The Apocalypse Calendar (2 page)

Miller arrived at his office at
nine o'clock in the morning after doing a few honey-do chores for his wife, which involved going to the bank, the post office, and the hardware store. When he opened the door to his office, he received a call from the Office of Sponsored Projects. According to Sponsored Projects, Harvey Meyers at NSF had requested another budget revision.

Miller called NSF to find out what was going on. Meyers informed Miller that NSF wanted to cut his grant budget from two hundred thousand dollars to one hundred and eighty thousand dollars. When Miller asked why, he was told that the geologic section of NSF wanted to support a few more promising younger geologists. Meyers requested that all scientists who had funding thus far cut their budgets by twenty thousand dollars. The revised budget was needed by Sponsored Projects by four o'clock. Miller left this job to his assistant, Jack, who was not at all happy about the task.

After going to a faculty meeting and a university committee meeting, Miller finally arrived a little late for his five o'clock class. By then, even Gary had arrived.

Miller apologized to his students for his late arrival and said, “Well, what did you guys learn about the article by Jones and others?”

One of the students, Rebecca, said, “The basic thrust of the report is that pieces of the earth’s crust can be carried thousands of miles, from low latitudes to high latitudes, by sea floor spreading.”

“What are these pieces of geologic real estate called?” Miller asked.

Rebecca said, “They are referred to as ‘displaced terranes.’”

Miller asked, “What other mechanisms are there to move pieces of geologic real estate besides sea floor spreading?”

Rebecca suggested that there was evidence that large strike-slip faults like the San Andreas Fault may have been responsible for the transport of terranes in the geologic past. “Movement along the present-day San Andreas Fault is about six centimeters per year. Real estate on the west side of the fault—including cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles—is moving to the north, whereas the east side of the fault is moving to the south. Various workers have established that such strike-slip faults, or megashears, were active in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and were responsible for transporting geologic terranes northward or southward, often thousands of miles from the paleoequator.”

Miller said, “My project just funded by a grant from the NSF will be looking at geologic evidence for such megashears in Mexico during the Jurassic. We also will be looking for evidence for the breakup of Pangea.

“By the end of the semester, I want you to prepare term papers dealing with Mesozoic North American displaced terranes. There are plenty of examples in the geologic literature. In addition, during the last three weeks of the semester, I want each of you to present a summary of your findings here in class. If any of you need help with your projects, don’t hesitate to come see me.”

It was the last class In
Miller’s workshop for the spring semester. The students had all finished their presentations. They had all done a respectable job, and Miller was pleased with the results. There was no final exam in the workshop. The students’ grades in the course were based on their participation in class discussions, their class presentations, and their term papers.

Miller greeted his students and said, “Your term papers are due today. I assume all of you now have your final drafts ready to give to me.” Several of the students had not finished writing their term papers. They pleaded with Miller for an extension.

Miller said, “Okay, I will give those of you who have not completed your papers an extension. Please submit your papers to me in three days. I need to get your grades in as soon as possible. Gary, I would like you and Felipe to meet with me briefly to plan our trip to Mexico. The rest of you are excused.”

Gary Higgins was a handsome, well-built young man, well over six feet tall with long brown hair; he sported a short mustache. Although Gary could be a real pain in the ass at times, he was all business when it came to geology. He was one of those students Professor Miller’s wife, Jane, referred to as a “damned dedicated geologist.” This category included all geologists whose main focus in life was geology and who spent little time thinking about anything else. This was a constant irritant to wives and girlfriends who demanded their attention. Miller himself fell into this category, so he knew where Gary was coming from.

Felipe Garcia was a graduate student from Mexico. Like Gary, he was tall and handsome, but with dark hair. Although one could detect Indian blood in Felipe, he was predominantly Spanish in appearance and came from one of the more elite Mexican families. Felipe was one of Professor Arturo Gomez’s students and would also be involved in a study of Mexican geology for his PhD dissertation.

