The Tower of Mount Everest

Sam Snyder, Lattimer, and Jose are standing on a rise just above the city that has recently been built 12 miles from Mount Everest base camp. It has been named after the one entrepreneur chiefly responsible for obtaining the necessary funding for its creation, Snyderville. It has been five years since the initial ground breaking ceremonies. Any ordinary construction project would have been completed a long time ago, but this is no ordinary project, not at over 16,000 feet on a plain that is higher than most of the major non-Himalayan peaks in the world! Transportation to the site had to be completed before the factory could be built and only after this could the city be finished.

Briefly removing his oxygen mask, Snyder exclaims, “I would never have believed it! Just look at it! What a magnificent city! Almost at the base of Mount Everest! Just like you said it would be! Congratulations, my man. If you never do anything else, this has been one hell of a ride, my friend. Pardon my French.” Realizing his mask is off; Snyder quickly puts it over his face to pull in life-giving oxygen.

“I know what you mean,” Lattimer sighs. “It certainly has been that all right.”

Jose interjects, “So what are we gonna do about the tram, boss?”

Snyder quickly lowers his mask and asks, “What about the tram?”

“Oh it’s nothing,” Lattimer replies, “just some logistics problems. Nothing for you to worry about.” Lattimer shoots an accusing look at Jose who promptly clams up.

Snyder yawns, puts his mask back on, stretches his arms and walks down toward a limousine that will take him to the nearest airlock in the city. “It’s time to get some supper and call it a day,” he mumbles through the mask. “Why don’t you and Jose call it a day too? Too much work can addle your brain. I should know.”

Jose begins to walk towards the limo but Jeff grabs his arm abruptly, stopping him in his tracks.

“You go on,” Lattimer says to Snyder. “Jose and I will be along shortly in the jeep. We have a few more things we need to wrap up.”

“OK, suit yourself,” Snyder says, waving his hand as he enters the limo. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, bright and early.”

“We’ll be there,” Lattimer says, smiling and waving.

Jose manages to elicit a smile and waves as well. After the limo pulls away, Jose looks up at Lattimer, worried. “What’s the matter boss, did I say something wrong?”

Lattimer puts his hands on his hips, then, tilts his head and brushes the back of it, “Let’s just say that sleeping dogs should remain that way, ok?”

“Ok, boss,” Jose, responds. “Whatever you say.”

Sam Snyder is well noted for his gift of hyperbole, always the consummate salesman. However, no hyperbole is needed today. The city that Lattimer has built in the middle of this desolate Tibetan plain, nestled in a valley between the brown foothills of Everest speaks for itself. It is nothing short of a modern miracle. Snyderville resembles a space station on earth, a “tube city” made of grayish-black alloy composite and completely pressurized to simulate a more tolerable 5,000-foot elevation. True to his word, Lattimer has indeed developed an ingenious method of using the natural resources around the area to create the alloy composite on site. Two of the main raw ingredients for this material have been mined right out of the Tibetan hills, oil shale and limestone. Carbon dust, another ingredient, is generated from the destructive distillation of wood from trees and brush harvested at much lower altitudes in China and neighboring Nepal. Other more exotic ingredients are flown in from Los Angeles to Chengdu, China and finally to Llhasa where they are shipped by rail to Snyderville for compounding. When properly cured, alloy composite can be used to generate limitless sizes and shapes of waterproof and pressure-proof tubes that are tougher and more durable than the rock used to create them! The material can also be used as an insulating liner within the mountain to seal up excavated tunnels.

The perimeter of the city is a giant square, 1000 feet across, in a valley six miles north of the Rongbuk Monastery. The city is composed of five major concentric square “rings” of 25-foot diameter cylindrical tubes and two, 10-foot diameter minor rings, sandwiched in-between the major rings. The tubes are partitioned into self-contained sections with emergency airlocks so they can be isolated from one another in case of an air leak. There is a large hub 50 feet high with a diameter of 500 feet in the center of the city that provides a Disney World-like area where people can walk about in a less restricted fashion. It is covered by a slightly rounded ceiling, interlaced with clear acrylic domes that let in natural lighting. Four, 25-foot diameter tubular “spokes” radiate out from the hub and connect with the center of each of the concentric square rings. Snyder will get a private tour of the entire complex tomorrow. The next day, it will be officially opened to the public.

