Demon Seed

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Team Campsite

“Oh my freaking God”!!!!!!!!  Would you turn off the fucking music already!  God bless it Meaghan!  Its midnight, I’m so freaking tired and your playing this stupid ass, ghetto-thumping bullshit at this hour!  Are you insane”?!  Emily is screaming this at Meaghan while Courtney and the others are settling down for the night.  Courtney feels the need to intervene but she thinks that, as adults, these two should work this out.  Emily however feels different and cries to Courtney in her ever present whiny tone, “Doctor Courtney, wwwhhhyyy does Meaghan hhaavvee to play her music so freaking loud”!!! 

“Jesus H. Christ!  Emily, why don’t you lay down and shut the fuck up for a change so that we can have some peace.  You are like the most annoying person at times and I just really don’t want to hear your whiny ass shit right now”, Ross yells!  He is usually the quiet, subdued type that just sits and observes, but she is irritating and he is tired.  Emily immediately, as with everyone there, stop talking in mid-sentence and look at Ross.  “Sorry, I am just really tired and have a headache.  If I offended anyone, I apologize”.  Meaghan and Emily look at each other, look at Ross, shift their gazes to Courtney and Tracy and proceed to burst out laughing to the point of tears and rolling in their bunks.  “Oh my god Ross, that’s the freaking funniest thing I have ever heard in my life”!  “Holy shit Ross, I think I peed a little bit on that”!  Tracy yells in between laughing fits.

Now that the mood is lighter, the music is off and the fire stoked, everyone moves to their tents and settles down for a few hours of sleep before they move to the area east of their camp.  The only person not directly asleep is Courtney.  She tends to enjoy this time of silence to once again survey the site they will explore tomorrow.

A few hours into their fairly restful, exhaustive sleep, the ground starts to shake so violently, it causes Tracy and Emily to fall out of their cots, Ross’s tent to fall over and Courtney, who is asleep at her desk, to fall down on the ground.  Meaghan, who is the hardest, deepest sleeper known to mankind, wakes up and says, “What’s going on?” in a sleep induced grumble.  This alone causes another fit of laughter before seriousness takes over.

“That was a strong one”!  Meaghan begins to observe her seismograph data and tilt meters to determine magnitude of this quake.  Courtney has already run to the equipment tent in order to help Meaghan, and the others are surveying damage and cleaning up.

 Emily is getting the satellite phone powered up to call her husband in Boulder, CO to determine if this is another aftershock or a new earthquake.  Feeling guilty for calling him at 4 am, Emily hears the voice of the one person that centers her when she is feeling upset, her husband, Dr. Cameron Riggs.  He is an expert in earthquakes and how to find the focus.  The earthquake that the team felt was within 50 miles of the epicenter.  The earthquake center determined that the magnitude was a 6.8 on the Richter scale and had a depth of just less than two miles.  This was, by all determining factors, a very shallow, strong earthquake that could have rightfully killed them.  His worry was evident in his voice over the rather scratchy line the satellite phone provides.  “Emily, I’m really worried about your team and where you have your camp set up.  If you were any closer to the epicenter, the ground may have truly swallowed you up.  The desert area you are in is very prone to liquefaction of the soil during these strong quakes.  Maybe Dr. Mayes should move your site back another 50 miles in order to be safe”.

“I’ll bring this up to her babe, but it took us three days, in severe heat, in order to get all of these sensors and equipment working and monitors working properly.  Courtney isn’t going to want to change all this.  You have been there, you know how she is and I don’t want to deal with it”.  Emily explains to Cameron.  “Plus, if we move further away, we may miss the show”!  She laughs.

“Well babe, please be safe and do not take risks that could cause you harm.  Promise me that if you have any more of these strong quakes that you talk your team into moving before it gets more dangerous”.  Emily rolls her eyes and affirms his question.  “Love ya babe!  I’ll be careful, you nervous ninny!!!  HAHA”!!  As she hangs up the phone, she feels a small amount of trepidation, as if she may never hear his voice again.  Emily shakes it off and heads to help the team clean up and sleep more.  As if anyone can now.

 Hope you are liking it so far.  I'm afraid I may be putting too much detail in it, but I'd rather have too much than you be left in the dark.  thanks for reading, commenting and voting.