Page 72 of Eruption

“Cover your ass whenever possible,” Mac said. “The more people there are on the general’s team, the more people to share the blame if something goes wrong.”

“What happened to ‘The buck stops here’?” Jenny asked.

“Sometimes it stops over there too,” Mac said. “And also over there. But look at it this way, Jenny. If something does go wrong, there won’t be anybody left to blame.”

“Or anybody left, period,” Jenny said.

They spoke again about the trust Rivers had placed in them, about the secret they were all keeping. Jenny wondered if he’d told them about it out of respect or necessity, and Mac said it was probably a little bit of both. He might not have trusted Mac, Jenny, and Rebecca Cruz completely. But Rivers had made it clear that he absolutely did not trust J. P. Brett or the Cutlers.

They rode in silence for a few minutes.

Jenny finally spoke, her voice soft. “We got this—right, Mac?” she asked. “Tell me we got this.”

He grinned. “In my case,” he said, “the buck does stop here.”

“No shit,” Jenny Kimura said, and they both managed a laugh.

Mac pulled the jeep to a stop next to Sergeant Iona’s jeep;they were maybe a hundred yards from the lights at the entrance. They would walk the rest of the way from here.

But as he and Jenny got out of the jeep, helmets in their hands, they saw Sergeant Matthew Iona sprinting down the hill toward them as men in hazmat suits ran past him toward the entrance to the Ice Tube.

CHAPTER 49

Outside the Ice Tube, Mauna Kea, Hawai‘i

Mac and Jenny stood right where they were, next to the jeep, and waited for Iona to get to them.

They heard the roar of more jeeps behind them and found themselves in the middle of the bright lights from their high beams; they actually had to jump out of the way to keep from being hit by the jeeps whizzing past them.

These jeeps carried more men in hazmat suits, and as soon as the vehicles stopped, the men ran inside, all of them holding LED spotlights and what looked like large handguns but that Mac knew were Cold Fire extinguishers.

A minute later an army fire engine arrived, two soldiers in the cab and one standing in the open back door next to a water pump, hose already in his hands.

The fire engine pulled up next to the jeeps; the soldier in back was already on the ground, hauling the hose toward the entrance.

Iona reached Mac and Jenny, out of breath, chest heaving beneath his yellow suit. When he took off his helmet, Mac could see the sweat pouring down his face.

“What’s happening?” Mac asked.

Iona tried to speak, but he was still breathing too hard. His eyes were fixed on the entrance and the smoke now pouring out of it.

“Iona!” Mac said, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him close. “What the hell is going on up there?”

“There… there’s been a spill,” he said. “One of the broken canisters… we’re basically trying to flush it.”

“What do these men think they’re attempting to flush?” Mac asked.

“Decayed nuclear waste,” Iona said. “Spent waste from navy vessels and private power plants they’ve been told has been here for thirty years. Even some solidified waste.” Iona looked around. It was just them. He lowered his voice anyway. “We’ve made them take the same precautions they’d take if they knew what was really in that container,” he said.

Mac said, “You’re sure it’s just the one container?”

“Yes,” he said.

Mac stared past Iona, wanting to get a closer look. He told Jenny to stay where she was and ran up the hill; he got maybe ten yards inside the cave before one of the men in hazmat suits stopped him. The soldier’s voice was tinny and nearly inaudible behind his mask when he said, “That’s as far as you go.” He stepped in front of Mac.

“I work for General Rivers,” Mac said.

“Same,” the soldier said.

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