Eruption

Civil Defense Director Tako is annoyed about being left out of the loop on the emergency preparations. He calls the tower at the local Lyman Field airport to see if he can get the airspace opened over the volcanos for the tour directors. He is told the army has ordered the airspace closed and it cannot be reopened. The air tower controller tells Tako that “something is happening” because he heard Mac was rushed off the island in the middle of the night and later army helicopters arrived and headed toward the summit.

Tako directs his assistant to find the Cutlers in the hopes of getting more information about what is going on.

Members of the US Army Ordnance Corps (AOC) are double-checking Kenny’s data and models. Then, they go outside and meet with the AOC director, Morton, who says that it is impossible to cause an explosion big enough to “vent” the volcano. Mac suggests they use explosives to drive water through the lava tubes to create steam and pressure and thereby direct the explosion of the volcano. The AOC team thinks it might work. Rick warns it might cause a “nuée ardente” or “avalanche of fire” (128).

A née ardente or pyroclastic flow is a dangerous volcanic phenomenon where volcanic activity creates an enormous, destructive avalanche. Rick says the explosions will cause a pyroclastic flow in the direction of Hilo. Mac says the avalanche won’t reach the city because the slope is “too gentle.”

Mac shows Briggs a lava tube and explains it is above a magma pipe. They have to choose three or four of these lava tubes, load them with resonant explosives and water, and equip the explosives with sensors so that they go off in sequence to create a large enough explosion to force the magma flow away from the military base. Jenny suggests they say the military is there to do road repairs as a cover story. Briggs says they will need to bring in Cruz Demolition as contractors to help place the sensor-controlled explosive material.

Rebecca Cruz, director of Cruz Demolition, is in Honolulu preparing to demolish an office tower. It is raining, and her brother and cousin are urging her to hold off on detonating the charges because of the water. Rebecca ignores them and orders the detonation. The building comes down safely. At that moment, men in a van arrive and tell her to get in. They have already picked up her whole team. The men put her in the van and speed away.

Lono Akani, one of Mac’s surfing students and interns, arrives at the HVO. He asks the librarian why there are so many soldiers there, and she tells him they are there to repair the roads. Rick calls the library and asks Lono to look at the magnetic survey data to find air pockets located near the magma flow. Lono finds one and sends it to Rick. Lono overhears Rick directing someone to show the information to the army guy who “have to place the damn explosives” (146). Lono hacks into the voice-to-text intercom system to find out more and learns that Jenny is talking about a million pounds of explosives. Mac arrives with Briggs. He tells Lono he needs to leave with Jenny. Lono goes outside to look for her and sees men on computers in vans.

Rebecca Cruz and her team set up in the HVO. Mac is overseeing things when Tako’s assistant calls to arrange a lunch meeting with him that afternoon. Later, Briggs encourages Mac to do whatever he can to make sure people don’t panic. Briggs also encourages Mac to invite other experts to assist, but Mac resists.

Rebecca asks Mac if he will eat lunch with her, but he has to go to his lunch meeting with Tako. They commiserate about how annoying Tako can be. Rebecca then asks if he will go to dinner with her, and he agrees. They exchange numbers.

Oliver and Leah Cutler, celebrity volcano hunters, are talking with a reporter at Fagradalsfjall Volcano in Iceland. Tako calls Oliver and tells him there is an impending eruption at Mauna Loa. He tells him that the airspace has been closed and a lot of military engineers have been brought in. He wants the Cutlers to help him find out what is going on at the HVO, and he is willing to pay their consultant fee. The Cutlers don’t like Mac and are happy to go.

Mac skips dinner with Rebecca and spends the night working at the office with his team. The next morning, Jenny arrives at Mac’s house and tells him Briggs has asked him to come to the Ice Tube. Sergeant Matthew Iona escorts them into the Ice Tube.

Iona points out that the tremors cracked two of the canisters. As the trio looks at the damaged canisters, there is another tremor, and the cave shakes.

Meanwhile, Lono is at the beach with his friends waiting for the surf to pick up. Lono tells his friends he thinks the “Big One” is imminent. His friends doubt him. At that moment, a large tremor hits the beach, and they run away. Lono goes to his friend Dennis’s house. The boys are playing a video game when there is another large tremor.

Mac tells Iona that the shaking of the cave indicates that magma is moving quickly under the Earth’s crust. Mac tells Iona they have to go up the mountain to take a look at Mauna Loa. They leave the Ice Tube and Mac calls Rick and tells him about his plan.

Mac, Jenny, Iona, and Rick park a truck near the rim of the volcano, but Mac has to move the truck further away from the lava pool because the truck’s tires are starting to melt. They hike up and look over the rim. Their boots start to melt and Iona retreats to the jeep. Mac, Jenny, and Rick look over the rim and see a new lava lake on the northeast side of the summit toward the Military Reserve. Mac takes some pictures.

Back at the HVO, Mac’s team meets with Rebecca’s team. They outline Mac and Rebecca’s plan to direct the lava flow. They will use explosions to make the lava come out at a place where they can direct it away from both the town and the military base using canals. Rebecca admits it has never before been accomplished.

That afternoon, the Cutlers and their film crew arrive at the Hilo airport on one of billionaire J.P. Brett’s private jets. Tako meets them at the airport and takes them to their villa. Tako tells them Mac is in charge of the situation, but “you’re about to outrank him” (186). Soon after, J.P. Brett arrives on his private jet.

