Adventures of the Romeo Gang - "Secrets of the Rune Stones"

Adventures of the Romeo Gang
"Secrets of the Rune Stones"
© April 2010 by Mark Ryan








Disclaimer: The following short stories are purely fiction. All names, places and events are coincidental and are only used to embellish the story.


Secrets of the Rune Stones by Mark Ryan
It was May 2010 and the Romeos decided to take the “Downeaster” train to Portland, ME for the day. After, we planned to tour the Portland Historic District along the harbor, have lunch and then return to Boston on the evening train. The Romeos (Retired Old Men Eating Out) are retired school teachers who meet each month for lunch, camaraderie and laughs. Being senior citizens we could also get a discount on the train fare and it is certainly more comfortable than driving in several cars and then parking in the city.

You can get the train in Boston at North Station but it is more convenient to get it in Woburn, MA at the Anderson Transportation Center a few miles north of Boston. You can park your car there for the day at a cost of only $4.00. Besides the train station is right off Rte 93 and you don’t have to worry about all that Boston traffic.

To plan the trip, you can get all the information online, make a reservation and actually buy the round trip ticket in advance. The train trip takes 2 hr and 7 min from Woburn to Portland and with a 50 % senior discount, only costs $21.70 round trip. We would catch the 9:23 AM train in Woburn and then take the return train home from Portland at 7:55 PM that evening.

There were eight Romeos who decided to take the train trip and they were Marco Greico, Jim Terluccio, Joe Pignato, Steve Wise, Joe Laprusso, Joe Loduccio, Ed Descharo and Joe Balsaro. We all met at the Woburn station at 9:00 AM and boarded the train on time. Taking our seats near the window we talked about our plans for the day and watched the landscape go by. Although we passed through several towns and neighborhoods along the way, we also saw some wooded areas and the ocean before arriving in Portland.

To pass the time Joe Laprusso told the group about a project that was being sponsored by the University of Massachusetts and the STEM institute (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). We all worked part-time for STEM as science educators and sometimes participated in some of their field programs. The latest program that Joe talked about was a Polar Expedition to Greenland. The expedition had to do with the IPY (International Polar Year) and the effects of “Global Warming” on the Greenland Glacier. It really sounded exciting but we needed to find out all the details. As Joe filled us in, I looked out the train window and watched the trees flash by, one by one, and dosed off a few times. ?????????????????????

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The fourth (IPY) International Polar Year ran from March 2008 to March 2009. During that year, scientists around the globe were entrenched in the study of climate changes occurring in the north and south poles. Subsequently, these studies have revealed that the polar ice caps are indeed melting and affecting global climate, local weather, ocean currents and the delicate balance of life in many worldwide ecosystems. Even though the 4th IPY is officially over, scientists continue to work on these projects and make new discoveries every day.

Although there are many contributing factors effecting Global Warming, many scientists believe that carbon emissions are a primary cause for the melting of the polar glaciers and has contributed to a rise in ocean levels. Scientists predict that if left unchecked, seacoast cities and towns will soon be lost to the ocean in future years.
Other scientists claim that the world wide climate changes have occurred many times before through out the millennia. They claim these changes are natural and are due to cyclic shifts in weather patterns. Some scientists believe that these patterns have occurred regularly every few hundred years. One theory is that there is an 800 year pattern that has contributed to drastic climate changes over large continents such as the growth and the melting of the Greenland Glacier and Ice Cap around 1000 AD.

Another theory has to do with the wobble of the earth’s axis. It has been calculated that the wobble takes 26, 000 years to complete its full circle. During this period, the earth’s poles tilt closer and then further away from the sun which would lead to dramatic world wide temperature fluctuations.

Lastly, some scientist have blamed the last ice age, which occurred in North America 12,000 years ago, on a giant meteor hitting the earth and spreading ash around the globe. This ash blocked out the sun and lasted for many years, dropping the earth temperature and killing most vegetation and animal life.

The recent increase in extreme natural events like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, heavy rains and floods and the melting arctic ice has sparked the need for more in-depth study by nations world-wide. Although some of these events have occurred in non populated areas, others have been closer to home and have caused millions of dollars in damage to urban areas and hundreds of thousands of human lives. The earthquakes in Haiti and Tibet and the volcanic eruptions in Iceland and the flooding across the United States are just but a few examples.

Consequently, climate change studies are essential to protecting human life and require all nations to participate. As a result, last year the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Institute from the University of Massachusetts had the opportunity to participate in an arctic expedition to Greenland. In addition, STEM would partner with National Geographic to produce an educational video series about Greenland and its natural environment.

The multi-national expedition would involve 115 scientists from seven countries including China, Russia, Canada, Norway, Finland, Iceland and the United States. It was a short 30 day trip sponsored by the Chinese National Bureau of Oceanography. Scientists would travel on the icebreaker named the “Snow Dragon” and use it as their base and laboratory, anchored off the coast of Greenland.

Although scientists are primarily interested in studying the causes of the global warming problem, world leaders are concerned more with the strategic interests in an ice-free Arctic Ocean. Estimates about when the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free during the summer months vary greatly, from 2013 to 2060. An ice-free arctic would involve strategic concerns about international defense, international shipping routes, and use of untapped mineral and energy resources.

