The Heights of Ecstasy

Nigkala Tales Pt. 14: The heights of Ecstasy

Getting it on, way up high

Thanks to my editor kenjisato. Also, to LanguageTool. Combined, they put me right. Any problems left all belong to me.

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For the last month, I have been researching ways to get my friend's brother's body retrieved from Mount Everest. The cost was not as much as I thought, but finding someone to actually do it was going nowhere. I spoke to my husband about it. "Filipe, do you have any ideas on how I can convince someone to fetch the body?"

"Without using your ability to force someone, the only thing I can think of is appealing to their greed. You have already learned that doing a favor is not going to work."

"My gift might make them do it, but without testing and abusing people, I don't see it lasting the two months or so, needed to go up and come down with a body. As for greed, the amount of gear carried plus a body is too much for anyone I contacted about it. It just is too much for anyone to carry. Having a second helps, because they can transfer some gear, but that makes it harder since you need two people who work as a team."

"So greed is out."

"Yeah. This is really important to him. I want to help him if I can."

Filipe was silent for a while. Then he said, "Becky Sue, would it be possible for you to do it? I know you are strong enough to carry a lot. But I don't know how well you might be able to do it."

"I should go? And you are okay with this?"

"You should consider it. As to being okay, I know you will be distraught until you find a solution. You are also careful, as shown by how many stunts you have done and how little you have been hurt. You also have access to some divine gifts that might be useful."

"I will have to think on this for a while."

A few minutes later, I was downstairs in the gym working out. As I zoned out doing reps and such, I used the time to consider the positives and negatives of doing this myself. By the time I finished, I decided to do it. I knew I needed some more experience in mountain climbing, so that was where I would start.

I contacted a local club to learn who was a good trainer, and where would be good local climbing conditions for high altitude climbing. Over the next week, I met several teachers to see who was most suitable. I settled on Rick Graves, a retired extreme climber. Although he was missing a hand, he had experience climbing some high mountains, and specialized on high angle climbing. Our first face to face meeting was in two weeks. He had sent me a list of items to have and bring. Another thing in his favor was working with my schedule.

We met mid-morning at his climbing studio. I asked the first person I saw where I could find him. I then headed over. "Hello, are you Rick Graves?"

The man turned around and said, "Yes I am, little, um... not so little lady. How can I help you?"

"I'm Becky Sue Tate, and I called about lessons."

"Not what I expected."

I smiled and said, "I get that a lot."

"You did say you were tall, but I didn't think you would be that tall. So what experience do you have?"

"I'm an actress, and I recently had to free climb a three hundred foot cliff outside Mexico City."

"No stunt double?"

I indicated my height. "How many stunt doubles do you think I have?" I smiled again. "I trained two weeks to do that."

"Not much training, then. Hmm, let's see how you do on the wall." He led me over to one side, where there was a forty-foot-high, fake wall for people to climb. "Let's hook you up, and see how well you do." He hooked me up, then said, "Use any color protrusion."

I proceeded to climb, and as I did, he took up the slack on the line. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him looking up my skirt. I rang the bell up top, and descended. "What are the different colors for?"

"That is for testing your skill. Any color is Beginner level. You did that nicely. Look over at this console for a moment." I did. "You can see the path you took. This also shows what colors you used, and your time. For now, ignore the time. Do it safely. This time, go up, but don't use any red grips."

I went up, almost as quickly as before. The reduced speed was due to having to verify I didn't use any red grip. "How's that?"

"Good. That was Student level. Again, but no red or orange." I went up, rang the bell, and then back down. "Intermediate level. Again, without the yellows, either." *ding* "Experienced level, nice. Now without green ones." *ding* "Advanced level, and you haven't slowed down."

I grinned and said, "Well, I do have a long reach." I also noticed several people had gathered around to watch.

"True. Now without blue, that is only using the black ones." *ding* I got some applause from the watchers when I came down. "Damn, Expert level on your first attempt. And fast. It's clear this wall is no challenge to you. But the real world is another matter. Let's go to my office, and see the gear you brought." There went my audience.

