“Okay, I can figure that in,” Jason said. “A small tsunami might be affected by them, but if we’re looking at the tsunami from the Cascadia Subduction Zone, then no, they wouldn’t make a difference.”
“But they’re really large rocks,” Willa replied, wondering exactly what Jason was thinking.
“Relative to a hundred foot tsunami, they’re not that big.”
Willa looked at the Three Sentinels and tried to imagine a wave that was that much higher than the Sentinels were. It was a frightening thought. “So what does it look like?” she asked.
“I don’t know yet,” he replied. “The Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup was focused more on rebuilding towns that have been destroyed. The working premise was that every town directly on the coast would be a total loss.”
Willa suddenly felt her knees weaken. She reached out to the railing for support. “What about the people?”
Jason turned to her. “That’s where I hope to make a difference.”
Saturday morning Willa checked her outfit in the mirror four times before deciding on the blue dress. She poured a cup of coffee that she couldn’t finish and skipped breakfast altogether. She felt like a nervous wreck. She held her hands out in front of her and watched her fingers to see how badly they were shaking. God, what are people going to think of all this?
“You can do this,” she said to herself. She looked in the mirror one more time, turning slightly to the right and then to the left. God, why on my watch?
People had arrived at the town movie theater early. Some had gone inside and taken seats. Some appeared to be too nervous to go inside at all. Willa watched their expressions, which ranged from worried to terrified. She felt encouraged by the number of people who looked only worried.
“Look,” she said to the group of people standing outside the theater. “I’m very worried too, but we’re better off knowing what could really happen rather than letting our imagination run away with us, or worse yet, ignoring something that is life threatening.” She looked at their expressions, searching for some sign of agreement.
“It’s a waste of time.” Frank Gillis said in a loud voice. “I looked it up. The Cascadia Fault ruptures only every 400 to 700 years. The last time was only 300 years ago. Nothing’s going to happen in our lifetime, so save your time and stop worrying. Go home.”
“Everyone on the coast knows this is a threat,” Willa replied, facing Frank. “We need to know exactly how big that threat is and exactly what could happen.”
“Could happen, but won’t,” Frank said.
“You don’t know that,” Willa shot back.
“You don’t know that it will,” Frank retorted.
Willa and Frank stood nose to nose, fuming at one another.
“Would it hurt to take a look?” Jason said calmly. Willa and Frank turned their angry expressions on Jason. “Come on,” Jason cajoled, “is a ten minute look going to kill anyone?”
Willa softened her expression and looked around. “We need to see what Jason has.” She walked around Jason and into the theater. Frank simply scoffed, turned and walked away. Some of the people followed Willa into the movie theater and some turned away and went home.
Jason waved Willa over toward him. “What Frank said is the popular notion of the time between major earthquakes of the Cascadia Subduction Zone, but if you go back over the last ten thousand years and look at the core samples from the most recent research, you’ll find there have been forty-one major earthquakes during that time. That averages out to two hundred thirty nine point nine years in between earthquakes. We’re currently at three hundred and thirteen years since the last major event, so we’re actually overdue for a major quake.”
“So there really is some scientific basis for what you are doing.” Willa replied. “Not just the un-natural pattern you see?”
“There is,” Jason said, “I just don’t want to turn this into a fear mongering session. I’d rather have people feel confident in their preparations than frozen in fear.”
“Okay,” Willa said, realizing the danger Dolphin Beach faced. Now, she was more nervous than before. She just hoped she could get through this presentation without her feelings locking up inside of her and freezing her into inaction. Willa waited as Jason made some last-minute adjustments to his equipment. When he was ready, he looked at her and nodded. Willa stepped to the center of the small stage at the front of the theater.
“Thank you for attending this presentation,” Willa began. “I know this is a contentious issue.” She looked around. To her surprise the theater was mostly full. “Jason Roberts is from the California Institute of Technology and is an expert on the Cascadia Subduction Zone that runs along the Pacific Northwest coastline. He is also an expert on buildings, their structure, and what happens to buildings during an earthquake. Will you please welcome Jason Roberts?”
The applause was sparse and unenthusiastic. Jason calmly walked to the center of the stage and pressed a button on his remote. An image of Dolphin Beach appeared on the screen, viewed from the ocean. “During a rupture of the Cascadia Subduction Zone, this is what will happen to Dolphin Beach.”
CHAPTER 12
Vice Admiral Billingsly watched Rod Schneider stride quickly into his office and toss a report on the desk.
“We just received these images at the National Reconnaissance Office,” Schneider said. “Since it’s within your bailiwick, I thought you should see it right away.”
Billingsly studied Schneider’s face as he slowly took the report and opened it. From Schneider’s expression, this was something serious. As Billingsly read the report and examined the images, he sat up straighter in his chair. “When did this happen?”
“Within the last 48 hours,” Schneider replied.
“Dammit,” Billingsly said forcefully. “This is right next to their HAARP facility.”
“Yep,” Schneider replied. “That’s why I figured you needed to know right away.”
“Any idea how big it’s going to be?”
“Not yet. Right now they’re still working only at clearing two sides. We won’t know how big until they start on a third side.”
“How many hours a day are they working?”
“Around the clock. As you can see from the images they have 40 bull dozers clearing the ground. We count 60 more in transit to the site. Whatever it is, they want it big, and they want it in a hurry.”
“Shit,” Billingsly said. “This is serious.” He repeatedly clenched and unclenched his teeth.
“That’s what I thought. But why have they taken a sudden interest in drastically expanding this HAARP technology? They’ve had this facility operating for the last decade without expanding it. Why now?”
“Why doesn’t matter,” Billingsly replied, trying to cover what he had done. “The fact is this represents a clear danger to us. Something has to be done to stop them. We can’t allow this facility to be completed.”
“Yeah, well, that’s out of my department. All I can do is monitor what’s happening.”
“I want daily updates on this site: images, analysis, how much support is being activated — everything. Got it?”
“You got it.”
As Schneider was leaving, Billingsly pressed his intercom button. “Get me a face-to-face with SecDef, ASAP.”
Billingsly paced back and forth in his office. “How in the hell did this happen. It was out in the middle of nowhere. This isn’t supposed to be happening.” How in hell am I going to explain this to the Secretary of Defense? The intercom beeped.