In 2008 the five littoral states bordering the arctic including Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia, and the United States formed a legal framework for the Arctic and the orderly settlement of possible overlapping claims and jurisdictions. Despite this legal agreement, the evolving situation in the Arctic could potentially lead to disputes and political friction with non-littoral states including China and other European nations. Recently China has taken an active stance in the affairs of Greenland as well as exerting control over world-wide financial markets. This has set off alarms and some panic for all of the arctic nations.

Although Greenland is governed internationally by Denmark, it still has the authority for self government on local issues and has thus granted permission for these arctic research expeditions to take place within its borders. However, all discoveries of natural resources and archeological finds would belong to Greenland/Denmark and any use or licensing of these discoveries would be at Greenland’s discretion.

STEM scientist from the Archeology Department of the University of Massachusetts had previously worked in Greenland on archeological excavations and needed a crew of experienced workers to help on the new project and assist with developing an educational program. The educational program would be used to inform school children and the general public about the Arctic Crisis.

As soon as the STEM office requested volunteers from the university students and employees for the arctic expedition, several of the Romeo Gang jumped at the chance. They were science educators and good data collectors with many years of experience in scientific field studies. In the past they had participated in field projects that took them to the jungles of the Amazon, the desserts of Egypt and the mountains of Peru.

Although the ROMEO Gang (Retired Old Men Eating Out) casually met for lunch each month for camaraderie and laughs, they were also serious about their professions in science education. Fortunately, since they only worked part-time for STEM they could take the time off from their regular duties for this important science expedition. Besides it would be an adventure and fun.

Four Romeos were selected to participate in the STEM expedition. They were Jim Terluccio, Joe Pignato, Joe Laprusso and me, Marco Greico. Other Romeos would work at the UMass campus in Boston and monitor the Arctic group through satellite communication. The Boston Romeos were Ed Descharo, Joe Balsaro, Joe Loduccio and Steve Wise.

In addition to the Romeos, 30 scientists from the United States, including their crews, would participate in the expedition and they would meet in Boston to take a charter flight to Nuuk International Airport, Greenland. Nuuk is located on the south western tip of Greenland.

All of the STEM expedition equipment, including scientific materials, clothing and food were being provided and organized by the University of Massachusetts, Archeology Department. They had handled previous trips and were very efficient with all the details. Once at Nuuk, they would transfer to the Chinese Icebreaker, the “Snow Dragon” for their voyage up the fjords to study the Greenland glacier and its environs.

When they got to Greenland, half of the scientists would collect data from the ice cap in the north and the other half from the permafrost in the south. In geology, the permafrost is the soil that is at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years. Sometimes there is an active living layer on top of the permafrost that is heated by the sun and supports the growth of microscopic plant and animal life. This gives a green hue to the landscape along the rocky coastline.

After all the gear was loaded aboard the icebreaker, we left Nuuk Harbor and traveled up the Arsuk Fjord to our first stop at Narsuaq Harbor. The southern crew would get off here and travel by truck to the excavation sites and the northern crew would continue up the fjord to its end where the glacier spilled into brackish ocean water. Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.

Standing at the ship’s railing on the Snow Dragon, I yelled to Jim, “Look over there at those two big bergs.” “Wow, one is all white filled with air bubbles and the other is clear as glass”, replied Jim. Joe then yelled over the roar of the ship’s engine and the splashing water against the hull, “It’s amazing how huge the icebergs look even though most of it is hidden underwater”. As I looked up, there were sea birds flying overhead searching for fish to eat that might swim near the surface or cast over board by nearby fishing vessels. Jim identified the birds as the Gannet Seabird which can spot fish from a 100 ft. up and dive into the water capturing its meal.

As the icebreaker cut through the water there were large chunks of ice floating all around. Nearer to the sides of the fjord you could see a few polar bears on the ice sheets moving along with the current and then swiftly diving into the icy water in search of food.

Slowly moving into Narsuaq Harbor you could see fishing boats of all sizes, shapes and colors. On land there were colorful buildings with wood and metal siding and larger buildings constructed of brick and cement. There were paved streets and people and cars all enclosed within the village boundaries. However, within a few miles you could see open flat land with grass, farms and grazing sheep. Further in the distance there was the barren icy landscape of the glacial edge.

Although 85% of Greenland is covered with a white glacial snow and ice, most of the edges near the ocean are free of snow exposing jagged rock or flat earth with some green grass, low vegetation and small trees. The southern tip of Greenland had the most vegetation and for this reason early settlers called it “Greenland”.

In fact there are about 56,000 people living on Greenland today in 13 major towns scattered around its edges. Although the primary commerce involves fishing, people hold similar jobs that you would see in many small towns. In addition there are 14 airports, 50 heliports and the US Air Force Base, Thule.

After docking at Narsuaq Harbor, we met our local guide, “Eko” and traveled north in four wheeled drive trucks. In about 10 miles we passed some farm land and then saw some stone huts scattered throughout the landscape near the edge of the glacier. Eko told us that these stone huts were over a thousand years old and had been discovered in previous excavations during the 1990s. In recent years, the receding glacier had exposed more solid earth as it melted and made it easier to find these old dwellings buried and preserved under the glacial sand.

Early archeologists dug through the permafrost and glacial sand that filled the stone houses looking for evidence of ancient civilizations. The sand had filled all the rooms of the stone huts blown in by the relentless wind. Sifting through the sand, they discovered ancient Viking artifacts including an iron knife, weapons, farm tools, soapstone vessels, and even fragments of a loom and woven cloth. Carbon dating later revealed that the huts and artifacts were indeed from around 1000 AD.

