Nick fingered his moustache. ‘Which means hydrothermal activity is on the move and increasing under the Myrdalsjokull Glacier, a clear sign Katla is warming up for an eruption.’
‘Yeah. Just another nail in the coffin’ Jeremy said. ‘Bergsson says she’s one of the most feared volcanoes. He flew over her recently and agreed she’s going to erupt.’
‘He’s that professor of geophysics at the Iceland Uni isn’t he?’ Nick squinted at the small text on the display. ‘I heard he’s the best.’
‘Yeah. I don’t think anyone would question him.’
‘That explains why Wolf’s so hyped up.’ Nick said.
Jeremy narrowed his toady eyes. ‘What’s Iceland got to do with it? That’s a long way from Unimak.’
‘I know, but it’s an indicator of more trouble in the North Atlantic Ocean, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard Wolf so rattled. He practically begged me to get up there.’
‘What! Are we’re going?’
‘Hell yeah, let’s get among the action.’ Nicked cracked a wide grin. ‘I asked Wolf to send you some info.’
Jeremy turned to another display. ‘I’m getting good readings from the seismic sensor below, so it’s working okay after that tremor.’ His voice raised in pitch. ‘That means we can leave anytime.’
Nick surveyed the room, and until now the other members of his team has remained silent, awaiting his orders. ‘I want an update on all the active volcanoes, so get to it boys. Keep Wolf informed until we get there.’ Nick gave Jeremy the thumbs up and strolled out onto the deck. The waters here were calm and the Navilon hood was open, so he leaned over the rail and gazed at the cobalt sea below. The soft slap of the ocean against the navy blue hull normally eased his mood, but not this time. A new anxiety pervaded his bones as he considered the ramifications of Wolf’s call.
Things were not shaping up for a congenial outcome. This investigation was turning sour and the crew won’t be happy about going to the cold country this time of year, and cold it will be, despite global warming, it’s still one of the coldest places on earth. Nick knew Sam will be disappointed, he enjoyed the endless summer of the tropics, and had planned to cool his heels in Tahiti while Nick grabbed a chance to fly home for a few days, something he hadn’t done in a long time. That would have to wait. Nick hated to let the men down, most of all Sam who had given his life to the job, he had deserved that break. His chewed his bottom lip and swallowed hard to push down the cork stuck in his neck, before leaning into the wheelhouse on the bridge. ‘We’re going north to Alaska Sam! Get underway when you can.’
Sam screwed up his face and his big lips formed a pinched circle. ‘Pffff. Are you jivin? A spring vacation in Alaska? Man that’s a switch from Tahiti. I’ll bet there’ll be some interestin’ sights up there.’ His mind was unable to relinquish the images of exotic island girls. ‘Cuddlin’ up to a polar bear beats warm tropical nights – I’m sure!’ He added without humour.
‘Yeah. If you can find one of them,’ Nick added.
The twelve day trip north proved uneventful, broken only by a busy day in Hawaii, and the weather remained moderate with even swells. Wolf had relayed the promised information, and Nick, despite growing more worried managed to catch up on some rest, whilst Jeremy had spent most of the journey running calculations on his computers and following the readings from the ERS2.
Using radar interferometry they were able to view changes and movement below the earth’s surface by observing the fringes of the images projected from fourteen satellites in space. The ERS proved a reliable tool in predicting earthquakes, and it was this equipment that first alerted Nick to the unusual patterns in the area surrounding Hawaii and Tahiti.
They knew they were nearing the Aleutian Islands and their destination of Unimak, when two days out the weather took a turn for the worst, and the crew readied their wet weather clothing.
Once the Navilon hood was opened, foam would slush across the deck like snow until it became a no-go zone. Grim faced men hauled out safety harnesses and hung them by the exit doors, as no-one had to be told of the dangers of falling overboard in the icy sea.
Clouds deepened and a heavy leaden hue pulled a curtain over the light from the sky. Nick and Sam peered through the wheelhouse window at a sea that had been growing more angry by the hour. Frosty white caps fringed the tops of the black waves as they peaked and sloughed into deep troughs, and the biting northerly wind whipped the ship in it’s a nasty frenzy. The island loomed ahead like a misty dark grey fortress, bleak and barren with little vegetation visible. Nothing but a formidable coastline of blackish blue rocks, dominated by the Shishaldon Volcano towering over the ice-locked reaches, it’s elongated fingers of cooled lava threatening to call out it’s fire demons any moment. It was a dramatic, chilling contrast to Tahiti.
Once suited up the men moved to the exit and Sam opened the rear section of the Navilon hood. Dimethyl sulphide, the distinctive smell of the ocean hit their senses like a sledge hammer. Sam hugged his elbows. ‘Man o’man! Who’d want t’ live in this mis’rable place? I’d forgotten what it’s like to be cold, it’s still bloody freezing here.’
Nick cupped his hands to his mouth and puffed a stream of warm air over his tingling fingertips. ‘Beats me. Even the Russians hate it! They call it the Roof of Hell because of all the active volcanoes. There’s so many here, and any one of them could blow this end of the world apart. Arhh…you reckon this’s freezing, you should’ve been here five years ago, it’s warmed some since then.’
Wolf had warned them the landing wharf at Unimak had broken up last year, and getting onto the island in one piece was going to be a challenge. Sam anchored the Platypus well offshore where she would be safe, while Nick and Jeremy prepared to go ashore in the rib, leaving Sam and Beau on board with the crew to look after the ship. The sight of them in their heavy clothing and life jackets drew a full throttled laugh from Sam. ‘Man, you two look like the Bridgestone man. You’ll drown if you fall in the water wearing all that gear.’
‘I’ll risk it.’ Nick grinned and slapped his sides. ‘Like you said, it’s bloody freezing mate.’
The port and starboard gangplanks were stowed flush to the bulwark, in a weather skirt pocket on each side of the ship, and were activated by a switch on the deck rail that swung them out and down to the water, locking them in place beside the hull.
They looked down this gangplank to the bouncing rib waiting below. From this point the rib looked fragile, and not something equipped to battle these seas. Jeremy paled and stepped back.
‘I’ll go first.’ Nick offered. ‘You be okay?’
‘Sure, piece of cake’ Jeremy swallowed hard and frowned as a crew member took Nick’s arm to guide him onto the steep gangplank.
The angry sea whipped the rib back and forth, and the crew member sitting by the centre console bowed his head as he grappled with the wheel to keep her steady. Foam billowed over his head, dripping over his oilskins in large blobs. Nick jumped in without hesitation and scrambled into his place behind the centre console. He looked up and waved to Sam above as Jeremy leapt in after him. The second the men were aboard the crew member gunned the two powerful outboard motors and spun the rib away from the ship with an expert thrust, and they headed for the ironbound coast.
Danger was ever present, the shore was gouged and jagged by constant surges that pounded and eroded the coastline endlessly. In the hands of an unskilled boatman the rib could easily have capsized on the treacherous rocks, but this crew member knew his job and he guided them through the menacing gauntlet to safety without mishap.