Alex wondered if the epicenter might have been in the park and called his friend. “Hey, Jerry. Did you just have a major seismic event in the park?”
“Not that I’m aware of, but I’m at home right now. Let me call the park headquarters and check. I’ll call you back when I find out.”
“Thanks.”
Halona ran to Fala’s side, while Okana ran up to Judith. He looked at Alex. “What’s going on?”
“I’m not sure. I’m waiting for a call to find out.” As if on cue, his phone rang. “I’m here Jerry.”
“We had a major tremor, but everything seems to be okay. We get them all the time, remember?”
“All right. Thanks.” He grinned at everyone. “It came from Yellowstone, but nothing to worry about.” He looked at Fala. “I guess it was telling me to stop delaying the inevitable and start heading home.”
Fala smiled as she wrapped her arms around Alex’s neck, holding him close. “I’ll be staying here with Judith and Okana for a few more days before going home. We’ll see you next Saturday.”
“I look forward to it.” When he stepped back, Halona was grinning up at him, her arms wide so he could pick her up. He grabbed her under the arms and cradled her on his forearm. “I’ll see you next Saturday.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.” When she wrapped her arms around his neck, he held her close, already missing her. When he set her down, he received a hug from Judith, and then Okana. “Thanks for your hospitality, Judith.”
“You’re always welcomed, Alex. Drive safely.”
I seemed the hardest thing he ever had to do, as he climbed into his SUV and drove away.
* * *
Chapter 26
YELLOWSTONE:
When Jerry arrived at the seismic center Monday morning, Vivian and Paul gave him troubling expressions. “What’s going on?” He asked.
Paul pointed at the monitor. “The GPS unit at the Thumb geyser basin shows a two inch increase in elevation. We’re getting reports from the rangers of unusually violent geyser eruptions, and dozens of burn victims are waiting for transportation to the nearest hospitals.”
“Oh my God! Any idea why this happened?”
Vivian shook her head. “No, but it’s a strange coincidence it started after the tremor yesterday. There has to be a connection.”
They heard the soft beeping from another GPS unit and looked at the monitor. The flashing red light was located on the southeast edge of the park. Another flashing red light appeared on the southern edge of the park, and then another on the northeast edge.
The desk phone began ringing as several touchpad lights began flashing. Vivian pressed the button for the speaker and connected one of the incoming calls. “This is the USGS.”
A panicky voice came from the speaker. “I can see an ash plume about thirty miles east of the park! It looks like a small eruption! What the hell is going on?”
Vivian looked at Jerry. “What do you want me to say?”
Jerry shook his head as he stepped closer to the phone. “We don’t know, but I suggest you leave the area immediately.”
Jerry pressed another button. “USGS.”
“Jerry, it’s Myra. Old faithful is out of control! Dozens of burn victims are overwhelming us in the hotel. We’re not prepared to handle this kind of situation. What’s going on?”
“We don’t know, Myra. It’s happening all over the park. Tell anyone who can drive to take as many people as possible out of the area. I’m closing the park.”
Jerry received a nod from Paul, who grabbed his cell phone to call the park Director. Jerry looked at Vivian. “You handle the incoming calls. I’m calling Alex Cave.”
*
BOZEMAN COLLEGE:
When his cellphone vibrated in his pocket, Alex was in the middle of a discussion with his freshman students and tried to ignore it. When it stopped and began again, he apologized and looked at the caller ID. “What’s going on, Jerry?”
“We’re getting reports from all over the park, Alex. The caldera is becoming active and we can’t figure out why. I need your help.”
“What can I do?”
“Get here as fast as you can so you can see for yourself. It’s too difficult to explain over the phone.”
“I’m on my way.” Alex hung up and looked at his students, wondering what to tell them without causing a panic. “I have an emergency and need to leave. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
As his students began to leave the classroom, Alex locked his desk, grabbed his briefcase, and headed for the parking lot.
*
NEVADA:
When David walked into the hanger, the surface of the sphere shimmered as if turning into a liquid. He took a step back. “Whoa!” He jumped back again as a bald man stepped out of the sphere.
When Paladin stepped out, everything was still the same as before. “Hello, David. We’ve already met. I’m Paladin. Tell me what’s going on right now.”
For a moment, David just stared with his mouth hanging open. “You’re one of the missing crew from the spaceship.”
“No, I’m not. Now tell me what’s happening on this planet right now.”
David wasn’t sure what to say. “Where did you come from?”
“It’s a long story. Where is Alex?”
“Ah, I’m not sure. At the college, I guess. How do you know Alex?”
Paladin sighed with relief. “It must have worked this time. Can you call him to be sure?”
“Yeah, but what do you mean it worked this time?”
“I’ll explain later, now make the call.”
David entered Alex’s number. “What do you want me to say?”
“Ask him if he’s okay.” It took several rings before Alex answered.
“I’m in a hurry right now David, so make it fast.”
“Is everything okay?”
“No, it’s not. How did you know?”
“I didn’t. I was asked to call and find out if you were all right. What’s going on, Alex?”
