by Larry LaVoie
December, Five Years Later
The unprecedented chain of events that led to the destruction of billions of dollars in property around the world would be listed in the history books as an event that wasn’t likely to recur for another ten million years. Of course, they had no way of knowing.
NASA discovered Martin Downing had failed to follow protocol when he discovered the change in Dark Angel’s status. He was removed from the job and returned to teaching at UC Berkeley.
Cody and Lisa were married three years earlier and purchased a home, high on a cliff overlooking the ocean, on Hawaii, the big island. Cody is teaching geology at the university in Hilo and is working summers for USGS at the Kilauea Volcano Observatory.
Lisa still spends her nights on top of Mauna Kea peering through the Keck Observatory telescopes, hoping to discover the next big threat to the world. She was planning on taking time off for the arrival of their first child.
Yellowstone had remained quiet for the past eighteen months and there was talk of opening areas of the park to the public again. At the north entrance near the Roosevelt Arch another monument was erected, commemorating the 471 people who had perished in the destructive quakes and subsequent eruption. Whether the quakes were triggered by the new orbit of the moon is still being debated. Someday, Cody hoped to take his children to see the most beautiful place on earth, as he had once called it, but wondered if he would recognize the place where he had spent so many years. Would it be as breathtaking as he remembered it?
Every year around the holidays, Cody called to touch base with Deputy Sheriff Clarence Nolan. Clarence was still in the same job, content to keep peace in the county. He had recently formed a volunteer group to help needy families in the county. His goal was to place a toy under the Christmas tree of every needy child. If they didn’t have a tree, he would provide that too, along with a meal for the family. He was still short of reaching his goal, and thanked Cody for his annual contribution.
Wendy and Blake went through a divorce, three months after escaping Yellowstone. She had not seen or heard from Blake in two years. Tyler, now in junior high, never forgot the Christmas vacation in Yellowstone. He wrote a short story for his class about his experience. He named it Christmas in Yellowstone. He got an A+ on the paper. Meghan was a fifth grader. In the past summer she joined a girls’ softball league. She was a natural pitcher and her team had ended the summer in first place. In an interview by a local TV station, she told the reporter, “It’s no big deal. I throw the ball and they try and hit it. The other team misses it a lot.” When the interviewer asked what her favorite food was, she said, “macaroni and cheese.”
Chase found a job working as a carpenter on new construction. He lives in Billings, Montana with his wife and two-year-old son. He doesn’t talk about Yellowstone or his days as a bartender.
Elliott and Catherine still live together. Catherine transferred to the US Post Office in Cody, Wyoming. Elliott continues to fly and has a contract with USGS flying scientists around the Yellowstone caldera to monitor volcanic activity.
From his office in Portland, Nathan Wilson continues to develop real estate around the nation. He and Hilda still live in the West Hills and are looking forward to the arrival of their first grandchild. Hilda retired from teaching and is working on her first novel. She refuses to tell anyone what her book is about.
Cody’s father, George, suffered a heart attack and underwent triple bypass surgery. He and Susan often watch Wendy’s children after school until Wendy picks them up from her job as a receptionist and nurse’s aide at a local clinic. She says she is considering dating again, but Susan says Wendy is so picky that no man will ever live up to her expectations.
Cody and Lisa were surprised to get a call from Mike Jackson at their home one evening in Hawaii.
“I know it’s been a long time,” Mike said over the phone to Cody. “I’m on my honeymoon and I wanted you and Lisa to meet my new bride.”
“We’re home right now,” Cody said. “Grab a taxi and come on by. Lisa and I are about to have dinner.”
“We don’t want to interrupt your meal.”
“Nonsense. We’re having some kind of Hawaiian stew made with pork and pineapple. There’s plenty to go around.”
At the dinner table, Mike said, “I never properly thanked you for what you did that night in Yellowstone. I wanted you to know a day doesn’t go by without me thinking of how you risked your life to come back after me.”
“It was nothing,” Cody said. “Quit talking, you’re going to embarrass me.”
Mike looked at his new bride, a radiant woman, twenty years his junior. He smiled.
“Seriously, I owe you my life. Betty and I wouldn’t be together if you hadn’t saved me.”
After Mike and Betty had left, Cody and Lisa snuggled up on the couch watching the moon’s reflection on the water. The moon was still twice the size it was before the asteroid impact. NASA was considering another moon shot to view the damage first hand, but Lisa said that wouldn’t happen in her lifetime due to the danger posed by the billions of asteroid fragments still circling the moon.
“Do you realize how incredibly lucky we were to catch the impact the moment it happened,” Lisa said. “Not many people can say they witnessed something like that.”
“And do you realize how incredibly beautiful you are about to give birth to our first child,” Cody said, placing his hand on her extended belly. “I just felt him jump,”
“You think it’s a boy?”
“Just a figure of speech,” Cody said.
“We won’t know until she comes out,” Lisa said.
“Not everything in life has to be a mystery,” Cody said.
“I know,” she said playfully. “Have you been thinking of a name?”
“Name? I don’t know if it’s a boy or girl.”
“What if it’s both?”
Cody picked up his glass of wine and leaned back. “The sea is beautiful tonight.”
“I thought that would get you to change the subject.”
“Twins, really?”
###
Note to the reader
The moon has been impacted by millions of asteroids and continues to be struck every day. There are billions of asteroids and the event depicted in this story will likely occur someday, probably not in our lifetime. The moon’s gravitational pull on the earth, while causing the ocean tides also causes slight movement in the earth’s crust. The land tides depicted in this novel are perhaps more fiction than science and are about as likely to occur as the moon is to be knocked out of its orbit. The possibility was just too good to pass up for a story. Should the moon ever be knocked out of its orbit, the effect on the ocean tides would be catastrophic. Widespread damage to property and its effect on the world economy would be devastating. This novel was written for the enjoyment of the reader and no part of it should be considered scientifically accurate.
About the Author
Larry La Voie has written more than twenty novels, all available at on Amazon. Visit www.larrylavoieauthor.com for a complete listing of his novels and descriptions of each.
Table of Contents
Escaping Yellowstone
Escaping Yellowstone
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
Note to the reader
Ab
out the Author