We stopped our trucks near one of the previous excavation sites and unloaded some equipment to setup camp. For the next month we would live in tents and cook our meals out in the open. Luckily it was the summer season in Greenland and the temperatures fluctuated from plus 40 degrees Fahrenheit during the day to plus 20 at night. Hopefully our new arctic clothing would keep us warm.

Nearby, one of the technicians setup a communications tent with a satellite dish. This would allow us to keep in touch with the group at Umass Boston. The satellite was connected to a computer and we immediately had a direct video link. Joe Balsaro was on the computer at the Boston end and Jim Terluccio at the Greenland end. Joe said that he had been busy with the others gathering relevant info about the history of Greenland and the previous dig findings which he would send us as a text file to read later. However, he said that there were a few interesting highlights that he could share with us verbally.

He first told us about the archeological findings on a previous dig near our present location.
Joe said, “At this dig there were some skeletal remains found next to a hut thought to be a church. The skeletons were that of two men and a woman. After considerable study, archeologists speculate these skeletons were those of Eric the Red and his wife Thjodhilde and their famous son Leif Ericson. The skeletons are now kept at the Denmark National Museum”.

Jim turned to the rest of us standing there with an astonished look of surprise. Although we knew the previous excavations were important we hadn’t known to what extent. Jim then replied, “Joe that is unbelievable”. “Are they sure about this?” Joe said that DNA evidence and related Carbon dating of the bones and associated artifacts confirm the finding”.

Joe then went on to tell the brief history of how Leif Ericson got to be here on Greenland.
Joe said, “Nordic history tells us that Greenland was discovered by Eric the Red who was the father of Leif Ericson around 1000 AD. As the story goes, Leif’s grandfather Thorwald lived in Norway and belonged to a family of nobility. He was a Viking seafarer and boldly sailed the oceans in an open broad beamed boat powered by 16 oarsmen and one square sail. However, during a fighting contest he accidently killed a man and was forced into exile. During those days, Nordic law declared that if you killed a person you would be punished and exiled from your homeland for three years. Afraid for his family, he fled to Iceland with a group of his friends and his wife and son, Eric the Red”.

“Eric the Red got his name from his red hair and beard and when he grew up learned to be an excellent sailor like his father. On one of his ocean voyages he sailed west from Iceland and discovered a large land mass with green vegetation and called it Greenland. When he returned to Iceland, he described this new green land and encouraged others to follow him there and set up a colony”.

“After a while, Eric the Red got married on Greenland and had three sons, one of whom was the famous Leif Ericson. While Leif was growing up he heard an uncle talk about another land off to the south west from Greenland which was lush with tall trees that grew down to the shore line. When he was old enough, Leif bought his uncle’s ship with maps and descriptions of the new land and set off to find it”.

“After several months of fighting storms and fog in the North Atlantic he finally discovered the land described by his uncle and went ashore to explore. He found the harbors to be teaming with fish and on shore the land grew tall trees and had meadows with vast fields of grape vines. Because of the grapes he called this new land “Vinland”. Thus he is given partial credit for discovering North America before Columbus. He had discovered the shores of North America, Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador. Returning to Greenland he told of his discoveries and encouraged others to follow”.

“As the news spread to Greenland, Iceland and Norway other Vikings followed and traveled to the shores of Vinland setting up colonies from Labrador to Massachusetts. Although they brought with them some farm animals, they also learned to grow native crops and fish and hunt and survive in this new land”.

When Joe had finished the story we were all surprised and also excited to be involved with the present expedition. We even dreamed that we might make additional discoveries and add to the historical findings. Jim then said, “OK Joe that was a great story and sure gives all of us inspiration and honor to be part of this great trip. We are going to sign off for now and get back to you tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM EST and contact you every day at that time. You can upload text messages anytime and we will read them as needed”. At that, we clicked off the satellite link and joined the others for a meeting with the head archeologist.

After setting up camp and the satellite link, the head archeologist Dr. Charles Baker gave us instruction and digging tools and showed us what to look for as we dug around some of the stone huts. It was slow work because you could only remove small amounts of glacial sand or permafrost and then sift it through screening to expose the smallest items and details.

In addition to the excavation, some of the members of each crew was assigned to take weather and climate data. They would also dig soil cores through the permafrost to determine changes over time as the soil layers were built up. The soil would later be analyzed back at the ship and also back home at he university labs. The analysis would look for geologic evidence as well as microscopic plant and animal life. A mini weather station was also set up to record weather conditions such as wind, temperature humidity and air pressure. The weather station would be permanently left at the site and was powered by a nuclear battery to last almost forever. The weather station would send data wirelessly to a synchronous satellite stationed over the North Pole.

The other team sent further north up the Arsuk Fjord would also set up mini weather stations. In addition they would mark the leading edge of the glacier boundaries with GPS coordinates and laser survey equipment. These benchmarks would later be used to track the movement of the glacier over time and determine how fast it was melting and receding north.

Back at the excavation, we began digging around the stone huts and in a short time found new artifacts. Joe Laprusso was first to find a crude scale with chains for weighing goods. The chain was made of Bronze and the pivot made of Iron. This was consistent with the Viking settlement on Greenland, since they lived during the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age and used these metals in their daily lives.

