Page 51 of Eruption

Eventually so many people were at the observatory that someone made a call and had lunch brought in. A tent with tables and chairs was set up in the visitors’ lot about fifty yards from where the green army satellite van was parked.

Rebecca Cruz fell in step with Mac as he made his way to the front door. “Can I join you for lunch, Dr. MacGregor?”

“Call me Mac.”

“Can I join you for lunch,Mac?” she asked.

“I’d like nothing better, believe me,” he said. “Unfortunately, I have a meeting in town.”

“Must be important.”

“He thinks it is,” Mac said. “Henry Takayama. Lord of Civil Defense.”

She laughed. “That pompous gasbag? You poor thing.”

“I know,” he said. “I’ve got to check with Briggs to see how much I can tell him. But dealing with Henry is the cost of doing business around here.”

“Been there,” Rebecca said, “done that.”

“You’ve blown up buildings in Hilo?”

“And dreamed about having old Tako in them,” she said.

He was liking Rebecca Cruz more and more by the minute. “After I meet with him, I’ve got practice for some high-school surfers I’ve been working with.”

“So it’sCoachDr. MacGregor?”

“You can still call me Mac.”

“Well, if you can’t buy a girl lunch,” she said, “how about dinner later? The ball of fire isn’t going to come rolling down the hill tonight.”

“Dinner it is,” Mac said.

They exchanged phone numbers. Mac felt himself grinning.

“What?” she said.

“This feels like high school,” he said.

“Relax, Doc,” she said. “Saving the world is a lot less complicated than high school ever was.”

CHAPTER 31

Fagradalsfjall Volcano, Iceland

Time to eruption: 93 hours

Huge white clouds blasted upward with a continuous, deafening roar. Standing by the giant circular steel vents, Oliver Cutler looked up to watch the steam clouds boil in the sky; his wife, Leah, was next to him. The camera guy and sound guy who frequently traveled with them, Tyler and Gordon, were a few yards away.

But the Cutlers had never required much direction from them; they had an instinct about the best way to be framed when they were staring down at another volcano. They were there as highly paid consultants, though their critics said the Cutlers’ real job was being famous.

Oliver and Leah Cutler were well aware that Bear Grylls had spun hisMan vs. WildTV show into international celebrity as an adventurer, and they were doing something similar—they werethe husband-and-wife team chasing volcanoes, like the one in front of them.

“I’m ready for my close-up,” Leah Cutler said to her husband.

“You’ve been ready for your close-up your whole life,” Oliver said, eyeing Leah’s long red hair that he liked to describe as being the color of lava when it began to heat. His own wavy gray hair fell over the collar of the bush jacket that was his fieldwork uniform, no matter where in the world they were.

The ground beneath their feet vibrated even more powerfully. A louder rumbling filled the air. And as dangerous as they knew all this was, feeling the power of the volcano was part of the essential thrill of what they did; they felt a rush of excitement every time they showed up at a place like this.