Lucifer's Hammer - Larry Niven [266]
"This is a good place for the radio," Tim said. He looked doubtfully out across the San Joaquin Sea. "But it's a little exposed."
Weigley shrugged. "We can put some sandbags up. Build a shelter. And we can string a telephone line from here back to the plant. Question is, do you want the radio here?"
"Let's find out."
It took an hour to get the beam antenna set up and clamped onto one of the smaller rising venturi columns. Tim connected the CB set to the batteries. They carefully rotated the beam antenna to point twenty degrees magnetic, and Tim looked at his watch. "They won't be listening for a quarter-hour. Let's take a break. Tell me how things are going here. We were really surprised to find out you were here, that the plant was going."
Weigley found a perch on the rail. "It surprises me, sometimes," he said.
"Were you here when … ?"
"Yeah. None of us believed the comet would hit us, of course. As far as Mr. Price was concerned, it was just another working day. He was mad about absenteeism. A lot of the crew didn't show up. Then, when it did hit, that just made it worse. We didn't have all our people."
"I still don't see how you could do it," Tim said.
"Price is a genius," Weigley said. "As soon as we knew, even before the earthquake, he was getting things set for survival. He had those bulldozers out scraping up a levee before the rain hit us. He sent me and some others out into the valley to the railroad, to fill up the tank trucks. Diesel fuel, gasoline, we got all we could. And there was a boxcar on the siding. full of flour and beans, and Mr. Price made us get all of it. We're sure glad he did. There's not much variety, but we didn't starve. Why you laughing?"
"The fishermen feel the same way."
"Who doesn't? Can you believe you'll never taste a banana again? We could use some orange juice, for that matter. We're worried about scurvy."
"The orange tree is extinct in California. Sometimes we can dig some Tang out of a market." The longer Tim looked at that wall of earth between him and the San Joaquin Sea, the bigger it got. "Doff, how could you have put that up while the valley was flooding?"
"We couldn't have. It's a crazy story. The original idea was to put the plant over nearer to Wasco. Mr. Price wanted it up here, on the ridge, because the blowdown from the cooling towers would drain better, we wouldn't have to dig the ponds as deep. The Department's managers didn't like that. Made the plant more visible."
"Oh, but it's beautiful! It's like a 1930s Amazing Stories cover. The future!"
"That's what Mr. Price said. Anyway, they did put the plant up here on the ridge."
It wasn't much of a ridge, of course; no more than a low rolling hill. The plant wasn't more than twenty feet higher than the surrounding valley.
"And after they did the work, the Department got scared and they built the levees," Weigley said. "Not for any real reason. Just to hide the plant so the environmentalists wouldn't think about it when they drove along Interstate Five." Weigley's lips tightened. "And then some of the bastards who tried to kill the plant raised hell because we spent the extra money on the levee! But it came in handy. All we had to do was bulldoze up enough dirt to fill the gaps, the places where the roads and railway came in through the screening banks, and a good thing, too. That water rose fast after Hammerfall."
"I'll bet. I drove over that sea," Tim said.
"How's that?"
Tim explained. "Heard any stories about Flying Dutchmen?"
Weigley shook his head. "But we haven't had much contact with outsiders. Mayor Allen didn't think it would be a good idea."
"Allen. I saw him. How'd he get here?"
"Showed up just before the water got too deep.