Escaping Yellowstone

by Larry LaVoie

“Okay, you got me. It’s been awhile, but believe it or not, there are some places in Yellowstone we either hike into on foot or ride in on horseback. Which one is mine, Kaapo?”

  They mounted their horses. Cody knew them as cowponies, but they were registered Quarter Horses retired from the track. They seemed a bit antsy, restless to run.

  “They have a lot of life left in them and they like to run, so keep them reined in,” Kaapo said.

  “If I remember correctly this trail leads to the beach,” Lisa said.

  “You have a good memory,” Kaapo said. “I’ll meet you back here after sunset.” He checked his watch. “That should be about three hours from now. The trail gets a little tricky after dark but the horses know the way. Just give them their heads and I’ll see you then.”

  Lisa led the way and within ten minutes the trail broke out to a white sandy beach. Cody stopped to take in the scenery. “Those are the biggest waves I’ve ever seen,” he said.

  “A few miles up the beach they hold surfing a competition in December,” Lisa said.

  They rode in the sand at a slow pace side by side. Lisa reined in her mount and stopped, facing the ocean. Cody did the same.

  “This could all change if Ashlar’s latest model is correct,” Lisa said, in a serious tone.

  “You’re expecting a big change in the tides?”

  She nodded. “But I didn’t bring you out here to discuss work. Sometimes I have a hard time compartmentalizing.”

  “Now that’s not a word I would have expected to come out of your mouth,” Cody said. “Everything is connected. What you are doing at work has a direct impact on everything else. You don’t have to try and separate them on my account.”

  “Come on I’ll race you to that point,” Lisa said.

  “I thought Kaapo said not to let them run.”

  Lisa had already dug her heels in the flank of the animal and was on a dead run for a point a mile down the beach. Cody had no chance of catching her so he kept his charge in a gallop until Lisa’s mare ran out of steam and slowed to a trot. He came up on her. “You feel better.”

  “Actually, I do. I feel terrific.” She dismounted. “Come on, we walk from here.”

  It was a short walk up a trail and they ended up on a bluff high above the ocean. They tied the horses to a tree, walked a bit farther, and Lisa stopped. “This is what I wanted to show you.”

  “Beautiful,” Cody said, looking at her. He put his arm around her waist and they stood looking for miles in three directions.

  “Let’s sit, the sun should be setting soon,” Lisa said.

  Cody removed his windbreaker and set it on the ground.

  “It’s a rock. I can sit on it,” Lisa said. “It’s nice to know your mother taught you well.”

  “She will love you.”

  “When do we get to meet?”

  “Are you going home for Christmas?”

  Lisa thought for a bit. “You know the asteroid is going to be at its closest point on the twenty-second.”

  “So, it will be all over by then. Old news. I think I heard you say Santa will arrive on Christmas Eve.”

  “I guess I did.”

  A breeze blew her hair in her face and Cody gently wiped it away. “Promise me you will let me introduce you to my parent’s place over Christmas.”

  “Cody, I can’t promise. If the asteroid hits the moon and our simulation is correct, I’m going to be busy trying to explain things.”

  “Okay, just promise me you’ll try.”

  She turned her face toward him. They were staring in each other’s eyes, only inches apart. They kissed.

  Cody let out a long sigh. “I wish things didn’t have to change.”

  She snuggled close to him. “That won’t change.”

  “What?”

  “The sunset. This spot has some of the most beautiful sunsets on the planet.”

  Cody looked out over the water, but his attention wasn’t on the sunset. “I can’t think of anyplace I’d rather be right now.”

  “I wish you didn’t have to go back.”

  He turned her face toward him. She was crying.

  Chapter 12

  Yellowstone National Park, October 5

  Doug Jennings was waiting for Cody when he arrived back at his office. It was five in the afternoon and he wasn’t about to leave for the day without seeing him.

  “Were you able to pick up the elevation data on your computer?” Doug asked.

