Part 18
You and John jaunt to the Lab. The familiar lights seem dim and subdued, TIM's anxiety affecting his entire environment. A glance at the screens show the severity of the situation. One screen shows the churning fire of the volcano's crater, another gives a satellite view of the thick pall of ash and smoke that the volcano is casting across its entire landscape. Overlaid on regions of the image entirely obscured by dust are four white symbols while a fifth seems to mark the center of the volcano itself and a sixth stands alone, almost a quarter of the mountain's circumference from the other four markers.
"John!" TIM sighs. "Thank goodness you are here!"
"Alright, TIM." After one look at the screen John is already heading for the changing room for his AE suit and you go with him, seeing the sense in the precaution. "Tell me what's happening. Are Liz and the others all right?"
"Far from it, I'm afraid John." TIM's tones are somber. "They are trying to persuade the people in the four villages to leave the area. With very little success, I must add. Some of the villagers do now wish to leave but their vehicles are failing, their engines clogged with volcanic ash. Elizabeth tells me that the air is all but unbreathable, John, Jay. It will be difficult to see where you are going even with a sealed artificial environment suit and Elizabeth, Andrew and Hsui Tai are not wearing their suits."
"How big will the blast zone be, TIM?" You ask. "When that thing blows?"
"The volcano has been considered extinct for several centuries, Jay." TIM tells you. "And pressure has been building for all that time. I would be surprised if any tree within ten kilometers is still standing when the shockwave has passed."
"Then all the villagers are in danger." John says grimly securing the final straps of the AE suit.
"Indeed, John, but the peril is most acute for the residents of the one village built on the slopes of the mountain itself. Elizabeth believes it is mostly deserted but a few people are still trapped. She is there now but unable to see much and barely able to breathe."
"Tell Liz to get out of there, TIM." John tells him. "Jay and I can handle that village now."
"But there is another problem, John." TIM answers heavily. "I have identified a fifth complex of buildings on the satellite photographs that do not appear on any of the maps. The details are obscured by dust but I can make out tanks and vats of some kind. I fear it may be some kind of military chemical laboratory. If that is the case then there may be many people there and its destruction by fire might release fumes that can kill more people even than the volcanic eruption."
"But you're not sure, TIM?" You ask intently. "It might just be an unmanned water works or something?"
"Alas there is no way of telling, Jay, but the fact that the site is omitted from the official maps of the area suggest that its purpose is unlikely to be so innocent. John, Jay, you have no more than a couple of hours before the volcano erupts."
You and John both hesitate, unsure of the best path to take.
Do you:
a) Go to the village?
b) Look at this `secret base'?
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