Page 47 of Eruption

Lono knew immediately what he was talking about. Rick wanted high-resolution magnetometry pictures showing Moku‘aweoweo.

The summit crater.

“Sure,” she said. Betty glanced over, saw Lono watching her. “What do you need?” she asked Rick. “GEM Systems?”

Lono knew that GEM’s GSM-19 Overhauser magnetometerdelivered data that was very high quality. Rick often wanted GEM data because it had excellent resolution.

“No problem. Lono’s right here with me.”

“Is that right? Hey, Lono, what are you doing there?”

The boy grinned. “I know you can’t make a move without me.”

“Well, get data starting backward from present,” Rick said. “I’m looking for an image that shows those dark areas around the summit, you know?”

“The air pockets?”

Rick said, “Yeah. The field team just walked the area to map new pockets. Find the pictures from the ground-level magnetic surveys.” He meant the ones that came from a magnetometer a tech carried inside a nonmagnetic backpack, the device fitted to a boom six feet above the ground.

“The total magnetic strength above the lava tube complex?” Lono asked.

“Just see what you can find.”

Lono was suddenly glad he had come to the observatory today, even without permission; he had a sense of mission, of something important to do. And he’d heard the urgency in Rick’s voice.

A few minutes later, searching through the drive, he said to Betty, “Does this have to do with the roads?”

“Not sure. Maybe he’s working on something else,” she said.

Lono had a feeling she knew the answer but wasn’t going to tell him. He hated being treated like a child, but he was used to it with her.

Lono pulled up the GEM file and scanned the database of stored images. The field team had walked quasi-parallel lines perpendicular to the locations estimated to be the walls of the lava tubes. He was looking specifically for a common magnetic pattern where lower magnetic field values ran the length of each tube.

The intercom buzzed—Rick again. “You still there, Lono?”

“Yes, Rick.”

“What’ve you got?”

“I need a few more minutes.”

“Let me know.” Rick clicked off.

Lono went back to the GEM list now. The data acquisition was continuous, but deviations around brush and other natural obstacles were frequent. He wanted an image showing a positive magnetic anomaly.

He found five.

He was going through them when the intercom buzzed again.

“Lono?” Rick said. “I don’t mean to jam you up, but if you don’t have it, I have to arrange a flyover and acquire it today.”

Rick had Lono’s interest now. Big-time. Lono knew an aircraft flyover was expensive. The observatory did it from time to time, but only when there was a special reason.

After another fifteen minutes, Lono found the image he needed. In shades of purple, yellow, and green, it showed the summit crater and the northern rift zone curving off to the right. He zoomed in; the image softened and began to blur, but he saw the dark patches around the summit that indicated the air chambers.

He shipped it over to Rick and sat back, feeling the tension in his shoulders.

The intercom buzzed again. “Lono?”