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Authors: Lauraine Snelling
Tags: Contemporary
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wanted more
, her inner voice chided.
Well, you sure got what you wanted. More headaches, more sex, more money, more …
The tone dripped acid. She shrugged. Well, the fame and money part weren’t so bad. Just the garbage that went along with it.
Her monosyllabic reply effectively cut him off. Jenn knew he could feel the distance she threw between them with that one word. He turned his full attention back to his flying and the mountain.
The view from above and to the north gave them direct access to the crater. As Jenn refocused her camera, the upper side crumbled in on itself. An ice-and-rock avalanche sent steam and ash billowing upward. The plane bucked in the pressure change. She sucked in her breath at the sheer magnificence of the glistening gash and the boiling turbulence. Her automatic fingers kept the camera clicking throughout.
“That’ll be some footage.” Mitch had the plane under control again, his hands and feet as automatic on the controls as hers had been on the camera.
Jenn leaned back against the seat, a sense of awe robbing her of speech. Her fingers dug again in the pack for film. For a moment she had glimpsed a minute portion of the power smoldering below her.
The flight back to Vancouver passed without comment until Mitch banked for his approach.
“She’s really going to blow, isn’t she?” Jenn hardly recognized her voice. It was as if the power captured beneath ice and rock had stolen any energy she had left.
“What?” Mitch hollered above the whine of the engine.
Jenn shook her head. Maybe by the time they left the plane, she’d be in control again. Right now she wasn’t sure if she wanted to weep or rage. Or maybe both.
What in heaven’s name is going to happen to my mountain?
T he waves were so continuous she could no longer distinguish one from another. She shuddered from the onslaught, remembered the sensations from centuries before only too well. Her sense of control shifted with the cavernous roiling inside. Perhaps if she remained calm she could circumvent the natural sequence. She knew about change, and its inevitability, but like the flurry of activity by those around her, she tried to maintain control. No, she had done all she could do to withhold the fiery force within her, the liquid magma rising like bile. It was her time.
M AY 11, 1980
H arvey felt the load shift.
How easy it would be
, he thought as his body automatically compensated with both foot and hand motions to keep the rig under control. He shifted down, the growl of the gears filling the eighteen-wheeler cab. He’d been watching for just the perfect place. He couldn’t afford an injury, so the drop-off had to be steep, a sharp curve to miss so the weight of the load would carry him over.
Lissa would have her surgery.
But he’d needed several paychecks first, money to tide his family over until the insurance came through. He knew there would be inquiries; the insurance companies would fight those claims every step of the way. That’s why there could be no doubt that it had been an accident.
He thought of the horror stories he’d heard down at the Castle Rock Café. Tales of disaster when logs took trucks out, drivers who’d maybe had one too many. Well, no chance of that. He’d not had a drink since he got here. No matter how the guys teased him, he always ordered a plain Coke,no ice. He’d forced himself to hang around the bar a couple of times, just so no one would accuse him of being a loner. Oh yes, he’d thought of all the angles. Now just to locate the perfect place.
He checked both directions as he pulled out on Highway 504. It was a habit because no one but loggers and the scientific research teams were allowed in the red zone. In fact, the loggers had just been given permits to haul again, since the mountain had been quiet for the last couple of weeks. He slipped through the gears easily and sped down the road. Asphalt was a treat after the switchbacks on the rutted logging tracks.
, her inner voice chided.
Well, you sure got what you wanted. More headaches, more sex, more money, more …
The tone dripped acid. She shrugged. Well, the fame and money part weren’t so bad. Just the garbage that went along with it.
Her monosyllabic reply effectively cut him off. Jenn knew he could feel the distance she threw between them with that one word. He turned his full attention back to his flying and the mountain.
The view from above and to the north gave them direct access to the crater. As Jenn refocused her camera, the upper side crumbled in on itself. An ice-and-rock avalanche sent steam and ash billowing upward. The plane bucked in the pressure change. She sucked in her breath at the sheer magnificence of the glistening gash and the boiling turbulence. Her automatic fingers kept the camera clicking throughout.
“That’ll be some footage.” Mitch had the plane under control again, his hands and feet as automatic on the controls as hers had been on the camera.
Jenn leaned back against the seat, a sense of awe robbing her of speech. Her fingers dug again in the pack for film. For a moment she had glimpsed a minute portion of the power smoldering below her.
The flight back to Vancouver passed without comment until Mitch banked for his approach.
“She’s really going to blow, isn’t she?” Jenn hardly recognized her voice. It was as if the power captured beneath ice and rock had stolen any energy she had left.
“What?” Mitch hollered above the whine of the engine.
Jenn shook her head. Maybe by the time they left the plane, she’d be in control again. Right now she wasn’t sure if she wanted to weep or rage. Or maybe both.
What in heaven’s name is going to happen to my mountain?
T he waves were so continuous she could no longer distinguish one from another. She shuddered from the onslaught, remembered the sensations from centuries before only too well. Her sense of control shifted with the cavernous roiling inside. Perhaps if she remained calm she could circumvent the natural sequence. She knew about change, and its inevitability, but like the flurry of activity by those around her, she tried to maintain control. No, she had done all she could do to withhold the fiery force within her, the liquid magma rising like bile. It was her time.
M AY 11, 1980
H arvey felt the load shift.
How easy it would be
, he thought as his body automatically compensated with both foot and hand motions to keep the rig under control. He shifted down, the growl of the gears filling the eighteen-wheeler cab. He’d been watching for just the perfect place. He couldn’t afford an injury, so the drop-off had to be steep, a sharp curve to miss so the weight of the load would carry him over.
Lissa would have her surgery.
But he’d needed several paychecks first, money to tide his family over until the insurance came through. He knew there would be inquiries; the insurance companies would fight those claims every step of the way. That’s why there could be no doubt that it had been an accident.
He thought of the horror stories he’d heard down at the Castle Rock Café. Tales of disaster when logs took trucks out, drivers who’d maybe had one too many. Well, no chance of that. He’d not had a drink since he got here. No matter how the guys teased him, he always ordered a plain Coke,no ice. He’d forced himself to hang around the bar a couple of times, just so no one would accuse him of being a loner. Oh yes, he’d thought of all the angles. Now just to locate the perfect place.
He checked both directions as he pulled out on Highway 504. It was a habit because no one but loggers and the scientific research teams were allowed in the red zone. In fact, the loggers had just been given permits to haul again, since the mountain had been quiet for the last couple of weeks. He slipped through the gears easily and sped down the road. Asphalt was a treat after the switchbacks on the rutted logging tracks.
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