Abagail
New York Harbor
7 A.M
Nolan Drake finally snapped out of his nightmarish slumber and read the faltering red digits on his alarm clock. Before he could place his tired feet on his wooden bedroom floor, his cell phone started to sound off.
Stretching his weary frame over the length of the king-sized mattress, Nolan reached the cell in time to flip it open and hear Timmy’s voice booming over the line.
“What is it Timmy?” Nolan asked, still rubbing the sandy residue from the corners of his eye.”Slow down, take a deep breath, and start from the beginning.”
“It’s time,” Timmy stated flatly.
Nolan stopped, letting the information twist his insides into knots.”Is her stomachache ready to blow?”
“Yes. The rioting tremors are increasing and the director wants you here right now.”
“I’m on my way,” Nolan said. Flipping the phone closed, he stumbled to the bathroom, and quickly doused himself in shaving cream, and applied the razor to his bristly beard. . He then rubbed his face vigorously with warm water, trying to eliminate the previous night’s accumulated crud and his own apprehensions.
Commander Thaddeus Kaspar stepped out of the limousine and headed right towards the gathering crowd lingering outside Blakely Aeronautics on the New York Harbor.
“Where is he?” he demanded.”Where is Adrian Blakely?”
“I am here,” Adrian responded, pushing his way through his assembled team.
“I didn’t appreciate your arrogant demeanor last night,” Kaspar snapped, his arms folded tightly against his chest.
“Ah, the pressure. Let bygones be bygones.” Adrian reached out to shake the commander’s hand.
Kaspar shrugged off the lame gesture.”I fly the ship.”
“I built the ship,” Adrian fired back.
“Boys, boys, boys,” Gillian said, as she turned around.”I enjoy a great pissing contest like anyone else, but we have more important issues at hand here, and comparing our dicks will not get us airborne any quicker.”
“I like her. She sits next to me in cockpit.” Kaspar nodded and leered at Gillian’s.
Adrian ignored the Russian and caught sight of Ulysses and Philene approaching. When they were settled, he addressed the group.
“Now that I have everyone here...” Adrian began,”I... have deposited the other half of your money into your accounts and everything is in order.”
“Excellent.” Seth eagerly picked up his cargo gear.
“Follow me, please.” Adrian gingerly walked into the warehouse and the team followed.
“So, where’s this so-called spaceship?” Kaspar inquired.
“You mean ‘Father’s Joy’?” Gillian snidely answered back.
“Patience.” Adrian leaned up against the elevator and pressed the red button.
“It’s in the elevator?” Kaspar quipped”That’s a mighty small ship.”
“It is underneath the warehouse, in a specially designed room.” Adrian allowed his visitors to swarm into the elevator, complete with their packed gear.
“Underground,” Seth whispered into Angela’s ear.”This is totally science fiction.”
“It does add some mystery to the whole agenda,” she said.
Gillian examined the red and white well-worn sign that indicated the maximum weight was three thousand pounds.
“That’s a lot of weight,” Gillian said, turning to Adrian.
“It’s a top of the line elevator. This baby’s constructed from titanium alloy steel. We do a lot of export/import of heavy materials through the warehouse.” Adrian rested comfortably on his arm brace, leaning his back against the wall’s brown panel.
“Are we almost there?” Angela prodded.
“We have to go beneath the surface.” Adrian watched the yellow light illuminate each descending floor.”Yes, only a few more levels.”
The elevator finally reached its destination. After a brief pause, the elevator’s silver door’s slid open, revealing a small, lengthy corridor. One single rail of swinging lights illuminated the dark corridor. The old-fashioned lights, bulbs encased in metal cages, swung above in a random pattern, sending flicking strands of light all over the place.
“The cars that travel above us on the city’s streets do rattle these lights about. But, you get used to it.” Adrian led the way down the hallway.
“At the end of the hallway and beyond that door…” Adrian motioned to a mammoth steel door looming ahead”...is a spectacle so overpowering, it will take your breath away.”