The next morning, Snyder is awakened by soft, pleasant, exotic door chimes resonating throughout his apartment. He bounces up in bed, scratches his head, yawns, ambles over to an intercom button located on his bedroom wall, and presses it.

“Snyder here, is that you Jeff?”

“It’s Jose, Mr. Snyder. Dr. Lattimer has a shuttle car waiting to take you to breakfast”

“Do you guys want to save some time and just have breakfast in my apartment, Jose? There’s a fully stocked kitchen in here, you know.”

“We know, Mr. Snyder, but we want to show you our new dining facility. It’s really something!”

“It will take me a little while to get cleaned up. Why don’t you and Dr. Lattimer come on in and make yourself at home?”

Jose hesitates, then, responds. “Ok, I’ll tell Dr. Lattimer. Give me just a minute.” Jose walks back through a rather nondescript rectangular, 10 foot-high, five-foot long passageway that looks like a typical conventional hallway and enters a long 10-foot high rectangular hallway perpendicular to the short hallway. Lattimer is perched in a small electric car about 10 feet down the passageway.

“Where’s Sam?” he asks.

“He said to tell you he’ll be a little while and to come on in and make ourselves comfortable.”

“I told him we would be here at 8:00 A.M. sharp!” Lattimer says a little irritated.

“Oh well, what can I say,” shrugs Jose, “He’s the boss.”

Lattimer hops out of the car, approaches Jose, and pats him on the shoulder.

“Come on Jose, let’s get this show on the road.” They trot up the short entranceway to the apartment.

“Swipe us in, Jose! “ He uses a universal swipe card to gain access to the apartment.

“I’ll be down in a minute”, yells Snyder as they walk in.

“Take your time”, responds Lattimer.

Lattimer mills aimlessly around the apartment with his hands in his back pockets, as if he were seeing it for the very first time. Jose, arms folded, stands propped up against the doorway. The apartment is well worth looking over again. Contained within a 25-foot long section of alloy composite tubing 25 feet in diameter, it is enclosed by rectangular sections of painted “drywall” composed of alloy composite 15 feet high, 25 feet long, and 20 feet deep. This area is divided up into four rooms, seven and one-half feet high. The two upper rooms include the bedroom, which is 12 feet wide and an eight-foot wide full bathroom with a separate hot tub. In a corner near the back of the living room is a hydraulic two-foot diameter platform flush to the floor surrounding a central bronze hand pole that connects to another platform flush to the ceiling. Waist-high, solid brass, semicircular handrails with locking swing gates surround both platforms. The lower platform lifts the occupant from the living room to the upper bedroom and becomes part of the upper floor as the upper platform becomes flush to the bedroom ceiling. The lower rooms include a 12-foot wide living room area (under the bedroom) and an eight-foot wide kitchen with a half bath. A stereo system can pipe music into any room at the touch of a button. The spacious walls are lined with expensive paintings. Exquisite handcrafted furniture and accessories are located in every room.

A whirring sound catches Lattimer’s attention. He turns around quickly, just in time to see Sam Snyder all decked out coming down the pole elevator as if he was James Bond himself. The platform merges with the floor and Snyder steps away from the pole, opening the gate with his usual cocky flair. He uses a double “thumbs up” salute to indicate his approval.

“Nice touch, my man, very nice touch. First class all the way!”

“Only the best for you, Mr. Snyder” says Lattimer chuckling. Jose, grinning, shakes his head, feigning disgust.

Snyder brushes his hands together. “Well, lets get going. I’m hungry enough to eat a bear!”

Jose waves his hand toward the entrance, inviting Snyder to be the first to exit the premises. Suddenly Lattimer remembers something.

“Hold up just a minute, Sam!” Snyder stops and turns around, confused. “Have you seen the wallpaper, yet?”

Snyder responds. “Yeah, it’s really cool how it seems to actually glow. It really gives off light, doesn’t it? Really nice touch!”

Jose grins and shakes his head, knowing full well what is about to happen.

“It does a lot more than that”, says Lattimer grinning. “Watch this!” He pushes a button on a wall console. As if by magic, the wallpaper in the living room changes from a pastel green to a blue. Snyder is dumbfounded. “Now watch this!” Lattimer pushes another button and a TV image, complete with sound, appears on a section of the wall. He rubs his finger over a flat section of the console to move the image wherever he wants it on the wall. Then, he creates two different images. He wraps everything up by turning the “wallpaper” into a psychedelic piece of moving art and finally back to where it was.

