The Ark of Asylum (The Ark Series Book 1) (3 page)

With constant development and progression enveloping everyone’s lives, John is hesitant to organize another family meeting. But after a series of disturbing news reports, he is forced to call one.

Kate walks up to the front of the room, raising the curiosity of everyone who is expecting John. “Hi, everyone. Thank you all for attending tonight. John will be out soon to conduct our annual meeting, as you all know, to discuss how the development and construction of the mountain is coming. I also wanted to hopefully get some feedback from you guys since everyone was pretty quiet last time. I just wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page and that we are all satisfied with how things are coming along. So I ask you guys: Since you’re out there almost every day, how do you feel things are going? Are you okay with everything, or are you not okay? Tell me what you’re thinking.”

Kate’s mom, Monica, stands up and smiles at everyone. “Well, I would just like to say how impressed I am with how quickly and efficiently everything is developing. I’ve never in my life seen something like this be built so fast. It’s incredible! When I agreed to move out here, I never imagined it would be like this. It’s remarkable. Anyway that’s really all I wanted to say. Thanks.”

“Well, alright, thank you, Mom, for your feedback. I’m sure John will be very pleased to hear that,” Kate looks around the room. “Anyone else? Any feedback or comments you’d like to share?”

“I was just wondering when a church will be built. I would like to go pray and attend mass, so any word on when that’s going to be built?” Kara asks.

“Funny you should ask that question Kara. I know John was very excited to tell everyone about our new worship center being built as we speak. It will be a non-denominational church where everyone can go and pray and worship freely. But without further ado, here he is . . . Hi, honey.”

John walks over to Kate and kisses her on the cheek. “Hello, everyone. Sorry I’m late, but I’ve just heard some developing news from the outside world that I think everyone should see.” John verbally turns on the television and tells it which program to watch.

“Good evening, everyone. I’m Gail Davies with the evening news. Here are tonight’s headlines. Tension escalates in the Middle East as Iran and Iraq’s nuclear missile program is reported to be fully operational, and intelligence reports say they are pointed directly at the United States. As the terrorist attacks continue in the U.S., many speculate that Iran and Iraq are behind many of the bombings, leading to further confrontation between the U.S. and these two countries. With North Korea already fully nuclear and also pointing their missiles in the direction of the United States, many suggest that they could work together on an assault on the U.S. UN spokesmen also add that none of these countries have allowed UN weapons inspectors into their facilities for inspection. Without any
—"

John shuts off the TV and looks at everyone. “Okay, now that you’ve all seen that, I’m sure the added point about these missiles being pointed in the direction of the U.S. is pure speculation and most likely just scare tactics that we all know the news likes to use, but nonetheless, it is possible.”

He gets right into that night’s agenda with the main topic directly related to the nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran and Iraq and the likely inevitability as to the outcome of a conflict with these nations. He explains that they are now moving into the second phase of developmental operations on the mountain base, and they will be moving virtually all construction to the main central mountain to begin the building and development of a massive bomb shelter, much like the military base, NORAD, in Colorado Springs. John pulls up some schematics using the projector and describes how this will be the lifeline of their small but growing civilization in the wake of a nuclear war or chemical or biological attack.

“And we are going to call it ‘the Ark.’” John pauses for effect and waits for the chatter to fade. He then explains that the Ark will comprise multiple levels that go far and deep into the mountain. It will have the capability of housing hundreds of people and for sustaining life for years to come if needed. It will consist of basically everything they have outside on the mountain as far as necessities for human life to survive but in a concrete and steel hole in the ground.

“Let’s all pray and hope that, God willing, we will never have to use or step foot in the Ark, but it will be there for generations to come if the seemingly inevitable shall occur.”

He flips through a bunch of slides and points out areas of interest with his laser pointer. John tries to communicate that he’s not in any way trying to scare or alarm anyone and that’s why he didn’t want any of the children at these meetings. All he is trying to do is to protect them and their descendants forever. Things are getting scarier and scarier out there, and they need to be prepared for what may come someday. He tells them that as soon as he has some more detailed schematics and blueprints of the Ark, he will share them with everyone. He wants them all to know that this will basically be a nuclear fallout shelter at first. Eventually, the oxygen purification system will be developed then the food and water supplies will be constructed then the housing, and so on. Once these cornerstones are put in place, they will develop other areas of the Ark for various different things.

