Eruption - 14. Erupt Ch 14

On the mezzanine level, there will be a small lobby lounge, with direct access to the lake-facing outdoor observation balcony, while down the hallway, behind a door, there are two medium-sized meeting rooms, two offices, a set of toilets – male and female, and a small staff room with kitchen and dining area, two store rooms, behind another security door, and a short passageway, on both sides of an open void area, that overlooks the Multi-Purpose area, leads to the large conference room, and executive office, which will be my domain, with ensuite bathroom.

Just a few weeks before I graduated with a Master’s degree in Geoscience, specialising in Volcanology and Geophysics, with me already having an Associate Diploma in Counselling, a Bachelor of Environmental Science plus an Associate Diploma in Higher Education under my belt, the new research centre was completed, and fully furnished and equipped with everything that I will need to monitor and study the volcanoes in the region.

On my last trip to Fredericton, taking a commercial flight instead of flying they’re in my own plane, I had taken a copy of the plans of the new research centre with me to show to Dr Judith, who was very jealous of me having my very own private research centre, where it is in the heart of the mountain ranges, where volcanoes have been very active recently.

I Invited her to come and visit the centre during the end of semester break, where I would give her a private tour of the facilities, and we would spend some time planting some more sensors, this time sensors that belong to me.

Mum and Dad had also had four cabins built behind the research centre, that would be specifically for accommodating visiting researchers, with each cabin having just two bedrooms, with a central bathroom, laundry and a separate second toilet.

One cabin has a double bed in each room, to accommodate mostly senior research staff, while the other three cabins have three bedrooms and two bathrooms, with each bedroom having a single bed and a twin bunk bed, so three beds per room.

With two cabins facing the other two cabins, with a laneway down the middle, located at the end of the laneway, there is a large semi-outdoor gazebo, for meetings, research and social gatherings, which is equipped with a small kitchen area on one side, that includes two fridges, a sink, food prep area, microwave and a barbeque, for some outdoor cooking on nice fine days.

I had decided to name the facility, “GVRC – Geophysics & Volcanology Research Complex” and Emmanuel had designed a logo, using a photo he had taken, of a bear standing up tall on his hind legs, on the lawn near the banks of the lake, with the mountains in the background.

With the logo set, we had some business cards made up, the back of the cards has on them, “GVRC Directors.” “Mr Carson Newton – M. Geo Sc, B. Env Sc, Assoc Dip Counselling - Senior Researcher & Managing Director” and “Mr Emmanuel Cohen – Administration and Hospitality Director” and “Mr Marc and Mrs Amy Newton –Executive Directors.”

Emmanuel’s office will be the reception office on the ground floor of the complex, where he will manage the general day-to-day operations of the centre, and where he has spent the past week setting up our new GVRC website, with photos that he had taken of previous trips to volcanoes, including students installing sensors, collecting data, plus photos of the research facilities, and the available accommodation, and also plenty of photos of the spectacular views that we have to enjoy every day.

A week before I was due to fly back to Fredericton, for my final exams, I sent an email to Dr Judith Atkins, with the link to our now completed and operational website, and asked her to forward the link to any colleagues in the industry that may be interested in organising a research trip to our new facility.

Just an hour after sending the email, I received a text message. “Wow, wow, wow, that is amazing. Your new facility looks spectacular, and I look forward to coming to visit during the holidays. I will let you know of the dates that I am coming. Regards Judith.”

While I was away over East, with Emmanuel coming with me, so he could spend some time with his family, I left Aunty Jos in charge of managing the facility while I was away, and she was pleased to be able to do a lot more than just managing the health of the horses, maintaining the hiking and riding trails and going on the occasional day ride with guests.

I was completing my final examination when a set of notifications arrived on my phone, and I quickly silenced them and turned off the notifications tone, before looking at what the notifications were. “Mr Newton, Care to explain why your phone is not on silent for this exam?” the senior lecturer who was supervising the exam, asked me.

