Edging the Supervolcano

Yellowstone National Park

Frank Gould studied the Rocky Mountain terrain as it swept by. Even from the lofty altitude, the mountains looked formidable. Through the airplane’s small window, he easily spotted ancient fault lines and uplifts. The massive gray granite mountain tops had once been sediment on the bottom of the ocean. Unbelievably powerful forces from deep within the Earth had pushed these layers up and curved them like putty. Over millions of years, the uplift bent the sediment layers until they fractured and these ancient rifts then became the sharp faces of the Rocky Mountains.

The flight from Salt Lake City to Billings, Montana took the regional jet over the eastern edge of Yellowstone National Park.

The 27-year-old geophysicist cast aside seven years of scientific training and his analytic brain’s assessment of the scene below. Frank absorbed the raw, primordial beauty of the contrasts between the blue-green conifer trees that carpeted the mountain slopes and the barren, rocky mountain peaks, and the expanses of white snowfields and brilliant blue lakes. He was not surprised to see the snow; he knew glaciers and permanent snowfields existed in northwest Wyoming, and these contained a cubic mile of water.

Preparing for landing, the airplane turned its tail to the mountains and descended over the dull light-brown prairie. While Billings was the metropolis of the area, it looked to be the size of a shopping mall in Dr. Gould’s hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.

Frank had taken the early-bird flight out of Houston. After six hours of travel, and gaining one hour by crossing into the Mountain Standard Time zone, it was noon when the plane glided to a stop at the terminal. It was one o’clock in the afternoon by the time he had his baggage and rental car.

A born and bred city boy, Dr. Gould had decided to transform himself to fit-in with the locals. He had shed his business attire for jeans, plaid shirt, and sneakers. He had reserved a jeep as his rental car. Tossing his bag and the three cartons of electronics in the back, he settled into the seat of the rough and ready mountain vehicle. He plugged his mobile phone’s power cord into the cigarette lighter and opened the GPS app to plot the path to the Yellowstone Park administration office at Mammoth Hot Springs.

However, there simply was no road through the Custer National Forest that separated Billings from Yellowstone. The only route was a three-hour drive around the forest. The GPS sent him west along Interstate 80 and south on US Hwy 89. He would arrive at four o’clock, at the earliest.

Putting the pedal to the metal, he headed west. One advantage of the northern latitudes was that the summer days were very long; the sun didn’t set until after nine o’clock.

Interstate 90 followed the path of Lewis and Clark’s return journey in 1806, or more accurately, it was the path that William Clark had used. The expedition had split for a while and Clark had come within forty miles of Yellowstone and its mysteries. However, it would be John Colter, the first of the mountain men, who was the first man of European descent to enter Yellowstone. Frank imagined that the prairies, mountains, geysers, and boiling mud pots were as alien to these explorers as the surface of the moon was to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

Gassing up in Livingston, Montana, he drove south through the mountains while eating a sandwich from the truck stop. The highway was rarely out of sight of the Yellowstone River until he reached Gardiner, Montana. From here, the road followed the Gardiner River into the park and the town of Mammoth Hot Springs.

The GPS faithfully guided him to the Department of Interior’s administration building. Glancing at the clock on his phone, he saw that it was 4:30 p.m.

“Thirty minutes to quitting time,” he muttered to himself.

Approaching the receptionist, he identified himself. “Hi, I’m Dr. Frank Gould from NASA. I have an appointment with Mr. Jerald Caldwell. I’m awfully sorry that I’m so late. Is he still here?” He rarely used the title afforded by his PhD, but sometimes it came in very handy.

As expected, the attractive young blonde woman took notice. After examining him from head to toe, she rattled the keys on her computer and examined the monitor. Frank examined her name badge — Beth Norman.

“I’ll ring him for you,” she said, and picked up the phone. “Dr. Frank Gould from NASA is here,” she spoke into the device that appeared to be left over from the 1980s. A moment later, she said, “Yes,” and hung up. She pivoted her smiling face to Frank. “You just did catch him. Up the stairs, turn left, second door on the left.” She pointed to the wide dark wooden staircase.

The Yellowstone Park administrator met Frank at the door with his hand extended.

