Page 8 of Carmine

“Who are you?” I asked as I hit the print button to compare my two charts.

“Aurora, and this is Klutz, my old man,” she said, and I stared as I held out my hand for the printout.

“Are you defined by having… an old man?” I answered, perplexed.

“It’s easier for those who understand who’s with whom,” Aurora answered, laughing.

“That makes a sort of sense.”

“You’re the doctor who tried to warn everyone,” Aurora said.

“Yes. But Carmine could have told you that,” I replied.

“Indeed, he could have.” Aurora laughed.

“Can you tell us what’s happening?” Drake interrupted.

“Come to my study,” I ordered, rising and leaving the lab and scrubbing down. I unlocked the second door and ensured they both were locked before leading the way to my home.

Mya trotted at my heels as I let us in. A Bernese Mountain Dog, Mya was sweet, but she’d been trained as a guard dog.

“Does anyone want a drink?” I asked as we entered the house via my kitchen.

There, I’d remembered a social nicety. See, I could function.

“We’re fine at the moment,” Drake said.

“Good. Um. Let me know if you’d like one. There’s a small fridge in my study; you can help yourself,” I threw over my shoulder.

They followed me down the hallway, down a flight of steps, and into the basement where I had my study. I flicked the light on and frowned.

“Sorry, I don’t have chairs. There’s a dining room with some,” I offered, looking around.

“Carmine,” Drake said, and Carmine disappeared up the stairs. He made the trip a couple of times until everyone was able to be seated. I liked the fact that they ensured the women sat first.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“I’m Phoenix Michaelson, and this is Aurora, who you’ve spoken to. My husband, Drake Michaelson is the President of Rage MC. This is Ace, his VP, Axel, Rage’s founder and Chaplin, and Texas, our secretary,” she introduced everyone.

“I am not great at remembering names, so it is good you have them on your waistcoats,” I replied.

“Cut. They’re called cuts,” Drake stated with a warm smile.

Idly, I wondered why they were called that. “You don’t need a notetaker,” I said, nodding at Texas.

“Secretary duties in an MC don’t involve that. Well, sometimes Texas does. But that’s not what he’s here for today,” Drake said.

Confused, I nodded.

“How much do you know about volcanoes?” I finally asked after I settled at my desk.

“Nothing really, but more than I did before,” Drake answered honestly.

I swiped on my laptop, and a holographic picture appeared in front of us.

“Holy shit!” Phoenix exclaimed. “I wasn’t aware the technology was available.”

“This is experimental and an amazing tool. A friend of mine devised it. He gave me a prototype to test, and it works amazingly well. Now, please look at the image. As you can see, the Earth’s crust is made up of molten rocks, which is called magma. The magma finds spaces in the crust and fills them, creating magma chambers.

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