“Yellowstone is becoming active, so I’m headed to the park to help find out why.”
David looked at Paladin. “He says Yellowstone is active.”
“Tell him he needs to get here right away.”
“I don’t understand. He’s heading to the park to help. That’s where he’s needed right now.”
“Tell him we are sending a helicopter to pick him up before it’s too late.” David just stared back, his bewildered expression asking what was going on. “There is no time to explain. Just tell him, David.”
“Ah, Alex? A helicopter is coming to pick you up and bring you down here to the base.”
“What? Who’s sending a helicopter, and why do I need to go down there?”
“It’s a man from the spaceship. He says he knows you. His name is Mister Paladin.”
“I don’t have time for twenty-one questions, David. I don’t know anyone named Paladin. Did you say from the spaceship?”
“Yeah, he came out of the sphere.”
Paladin held his hand out for the phone and David gave it to him. “There is no time to explain, Alex. You need to trust me on this.”
“Who the hell is this?”
“I’m Paladin, and I’m a time traveler. I’ve seen the future, Alex. An eruption is imminent and you’re the only one who can change the outcome. You need to trust me about this, Alex. When the helicopter arrives, you must leave the area immediately.”
Alex was just pulling up to the seismic activity center at Mammoth Station. “I don’t care who you are. I can’t just leave, damn it. “If you want to save your friend Okana and the woman, you had better do as I ask.”
Alex had just opened the car door, but didn’t get out. “How do you know about my friends? Did David tell you?”
“Like I said. I’m a time traveler. I know all about you and your friends, so do what I ask or everyone you care about will die during the eruption.”
Alex sat in numb
ed silence for a moment, wondering if this person was legitimate. How could he possibly know about my friends? “Tell David I’m at the Mammoth station in the park. He’ll know where it is. Send the helicopter. I’ll be waiting.”
Paladin gave the phone back to David. “Call whoever you need to and send a helicopter to someplace called Mammoth Station in the park.”
The only person David could think of to call was Alex’s friend, Director Donner. He entered the number, wondering how he was going to explain this to the Director of National Security without sounding like a crackpot.
* * *
Chapter 27
YELLOWSTONE:
Jerry turned from the wall monitor when he heard the door open. “I appreciate the help, Alex.” He indicated the monitor. “We’ve just had another eruption north of the park. That makes five. It all started with the tremor yesterday, but it wasn’t powerful enough to start something of this magnitude. None of it makes sense.”
“We knew it was overdue, but you’re right. We would have noticed a steady increase in activity before now.”
“I’ve already started evacuating the park, but these new eruptions are starting to create the zipper effect. I don’t think we have much time left before it erupts.”
Alex suddenly thought about the Okana ranch and moved to another map. Damn! It’s in the blast zone. “If this thing blows, you’re going with it unless you leave right now. There’s nothing you can do to stop it.”
When Jerry turned to look at Vivian and Paul, they shook their heads in agreement so he turned back to Alex. “It’s going to take some time getting five hundred miles from here.”
“I have a helicopter on the way, so it’s settled. Our first stop is Stillwater, Wyoming.”
When Alex tried to call the ranch to warm them, all he heard was static. “Do your land telephones work?”
Jerry shook his head. “Not anymore. Too much static electricity in the air from the eruptions.”
When the building swayed for an instant, Alex motioned toward the door. “It’s getting ready to blow. No sense waiting in here to get crushed.”
As Alex stepped out from the building, the hairs on his arms stood up, and then the ground shifted beneath their feet. Alex grabbed Vivian’s arm as she started to fall, pulling her closer for balance. A deep rumble seemed to hang in the air, drowning out the sound of helicopter blades until it was nearly on top of them.
It only took a moment for them to climb inside, and then the military pilot took off, quickly gaining altitude.
Alex leaned between the front seats. “What are your orders?”
The copilot turned in her seat. “We’re to fly you down to Nevada.”
“We need to make a stop first. Head southeast to Stillwater, Wyoming.”
“I’ve flown over that area. It’s almost on our way.”
“I really appreciate it.”
When Alex turned back around and sat across from Jerry, he noticed his slumped body position and sadness in his eyes. “There was nothing you could have done to stop this, my friend.”
The copilot turned in her seat. “We’re coming up on Stillwater, Mister Cave.”
“Start heading due east. We’re looking for a small ranch.”
When the pilot did as requested, Alex turned forward to look through the front window. In the distance, he could barely see the house. Alex relaxed, knowing he was going to make it in time.
The proximity alarm blared from the speaker just as Vivian gasped. “Look!”
When they looked north through the side window, a roiling cloud of desert sand was rushing in their direction.
The Pilot instinctively gained altitude and swung the helicopter away from the blast wave. When Alex lost sight of the ranch, he knew it was about to be demolished. Every muscle in his body strained against the other as he fought hard to keep his anguish in check. A moment later, he felt the helicopter become level again and stared out the window, desperately hoping something of the ranch remained to save his friends lives.
Once the shock wave had passed, a thick layer of dust settled a few feet above the ground, but there was nothing left standing for miles in all directions. When he suddenly saw a stone chimney, Alex sat up and turned to the co-pilot. “I see something. Turn east.”