Soon after, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Rivers, meets with Briggs, Mac, Rebecca, the Cutlers, Tako, and their teams at HVO. Briggs, Mac, Rebecca, and the Cutlers are each going to present their plan about how best to address the crisis to him.

Briggs presents first. The army plans to build trenches. They will dig containment pits and ponds downslope from the trenches. Then, they will build walls past the ponds to stop the lava flow. They think this will protect both the Military Reserve and the town. Mac doubts they will be able to build a seven-mile wall in two days. When the Cutlers stand up to present their plan, another earthquake hits. Everyone ducks under the table except Mac and General Rivers.

Somewhat shaken, the Cutlers present their plan. They tell the general that they contacted J.P. Brett to develop a plan to blow holes in the side of the volcano. Rivers is annoyed they brought Brett into the plan. The Cutlers propose using targeted bombs to open vents in the volcano and then spraying those vents with seawater to slow it down with support from Brett’s water tank trucks. Mac says he supports the Cutlers’s plan because “most of it is mine” (197).

Finally, Mac and Rebecca present their plan to blow holes over a square mile of the mountain using timed detonators on the east side of the mountain to push the lava away from the Reserve. He tells the general it is a long shot. Rivers says he is going to use all three plans.

Meanwhile, Tako is holding a press conference. After the meeting, General Rivers, Mac, and the Cutlers arrive at the press conference. Rivers tells the mistrustful audience that there will be a massive explosion in the next 48 to 72 hours. He reassures them that Hilo will be safe. He tells them that Brett will also be there to assist. Someone yells “‘J.P. Brett eats shit!’” (202). At that moment, Brett arrives and walks to the stage.

Brett introduces himself to Mac. Then, Rivers answers a local reporter’s questions about whether the people of Hilo should be alarmed. He reassures them that Hilo has survived eruptions in the past and will survive this one. Then, Rivers passes the microphone to Brett. Under his breath, Rivers warns Brett not to “fuck” with him.

Former Hilo Botanical Gardens employee Rachel Sherrill is at the press conference. Before Brett speaks, she walks out to get some air. She was fired from the Gardens after the event in 2016, and her ex-boyfriend told her they could no longer speak. She thinks it is because of what she saw that day. Although she has a new job at the Hoyt Arboretum in Portland, she decided to come back to Hilo because of her unanswered questions. Upon arriving, she went to the Gardens where she saw a lawn where the banyan grove once was “almost as if the trees had never been there” (208). Then, she heard about the press conference and went. She goes back to the press conference where she hears Mac speaking. She wonders what he is hiding.

Rivers, Brett, and Briggs leave the press conference. Unattended, the Cutlers talk directly to the reporters. There are several tremors, and people start to panic. When the tremors stop, Oliver Cutler tells the reporters that the eruption is going to be “the Big One,” which is why Tako had summoned the Cutlers to Hawai‘i. He tells them that the entire island is at risk. Leah Cutler emphasizes that the magma in the volcano is ascending rapidly and will soon burst.

After the media leaves, Mac asks Oliver Cutler to come talk to him outside. Then, Mac lifts Oliver by his shirt collar and asks Oliver if he is “out of [his] goddamn mind” (215). Oliver says he was just telling the truth. Mac says he knows the Cutlers haven’t actually reviewed the seismographic data and can’t possibly know if what they said was true. Mac says if Oliver doesn’t learn to work with him, he will “bury” Oliver. Then Mac storms off, gets in his car, and drives away.

Later, Mac’s team meets with Rebecca’s team at the HVO. They discuss locating lava tubes best suited for their targeted explosions. Cruz Demolition plan to put the bombs in heat-protected casings to prevent premature detonation. After the meeting, Mac and Jenny drive to the Ice Tube. As they drive, Mac admits to her that “‘if something does go wrong, there won’t be anybody left to blame’” (220). When they pull up to the Military Reserve, Sergeant Iona runs toward them as a group of men in hazmat suits run into the Ice Tube.

More men in jeeps in hazmat suits arrive with Cold Fire extinguishers. Iona tells Mac and Jenny that one of the canisters broke. Mac approaches the Ice Tube and sees a “black stain” near the entrance.

Mac returns to Jenny, and they wait for the men to come out of the cave. Briggs and Rivers arrive and go into the Ice Tube. Eventually, the hazmat men leave. Rivers tells Mac and Jenny the canister is contained. After they leave, Rivers and Briggs return to the Ice Tube in hazmat suits where a soldier has died after his hazmat suit ripped. Rivers tells the other soldiers that the man “died in a lava accident” and orders the soldiers to get shovels to bury the dead soldier in the Ice Tube.

That night, Sergeant Noa Mahoe rushes off base after cleaning the Ice Tube before properly disinfecting and changing his clothes. He is in a rush because he has a date. He notices he feels weirdly hot. The guard, Ulani Moore, stops him and asks to see his stamped hand indicating he was disinfected. Noa begs her to let him go without the stamp, and she does. Shortly after, Ulani is in a meeting with General Rivers. She is dismissed for not following protocol.

Noa is with his date Leilana at the Hale Inu Sports Bar in Hilo. He is trying to flirt, but he is burning up. He notices his hand is bright red. A group of men in hazmat suits enter the bar. They are looking for Noa. The other men at the bar try to stop the men in the hazmat suits, and there is a scuffle. They knock Noa to the ground, and he passes out.