Bear Hugs

James D. Navratil

Description

The About the Book information is not available at this time.

Sujets

• Adventure
• Fiction
• Action

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris US
• Date de parution: 27 février 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669868385
• Langue: English

Extrait

BEAR HUGS
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
James D. Navratil
 
 
Copyright © 2023 by James D. Navratil.
 

Library of Congress Control Number:
2023903212
ISBN:
Hardcover
978-1-6698-6836-1

Softcover
978-1-6698-6837-8

eBook
978-1-6698-6838-5
 
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
 
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
 
 
Rev. date: 02/25/2023
 
 
 
Xlibris
844-714-8691
www.Xlibris.com
850367
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Epilogue
Summary
Prologue
It had been a beautiful day in Antarctica, and now the sun was starting to set as Professor John James Czermak; his graduate student, Alex Pushkov; and some of their fellow shipmates prepared their camp spots on Hovgaard Island. They had to dig a level place in the snow to place their sleeping bags, and James had selected a secluded spot near the top of the hill overlooking the entrance to the Lemaire Channel and a glacial mountain range on the mainland that reminded him of the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. The expedition leader had suggested James put a big rock at the foot of his camping equipment to prevent him from accidentally sliding down the hill. The equipment consisted of an outer waterproof cocoon cover (bevy bag) with an inside sleeping bag and foam pad.
After watching a colorful sunset about ten o’clock over the sea, James turned his attention in the opposite direction towards the red glow on the mountains reflected in the channel containing numerous ice floats, a few icebergs, and their ship, the Akademik Abraham . The stars were starting to come out as James took off his boots, waterproof pants, and jacket and zipped himself into the sleeping bag and outer cocoon cover. As he watched the number of stars increase around the Southern Cross, he spotted a satellite slowly crossing the sky. Next, he saw a falling star and made a wish. The last time he had come close to seeing this many stars was camping out at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming or perhaps on his property in Nederland, Colorado.
His mind raced back to Nederland and how wonderful it had been to have his “Pine Shadows” summer home at 86 Doe Trail, bordering Boulder County Open Space, with stellar views of the Barker Reservoir, Continental Divide, the town, and Eldora Ski Area. They joked about Doe Trail as the Department of Energy, not a female deer, as it was ironic that ’86 was the tragic year that he had lost his DOE security clearance and ensuing trouble with the FBI. Shortly after he and Margrit had purchased the land in 1993, the Norwegian who had built the home four doors up on Doe Trail had died, and his son had him cryogenically preserved along with his father’s deceased friend from California in hopes they could be brought back to life once medical science had advanced to that point. The townspeople, primarily a mixture of old miners, hippies, and new agers, started to hear stories about the two frozen dead men being stored in Nederland and held several town meetings on what they should do about the bodies that were starting to attract national publicity. One weekend, at the height of the public attention, Cable News Network (CNN) televised the event, including a sign put out by the local baker which stated, “What is the big deal about two Norwegians in the freezer? I have six Danish in the oven.” The town finally accepted the bodies and now capitalizes on the publicity by having an annual “Frozen Dead Guys Day.” James had missed the event this year where there were frozen dead guy look-alike contests, coffin races, and more.
James’s thoughts returned to the Antarctic, and he reflected on the day. Indeed, it had been a wonderful day. James was an early riser, and with a coffee cup in hand, he made his way back to his usual spot, the middle rear of the lower deck near the cargo gate. There he watched a spectacular sunrise over the mountains between six and seven as the ship made its way to the Yalour Islands after crossing the Antarctic Circle the previous day; it had indeed been a wonderful crossing. After breakfast, they had zodiac cruises in the morning along the mountainous coast. The weather had been pleasant as the ship crossed Waddington Bay, passing through lots of brash ice and some beautiful icebergs. They spotted more humpback whales and some crabeater and leopard seals and made a few stops in the zodiacs to watch Adélie penguins, with the icy mountains in the background. After lunch, they visited Vernadsky Station, a Ukrainian research center once owned by the British and called Faraday Station.
They toured the station and were informed that its scientists were mainly performing upper atmosphere studies and were instrumental in discovering the ozone hole. James gave a short talk on his environmental radioactivity studies at Clemson University to a small group of Ukrainian scientists. The station was colorful, with a bar and homemade vodka, pool table, dartboard, and souvenir shop. They also visited Wordie House, a small museum preserving part of the early British base, and ended the visit with a walk to the top of a nearby snow hill to enjoy the view, followed by sledding down on their bottoms. Then they went back to the ship for dinner. Following their meal, they were treated with a super display in the bay by a pod of eight killer whales, including a mother and calf. There were also humpback whale sightings as fifteen campers were being transported to Hovgaard Island for their campout.
James was pleased that he had the night off from his surveillance of the Argentinean nuclear scientists and whoever was suspected of trying to pass nuclear weapons technology to them. James really thought that Brazil, or even Venezuela, would be a more likely country, but of course, Argentina was having economic problems and might be starting down the road to nuclear blackmail like the North Koreans. Only one of the Argentineans had opted for the campout. Despite terribly missing Ying, James was not going to pass up an experience of a lifetime and stay aboard the ship to continue his covert government assignment. At least this way, he would not have to worry about another attempt on his life and could hopefully get a good night’s sleep.
But James was mistaken as he was awakened in the middle of the night by a sharp jar to his sleeping bag and found himself sliding fast down the hill, cocooned in his sleep equipment, and heading for a high ledge over the icy channel. As James was frantically trying to unzip the bag and cocoon, all he could think about was “Is this the same feeling his wife, Margrit, had experienced when she lost control of his car going down Black Canyon in the Santa Susanna mountains in California?” Margrit’s death was no accident as the brakes of the car she was driving had been tampered with. As James was sliding down the hill, he too knew this was no accident, but another attempt on his life.
Chapter 1
I
The US Central Intelligence Agency was founded in 1947. Its headquarters are in Langley, Virginia, and its agents collect, analyze, and evaluate security information from around the world for the president and cabinet. The agency also carries out and oversees covert action at the request of the president. The main priority of the CIA is counterterrorism, followed by nuclear weapon proliferation and counter- and cyber intelligence. CIA stations are generally part of US embassies overseas, and agents are managed by a station chief. Some missions by the agency have dealt with regime changes in foreign governments not friendly to the United States, participation in assassinations of foreign government leaders, arming insurgent groups, and illegal domestic spying on US citizens. The CIA also uses US citizens who travel widely to assist in collecting information pertinent to their mission.
One such citizen is Dr. John James Czermak, a nuclear scientist who assisted in the development of the neutron bomb when he worked at the Rocky Flats Plant near Denver, Colorado. The plant made parts for nuclear weapons. Besides being a nuclear researcher, he was a retired US Army Chemical Corps officer teaching biological, chemical, and nuclear warfare to officer cadets. Czermak also taught at universities in Australia, the Czech Republic, South Carolina, and Colorado. He traveled to conferences around the world and made first-time visits to many countries, some not friendly to the United States. He has many friends around the world, including Afghanistan, Brazilian, Chinese, Iranian, Iraqi, North Korean, and Russian scientists. In both Colorado and South Carolina, CIA agents debriefed Czermak following most of his travels about things he observed that could assist the agency in its mission. Several times on Czermak’s travels, there were attempts on his life while h