The text file left by Joe Balsaro in the recent satellite link further explained the use of metal tools by the early Viking settlers. Joe’s Text File read the following: “The early Celtic civilization in the first century BC learned to make a bronze alloy with copper and ten percent tin which was mined in Britain. The alloy was much superior to regular copper and valued by other civilizations. Over time, the Celts integrated with other Slavic people where their trade and culture was inherited by Viking sailors in Norway. Subsequently, during the next 1000 years the Viking sailors spread and shared much of their knowledge with other civilizations from the region. Consequently, Viking weapons, tools and jewelry show hints of Celtic and Roman origin. In addition, although Christianity spread through northern Europe, Ireland and Norway, some of the Vikings remained loyal to their Celtic Gods and continued their pagan beliefs”.

Additionally, Joe’s text file described another excavation completed in southern Greenland where ancient farms had been found. They were labeled GUS which stood for “Garden Under Sand”. Evidently the farms were buried by the glacier as it moved south after 1400 AD during a dramatic climate change. As more of the dig was uncovered, tools were found that showed that the area was heavily farmed and had large herds of goats and sheep. In fact animal and garden compost from 1400 AD was dug up in the 1990s and released a pungent odor of animal waste that had been buried for close to a 600 years.

However, artifacts can only be found from the time period between 1000 AD and 1400 AD all buried under glacial sand. It is estimated that the Viking population on Greenland was about 5000 during this period. After that it is like the Viking civilization disappeared. Did a fast moving glacier bury the once green pastures? Where did the Vikings go? Were they attacked by invading warriors from the north? There are no mass grave sites that would show battles with invaders. Did they merge with the northern inhabitants? Did they sail off to greener North America because of the climate change?

Back at the current dig site, Marco Greico sifted through the permafrost and found an ancient astrolabe. This was an instrument used by the Vikings to navigate the oceans by using the celestial positions of the sun and stars. The magnetic compass was not discovered until 1200 AD and so the astrolabe was the primary tool for earlier ocean navigation. Scratches on the astrolabe made from bronze showed angles with the Sun and North Star that would give current latitudes associated with Greenland, Iceland, Norway and North America.

After awhile, Joe Pignato hit a solid object at a dig site he was at. He gently picked around it and eventually unearthed a soap stone drinking vessel. It was probably used to hold wine made from grapes found in Vinland (North America) which the Vikings are known to have discovered.

A short distance away, Joe Laprusso discovered a grave site surrounded by smooth stones the size of large melons. These stones had scratches on the surface that looked like ancient writing. As the stones were uncovered and cleaned, you could also make out drawings scratched along the top. Joe immediately realized that he had discovered something important and called out to Dr. Baker to come over and see what he had found.

On close examination of the stones, Dr. Baker said with excitement that they were “Rune Stones”. He further explained that these stones were used by ancient cultures like the Celts and Vikings to describe important events or to mark the grave sites of important people. The symbols scratched on Joe’s “Rune Stones” were from the runic alphabet used by the Celtics. This alphabet had letters called runes which represented a single letter or sound or event. Although the runic alphabet was similar throughout many Celtic civilizations, there were regional differences where the alphabet contained either 16 or 24 letters.

In modern times, Rune stones have been found all over Europe depicting great events in the Celtic History. The stones have also been found in North America along the east coast and are one of the primary pieces of evidence for proving that Viking and Nordic explorers visited the New England area.

Here in North America, they setup small colonies from 1000 AD to 1400 AD even before Columbus and other Puritan settlers. In fact, a Nordic Rune Stone was found in Hampton, NH in 1902 and is believed to be the final resting place of Thorwald Ericson, brother to the famous Viking explorer Leif Ericson.

These early Viking colonies in North America probably merged and melted into the native Indian culture sharing common skills and knowledge. Some evidence of this is found in the writings of early Puritan settlers who describe seeing the local Indians wearing European type clothing, using Celtic armor and breast plates and sailing along inland rivers in canoes with square sails similar to Viking ocean long boats.

Using his knowledge of the Runic Alphabet, Dr Baker interpreted the writing and the scratched pictured on the Runestone that Joe had found. The etched pictogram on the stone showed an old Viking Boat sailing on rough seas and the runic letters loosely translated that the person buried in the shallow grave was the local Celtic priest or “Druid”. Evidently the Druid priest died at sea during a violent storm and was brought to this Viking village for burial. Dr. Baker further said that the Druids were the spiritual leaders of the Celtics and Vikings and believed that the Gods of Nature controlled the fate of man on earth. Thor was the God of Thunder and ruled all other gods.

Since Joe Laprusso had made such a significant find, Dr. Baker asked the other Romeos to assist him with the excavation of the Druid grave site. The site was a shallow grave with small rocks piled on top. Some larger red sand stones were found on each of the four sides of the burial site. Each had a pictogram and some runic writing.

Red sandstone was the major geologic deposit on Greenland and large slabs of it could be found everywhere. Most of the red stone slabs were used to construct the stone huts for living quarters as well as some larger structures for the Christian church. Although Christianity had converted some of the Viking settlers, many of the men still believed in the Druidic religion.

Dr. Baker said that in previous excavations a Christian church was uncovered as well as a Druidic stone temple similar to Stonehenge as he pointed to the temple stones on a distant hillside. The Stonehenge type structure was composed of vertical monolith slabs of the red sandstone topped with horizontal cross pieces. Just as Stonehenge was oriented to the light of the rising and setting sun so was this structure.