              John turns the projection off and looks at everyone. “As that is being started, a few construction crews will be out here working on a few other buildings, such as a worship center, which will be a—”

“I already told them about that. Your mom was curious,” Kate interrupts.

John smiles at his mom and responds, “Okay, great, then I won’t go into any more detail about that, so then moving along, and ah, oh, we will also be building a zoo. That’s right, I said it, a zoo.” He describes how it will be a large part of the base area and how a large section of the Ark will be allocated to the animals. They will, ironically, bring two of each of the majority of species together, a male and female, of course, for the sole purpose of breeding and protecting these animal species from, well, the same things that threaten everyone’s way of life.

“I know what you all are thinking, Noah’s Ark and the animals, but from the conception of building this commune and the Ark, I’ve always known in my mind that this had to be a large part of this whole thing. You know we’re supposed to learn from the stories and messages in the Bible, and well this, I guess, was my message. That and, as you all know, I love animals and just want to be around them.”

              He grabs a chair and spins it around, sits on it backwards and explains the last topic of the evening: Another major area that will be under construction soon will be an orphanage, which will, in essence, adopt a number of less fortunate children from around the world. It will also house numerous couples who will become their foster parents, raising and caring for them, educating and nurturing them. They’ll all reside in a huge dormitory, and they’ll also be expanding their school so they can all get a decent education.

              John jumps up from the chair and spreads his arms. “Okay, so, as usual, I know this is a lot of information to throw at you all at once, but I hope you can all keep up. I truly hope everyone is happy and satisfied with how everything is going, and if you have any questions or concerns, please let me know. Because, as you all know, once the ball gets moving on construction, there is no stopping it, so please voice your concerns or issues now, and, of course, thank you.“

Kate stands up and joins her husband. “I asked them the same thing in the beginning of the meeting before you got here, and they just said how amazed they were at how everything was coming along and how happy they all were.”

“Well that’s great to hear,” John replies. “It means a lot to me that everyone is happy and satisfied with the development of everything, and I hope that stays the same in the future. Well, if there’s nothing else, I would just like to say thank you all for coming, and my door is always open for discussion, and everyone have a wonderful night.”

              As John and Kate cross the room to leave, everyone else just kind of sits there, apparently not knowing what to say and with looks of concern on some of their faces. Some seem nervous, but others seem at ease about the news of the building of the Ark. As everyone gets up, they don’t say much to each other as they leave the room. In a way, the grandness of what’s been built and what’s planned to be built creates a sense of helplessness, as if they aren’t doing enough or helping out as much as they think they should, but after tonight, that all should change.

In the next couple of months, construction is well underway, and the main infrastructure of the orphanage is built. Before long, the whole family starts pitching in anywhere they can to help finish the orphanage. They start by gathering all the little things that will make the children feel like they are at home. They oversee the fabrication of things like bunk beds, school desks, and play areas for the kids. They interact with the designers so they can make every aspect of the orphanage as unique and homely as possible. Everything down to the bed linens has to be perfect for these poor, unfortunate children.

John places a fresh batch of paint directly in front of Ashley and then continues to wipe the paint from between his fingers. Ashley looks at the paint and then at her father.                

“Dad, why are we going through all this hassle to decorate this place? Aren’t these kids poor? I really don’t think they’ll care if our handprints are smeared all over the walls.”

John continues to wipe his hands. “Because we need to take care of others, sweetheart, especially children. These kids are coming from nothing, so we should try to make this place as nice as possible.”

Erica pulls her hand from the wall and smiles at her handprint. “I think they’re cool.”

Kate finishes wiping Markus’s hands and stands to face Erica. “Ash, you know how you like placing things you like around the house? It’s so you feel like a part of this whole new experience. You’re making a connection by using those things. These kids have nothing, so we thought a way we can help them feel part of this new experience and their new home is by dipping their hands in paint and decorating the wall.”

Ashley thinks for a second and then replies, “Oh, I get it. It’s an easy way to get the kids comfortable with their surroundings by making a connection with their handprints. But then why didn’t we wait to do this when the kids arrive so we can do it with them?”

