Department in Singapore and explained everything, begging for help. The government sprang
into action, made frantic calls to Ulaanbaatar and realised that nobody had heard from the
team for weeks, which was suspicious. They alerted the Mongolian authorities, which launched
a massive search and rescue operation. The Singaporean government also sent their best team
picked from the Civil Defence Force to help comb the desert, on air and land. It was like looking
for a needle in a haystack.
Fear.
Hopelessness.
Desperation.
Dr. Thompson trudged through the desert.. It had been three agonising weeks. Once again,
he took out the radio, waving it around with little hope. At first, it was plain static as usual,
but then he heard voices. A jolt of excitement ran through his body and he froze. He carefully
retraced his steps, and tuned the radio. True enough, he heard words being spoken. From his little
understanding of Mongolian, he recognised some words: “searching”, “Thompson” and “Snow
Leopard”! He was overjoyed when he knew that people were looking for him. With every last
ounce of energy, he dragged himself towards the source of the signal. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a
raging, blinding sandstorm enveloped him. “Oh no!” he cried, “not a sandstorm, you’re kidding!”
And then, he heard a familiar noise.
“Whop! Whop!”
The sandstorm was actually caused by a rescue helicopter! The next thing he knew,
paramedics were ziplining down towards him. Dr. Thompson was in the worst possible condition.
He was hallucinating, delirious, and a bag of skin and bones as the helicopter choppered away. It
was ironic how the “Whop!” sound was the first and last sound that he heard in the Gobi Desert.
Once he was back in Singapore, he recovered quickly. He never lost his passion for nature and
17 years later, he landed his dream job: as a National Geographic photographer. The magazine
said that they would send him his first assignment through email. Day after day, he checked his
inbox to see what it would be. Finally, it arrived, and he opened the email with trepidation. After
reading it, he screamed, “Noooo!” and collapsed in terror.
To: Dr. James Thompson
From: Chris Johns, Chief Photographer
Dear James,
Your first assignment will be taking pictures for our upcoming feature: “Lizards of the Gobi”.
Hope you enjoy it!
National Geographic
