CHAPTER XXI
The engineer punched through his calculations again: depths, distances, volumes, and densities. He had been given his instructions and he has going to carry them out to the letter even though they were unusual to him.
Reassured he had been correct with his figures from the start, he picked up his radio handset and spoke into it. "Ok go... Open it up to minus five hundred then commence injection." he said, setting the handset down on his table.
Garbled chatter filled the air as the command was relayed down the chain of command.
Opening out a big rolled up chart the engineer studied the lay of the land with his expert eye. This was going to take a lot of product, luckily everything was in place or there wouldn't be enough time.
Garbled chatter from the radio resumed as the engineers makeshift office began to vibrate with the sound of machinery. Grabbing his radio again he waited until there was a break to speak, then gripped the 'push to talk' button. "Good job, let me know when you're halfway in then I'll check the numbers..."
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Kimberly began to pop open the latches of various small metal cases, her eyes wide open. The Tattoo Parlour Slasher, The Body Mod Monster had her tools of the trade back and she glanced over them with wonderment. Another case had what she called her consumables and she took mental notes of what she had and how much she had of it.
Two mercenaries glanced at her from their seats in the plane: she was sinister, creepy and strange. They didn't know what to make of her and were glad that their leg of the journey with her would be over soon. "Where is this other item I am meant to receive?" shouted Kimberly over the din of the aircraft.
"You'll get it at the handover for the final leg..." One of the mercenaries replied.
Kimberly merely glared in reply. She still didn't know where she was going. Bobby had yet to speak to her either, and now what she thought was meant to be a key part of his evil whisperings wasn't there.
"Soon, my sister, have patience..." whispered the voice in Kim's head.
"Don't fail me Bobby, I am defenceless...." Kim thought.
"You shall see..." the voice said as it faded away.
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Kara glanced across the small bay of the volcanic island. The two warships had anchored and already their smaller boats had disembarked to bring aid supplies ashore. A pair of helicopters, their cargo suspended from them in nets had begun to hover over makeshift helipads to place down their heavy loads.
Kara had helped setup the landing areas quickly and had even helped prepare a beach head for the anticipated arrival of the relief effort. Glancing at the helicopters she was inspired to do more and flew to one of the frigates moored off the beach.
Hovering above the helipad of the ship she was welcomed by smiling faces, a crewman with his lit batons jokingly guiding her in to land. Kara, unsure, set herself down and was approached by a young officer who could only think to salute before speaking.
"Umm, welcome aboard...compliments from the captain, he is on the bridge" said the young man.
"I err was wondering if I could lend a hand.." Kara said as she looked to shore, the helicopters placing down their loads.
"What do you suggest?" Replied the officer as he listened to chatter on his radio headset.
"Well....." began Kara.
Soon Kara had joined the supply effort, her hands gripping the lifting loop of a fully-ladened cargo net. Quickly she began to appreciate her mechanically-assisted flying friends. Their skill in lifting, transporting, then safely bringing to a halt their loads without them swinging around dangerously easily out-matched her early efforts. Despite that, her passage seemed effortless, her figure hugging suit showed off the subtle curved contours of her lightly muscled arms and you could tell she was barely troubled by the weight of her burden.
Kara recalled Selena's cautionary message as she was taught how Selena had learnt to rob her of her powers, to never underestimate the ingenuity of mankind and here she was reminded what man and machine were capable of doing.
Quickly though she managed to get a feel for the job at hand and after two or three trips she began to rival the helicopters, garnering thumbs ups from their crews. A superhuman effort had only been possible by learning a mere human's skill it seemed.
Soon the aid supplies were ashore and the relief effort was in full swing and Kara sensed the tide had turned, the volcano had lost.
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The engineer stood leaning against a handrail looking over the sea, the nearby supply tanker ship with its umbilical hose system pumping its cargo up to the rig.
Glancing at his watch the engineer ducked back inside and rechecked his calculations. The flow rate from the tanker was to specification and the next ship would be back to take up position when the current vessel left.
The cargo carried in the ship's innards was PETROFORCE, the highly successful enhanced oil recovery product. The engineer marvelled at how it had been transforming the geology deep beneath the sea bed. Oil doesn't sit like a lake in some cavern, it sits trapped amongst the rock that holds it. Usually under pressure, it can often be easy to extract but some formations are difficult, only a percentage might flow freely, the rest lost to slide rule economics.
PETROFORCE could change everything. Pumping it into the well, it expanded like foam forcing even the most stubborn oil from the nooks and crannies it was trapped in. Solidifying, it functioned like a wall which forced the oil towards the next rig in the chain. This rig was damaged from the accident but it could still function as a hub to force oil towards other rigs in the field.
Now, without a doubt, PETROFORCE had welded together the rock formation it had so far filled to form one great unified piece of rock, millions of tonnes in weight. Fused into it now was kilometres of cheap aluminium chain that ran from the upper decks of the rig all the way down to the seabed and beyond.
"I hope whoever came up with this plan is happy....." the engineer muttered.