Caldera

by Larry LaVoie

  The trees on the hillside seemed to be off plumb and the effect made it hard for his body to find equilibrium. He concentrated on the climb, keeping his eyes on the pavement, pumping furiously in low gear. At the top he stopped and viewed the slope descending to the lake. He took deep long breaths to replenish his oxygen supply. It looked so peaceful. Patches of wild flowers dotted the green meadow with yellow, red, and blue. Pockets of snow remained in the shadows of the trees. The ragged Absoroka Mountains in the distance were still covered with white except for the black granite outcroppings at angles too steep to hold anything but mountain goats.

  He remembered a summer, as a graduate student, he’d climbed those cliffs. He stared off in the distance, overwhelmed by the panoramic view. He could see for at least fifty miles. The enormity of it all caused him to grin. He remembered the thesis he’d written for his doctorate in geology. He had researched a method he thought might one day be used to tame volcanoes like Yellowstone. The paper had caused such a commotion in the scientific community Bainbridge refused to accept it. Bainbridge had said, “Some day you will learn to respect the power of Mother Nature.” The remark he could have lived with, but the all-knowing smirk on the professor’s face still grated at him. Later, he had grown to respect the man. Bainbridge may have been tough to get along with, but he had been the most respected man in the world when it came to volcanoes.

  Standing here, on top of the world, he understood how little he had known back then. The smile faded from his face when he thought about the roll Bainbridge had played in his father’s death. How ironic, Jason thought. He was the one validating Bainbridge’s figures now. The man he’d sworn he would never work for again had managed to get him in his grasp after his death.

  Jason mounted the bike and started coasting down the long incline to the lake. He wondered if his mother and sister in Oregon were aware the ground was shaking in Yellowstone. He was glad they were in an area that seldom experienced severe earthquakes. He took solace in knowing his mother didn’t know he was back in Yellowstone, in inside the caldera of the largest active volcano in the United States, trying to make sense out of the shaking ground. I’ve got to be crazy to be here, he thought.

  “I’m scared,” Wendy said dropping her pack to the ground. “I’m sorry but I’ve never been very good in earthquakes.”

  “Not to worry,” Billy said. “This valley has been here for eons.”

  “Easy for you to say. You’ve got a sister who knows geology. But things change and earthquakes change them.”

  Billy went over and took her arm. “Look out there. You see that heard of elk. You think they’d be acting like nothing was wrong if they were in danger. Animals have a sense about these things.”

  They had set up camp along the river, their tents pitched, sleeping bags laid out, and camp stove propped up on a flat river rock. Billy handed Terry a pan. “Make yourselves useful and go get some water out of the river. I’ll cook some dehydrated delight.”

  Terry, with Becky clinging to his arm headed to the river.

  Billy sat down on meadow grass next to Wendy. They could hear the river dancing against the rocks, and the far-off shrill of an eagle. “You want to go home and leave all this beauty?” Billy asked.

  “I’m just not sure. I didn’t think there would be this many earthquakes.”

  Billy leaned against her and gently stroked her neck. “We could make this a lot more fun.”

  She smiled. “You’re trying to take advantage of me.”

  “Well, yeah. You want to go swimming after dinner.”

  “I didn’t bring my suit.”

  Billy grinned. “Me neither. Is that a problem?”

  “Is the water warm?”

  “Like a bath. It’ll be fun.”

  “Hey you lovebirds,” Terry called out. “No need for a fire. This water is already hot.”

  “You got it from the river?” Billy asked.

  “Take a look.” He handed the pan to Billy.

  Billy stuck his finger in the water. “Not quite hot enough. But warm enough for us all to go swimming after we eat. What do you say?”

  “Cool,” Terry said. “That’s what we came for.”