  “I got some of it. Did you finish it?”

  “Just today. I did two weeks work in a week.”

  “You’re saying you’d make a good office manager. I’ll put in a good word at USGS.”

  “Okay, so you’re not impressed. I also finished my paper, well a rough draft, and I would like for you to read it. He handed Cody an inch-thick manuscript titled The Interaction of Adjoining Hydrothermal Systems within the Yellowstone Caldera.

  “It sounds interesting. I can’t promise I’ll read it tonight.”

  “It’s Friday, I’m going to the bar for a beer. You want to join me?” Doug was putting on his coat.

  “I have a feeling I’m not going to get an update on all that has happened while I was gone unless I’m buying,” Cody said. “We need to make it an early night. I’m beat.”

  “Rough week, huh?”

  “You don’t know the half of it. How much do you know about astronomy?”

  “Come on, boss. I thought you were kidding. You were working in Hawaii?”

  “Not all the time. I got to see some of the sights.”

  As Cody suspected, the bar was crowded with the holdovers, as they called themselves. The people who secured the buildings and made sure the park was ready for winter. They were celebrating the first week without the summer help. They were wrapping up a season in which they would be traveling to homes all over the country. The entire winter staff at Yellowstone Park would shrink to a few hundred people in November through March, even he would be leaving, but this time for good. Many people he had met and grown close to over his years at the park, he would never see again. Friday nights in October ended up being a month-long going away party. In years past Cody had been one of the holdovers who left after November to prepare for winter term teaching at University of Idaho. Doug would be finishing up and leaving for a USGS position at Cascade Volcano Observatory stationed in Bend, Oregon near a volcanic system in the Three Sisters area of the Cascade Mountain Range. He stood in the doorway thinking everyone had a destination. He had no idea what his was.

  Cody ordered a pitcher of beer and two glasses and brought it to a table where Catherine and Elliott were seated. “You mind if we join you?”

  “Cody, how was your vacation?” Catherine asked.

  “It was wonderful and I’m back.”

  “Come on Cody,” Elliott said. “I hear it was more than a vacation.”

  “If you mean I was working, then you are correct.”

  “I mean that girl scientist who you spoke about last summer.”

  “Jesus, is noyhing sacred anymore.”

  “Then you did see her,” Catherine said. “Tell us about her.”

  Cody stood and picked up the pitcher of beer. “I’m sorry but Doug and I have some catching up to do, and if all you want to talk about is my love life we’re going to leave.”

  “Wow,” Elliott said. “We must have hit a nerve.”

  “Then she is someone special,” Catherine said, dismissing his threat.

  “Okay, she’s someone special. We had a good time together and we discussed business. Now, can we get on to other things?”

  “I’ll bet she’s a knockout,” Elliott said.

  Cody set the pitcher back on the table and sat down. Doug immediately grabbed the pitcher and filled the glasses.

  “You know,” Cody said, “if there were any vacant tables in this place I would have moved.”

  “Let me see your phone,” Catherine said. “You must have a picture of her.”

 
Cody brought up his photos and handed the phone to her.

  “What business do a volcanologist and an astronomer have to discuss?” Elliott asked.

  Doug and Catherine both stared at Cody, their curiosity piqued.

  Cody grabbed the beer Doug had poured and drank half of the glass. “Doug just finished his paper on the interaction of hydrothermal systems in Yellowstone. Can we celebrate that?”

  “Sounds exciting,” Elliott said. “I want to hear about the girl.”

  “Here’s a picture. My God, she’s gorgeous. You two make a great couple.”

  “I’m beginning to think this was a mistake,” Cody said.

  “Have another beer, it will get easier,” Elliott said. “Did you talk her into visiting you here at the park?”

  “You guys are worse than family.”

  “We are family,” Catherine said.

  “No, she’s not coming to Yellowstone.”

  “That’s a shame,” Catherine said. “Are you ashamed of us?”