“Dr. Gould, we were getting worried.” Frank shook his hand and noticed his choice to abandon business attire had been a good one.

“Thank you for waiting for me, sir. My flight was delayed,” Frank lied to the balding man wearing Harry Potter glasses. It was a harmless white lie, he figured.

“NASA, well, how can we help NASA?”

“I’m sure you have received our communication about plotting the seismic activity via satellite.”

“Oh, yes, of course, tracking the supervolcano. Is NASA seriously planning on trying to prevent an eruption? Is this really the business of NASA?”

“Ah, I see you have read the reports. It is certainly premature to say we are going to try and prevent an eruption, but that is the point of our research. And as for NASA’s business, well…” Frank let his thought trail away as the door opened.

Mr. Caldwell gestured for him to sit while a mature woman entered with two coffee cups. She placed one in front of Caldwell and the other beside Frank. She deposited several packages of sugar, artificial sweeteners, and cream.

“Thank you,” Frank said. He did not add the condiments to his beverage. After a sip from the cup, he turned to Caldwell. “As I was saying, Mr. Caldwell — ”

“Jerry, please, we are informal here.”

“Yes, Jerry, years ago some scientists somewhere researched the variety of means that Mother Nature might end life on the planet. I’m sure you know there have been many mass extinctions in the Earth’s past. The results of this study indicated most of the really bad things nature could dish out came from outer space. Things like asteroid or comet impacts have been the subject of many movies, but there are gamma ray bursts from collapsing stars, nearby stars going nova, rogue stars ripping through our solar system, the list goes on. Many of these things were thought to have happened in the past.”

Jerry sipped his coffee, and Frank followed suit.

“Anyway,” Frank continued, “the study of these fell under the purview of NASA. Most of them we can’t do anything about, but I’m sure you are aware of the plans to divert the orbits of asteroids that stray too close.”

“Yes, is that pie-in-the-sky?” Jerry asked, and then chuckled. “Sorry, I wasn’t meaning to make light of it.”

“Of course, and to some extent, it is pie-in-the-sky, but we can probably come up with an effective means before it is needed. Our ability to detect and track asteroids has greatly improved, providing us with extensive warning before an impact.”

“Yes, but what does all this have to do with the Yellowstone supervolcano?”

“Well, supervolcanos are on the list of things Mother Nature can throw at us. As it turns out, they are the number one thing, the most probable thing, on the list. Without a doubt, a supervolcano will erupt one day, and it could create something equivalent to the nuclear winter concept — a volcanic winter. Since NASA was studying all the other nasty processes from Mother Nature, and since we already had a staff of geologists studying the moon, Mars, and such — we were handed this one too.”

“I see, well, I hope this is not going to interfere with my retirement.” Jerry chuckled. “I guess a NASA geologist is not so strange after all.”

“Yes, I’m not really a space traveling kind of NASA guy, but my older sister is. She is slated to be the team geophysicist for the upcoming moon mission.”

“Ah, Dr. Helen Gould is your sister?” Jerry excitedly asked. Without waiting for an answer, he continued, “I should have known. So, geology runs in the family, eh?”

“Yes, her enthusiasm for the science was my inspiration.”

“My son attended CalTech. Helen was the graduate student teacher for his geology labs. Did you graduate from CalTech too?”

“No, sir, I attended the University of Arizona.”

“Well, that is certainly a top school in the field. We have several Wildcats working in Yellowstone. Mm, first woman on the moon, such a monumental achievement. And, I bet she helped you land this job too?” Again he didn’t wait for Frank to answer. “Don’t worry son, scratching each other’s backs is the way we survive in government service.” Jerry glanced at his watch. “What is it that my office can do to help you?”

“Ah.” Frank pulled a map from his briefcase and unfolded it on the desk between them. “I’m sure you know that the frequency of earthquake swarms around the supervolcano has been increasing. “

Jerry looked down at the map, frowned, and nodded.

“Well, basically we want more data. We have never placed seismic sensors along this edge of the old caldera rim.” Frank traced his finger along a region southeast of Yellowstone Lake. “I would like the assistance of your office — say, a guide — to help me place three sensors. They are small and solar powered. They are quite easy to carry and position. It shouldn’t take but a day or two.”