“My breath’s fading from this long ass walk,” Seth chirped back, painfully lugging his heavy cargo gear behind him.
Equipment intact, the team finally made their way to the door. Adrian slipped one of his many golden keys into the lock, and turned it, listening as the tumblers rolled around inside. Adrian then placed his hand on the scanner, receiving an instant greeting from the computer.
“Good morning, Adrian.” The computer’s voice was soft and pleasant.
“How 2010,” Gillian said with a wry grin.
“Good morning,” Adrian responded back.
One by one the mechanisms within the mighty door twisted, making several clacking noises, until the process eventually unlocked the door.
Adrian proudly nudged the door open, just a crack.
“Are we ready?” He asked his waiting team.
“Nolan,” the park’s director said.”Please, come in.”
“I understand we have a situation here,.” Nolan passed by the chair and walked right up the desk.
“Unfortunately, our latest study has pinpointed her eruption.”
“When will that be, Director?” Nolan asked.
“In under four hours,” Director Samson replied.”I’m betting my entire 401k on it.”
Raul Samson’s body work was nothing short of brilliant. His sculpted physique from years of strenuous exercise had left him well suited for this position, where frequent field work was necessary.
He was the forerunner in the field of volcanoes. He single-handedly taught Nolan Drake everything he knew. Samson was there when Mt. Rainier in Seattle exploded almost two decades ago, wiping out the surrounding towns and smothering Seattle in mud flats. Through his knowledge and gut instinct, the city of Seattle and her surrounding areas were well prepared for the mountain’s devastating eruption.
“I remember back in 2019, when Seattle’s baby blew her top,” Nolan said, fondly remembering the historic event.”You were like a knight in shining armor.”
“I was only doing my job, Nolan.” Samson turned around and looked out his office window.”I still have scars from that day.” Samson’s entire left side was scarred from the spraying lava that had caught him by surprise. A forceful rumble from below had knocked the expert volcanologist to the ground, ripping his protective gear on the jagged rocks. After the initial lava spray, Samson was caught inside the fiery circle, unable to escape.”I remember you saved my life that day.”
“Yeah, it was nothing.”
“Your balls were so big, I could hear them clang together.” Samson smiled, but it faded as he watched the beautiful park from his window.”You know, I can see Old Faithful from here.”
“That where she will erupt?” Nolan asked.
“My information says there is a ninety percent chance of that.”
“You’ve never been wrong before.”
“Oh, sure I have. You just weren’t privy to that information at the time.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“Fly up there with Timmy, and get me the latest thermal images.” Samson turned back with a grin.”If anything goes hinky on you, get the fuck out of dodge ASAP. When she blows, you will have a minimal window of escape before becoming ash yourself.” Samson flexed his arms and cracked his knuckles together.
“What about the tourists?”
“I have that covered. Several of my men are setting up roadblocks, stating Old Fa
ithful’s undergoing immediate construction.”
“That won’t keep them all away.”
“I don’t have enough manpower to close the entire park.” Samson pressed his knuckles together once again, cracking every single one in succession.
“Let me call the president,” Drake offered.
“By the time he arranges the National Guard to get here, it will be too late. All lives will be lost. He’s best suited at mounting defenses for Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Ohio, and Montana.” Samson rubbed his face and sighed.
“I’ll gather my things and leave immediately,” Nolan responded.
“We probably won’t survive this,” Samson said with a firm glare.
“Probably not.”
“But, we will go down fighting.” Samson’s exuberance was infectious. He always rallied the team and had his men raring to go.”You will have maybe a five minute window before the eruption consumes everything. If you are caught inside the eruption, you’ll be toast.”
“Right down to the bitter end.” Nolan felt the conviction right down to his toes.”Good luck, sir.”
“Godspeed to you, my old friend.”
Nolan left the office and waved for Timmy to come over.
“We’re going airborne.” Nolan pointed over at Old Faithful.