Suddenly we heard the howling of wolves in the distance near the Druid temple. As all eyes looked in that direction we saw a pack of wolves. However, in the bright sunlight the wolves’ appearance changed to what looked like a group of men dressed in ancient fur skins and holding long staffs. Some of the men also had weapons and shields and wore helmets with horns and wings protruding from the tops. As a cloud moved over the sun, the appearance of these men changed back to those of the howling wolves and thunder could be heard in the distance.

We all froze in astonishment at this strange sight. Did we actually see a group of ancient Viking Warriors? Did the wolves change to men and then back again? Were these Druid “Shape Shifters” as legend has described? Did the excavation of the burial site that Joe found cause them to appear and try to ward off intruders? Was this Viking settlement sacred ground? Should we continue the excavation? Were we safe here?

In a short time the sun came back out and the illusion of wolves had disappeared. All seemed to be safe again. Dr. Baker tried to calm everyone’s nerves and said we should continue the excavation but with dignity and honor. We would carefully remove each rock and number it. Photographs would be taken and a diagram of the excavation grid would be drawn. This was all done to carefully preserve the burial site and its artifacts. All would be preserved and nothing destroyed. The grave site would be treated with the highest reverence for Viking beliefs and its unique culture. In addition, we also had an excavation permit from the Greenland government and were not violating any local laws. However, the local Inuit people may not care about any permits when it came to sacred ground.

During the remaining 30 day expedition, we found several more artifacts including knives, whetstones, sandstone vessels, bronze and iron tools, weapons, breast plates, helmets, swords and daggers. However, the most important find was a cloth bag of small rune stones each inscribed with a letter of the runic alphabet. This was an invaluable discovery for deciphering inscriptions found on the larger runic grave stones and head stones.

However, Dr. Baker further explained that the bag of rune stones buried with the Druid priest also confirmed their use as a mystical device for determining one’s fate. Legend has described that the Rune Stones were used like ancient Tarot cards to predict the future. It was the most powerful device used by the Druid priest as they revealed the words and desires of their Gods.

Dr. Baker then demonstrated how the stones would be used to tell the future or predict one’s fate. He opened the bag and cast the rune stones on the ground. The stones randomly scattered like rolling dice with some showing a runic letter facing up and others facing down or to the side. Reading only the stones facing up he saw the up facing runic letters. Although the interpretation of the stones required years of practice, Dr. Baker saw the stones for Clouds, Death, Lightning, Volcano, Ships, Sun and Ice.

On seeing the stones, our expedition guide “Eko” cried with agony and fell to his knees. He covered his face and began praying in an ancient language. Eko was a native Inuit from northern Greenland and was familiar with the use of the rune stones by the elders in his village. As a boy the local “Shaman” would use the stones to help guide the village in making choices regarding life’s demands in a harsh environment.

He later explained that the site of three stones together (Ice, Lightning and Death) always predicted doom and that we all needed to be very careful and watch for a local catastrophic event. He then said that the appearance of lights in the night sky would confirm the coming
danger. After dinner that evening we were all struck with what we saw in the clear night sky; a beautiful display of the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). Was this a sign of future doom, as Eko had predicted? Southern Greenland does have night and day during the summer months, unlike higher latitudes above 80 degrees which are in the land of the “Midnight Sun” (sunlight 24 hours per day).

Although we expected to see the “Shape Shifting” wolves every day, they did not reappear. Perhaps they secretly watched from a distance and learned to trust our pure scientific intensions and knew that we would protect the sanctity of this place; an ancient Viking village preserved in glacial sand so that future civilizations might learn from the artifacts about this great culture.

On the last day of the expedition we loaded all the gear on to the trucks and drove to Narsuaq Harbor, the small fishing village on the coast. Our ship, the Snow Dragon was waiting for us, moored out from the dock. In short order we ferried all our materials out to the ship and set sail south on Arsuk Fjord which would carry us to the open ocean.

However, we would not stop at Nuuk Airport as before. This time, the ship would sail directly to Boston where all the U.S. Scientists would depart. Later the Snow Dragon would dock at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute on Cape Cod and prepare for another expedition with some Marine Biologists back to the Arctic.

As we traveled on board the Snow Dragon from Greenland to Boston, we had the opportunity to meet some of the other scientists and the ship’s crew. They were all friendly and we promised to stay in touch through email and future projects. The more we talked, the more the Chinese scientists realized we shared the same human values and protection of human rights. We were not the villains that the Chinese government planted in the minds of their people.

As we catalogued our archeological finds and showed them to scientist from other countries, a Chinese lab assistant took me aside and said that she was very nervous and uncomfortable about some activities that she saw on the ship while the northern expedition scientists explored the upper part of the Arsuk Fjord.

She then told me what she had seen. Evidently, the ship sailed up and down the Asuuk Fjord very close to the steep glacier walls and at specific distances fired long cylindrical torpedoes into the deep waters. To the casual observer, these torpedoes were just regular data recording buoys.

However, later that night she secretly crept up to the area near the torpedo cannons and got a closer look. The torpedoes had a nuclear symbol painted on the side and a radio antenna sticking out the end. She only imagined that they might be some sort of nuclear bombs that could be detonated by radio signal at sometime in the future. I then told her that I would treat this confidentially and would notify the appropriate authorities as soon as possible.