Jerry frowned again and grunted. “There is a reason no sensors were placed there. Ya can’t get there from here, or from anywhere. Unless you are prepared to, quite literally, walk in where no man has gone before.” Jerry groaned. “Sorry, but the moon might be easier to get to.” He chuckled.

Frank smiled. Remembering the beauty of the mountains as seen from the air, he said, “How long would that take?”

“You are serious about this?”

“Yes, this is my mission, and we NASA people always complete our missions. This seems to be a more strenuous task than I expected, but I’m up to trying.”

“Well, we will certainly help you do it.” Jerry paused to rub his chin. “Being as late as it is, why don’t you come back tomorrow morning, and I will sit you down with some people who know a whole lot more about this than I do.”

“Thank you, very much, sir.” Frank stood and extended his hand. “Ah, I’m afraid I didn’t make a lodging reservation for tonight. Do you know where there is a motel or something?” This was another white lie. He had tried to get a reservation, but everything was booked. He was hoping that the administrator had a string to pull to get him in a room.

“Oh, son, you’ve come at a bad time for that. No doubt everything is booked solid with vacationers. Ask Miss Norman downstairs if she knows of anything.”

That was the best possible answer. Ah, Miss Beth Norman, he silently mused. Smiling, Frank folded his map, finished the last swallow of coffee, and left.

Back in the lobby, Frank approached the receptionist again. “Miss Norman…” He waited, and was grateful that she did not correct his use of ‘miss’. “Ah, Mr. Caldwell sent me to you. He thought you might know where I could spend the night, or perhaps a couple of nights.”

“I’m sure there is nothing available.” She stood. Looking away from him, she began the process of shutting down her computer and collecting her personal belongings.

“Does that mean I will have to sleep in the car?”

“Or, under the stars, yes, it seems so. You can head back towards Billings, checking the motels as you go until you find one.”

“Ah, Mr. Caldwell asked that you try to find something. He seemed impressed with your magical abilities.” He contemplated borrowing Caldwell’s assertion that government employees should scratch each other’s backs, but decide to hold this in reserve.

She interrupted her preparations to leave for the day, and looked into his eyes. She sighed. “Well, you are a government employee.” She sighed again. She picked up the phone and turned her back. She spoke in hushed tones for a minute. Frank could not hear what she said. She hung up the phone and again looked him in the eye. “I found a room for you in the summer employee dormitory.” She scribbled on a scrap of paper. “Think you can find this?”

Frank nodded without looking away from her eyes.

“Ask for Donald. He says he has something for you, but don’t expect much more than a closet.”

“Thank you, so very much, Beth. Is that short for Elizabeth? That’s my mother’s name.” This was not a lie. “Can I buy you dinner? You have been so helpful.” As he took the paper, he held her hand for a brief moment.

“Sure,” she shrugged, but ignored the comment about her name. She scribbled her phone number on a second scrap of paper. “Go get settled and call me in an hour or so. I’ll see where we might get in. This time of year, the few restaurants around fill up fast.”

He got the key to the ‘closet’ from Donald. He stored the seismic sensors in the room, but kept his personal bag in the jeep. This was a good decision. The closest available restaurant was back in Gardiner, and this was also where Beth Norman lived. In the end, Frank had no need of the room in the dormitory.

THE END

This segment introduces Frank Gould, the male protagonist in my book Ashes Into Stardust.

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There was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth; every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

Fire rained down from the heavens, consuming whole cities and their populations; dense smoke covered the land like fumes from a furnace.

What do the Yellowstone supervolcano and Mars have in common?

Frank and Helen Gould are brother and sister geophysicists. Following the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano, the siblings are cast into a web of survival. Frank struggles in the post- apocalyptic world as North America is thrown into a volcanic winter. The collapsing government disbands NASA, leaving Helen stranded on Mars.

Driven to rescue his sister, Frank works with the Army as it becomes the new governing power. NASA left a rescue rocket at Cape Canaveral, but no one alive knows how to launch it.

Scientific exploration of Mars gives way to life and death struggle. Having lost contact with Earth, Helen searches for the water her team needs to survive. Alone, they realize rescue is not coming.

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Copyright ©2023 by S. M. Revolinski All Rights Reserved

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