“So … he’s bleeding internally?” Tom asked.
Delaney nodded.
“And you know this isn’t a bruise?” Owen asked.
“It’s not a bruise. Something in his leg is causing blood to leak into the limb, more than likely in a few hours a clot will form and well ...”
Owen’s voice squeaked. “And well what?”
“I think …” Tom interrupted. “I think we both know what it means. Can you do anything? You said something about cutting into him. Will that relieve the blood from pooling?”
Delaney shook her head. “No. Unfortunately, he needs surgery to repair the bleed and the break. There is no doctor on board and honestly, I wouldn’t attempt it. How could I?”
“Is there anything that can be done?” Owen questioned. “Anything at all?”
“Here’s the deal,” Delaney said. “All I can do is make him comfortable. I can’t give him anything else at least for another two hours. But right here, this situation is one we have to realize we’re going to face. If the world below is as bad as we all think and know it is, then sadly, from here on out, a broken leg can be a death sentence. The truth is, the only thing that can save him is to land this plane and find a surgeon. We all know the odds of that.”
“And if we can’t?” Owen asked.
Delaney dropped her voice to a whisper. “Then he will die.”
Tom looked at Lance. Too much death had already happened all over, even on the plane. He didn’t want to see another person die. He knew he had to get a hold of Gene. If anyone could help figure out the logistics needed to save Lance, it was Gene. Not only that, Gene was on the ground and he had a much better idea of where help could be found than they did forty-thousand feet in the air.
<><><><>
Gainesville, FL
Fascinating data was the term Dr. Alexander Armenov used for the information he had to share with Susan.
Like anyone else, Susan assumed the word ‘fascinating’ would be good news. Why wouldn’t she? In an essence some of the news was good.
They walked to the wing of the university where geological studies were located, talking as they walked down the hall.
“Reston will have, we believe at least a two hour window,” Armenov told her. “If we can get a plane there, we can coordinate the times and get your family out and in the air.”
“That would be wonderful.”
“We already put the word out to Reston and they are working on it. They are not to leave or even attempt to leave if there’s not enough time.”
“I would hope not. I just want my family,” Susan said. “I know that sounds selfish with everyone dying.”
“I understand. We’re hopeful though these events will stop. But for now … a second eruption is definitely imminent.” He opened the door to the lab. “Maybe even a third.”
A young man turned in his seat. His hair slightly longish and in need of a cut. He stood when she walked in. “No more than a fourth,” the young man said.
“Susan, this is Warren, my best and brightest student. He’s been working diligently since yesterday. Warren, this is Deputy Director Diel.”
Susan held out her hand. “You can call me Susan.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“You were saying no more than four?” Susan asked.
Armenov explained. “We have had our students in the field, making calls. The levels in key areas are building again, like they did right before the eruptions, but … they aren’t as high as the first time around.”
Warren added. “And we expect the third to be even lower.”
“Until,” Susan said, “The build up has all been released.”
Armenov nodded. “There are a lot of release holes. Which is good. Warren’s friend was able to hack into the International Space Station system and get some great images.”
“You didn’t need to hack,” Susan said. “Gene has them.”
Armenov chuckled. “Warren sent them to him. Anyhow, as you know, finding the holes is difficult, but we located a lot. We found one hundred and seventeen holes, we know there are more but …” he pulled forth an image on the computer. It was of earth and red markings formed almost a dotted line across the northern hemisphere. “We marked some of the holes. During the Permian extinction, it was thought that one major eruption occurred in the arctic shelf and another in the oceans. If you look at where we marked this image you can see, a vast majority are across the north, they are nearly perfectly in line, creating an exhaust valve.”
Susan’s finger traced the image. “That looks like it’s the circumference of the Arctic circle.”
Armenov nodded. “Close. Seventy degrees, Thirty North. Perfect little cap. No pun intended.”
Warren added. “We think, we hope, we won’t be seeing many more eruption sites. The vents are in place. There are enough to vent the methane.”
“That is good news,” Susan said. “Fantastic news. That means if an area is safe now, it will remain safe.”
“From methane,” Armenov replied.
“What else would there be?” Susan gave a quirky look, then that partial forced smile fell. “What?”
“The vents, the remaining eruptions … that is the good news,” Armenov said. “Again, look where the stream of eruption sites are. The arctic. It’s generating immense heat up there.”
“Shit,” Susan said.
Armenov changed the image. “Look at these storm fronts and surges. Ocean temperatures according to the data are rising.”
“The ice is dropping in,” Warren said. “Suddenly, causing the ocean depth to increase, but even ever so slightly …”
“Thermal expansion,” Susan said. “My God, this all just started. Do we have any idea how much or how fast they are rising?”
Armenov shook his head. “We are waiting on that. We’ve tapped into NOAA, but data from some