When we returned to Boston, I immediately contacted my friend Bill Wells at the FBI and told him the story. He said he would take care of it and start an undercover investigation with Homeland Security and without letting the wrong people know. Later, that week the U.S. submarine “John Kennedy” was deployed to the Arsuk Fjord to investigate. Divers from the submarine found several of the torpedoes floating in exactly 50 feet of water, just under the ice shelf. They were not permanently fired into the glacier wall as previously thought but were able to maintain their specific depth and nearness to the steep glacier walls using their internal gyro navigation.

These torpedoes were submersible drones which were radio controlled by an overhead synchronous satellite. In addition, the temperature of the sea water immediately around the
torpedo was at least 10 degrees higher than the adjacent sea water. These radio controlled submersible drones were heating up the water under the glacial ice shelf and consequently melting the glacier. Their mini nuclear reactors provided the heat. Additional investigation revealed that there were at least one hundred of these drones located all around the southern tip of Greenland and within most of its inland fjords. Was this the major cause of the melting glacier? Why would the Chinese want to do such a thing? Did they want control over the ice-free Arctic Ocean and its shipping routes?

As soon as the submersible drones were discovered, a message was relayed to the President Obama in Washington who also relayed the message to the Greenland government. They agreed to work cooperatively and for the present not reveal the situation to the public.

Presently, stumped by the Chinese puzzle, Bill Wells called me back and told me what had happened so far and that they would investigate further. In the meantime, I called the other Romeos together and tried to explain the situation. Maybe we could put all the pieces together like a giant chess game and see what moves are possible. Something doesn’t make sense. Why would the Chinese jeopardize their world position with such a brazen move?

Later that week, the Greenland government received a terrorist threat that demanded the immediate payment of a billion dollars within 12 hours or a nuclear explosion would destroy an undisclosed area of Greenland. They then described their network of submersible drones as proof and knew that the United States would confirm this since they had discovered some of them already. They further identified themselves as a Russian organization and not the Chinese government as previously believed. Although the drones were thought to only create heat with their mini nuclear reactor, they in fact were “Gun-Type” nuclear bombs.

Further investigation confirmed that the Russian organization was really an arm of the the Russian Mafia who had been involved with the theft of large quantities of nuclear materials when the USSR fell apart and the central government dissolved into splinter states. The Russian Mafia was now using terrorist tactics for blackmail and extortion.

The mini drone torpedoes left by the scientists within the Greenland fjords had been disguised as regular data recording devices but were actually small INDs (Improvised Nuclear Devices) made from stolen Russian nuclear materials containing HEU (Highly Enriched Uranium). From the size of the drone torpedoes it was estimated that they contained about 25kg of HEU which was enough to produce a 10 kt explosion like that which occurred on Hiroshima in WWII.

In fact, President Obama had recently signed an agreement at a 47 nation summit to reduce nuclear stock piles of weapons grade nuclear materials world-wide. It was hoped that the summit would encourage all nations to tighten their internal security and prevent the theft of nuclear materials by terrorist organizations, although some were already missing and probably stolen.

The Greenland government decided to wait for the next move by the Russian Mafia. Maybe they were just playing “Russian Roulette” and would not set off a nuclear device. Unfortunately, as the deadline passed, a nuclear explosion occurred at the inland head of the Arsuk Fjord collapsing the glacier edge and breaking off large chunks of the glacier for miles. As a result, the glacial chunks all fell simultaneously into the fjord causing a giant tidal wave rushing out of the narrow fjord passage to the open ocean 10 miles away.

As the tidal wave moved down the fjord toward the ocean it flooded small villages along the banks even though the fjords walls were high and steep. The 40 foot high waves swept over the villages capsizing boats, toppling homes and buildings and drowning hundreds of people. Although Narsuaq Harbor was further down the winding fjord, the wave continued its damage and struck Narsuaq wiping out most of the harbor boats and taking more human life.

Within the first 15 seconds, the nuclear explosion produced a mushroom cloud at the glacial edge vaporizing the ice and water which then traveled several thousands of feet up into the sky. Although the surface winds were calm at present, high altitude prevailing winds would eventually carry the radioactive cloud in a northeast direction. The cloud and plume would travel over the solid glacier immediately killing all living creatures within its path for about a mile from the blast zone. Further death would occur over the next few days, weeks and months as the plume progressed.

As the radioactive plume continued to spread northeast, the fallout from the radioactive dust would coat the landscape. Anything in its path would suffer from radiation burns immediately but the dust would remain for thousands of years. As a result, the arctic food chain on top of the glacier was now contaminated and would be passed along from one animal to the next resulting in radiation poisoning and eventually death.

The U.S. Air Force Base at Thule immediately scrambled its fighter planes to access the situation and ready itself for a continued attack. An evacuation plan was immediately put in to effect to transport all people living in the direction of the radioactive plume out of the area. Planes and helicopter from local airports flew around and ahead of the plume picking up as many passengers as they could and flew them to safer areas in southeast Greenland, Iceland or Labrador.

The U.S Kennedy submarine was already in the area south of Greenland patrolling for more suspicious activity concerned with the drone torpedoes and had picked up radio transmissions around the blast zone. Through satellite triangulation they isolated a radio phone signal directed to a receiver at the head of Arsuk Fjord and the blast zone. The signal originated from a Russian sub just a few miles away to their east.

