Chương 62: Not today
"Alright, thanks." Lucy glanced for a second to the driver and nodded before she rushed out of the hummer. Mike grabbed her hand and together, they dashed towards the guard post.
Without wasting any seconds longer, the guard opened the gate and guided them to get inside the tanker, that has been waiting for them near the guard post.
"Package is in. Transporting!"
Lucy blinked her eyes in confusion and frowned her forehead. 'Package? Us?' Lucy did not have time to protest on the code name that the soldiers gave them.
She had just opened her mouth before one of the soldiers inside the tank dragged her in and strapped her to one of the seats.
"Boom.."
The hatch was closed in a hurry, as it moves forward without wasting any seconds. The chaos outside was instantly muffled as the door closes.
"Thank you." Lucy sighed loudly as she speaks and patted her chest. Her protest earlier was forgotten as soon as she boards the tank.
Drawing a deep breath, she calmed down her chaotic emotions. Finally, she can breathe easily.
Inside the tank, she observed the fully geared soldiers inside.
They wore full combat gear complete with gas mask dangling on the side of their face.
Lucy squinted her eyes to look at their faces, but due to the dim lighting inside the tank, she could not make out the outline of their faces.
Failing to catch a glimpse of their faces, Lucy leaned on her seat, and grab tightly on her seat belt.
She glanced at each of the soldiers inside the tank.
They looked calm, and their action was precise and organized as they maneuver the vehicle smoothly.
After a moment of silence inside the tank, Mike asked Lucy out of concern. "You okay, Lucy?"
Lucy was in a trance as her ear adapted to the mechanical rumbling sound of the tank. She did not hear Mike's question at all.
Seeing the irresponsive Lucy, Mike waved his hand in front of her face.
Lucy blinked her eyes repeatedly, startled. "Oh, yeah, yeah. Thanks." Lucy smiled at Mike thanking him for his concern.
"It won't be long before we get inside the bunker." Mike nodded his head to Lucy and sighed.
Lucy smiled at him again and did not say anything after that.
She sat there and her eyes were fixed on observing the busy soldiers in front of her.
Seeing that Lucy is fine, Mike propped his elbow on the hand rest as his mind wanders to his secret lab inside the bunker.
Mike is eager to collect the data on the magnitude of the earthquakes in Alaska just now.
It would be better if he could get the satellite data on the condition of the volcanoes too.
Sadly, he probably was asking for too much at this time. The probes all around the world have been malfunctioning without any reason lately.
He sighed slowly before mumbling to himself, "Hopefully the probes are functioning."
Mike clenched his fist tightly as his mind picturing the various data that will show up on his laptop.
'Will it be a strong one like in 1964?'
'No, if the same quake happened today, everything would be demolished. Should not have more than 8, I suppose.'
Alaska is not a foreign place for earthquakes. The great Alaskan earthquake in 1964 has recorded a 9.2M as the second strongest earthquake ever recorded in history.
Probably still the second strongest as the data from Lake Toba was so messed up that his team can only predict the magnitude of the after quake should be around 9M plus.
During Lake Toba eruption, the scientist only relies on the satellite image of the tsunami. There is no data on how strong the earthquake has taken place.
All because of the probes malfunctioning...
Mike closed his eyes in annoyance. Here in Alaska, the same thing happened again. The probes stop sending the data on the recent seismic activity.
A few days ago, he sent out a team to check on the probes, and they said everything is normal. If the probes are fine, he should be expecting some results tonight.
"Boom!"
A huge explosion sounded, and the tank slanted sideways.
Mike held onto his seat panicking. 'Another one?' He quickly glanced at the site to look over Lucy. She has shut her eyes tight and her hands were clenching on the seat belts tightly, the quakes probably scared her a lot.
Mike watched over Lucy as he remembers Jason's words to him before he arrived to live in the bunker.
The main reason for the construction of the secret project bunker constructed here was to challenge the strong magnitude of earthquake again. They predicted that one day, Alaska is going to experience another mega-earthquake that probably going to take place in a few years.
When the time comes they wanted to have at least one building that was underground to be able to withstand it.
The strongest earthquake that has been recorded was at 9.6 Magnitude in Chile.
The engineers have built the bunkers with so much sophistication that they claimed the building will last even though it was hit by a release of energy by 25,000 nuclear bombs.
That is what they said...
"Creak, creak..."
The tank slanted back to normal and continued the journey on a smooth surface.
Not even 5 minutes after they rode the tank, it slowed down. Mike's hand fumbles with his seat belts thinking that they have arrived at the bunker.
"Hold it. Please be patient. We are not there yet."
One of the soldiers stretched out his hand blocking Mike's hand from leaving his seat.
Mike was startled for a few seconds before he quickly sits on his seat again. He is sure that the speed of the tank was much faster than the first ride he took to the bunker.
He predicted that the first ride they took during the launching of the bunker was just to mask the real duration and distance of the bunker to the Air Force Base.
Surely today they will not follow the same route they took when they first came in right?
It is an emergency!
Mike nodded his head as he resigned himself to the SOPs and protocol the soldiers have to follow.
'Fine, whatever.' Mike tapped his fingers on the seat nervously as he waited for the tank to stop.
After another 5 minutes, the tank made a stop. Finally, they have arrived.
"Come on. You need to see something." Mike stretched his hand as he brought Lucy along to his secret lab.
They ran through the corridor and ignored the blaring sound of the siren and the flashing red light that filled the corridor.
Lucy and Mike was panting before Mike stopped in front of a wall that was several meters away from Mike's studio.
"Here?" Lucy pointed her finger at the empty wall in confusion.
"Oh right, isn't it the same place where I bumped with you last time? So you came from here?!" Lucy raised her voice a little bit as she was excited at her discovery.
She always thought that it was weird when they bumped with each other and what was weirder was she never noticed that Mike was in front of him at that time at all.
She thought that her eyes were playing tricks on her.
There was nothing wrong with her eyes at all! Mike did popped out of nowhere last time.
'Gotcha!' Lucy smiled smugly and watched Mike on the side as he keyed in his password silently on a hidden panel on the wall.
Lucy was immediately overwhelmed with the various monitors on the wall and buzzing sound of the supercomputers that were working fervently.
"Wooww... Is this your lab?"Lucy's mouth was wide open as she ogled at the supercomputers in front of her. Her eyes were shining as she stared at the various data on the monitor.
All of a sudden she realized something was weird. "Mike, why was the data dated 1 week ago? Don't you have the data on display for today's earthquake?"
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