Europa
Rise of the Carnelians
Jason Gehlert
Stonegarden.net Publishing
http://www.stonegarden.net
Reading from a different angle.
California, USA
Europa: Rise of the Carnelians Copyright © 2009 Jason Gehlert
ISBN: 1-60076-235-2
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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First StoneGarden.net Publishing paperback printing:
July 2009
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Cover art and design by Peter Joseph Swanson
FORWARD
For the last ten years, I’ve wanted to write a sci-fi novel, and finally came up with the perfect storyline. After months of watching nothing but the Discovery and Science Channels, I fleshed out the storyline to Europa. For the first time, I have included my notes about the main characters of the novel. I wanted to do something different and offer the reader a quick look into these characters as they play out their parts over the course of the story. As I reached the end of the novel, I decided that I will continue Europa as a trilogy. I have such a rich collection of characters, enemies, heroes, and background to stuff it into one book.
So sit back, relax, and follow the adventures of Commander Thaddeus Kaspar and his crew as they try to stave off a sinister alien enemy that threatens not only the team’s lives, but all of mankind’s as well.
Truly yours,
J.G.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book wouldn’t have been possible if not for my eight-week sabbatical, and the love of my twin daughters, Natalie Carolyn and Delanie Grace, who every day remind me of how truly special life can be. Their unparalleled intelligence pretty much flat out scares me. They have taken up writing their own books, complete with illustrations and solid characters. I promised them they would be the first to read Europa, which is NOT werewolves in space, (as my wife alluded to at one time) or werewolf pirates, (as Natalie proudly states) but rather a sprawling science fiction epic that captivates my daughters’ attention and yours as well.
CHARACTERS
PRESIDENT JACKSON FORSYTHE - President Of The United States, son of the late, great Quentin Forsythe who held the key in wiping out a vicious worldwide disease in Africa back in 2003. Early 40’s, 1st African-American president.
NOLAN DRAKE- 45-year-old volcano expert, red hair, intelligent scientist, at times roguish.
COMMANDER THADDEUS KASPAR - Stubborn, cocky, rugged, divorced 40ish pilot of the Abagail. Very courageous, a battler, won’t leave any man behind.
ULYSSES TARRANT - Co-pilot/engineer, mid-50’s, very adept at his work, both mechanical and piloting. Father figure on ship, very opinionated, hates injustice.
SETH PADGETT – Doctor,, top in his field. In his mid-20’s, smart, wise-ass, and very good at his craft. Has spent most of his time at Rollins Hospital in Rhode Island.
GILLIAN”JILL” SHEA - Brilliant geologist/scientist, tough and strict, Irish with red hair, in her early 30’s.
ANGELA NESTOR - Communications expert, early 20’s, knowledgeable in communications. A bit on the shy side. Attends West Point. Her father is a well-known Senator.
DR. PHILENE FANCHON - French archaeologist, early 30’s, black hair, intelligent, loves all of God’s creations, fascinated by ancient relics and cultures.
AND INTRODUCING...
ADRIAN BLAKELY - A shadowy billionaire. Egocentric. Without his money and technology, Earth would be doomed. Late 40’s, failing health due to a rare genetic disease. Does not care about crossing the line between good/evil to gain what he seeks.
WITH
SERGEANT DWIGHT “BUD” STEPHENS- Marine Sergeant, mid 60’s, silver hair, rugged face, a born leader, leading military officer of Athena’s crew.
CARNELIAN’S - A carnivorous, ravenous race found throughout the galaxy and on Jupiter’s moon Europa.
Supporting Cast...
NIGEL BRODY - captain of The Amity. 60’s, well disciplined leader, never leaves his team behind.
MATTHEW SHAW - Lieutenant of the Amity, 50’s, rugged, boorish, expert hunter..
REGGIE HOOPER - 30’s, communications expert, African-American, highly motivated, hyperactive.
ELLEN MICHAELS - 40’s, geologist, only woman on the Amity.
Prologue
University of Colorado
October 23, 2032
For the past ten years, Nolan Drake was a constant bug in the government’s ass.
Over the last decade Drake managed to blaze a trail right through the politicians’ muddied environment and bring them one step closer to realizing the severity of Yellowstone’s eventual eruption. Nolan Drake was a well defined and established volcanologist.
At thirty-one, Drake was nearing the peak of his career. A devoted scholar of the volcano’s intricate design and powerful consequences, Drake had assembled the pertinent data and planned to bombard the politicians with his findings at the annual meeting of the minds in Boulder, Colorado. The University of Colorado sponsored this scholarly meeting of the best and brightest, and offered an invitation to Dr. Nolan Drake. He was one of Denver’s proudest sons, rising through the academia without hitting so much as a speed bump. His world travels had offered him the unique opportunity to gather and formulate a clear idea on when Yellowstone’s super volcano would finally explode.
President-elect John Faulkner would be in attendance as well as the lame-duck president Jonathan Quincy Adams III. Nolan Drake would have to plead his case to John Faulkner. He openly salivated at the possibility of turning the politician to his cause.