  Chapter 17

  Yellowstone had experienced thousands of earthquakes since the installation of the twenty-two seismic recording devices throughout the park and the topography had not changed enough for the average observer to notice, but subtle changes were occurring. Inside the caldera rim the lake had been moving, enough so that it was a visual barometer of how the earth was tilting. This was of especially keen interest to Jason. A study headed by Dr. Lisa Morgan and a number of USGS scientists found that the lake was peppered with underwater vents and the weight of the lake water was the only thing that kept the vents from erupting in a massive hydro-thermal explosion. It was estimated that a ten-foot drop in the water level would cause a catastrophic event. Because of this, Jason preferred to look at the landscape first hand rather than a stream of satellite data fed through the GPS network, to his computer.

  From where Jason was on his mountain bike the trek to the lake took another thirty minutes and he was thankful that the ground had remained motionless during that time. He descended the final stretch of highway and turned into Grant Village, glided past the visitor’s center and continued down toward the lake. Suddenly he gripped the handbrakes tightly and slid to a sideways stop. The road was covered with water.

  Two months ago Carlene had been thrilled to be at Yellowstone working beside Dr. Bainbridge. She had thought how much more interesting field work was than sitting in the basement of the University of Utah monitoring seismographs, waiting for them to indicate another earthquake. She had been thrilled that Bainbridge had asked her to be his assistant. Now she wasn’t so sure. Now she was frightened.

  When the crack, about an inch wide and twenty feet long, had opened up in front of the monitoring cabin she’d gone back in the building and uttered a quick prayer, but Jason had kept her so busy she’d forgotten about fissure until she left the monitoring station for her motor home that evening. She prepared a late meal and pondered her conversation with Sanders.

  What was it going to take to get the man to do something? He had seemed to listen, but gave no indication that the recent increases in seismic activity was anything more than the mountain going through a normal phase. She was tired of hearing, “It’s done this before.” On top of everything else she had called her mother and found out Billy was somewhere in the park. Nothing had changed. The little brat had never listened to anyone. Maybe the quakes would wake him up and shake some sense into him.

  Late that night a quake jostled her from bed. Her motor home danced around the parking lot like a half-broke stallion. On wobbly legs she stepped out of the motor home into the cold morning air. She was terrified and needed to talk to someone. She looked across the campground in the direction of Jason’s tent. Through the dark Sunday morning fog she noticed how still the air was. The thick layer of frost on the grass soaked through her sneakers as she walked toward Jason’s tent. A wet chill bit at her toes and worked its way up her legs, she should have taken time to get dressed. The light from a lamppost filtered through her breath as it rose in small bursts. She hesitated in front of Jason’s dark tent. Did she really want to wake him? This is silly. She turned to leave. Suddenly the ground vibrated again, and she forgot her shivering body. She planted her feet and flexed her knees in a wrestler’s stance trying to remain standing. Her bare arms bristled with goose bumps more from the earth movement than from the cold. “Jason,” she called, hoping to wake him. How could he possibly sleep through this?

  When he didn’t respond, she slapped the side of the tent. Ice from frozen condensate crackled under her palm.

  “Jason, time to get up,” she said. Still no response. She clenched her teeth against the chattering and unzipped the flap, feeling as if she was trespassing, but dammit this was an emergency.

  In the faint light she saw he wasn’t th
ere. She hadn’t thought to look for his Jeep in the parking lot. Now she saw it was gone. Where could he be? Jason never got up early. She glanced back at the ‘85 Honda Civic still attached to the tow-bar behind her motor home. With her mountain bike, there had been no need for a vehicle, but now she considered unhooking the Honda and looking for Jason. “Stupid idea,” she said aloud. The park covered over 2,500 square miles. Jason could be anywhere. She would call him on his cell and hope he was in an area where he there was reception.

  Jason felt a slight vibration while he was driving, but passed it off as a bad section of road. He parked the Jeep close to the edge of the lake. The glass-smooth water reflected a full moon and he stood in awe for a moment. He heard a gray wolf howl in the distance. He remembered a time when there were no wolves in the park. They had been killed as predators by the early settlers and been reintroduced in 1994, after much debate and an act of Congress.