Once there, he had me lay everything on a table where he examined it. Finishing, he said, "Good. Put it on, and then follow me outside." He put some gear of his own on, and then led me out back, which was at the base of a series of steep rock faces. "These steep hills are good for learning, mainly because your fall will be slowed down as you slide down, rather than falling straight down. You will likely get beat up, but unlikely to lose your life from a fall. My lack of a hand means I cannot easily show you how to do what you need to do, but I have learned to explain in detail. So listen carefully, and do as I say. I can test your work with one hand."

He started out with simple knots, and how to set chocks for handholds. He had me climb up and down a few body-lengths to get used to how it works. Next, he showed me how to use a crack as a surface to push off and pull on at the same time, allowing ascent. I was dubious at first, but even one-handed, he managed to climb up a foot. Then he had me do it. My body was saying 'That's not natural, it hurts!', but it worked. He had me climb up only ten feet before coming back down.

The next trick he taught, was using friction to climb. He led me to the back of the building, where there was a movable fake wall making a parallel wall opposite a fixed one in the corner. It made a 'U' shape, with a variable distance between the upright parts of the 'U'. There was a fake rock surface on each. He set it to about a foot. Sliding sideways into it, he proceeded to climb ten feet using friction from the soles of his feet, his knees, his butt, and his hands. "Don't need a hand on this one, as the pressure makes the friction." He came down and had me do the same. I took ten times as long to get two feet up. "Good enough for now. Out."

Next, he made it two and a half feet wide. This time, the friction was his soles and his butt or hands. Again, he went up and down quickly. On my turn, it was fairly easy, if a tad cramped. "You don't get to choose how wide the crack is, so tough about being cramped." Next he set it to seven feet wide. This time he put his feet on one wall, and hands on the other, and demonstrated walking up that way. Before letting me try it, he widened it out to nine feet. "You're too tall to try at seven feet, but this should be better." He was right. Walking up wasn't too hard, but I could see you could not rest as easily as you could in some other setups.

"That's it for opposed force, now comes a tougher one." He set the width to ten feet, as far as it could go. "I don't think I ever had anyone who might be able to climb a ten-foot width before, but you just might." He smiled. "But this time, you only get to use two adjacent sides. We'll use the fixed ones, as it may need more pressure, and they have far less give." He then showed me how it was done. Me, I kept slipping after only a few feet.

"Sorry, it's just not happening."

"That's okay. Today was to introduce you to the various non-destructive ways of climbing. Further sessions will be devoted to the various ways I showed you today. When you have mastered these, I'll teach you the destructive ways, such as hammering in pitons and setting lines."

"Oh, much better."

"Your size means I will have to find places better suited for your scale. The rock doesn't care, but the forms are best in certain ranges, and I am less familiar with the ranges you need. Now, back to the office." We went there. "Take your gloves off, I want to see your hands." He examined them. "Good, no damage. Look at my hand. See all those calluses? That has come from a lifetime of climbing. You have some calluses, so you likely won't have trouble." We set up a schedule, and then he sent me to the locker room to shower. There was also a shared sauna, so I entered, took my towel off and sat naked in the sauna. I was the only one naked. I used their desire to see if my breasts were real, to get them to play with my entire body. While I never had sex in the sauna, I was often invited for some play after.

It took several months, but I mastered all the skills he taught me, even the corner ascent. "Thank you, Rick. I have a confession to make. I want to climb Mount Everest."

"Aiming high, both literally and figuratively, aren't you."

"Not for myself, but for a friend. Suffice it to say, I need to make the climb, and I selected you for your knowledge in extreme climbing."

"I see. But I cannot take you on the needed training climbs. You may not have chosen well."

"I considered that. I believe you can train me in the fundamentals that I really need, as one of the best to do so. You can then hook me up with an experienced climber for the actual training climb. We would both have full comm. gear so you could see and hear everything, commenting on the way. You could also use a scope to see us across the distance."

"Hmm, interesting twist on teaching you have there. I am willing to try, but no guarantees."