I glanced at the screen on my phone and my eyes went wide at what I had just read, “My apologies sir, it is the notifications from my research centre in BC, informing me of a series of earthquakes happening as we speak,” I replied. “Finish your exam, then you are excused to go and see what it is about, but not before you finish, understood,” the lecturer said to me sternly.

“Yes sir, I am sorry,” I replied as I got back to work with finishing the final exam. Fifteen minutes later, I dashed outside and headed straight for the Geophysics building, and dashed into the main research lab, where I knew that staff and students would be monitoring the earthquake.

“Ah, here he is, how did your final exam go?” Dr Judith asked me as I walked in, “Good I think, but the notifications went crazy on my phone, which the exam supervisor was not too happy about,” I replied as I fished out my phone and brought all the notifications back on, and I saw two missed calls from GVRC, so I hit the return call button.

“Hey, we have been trying to call you,” Aunty Jos said when she answered the call, “Yes, I was in my final exam when I got all the notifications and ended up in trouble for not having my phone on silent. I am in the Geophysics lab with Dr Judith now, so I am about to see what data has been received here,” I replied, before putting the call on loudspeaker.

“Well from my basic science experience in this field, I would say that all of your equipment has gone stir crazy, and even without the equipment, I can tell you from what we felt here, it was quite a strong quake, but there has been no major damage on the property, apart from a few broken plates and such, but…” Aunty Jos said before we heard loud banging in the background.

“Yes, what do you want?” we heard Aunty Jos say as she answered the door, “We are from the Canadian Geo Science Division, we would like to speak to Mr Newton and see what data he has collected from these latest quakes,” I heard a voice say in reply.

“Well, he is currently on the East Coast attending his final university exams… oh wait a sec, I was talking to him on the phone… Hello, are you still their nephew?” Aunty Jos said when she picked up the phone, “Yes, I am here and still on loudspeaker with Dr Judith Atkins and some of her staff, who is it from Geo Science at the door?” I asked.

“I am Dr Mike Levington, Wow… what is this place?” a new voice said as it came closer to the phone, “Hello Dr Mike, what you are looking at right now is my Geophysics and Volcanology Research Complex, which has been operational for just a few weeks, and will have an official opening soon, after I have returned home in a day or two, from Fredericton,” I responded.

“Mr Newton, I am very impressed with this facility, is this a joint project, who owns it and runs it?” Dr Mike said to me, “The Newton Family owns this facility and the property that it stands on, and I am the Managing Director of the complex, my Aunt – Dr Jocelyn Newton, is minding the complex while I am away,” I replied.

“I’m a Doctor of Veterinary Science, and yes as you can tell from my accent, I am an Australian,” I heard my Aunty say, which made me chuckle. “I see, well I would like permission to use your facilities to monitor the current events in this region, and where can we find suitable accommodation?’ Dr Mike asked.

“We are a resort business, so we do have a variety of accommodation available, we will need to go to the office to arrange that?” I heard my Aunt say. “Permission is granted to have limited use of some parts of the facility, I will leave that up to you aunty, I will see you in a few days when I get back,” I said into the phone before ending the call.

My next call was to Emmanuel, to see what he was up to and see if he would be returning to BC with me, a little earlier than planned. “Hey, I was about to call you, I have just heard on the news that there have been some more quakes on the west coast,” Emmanuel said when he answered my call.

“Yes, that is why I am calling, can you be ready to leave to head back that way as soon as I have secured the flights,” I responded, “Yes, I am already starting to pack up, much to my parents surprise, but I assured them that I will remain safe and that it is where I want to be,” Emmanuel said to me.

That is good to hear mate, I will let you know when I have organised the flights, bye for now,” I said before ending the call. After several calls, I was able to secure two seats in business class to get back to Vancouver, then onto Williams Lake, and to Anaheim Airport, where Aunty Jos would come and collect us.

When I last spoke to her, she sounded a little frustrated, and she had informed me that the Geoscience Division had taken over most of the facility, apart from the executive area, beyond the lobby lounge, which she had managed to lock up before they got to that part of the building, and secured all of the computers and most of the equipment up in that area, which I was not at all happy about.