Kate and John look at each other, dumbfounded, hoping the other has a good response. John fumbles for his words. “Well, that is . . . an excellent idea, which we will be doing, so hurry up and cover up the paint, and we’ll pretend this never happened.” 

Ashley throws up her purple hands. “You gotta be kiddin’ me!”

Markus looks at his sister and does the same thing and mimics, “You kid me.”

Everyone erupts into looks of surprise from the shock of a few rare words babbled by the youngest. Kara walks into the room just as the praise, consisting of hugs and kisses, calms down, obviously wondering what all the commotion is about. But the huge smile on her face quickly drops after they explain to her how she just missed the adorably cute and also very infrequent words from her grandson.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the mountain, blasting has begun on the Ark. With the dynamite in place, the mining team gets ready to detonate. Boom! The loud blast seemingly shakes the entire mountain as the first wave of dynamite is detonated. Boom! Boom! Boom! Three more ignite, and the blasts rumble throughout the entire area, leaving the residents stunned by the sheer force. The blasting continues for about an hour with the blasts getting further apart before they completely stop. Everyone on the mountain comes to a standstill as they wait for more explosions to occur, but their anticipation is met with dead silence.

A call goes out on the radio from the lead miner. “Mr. Angelite, it’s Beau. You need to get down here and take a look at this asap!”

“Copy that, Beau. I’m on my way. Is everything alright?”

“You just need to get down here pronto, sir.”

“On my way,” John answers. “Mom, can you take the kids? We gotta go.” Once she agrees, he and Kate leave the room immediately and run down to the stables and jump on their horses. It takes them about fifteen minutes to get over to the blast site. When they arrive, all of the miners are just standing around waiting.

“What the hell is going on? Why is everyone just standing around?” John raises his palms as he walks by everyone.

“It’s best I just show you, sir. Come with me.” Beau leads them up to the mineshaft. “When we blasted through the first layer of granite, we came upon something.” They get close to the mouth of the blasting hole, and Beau pulls out a tablet, which displays a camera image that shocks them both.

“What the hell am I looking at? Is that what I think it is?” John grabs the tablet, trying to see it better.

“Yes, sir, that there is most likely one of the largest gold deposits I’ve ever seen, and by the looks of it, possibly one of the largest finds in decades.” He starts to control the camera with his device, displaying even more of the mineshaft on the tablet. “I figured I should show you instead of telling you over the radio, but in all my years of mining I’ve never seen that much gold in my entire life, and that’s most likely the tip of the iceberg.”

“Well, I’ll be damned. Would you look at that?” John hands the tablet to Kate. “Honey, if that’s not a sign that we are doing the right thing, well then, I just don’t know what is.”

“I—I—I’m speechless. I don’t know what to say. How is this possible? I mean oh my God!” Kate stares at the tablet with her mouth agape.

“Alright, we need to rethink some things. How is this going to affect you guys? Do we need to get different men or equipment?” John taps his chin.

“No, sir, all my men are fully capable of excavating that gold. Hell, most of these men have spent the majority of their lives doing just that. As far as equipment, nothing new is needed. We just need to take a different approach to our mining, but you don’t worry about that, sir. We’ll take care of all the details, but you may want to get the Army Corps of Engineers here a little sooner as they are going to want to start building the support structure as we pull this gold out.”

“Not a problem. I’ll get them here as soon as possible. In the mean time, you get that gold out of there, and we’ll figure out what the hell we’re going to do with all of it. But plan on building a much larger bomb shelter. What was going to be a modest shelter with bare essentials will now be a massive, highly advanced structure. Excellent job today, by the way. How often do you get to yell, ‘We stuck gold!’” John laughingly shouts.              

“Well not that often, sir, not that often at all. Well good day to you, sir. My men will get going on this right away, and I’ll keep you updated on our progress, and of course let me know about the new plans as soon as you have the schematics.” He shakes Johns hand and tips his hat to Kate.

              In the coming months, more gold is pulled out of the Ark than anticipated. Billions of dollars worth of gold and other precious metals have already been mined and with much more to come. As the Army Corps of Engineers, along with some additional private structural engineers, arrive at the Ark, they are all shocked by the massive amount of gold being excavated from the mining site.