Nolan peeked past a side curtain and scanned the seats as the auditorium quickly filled with a diverse crowd of students, professors, politicians, and curious bystanders.
When they were seated, the Dean of the University, Dr. Malcolm Lowell warmed up the audience for Nolan’s entrance. “Ladies and gentleman, today we have our own local treasure, Dr. Nolan Drake at our disposal. His scientific studies on Yellowstone have brought not only local attention, but coaxed president Adams and the president-elect himself to visit our wonderful campus. I now present to you, Dr. Nolan Drake.” Lowell’s voice boomed over the crowed as Drake approached the podium.
“Thank you, Dean Lowell, esteemed colleagues, ladies and gentlemen.” Nolan turned around and found a state-of-the-art Smart Board behind him. He touched the screen and brought up a picture of Yellowstone National Park.”How many in this room actually know the history of Yellowstone?” A small scattering of hands rose with tepid restraint.
“Okay, not a lot. Well, I will fill you in,” Nolan responded with a rush of adrenaline. He lived for these lectures and the chance to show off his knowledge.”I won’t lie to you; the politicians have pushed the importance of volcanic activity so far off the radar, when a super volcano of Yellowstone’s magnitude finally does explode, everyone will be caught with their pants down.” Nolan paused for effect and watched the two presidents for their reaction. Both were scowling, but otherwise quiet.”The truth is,
” Drake continued,”Yellowstone sits atop a highly active super volcano. It is the only super volcano that is not located near a body of water. When she does blue, ground zero will be purged of all living things. The eruption will bury Wyoming, Nebraska, and Montana in one smoking hot mountain of steaming rubble.”
“How do we know when Yellowstone will erupt?” one of the students called out.
“She’s on the clock. She’s overdue for an eruption by about 600,000 to 640,000 years. She has had three explosions, and we are overdue for the next eruption. Her last shot was more than 1,000 cubic kilometers of ash into the atmosphere. This amount can be overwhelming and just enough to completely saturate the United States in one to two meters of ash and debris. The entire Northern Hemisphere would suffer the greatest amount of damage; a nuclear winter would envelop the Earth dropping the global temperature by 5-20 degrees Celsius.”
“We can survive it,” President Adams bellowed. “We are America, we will prevail. That’s what our forefathers did.”
“Yellowstone’s coming eruption will equal that of one-thousand Hiroshima-style atomic bombs detonating per second. Are you ready to mess with something like that?” Nolan asked the crowd.
“Sheer speculation,” President Adams added.
“Actually, the last major super volcanic eruption, 74,000 years ago in Lake Toba, wiped out ninety percent of the population, leaving us with less than a million people alive. Lake Toba shot out 10,000 times more ash and debris than Mount St. Helens did back in 1980. Lake Toba also rose 3,000 cubic kilometers into the atmosphere and covered the entire globe in a nuclear winter, dropping the temperature by fifteen degrees and wiping out crops all over the world.”
“We can’t live in the past,” President Adams challenged.
“After her eruption, Yellowstone’s caldera emptied and has been quietly filling its pocket with magma. Every time we drill an oil well we are dancing with the devil. Some think if we slowly release the pressure inside this caldera, like a balloon, the air will ooze out and problem solved. However, the reverse is true, and according to many of my colleagues the balloon actually resembles that of a gas bubble and once pricked, it will explode on impact in the form of a massive magma eruption.”
Nolan withdrew a green colored marker from the computer’s board.
“In comparing notes taken in 1920, we have found over a 10cm shift in the caldera on the northern end of Yellowstone Lake, submerging the lower half of the tree line into the water on the southern end of the lake.” Nolan drew the numbers on the board.”The magma chamber is 40-50km in length, 10km in thickness, and surprisingly close to the park’s surface.” Drake touched the Smart Board and flipped through several images, some thermal imagery of the magma chamber, and others highlighting an actual eruption taking place.
The crowd swelled with questions for the notable scientist about the park’s impending global disaster. A wave of anxious hands shot up into the air, while voices continued to chatter loudly in between the rows of seats.
Nolan motioned for silence and the crowd quieted.”Here’s more tantalizing tidbits of information for you; after ground zero obliterates everything in its path there is another cycle to realize. This nuclear winter will produce radioactive fallout, since Yellowstone sits above gigantic uranium reserves. Westerly winds will carry this cloud for thousands of miles, killing everything, plants, animals...even humans.”
The entire room bristled at Drake’s chilling words. Their feet danced underneath their seats, constant chattering resumed amongst the crowd, and all the while the student’s concerns were finally realized.
“Wait, it gets worse.” Drake smirked at the crowd. He enjoyed providing sound scientific data for those who were ignorant to the facts.”This ash cloud will bring down not only planes and birds, but will shield us from the sun, instantly putting a wrench into our social and economic wheel of movement plummeting those of us that are left back into the Dark Ages. Everything will cease to function, the entire world as we know it will cease to exist. Yellowstone could wipe out between four and five billion people, smothering the entire world underneath a blanket of death.”
“What can we do?” a student asked.
