The plume ahead was probably a mile away. It looked safe, inviting, far from the monsters that wanted to capture her. Her attention focused a moment too long on that thought.
The young officer, fast and sure, made a flying tackle on Janet and the moped, crushing all three of them into a rolling ball along the ground.
“Got you!” he yelled as they rolled to a stop. He reached for his handcuffs.
Janet didn't feel any more pain at this point. Her hips, legs, left ankle and now her back would have been screaming in agony if it had not been for the incredible fear driving her to escape. She flailed her hands at the blue monster and found something to grab onto. Grasping it firmly, she pulled it.
The young officer was still laying prostate on Janet with his handcuffs in one hand. He was about to sit up when he felt the cold steel barrel in his stomach.
He didn't know what to do. His own gun was sticking harshly into his flesh, the mad woman wild eyed and mumbling nonsense as she pushed it even harder into him.
“OK, OK, you win,” he thought to say. What could he say, he was about to be shot with his own gun. Classic screw up, he thought. That will be my last thought. He expected the shot to happen instantly, any moment.
“Go away,” Janet spat. “Go away.” She looked into the handsome young face of a man, not a monster. Somehow, as she thought lucidly for a brief moment, she had confused the two.
The officer slowly lifted himself up and off Janet, dropping his handcuffs as he did so. He got to his knees and put his hands up.
“Don't shoot, please.”
Janet rolled over, still holding the gun toward the young man. The pain was attempting to take her attention away again. The gun was heavy, and her hand was falling under its weight until she stood quickly.
A shot exploded from the muzzle just missing the officer, scaring both of them.
“Don't shoot!” he yelled, getting up and running away from her.
Janet looked at him briefly. Something seemed harmless about the young man, dressed in the blue outfit.
“Leave me alone!” Janet screamed as more of the pain manifested. Her voice, her new master summoned her to keep going. Throwing the gun in the opposite direction of the young officer she mounted the still running moped and sped away toward the plume.
He wondered how he might have been so lucky. His own gun stuck into his gut. Training films had said this was how most cops died in hand to hand confrontations. He had survived. Watching the moped speed away, bouncing along the rough trail in places, he felt his courage return.
Looking over at his gun laying next to the trail and then back to the moped and the crazy redheaded woman, he reached for his radio as he began to run.
“In pursuit!”
~~~
“Jack, this is Larry, over.”
Jack walked away from Alice's desk to the open deck facing the crater of Halema'uma'u.
“Go ahead Larry, what do you see? Over.”
Larry was turning north in a gentle arch, toward the end of the jungle leading up to the great crater opening.
“Trails on the north side look fine. Heading to the lava pit now.”
Jack nodded. He might be able to send a team out this afternoon after all.
“Great Larry, can you see the lava level in the pit yet? Over.”
Larry was just clearing the two hundred foot cliff walls of the crater, jungle dropping away to a gray hardened lava. In the near distance was the pit of lava. The great floor of the crater was always impressive, some fifty times larger than the smaller internal pit where the lava and plume were.
Movement caught his eye in an area where you would never see any, especially lately. He turned his paraglider in the direction of the trail leading up to the old abandoned lookout.
“Jack, you got people in the crater? Over.”
“No,” Jack said. Looking for his binoculars, Alice handed them to him. “No one is in the crater, Larry.”
“Well, you got someone! There looks to be a guy running toward the pit. And, it looks like a moped or motorcycle is ahead of him. Over.”
“What the hell?” Alice complained. More crazy tourists came to her mind. It was like bugs to a flame.
“I see them,” Jack said looking into his binoculars with some fascination. “What are they doing? Over.”
Larry shook his head. That was a great question. They probably didn't know the answer either.
“I'm going to fly low and warn them off. Over.” Larry dropped his speed until he began a descent, and then headed on a path that would intersect the moped.
The young police officer, huffing and puffing by now, caught sight of the paraglider descending toward Janet ahead of him. Was this some kind of elaborate rescue? Just like in the movies?
“Damn!” he muttered, impressed with the drama of it all. He sped up as fast as he could.
Janet was rocketing toward the plume, her voice telling her it was the right place to be. This would help Star, this would save Starshine Aloha and her little beach. It would make things right with the world. The static Janet had fought for years was a comfortable hum in the background of her new voice. It was such a relief, like the few good days she had at Star's beach, when the world seemed friendly to her.
Visions of Star pushing back the lava with her bare hands, burning her fingers and her hair filled Janet's mind as the plume filled her vision. She would save Star! She, Janet, would get the volcano to stop its attack.
Larry could see the moped rider clearly now. It was not a tourist, not with the dirty clothes and battered look. He was aiming for a point about ten feet in front of the rider as he quickly descended. The guy chasing her looked like a police officer!
Swooping down to about ten feet, between the boiling plume and the moped rider only another couple of dozen feet away Larry looked over to see the redheaded woman.
