The Flaming Mountain

by John Blaine

  “Guevara wouldn’t dare to let them in on it,” was Scotty’s opinion. “I’ll bet they’re just following orders, with no idea what’s behind all this. Most of them probably think there really is a national security conference going on.”

  Rick thought Scotty was probably right. Time would tell. He waited until the engineer signaled that the job was done,then climbed into the pilot’s seat. He checked the plane over.Plenty of gas. Everything seemed okay. He tried the loud-speaker switches,then spoke into the microphone. He could hear his voice boom out with thunderous amplification and saw Scotty clap his hands to his ears.

  Finally, he started the motor and let the plane warm, keeping an eye on his gauges. When the manifold temperature got high enough he cut the switch. He tested the control surfaces and he was satisfied. Now all he needed was the governor.

  Governor Montoya arrived within ten minutes. He inspected the plane and its equipment and nodded his approval.“Very ingenious. Shall we try it?”

  “Yes, sir.”Rick helped the governor in, buckled his safety belt, then ran around and got into the pilot’s seat. He started the motor, waved to Scotty and the others, then taxied out to the runway. The tower gave him clearance and he took off.

  “We’ll make a swing over the area and locate the troops,” he explained, “then I’ll slow down as much as I can, and you can talk.”

  Rick climbed to a thousand feet and set a course directly for the Hot Springs Hotel. He asked, “Sir, how many troops are there?”

  “Our army numbers three companies, of about two hundred and fifty men each. Then we have a few special units, including the transportation platoons.Perhaps nine hundred in all. We do not need a large army. But we need some kind of force. These are troubled times, and there is always some danger that a revolutionary force might consider us an excellent staging or training base for an invasion of a nearby country. So, we keep prepared.”

  The Sky Wagon was over the hotel within minutes. Rick spotted a large group of soldiers-he estimated about two hundred-dispersed around the hotel. They probably thought they were guarding the conference.

  He banked left and followed the contour of the mountain, and found another group of soldiers camped near the pumice works.

  “That is two companies accounted for, more or less,” the governor stated. “Now, can we find the third?”

  It wasn’t difficult. Rick followed the dirt road to San Souci, and found the third large group marching in the direction of the mountain, apparently about to join forces with the group at the pumice works.

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  “Let’s take a look at the diamond pipe,” he suggested, and pulled the Sky Wagon around in a tight circle. He had his bearings, and the third shot station was not difficult to locate. There was considerable activity. Earth-moving machinery had been moved into place and was operating. The yellow ground was already gone, and the equipment was cutting into the blue kimberlite below.

  Military trucks were lined up, apparently waiting to be loaded with the blue earth.

  “Where are they taking it?” the governor wondered.

  Rick had talked with David Riddle about the process. “They need water. The blue earth is run down long wooden tables with cleats on them, like washing out gold. The table is coated with grease. The diamonds stick in the grease and the blue earth washes away. They’ve probably set things up at the pumice works if there’s water there. Otherwise, it may be the hotel.”

  “It has to be the hotel, then,” the governor explained. “There would not be enough water at the pumice plant. Well, I think we have found all our troops. Those who are not with the three companies are below us, digging diamonds. I wonder if they know what they aredigging? ”

  Rick told the governor what Scotty had said.

  “That is probably right,” the governor agreed. “Guevara would not dare to let too many in on the secret.

  Well, shall we get to work?”

  “Yes, sir,” Rick said. He handed the governor the microphone and swung into position for a run over the troops on the road. He throttled down, and then gave the plane a few degrees of flaps. He kept an eye on his air-speed indicator. If he got too slow, the plane would stall and he’d be too low to recover. “I’ll make as tight a circle as I can,” he said. “Be ready.”

  The troops came into sight. Rick lost altitude and began a slow circle only a few hundred feet over the marching soldiers. He turned on the switches and nodded.

  The governor began to talk in slow, clear Spanish. Rick understood that he identified himself to the men below, but then he lost the trend of the talk. He concentrated on flying. The loud-speakers were operating perfectly, and he knew the troops could hear.

  He could see them looking up and pointing, but they kept marching. Apparently the governor wasn’t making much of an impact. The governor paused, and Rick cut the switches.

  “Maybe they don’t believe it’s you,” he suggested.

  “Perhaps not.But my voice is well known. I speak over the radio at least once a week. More likely the whole idea is just too much for them. Who can believe that mountain over there is about to blow up?”

  “Let’s try the troops at the pumice works. Maybe you can tell them that all who care about their homeland should march at once to Calor.”

  “I’ll try it,” the governor agreed.

  Rick circled low over the pumice works while the loud-speakers blasted at the troops below. They watched the plane, they pointed,some ran out for a better look. But when the governor pleaded with Page 67

  them to hurry to Calor to help save the people of the island, nothing happened.

  “If El Viejo started smoking, they’d move fast enough,” Rick said bitterly. “But then it would be too late.

  They just don’t believe there is any danger, and maybe they’re not sure it’s you. I guess no one has ever given them orders from the air before.”

  “They are simple people,” the governor agreed. “I think most of them have never heard of a volcano.