  He was standing at the very spot he’d been the day before. He’d placed a marker at the edge of the water to mark the spot. Now the stake was six inches in the water. In geological terms things were happening at light speed. He’d never seen anything like this before.

  The wolf stopped howling and as he pondered the change in the lake, Jason felt utterly alone in the silence. Suddenly the water began to shimmer as if a breeze was blowing, but there wasn’t even a whisper of wind. The stillness turned into a rumble, then he felt the ground shudder and roll. He scrambled up the bank to the road, but was tossed to the pavement and found himself tumbling back down the slope unable to stop until he hit the water with a splash. Bubbles of gas percolated through the water like a boiling caldron. The water was uncomfortably hot. The acrid odor of sulfur dioxide and deadly hydrogen sulfide gas burned his nostrils. Coughing, and gasping for fresh air, he covered his nose and mouth with the drenched sleeve of his parka and scrambled out, his dripping body shrouded in a smelly cloud of steam. He ripped off the waterlogged jacket as he rushed to the Jeep to find something to use as a towel.

  The tremor had gone as quickly as it had come. The morning air was silent again. Jason used a blanket as a towel and after drying his arms wrapped it around him. Inside the Jeep he could hear the chime of his cell phone. He was glad he had left it on the seat. He answered and heard Carlene’s frantic voice.

  “Jason where are you?”

  He glanced at the lake and the blanket. “Just took a bath, what’s up?”

  “Jason, this is serious.”

  “I’m at Grant Village. I’ll be back in twenty.”

  On the way out he stopped at the road block the park rangers had erected the day before. He got out and slid the barrier aside so he could get past. A thrashing noise caused him to look up and see a grizzly bear ambling toward him. Not now! A hungry bear looking for a snack was all he needed at this moment. Sometimes animals would act strange around an earthquake. The bear picked up its pace. Jason froze. It kept coming. It was nearly on top of him. Should he stand still or run? The bear rose up on its hind feet towering above him, its mouth open in an angry snarl. The best tactic when confronted with a bear, Jason knew, was to remain motionless. He had heard bears had poor eyesight. This one was close enough there was no doubt it knew Jason was there. Jason forgot to breathe. When he finally took a breath the bear dropped down and started toward him again. The hell with this! Jason spun around releasing the blanket into the air as the animal charged. The blanket covered the bear’s head. As it clawed to regain its sight, Jason jumped in the Jeep, slammed the door and fumbled with the ignition so he could roll up the electric window. In a single swipe the bear ripped the blanket away and charged the Jeep. A set of claws penetrated the roof, shredding the sheet metal with its long claws. Jason dropped the car in gear and hit the gas, spinning the rear wheels. He didn’t bother to replace the road block.

  The sun was beginning to rise. Long shadows stretched across the row of cabins as Jason pulled into the employee lot at The Lake. All the lights in the cabins were on. Undoubtedly the occupants had been awakened by the quake. This was a good sign. At least they were now aware of the rising dangers the park presented. Hopefully it would cause some to leave. He was startled by Carlene pounding on the door before he could get out.

  “What happened to you?” she asked. He couldn’t tell whether it was excitement or terror in her voice.

  “I’ve got to get into some dry clothes. Can we talk on the way?”

  “I got a call from the university,” Carlene said as Jason climbed into his tent. She poked her head in after him. “They sent a satellite image of the hot spot at Norris Basin.”

  Jason motioned for her to get out.

  “Sorry,” she said backing up.

  “I think I was sitting on the hot spot,” he said, sitting down, pulling and wiggling to get into fresh pair of Levies in the confined space. He gave up, climbed out and hiked them up over his shorts.

  “I thought I was going to be a bear’s breakfast this morning,” Jason said. “Now, where’s this hot spot?”

  “Come see for yourself. At this rate the parking lot may turn into the park’s newest geyser.”

  Jason grabbed a sweatshirt and pulled it on.