Snyder, slack jawed, is speechless. He cannot believe what he just saw. “How on earth did you just do that?” he asks incredulously.

“The wallpaper is actually a rolled on computer screen, Sam”, says Lattimer. “Anything you can do on a computer, you can do with this wallpaper.”

“Amazing”, whispers Snyder. “Geez, Louise, you have these apartments so decked out nobody will even bother to come out!”

“Oh they’ll come out, all right”, says Lattimer. “This is only the beginning.”

The men leave the apartment, hop into the electric shuttle, and travel down the long 25-foot diameter tube connecting the apartments to the central hub. Except for the outer ring, every tube used for housing or travel contains a hollow rectangular interior to simulate a more natural architectural environment. They contain floors made of alloy composite supported by struts for additional support. The walls and ceiling contain two inch by four-inch alloy composite joists covered with painted “drywall” composed of alloy composite. A six-inch high, three-inch wide alloy composite curb protects the walls from vehicular damage (as if any protection were actually necessary). All plumbing and electrical conduit are hidden underneath the drywall or floor and they too are composed of alloy composite. By increasing the carbon content, alloy composite can even be used to make the main electrical cables used at Snyderville!

As they enter the cavernous, 500-foot diameter hub, Snyder is completely taken back by what lies before him. The inner circumference of the huge central hub houses mall stores that form a ring around the entire structure 50 feet in depth and 50 feet high, leaving a 400-foot diameter open space for amusement rides, open air vendors and entertainment. The ring is divided up into five levels roughly 10 feet high containing sectors of various sizes, depending upon the square footage required for that store. Stairwells, escalators, and elevators, penetrate the levels at strategic points allowing traffic to flow back and forth between all levels and the hub atrium. If things proceed as planned, an additional ring of stores may be added next to the older ones with a walkway between them, reducing the atrium down to a 300-foot diameter. Once inside the hub, their voices becomes greatly amplified, resonating throughout the entire structure in a maddening cacophony of overlapping sounds.

Snyder becomes agitated, “How the hell is anybody suppose to be able to hear anything in here?” he shouts.

“Don’t worry, Sam”, says Lattimer. “We’ll get this place sound-proofed just as quickly as possible. The pavilion where you’ll be speaking tomorrow will be surrounded by dampening walls, so everybody should be able to hear you just fine.”

Snyder covering his ears with his hands, “I hope so.”

The men dismount and enter an incredibly fancy restaurant that butts up against the inner wall of the hub. They have a lavish meal and then sit back, listening to the soft melodic sounds of a singer accompanied by a pianist on a stage in front of them. “I can’t believe I’m having breakfast while listening to a classy singer”, says Snyder. He looks over at Lattimer, rubbing his chin. “Are you sure people will ever want to leave this place? I’m getting way too comfortable in here!”

“That’s just the point”, says Lattimer. “Comfort and entertainment, do it right, and people will never want to leave.”

Snyder shakes his head slightly in tacit agreement as he takes it all in. Reluctantly, they leave the restaurant and begin traveling toward the outermost ring of the city. The ride is eerily quiet until they pass a group of workers engaged in some final touch-up work.

Grinning, Jose shouts a coarse greeting to them, “Hey gringos, quit playing around and get back to work!”

One of them shouts back, “Takes one to know one, Jose!”

Lattimer shakes his head, trying hard not to smile. “I tell you Sam, I don’t think I’ll ever get this guy house-trained.” Snyder just chuckles to himself, after all, he’s not exactly house-trained himself. They enter the outer ring and turn left into the only major tube with no rectangular interior, only a floor. The outer walls facing the valley and hills are dotted with acrylic portholes for viewing the formidable landscape. Lattimer continues with his narration, “As you know, three of the four adjoining sides in the outer ring have airlocks for employee exit to the outside of the city. This fourth side, which faces the center of the valley, is parallel to the train track which brought you here from Llhasa.”

“Let me guess”, says Snyder. “You said the train and track are also made up of alloy composite.”

“Almost”, says Lattimer. “The passenger cars are actually converted flat bed rail cars designed to hold tubes of alloy composite much like a tanker car holds a tank.”

