getting worse. Every available tree for lumbering is being cut down to heat homes, offices and school buildings. Reports have arrived to this news station from all over the country about hospitals shutting down one by one. They can no longer heat or cool their buildings. Without natural gas or fuel oil, they also cannot sterilize their equipment.

"In a bold statement made by Barry Drakers, Executive Director of Liquefied Natural Gas Operations for the Exxon Company, he declared that large quantities of natural gas would be brought into the United States. The Exxon Company is proud to say the United States will not freeze to death. Mr. Drakers went on to say that what little reserves are left in the United States, and its territorial waters, won’t last long at current demands.

"The Exxon Company predicts that by the year 2007, all domestic natural gas reserves will be exhausted. By the year 2010, all domestic oil reserves will have been exhausted. Right now, in the year 2004, gas prices have already skyrocketed towards the top at an astronomical rate. The average price, per gallon, of unleaded gasoline has reached $ 2.50 in most regions of the United States. Other regions of the United States are reporting gasoline prices of $ 4.75 a gallon.

"There are lines at all gas stations whenever gasoline is available. The pictures taken by some of our viewer’s shows a throw back to the 1970’s with the oil embargo. Signs saying ‘Sorry, no gas today.’ are becoming noticeable. Even the good faith act of President Bill Clinton, to open up the oil reserves in late 1999 before his presidency ended, has had little impact on the price or availability of gasoline.

"The entire United States is totally dependent on foreign reserves of oil, coal, natural gas and other products. Many coal and oil fired power facilities are shutting down one by one. Thousands and thousands of jobs have been lost to companies that have had to close their doors. The prices of what little natural resources are left, have made it financially impossible for them to heat or cool their buildings.

"There is a race now to see what quick, simple and cheaper alternatives are available. Some communities are already feeling the crunch of natural resources being exhausted. With nuclear energy being one of the only available resources, many people have been drawn to nuclear power facilities like Three Mile Island, Fort St. Vrain, and Palo Alto, to name a few, looking for jobs. However, some of these plants have been in lay up for years. This means it could be months before they are operational once more.

One of our viewers mailed us a copy of their power bill from the Fort St. Vrain nuclear power plant outside of Denver, Colorado; $ 8.85 a kilowatt-hour for electricity. As the United States heads into yet another harsh winter due to global climatic changes, the possibility that people may freeze to death looms ever nearer. Good night from KGAL TV-13, Galveston, Texas.

Barry turned off the television set in his hotel room at Rhode Island. Tomorrow was going to be a big day for him. He set the remote control down on the nightstand as he closed his eyes. Barry Drakers was now under the gun. The whole world was depending on him and his technological monsters to save them. Barry smiled as he rolled over in bed, going to sleep.

CHAPTER ONE

A terrible fall storm had rolled over Rhode Island, including most of the eastern coast of the United States. As Barry Drakers woke up this particular September morning, he turned on the radio beside his bed for the weather report. The radio was part of the furniture found in most hotel rooms. There was a humming noise as the radio powered up.

Good morning, this weather and news report is being brought to you from WPRI, Providence, Rhode Island, AM 1350.., there was static before the almost automated voice started to rattle off the report.

Current weather conditions at the Providence International Airport are: Temperature twenty-five degrees Fahrenheit, without the wind-chill factor. With the wind-chill factor, the temperature is minus ten. Winds are from the northeast at twenty-five miles an hour, occasionally gusting to thirty-five miles per hour. The nor’easter has brought with it cold Arctic air. Today’s high is expected to reach only thirty degrees. Skies will be partly cloudy in the morning with a chance of rain mixed with snow possible. Clearing up by late afternoon, with sunny skies for the rest of the week. Temperatures are expected to reach only the upper twenties to the low thirties. Nighttime temperatures will be between zero and minus ten with wind-chill factors of minus ten to minus fifteen.., there was static.

The National Weather Service has issued a heavy surf warning in the wake of this storm. Tides are expected to be three to five feet above normal. This warning is in effect from 6:00am until midnight tonight; areas affected are Providence, Rhode Island to Seaside Heights, New Jersey. There is also a small craft advisory in effect for Providence, Rhode Island to the Delaware state border. Water temperature is currently thirty-nine degrees when taken at 5:00am Eastern Standard Time, by buoy seven in the main channel. People who are going to be outside for any length of time are strongly advised to dress warmly. Now for the news, there was static once again, followed by a buzzing noise like a hive of bees.