As they continued to monitor the radio transmissions from the Russian sub they picked up a call made from the sub to the Greenland government with a second ransom demand. The Russian caller claimed responsibility for the nuclear explosion and said that if their demands were not met in the next twelve hours, another explosion would take place. Evidently the Russian sub was able to send a radio signal to anyone of the one hundred submarine torpedo drones placed along the southern fjords. All these sub drones were packed with an IND (Improvised Nuclear Device) and could be triggered by a satellite cell phone call to it’s on board receiver phone number.

The U.S. sub radioed back to Washington what they had found and were given the authority to engage the Russian sub as an active and hostile terrorist. The U.S. sub captain now had two choices. Either he could blow the Russian sub out of the water or incapacitate its radio communications and capture the crew. With no radio communications the Russian sub would not be able to explode the drone torpedoes.

Choosing the latter, the U.S. sub captain sent a high energy magnetic pulse at the Russian sub and fried all its electronic and communication equipment. The Russian sub was now dead in the water. Subsequently, armed personnel from the U.S. sub boarded the Russian sub and arrested all its personnel under international law.

After interrogating the Russian sub crew it was learned that the leaders of the Mafia operation worked out of the Russian Embassy in Boston. Names of the Embassy leaders were given as well as the number and location of all the drone torpedoes along Greenland’s fjords. Records and data were also found in the Russian captain’s quarters to verify the information.

The captain of the U.S sub informed his commanders in Washington and a plan was immediately formed to arrests the Mafia leaders through diplomatic channels. U.S. ships were also deployed to retrieve all the drone torpedoes. Hopefully, the world was now safe from this terrorist plot, at least for the present. ????????????????????????????????

z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z



The Downeaster pulled into the Portland train station and I woke up startled from a deep sleep. The Romeos looked at me and laughed. Was I dreaming about the Polar Expedition to Greenland? Did we really find Viking artifacts and Rune Stones? For now I think I’ll keep the dream to myself.

We got off the train and took the bus to the Portland Historic District and got off on Market St. It was now almost noon and we were starved. Joe mentioned that he heard about a restaurant called Gritty McDuff’s which had a variety of home brew beers and a great menu. Since it was close by we all agreed and walked over to have lunch.

We sat at a booth in the corner and placed our orders for food and also for beer or ale. The waiter suggested the “Black Fly Stout”, for drinks and for lunch today’s special was “Snake Bite Braised Beef Raviolis”. Since we were here to have a good time and live dangerously, we all ordered stout and the lunch special.

Looking around I noticed other tourists sitting mostly in booths and enjoying the fishermen décor and flavor of this rustic tavern. However, some local fisherman sat at the bar and drank Gritty’s home brew ale and were having a good time, teasing each other about their recent catch. Most had tattoos on their arms depicting an ocean life. They could all be Viking decedents since they all looked the part with their weathered faces and husky build.

During the next two hours we drank and ate and told stories while we laughed and joked. After lunch we decided to walk down along the harbor and look at the fishing boats as they unloaded the catch of the day. Later we strolled up some side streets and went in and out of shops.

Most of the shops were for tourists to buy local trinkets and postcards for the family back home but scattered between them were some local places. After buying our share of family gifts we made one last stop at an old antique shop called the “Viking Spar”.

It was really an old place with junk piled on shelves which hadn’t been cleaned or dusted in a while. Most of the items were related to a sailor’s life at sea. It looked like this shop catered to some of the local fishermen. There were some old antique compasses, used ship log books describing an ocean voyage, harpoons for whaling, oars and oar locks, fids for weaving rope or lanyards, fish nets and sail cloth as well as scrimshaw etchings on walrus tusks.

On the back wall were some Viking artifacts. As I looked at them I saw an old astrolabe made of Bronze and Iron, a soap stone drinking cup, bronze breast plates, a helmet with wings and several large rune stones. The runes stones were about one foot across and made from red slate. Each red stone had etched runic letters and pictures of Viking Long Boats, Polar Bears or Icebergs.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Were these the same artifacts that we found on the Polar Excavation in Greenland or was that just a dream? I turned to Jim Terluccio and said, “Have you seen these items before?” He looked at me curiously and said, “No, but they sure are interesting.”

Since the items didn’t have any prices listed, I went over to the checkout counter to talk with the proprietor. An older man stood behind the counter with red hair and beard and a weathered face. He looked like a real seasoned Viking sailor and spoke with a Slavic accent as he asked what I wanted.

I asked him for the price of the astrolabe, pointing at the back counter. He said those items were just for display and not for sale. However, they were family heirlooms handed down through the generations for many hundreds of years. I then asked if he had any other Viking materials for sale.

He pointed to an old wooden box on the counter and said I could choose some Viking items from inside the box which had been made by some local craftsmen. I looked inside and saw a few smaller red slate stones with etched pictograms and runic letters as well a few old cloth bags filled with small rune stone dice and some other trinkets. Since the other Romeos were anxious to leave, I quickly bought a few items from the box and left the store. Those items are as close as I am going to get to what I saw in my dream.

After walking around some of the other tourist sites we took the bus back to the train station and boarded the 7:55 PM train back toward Boston. Since it was now after 8:00 PM we decided to have something light to eat in the Café Car. Most of us ordered a bowl of Maine clam chowder, a salad or a burger just to quiet our rolling stomachs.