“They sure don’t look like tanks from the inside!” quips Snyder. This is one of those rare instances in which Snyder has actually made a gross understatement. From the outside, the passenger cars do resemble “dandified” tanker cars with portholes and a central airlock, but on the inside, any resemblance to a tanker car is quickly dispelled. Each pressurized tube has been fitted with a rectangular interior capable of holding up to 60 people with elegant, spacious, and luxurious surroundings.

Lattimer continues, “There are ten equidistant, 10-foot diameter tubes perpendicular to this side that serve as airlocks, one per passenger car. Each is five feet in length with a rectangular interior. Right now, only five of them are being used, the remaining airlocks will be available for future use as the train is upgraded with additional cars. The only parts of the train that have no alloy composite are the twin diesel locomotives located at opposite ends of the train which face in opposite directions. One locomotive pulls the train south to Snyderville or up to the tram depot at old Everest base camp while the other one pulls it back north to Snyderville or Llhasa.”

Snyder speaks up, “Did you ever figure out how many paying customers you can cram into this thing?”

“The first three major rings are reserved for the guests, Sam,” says Lattimer, “one individually pressurized apartment per 25-foot section of tubing for a total of 300 units. Two hundred of these units have been converted into duplexes with each side having its own private entrance and hydraulic lift. We had to strike a balance between the number of customers we can handle without detracting from the experience. We don’t want to appear like a cut-rate motel now do we, Sam?”

“Well, what about the fourth ring and the one we’re in now?” asks Snyder. “Can’t you put some customers in there?”

“The fourth ring is used for employee accommodations, general storage, maintenance and operations. Putting guests into this mix would be like placing them in the steerage compartment in the Titanic. Not very classy. The outer ring is also designed for maintaining the needs of the city, including operating the physical plant, the water recycling plant, and a small hospital. It’s a common transport area used by everyone to go to and from their respective destinations.”

“That’s all well and good, Jeff, but somehow, somebody has to pay for all of this stuff!”

“Don’t be too short-sighted, Sam. We have other cities to build that will be equal in size and scope to Snyderville.”

“Yeah, and they’re gonna be even harder and more expensive to build than this one!” snaps Snyder.

“So, we charge a premium for the rooms up there. It’s as simple as that, Sam.”

Snyder shakes his head and murmurs. It seems as if Lattimer has an answer for everything. Lattimer continues with the tour, stopping to show Snyder the hospital, the recycling plant, and the physical plant. Just when Snyder begins to think the tour will never end, Lattimer begins wrapping up, “The water supply for the city comes from a large enclosed hub of alloy composite, 100 feet in diameter and 100 feet in depth, buried halfway on top of one of the foothills adjacent to Snyderville. Wastewater is allowed to run by gravity flow into another huge hub, buried 50 feet down into the valley, out of sight, just north of the city. This water is treated and recycled back into the water tank on top of the hill.” Lattimer stops the shuttle to take a breather. “Any more questions, Sam?”

Snyder’s brain is in overdrive, desperately scrambling to keep up. “This is almost overwhelming! Questions? At this point, I wouldn’t know where to even begin to ask! This city you’ve built, Jeff, it’s unprecedented! It’s unlike anything ever built before by man.”

“Yes”, says Lattimer, “and it’s only the beginning.”

The next day, a ribbon cutting ceremony is held in the grand atrium of the city. A multitude of VIPs and reporters are on hand to witness and take part in this once-in-a -lifetime historic event, including the President of the United States, the President of China, the King of Nepal and an endless list of other foreign dignitaries and celebrities. The speeches and photo ops seem to go on forever. However, this is exactly what Snyder and Lattimer had in mind, publicity for the project to attract the additional financing absolutely essential for the continuation of the remaining phases of the project. Snyder is good at this sort of thing. Very good. So good in fact, that he not only received permission from the Chinese to initiate the project on their side of the Himalayas, he also convinced them to provide financial assistance as well!

“Where is Johnson?” Snyder whispers to Lattimer as he gazes from his seat on the podium into the teeming crowd below.

“I think he said something about a sinus attack,” Lattimer whispers back.

“Well, he better get his act together!” Snyder says, still smiling at the crowd. “We can’t have any dissension in the ranks at this point. Very bad for business.”

“I think he knows something, Sam,” Lattimer returns.

“How could he know?” Snyder says under his breath.

“I don’t know, but I get the feeling he does.”

Snyder pauses for a moment, “I guess we’re gonna have to make our move a little faster than I expected. We can’t have Johnson turning into a loose cannon on us.”