As of today, the early winter storm has been blamed on over four hundred deaths so far. This count comes as gale force winds and freezing rain downed power lines. The freezing rain was also blamed for deaths on highways all along the eastern seaboard. In some areas black ice was responsible for most deaths in the State of Rhode Island according to Rhode Island State Police official Jerry Holstead. Those homes without heat or electricity froze their occupants to death. This report was accurate as of 6:00am Eastern Standard Time. Next update will be at 8:00am Eastern Standard Time, thank you, the voice stopped and static filled its place.

Barry shook his head as he started packing up his clothes. He left out only the clothes for today. Today was going to be the last time Barry had to drive to the Exxon Company’s dry dock facilities in this freezing weather. Barry shaved, showered and dressed for the freezing weather outside. He was wearing thick, black, wool pants, two socks and steel toe safety shoes. He wore a long sleeve, gray and dark blue checkered, flannel shirt. He put on specially designed Gore-Tex® gloves with fleece linings in them. His jacket was made of Gore-Tex®, filled with Dacron™. The outer shell was dark blue and made of Orlon™.

Barry packed the final items into the suitcase, closing the lid. After hearing the latches lock into place, he picked up the suitcase, turning off the radio. Barry headed towards the elevators and down to the lobby for check out. The check out procedure was completed quickly, as Barry tightened up his outer clothing. He was preparing himself for the onslaught of icy cold wind that was waiting for him outside of the hotel lobby’s heated protection. He stepped outside of the lobby doors and was attacked, viciously, by the icy wind.

Barry clutched his suitcase tightly as he bolted for the hotel’s parking lot and his rental car. The Exxon Company provided the rental car, a Mercury Topaz, to him while he was there in Rhode Island. He put the door key into the lock, unlocking it as fast as he could. He opened the car door, tossed the suitcase into the back seat. Getting in, he closed the door. Barry put the keys into the ignition, starting the engine. He let the car idle for about ten minutes. Turning on the heater full blast, Barry headed out of the hotel’s parking lot.

He drove down the street that the hotel was located on, easily finding Exit 14 for I-195. He took I-195 to State Road 114 where he turned off the road towards the Exxon Company’s high security, private shipyards. Barry brought the car’s speed down slowly so as not to create a skid on the icy roads. However, when the road turned into the shipyards, there was a change in road conditions. The shipyards’ snow and ice removal crews had been working the entire night to keep this road and the dry dock facilities as ice free as possible.

As Barry pulled up to the gate, the Exxon Company’s private security officers stopped him. The security officer was armed with an M-16A2 and a Beretta® 9mm. The man was wearing a flack jacket and a radio. He looked inside the car as Barry flashed his Exxon Company Security Identification Badge at him. Barry drove slowly up to the security officer, rolling down his window to sign the visitor’s log.

Have a good day Mr. Drakers, said the security officer as he opened the gate by remote control.

Barry rolled up his window as fast as he could to keep the heat in and the cold out. Barry looked at the partly cloudy sky, noting that there were staccato flashes of light coming from the dry dock facilities. He parked the rental car in front of the dry dock foreman’s trailer. Barry shut off the heat, then he shut off the car. He reached under the passenger’s seat, grabbing his briefcase. With briefcase in hand, Barry made a run for the trailer. He grabbed the handrails for support, bursting into the trailer. Quickly, he shut the door behind himself. Barry was shivering, while both the dry dock foreman and dry dock master looked at him.

Good morning Barry, said Jim Maddison the dry dock foreman.

Good morning Jim, how are things today? asked Barry.

Fine Barry. In fact the shipyard workers worked through the night. They should be done anytime, now.

That’s good news, said Barry as he picked up a cellular phone from its charger. He also grabbed a set of keys for one of the golf carts outside. Barry was thankful, in this weather, that the golf carts were covered for some protection.

Can I expect a call from you then Mr. Drakers? asked the dry dock master Ben Wilds.

I think so Mr. Wilds and its Barry. B-A-R-R-Y Barry. Every time you call me Mr. Drakers, I expect to see my father standing behind me and he’s been dead for ten years.

Barry stepped out once again into the cold. The icy cold wind was beating him, like a professional boxer. He opened the door on the golf cart, stepping into it. Barry drove the golf cart towards dry docks one and two. These two dry docks held the CORAZON DE PIEDRA and the EL HOMBRE. Barry looked towards the dry docks one last time; there were no arcs to be seen.

