80,000 years ago, the earth around the southeast corner of what later became known as the Great Basin was a very different place. As a part of the incredibly powerful forces rending the earth apart and putting it back together again, this part of the world was subject to powerful earthquakes and volcanic activity. One of the mountains created in this upheaval is now known as Yucca Mountain.
Yucca Mountain is a shield volcano. This means that it was built up slowly and relatively low in profile, composed of many layers of lava flows, tuff (which is ash and other material ejected in violent volcanic explosions, and may be either welded - due to high heat of subsequent lava flows - or non-welded). The eons of eruptions created a mountain that is about 7,000 feet above sea level, blending in with surrounding mountains, but standing out from the desert floor due to its color and the surrounding pock-mark like small cinder cones on its flanks.
For some inexplicable reason, the eruptions stopped. The mountain went cold. The area was still prone to significant seismic activity, however, hinting at the powerful forces that are still at work in the basement of the Basin and Range region.
Fast forward some 80,000 years. The area has seen periods of rain and flood, periods of glaciation, and - like the current condition - periods of indescribable desiccation. This area of present-day Nevada receives an average of only nine inches of rain a year. Most of this falls in torrential, flash-flood inducing thunderstorms and in occasional snowstorms. This cycle of bone-dry weather followed by heavy rainfall has sculpted the flanks of Yucca Mountain into the craggy outcropping it is now.
In the northeast quadrant of this north-south oriented mountain there is a scar. This scar began appearing in 2002 as construction started on the facility which would one day house the Yucca Mountain Repository. Essentially a massive tunneling project, this effort would create a series of catacomb-like caverns that would receive the nation's nuclear waste materials. It would also receive the waste of other country's nuclear reactors as well, which would provide a nice source of income for the site. The site would also provide a couple hundred jobs in an area where jobs were at a premium. These jobs would be well-paying and highly technically specialized, but would feature a lot of on the job training which would help bring people up to speed and train them on the required procedures and protocols. But essentially, the tasks would involve monitoring and security. The rest of the operation would be largely automated, with shipments arriving by rail, unloaded by robot, and filed in specified locations determined long in advance.
At the current time, only a few tunnels had been completed, and only a few shipments had been received. The people working at the site were largely associated with the continuing tunneling efforts, in addition to the security and training that would be ongoing as new staff were brought on. This staff was bussed in from the Las Vegas area each day. The one-hundred mile trip took two and a half hours each way, but no one complained - they were paid for their time, each hour shaving time off the twelve hour shift. The time was not wasted - there was usually a video presentation or even a live lecture on safety or another training topic. But many found the time beneficial for sleep or other pursuits.
John sat towards the front of the bus on its way back to Las Vegas. They had made a pit stop in Pahrump (a name which always brought a smile to his face, particularly considering the nature of the town) when the call had come in. His father asked him to pick up his sister at the airport. Her flight would come in at 11:30 PM, which gave him a couple of hours to kill before he went to the airport.
The bus dropped him off at the MGM Grand. Not only was this a convenient place for gathering, it allowed the employees a place to park. Even though John did not have to drive - as one of the senior staff constructing Yucca Mountain Repository, he had his own company paid-for vehicle and a reserved parking space, as well as a gas card - he still enjoyed the time on the bus, letting someone else do the driving. He brought along his laptop, which allowed him to conduct business and checks on other interests while he drove.
Being the youngest executive in the large construction arm of the company, he knew he had people who were gunning for him. Like wolves waiting for the injured elk to falter, they were always there, dogging his steps and never ceasing their incessant chorus. He would never give them the chance to sink their teeth into him.
He also had an ace in the hole - his father was the president and CEO of the company, a private company that held financial reserves that measured in the hundreds of billions. As such, John felt the peace and assurance that comes from having large amounts of money and the unfettered access to it. He did his best to put on the show, but inwardly he knew he was destined for greatness. He was born to it. He was putting in his time, in the time-honored theory of apprenticeship, he was learning the ropes of how to manage people, teams, and projects. And the Yucca Mountain project was a big one...
He was doing well. He knew it. He was leading the project that was on time and on budget. His paperwork was always properly and completely filled out - by a secretary, of course - and the records he kept were immaculate, ordered, and easy to access. This he did, carefully constructing the paper trails that would satisfy any and every auditor or elected official. It was almost an obsession with him. He also knew how vital it was for the rest of what was going on.
Because the Yucca Mountain Repository was a red herring.
The casks containing the supposed nuclear material were in fact filled with concrete.
Due to the nature of the material stored in these casks, there was no way to know that when the casks were sealed there was nothing remotely radioactive inside. Once sealed, these casks were designed never to be opened again, stored securely underground in the caverns for all time. No one would ever even wonder about these casks again. Out of sight, out of mind.
Meanwhile, the radioactive material was being shipped via truck to a secure location not all that far from Yucca Mountain, where it was being processed for the needs and desires of the team.
As he strode down the famous Strip, he cut an impressive figure and attracted the gaze of many young ladies. At 22, he was young enough to feel the desire to be with some of these ladies. But he also was bound by a laser sharp focus on the mission of the team. This required so much of his energy and effort that he was required to remain celibate, sober, and free from many of the other vices that men his age indulged in. He did not even drink any beverage with caffeine... He also refrained from profanity and was not given to anger in any way. He spoke respectfully to everyone he encountered.
His thoughts turned to his sister. His father had sent him a picture of her, a picture taken just that morning (how his father was able to obtain the picture of his sister he would never know), to his cell phone. He looked at her - it was like looking into his own face. She was older than him - twelve years older. But the eyes, the hair color, the facial structure all belied the fact that they shared parents. They also shared the secret - the secret of the team.
He wandered into the World of Coca Cola store - one of the attempts at making the Strip a little more family friendly, although who in their right mind would bring their young children to the Strip John would never know - and glanced unhurriedly at the wares. He selected a bottle of Sprite and sat down at a table to sip it, really just allowing his mind to drift.
His instructions had been clear. Once he had picked up his sister, he was to bring her up the Virgin River Gorge along I-15 to Saint George, Utah. There he was to check into a room at the Holiday Inn on Bluff Street. They were to stay in adjacent rooms, and they would be met in the morning. Since her flight arrived at 11:30, he knew that they wouldn't be able to get on the road until midnight, which would put them at the hotel at around 2 AM. He was a little worried about driving the Gorge, with it's serpentine track, dangerous curves, and blind corners. But at least the weather would cooperate - it was a clear day, the sunset blazing on the horizon.
It had been a long day. John finished his Sprite and walked back to his vehicle - a black Tahoe. He crawled into the back seat and fell asleep, taking care to set an alarm for 11 PM.
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