  Cody shook his head. “She’s busy.”

  “So, she’s not coming for the holidays?” Catherine said.

  “What part of no was confusing to you?”

  “Geez, you don’t have to be rude.” Catherine sat back in her chair and took a sip of wine. She continued to swipe through photos on Cody’s phone.

  Elliott finished his drink and pushed away from the table. “Catherine and I are flying to Cody to do some shopping in the morning. I’ve had my limit, so we’re leaving.”

  “Was it something I said?” Cody asked. He looked up at Elliott with a grin.

  “Wait until the next time you need a ride.”

  After they were gone, Doug said, “I think you pissed Catherine off.”

  “You think? Just because she works for the Post Office doesn’t mean she has to know everything.”

  “I don’t mean to be rude,” Doug said, “but you’ve been a little on edge since you’ve been back. What’s going on.”

  “Just because you’ve finished your paper doesn’t mean we’re friends,” Cody said.

  “Fine. I’m leaving now.” Doug stood up. “I’m sorry I mentioned having a drink with you.”

  Cody let out a long sigh. He put his hands to his head and stared down at the table. “Doug, I’m sorry. This has nothing to do with you or Catherine or Elliott.”

  “Then what?”

  “Sit back down and I’ll tell you, but mention it to anyone and we’re both screwed.”

  “This is a bar.”

  “Yeah.” Cody looked around the room. “You think anyone cares what we’re talking about?”

  Doug sat back down and leaned in toward Cody. “What happened in Hawaii? Does it have anything to do with why you wanted the ground movement data digitized?”

  “There’s an asteroid heading toward earth,” Cody said.

  “I know it’s not going to hit. I saw a JPL scientist on TV yesterday who said there is nothing to worry about.”

  “I was at Mauna Kea, Keck Observatory on the Island of Hawaii. The scientist I visited with was the one who discovered the asteroid. What the public hasn’t been told yet is there is another smaller asteroid traveling with the large one. They are calling the large asteroid, Dark Angel and the smaller one Demon.”

  “Grim names,” Doug said frowning. “You’re not going to go into some kind of dooms-day spiel, are you?” He was joking.

  Cody ignored him. “There’s a reason for the names. There’s a ninety percent chance Demon will collide with Dark Angel and both will hit the moon. Given the mass and velocity it could make for an interesting show.”

  “That’s happened before,” Doug said.

  “There’s more. The simulation shows the moon’s distance from earth changing slightly.”

  “What do you mean, slightly?”

  “The simulation shows it moving a mile closer to earth.”

  “That would be a hell of a collision,” Doug said. “What are the chances of that happening?”

  “They are still working on the numbers, but I saw the numbers. They’re holding back until they are certain, but every bit of data they’ve gathered say it’s more likely, not less likely to occur.”

  “So, you think we’re in for a hell of a light show?”

  “Probably one we will see without a telescope.”

  “When will this happen?”

  “December twenty-second.”

  “Okay, knocking the moon a mile out of orbit, it’s been moving away from the earth since it was formed. That’s about four billion years ago if I remember correctly. It’s a quarter-million-miles away, what does it matter?”

  “The impact will be on the far side of the moon. If it happens like the simulation showed it will be great enough for us to see with the naked eye. That’s probably the only thing we’ll notice, but if it were to cause a greater shift in the moon’s orbit, as the moon circles the earth, the tides will be greater. It could be like a storm surge during a hurricane, but without the wind.”

  “Okay, that’s not too bad. People along the coast are pretty well protected. Most live above a storm surge.”

  “But there could also be added stress on the earth.”

  “That’s why you asked for the ground elevation data in the caldera. You think the added stress might trigger an eruption.”

  “Drink your beer before it gets warm,” Cody said, picking up his glass and finishing it. “I want to know if there is a tidal effect in Yellowstone. With the size of the magma pool under the caldera I think it may be greater than in other areas of the country. If the ground is already under stress, there is a chance it could spur some additional activity.”

