Chapter 1 - Eclipse

“It is darkness that allows us to see the light.”

Philip Regenie

It was in tribute to freedom that Len was willing to drive home late at night on New Year’s Eve. It had been an especially good night. He had spent the late evening hours out with Jack walking in the hills above the pipeline road.

How long had he and Jack been doing this now? Twenty eight years. Every year they put chains on all four wheels of a four wheel drive vehicle and tried to go as far up the pipeline as they could before getting stuck. Sometimes they would make it to the last turnout before the boulder-strewn washout. That was in years when there was hardly any snow and they were driving the Rover. Normally, they would get to the first major hill and the vehicle would get stuck. From there they would hike the remainder of the distance in the snow to the lookout tree where the best photographs of Los Alamos were taken in the 1950’s.

The hike itself was cold and grueling even for athletes as gifted as Len and Jack. Len was blond, blue eyed, chiseled, six feet two inches tall, lean, athletic, disciplined.  Jack had short dark hair, intense dark brown eyes, a softer rounder face, was five foot ten inches tall and possessed uncanny strength.  Many years there were more than three feet of snow on the ground. This year they had hit the base of the pipeline road going 65 miles an hour. Rocks and debris flew everywhere. Twice they careened off trees on the way up the road.  Eventually, the Land Rover high centered on a snow drift and they were stuck. Len and Jack got out of the Rover and put on their snowshoes. They put on their caving helmets with carbide lights so they could see in the moonless night. It took them two hours to hike to the base of the lookout tree.

The lookout tree was a 100-foot ponderosa pine. Nestled between three branches that forked at the extreme top of the tree was a platform devoid of any rails. The only thing visible that indicated there was something at the top of the tree was an old frayed rope ladder that extended from the ground into the darkness above. The ladder was attached to the tree by large wood eye bolts every ten feet.

Len took a flask out of his breast pocket, took a swig, and passed the flask to Jack. Jack took a short drink of the peppermint schnapps and passed the flask back to Len. A wind was blowing from the northwest when Len started his ascent. The cold breeze nipped at the exposed skin of his face. The rope rungs were either so cold that his hands would stick or encased in ice so they were painful to grab. Fifteen feet up the ladder Len felt for the next rope rung and it was gone. It was the first of three missing rungs. The stretch was long between rungs but Len pulled hard to reach the next rung safely. The first one was easy, the last torture. Len reached the platform and pulled himself up exposing his face to arctic winds. The tree swayed from side to side as he lay panting listening for Jack.
Jack arrived a few minutes later. They sat up and tied themselves off by attaching a rope to their wastes and to one of the tree limbs holding up the platform. The wind was bitter cold.  Len took out the flask and they both toasted the New Millennium.
Every year, at midnight, Len held up the flask and said, “To freedom.”
Tonight they forgot the cold, the lack of side rails, and the swaying tree, inhaled the fresh pine air and stared out at a crystal clear world lit only by the lights of Los Alamos in the distance.

Their climb down the ladder was harder than the climb up. It was mostly accomplished by feel. When they reached the bottom Jack and Len climbed up to the road and traversed down it in their snowshoes until they got to the car.
Both of them considered the way back a time for meditation and solitude. It was a rare year that any words were said on the way down the mountain. After a grueling lift and shuffle down the road, Jack and Len saw the Rover. They had forgotten how stuck it was.  It was centered on a mound of ice, rocks, and snow leaving all four wheels suspended in the air.

Len took a rope out of the Rover and said, “I’ll look around for a lever arm if you’ll get the fulcrum ready.”

Jack sized up the situation and tried to pivot the Rover on the high centered mound unsuccessfully. He took out the shovel Len kept in the Rover and used it to build up two mounds of packed snow reinforced by sticks, logs, and rocks in the front and to the side of the Rover.

Len yelled over to Jack, “I found a lever but I’ll need your help to slide it back to the Rover.”

Len had already tied a rope around the log’s limbs and had it wrapped around an aspen limb that was ten feet off the ground. They tugged on the rope until the 15-foot log was out of its hole and almost even with them. Len made a harness and they both pulled the log the remainder of the distance to the Rover.