After eating we had some coffee and I took out the bag of rune stone dice and told the guys that I heard “somewhere” that they could predict ones fate or tell the future. The bag also contained a piece of paper listing the runic letters found on the stones and their meaning.

There were 24 dice and I rolled them on the table a few times and kept getting the same set of runic letters as in “my dream” on Greenland. Seven stone dice showed their runic letters face up and the others face down. These new rune stones also predicted a future doom with - Death, Lightning, Ships, Sun, Clouds, Volcano and Ice. Not letting on what I had interpreted, I let the other Romeos look at the sheet of paper and have fun making their own predictions. After a while I put the rune stones away and the conversation moved on to something else.

The train pulled into the Woburn train station and we all got off and said our good byes until the next time. We then got in our respective cars and drove home with the hope of hitting the hay early from a long but “memorable” day.

The next morning I read the newspaper and learned about the volcanic eruption in Iceland and the plume of ash spreading all over Europe. As the days went by, the news described the grounding of all airplanes and the devastation that the toxic dust was causing to people and farm animals in Iceland near the volcano. The volcanic eruptions were sporadic , stopping and then starting a few days later. There seemed to be no end in sight.

Was my dream coming true? "The clouds, the blocked sun, the dust plume, the volcanic explosion, the ice glacier and the grounded airplane ships." Did the rune stones predict the future or cause it? Had I discovered the Secret of the Rune Stones? Was this a curse or a blessing?

Comments Please send to: markryan@comcast.net

Acknowledgements:
I would like to thank my Romeo friends for their colorful backgrounds and giving me the inspiration for my stories.


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In Memory of … Mark Patrick

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References
Celtic History
http://www.angelfire.com/realm/shades/vikings/celts.htm
Druid History – Earth Mysteries
http://www.britannia.com/wonder/michell2.html
http://www.angelfire.com/realm/shades/demons/druids.htm
Celtic Culture
http://www.joellessacredgrove.com/Celtic/history.html
Leif Ericson
http://www.viking.no/e/people/leif/e-leiv.htm
Native Americans
http://mikenh.wordpress.com/tag/native-americans/
STEM IPY Project - Study Ocean Levels and Glacia Melting and Global Warming
http://www.umassk12.net/ipy/
Old Maps – Towns
http://www.mapstotreasure.com/?gclid=COWGk4CSwKACFdk55Qodkg9WVQ
Artic Expedition – China
http://www.china.org.cn/english/MATERIAL/74022.htm
Arsuk Fjord, Docked at Narsauq (clear ice, icebergs, fishing village)
http://www.svprecipice.com/logbook/August09.php
Greenland Airports -50 Heliports, 14 airports (most west)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Greenland-CIA_WFB_Map.png
Thule USAFB origin 1941
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thule_Air_Base
Greenland Vikings had Celtic Blood DNA
http://pasthorizons.wordpress.com/2010/03/21/greenland-vikings-%E2%80%98had-celtic-blood%E2%80%99/
Greenland Climate Change from 1000-1200 AD Ice Cap Grew
http://www.holloworbs.com/Greenland_vikings.htm
Greenland Farms Under Sand
http://www.expressnews.ualberta.ca/article.cfm?id=776
Greenland Towns – About 13 total
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_and_towns_in_Greenland
Greenland – Map and Facts
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/gl.htm
Greenland Ice Melting Faster
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/earth20100216.html
Fate of Greenland Vikings
http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/greenland/
Vikings and Celts – 1st Century
http://www.angelfire.com/realm/shades/vikings/celts.htm
Viking Invasions
http://www.angelfire.com/realm/shades/vikings/vik2.htm
Vikings in N. America
http://www.ensignmessage.com/archives/vikings.html
Vikings in NH
http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/history/parks/thorvald/evaspeare.htm
Viking in New England
http://www.skyweb.net/~channy/Viking.html
Settlers in Pemaquid, Maine
http://www.skyweb.net/~channy/Viking.html
Rune Stones in Hampton,NH 1043AD
http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/history/vignettes/NHhistoricseacoast.htm
Who Owns Artic Mining
http://byers.typepad.com/arctic/2009/01/an-iron-road-across-the-permafrost.html
China Mining and Oil in the Arctic
http://e360.yale.edu/content/digest.msp?id=2298
China Flags the Antarctic
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/china-flags-its-antarctic-intent-20100111-m287.html
Ruinstones – Description (3000 world wide)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runestone
North American Runestones – Spirit Pond Runestone from Maine
http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/americanstones.html
Runes and Their Meaning
http://www.paranormality.com/runes.shtml
Arctic Resources
http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/html/resources_faq.html
Stonhenge
http://www.britannia.com/history/h7.html
Ringed Plover – Greenland
http://npweb.npolar.no/english/arter/sandlo
Gannets-Sea Birds
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gannet
Surviving a Nuclear Attack
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/Technology/story?id=1130950&page=1
Obama’s Nuclear Summit- Terorist Use of Nukes
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/04/14/nuclear_pact_makes_world_more_secure_obama_says/?page=full
Nuclear Theft
http://www.nti.org/e_research/e3_8a.html
Nuclear Explosions
http://www.remm.nlm.gov/nuclearexplosion.htm
Weapons of Mass Destruction Com. Gun Type – 60kg HEU Hiroshima 15kt , Nag 23kt
http://www.nti.org/e_research/cnwm/overview/technical2.asp#top
WMD Commission
http://www.wmdcommission.org/files/No2.pdf