Read Online Peak by Roland Smith - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Roland Smith
Tags: Fiction, General, Coming of Age, Bildungsromans, Action & Adventure, Family, Juvenile Fiction, Survival, Survival skills, Young Adult Fiction, Sports & Recreation, Parents, Boys & Men, Miscellaneous, Mountaineering, Survival After Airplane Accidents; Shipwrecks; Etc, Everest; Mount (China and Nepal)
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Jeep and walked up to us, frowning. "Papers!"
"Good afternoon," Josh said with a smile.
"No one go until I see papers!"
"Of course," Josh said.
But the captain was too late. Sun-jo, Yogi, and Yash were already gone. (Poof!)
"Show him your visa and passport," Josh said.
I dug them out of my pack and handed them over.
Captain Shek carefully scrutinized them, glancing between me and the photo.
"You climb?"
"He's my son," Josh answered. "He's on my climbing permit."
"Last name no match."
"He has his mother's name. We're divorced."
(I guess it was too complicated to explain that they were never married.)
The captain handed back my passport. Next he checked Zopa's papers, then the driver's. After he finished he locked his dark eyes on each of us and said, "We watching all you." He climbed back into the Jeep and drove away.
"He's not kidding about that," Josh said. "Captain Shek and his men are always watching." He pointed to a small rise with a ramshackle building on top of it. "They have a spotting scope set up there, and the rumor is that he has night vision equipment as well. They monitor the radio transmissions, looking for violations. Shek's already booted two climbing parties this year. Try to stay clear of him."
"And he doesn't always show up dressed in uniform," Dr. Krieger warned. "He sometimes dresses like a climber and wanders around camp catching people unaware. I'll be in the Aid tent." She walked away.
"What do you think of Base Camp so far?" Josh asked.
Because of the argument and Captain Shek I hadn't paid much attention to the camp, but I saw now that it was gigantic. Red, blue, green, and yellow tents were scattered around for what seemed like a mile.
"How many people are here?"
"Three hundred fifty or so," Josh answered. "Maybe another fifty acclimatizing farther up the mountain."
Most of them must have been in their tents trying to stay warm because there weren't too many people wandering around. I looked at the temperature on my watch: fourteen degrees. According to the wind gauge (the watch Josh gave me did everything), the wind was blowing ten miles an hour, which brought the temperature down to three degrees above zero.
Josh looked me over. "You breathing okay? Any problems on the way up?"
Both were good questions considering this was only the second time I'd been this high on a mountain. The summer before I had almost made it to the top of Mount McKinley in Alaska. We were at 18,000 feet (2,000 feet short of the summit) when our guide turned us back because of weather.
"I've had a headache the past two days," I said. "But it's going away."
Josh pointed at George, who had returned to his tent and was angrily packing his gear. "My headache's going away, too," he said. "At least one of them."
He looked over at the truck. Sun-jo and the brothers had reappeared and were helping Zopa unload it. "Who's the kid?"
"His name's Sun-jo."
"Is he with Zopa?"
"Yeah."
"Interesting," he said. "Did Zopa tell you he was going to stay at Base Camp for a few days?"
I shook my head. "Like you said, Zopa doesn't talk much."
"Yeah ... Well, he's up to something."
"Like what?"
Josh smiled. "He'll let us know when he's ready. Let's head over to Peak Experience headquarters. I'll introduce you to the Base Camp crew."
"Peak Experience?"
"I didn't name it after you exactly," Josh admitted. "But I probably should have."
"What are you talking about?"
"Peak Experience is my adventure travel company. We started it last year. Almost wish I hadn't now."
I followed him to a giant orange tent with peak experience tagged on the sides. The A in Peak looked like a mountain. He pulled back the flap and waved me through.
Inside were several people and more electronic equipment than I had ever seen in a tent at 18,000 feet (or any tent, for that matter): laptops, satellite phones, two-way radios, fax machines, television monitors, and other gizmos.
The crew was so busy talking on phones, listening to radios,
"Good afternoon," Josh said with a smile.
"No one go until I see papers!"
"Of course," Josh said.
But the captain was too late. Sun-jo, Yogi, and Yash were already gone. (Poof!)
"Show him your visa and passport," Josh said.
I dug them out of my pack and handed them over.
Captain Shek carefully scrutinized them, glancing between me and the photo.
"You climb?"
"He's my son," Josh answered. "He's on my climbing permit."
"Last name no match."
"He has his mother's name. We're divorced."
(I guess it was too complicated to explain that they were never married.)
The captain handed back my passport. Next he checked Zopa's papers, then the driver's. After he finished he locked his dark eyes on each of us and said, "We watching all you." He climbed back into the Jeep and drove away.
"He's not kidding about that," Josh said. "Captain Shek and his men are always watching." He pointed to a small rise with a ramshackle building on top of it. "They have a spotting scope set up there, and the rumor is that he has night vision equipment as well. They monitor the radio transmissions, looking for violations. Shek's already booted two climbing parties this year. Try to stay clear of him."
"And he doesn't always show up dressed in uniform," Dr. Krieger warned. "He sometimes dresses like a climber and wanders around camp catching people unaware. I'll be in the Aid tent." She walked away.
"What do you think of Base Camp so far?" Josh asked.
Because of the argument and Captain Shek I hadn't paid much attention to the camp, but I saw now that it was gigantic. Red, blue, green, and yellow tents were scattered around for what seemed like a mile.
"How many people are here?"
"Three hundred fifty or so," Josh answered. "Maybe another fifty acclimatizing farther up the mountain."
Most of them must have been in their tents trying to stay warm because there weren't too many people wandering around. I looked at the temperature on my watch: fourteen degrees. According to the wind gauge (the watch Josh gave me did everything), the wind was blowing ten miles an hour, which brought the temperature down to three degrees above zero.
Josh looked me over. "You breathing okay? Any problems on the way up?"
Both were good questions considering this was only the second time I'd been this high on a mountain. The summer before I had almost made it to the top of Mount McKinley in Alaska. We were at 18,000 feet (2,000 feet short of the summit) when our guide turned us back because of weather.
"I've had a headache the past two days," I said. "But it's going away."
Josh pointed at George, who had returned to his tent and was angrily packing his gear. "My headache's going away, too," he said. "At least one of them."
He looked over at the truck. Sun-jo and the brothers had reappeared and were helping Zopa unload it. "Who's the kid?"
"His name's Sun-jo."
"Is he with Zopa?"
"Yeah."
"Interesting," he said. "Did Zopa tell you he was going to stay at Base Camp for a few days?"
I shook my head. "Like you said, Zopa doesn't talk much."
"Yeah ... Well, he's up to something."
"Like what?"
Josh smiled. "He'll let us know when he's ready. Let's head over to Peak Experience headquarters. I'll introduce you to the Base Camp crew."
"Peak Experience?"
"I didn't name it after you exactly," Josh admitted. "But I probably should have."
"What are you talking about?"
"Peak Experience is my adventure travel company. We started it last year. Almost wish I hadn't now."
I followed him to a giant orange tent with peak experience tagged on the sides. The A in Peak looked like a mountain. He pulled back the flap and waved me through.
Inside were several people and more electronic equipment than I had ever seen in a tent at 18,000 feet (or any tent, for that matter): laptops, satellite phones, two-way radios, fax machines, television monitors, and other gizmos.
The crew was so busy talking on phones, listening to radios,
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