again, but slowly they came to the realization that the flaring discharge of crackling energy shooting out of the hole in the lava dome was not a new volcanic eruption, but something entirely different. The massive electrical discharge lasted for almost an hour and instantly shorted out every electronic device in the area.
For an eruption, normal emergency evacuation procedures dictated the Triumph pulling away from the island to a safe distance off the coast of Santorini, but with their current situation, that had proven to be impossible. Every electrical device on the ship was completely dead. Even the emergency lights were non-operational.
When Larissa had first found Sean MacRory, the Captain was bellowing at the top of his lungs at his Chief Engineer, Kane McDougal. At first, she thought the two men were going to come to blows over the dead ship, but Tony of all people suddenly diffused the argument. Oblivious to the danger, the young man interrupted Captain MacRory’s explosive tirade as they approached with a question that shocked the older men out of their tense standoff.
“What happened to all the lights on the island?”
Looking around, they all suddenly realized nothing had power. Not the capital city of Fira on the ridge above the lagoon, not the other cities that sat on the rim of the lagoon, not even the three cruise ships docked at the nearby port of Athinias. Even the battery of Larissa’s CX Swiss Army Dive Watch had completely lost its charge, and it was supposed to self-charge from her body’s natural motions. Everything around them was pitch-black except for the bright fountain of lightning shooting out of the Nea Kameni lava dome.
It wasn’t until an hour after the unnatural discharge had run its course that the crew, under the direction of Chief Engineer McDougal, were able to get the generators back online. The renovated World War Two cargo ship still had hand cranks in the engine room to manually recharge the batteries, which the Chief put to good use. They had been installed during World War Two to help ships recover after U-boat attacks. Unbelievably enough, even though they hadn’t been used for over half of a century, they were still fully functional.
Once the ships engines were back online, they were able to get the massive diesel generators that powered the Titan XI’s systems running once again. Initially, the plan had been to recover their equipment and fall back to a safe distance before making a decision on how to proceed, but once their systems came back online, everything changed. Tony was in the process of carefully strapping himself back into the Titan XI’s control harness when Sharon loud exclamation threw everything into chaos.
“What the bloody hell is going on?” Furiously, Sharon began clattering away at her system’s keyboard as she yelled over her shoulder. “Sara, I need you to take a thermal reading from your terminal, NOW!”
Stopping in mid-tear down, Sara looked up in surprise. “I thought we were breaking down?”
Ignoring the question, Sharon turned back to her screen as Larissa came up behind Sharon’s station a second later. Scanning the data on the terminal before her, Larissa’s face froze in shock. The thermal reading of the volcano was now the same ambient temperature of the surrounding rock. Her mind whirling, Larissa looked up from the screen to see the rest of the team’s questioning looks. Considering the implications of the data, she came to a decision.
“We’re not breaking down people! Sara, I need those thermal reading now. Glenn, tell Captain MacRory that there has been a change of plans. We are not pulling out. I want the ship’s crew to set up a base camp at the lip of the lava dome here. Larry, I want you to get on the horn with Satellite Imaging Corporation. I need to speak with John Jones now.” Seeing the stunned looks on her team’s faces, Larissa slammed her open palm on the table in front of her with a loud smack. “Get
For an eruption, normal emergency evacuation procedures dictated the Triumph pulling away from the island to a safe distance off the coast of Santorini, but with their current situation, that had proven to be impossible. Every electrical device on the ship was completely dead. Even the emergency lights were non-operational.
When Larissa had first found Sean MacRory, the Captain was bellowing at the top of his lungs at his Chief Engineer, Kane McDougal. At first, she thought the two men were going to come to blows over the dead ship, but Tony of all people suddenly diffused the argument. Oblivious to the danger, the young man interrupted Captain MacRory’s explosive tirade as they approached with a question that shocked the older men out of their tense standoff.
“What happened to all the lights on the island?”
Looking around, they all suddenly realized nothing had power. Not the capital city of Fira on the ridge above the lagoon, not the other cities that sat on the rim of the lagoon, not even the three cruise ships docked at the nearby port of Athinias. Even the battery of Larissa’s CX Swiss Army Dive Watch had completely lost its charge, and it was supposed to self-charge from her body’s natural motions. Everything around them was pitch-black except for the bright fountain of lightning shooting out of the Nea Kameni lava dome.
It wasn’t until an hour after the unnatural discharge had run its course that the crew, under the direction of Chief Engineer McDougal, were able to get the generators back online. The renovated World War Two cargo ship still had hand cranks in the engine room to manually recharge the batteries, which the Chief put to good use. They had been installed during World War Two to help ships recover after U-boat attacks. Unbelievably enough, even though they hadn’t been used for over half of a century, they were still fully functional.
Once the ships engines were back online, they were able to get the massive diesel generators that powered the Titan XI’s systems running once again. Initially, the plan had been to recover their equipment and fall back to a safe distance before making a decision on how to proceed, but once their systems came back online, everything changed. Tony was in the process of carefully strapping himself back into the Titan XI’s control harness when Sharon loud exclamation threw everything into chaos.
“What the bloody hell is going on?” Furiously, Sharon began clattering away at her system’s keyboard as she yelled over her shoulder. “Sara, I need you to take a thermal reading from your terminal, NOW!”
Stopping in mid-tear down, Sara looked up in surprise. “I thought we were breaking down?”
Ignoring the question, Sharon turned back to her screen as Larissa came up behind Sharon’s station a second later. Scanning the data on the terminal before her, Larissa’s face froze in shock. The thermal reading of the volcano was now the same ambient temperature of the surrounding rock. Her mind whirling, Larissa looked up from the screen to see the rest of the team’s questioning looks. Considering the implications of the data, she came to a decision.
“We’re not breaking down people! Sara, I need those thermal reading now. Glenn, tell Captain MacRory that there has been a change of plans. We are not pulling out. I want the ship’s crew to set up a base camp at the lip of the lava dome here. Larry, I want you to get on the horn with Satellite Imaging Corporation. I need to speak with John Jones now.” Seeing the stunned looks on her team’s faces, Larissa slammed her open palm on the table in front of her with a loud smack. “Get
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