“Turn around!” Larry yelled at the top of his voice, as he swooped past her, pulling up and turning behind her now. He climbed up higher to get back to a safe altitude and tried to circle around again. The police officer below him was watching him, as he stopped running.
“Larry! What's going on down there? Over.” Jack couldn't believe the flight maneuver his friend had just pulled off.
“Damn crazy moped rider!” Larry was climbing still and headed toward the plume. In a moment it came to him. Red hair! Could it be the same Cabin #94 wild thing he had met before? Could that be why the police was chasing her?
“Jack, police office giving chase down here as well. Red headed girl on the moped. Might be that murder suspect. Over.” He continued to slow his forward progress. There was no way he could make another pass this close to the plume. Wondering what the moped rider intended to do when they got close to the edge he watched.
The young officer was completely winded. The paraglider had not rescued his suspect after all. He couldn't continue though, didn’t want to get any closer to the active volcano either. The plume was magnificent, he thought to himself, in a terrifying way. He watched the moped moved faster toward the plume, now framed completely by the boiling column racing up into the sky.
A burst of tradewind from behind Larry pushed him a little closer to the plume, causing him to turn slightly. From his height now, some hundred feet, he watched as the plume fell to the side, showing the yellow and orange lake of lava below.
Janet felt content, she was a savior. She had redemption at her hands. Starshine Aloha needed saving and the island needed saving from the lava. She herself needed saving from her own sins. Jimmy's death had been a mistake, even if he deserved it. She felt the voice kiss her goodbye as she flew past the broken down barrier at the edge of the lava pit.
Larry couldn't believe it. The moped and its rider were sailing over the edge of the pit, into the brief space between life and certain destruction.
The young officer watched in some confusion as the moped seemed to drop from view. He began running a little closer, maybe she had fallen down and he cou
ld still capture her.
Janet felt her heart racing as the moped slowly fell away from beneath her. Spreading her arms out wide, she finally felt free. The static was gone, the banshee left behind, the pain in her legs forgotten. Upside down and slowly spinning backwards she wondered for a moment if the boiling lava would hurt when she landed.
It didn't.
~~~
Larry circled around another two times, half expecting what he had seen to have been an illusion. The wind shifted back to calm and went back to hiding the lava lake. He watched the police officer turn and began hiking back to the trail head. The radio was trying to get his attention.
“Larry! Larry! The moped!” A pause. “Over.”
Circling higher and higher, moving slowly upwind and away from the plume Larry called in.
“Jack, moped went into the lava lake. Over.” His voice fought to control the emotion. Crazy or not, suicide was depressing.
The radio was silent for almost a full minute before Jack got back.
“Roger that Larry. We ...” His radio stopped abruptly.
Larry figured Jack must be talking with someone else, until he felt the rumble in the air. Long low sound waves were moving up toward him, pressing into his skin. He looked down to see several of the cliffs of Kilauea crater collapsing.
“Earthquake,” he whispered to himself. “Shirley!” Larry yelled out. Quickly, he called her on the cell phone. He got two rings and then heard the connection click dead.
Circling around Larry watched as more of the crater walls slid down, carrying trees and large parts of the jungle with them. He could hear them now, and a ripping sound like aluminum foil being torn.
“Geez, this a big one.”
Larry flew closer to the Volcanoes Observatory, watching more windows break out and a part of the roof slump down. It looked like everyone was outside in the parking lot, waving at him.
“Jack, come in! Jack!”
All he heard was static, a massive release of static that made him look at the tuner, thinking he had gone off frequency. In a few seconds it cleared and he heard Jack calling back.
“Jack,” Larry said. “You guys OK down there?”
“Yeah, I think so. That had to be a 7.5!” Jack's voice was wavering. It could have been the electricity in the air from the quake, but Larry thought it was probably that he was scared to death.
Circling once more Larry noticed something dramatic in the lava lake. Halema'uma'u walls had collapsed as well, sending vast amounts of cold rock into the lava lake, and the plume had vanished!
~~~
Wally felt the quake easily through the sand of the beach, turned to Star, grabbed her arm and literally pulled her into his boat. He dropped the engine into the water, slammed it into reverse and backed away. Three minutes later they were both in the deep water, approaching the flotilla of boats parked there.
“Oh, my god!” Star exclaimed, looking back to the beach.
Wally figured the tsunami was already sweeping the beach and turned to look. Nothing.
“What Star?”
She was crying though, and jumping up and down on the deck, throwing her arms out in a victory dance.
“What? Star?”
All she could do was point, not to the beach, but toward the cinder cone.
“Shit!” Wally whistled. The cinder cone eruption had stopped. Stopped pumping lava and smoke. The last of its plume could be seen several hundred feet above it, slowly rising, disconnected from his creator and dissipating.
He looked to the southwest for Halema'uma'u's plume and saw the same thing, a small cloud moving up and away from where a semi permanent column had been for years.
With the trade winds working their magic it only took about twenty minutes for the southern Big Island coastline and rising land behind the sea to once again shine. Shine clear in the sparkling tropical air. In the distance the snow capped Mauna Loa summit shimmered against the dark blue of a distant sky.
