Trails: First Generation

Carrizozo, New Mexico, The Valley of Fires State Park

Carrizozo, New Mexico, The Valley of Fires State ParkThe rumble of the plane changed. Amber woke to light shining in on her face.

She stretched and woke her mom. "Mom, we're almost there."

Her mom grumbled and reached for Brandon's hand.

The descent was even more jarring than the ascent.

At last, her stomach quieted.

With the plane on the ground, Amber could breathe deeply again.

She checked her phone. Still no messages from Karen.

The group exited the plane.

Amber followed behind missing a friend to joke and laugh with while their parents did the serious business of science research.

An airline employee pulled a cart loaded with seismometers, and other equipment Amber didn't quite recognize. The volcanologist's equipment would be specialized, and different from what she had assisted her mom with.

Amber waited and checked her phone again while the equipment was loaded into the van.

"Landed safe," she texted to Karen. Before when she had traveled with her mom, she'd have a dozen texts from Karen by the time she landed.

After all five people settled into the van's seats, the driver turned to the group. "Hi, I'm Corbo. I'm taking you to The Valley of Fires State Park. There, you will meet with Dr. Rebecca Sage from the New Mexico Tech Seismographic Observatory." He turned the key, and the van lurched to a start.

Amber smiled. Dr. Rebecca was well known in the field, and had visited the Parkfield site a few times to work with her mom and Brandon. Her papers had ignited Amber's dreams of finding a better way to predict quakes and their potential damage. Dr. Rebecca might remember her from a visit a few years ago. Of course, she didn't look, or even talk the same.

The change of scenery was refreshing. Amber clutched the window frame. Airplanes were too stifling to enjoy the panoramic view.

The quakes in New Mexico had been low magnitude so far. Damage wasn't visible from a moving vehicle. Or, at least to someone who had never seen the area before.

The State Park entrance loomed ahead.

Corbo parked the van in front of a mobile home. The wheels and towing rig still attached. Truck tracks pooled with water back to the main trail. Shrubs and grass flattened and pushed back from the weight of the truck cab. Water and electric hook up lines snaked from the back end of the trailer, out of sight into the grass.

The work trailer reminded her of the one her mom often used in Parkfield. Or, the one where they stayed off the Hayward Fault for a few days over spring break.

During the spring break trip, she and Karen laughed, giggled, and explored the fault, pointing out fractures and signs of movement to their parents. Karen was almost an extension of herself. Amber would have no one to share stories with around a campfire, or as they drifted off to sleep. Amber was alone with her mom, Brandon, and two young men she didn't know.

Sometimes their parents were tense as they read the data and tried to organize it with known data points. Karen was always the first to recognize too much tension and break it up with a joke.

Dr. Rebecca opened the door to the work trailer. Her face was lined, and pale, more withdrawn than Amber remembered. She spent too much time at her computer crunching data, and not enough out in the field collecting the updates. Her students did most of the fieldwork, leaving her to teach them how to interpret it when they returned.

Amber grabbed her bag, and hurried up to Dr. Rebecca.

"Hi everyone. Hi Amber," She patted Amber's brown curls. "Please, call me Rebecca. We won't have time, or energy, for social complexities. Come on in."

Dr. Rebecca treated Amber like the child she was years ago. It stung almost as much as Karen's abandonment. She held her head high, and tried not to sniffle. Thankfully, her mom said she would be a great asset for the team, not only someone to watch out for. Hard work, finding answers, and being responsible for her equipment should change her opinion. After all, this summer, she would join the Parkfield team as a paid assistant. Or maybe, she was one now, she'd have to ask later.

Dr. Rebecca led them inside.

The well-equipped trailer would be their base, and could be moved anywhere a truck could go if needed. Six computers with blinking screens waited on desks bolted to the floor. Chairs pushed under in a clear walkway, at the moment. A kitchenette nestled off to the side, with a pot of coffee already brewed. The comforting aroma pulled Amber to the small fridge.

Dr. Rebecca helped Alex and Tom carry in equipment. "We keep the furniture bolted to the floor, so it's ready for the earthquakes, and whenever we need to move it to a new study spot in various fields. The students work in the trenches, while I teach them how to analyze the data in here."

She pushed an office chair out of the walkway. "Be sure and lock the chairs into position when not using them. We have another trailer coming, to be placed behind here, for sleeping accommodations. If anyone takes the time."

Amber grabbed a caffeine free soda, and rejoined the group. She dropped her bag next to one computer, smaller than the rest.

Dr. Rebecca glanced up from shuffling papers on the snack bar. "No Amber, that one's for me. You need the biggest monitor in the back row over there. Lots of memory, and the ability to view multiple projects at once will help us all. Your mom and Brandon will be beside me, and Tom and Alex will be on either side of you. They have of plenty of programs set up as well. I figure you will want access to both your mom's data, and theirs. We need you to combine it all and help us determine the full picture."