I was also informed that Mum and Dad had decided to close down the property for guests until the quakes had settled down a little, so there were only a few guests currently on the property, and they would be leaving on the day that I arrive back home, plus the Geo Science team. Dr Judith asked me for permission for her and some graduates, of which many were classmates of mine, including Hunter, to come to my new facility to do some research work, as she had managed to secure a research grant for this project.

I gladly informed her that she and the team were most welcome, unlike the current research visitors at the facility, and I was pleased that the Geo Science team had been accommodated in the basic accommodation area of the property, where they had to use the shared ablutions and camp kitchen facilities, which Mum had insisted on.

This meant that the Research cabins behind the research building were still available for Dr Judith and her team, which are a lot more comfortable to live in and would be arriving two days after I arrive back home, and in that time, I hope to have some proper order back at my facility.

Emmanuel and I were about to board our first flight heading home, when my phone rang with Aunty Jos calling, “Hello Lovely Aunty, we are about to board our first flight out, is everything ok?” I said answering the call, and that was when I heard sobs coming from the other end.

“Ok Aunty Jos, please tell me why are you upset,” I said sounding concerned. “…I am sorry, I have tried my best to keep everyone happy… but I can’t do it any more, the place is a total pig stye, the cleaners are complaining about all of the rubbish being let around inside and out of their accommodation and the research centre is not much better, I have been avoiding the place as much as I can since they arrived, and I have just gone in to check on it, and it looks like a cyclone has hit the place.

Apart from the food scraps everywhere on the tables and the floor, there are dirty foot stains on the walls, and a sink full of dirty dishes, they have set up tables in the lobby lounge upstairs as extra work space, and the door to the hallway is unlocked and open, and they are using the meeting rooms and offices and facilities on the mezzanine level, but they didn’t get through the security door to the executive area” Aunty Jos informed me.

I was now furious, at how our facilities had been treated, and I planned to put a stop to it right away. “Leave it to me, I will deal with it right away, where is the Canadian Research team now?” I responded in an angry tone, “They are all out in the field, even the data people went with them, so the place is empty at the moment,” Aunty Jos replied.

“Right, I want you to photograph everything in that building then get the maintenance team to change all external locks, with just you to have the keys, once that is done, get the maintenance team to start to pack up everything that belongs to them, and have it placed out on the patio, while you go and photograph all of their accommodation and surround area.

I will be notifying the RCMP to come and arrest the bastards for criminal trespassing. I have to go as we are boarding now, I will call you when we have the shot stop at Edmonton, Bye” I said before ending the call, and I tried to calm down a little, before making the next call.

“Hello, this is Carson Newton, is he available for me to speak to him?” I asked when the call was answered, “Yes sir, just a moment please,” came the response and I smiled as I listened to the on-hold music. After a ten-minute conversation, I ended the call smiling, as I rushed to board the plane, which was announcing the last call for passengers to Edmonton.

When we arrived for our one-hour layover, I turned on my phone as we entered the business lounge, and took a seat, and there were two missed calls, both from Aunty Jos. “Hello Carson, they have returned and they are not too happy about being locked out of the facility and finding all of their equipment outside on the patio.

After they attempted to intimidate me into letting them remain, the maintenance staff came to my rescue, and told them to get back to their accommodation and start packing, as they were to leave within an hour. Call me when you receive this message, please,” I was a little shocked to hear what had happened while we were travelling, as I began to play the second message.

“Hello Carson, my goodness, who did you call to get a squad of Mounties to arrive and arrest every single member of the research team? They were all interviewed and then ordered to pack up all of their belongings immediately before they were escorted off the property.

I was handed a copy of an order from the RCMP Headquarters, stating that the Canadian Research Division, and any of its staff or associates, are hereby banned from entering within a twenty-kilometre radius of the accommodation property and the private research facility of the Newton Geophysics & Volcanology Research Complex, at Nimpo Lake, British Columbia, which includes Anaheim community and its airport, and that they are to pay for all damages and cleaning of the property,” Aunty Jos said in the message, and I just smiled.