Quakes by R. L. Ugolini

Author:R. L. Ugolini
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary romance;Baja California Mexico;Geology;Earthquakes;Mountain Lions;Desert
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2015-02-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

“Harder, Mal!” Wind whipped Jenna’s words across the ridgeline to where he stood, but nothing could diminish the mischief in her voice.

He’d show her “harder”. Hefting the sledgehammer, he wound up and pounded the ground, leaving a small crater. “How’s that?”

She watched, her hand shading her eyes. “Are you even in the right spot?”

Of course he was. He was looking right at the Z-axis antenna of sensor-site number 167. Mal took a bandana from his pocket and scrubbed the dust from his face and neck.

His leg throbbed, and he wondered if the wind was blowing in a cold front. He looked down across the western valley to the far horizon. Something smudged the skyline, but whether it was airborne particles or a summer storm, he couldn’t say.

If serious weather threatened, they’d have to seek shelter off the mountaintop. Mal swore under his breath. He wanted to fix the signal error today.

“Reset the calibration and I’ll hit it again.” Yesterday, they’d enjoyed a day in town. Today, back to work. Except, nothing was working. The laptop picked up satellite signals, but the satellites weren’t detecting the array.

“Ready!” Jenna waved.

Mal lifted the sledge again and put his entire body into hammering the ten-pound weight into the soil.

The ground shook.

And shook.

A quake. His mind immediately registered the feel of the primary wave rocking him up and down. “Jenna—”

“I feel it!”

“Get away from the rock pile!” He’d left her on a small outcropping where the laptop had locked on to a strong triangulated signal.

Mal guessed the tremor was shallow and local, but big. The secondary wave chased the P-wave and jolted him from side to side. He slipped on a small cascade of grit, but dug in his heels and righted himself. “Hang on!”

Tossing the sledge aside, he ran on wobbling knees, muscles straining against the shaking earth. He made it to Jenna just as the vibration dissipated.

“Tell me we got that.” Mal crossed to the laptop.

Jenna reestablished the data link to the satellites. The pop-up window said, Downloading data…

His gaze fixated on the blinking cursor and he held his breath.

A moment later, the screen refreshed and another window appeared. Data error 435.

Mal heaved a sigh. “Damn it.” They’d seen that same message all morning. The array still wasn’t communicating with the satellites.

Hands poised above the keyboard, Jenna lifted her index finger and squinted at the display. “Just a minute. Let me try something else.” Rapid clicks came from the keyboard as she entered strings of code.

“By all means. How did I ever get by without a field assistant?” Mal sat on one of the nearby boulders. The temperature had dropped and the breeze felt wet. His gaze darted to the horizon and he saw a developing cloud bank. The western sky had a greasy-gray color. But the rain, if any moisture made it to the ground without evaporating, was far away.

Still, he didn’t like the look of the sky. Just one more thing to worry about. Mal removed the cowboy hat Jenna had given him.

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