Jack leaned on the car, panting, and said, “I figure we should rotate the Rover on the mound so that our initial thrust will be downhill in a forward direction. If we put the log over here on the side, we should be able to rotate the Rover easily.”

Len set himself to help rotate the car and said, “OK, Let’s do it.” They both wrestled the log into position. Len sat on the log while Jack turned the Rover. It spun easily and kept rotating until Jack let up.

“I think we need to clear a runway for this thing,” said Len.

“Hang on a second, let me catch my breath. Geez, I’ll be glad when I get into bed. What time do you have, anyway?”

“I’ve got 2:36. It’s definitely been a long one this year.”

Len and Jack dug out a path in front of the Rover. In front of each tire they laid evergreen limbs for 20 to 30 feet. They then shoveled dirt and snow under the four wheels.
Jack said, “Let’s do it. Don’t stop if you don’t have to.”

Len got into the driver’s seat and Jack manned the log and screamed. “Let her rip.”

Len turned on the engine and shifted into second gear. He started to give it some gas. When Jack saw the wheels begin to turn he rocked the Rover with the lever arm until the car started to slide off high center. Len felt the increased momentum and gunned the car. It took off down the road. Jack slogged along in the shoes for another couple hundred yards until the snow level dropped. Len had stopped for him down the road. Jack got into the car exhausted. He looked over at Len.

“I don’t look as bad as you do, do I?”

“Oh no, you look ready for a night out at the opera,” Len joked.

“Hell yes, you look as bad as me. I’m drained. Let’s get home.”

“Hey, want me to drive?”

“Nah, I’ve gone this far. I’d like to finish it. Have you in bed safe and sound in 5 minutes.”  Len drove Jack home to North Mesa and started on his way to Barranca Mesa. Coming down the hill Len remembered that they were out of milk.

“Might as well get it now rather than get up in the morning. Great, I’m so tired I’m talking to myself. If that’s not bad enough, I’m swerving and it’s beginning to snow hard.”
Len drove the two miles to the Hilltop store, the only all night store in Los Alamos, and bought milk. As he walked out of the store he slipped from exhaustion and fell in the driveway.

“Getting old is great.” Len got into his car asleep on his feet. As he turned out of the driveway he drove straight off the curb. Len was beginning to wonder if he would make it home.

Chapter 2 - Auld Lang Syne

“Mere human beings cannot afford to be fanatical about anything. Not even about justice or loyalty. The fanatic for justice ends by murdering a million helpless people to clear a space for his law courts. If we are to survive on this planet there must be compromises.”

Storm Jameson

Through the heavy snowfall, Len barely noticed the flashing lights in his rear view mirror. He started pumping the brakes to get over to the curb. He’d been driving erratically from exhaustion. Len could barely get the window down. The officer was standing with the snow blowing into his face,“Excuse me sir, may I see your drivers license?”

Len was so tired he could hardly move. He fumbled for his wallet, “What is it officer?”

“I’ll have to ask you to step out of the car please.”

Len reached for his cell phone when the officer said more sternly, "Sir, I will not ask you to step out of the car again."

Len left his cell phone in the pocket on the side pocket of his valise and stepped out of the care.  He almost fell as he took a step to the ground. “Can you tell me what the problem is, officer?”

“I’m giving you a sobriety test. You were driving very dangerously for these conditions, sir.  Do you know what the day and time are, sir?”

The snow bit into Len’s already cold and exhausted body. He should have put on his parka before getting out of the car.

“Of course, it’s about 3 o’clock in the morning Jan 1st."

“Would you please stand on one leg and touch your nose for me, sir?”

Try as Len would he couldn’t succeed. The combination of poor balance, the wind blowing and the slick surface defeated him at all attempts.

“Please walk a straight line for me sir with both arms out like this.”

Len tried to walk a straight line but was too exhausted from the evening to stay on track for more than one step. On the third step he slipped and fell to the ground from exhaustion.

