Delta-Victor by Clare Revell

fine.”
    Staci turned to her, totally panicked. “You don’t know that.”
    “Trust me. I’m doing all this stuff in geography. When it throws out molten rock like that, so long as we’re not in a direct path of it, we’ll be fine.” Lou took some more photos. “And trust me when I say we can out walk a lava flow. Well, you guys could.”
    “But look how high it’s going.”
    “Once it hits the ground it crawls along. Any volcanologist will tell you the same thing.” She turned back to the volcano.
    Seeing the eruption close up was incredible. News reports and clips on the Internet didn’t even come close to the sounds and majesty of it.
    “We have to go,” Ailsa insisted.
    Jim shook his head. “Lou’s right. We’re not in any danger, right now. And if we are I’ve promised I’ll get you guys away.”
    Lou nodded. “So how about you guys go and stand over there, and pose for me? Another one for the logbook.”
    Reluctantly the two girls stood on either side of Jim, silhouetted against the volcano.
    Lou took several pictures and then put the camera away.
    Staci sat next to her, still shaking. “So how come this eruption is different?”
    Lou wrapped an arm around her. “You mean if the last one killed a lot of people?”
    “Yeah.”
    “They just are. No one knows why. Some volcanos, like the ones on Hawaii, erupt all the time, others like Mount Etna, alternate between doing this, and chucking rocks and stuff out. Some, like the Iceland ones with the unpronounceable names, just chuck up loads of ash, while others mutter and moan for a long time, and then blow their top.”
    “Like Mount St. Helens?”
    “Technically that blew its side, but yeah. Maybe the last time this blew and caused that disaster the temple spoke about, that’s what this one did. Depends on how viscous the magma is and how much gas has built up inside the volcano itself.”
    “Magma?” Staci asked.
    “That’s what they call lava before it reaches the surface.”
    Jim laughed. “My, my, you really do pay attention in geography.”
    Lou nodded. “It’s my favorite subject, along with history. And I love watching disaster movies. I have so many volcano ones at home…” She broke off. “Anyway, my point is, they don’t all have pyroclastic flows all the time.”
    Staci frowned. “What’s a pyro…whatever you said?”
    “A pyroclastic flow is the cloud of ash and lava that rolls down the side of the volcano really fast, like at Mount St. Helen’s or Pompeii.”
    “Oh, right.”
    Lou nodded. “See when the main crater is blocked, the pressure builds up like in a kettle, or a saucepan when making popcorn. If there’s a lot of gas building up inside the volcano, it mixes with the rising magma and explodes violently. The magma becomes ash and pumice and rock. But if there’s no gas, then you get a lava eruption, like this one. It’s just pretty and noisy, but fine.”
    Jim grinned. “A bit like Lou, really—the explosive and noisy type, that is. Not the pretty one. Hey, we should call this volcano Mount St. Lou.”
    “Personally I think Mount St. Jim would be a better name,” Lou shot back quickly. “Any ash that gets thrown out causes massive problems for any aircraft flying overhead. It means they have to be diverted or grounded. All the planes in Europe were when the volcano in Iceland erupted.”
    “OK.” Staci paused. “See this trip has turned into something educational after all.” She looked over at the volcano. “It is pretty.”
    A while later, Lou glanced up.
    Darkness had fallen completely now, apart from the sky being on fire.
    “I’ll take first watch if you like. Write up the log. I’ll wake you at two or three, Jim.”
    Jim nodded. “OK, thanks.”
    Lou flicked through the log book as the others settled down. She didn’t suppose anyone would sleep much, but then she didn’t intend to either. She picked up the pen.
    November 22, day 5 continued. Sometime after dark. Lou writing.
    The