Miller said, “We leave for the field on May 4. I want you guys to round up all of the camping and field equipment. Clean up the ice chests and water barrels with a solution of water and Clorox. We will be using a fifteen-passenger Dodge van from the TISR garage; it’s supposed to be ready to go on Tuesday. We’ve had so many blowouts on pothole-ridden Mexican roads that I told the garage people to put E-load tires on the vehicle. I will pick up the van about four o'clock and bring it over to the geology building. At this point, we can fill up the twenty-five-gallon water barrels
in situ
in the van. This will save us from having to lift them.”

Gary said, “I don’t think our water supply is going to last very long. We are going to need water to drink, as well as to cook with and wash dishes with. What are we going to do when we run out of water?”

Miller said, “We can obtain purified water from one of the ice plants that occur in towns all over Mexico. Even most small towns have ice plants. Middle- and upper-class Mexicans seldom drink the city water; this is used mainly for bathing. For the most part, the tap water is badly contaminated, and drinking it will result in catching Montezuma’s Revenge—amoebic dysentery—and God knows what else. For the most part, we will be camping out. Arturo and I will stock up on food supplies at Walmart. We will pack meat and other perishables in dry ice in one of the ice chests; the meat should stay frozen for about ten days. After that, we will have to buy meat from local meat markets or supermarkets or use some of our canned meat.”

Miller knew that many of the Mexican markets were less than desirable. He had purchased meat that had maggots in it from one of the more respectable supermarkets. It was often better to buy meat from vendors in small villages in the early morning, when they first opened their shops. You could usually buy freshly slaughtered chickens at this time of day. If you purchased chicken or other meat later in the day, it was likely to be spoiled.

Miller said, “We will be taking a small electric refrigerator that can be plugged into the van while we travel. I am taking a backup twelve-volt car battery to run the refrigerator at night. This can be recharged by a generator when we stop to make camp. We can keep milk, cheese, and other perishables in the refrigerator. You guys make sure that you check out the mantles in the lanterns and replace any bad ones. Also, get the propane tank filled. We will be running the gas stove, as well as two gas lanterns, off the propane tank. Probably, we have enough gas to last the whole trip. In the meantime, I need to go to the Purchasing Department and pick up the Mexican auto insurance and the authorization from the Institute to take the vehicle into Mexico. Gary, make sure that you obtain a tourist visa from the Mexican consulate. If you don’t have a passport, you will need to take a copy of your birth certificate. Okay, that’s enough for now. I will meet you guys at three o'clock on May 3. We’ll load up the water barrels, ice chests, and the field equipment then. I will be talking with Professor Gomez on Monday. He won’t be finished giving his final exams until then.”

Gary asked, “How can we possibly cram all of the field equipment, water barrels, and food supplies into the van? We won’t even have room for our rock samples.”

Miller said, “Don’t worry! This is all taken care of. I told the garage folks to take out the three last rows of passenger seats. This should give us plenty of room.”

Miller got up at five a.m.
He quickly gave his wife Jane a last embrace and drove off to have breakfast at his favorite pancake place. Miller wanted to get through Dallas before rush hour traffic peaked. He told Professor Gomez and the two students to meet him on the east side of the parking lot near the geology building. The students had received permission from the TISR campus police to park their cars in the parking lot for three weeks. Professor Gomez’s wife, Blanca, had just dropped him off as Miller drove up with the TISR van. Felipe was standing by his car. There was no sign of Gary. As usual, he was late. Miller had factored Gary’s late arrival into his departure plans. Finally, a red Corvette convertible appeared, driven by a stunning brunette with Gary in tow. Gary briefly introduced everyone to his latest girlfriend and tossed his duffle bag into the van. By now it was six o'clock.

By seven o'clock, Miller and his field party were in West, Texas on Interstate 35 south of Dallas. Miller had the habit of always stopping at West on his field trips. It was a good time to let people go to the bathroom and grab some coffee and something to eat. West was a small town in North Central Texas settled by Czechs. It was famous for its Czech pastries. Miller always enjoyed having a couple of apple Kolaches with his coffee. He purchased a dozen Kolaches to take along with him on the trip to the border. The geologists planned to reach Brownsville by four o'clock. This was about an eight-hour drive from the DFW Metroplex. Although they could cross the border into Mexico at this point in time, Miller decided it would be better to cross the border early in the morning on the following day.