“I’m afraid I have to take you down to the station and check your blood alcohol level, sir. Get in the back of the car please. You can lock up your car and leave it there for the evening. I’ll notify a towing service of its existence.”

“Officer, I’m as sober as you are. I am exhausted and have no sense of balance.”

“If you don’t get in the back of my car immediately, I’ll be forced to handcuff you and charge you with resisting arrest.”

“Could I at least get my parka?”

“Yes sir, you may.”

Len reached into the Rover and got his parka from the passenger seat. He put the parka on and reached for his phone and portable computer.

Officer O’Mally said, “I’m sorry Mr. Mahoney, you can’t take anything with you to jail”.

“What do you mean I can’t take anything with me?”

Officer O’Mally pulled Len towards the police car, locked and shut the door of the Rover. After opening the rear door of the squad car he pushed Len’s head down to force his entry into the vehicle.

“You can’t treat me like this. I’m a highly placed lab official.”

Officer O’Mally slammed Len’s door, walked around the vehicle got in and drove the two miles to the police station in silence. Officer O’Mally’s rage was obvious. Len was quiet all the way to the station, afraid to incite him further. It all felt like a dream. The police station looked surreal, a flat white exterior masked against a snow flecked black sky. The quiet solitude of Los Alamos and Len’s exhaustion left him unprepared for the noise of the car door opening into the bright police station parking lot. Even though it was a cold January morning, Len had a damp acrid scent in his nose as he was pulled out of the car and approached the building entrance. Officer O’Mally opened the door for Len guiding him through the entrance. His throat became parched and constricted from the heated air. Officer O’Mally brought Len to the alcohol check station. The machine showed an alcohol level of .02 percent.

“See, I’m not drunk. Now will you let me go home?”

“This machine is not always accurate Mr. Mahoney. I can smell the alcohol on your breath and you couldn’t pass tests that require basic skills required to drive safely. I’m going to have to book you on reckless driving charges and release you in the morning.”

“You can’t do this to me. I am a very important person with the Labs.”

“This way Mr. Mahoney. It will go a lot better for you if you just go with the flow. We can make this a very unpleasant experience otherwise.”

Officer O’Mally took Len to the booking room where his fingerprints were registered, his possessions secured, and the paperwork filled out.

“Hi Rozz, here’s a hot one for you. His name is Mr. Leonard Mahoney.” The women doing the fingerprints was Hispanic and talked with a thick Mexican accent.

“Que pasa Ralph, busy night, no? Please extend your right hand with the fingers spread out, Mr. Mahoney?”


Len pulled his arm away from Rozz’s grasp. “This is a mistake. I need to use a telephone. I demand to use a telephone.”

Officer O’Mally grabbed Len’s arm and extended it to Rozz. She pried open Len’s fingers and placed them on the ink pad.

“Generally, I like to do things by the book, Mr. Mahoney. You however, have done nothing but give me and Rozz here a hard time. It’s going to be awhile until we can get you to a phone. Sorry about that.”

Len continued to demand his phone call throughout the night. The jailers and station attendants had heard it all before.

Chapter 14 - Discovery

“The young men of this land are not, as they are often called, a ‘lost’ race—they are a race that never yet has been discovered. And the whole secret, power, and knowledge of their own discovery is locked within them—they know it, feel it, have the whole thing in them—and they cannot utter it.”

Thomas Wolfe

 Jack walked out to the pond behind the fence with a grin from ear to ear.

 “Come on Jack,” Len yelled as he held open the gate.

 As far as Jack was concerned he had just arrived in Oz. He ran through the gate and jumped on top of a rock. Jack looked around surveying his new found domain. Len shut the gate and looked over at Jack. A big smile crossed his face and he ran and jumped on the rock with Jack. They both started turning around and around on top of the rock. Finally, they stood face to face smiling. Len and Jack both knew, from that point on, they would be friends.

 Margaret and Ruth looked out at the two kids and Margaret said, “I think we are going to be very good neighbors. Would you like some coffee?”