“I know,” Lattimer responds, “I know.”

Jose is at the third tram tower site on the western slope of Changtse, the more diminutive sister of Mount Everest, 15-16 miles away from the festivities at the city.

“What’s the matter with you gringos anyway?” Jose says loudly. “Don’t you know how to blow a little hole in the ground? Come on, get with it, we are already too far behind schedule on this!” The men down below shake their heads slightly and continue working. The onsite foreman works his way up the rock rubble to talk with Jose.

“Listen Jose, I know Mr. Snyder doesn’t like excuses, but we have to be careful how we blow this stuff out of here. We’re right on the edge of a glacier, and that means a witch’s brew of rock and ice all mixed together. If we’re not real careful, we could wind up building this tram tower right on top of a moving block of ice.”

Looking at the man sternly Jose replies, “So what are you trying to tell me man? That we can’t build this tower? You want me to go back to Mr. Snyder and tell him that?”

The man drops his head and shrugs, “No, only that we need to be a little more careful, that’s all.”

“Well, you do that,” Jose retorts, “you be careful. But you get this tower built, and you do it now, GOT IT?” Jose turns around, gets into his jeep and roars off the site. The foreman, disgusted, watches him leave as two workers climb their way up the rubble beside him.

“Who does that lettuce-picking S.O.B. think he is anyway?” the foreman mutters.

“Hey John,” one of the workers says to him, “it’s really soggy down there. We might want to start looking for another site.”

“If there is another site,” the foreman mutters with disdain.

Back at the festivities, Snyder is on a roll. He has the VIPs virtually in the palm of his hand as he continues waxing eloquently about the shining future of Snyderville and the Everest project.

“And in closing, ladies and gentleman, let me just say this, if it weren’t for the fortitude, bravery, skill, and ingenuity of all the amazing men and women who labor so tirelessly, day after day on this incredibly mammoth project, none of this would ever have seen the light of day.” He hesitates, to make his next point… “Even as I speak, the tram towers that will soon take you to the very bowels of Mount Everest herself are being put into place!” With that, Snyder concludes his speech and steps away from the podium. The applause is instant, furious and unyielding. He returns to the podium and takes a slight bow. The crowd roars its approval, providing him with a unanimous standing ovation. For Snyder, it just doesn’t get any better than this.

...Three days after the party...

“What do you mean the tram site has to be moved?” Snyder yells into the phone on his desk.

On the other end, Lattimer and Jose are jolted in their seats as the sound generates feedback into the speakerphone.

“Calm down Sam,” Lattimer responds soothingly. “It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

“What do you mean it’s not bad? Of course it’s bad!” Snyder responds harshly.

Lattimer looks at Jose with concern and whispers, “Tell him exactly what you told me, Jose.”

Jose leans gingerly toward the phone. “Mr. Snyder... Mr. Snyder can you hear me? This is Jose...”

“Jose!” Snyder interrupts, “What the hell is this all about anyway, don’t you get paid enough already? What’s going up there?”

“Mr. Snyder,” Jose says in a calm collected voice, “there’s a problem with the ground support for the tram moorings. There’s too much ice and water down there, it’s a glacier, you know.”

Snyder responds, “what the... Lattimer! Didn’t you have all this checked out beforehand?!”

“Sam, listen to me for a minute, please,” Lattimer pleads. “Just calm down and I’ll explain everything. The satellite pictures were not able to resolve every rock and glacier interface at the level required for construction. The only way to determine local subsurface stability is to take core samples and blast holes to see how the subsurface responds. We’ll get the tram built, Sam. It will take more time to do it but it will happen. Don’t worry about the schedule so much. I never heard of a schedule that was on time for any major project since the history of civilization anyway.”

“Oh, that’s just great, Lattimer!” Snyder snorts. “Really great! Do you have any concept of just how difficult it is to hold together this amalgamation of investors and governments I’ve somehow managed to throw together here?”

“Uh, no,” Lattimer says blankly.

“Well it’s just damn near impossible, that’s what. Even for me! If we don’t get this project back on track and on schedule, guess what’s gonna happen?” Lattimer is silent. “Well, I’ll tell what will happen, my friend. This whole coalition is gonna unravel so fast it will make your substratum or whatever you call it seem as stable as reinforced concrete by comparison! Now no more excuses, just get it done!” Lattimer and Jose wince again as they hear the receiver slam down against the body of the phone.