Crossing the border into Mexico was always a hectic experience—although it was not as bad as it used to be. Formerly, it often took three hours to clear Mexican immigration and customs. To make matters worse, Miller usually had to agree to give the Mexican customs officer a bribe of seventy dollars or more just to get through. The rules changed every time you crossed the border. You never knew what to expect.

One time, Miller had problems with all the canned goods and frozen food in the van. Although he had had no problem the year before, the customs people stated that it now was illegal to bring food into Mexico from the United States. Arturo Gomez had argued with the Mexican customs officials for over an hour.

Arturo held a dual American–Mexican citizenship. He was disgusted with the corruption in Mexico that occurred in all levels of government, which was largely controlled by the socialist PRI party. Arturo had refused to bribe the corrupt Mexican officials, who were threatening to confiscate all of the food. Finally, Miller persuaded him to pay off the officials. After a great deal of bargaining on the amount of the bribe, the transaction took place. Since it was necessary to account for all of his expenses to the accounting department at TISR and to the National Science Foundation, Miller had taken great glee in putting down the bribe in his expenses. This drove the state and federal officials bananas. The people in the accounting department could never quite grasp some of the problems that geologists dealt with when traveling to Mexico, or even to remote localities in the United States. They insisted on knowing where Miller went each day and were confounded that they couldn’t find these places on their maps.

The van finally arrived in Brownsville around four o'clock. The trip to Brownsville was uneventful after traveling mile after mile through high chaparral country from San Antonio to Brownsville. Every piece of vegetation had thorns. The brush was so thick that it paid to wear high boots, chaps, and a long-sleeved shirt if you had to do fieldwork in such areas. Miller marveled how cowboys on the King Ranch could work under such conditions.

The field party finally checked into a motel at a truck stop in Brownsville. Truck stop motels were always reasonably priced and had good meat-and-potato-type restaurants attached to them. After having dinner, Miller said, “We’ll meet at the restaurant at six o'clock tomorrow for breakfast and then take off for the border. Don’t be late.”

After having breakfast at the truck
stop, the field party headed for the border. The drive took about ten minutes. They paid the toll to cross the Río Grande from Brownsville into Matamoros and arrived at Mexican immigration. The officials examined everyone’s paperwork and sent them on their way to the custom checkpoint, which was on the outskirts of town.

Clearing Mexican customs was always a major ordeal and generally took about an hour. It irritated Miller that they had to post a bond on the vehicle. Usually this was not too costly. The funds for the bond would allegedly be refunded when the American vehicle returned to the United States. Miller thought of renting a vehicle in the DFW area. This was impossible, because vehicles rented in the States could not be taken across the border into Mexico. In addition, he found that it was impossible to rent vehicles anywhere along the Mexican side of the border. He was advised that if he wanted to rent a vehicle, he would have to fly to Monterey or some other town well away from the border. In NAFTA negotiations, the US government gave the Mexicans their way when it came to rental vehicles.

After posting the bond, the geologists had to unload the van so that Mexican customs could examine all of the cargo. It took about twenty minutes to unload and reload the field and camping equipment. Fortunately, there were no problems this time. With a sigh of relief, Miller headed towards San Fernando.

The first stop today was at a godforsaken piece of real estate in the Sierra Cruillas just north of San Fernando in the state of Tamaulipas. The turnoff to the village of Cruillas was just before another Mexican customs checkpoint. Most of the checkpoints could be avoided by simply taking the back roads. The road to Cruillas had been paved for several years. It used to be a dirt road full of immense potholes. Now, it was a paved road full of immense potholes.

The locality that Miller wanted to visit was at a site about five miles south of the village of Cruillas known as the Virgen de Montserrat. Everyone in the village knew about the site. When Miller and his party stopped for a beer and asked what kind of shape the road to La Virgen was in, they were told that it would be impassible in the Institute van. An old toothless man and his grandson offered to take Miller and his associates to the site of La Virgen in the back of their two-ton flatbed truck. Miller had the students load up several bottles of Gatorade, as well as canteens full of water and geological equipment, in the back of the flatbed truck. The temperature was one hundred and ten degrees, and the humidity approached ninety-eight percent.

