Higher Ground by Becky Black (notion reading list txt) 📗

sat at his desk, putting a mug of coffee he’d snatched on his way through the building down beside him, and started to analyze the results waiting for him. They’d been ready for thirty minutes, and he berated himself again for fooling around with Adam when he should have been here, working on them.

An hour later, the still-full mug of coffee retained only the tiny amount of warmth that would keep someone from declaring it “stone cold.” Zach sat up, barely noticing the pain in his back from hunching in his chair or the stinging of his eyes. The analyses came out the same every time, but he still held out a tiny hope he’d made a mistake interpreting them. He set to work double-checking his analysis. He’d never before in his life hoped so hard he’d got it wrong.

Two hours and two more analyses later, he knew he hadn’t.

He pulled out his Link and started a voice call to Phillips’s office. A voice that must be Phillips’s secretary came on the line.

“Professor Phillips’s office. How can I…?”

“I need to speak to the professor right away. It’s Dr. Benesh.”

“I’m sorry, Dr. Benesh, the professor is in a meeting.”

“You need to interrupt him. I’m coming over now.”

“The meeting is with the senior staff,” the secretary said, his voice chilly, clearly not appreciating Zach’s demanding tone.

Which meant it wasn’t happening in Phillips’s office. Zach ended the call and brought up the Institute’s calendar. He quickly found where the senior scientists and managers were holding their weekly staff meeting. All the senior staff in one place—an intimidating thought to a junior staffer like Zach. But it might also be a perfect opportunity.

THE DOOR TO the largest conference room in the Institute’s Admin building had a DO NOT DISTURB sign on it, but in his current frame of mind, it didn’t even slow Zach down. He knocked once on the door and walked in without waiting for a reply. Dr. Morrison, the head of the Terraforming Institute looked up, perhaps expecting a delivery of fresh coffee, and frowned at the sight of Zach. The other men and women around the table looked startled and annoyed at the interruption.

“Dr. Benesh?” Morrison said. “We’re busy here.”

“Sir, I need to speak to all of you. It’s very urgent.”

“Benesh,” Phillips snapped. “What are you doing, man? Get out of here. I’ll see you after the meeting.”

“I’m sorry, sir.” Zach nodded briefly at Phillips but turned back to Morrison. “I’ve been running scans on the divide between the upper and lower magma chambers of the supervolcano. A breakthrough is imminent and will result in the upper chamber emptying fast enough to cause catastrophic subsidence of the caldera and inundation by the sea, possibly even complete submergence.”

Most of them stared at him as if he’d started speaking in a foreign language. Zach realized he might have been too technical for those who weren’t geologists. He took a deep breath and made it plain.

“Zahara Island is going to sink into the ocean, and it’s going to happen now.”

The table erupted, everyone arguing at once. Phillips jumped to his feet. “Have you gone mad? What is this nonsense?”

“Sir, I’ve cross-checked the data, I’ve run the analysis three times. There’s a fault in the divide between the chambers, and all the data indicates it’s about to give way.”

“You said the island is going to sink?” Morrison said.

“Yes. It’s been sinking slowly for hundreds of thousands of years as the magma in the upper chamber drains away slowly into the lower. But this will be catastrophic. It may only take days.”

“Roy, ignore him,” Phillips said. “He’s wrong in the head; I thought it from the day he arrived.”

“I have the data right here,” Zach snapped, waving his Link. “Dr. Phillips, you must look at the results. You’ll see I’m right.”

“I’ve been studying this planet’s geology since before you were born, young man.”

Zach raked a hand through his hair. What the hell did Phillips think that proved? “Of…of course, sir,” he managed diplomatically. “But you must listen to me.”

“Benesh,” Morrison snapped. “Calm down. Give me the data.” He gestured at the Link, and Zach at once sent the data into the conference room’s computer system. His numbers began to show up on screen. He took a breath to steady himself.

“I’ve been investigating the earthquake that happened a few months ago,” Zach explained. “Just for personal interest. I believe that event created a new fault line, and the pressures have built to breaking point.”

Morrison turned from the results scrolling up on screen. Results he probably couldn’t understand, since he was a climatologist, not a geologist.

“Dr. Benesh, I appreciate you’re excited and alarmed by your results, but I suggest you go back to your lab while we examine the data ourselves.”

“There’s no time. I’ve run multiple scans and analyzed the results multiple ways; there’s simply no doubt.”

“But you haven’t had a colleague review the results yet.”

“I’ve tried! I’ve asked all of them, including Professor Phillips, but everyone is too busy with their damn quarterly reports!” His voice rose, and he took a breath, trying to regain control. “But it doesn’t matter anymore. The results are definitely correct.” This caused another stir around the table. Someone muttered the words “arrogant young pup,” and others murmured in agreement. They had a point. The ink had barely dried yet on Zach’s doctorate. Phillips had been studying the island while Zach was in diapers. Still, it didn’t matter. He knew the results were right. Every way he ran the analysis, it came out the same.

“The results are correct,” he repeated. “We have to go to the colony council.”

The Institute might be the local arm of the all-powerful Terraforming Authority, but the colony’s elected council ran everything else. And there was one thing in particular Zach needed them to do.

“They have to order an evacuation of the island.”

This time, Morrison had to shout to make himself heard over the reaction. “Dr. Benesh, that’s quite enough. We will look at your results