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By 9:00 pm, Max
was back at the hotel lounge...This time with Sue and Murphy
in tow... The three sat at another quiet alcove as the room
filled with vacationers. Now there were three people sitting, going
over paperwork.
The story had
been sent to the media now. ( The only part
left out had to do with the loss of Nuclear Weapons. ) The
Navy did admit to the atomic plant, now resting on the bottom.
This to keep people away from the area during search and
recovery opps.
This was not
Max or Murphy's concern... They still pondered over how an extinct
volcano could errupt. The only explanation the two could reach, had
to do with wondering hot spots. They were going over this,
when Tammy approached the table...
Seeing her comming,
Max prepaired for a second round... Shifting nervously in his seat.
This didn't get by Murphy's sharp eye. "Three paper pushers, now?
We're going to have to open a library!" The woman quipped. (
She didn't seem bitter tonight, thought Max. ) "What can I get
you nice people?" She added, and took an order for coffee all
around.
As the waitress
departed, Murphy leaned to Max... "Tell me, you didn't piss
someone off, already?" Max scoweled. "Ok, I won't tell you." Sue added
her two cents... "You got into it with Tammy?! Shit, I've known
her for years, and I've never seen her get angry! " Small...would
be an good description of how Max felt now.
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As the night
wore on, many of the tourist types left for their rooms.
( Tomorrow promised beautiful beach weather. ) At the table of
Geology, talk centered on what to do at Maalaea. The Navy
had a search and recovery effort underway at this point... But
the volcanic question remained. Another, larger expedition would have
to be mounted. With cell phones in hand, Murphy and Max
were on it. Calling around for better equipment, and a larger
boat.
As the two
men wheeled and dealed, Tammy came to the table. She couldn't
help but overhear the discussion. "You're not going to Maalaea,
are you?!" She asked Sue, with concern in her voice. "We've
already been." Max answered before Sue could. "But what
about the radiation?" Putting the phone down, he looked up to
face the woman. " It's safe enough for us to do what
we do... No biggie." Tammy looked at him, dismayed again. "No
biggie? you wanna tell that to the families of the dead?"
Max realized what he had said, before the girl even finished. "
I...didn't mean it like that." He paused, choosing his next
sentence. "...We see alot of death in what we do... Sometimes
it helps, to kinda tune it out abit. Sorry." The table was
quiet for a moment, Murphy looked silently impressed by this answer.
Tammy's expression toward Max warmed once again. " I suppose you
people forget, sometimes." was her short response.
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