  “Exciting morning?” Carlene asked.

  “Other than the episode with the grizzly and being tossed into the lake where I was nearly asphyxiated by H2S, pretty typical.” He was grinning.

  “All kidding aside, I’m worried,” Carlene said. She looked up at him. “Everyone says Yellowstone has gone through times like this before, but suppose Sanders is wrong? What if you’re wrong? This thing could blow any minute.”

  He wrapped his arms around her in a friendly bear hug. “It’s happened lots of times, only this time we’re here to make sure it doesn’t hurt anyone. When it gets ready to blow, we’ll have plenty of warning.” He wondered if he was kidding himself. No one had been around to predict the last super volcano to erupt. The so-called experts couldn’t even tell you if it would act like a regular volcano—assuming there was such a thing.

  “You don’t consider this warning enough?”

  He shook his head and patted her back thinking it had been a long time since he’d held someone who depended on him. He’d spent so much of his time dealing with the world around him he’d forgotten how nice it felt holding a woman. Her hair smelled of coconut ... a smell from out of the past.

  She pushed away. “You think we’ll be all right then.” Looking up at his dark eyes she saw a pained look. On his face a shadow of stubble, hair wet and plastered to the sides of his head, still he was handsome.

  “No problem,” Jason said, but he didn’t sound all that certain.

  Jason silently stared at the computer screen, looking at the image of the hot spot. It was generated by half a dozen tilt meters set in concrete footings strategically placed within the Norris Basin. They monitored the slightest ground movement and could pinpoint within a few millimeters if the ground was rising, falling, or shifting in any direction. He’d never seen this broad of an area rising at once. Additional data from previous earthquakes showed the shock-waves slowing as they passed through the hot spot, a sure sign something other than solid ground was under the dome. But what was it? Magma had a slightly different signature; this appeared to be less dense. Water? Gas? Neither gave him comfort.

  “What is it?” Carlene finally asked.

  “Movement in another area. We have more to be concerned about than what Bainbridge originally thought.”

  “You’ll have to explain that again.”

  “Bainbridge was going on the assumption that Mallard Lake and Sour Creek domes would fracture causing the release of the magma under them. Previous earthquakes bore him out. Now we have a bigger problem.”

  “Bigger. What could be bigger?”

  “The latest data shows another area in the caldera rising rapidly. If it’s filled with gas it could be worse than Bainbridge ever imagined.”

  Carlene came over and stared at the screen from behind him. “We�
��ve got to get some help. We can’t sit here and let this happen without warning somebody.”

  “You said you knew someone in the media,” Jason said.

  “Sanders will be furious if we let this out.”

  “It’s already out. The traffic in the park has been light the past few days. People aren’t going to stay around when the ground is shaking every few hours.”

  “I’ve thought about leaving myself,” Carlene said. “But Billy is somewhere traipsing around the park.”

  “Your brother?”

  “I told him not to come, but he’s at that age.”

  Jason rolled his chair back and stood. “I don’t think there’s a lot to be worried about just yet. When is he due out?” He tried to sound comforting, all the while feeling like time was running out.

  “I don’t even know where he is. They’ve been gone for a few days, according to Mama.” Her lips trembled. “She thinks I’m watching out for him.”

  “I’ll alert the rangers. Have them keep an eye out for him. What kind of car was he driving?”

  Carlene filled him in and thanked him for his concern.

  Jason closed the laptop. “I know it’s tough, but we need to ride this out for awhile.”

  “What good is it doing? We sit up here trying to gather data while Sanders keeps us from calling an alert. There’s a steam vent in the parking lot. How much more does he need!” She tightened her lips fighting to maintain composure.

  “You said you knew someone. Who is it? Maybe they can help.”

  Carlene brightened up. “You ever heard of Branson Lake.”

  “Who?”

  “Senator Branson Lake ... from Wyoming. He’s running for President against Turner. Don’t you watch the news?”

  Jason was skeptical. “You know a senator...right.”