There were no more arcs from the workers’ rods, as Barry drove through the shipyard at Rhode Island for his last time. After ten years and seventy-two billion dollars in cost, the ultimate super carriers were ready. These gargantuan super carriers didn’t carry crude oil or cargo. These ships were going to be carrying the world’s most precious cargo, natural gas.

Today was the final inspection before flooding the dry docks, floating these monsters. The thought almost overwhelmed Barry as he arrived at the entrance to the dry dock facilities. Stepping out of the golf cart, Barry remembered that it was dark in the bottom of the dry docks. Reaching over to the golf carts’ flashlight holder, he grabbed one of the Mag-lites®.

Barry walked over to the door, opening it up. He turned to his left, seeing the various hard hats on the wall. Barry put one of the hard hats on. Checking his flashlight, he stepped into the elevator. The elevator would take him eleven stories into the ground, going into the bottom of Dry Dock Number One. This dry dock housed the metal monster, aptly named, the CORAZON DE PIEDRA.

The elevator took several minutes to reach the bottom. Barry opened the metal cage door and started walking towards the ship. He needed to first inspect the massive wooden blocks that held the ship up inside the dry dock. These wooden blocks, measuring four feet by four feet square, ran the entire length of the ship. He looked up at the bow of the ship, feeling how small he really was in comparison to this thing. Exxon would be proud of his report; the ships were ready for use.

He moved to the stern of the ship. He looked at huge holes cut in the underside. These holes, some one hundred eight inches in diameter, were the openings for the condensers. These condensers serviced the four engine rooms.

Barry finally came to the ship’s propulsion system. He looked at the four shafts that ran back some one hundred fifty feet from the engine rooms to their respective penetration points. There, connected to the shafts, were the propellers. The propellers were made of bronze, weighing about forty-five tons each. The outboard propellers were seven bladed, while the inboard propellers were six bladed. From blade tip to blade tip, they measured 22.6 feet. This indicated that every time the shaft made one complete turn, the ship went through the water 22.6 feet until the ship reached twenty-five knots. Then the ship only moved 18.9 feet through the water.

Barry had finished his inspection of the ship. He rode the elevator back up to the top picking up his cellular phone. He dialed the number, hearing it ring only once.

Yes? said the voice.

Completed inspection of dry dock number one everything is satisfactory. I want the area flooded immediately. Also, flood dry dock number two as well.

Yes, sir.

The big doors that had once sheltered the ships from human eyes were now opening. The sun had managed to poke through holes in the clouds. The sun’s rays cast an eerie glow over the ships.

The tugs guided the CORAZON DE PIEDRA to the pier and then returned for her sister ship the EL HOMBRE. Barry watched, in the freezing cold, as the shipyard workers and the dock personnel hooked up life support cables to both ships.

Exxon was indeed going to be proud of this report. A dream that had been started many years ago was now a reality. The ship’s had been automated as much as possible to cut down on crew size and keep operating costs lower.

When the EL HOMBRE was parked abreast of her sister ship the CORAZON DE PIEDRA, Barry went aboard for the internal inspection. He briefly looked around. He carefully checked the paint that had been put on the bulkheads and decks. Barry was checking for any type of flaw.

These ships drafted out around sixty-three feet, six inches forward, seventy feet aft. Located amidships was little known, but necessary tonnage marks the Plimsoll mark. Painting a large circle and then dividing that circle in half from bow to stern formed this mark. To this mark were added two V’s coming together on the first line of the circle. The Plimsoll mark indicated the maximum allowable draft in international waters for a ship of that size. The ships were nuclear powered. Babcock and Wilcox had provided the best gas cooled reactor designs for propulsion.

It was dusk as Barry returned to his car in the parking lot. The parking lot was next to the pier where the ships were tied up. He stopped, looking at the metal monster named CORAZON DE PIEDRA. Barry looked down, seeing an old glass bottle. He reached down, picking it up. Barry, aiming at the hull, threw the bottle as hard as he could. The glass shards fell noiselessly into the water. He smiled, mumbling, Pie in you eye! as he stepped into his car. Barry drove to the dry dock foreman’s trailer for the evening.

CHAPTER TWO

The dock foreman’s trailer was small, but comfortable for Barry. Barry awoke the next morning with the sun streaming into the windows. The bed he slept on was small but it didn’t stop Barry from getting a good night’s sleep. As he