"Reasonable."

Over the next year and a half, we continued training. I had some breaks to make a pair of movies, but we worked around it. Finally, he said, "You are truly tenacious. You listen, and learn, much better than most of my students. You also have given back to me the thrill of climbing, even if only fleetingly. For that, thank you." I promised to send postcards when I finally tried.

My next step, was to talk to the folks at Red Horizons. I figured I had some pull with them as we worked together to invent space sex. I connected with some of the same people I had worked with before. After some negotiation, I eventually contracted them to make me a hang glider that could be reconfigured into a tent. It had to be instrumented and be able to carry me, my Everest pack, and a frozen body. When in the tent configuration, it had to handle me sleeping in it on Everest. Lastly, it had to be something I could carry on my back. This last was perhaps the tightest requirement, as more weight meant I would tire easier. I already had calculated how much I would be carrying without a tent.

I got weekly status updates, but let them do their stuff. The first task was to determine the total weight the glider would carry, and add a buffer, with a result of six hundred pounds. Next was to come up with a glider capable of carrying that weight and also configurable into a tent. Then came the determination of what materials to use. This was one of the hardest tasks, as flight wants thin, but camping wants thick. They found something nice, but it was expensive, and asked me to okay it. I did. Then came the mock-ups. Fabricated of cheap materials, and loose tolerances, they worked on how well they worked practically. I had to visit a few times so that I could try it out. I brought the pack I had selected for the trip, filled with fake supplies of a suitable weight.

Good thing I did. Their first packed form utterly failed, and so did the next one. Then they had the idea of splitting the packed form in two, one for each side of my pack. The next problem was the pole length. They assumed a seven-foot pole would be acceptable. Just hiking, we quickly learned that anything much below my butt or above my head didn't work, so that meant no more than four feet. The containers became carry bags for the glider. The center most part of the wing became the tent base, however, they said it was the most vulnerable to wear. To assist, they made my cocoon out of a sturdier material, and also the body bag I would need. These would also serve as ground insulation and protection.

Once it was ready for testing, I spent a few weeks learning the fancy device. I routinely flew at the local flight club with a dummy weight, and camped overnight with company in tent form. Returning it, they made a number of tweaks to make it easier to use. Another week of testing, and it passed. They wanted me to keep records on my trip, so they could use it to advertise a specialty-market version. The idea of gliding and camping looked like a possible niche-market.

The final part of my plan, was to join a trip that would go very close to where his brother lay, and to also contact the survivors to learn firsthand about their trip. It was almost time for the ascents, but that left too little time to organize things. I decided next year's season would be better. I got lucky this year and did three films. I also did some training by carrying an increasingly heavy pack as I did laps in my home gym. I also wore weighted armbands and leg bands at home. Filipe got that idea from a cartoon series.

Since I felt it was going to get a fair bit of publicity, Filipe and I decided to make an investment as part of the deal. I would be passing through six tiny towns that had little infrastructure, so I researched and came up with a plan to send a pocket industry to each. A pair of cargo containers would contain a lot of solar cells, a pair of battery storage units, an extendable, cell-tower mast, an oxygen collector, and a satellite hub for voice and internet. These containers also had sufficient fixtures to make them into a home. They just needed assembly. The container homes would house the families that ran the pocket industry. They would sell the collected oxygen, by refilling containers. The foundation I created, Nigkala Service, a non-profit, would run the units. Another company, Nigkala Communications, ran the cell and internet services for profit, paying for power from the units. These units started arriving and becoming operational two months before I was to arrive.

The time came to leave for Kathmandu in Nepal. The long trip was relieved by a number of mile-high encounters. En route, I kept aware of the air we were flying through. Anytime I sensed turbulence ahead, I used my power to smooth it out. I spent a week in Kathmandu, smoothing out all sorts of bureaucratic issues, and to acclimatize to the altitude and time zone. Getting laid nightly was a bonus. Next was a flight to Lukla, with more bureaucracy and acclimatization. Then I took the standard tourist trip to the launch point of Gorak Shep. Each little town, I checked in on its pocket industry, to see how they were working out and to take notes on what they needed.