“Is that ground zero?”
“Samson’s ninety percent sure that’s where she’ll erupt. We need to gather the latest thermal images so we can counter the explosion.”
“I don’t believe anyone will be able to stop it.” Timmy followed Nolan back to the car.
“Probably not, but I’d like to put one hell of a dent into her armor.”
There she sat, docked and ready for her inaugural mission. Waiting for her crew. A dazzling spectacle of world-class machinery. The ship towered over the gathering crowd in silvery delight. She was easily the size of the world’s largest aircraft carrier. Starboard to bow, this ship had it all. From several detachable cargo bays, to a kitchen the size of a football field, stasis chambers, and a fully interactive cockpit, which would limit the pilot’s margin of error. In black letters across the back of the ship, her name was etched into the steel and titanium: Abagail.
A rush of excitement swept over the team.
“Isn’t she a beauty?” Adrian gingerly walked over to his prized possession. He rested himself on his arm brace while he searched inside his coat pocket for the ‘keys’ to the ship.
“She is definitely amazing.” Gillian looked at the spacecraft with awe in her face.
Seth and Angela walked around the mammoth carrier and Seth reached out to caress the outside panel of the Abagail. Angela followed suit. Both looked entrapped by her sheer beauty.
“I like.” Commander Kaspar smiled.
“Yeah, we did all right by her,” Ulysses added.
Adrian pressed a button on his digital remote control, watching the hatch slowly open to the team.”Let’s board and prepare for our flight.” He was the first to step inside the Abagail’s waiting dock.
He scanned the enormous room inside Abagail. It housed several hundred crates of dried food, water, supplies, weapons, magazines, anything and everything they would need to survive out in the realm of space during a lengthy mission.
Adrian impatiently waited for the rest to saunter into the dock.
“In here…” Adrian began when they were all in,”…we have several hundred crates of supplies.”
“Cool.” Seth scanned the vast cargo hold.
“We will take a quick tour before lift-off,” Adrian informed the crowd.
“When will that be?” Gillian asked.
“Within the hour.”
“We can’t possibly tour this entire vessel in under an hour,” Kaspar said.
“We can tour the other areas while we’re in flight.” Adrian turned and pressed the button on the left side of the hatch, closing it. “Does that jive with everyone?”
A nervous collective chatter settled over the group.
“Okay, I promise, once we’re safely on our way, I’ll give everyone the four-star treatment. But, I tend to be a bit compulsive when it comes to time, and time is one luxury we can’t afford right now. It does us no good if that volcano erupts and kills everyone here while we’re all concerned about where the bathroom or the kitchen is located.” Adrian moved across the docking area, and headed straight for the other side of the room.
“I made every lock in this ship specific to my own DNA,” he continued. “Commander Kaspar is my second in command and he also has DNA specific abilities when it comes to utilizing the ship’s controls and mechanisms.”
“Is that wise?” Philene asked. She had otherwise remained quiet, lurking in the shadows of the group, taking the atmosphere in.
“If something should happen to me, then Commander Kaspar will assume all duties,” Adrian replied.
Philene apparently wasn’t appeased.”And, what if the two of you are incapacitated or…?”
“That won’t happen, I assure you,” Adrian snapped.
“Prick,” she muttered under her breath.
Adrian ignored the comment and motioned to his right.”Now, down this corridor is the control room where Commander Kaspar will pilot my ship.” Adrian led the team through the dock’s door and into a cramped hallway.”I’ve made everything pretty much specific to our needs. On this end of the ship, are the virtual cockpit, communications outpost, laboratory, and research center.”
Philene let off a snide retort.”What’s in the ass of Abagail?”
“That’s where you will sleep.” Adrian rolled his dark eyeballs.
“How cozy. Cramped in the ass of a ship.” Philene clacked her tongue.
Angela, Seth, and Gillian covered their mouths in an attempt to hide their rising chortles.