They immediately erect large pillars inside the Ark for support and then move on to the interior walls. They leave the granite shell intact and also add steel, titanium plates, and a concrete mixture made from crushed granite and rock, and all reinforced with a tungsten and chromium mixture. This combination of materials will virtually create a massive interior shell. Various rare metals are also found within the Ark, and when mixed with steel, it makes one of the strongest metals known to man. The main walls are in excess of twenty feet deep of concrete and roughly six feet deep of steel and titanium. Various sections are even thicker than that.

Months go by with non-stop work being done on the Ark, hundreds of men working around the clock in shifts and all led by the Army Corps of Engineers. With the majority of the gold and rare metals excavated from the site having an estimated value of over fifty billion dollars, a large section of the Ark now becomes a stronghold to house the gold that has now been refined and melted into gold bricks. Almost half of the gold is sold to the U.S. government and private investors at full market value, which is at an all-time high. The rare metals are not sold off but are kept for construction, manufacturing, and other future uses.

With the entire interior wall almost completed, the construction of the multiple levels is now underway. Made of purely concrete, more than thirty levels are constructed, which will form the main infrastructure of the Ark. The lowest few floors are allocated for the thermal heating system, the water purification system, and the air purification system. The next lowest floors are where the housing will be built, consisting of basic concrete rooms that will sleep anywhere from two to six people. There are community bathrooms to be shared in groups of roughly twenty people.

The next floors up from the housing floors are for dining and extra living quarters. There are multiple cafeterias adjoined to food preparation areas that are just a floor or two away from the hydroponic gardens and massive grow rooms. Just above the cafeteria floor will be mostly dedicated to a sports complex that contains all the same sports amenities as outside. The floors above that will mainly consist of recreation and entertainment areas. The other floors will be determined at a later date. Because of this, a large amount of construction equipment will be stored.

With the Ark still under heavy construction and now with a large amount of extra income, a whole new group of about one hundred construction workers is brought in. They will begin construction again outside, building more of a town for the citizens to live and work in. A main street will be built, modeled after the one in Breckenridge, made to look like an old mining town or ski village. There will be retail shops to purchase clothing and gifts, restaurants to dine at, bars to relax in that only serve beer and wine, and a movie theater and gaming arcade, all to little or no cost to the residents. An amphitheater is also built for music concerts, orchestral and live bands, and for plays. A full recording studio and film studio are also built, allowing John to continue working on different projects and continue collaborating with his production company.

The zoo construction is also nearly complete Most animals, especially vicious ones, will be separated by fenced-in enclosures that include shelter within the Ark. Large corridors with separate blast doors directly connect to the Ark and allow for safe animal transfer in case of an emergency. Soon, various animals from around the globe will be relocated to the mountain in pairs of two or more when possible.

The orphanage is now finished, and the first group of children is flown to the mountain where they will live the majority of their lives, some possibly their entire lives. These children are from all around the world, mainly from overcrowded orphanages. Almost every child is ecstatic to be living in such a beautiful environment; they have never lived in or seen such magnificent surroundings. Almost in a matter of days, every child, even the sickly and impoverished ones, begin to change in a way never seen before by any of the care workers, teachers, or foster parents. They all put on weight, and happiness seems to envelop each one like an enlightening. They laugh and play and are curious about everything, especially learning. Most of the family members take to them like their own, helping the children adjust to their surroundings and in the transition to such a different lifestyle.              

Ashley places her hands in the pink paint, then pulls them out and looks over at her parents and siblings doing the same thing. Once the paint drips off her hands, she slaps them on the wall and smiles at the very unusual-looking and very silent girl standing next to her. She tries to remember what her name is, but it was too hard to recall. “Here ya go, just like this.” She pulls her hands off the wall and points at the paint. “Now you try?”

The little girl just stares at her, confused by the words coming out of Ashley’s mouth and what she is doing. The little girl eventually does what everyone else is doing and places her hands in the paint and then onto the wall. She steps back and just smiles. Ashley smiles back as she hands the little girl a towel and wonders if she made that connection to this place her parents were hoping for.