“Stop drilling, for one. Call off the dogs when it comes to drilling for oil in the park. There are currently over 5,600 oil wells already there. Between 2000-2008, the Bush Administration had successfully drilled an additional 10,000 oil wells in the park’s surrounding area. This reckless action will not only expedite the volcano’s eruption, but could also set off a chain of events along the Cascade Mountain region, where thirteen active volcanoes lie in wait for the kill.”
“I don’t see any reason for concern,” President Adams snapped.”We’ve only had one major eruption on U.S. soil in over forty years.” He was again playing the usual”ignorance is bliss” card. The man irritated Nolan no end.
“It might not happen for another thousand years,” Drake replied.”However, it could erupt tomorrow, next week, or hell, even one second from now. The signs are there; the bulging caldera, the sinking lake, the escalating earthquakes below Yellowstone. Old Faithful’s release of hot steam, which has been on schedule for decades, has now been completely interrupted.” Drake again smoothly ran his finger over the electronic board bringing more images to the stunned crowd. “A nuclear winter is in store. Did you know...?” He paused for impact, and walked across the stage. He was glad he had opted for his baby blue suit and combed his hair. It was something he didn’t do often and he heard about it constantly from his female colleagues.
“Know what?” president-elect Faulkner moved down several rows and started to move in and out of the front rows to get closer to Drake.
“That one of Yellowstone’s previous eruptions had killed several animals near a Nebraska watering hole. Some archaeologists went out to Orchard, Nebraska and uncovered a fossil graveyard. Hundreds of skeletons were found, including horses, lizards, rhinos, and turtles, all in their prime, and all wiped out ten million years ago, coinciding with one of Yellowstone’s one-hundred eruptions. Not only were their bodies covered in a white film, but their deaths have been forensically linked to a lung disorder called Marie’s disease caused by heavy ash inhalation.” Nolan paced about the stage flexing his fingers nervously. “How’s that for a conversation piece at your next power luncheon.”
There was a soft nervous chuckle from the crowd, but president-elect John Faulkner raised his voice.”That’s all well and good, Dr. Nolan, but is there any way of knowing when the volcano will erupt with certainty? Will your research help us prepare for this?”
Nolan rubbed his mouth and studied the man. Nolan had known president-elect John Faulkner for several years, even partaking in his fifty-eighth birthday weeks earlier. Nolan was impressed that Faulkner’s boundless energy rarely complemented his age. Nolan knew he was taking in all this information and processing it with a very shrewd mind. He also knew it was a daunting task. Faulkner was an environmentalist to the nth degree and his campaign was centered on restoring Earth and making the planet a cleaner, healthier place to live. He had engineered many of the country’s homeland programs. He helped rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina wiped out the city back in 2005, and constructed an in-depth hurricane alert program. Since its inception back in 2010, the program had raised reaction to the incoming hurricanes by forty-five percent. Faulkner had also worked closely with NASA and strongly supported their desire to colonize Jupiter’s moon Europa. NASA had built a mammoth space station around Jupiter, which would be completed within four to five years. Nolan Drake would definitely have Faulkner on his side once the Senator from Louisiana took office in a few months.
“We have been making some strides in determining when Yellowstone will finally explode,” Nolan replied.”We have inserted an array of seismographs in and around the park, which offers us an early detection system. My assistants have discovered that chemical change in the lava’s composition, the frequent smattering of small earthquakes, ga
s escaping from the ground, and several cracks found throughout the park, all point to the imminent eruption of Yellowstone.”
“I read that the caldera’s swelling with magma and volcanic gas would also be another warning,” said one of the students.
Drake spotted Faulkner shifting again in the front row. At least he was showing interest, unlike the stick in the mud president the country had been stuck with for the last eight years.
“An excellent observation,” Nolan responded to the student. He knew that this particular graduate, and several others in the crowd, were enrolled in his class at the University. Nolan was glad his students had retained at least some knowledge from his extremely lengthy, yet informative lectures.
The president-elect made his way to the stage with his secret service men close behind.”Dr. Drake,” he said quietly. “I’d like a word.”
Drake knew the lecture was over.
“Thank you, everybody.”
As the crowd left the hall, Nolan touched the intelligent board once more, closing down the pictures and hyper links. Exiting out of the program, he powered down his silver laptop and gathered up the cords.
The president-elect briskly walked up the corner steps of the platform, passed by the microphone, and confronted the scientist.
“Doctor Drake, may I have a word with you please?” he asked.
“Yes, sir.” Drake slipped his laptop back into the black briefcase.
“I’d like to chat with you concerning the possibility of Yellowstone’s eruption.”
“Well, what would you like to know?”
“Do you have a timetable?”
Nolan Drake looked across the scattering crowd and then back at the president-elect. After a brief scratch of his chin, Drake said,”I predict the eruption will happen within the coming decade, and you’d better be ready.” Drake slid the strap of his laptop case over his shoulder and gathered up his stack of disheveled papers.”When she finally does erupt,” Drake added in a low voice as he leaned in closer,”she’s gonna hang one on your chin.”
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