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

on board and tell him not to let the airlock door hit him in the ass on the way off the planet.

I will therefore bring my findings direct to all residents of the colony, so that together we can make appropriate plans and demand action from the authorities.

Dr. Zachary Benesh

And at the end, the alarming postscript. If you value your lives and the lives of your children, YOU MUST ATTEND.

Wow.

The professor came back in with a tea tray, which Zach took from her and set on a table. Zach finally sat down as Korrie served them tea and cake, but he sat on the edge of the seat, and his leg jiggled.

“All right, young man,” Korrie said to Zach. “What’s this all about?”

Zach began to explain, and Adam stared at him harder and harder as he went on. Some of it Adam couldn’t follow, when Zach and Korrie began to speak in technical language. But Zach would frequently glance at Adam as if to check he was following the discussion, explaining points if needed.

“How did you discover all this?” Adam asked. “I thought you were working on mineral surveys.”

“I’ve been investigating the earthquake that happened a few months ago.”

“Yeah, I remember it,” Adam said. “Broke my favorite coffee mug.”

“Ah, yes. I was studying it purely as a side project, and that’s when I found the fault line that’s about to give way.”

Korrie asked him something else technical, and Adam read the data on Zach’s Link for a while, trying to make what sense of it he could.

“Can the island really sink?” Adam asked when there was a break in the technobabble. How could billions of tons of rock simply vanish?

“The ocean floor will sink under the weight of the island as the upper magma chamber empties,” Zach said. “Once the basin floods, the weight of the water will accelerate the process.”

“Won’t the water have to come right over the mountains to flood the basin?”

The mountains had once been the sides of the gigantic volcano, he knew. They formed a contiguous wall of rock around the island, and the colony nestled in the sheltered basin they enclosed.

“No,” Zach said. “The water will come in through the vents.”

Adam chilled with horror. Old gas and lava vents riddled the mountains. He’d been in them on potholing expeditions. It had been fun.

“How many of those go right through to the coast?” he asked.

“Impossible to say,” Korrie said, lifting the teapot to freshen their cups. “Only three have been traced from the interior to the coast. But there could be hundreds. Accurate scans are difficult because of the magnetic nature of the rock. There have been a few physical surveys. But those are dangerous and expensive.”

Adam nodded. Exploring the vents had become a leisure activity. People mapped new ones as they traversed them, but nobody paid them for the time, and the data was simply filed away.

“Is there any way to block the ones we know about, at least?” Adam asked. “Buy some time. Um, blow up the entrances or something?”

“I thought about that,” Zach said. “But I have no access to explosives nor the time or expertise to use them effectively.”

He was serious. He’d thought about whether he personally could blow them up. Adam had been asking about getting the people in charge to do it. It would never even occur to him to do it himself.

“And if we don’t know how many there are, we’d be wasting time,” Korrie said. “Zach, why have you come to me with this?”

“Because I need someone who’s independent to check my results. And frankly, because you’re a founder, Professor. You command respect simply from that. If you back me up, it will carry more weight than denials from my superiors at the Institute.”

“And what if when I check your results, I don’t agree with your findings?”

“Then I must be wrong. And I’ll have lost my position and endangered my reputation for nothing. But if I’m right, you may save all our lives.”

The dramatic effect of his words was rather spoiled when a large tabby cat sprang into his lap. Zach sat back, startled, and Adam smiled as the cat made itself comfortable on Zach’s knee.

“Tuzo, get down,” Korrie scolded. The cat ignored her. “You’re in his favorite chair. Put him down if he bothers you.”

“Um, that’s fine.” Zach stroked the cat cautiously. “So, will you look at my data?”

“Of course.” Korrie waved at her computer equipment. “I’ll run a few analyses of my own and see what I think. I’ll have them done in time for your town meeting.”

“Thank you so much.” Zach carefully lifted the cat and placed it on the floor, then stood up. Adam rose too, grabbing a last morsel of cake. “Adam will collect you to bring you to the meeting.” He looked at Adam. “If that’s okay?”

“Fine,” Adam said. And after the reprimand for driving Zach home, he definitely shouldn’t be using a department vehicle after hours. But if Zach was right about this, then a reprimand would be the least of Adam’s problems. “Pick you up around nineteen thirty, Professor?”

“It’s a date.”

They made their good-byes and went back out to the truck.

“Where next?” Adam asked.

“The communications center.”

Ah, interesting. “Why there?”

“It’s probably best if I don’t tell you. From a legal point of view.” They got into the truck and drove off.

“Legal troubles aren’t going to matter if you’re right.”

“And if I’m wrong?”

“You seem pretty sure. Of course, crazy people usually seem pretty sure of themselves.”

Zach smiled at him, a rather tired smile. He needed more sleep. Adam would like to tuck him up in bed…and wear him out all over again, kiss him from his toes to the tip of his patrician nose, with a long stopover around the middle. He shook himself. Driving here, idiot.

“Best to wait and see what the professor says,” Zach said. “Before you do anything to get you into real trouble.”

Real trouble like Zach was about to get himself into. Adam could think of only one