  They don’t even know what an eruption is. How can they be excited? If I ever succeed in getting good schools here, this may change. But it won’t help us now.”

  Rick considered. It would do little good to repeat the announcement to the soldiers at the hotel. He wondered if Guevara and Connel were somewhere below, and with that thought he turned toward the diamond pipe.

  “Let’s see if we can do any good with the truckmen ,” he suggested. “Tell them the trucks are essential to the safety of their families.”

  The governor tried, while Rick held the plane in a tight circle over the blue ground. Again, there was interest in the flying loud-speaker plane itself, but the message made no impact. Then Rick noticed tiny spurts of fire from one edge of the diamond field and cold sweat started on his forehead as he suddenly realized what they were.

  “They’re shooting at us!” he exclaimed, and gave the plane the gun, taking evasive action as the distance widened.

  “I saw,” the governor said wearily. “It was not the troops. It was the peons. Our friend Guevara is down there, I think. But he need not be afraid of our effect. We have had none.”

  Rick had seldom felt so frustrated. He was tempted to call the San Luzians a stupid bunch of cattle, but he realized the governor had stated the case accurately. They just didn’t understand the danger. What would they understand?

  His lips formed the word. “Diamonds I” At least they would understand treasure.

  “Sir,” he said excitedly, “we can break this up, at least enough so we can start collecting data again. If we tell them the whole story, they’ll at least understand that Guevara is after great treasure. They’ll flock to the diamond field and disrupt the operation, and we can move back in to some of the shot stations.

  The people won’t be any worse off than they are now, and it will give us a chance to do something!”

  The governor considered. “Perhaps that is the only solution. It will not get my people to safety, but it wil
l at least give us a chance to find out the exact situation. When I talked with your father this morning he said they needed more data or they could tell nothing about the timing of the eruption. If we get that data, then I will ask the Americans for troops. If we must, we will take the people off by armed force and save their lives in spite of themselves!”

  Rick circled and lost altitude again. He got into position over the marching troops and turned on the switches, then gave the governor the signal.

  Later, the governor told him what he had said:

  “Soldiers of San Luz Do you know why you are protecting this area? It is not because of a great Page 68

  conference. It is because Lieutenant Governor Guevara has found a great treasure! He is using you to help him to become the wealthiest man in the world! But what will you get out of this? Nothing! He will give you nothing! Go for yourself and see the blue earth. It is found only near mountains like El Viejo. Do you know what it contains? Diamonds! The most valuable gems in the whole world! Will you let Guevara use you to makehimself rich while you get nothing? Do not be fools! Help yourselves to this wealth. Look for the crystal pebbles, the ones like cloudy glass, among the blue stones. Go! You are soldiers! Take your share!”

  “They’re running!” Rick pounded on the control wheel with excitement. “Look! They’re breaking ranks and running!”

  “Excellent,” the governor said calmly.“Now the other groups. Then, in spite of the rifle fire, let us go and tell those at the diamond pipe what they are doing. They will not hit us with those rifles.”

  Rick knew that was true. A lucky shot might hit them, but it took practice to hit a fast-flying plane, even with automatic weapons. “Let’s go,” he said.

  CHAPTER XVII

  Solution: Nuclear

  San Luz was in a state of complete chaos. The majority of the island people dropped everything as the word of treasure spread, and the slopes of El Viejo were covered with treasure hunters using everything from shovels to pointed sticks in an effort to find los diamantes. Only a bare handful even knew that the diamonds occurred only in a small volcanic pipe on the western slope.

  If the hunt continued, Rick thought, the slopes would be denuded of vegetation.

  There was intermittent fighting around the volcanic pipe, the police reported. Guevara’s peons had succeeded in holding the diamond pipe, but were surrounded by soldiers. Now and then Guevara attempted to clear the entire area, but with the entire army struggling to dig diamonds he wasn’t having much success. The police officer who investigated also reported that an American was with Guevara.

  That would be Connel, of course.

  The scientists had moved at once to start shooting again, with the police pushing back the diamond seekers until the dynamite could be set off in safety. The crazed hunters assumed that the explosions were also means of seeking the diamonds, and rushed to the craters before the smoke had cleared.

  No one really cared. The data was being collected, and it showed that the situation was growing extremely serious.

  “Ten days maximum,” Zircon said.“Maybe less. The magma has about reached that rock dike, and once it melts through, there goes the mountain.”

  “We must get the people off,” Governor Montoya insisted. “That is the first thing. I shall call at once for help from the Americans. They have forces at theCanal Zone and also in theWest Indies . They will send Page 69

  help.”

  “Yes,” Hartson Brant agreed. “But first, we have a proposal. We will need the troops, but we may also need other help.”

  Governor Montoya looked at him keenly. “This proposal is perhaps a solution for El Viejo?”

  “Perhaps.Let me outline the situation.” The scientist pointed out the magma on Dr. Williams’ sketch.

  “This is where the magma is now. Above it is a very thick layer of rock in which we can find no major weakness. It may hold the magma for a while. At least it probably will melt slowly.”