20
The Lava Lounge had been open a week now after the massive 8.2 quake had silenced the 30 year eruption of Kilauea, Halema'uma'u and of course the Kapoho Cinder Cone. Scientists from all over the world were packed inside enjoying their first Lava Lager along with Larry Larson, Shirley and the local crew.
Jack and Alice felt it was time to let it all hang out in public and were smooching it up in the corner booth. All the Volcanoes Observatory crew were there. It had been an intense couple of weeks since the Kapoho event had begun and everyone was enjoying some relaxation on the tab of the Lead Scientist.
Word was out around the world that the longest recorded eruption of modern times was over. The people that lived on the Big Island were especially thrilled. The vog had finally cleared, swept away for the last time by some nice trade winds and their showers. It was the pristine Hawaii that everyone remembered from their small kid days.
Larry watched the door to the bar open again, this time to whistles and hoots.
“Oh my god, those guys! Again?”
The bartender looked over at the door where Larry was staring.
The five head lamp characters were back, sans the headlamps but wearing blue and white striped ball caps this time. They all sauntered up to the bar, saw Larry and immediately surrounded him.
“Hey, Larry! How you doing buddy?” Everett asked.
Larry turned around, smiling. It was going to be a party after all.
“Let me see now, Pat, John, Dave, Tim and of course, Everett.”
“Wow, great memory Larry,” Pat remarked.
“Of course,” Larry laughed. “Bartender, two Lava Lagers for each of these fine gentlemen. Except Everett. He gets only one!”
They all laughed at that. Everett never could handle his lava.
“So, what are you guys doing back?” Larry asked. Tourism in the Volcanoes National Park usually attracted those in search of a picture of lava. Those days were gone now.
“Oh, we're here to buy some real estate!” John exclaimed. “We're headed to Kona tomorrow morning, got our eyes on some great places near the water.”
“Really?” Larry wondered. “What if the eruption starts up again?”
“We don't think it will,” Tim said, looking over to Dave.
“Yeah,” Dave said. “We left dozens of gin bottles all around the crater the last time we were here.”
Larry turned to look at Shirley, at her knowing smile as she nodded to him.
“Remember that crazy red head you guys were flirting with last time?” Larry raised his eyebrow.
“No, no.” Pat laughed. “That was Dave.”
“Thanks Pat.” Dave deadpanned. “She isn't here is she?” He looked around quickly.
Larry shook his head in disbelief, just thinking of the story he was going to tell them later.
“Come on over for dinner to my place tonight. I've got a story for you.”
~~~
Poho and I had completed our first meet and greet. It was something everyone here seemed to take turns doing. We were thrilled not only because we were able to help a new arrival through a few of the mysteries, but that we found ourselves capable of infinite compassion.
Our first arrival had had a rough one, having had a shortened life full of darkness and confusion. It had been a case where the good soul within had been attacked constantly by an insidious poison. A poison in the mind that some poor humans get stuck with, or fall prey to.
The real joy was seeing the release from those shackles as they moved into the light and took each of our hands, Poho and I. We could immediately tell from the nature of her smile that this was the first time she had ever really been clean, been happy.
Poho didn't really recognize her but I sure did. I'd explain it to him later, but for now I was just happy that Janet was finally free.
~~~
Wally was putting the finishing touches on Star's new cabin, and as primitive as it was, it was far more special than any mansion. It was set up high on large telephone
pole stilts and had a commanding view of the ocean through the coconut palms.
“I think this will keep you for a while,” he said over a glass of wine that evening.
Starshine Aloha, true to her name, pointed out the first light in the evening sky and leaned over to kiss her hero. They both sat on the small outside deck in the warm light of candles and each others attention.
“I love you, Wally,” Star whispered just above the quiet.
“I love you more,” Wally grinned. He had finally understood just how much. Star was a beacon of hope, proving to him that optimism was quite capable of carrying the day.
The gentle ocean moved tenderly at the edge of the sand mirroring the movements of the palm trees high above. Star watched it all and her mind drifted off to wonder how her friend Jimmie was doing, if she had heard the good news about the cove yet. Watching the stars twinkle just beyond her reach she soon curled up with her love and fell softly asleep.
I listened in on Star's dreams one last time. Sometime just before dawn when the sky still sparkled against the tropical black she drew a deep breath. Star appeared just then, swinging lightly in her hammock, framed by the beach she had fought so hard to protect. An angel appeared and told her how this island had spun her, Star, from the sand, from the sky and sea into its loving expression.
I turned and looked back toward the rising light. Poho was calling me with his gentle laughter and I left here forever.
~~~ the end ~~~
the playlist
(mahalo to Michael Peacock for many of these)
A Letter From Home - Ulrich Schnauss
The End- Track Star
R.I.P. - 3Oh!3
Secrets - One Republic
Yellow - Alex Parks
Death by Facebook Page 23