  Doug looked at him. “December twenty-second, less than three months away?”

  “It’s not a lot of time,” Cody said.

  “No shit. We need to let everyone inside the park know about this.”

  Cody raised his hand to stop Doug from rising out of his chair. “Doug, calm down. The data hasn’t been verified, and we can’t go public with this.”

  “Why not?”

  “We could be wrong. Let’s not jump the gun. If the asteroid passes the moon without impact, any career in geology we thought we had would be over.”

  “You’ve been holding this in for almost a week. No wonder you’re uptight.”

  “I’m going to be working on the earth tide effect so I can be ready to respond if an impact becomes a certainty.”

  “Can I help?”

  “You have your Master’s thesis. Aren’t you ready to go home?”

  “This is much more exciting.”

  “It’s a little late to be thinking about changing your paper.”

  “Still, I would hate to think I sat on top of some of the greatest scientific research ever to be conducted in Yellowstone, and wasn’t a part of it. Come on, Dr. Street. You’re going to need help. I’m right here.”

  “Okay, but if we do the research and nothing comes of it, don’t expect me to sign off on your other paper.”

  “Deal,” Doug said.

  Keck Observatory, Mauna Kea, Hawaii

  The Keck Observatory consisted of two identical telescopes, each with a ten-meter lens composed of 36 hexagonal segments that work in concert as a single lens. They are located on the summit of Mauna Kea Mountain, 13, 796 feet above the ocean. There are no mountain ranges to disrupt the atmosphere around the telescopes making it one of the most ideal spots on the planet for observing the night sky. Both telescopes were trained on Dark Angel.

  Since Cody’s departure, Dr. Lisa Wilson and Ashlar Shari collected data each night and made minute corrections to the computer simulation Ashlar had constructed. They were being pressured to finish their work so three other agencies could review it and verify their findings. The latest data was complete and ready to send to Lisa’s boss, Martin Downing, who would verify the data and forward it to the NASA Astrophysics Division of which PDCO was a part. They, in turn, were responsible for notifying Government agenc
ies of any threat from outer space.

  Downing was satisfied that it was a close call, but the latest information bore him out, the impact of the smaller asteroid Demon, would not happen until seconds after Dark Angel was past the moon. There would be no impact. In essence, it was a nonevent. As far as he was concerned, there was no need to notify PDCO, but just as a precaution he left a message with the director of the Federal Emergency Management Administration, Roberta Forester. She was just getting ready to visit her family in Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday. On the same day, Homeland Security Director James Carling was addressing his office to prepare them for the heavy holiday shopping season and elevated security risks posed by terror threats in three major cities. With the threat abated, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. There would be enough to worry about over the holiday, an asteroid not hitting the moon was just one thing less.

  Portland, Oregon

  Lisa called Cody with the good news. It was November 21, the day before Thanksgiving. Cody was in Portland at his parents’ house getting ready to celebrate a day with his family.

  “Who was that?” his sister Wendy asked.

  “Lisa. It was work.”

  “It didn’t sound like work.”

  Wendy was three years younger than Cody. She had been married eight years and had two children, a boy seven and a girl five. Wendy and Cody had been close before he left for college, and she had idolized her big brother, but since he left for the job at Yellowstone, she hadn’t seen or talked to him much and was excited to have him around again.

  “What are you working on?”

  “Boring stuff. I just spent the last month trying to calculate the earth tide effect on the Yellowstone Caldera.”

  “You’re right, that’s boring. I want to know about Lisa.”

  “What about her?”

  “Mom says you two are an item.”

  “I don’t even know what that means.”

  “We’re not going to have a chance to talk tomorrow with everybody here. How serious are you and Lisa? And what does she look like? Do you have a picture?”

  “Whoa, Mom and Dad sure got it right when they said you were windy.”

  Wendy put her hands on her hips. “Come on, Cody. I’m your sister. You can talk to me.”