She turned in her seat. “Nothing could have survived, Mister Cave.”
“It’s not very far off our course. My family lives there and I have to be sure. Please.”
When the pilot changed direction, Alex stared through the front window trying to locate the chimney again. “Over there just to the north. See the chimney?”
Alex tried hard to suppress his sense of hope when a few moments later the blades swept away the dirt cloud over the house. A corner area of the basement where the floor had collapsed could have been enough to shield anyone from the direct blast.
He turned to the pilot. “Set us down.”
Before the runners touched the ground, Alex leapt out the side door, running toward the basement. “It’s Alex,” he hollered. “Can anyone hear me?”
When no one answered, Alex began ripping away the loose debris leaning against the corner. “Is anyone alive?”
Alex strained to lift a large section of the collapsed floor, but it wouldn’t budge. Suddenly Jerry and Paul were at his side and they flipped it out of the way. When Alex turned back to see what was left, his knees seemed to lose their strength as he slowly slumped to the ground. Pieces of splintered wood were covered in blood, most of them sticking out of the four bodies on the ground.
Alex hardly noticed Vivian rush past him until she was checking for any signs of life. He watched in numbed silence. When she stood to look at him, the look in her eyes told him what he needed to know.
Jerry placed his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “I’m very sorry, Alex.”
Alex regained his composure and stood, but he couldn’t hide his rage. He reached down and grabbed a lose board. “AHHHHH!” he roared as he hurled it into the air. As it left his hand, one nail ripped through his shirt, gouging his skin along the message on his forearm. “Damn!”
As the pain throbbed in his arm, a dark cloud in the back of his mind began to vanish. Suddenly he was nearly overwhelmed by the flood of images racing through his memory. A moment later, everything seemed so apparent as he remembered everything. He looked at Jerry. “Why didn’t it work, Damnit!”
Jerry just stared at Alex. “What didn’t work?”
Alex’s hands clenched into fists. “Never mind. Time to go,” he said as he turned and stomped across to the helicopter.
Once they were airborne, the pilot headed for Salt Lake City to drop off his other passengers.
As the thumping of the rotor blades became hypnotic, Alex felt emotionally drained as he slumped in his chair. A small tear slowly slipped down his cheek as the same question played over, and over in his thoughts. He had taken the radio from Rita as planned, so why didn’t it work?
Before he realized it, the copilot informed them they were approaching the airport. Once Jerry, Vivian, and Paul drove away in a government vehicle, the pilot took off and headed for Area 51.
*
NEVADA:
When Alex stepped out from the helicopter, he saw David waiting for him. “Where’s Paladin?”
“He’s waiting in Lewis’s office with the Doc.”
“I need to make a stop on the way.”
Ten minutes later, Alex walked into the office. “Hello, Paladin.”
“You remember this time. Good.”
Alex rolled up his bloodied sleeve. “I stopped Rita just like we planned, so why didn’t it work?”
“As long as everything revolves around finding and touching the sphere, too many variables come into play, each with a different result.”
“Then how come you can do it with such precision?”
“My suit. It allows me to enter the machine and decide where I need to be.”
Alex opened a plastic bag and tossed the other suit
on the desk.
Paladin stood and grabbed the suit, staring at Alex. “Where did you get this?”
“I found it in the cargo hold of the spaceship. It was occupied at the time.”
“You found the first traveler? Is she okay?”
Alex shook his head. “The body had almost turned to dust and fell through the material when I picked up the suit.”
“It reacts to living tissue. She was the first traveler. We sent her back to find out what happened, and if possible, retrieve the advanced technology we left behind.”
“You mean the spaceship and the devices?”
“And much more. When we learned to control gravity for our spacecraft, we also discovered it was the way to make time travel possible. When we were forced to leave this planet so suddenly, we left most of our technology behind. We were hoping to return once the devices cleaned the atmosphere, but when we lost contact with the ship, we knew something went wrong. The distance from our new planet to this one takes several hundred years and requires our people to be put into stasis for the trip. Once we discovered a way to travel through time, we sent the first traveler, but when she failed to return, I came here to find out why.” He held the suit out to Alex. “See if it fits.”
“It will. What have you got in mind?”
“Wearing the suit will allow you to arrive at a specific place and time and still remember the mission.”
David reached out and touched the suit. “That’s nice material. You said she was the first time traveler. What happened?”
“She went back in time to learn what happened to the ship you found. She never returned to our time period. It took us years to get it right.”
Alex took the suit. “If I’m going to do this right this time, I need a plan for when I come out. Preferably someplace where I can change into normal clothes.”
Henry sat up in his chair. “Everything was set in motion once Mystic activated the device, so we need to make the change before then.”
Paladin knew Henry was correct. “Destinations in time travel are determined by a specific event. When Alex first touched the sphere, it was a specific event. Also, the first moment the device was activated is also a specific event. You must change the order of events just prior to the activation, or a similar time line will be set in motion.”
The Alex Cave Series. Books 1, 2, & 3.: Box set Page 77