It took about twenty minutes to get to the locality along Arroyo el Mimbre. The goal of the geologists was to collect samples of white Lower Cretaceous limestone and interbedded black chert strata exposed on the hill, as well as Upper Jurassic gray limestone occurring in Arroyo el Mimbre. There was a well-beaten path through the high chaparral vegetation covering the hill. Every bush was full of thorns and coastal ticks. Gary set down for a second beneath a mesquite tree at the base of the hill and immediately found several ticks.

As Miller and his group collected rock samples along the path, they noted the presence of crutches, canes, neck braces, eyeglasses, and other paraphernalia that people had discarded in the bushes. The told man said that many people from the sparsely populated area had been cured of their illnesses at the site of La Virgen at the top of the hill.

The site of the Virgen de Montserrat was not officially recognized by the Catholic Church. According to geologists who had visited the site, the Virgin Mary had appeared in a small limestone cave at the top of the hill and left a statue of herself carved into the wall of the white limestone. One famous geologist took a picture of the inside of the cave in 1936. At that time, there was no carving of La Virgen in the limestone. Instead, his photograph showed a rag doll hanging from a rope in the ceiling of the cave. Obviously, the image was carved in the limestone some time after 1936.

Miller and the two students entered the cave. Although Gary carried a flashlight, there was no need for it. The cave was well-lit with a dozen or more candles of various sizes and shapes; the smell of the burning wax was sickening in such close quarters. Gary said, “Look! There’s a statue of the Virgin Mary carved in the limestone.”

Felipe said, “Look at this! There’s a strange diagram carved into the limestone as well. It’s a pyramid with a picture of a disk inside of it. There appear to be rays extending from a symmetrical knob-like structure in the center of this disk.”

Miller asked their toothless guide about the meaning of the engraving. The old man replied, “It has always been in the wall of the cave, even before the Virgin Mary appeared; it is a symbol for Moctezuma’s Treasure.” Miller noticed that there was an arrow pointing from the side of the pyramid; it pointed to the south along the north–south wall of the cave.

Miller and the two students left the coolness of the cave for the extremely hot and humid air outside. The party decided to descend the side of the hill into Arroyo el Mimbre below to collect samples of older Jurassic rocks. Unfortunately, this was a poor choice of a route; there was no path, and the geologists had to fight their way through the tick-laden, thorny vegetation to reach the Arroyo. By that time, their arms were covered with scratches; thorns even penetrated Miller’s blue jeans. It seemed like every step Miller took, he collected another tick. In spite of drinking several bottles of Gatorade, Miller and Gary managed to get heat prostration by the time they had collected the Jurassic rock samples and walked down the Arroyo to the road where the truck was parked. Along the way, the old man’s grandson pointed out treasures on the side of the Arroyo that he intended to come back to and harvest. At one place on the side of the Arroyo, there was a large hive of honeybees; at another there was a den of javelina.

Upon their return to the village of Cruillas, Miller paid the two guides after cooling off and having a few drinks in the local store. He said, “It is now four o'clock. We have the choice of either camping out here, or heading out to Ciudad Victoria. Since it has been such a tough day, I think we ought to stay at a hotel or motel tonight. We’ll try to reach Ciudad Victoria. This will give us a chance to shower up and rid ourselves of these damn ticks.” No one was about to object to Miller’s suggestion.

Miller let Arturo drive the van to Ciudad Victoria; he was exhausted and dozed off in the front seat. When they reached their destination, Arturo suggested that they stay at a hotel at the plaza in the heart of the city. After showering, everyone discovered that they were covered with ticks. These coastal ticks aren’t respectable ticks; they are quite small and hard to see. Gary picked at least fifty ticks off Miller’s back.

Arturo said, “We’d better go to a pharmacy and get something to get rid of these ticks.” Apparently, the magic potion that many hunters and geologists in Mexico used to rid themselves of ticks was the same insecticide that was used to get rid of crab lice. Miller decided he would let Arturo handle this. He wasn’t about to blurt out something about crab lice to a pharmacist!