At the last stop, I exchanged my tourist backpack for the custom one I had sent with the containers. A lot of people were surprised. I stayed there a week rather than the normal two days. I had reserved the whole room, which normally slept two, yet I never spent a night alone. The next-to-last day, the press arrived in the form of three reporters. I gave interviews to each, indicating I was doing a favor for a friend, and that they might want to stick around, as I expected some interesting things to happen on my trip. I also posed for each of them, including some naughty poses. They all took pictures of me leaving this tiny town. The scandal sheets had a field day from me being so covered up.

Our first stop was a local shrine, to pray for a good climb. As the ceremony proceeded, I felt a presence below. I knew the story of Inanna and the Mountain, and I was her priestess. I desired no quarrel, so I projected my own presence, and desire for peace. Without words, I felt the question, 'Why?' So I projected the sense of a fallen climber, and my desire to return his body to his family. I then felt a grudging permission and watchfulness.

Most backpacks for topping Everest run about sixty to seventy pounds. Mine was a hundred fifty, most of which was my 'tent'. I got a few comments on its construction, but I just said I needed something special that fit me. I also offered to share with anyone who wanted to spend a night in a larger tent, as there was room. They quickly learned that I slept in the nude, and enjoyed sex. The added space, with benefits, overcame any reluctance. As I was the only female in the party, no one complained. As we climbed, I occasionally felt the mountains' presence watching me. Sometimes even my dreams seemed to replay my life, although they seemed to miss my trip to the past.

It was at the Khumbu Icefall that people realized I was unusually strong. The person ahead of me slipped and fell from about halfway up. While he was roped to the party, my quick reactions that planted my ice pick and then catching him single-handedly, allowed me to save him from death. But it was when I pulled him by wrapping his line around my glove to bring him back up until he could assist by holding onto me that surprised even the Sherpas.

That incident also established a fair bit of respect for me by everyone, as they had thought I was just a rich tourist. Another bit of respect was my ability to sense a weather change well before it became a problem. That took almost two weeks, before they trusted my weather warnings as the real thing. It saved us some trouble, as we avoided traveling when the weather would turn us back. Late at night, I would cause a camp-wide increase in air pressure. Not much, but helping a little with the altitude. I found that my air blessing meant that I barely noticed the low pressure, or the cold. I still acted as if I did, so the others wouldn't notice.

It was on the way to Camp Three, that trouble struck. One of the climbers started to feel pain in his abdomen. We all helped out, by assisting his climbing, but we were about an hour from the camp when he collapsed and could not get up. We got his pack off to help, but it wasn't enough. Everyone was asking our leader, Edmund Smythe III, what we were going to do. After five minutes, I called for silence.

"Edmund. It is clear that Raphe cannot go farther. You have been up here before. Tell me, how difficult is the climb from here to the camp?"

"The climb, although strenuous, isn't too difficult, but it is beyond him. Why?"

Rather than answer, I just walked up to Raphe, bent my knees, and picked him up. "You all get his stuff, I will carry him." I started up the trail.

Edmund shouted, "Hey, there's no way you can carry him all the way!"

"Watch, and see just what being the warrior, Nigkala, means." I set a slow and steady pace, the same we had been going before his pain.

"Who is Nigkala?"

I said nothing, but one of the others indicated I was the actress that played the Sumerian Warrior in the movies. While they discussed that, I called out, "Get his gear!" I also used my power to slowly increase the air pressure around the two of us, so we could breathe easier, even with the supplemental oxygen.

Edmund took charge, and quickly divvied his gear among the rest, then followed. A few minutes later, he caught up to me as I had stopped. "Problem?"

"I don't know the way. Please take the lead."

"You okay carrying him?"

"Go. The sooner we get there, the sooner I can rest. Go."

He was taken aback at my command tone, but complied, although slower than before. He kept on looking back, only to see me close behind. After another five minutes, he sped up to our normal pace, and saw I was keeping up. He continued looking back, but with longer and longer intervals.