The Seeds page 2

Charlie jumped out of the plane and hurried through the snow to keep up with this tall man who had a kind of permanent frown on his face.  He certainly wasn’t waiting for him as Charlie struggled to handle all of his luggage.   

“Emmett will get you signed in and go over your job with you.”  Ashton said without looking at Charlie.

“Where will I find Emmett?”

“Down in the tomb…and you’ll need to stop by security and get a badge.  Everything is secure down here.  No one is allowed in or out without a complete check of pockets etc.  Nothing can leave the tomb…not even a tiny seed. ”  Ashton seemed to be always on a rush.  The reason for this  was hard to imagine since this isolated…and so far, deserted place did not seem to have anywhere or anything to make a person in such a hurry.  

After walking a long tunnel, they finally reached a cart to take them and their baggage into the final end of the vault.   It was obvious from the jagged rocks on all sides  that it took a great deal of work to dig through to the end where the seeds will be stored.  

“We are about 425 feet  inside this mountain.   You know Norway built this place and some help with funds comes  from the  UN.  Bill and Melinda Gates are paying for the seeds to be transported here. ”

“How long have you been here?” Charlie asked.

“Only a year.  I came from the Millenium Seed facility in England.”

They rolled slowly to a stop.    Charlie followed Ashton to an office.   There he met Emmett Harper who was a small man with a big smile.

“Hello, I’m Emmett Harper.   Glad you made it, Lad….nice journey? ”    flashing a smile.  

“Yes, beautiful…what I could see of it.”  

“Well, sign all this paperwork, get your badge….and you’ll put your finger under this each time you come or go. ”    Emmett pointed to a modern looking box on the wall.

“You’ll work in the tomb.”

Charlie noticed that Ashton had walked away with not a word.   He seemed to have done his duty and that was that. 

“Don’t worry about Ashton”, Emmett said.  “He is not too friendly with anyone here. “

Emmett was not short on words.  As he pushed this paper and that in front of Charlie to sign…and rolled his finger prints off the pad…he began to tell Charlie more about  Svalbard.

“This place was built to give researchers time to bring in raw genetic materials and store them.  You know, if we have a world-wide crisis or we blow ourselves to kingdom come!”

He continued,  ” If we get low on water or energy shortages or have to survive climate change…or a nuclear attack…or something, there will be 100 million seeds here to start everything all over again.”

Charlie said he knew about this because he had thoroughly researched the organization before deciding to come work here.   

“Oh, of course, you know about it….but there is a lot you don’t know…but you’ll learn.”                      .

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