  He pointed to a little line running from the western slope of the mountain down to the rock dike. “This was where we wanted to dig a channel. Now it is too late to go all the way to the rock. The heat would be too great. But if we could drive a hole through, with great suddenness, the magma would be released and the eruption would be away from the island and into the sea.”

  “How would you do this?” the governor asked.

  “By getting help from theU. S. government, from Army Engineers and Seabees, who are U. S. Navy engineers. We would drive the tunnel as far down as time permitted. Of course we would keep track of the magma constantly. Then, as time ran out, we would place a charge in the hole-a shaped charge, as it is called-which would drive the hole most of the way to the magma. It would also crack the rock dike.

  The magma would seek the weakest spots, of course. It is under enormous pressure. And we would have the result we want.”

  “But what kind of explosive would be enough for such an undertaking?” Montoya demanded. “Not enough dynamite could be packed into the tunnel to do the work.”

  “We weren’t thinking of dynamite,” Hartson Brant said quietly. “We were thinking of a nuclear explosion.”

  Rick gasped. He had no warning of this. The scientists had evidently arrived at the conclusion while he was flying around over the diamond seekers.

  Montoya gasped, too. “But that would kill everyone on the island!”

  “Not at all,” Zircon boomed. “It would kill no one. Of course we would clear the area with troops.”

  “But the radioactivity,” the governor protested. “I have read it is deadly!”

  “Only if it can reach people,” Hartson Brant explained. “This shot would be far underground. There would be no fall-out, as it is called, at all. Of course the earth around the explosion would be greatly radioactive. Some of the activity would be trapped in the magma. But where would it come to rest?On the bottom of the sea. There might be some danger to bottom fish in the vicinity, but I think the water would get so hot from the lava that fish would avoid it, anyway. And eventually the radioactivity would decay of itself to low levels. Sir, I see no other way.”

  The governor raised his hands in a gesture of resignation. “I know nothing of these matters, and it is your business to know. I accept your assurances without reservation. Now, what do we do?”

  The scientists had not only conceived the solution, but had a detailed plan of action. Within a half hour, Page 70

  the loud-speaker had been removed from the plane, and Rick was flying Governor Montoya, Hartson Brant, and Esteben Balgos toTrinidad .

  Arrangements had been made by phone while they were en route. A car, sent by the President of theWest Indies Federation , picked them up at the airport and whisked them to the Federation’s headquarters.

  The President listened to the story with intense interest,then summoned the American ambassador and the representatives ofVenezuela andColombia .

  After a detailed discussion by Hartson Brant of the properties and limitations of nuclear explosions, the conference agreed. Immediate action was called for. The Venezuelan and Colombian representatives hurried off to notify their governments, while the President of the Federation put in a conference call to the United States, to the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, and the President’s Special Assistant for Science and Technology, who happened to be an old friend of Hartson Brant’s.

  A personal phone call from a head of state was without precedent-especially a conference call. TheU. S.

  officials were located within an hour, and the call put through. On theWest Indies end were the Federation’s President, theU. S. ambassador, Governor Montoya, and Hartson Brant, speaking from four different rooms. Rick hung over his father’s chair, listening.

  The Federation’s President introduced himself and described the problem briefly. Then he introduced the governor. Montoya said briefly, “Gentlemen, we must havehelp or theislandofSan Luz will perish. I ask help on be
half of my 32,000 people.”

  The Federation’s President then introduced Hartson Brant. Rick gathered that theU. S. President’s Special Assistant and the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission both greeted him warmly as an old friend.

  The scientist outlined the problem and its solution. He continued, “According to our estimates, we will need ten kilotons in order to have a margin of safety. It will take as many Seabees or engineers as necessary to drive a tunnel. The tunnel dimensions will depend on what machinery you can get to us. I leave that to your experts. We will also need about five thousand sea-based troops to handle the island population. We may have to carry them bodily to safety. Now, can it be done?”

  There was silence as the scientist listened. Rick stood on one foot, then the other, waiting. He could hear the mumble of voices through the earphone but could make no sense out of it.

  Presently Hartson Brant said, “Yes. I believe the runway at San Luz could handle a C-124.” There was silence again. Finally, the scientist said, “I’ll look forward to seeing you tomorrow, then.” He hung up and turned to Rick with a grin.

  “Our President will put pressure on the local Venezuelan and Colombian ambassadors here for an immediate decision from their governments, and our own Secretary of State will instruct our ambassadors in Venezuela and Colombia to camp on the doorsteps until they get agreement. He will also notify the United Nations, and invite observers from the Security Council. The AEG will fly in a 10-KT nuclear charge and a group of experts. The Secretary of Defense promised that a battalion of Seabees with full equipment would arrive in San Luz within twenty-four hours. The Military Air Transport Service will airlift in enough troops to handle the crowd.Any questions?”

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  Rick grinned back. “It sounds as though everyone’s in the act but the British.”

  “Oh, they’re in it, too. The Federation’s President will represent their political interests, but we’ll also have a British cruiser standing offshore for help as needed. And I forgot an important addition. Our President’s Assistant for Science and Technology is notifying the proper committees of the National Academy of Sciences. We’ll have a planeload of geophysicists down here in a few days to get all the scientific data possible out of this event. So we’re well covered.”