Kathryn was exhausted and not happy about being thrown into what appeared to be some kind of national security meeting with very little sleep in the last forty-eight hours. She was also now starving, had a growing headache, and had the displeasure of sitting next to Stevas, a man that she had come to loathe.
“No thank you, I’m fine.” Kathryn replied.
Carr nodded sympathetically. “I know you have just returned from a terrible ordeal. I am very sorry to put you on the spot here, but judging from what has been relayed to me about you and your team, I think you will agree that time is of the essence.”
Kathryn was reserved. “I would.”
“Unfortunately, most of the men in this room are not up to date on our last meeting or what has transpired since then. Do you feel you have the energy to give us a detailed summary?”
“Gladly.” Kathryn replied and slowly stood back up.
President Carr quickly went around the table introducing Langford, Clay, Caesare, and Borger from Naval Investigations. He also introduced doctors Harding and Wong as well as Lawrence from The Energy Department. The rest of the men — Miller, Stevas, Mason, Bullman, and Bishop she had met before at the White House.
Kathryn looked around the room and exhaled. She had had a long time to think on her way back. People that she knew and respected died because of game playing between her and others in this room. That was why she had barely slept in two days. She could not stop thinking about them, and their families. Had any of these men lost any sleep over them?
She lowered her head and took a deep breath. “I’m Kathryn Lokke, and I am the Director of the United States Geological Survey. Late last evening, seven of my colleagues died during a sudden earthquake along the top of the Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica. We were assessing the aftermath of an earlier quake which runs the length of the shelf and threatens to dislodge a giant glacier. If this glacier breaks from the shelf and falls into the ocean, there is little doubt that it would create a tsunami like we have never seen. It would likely wipe out most life along both sides of the Atlantic seaboard.”
Clay and Caesare looked at each other quietly.
Kathryn looked sternly at the men on Stevas’ side of the table. “The reason that my team was on the shelf is because when I presented this information to some of you at the White House, you ignored my warning and preferred to portray me as non-credible. Well now we are in far more danger, and frankly I don’t give a damn what you think of me.” Now Carr’s team looked at each other. “The next quake came much sooner that even I had feared and was much worse. Not only have good people died, but the time we have left to deal with this is greatly shortened. Let me put it in a way many of you will understand,” she said sarcastically, “we are now staring down the barrel of a gun.” She looked around the room and stopped on Stevas, giving him an icy glare. “I don’t care what you do to me. I don’t care what you do to my reputation, and I don’t care what you do to my career. Fire me if you want. Arrest me. Do whatever you like, but I am not going to cower to politicians who would rather be jackasses than to do the right thing!” She finally took her eyes off Stevas and looked at the door. “You can find someone else to be your puppet! But when this nightmare happens, I’m going to tell anyone that will listen that some of you simply didn’t give a shit!”
Kathryn pushed her chair out of the way and walked toward the door. She yanked it open and stepped through when she heard “STOP!” She turned around to see Carr standing again at the head of the table.
“Okay.” he said. “Okay. We deserved that. You’re right, we didn’t listen. And I am truly sorry for your colleagues. But we’re listening now.” Carr gestured to her chair. “Please.” He gestured again. “Please stay.”
Kathryn stood in the doorway, wondering if she were in shock. Partly for realizing what she had just said to the President of the United States, and partly for hearing him actually apologize. When was the last time that happened? She was so angry. She wanted to leave. But if she was right about the Ronne, then they had very little time. She could not just walk away, she had to do something. She tried to get a handle on her emotions and to calm her breathing. Hate was not going to help anything. She let the door close slowly behind her and walked back to her chair.
Carr nodded his thanks and then sat down. Kathryn sighed and remained standing again. “If the shelf itself collapsed,” she started, “it would be a small issue. Ice breaks off all the time and ice floats. The glacier however, is very large. It’s one of the largest solid land masses in the Antarctic. If that detaches from the ice which holds it in place and collapses, it goes straight down. And when it does it will displace an enormous amount of water and energy. We know that these things have happened in the distant past, and we know that they have been absolutely devastating.”
Clay raised his hand.
“Yes?” she asked.
“Any ideas on what is causing this?”
Kathryn took a deep breath. “Some will tell you that it is part of the larger Global Warming trend. The ice is melting at both poles. With the Ronne shelf being so large, the underlying ice floating on the ocean surface is melting away, losing strength and the ability to hold the glacier in place.” She straightened up and put her hands on her hips. “However, I think it’s something different. My belief is that while the ice is indeed melting it is not happening as quickly as others claim, and instead the actual volume of water is decreasing which is what is exerting pressure and causing the shelf to separate.”
“What do you mean the water volume is decreasing?” asked Miller.
She shrugged. “To put it simply there is less water under the ice than there used to be.”
“And what happened to the water?” he asked.
“That I don’t know. But I believe it is a global phenomenon. I have put forth a scientific paper with my calculations, but in all honesty no one believes me.”
“So,” said President Carr, “what should we do?”
Kathryn leaned forward putting her hands on the table and looked up from her tussled hair. “We blow it up.”
More looks were exchanged around the table. “We blow what up?” asked the Vice President.
“We blow up the shelf, preemptively.” She walked over to a large whiteboard on the wall. Picking up a pen she drew a rough horseshoe shape of the ice shelf. She then added a large oval to the inside ridge where the glacier was located. “Here is the glacier. And this line,” she drew a squiggly line around the inside, “is where the crack is, created by the earthquake, also called an ice quake.” She switched colors and drew another line further out from the crack. “If we can intentionally break the shelf closer to the water, we should be able to alleviate enough pressure and weight currently pulling against the glacier.”
The room was silent with all eyes on her drawing. “And how much would we have to blow up?” Carr asked.
Kathryn shook her head as she thought it over. “I don’t know. We would have to run some computer simulations. I would guess at least fifty miles worth.”
“Has anything like this been done before?” Miller asked.
“No.” she replied. “Not by a long shot.”
“And how long would it take to set this up?” Carr followed.