“The sleeping quarters, stasis chambers, cafeteria, showers, restrooms, game room, and conference center are located in the back of the ship.” Adrian turned around and motioned down the other end of the hall.”Each of you will have lockers where you can store your personal belongings.”
“And what about the cryogenic room?” Philene asked.
“My, my, what a studious lady you are.”
“I take it we will be frozen for the bulk of the trip, since it takes about eight years to get there,” Philene replied, not rising to the condescension.
“The Abagail will get us there in four, and yes, the cryogenic chambers are also located in the rear of the vessel. I had them personally designed for the ultimate comfort and luxury. Space travel at its commercialized pinnacle.”
“This isn’t a carnival ride, it’s a life or death mission.” Gillian raised her brows.
“I want my team to be relaxed and ready to work once we dock at the space station.”
“I can’t argue with that logic,” Seth said.
“So, let’s store our gear and prepare for Europa.”
Without waiting for a reply, Adrian walked down the hall and came across the lockers, eventually finding his own. His fingers nimbly dialed the old-fashioned red and black padlock, turning it until it clicked open. He withdrew a slim pair of sunglasses and slid them over his dark eyes.”Feel free to look around.”
“What’re the shades for?” Seth asked him.
“My eyes are sensitive to the sun,” Adrian quipped back.”Plus, I look cooler.”
“You definitely have some issues to work out,” Seth said.
“Don’t we all, Dr. Padgett. Don’t we all.” Adrian closed his locker and turned around, putting all of his weight on his arm brace.
Carl had the helicopter ready to embark and Nolan and Timmy boarded. Timmy filed into the rear with the equipment, finding a cozy spot on the bench.
“Carl,” Nolan said to his old friend as he climbed into the cockpit.
“Gentlemen,” Carl replied.
Timmy started to buckle himself into the cushy back seat.
“Where are we flying today?” Carl flicked a toggle on the switchboard, listen
ing with earnest as his chopper roared to life underneath the din of rotor noise.
Nolan gazed out of the monstrous windshield.”Old Faithful. Samson needs geothermal readings, before this baby explodes sky high.”
“I heard through the water cooler that he has already begun preliminary measures to evacuate the park,” Timmy added while he fiddled with his jacket’s buttons.
“Samson wants to ensure the safety of everyone involved.” Nolan turned around.”We follow everything to a T.”
“Is that why he sent you up in the helicopter on the eve of the most historical explosion ever?”
“My job is to study volcanoes. Sometimes that means getting down and dirty with Mother Nature’s temperamental offspring.” Nolan cracked a quick grin.
“Well, you better get your equipment ready,” Carl said while he hovered over the targeted area.”Mother Nature’s time-out in the corner is almost over.”
“Carl made a joke.” Nolan grinned.”Hey Timmy, Carl’s trying his hand at comedy now. I guess we’ll all need another job after today.”
The crowd of people gazed up at the shadowy sky as the large red and silver chopper hovered above Old Faithful.
“What is that?” one of the tourists chattered amongst her group.
“I don’t know,” replied another from the rear.
“Do you feel that tremble?” someone else asked.
The gathering tourists could feel the Earth beneath their feet rumble.
“Something doesn’t feel right,” one of the men whispered into his blond girlfriend’s ears.
“It feels like the night you made the earth move, handsome,” she cooed back.”Just enjoy the moment. Old Faithful’s about to explode.”
The crowd watched the infamous geyser, ready for the magnificent show.
Nolan tapped the geo-thermal device.”This can’t be right.”
“What can’t?” Carl’s voice sounded like he was chewing on marbles underneath the whirring noise of the rotors.
“I’m getting very high thermal readings, which would suggest that the lava is very close to the surface. We don’t have four hours. We’re minutes away from the eruption. Guys, we are about to witness ground zero.” Nolan looked down on the innocent tourists, who were unaware of their impending deaths. “Carl, get this bird outta here!” Nolan urged.
Rise of the Carnelians (Europa) Page 6