"That'll be fun. I enjoy helping in any way I can." Amber laughed as she pushed the hair out of her eyes. It was easy to show her knowledge in front of Karen, the others at school, or even her mom. In front of scientists she didn't know, her heart quaked. She was used to the scientists at Parkfield. One more practice for the real world she hoped to join in a few weeks.

Dr. Rebecca stretched her hand out, as if she wanted to pat Amber's shoulder. "Sure dear, like you helped your mom the other day. We need your technological expertise to combine everything. We've all been focusing on one place to long. We might miss a variable that the two young men may share with you easier than we might hear it. After all, combing volcanic and seismology data requires creativity."

Amber blushed. Creativity wasn't exactly her strong spot. She clarified and cleaned up the efforts of others, pointing out things they neglected to mention.

Alex took the chair on right side, and Tom her left.

The computer flashed in front of her. A printed list of programs and passwords had been provided for each of them. Amber checked into the station her mom and Brandon worked for. Nothing relevant was instantly visible on the earthquake sites. "Alex?"

"Hmm?"

She opened the volcano site on her list. "What am I looking for?"

He reached over and gave her a few pointers. The volcano sites presented much of the same basic information, in a slightly different format, and focused on different specifics. A few minutes passed as she compared the new site with the ones she regularly used. Although activity was certainly increased, its level and intensity was nearly within the normal, or expected range.

A bang rocked the trailer. Glass rattled in the kitchen and windows.

"Hope it was the sleeping trailer," her mom said.

"Definitely," Tom said.

"Nope." Amber clicked back to the earthquake sites. "That was a likely 4.5 not far from here. Probably in the San Andres again."

A light thump sounded.

Dr. Rebecca glanced out the window. "That is home sweet home away from home. Let's give the numbers a few minutes to digest, and go pick rooms. We may not have time later, and we have field work to do."

Amber swiveled the chair around. "Alex, any changes on the volcano site?"

"Nope. Kinda glad at the moment." He reached to grab her bag as well as his.

"No thanks. I can do it myself." She jerked it out of his hands, heart thumping. The zipper opened, and her "Ring of Fire" pillowcase spilled out the top.

He shrugged. "If we are here, we can help."

Amber smiled back. "No offense. How would I keep my strength up to do my job, if someone else did the lifting for me?" She hurried after Dr. Rebecca.

Choosing her room was easy. Since she was alone, she chose the smallest. Amber took a moment to make the cozy room homey. She threw her bag on the bed, and pulled out her "Ring of Fire" pillowcase. The fading lines her grandmother had cross-stitched begged to be touched. When the tiny x's had begun to pull out, Amber turned it into a relic. It waited for her on her pillow when she came home, no matter where home was. A reminder, of who she was, where she had been. Her hand rested gently on it, smoothing out the lumps.

"How appropriate." Dr. Rebecca stood in the door.

"It makes anywhere home. Glad to be here, with you. I hope to learn a lot." Amber's hand rested on the pillowcase.

Dr. Rebecca smiled. "You will, and so will we. Meeting in five minutes." She hurried on down the hall.

Alex and Tom talked in the small room next door. Any conversation could be heard by everyone though the paper-thin walls.

Holes dotted the bare room walls, like a giant connect the dots puzzle waiting to be completed. Whoever had used this room before hadn't left anything behind. All her geology maps, and a horse poster, had been left in Karen's care. Empty walls shouldn't matter. At night, she'd be too tired to look at pictures anyway. She strolled back to the computer room in the main trailer.

Her mom and Brandon sat down with their coffee, and glanced at her as she stepped into the room.

"Hey Amber, hear from Karen yet?"

She shook her head.

Alex and Tom sifted through their equipment.

Dr. Rebecca paced, nervousness showing in the lines in her face as well as her inability to sit still.

Amber checked the status update on her computer. The quake data poured in as places further away reported the shaking they had felt. The epicenter would be pinpointed soon, if not already.

Her phone was silent. No messages, no calls.

The door opened, and Corbo walked in. "Hi. Sorry I'm late. Phone call." He sat on a chair off to the side.

Dr. Rebecca began, "Okay, we are all here to work together. In order to do so, we will work in smaller groups, and bring our information together. We need to know, is an eruption imminent, and will it be quake, or volcanic in nature? Corbo will be our primary van driver. Alex, you, and Tom need the van for your monitoring equipment, correct?"

Alex slipped the cover over some equipment. "We will need help tomorrow, or maybe today. We have equipment to set up, and need a vehicle to move it closer to the data collection sites. If Amber wants to come with us, she is welcome to."

Amber blushed, and almost said no. Supposedly dormant volcanoes would be fun and exciting to learn more about. Trying to piece the up to date information with her mom and Brandon's study of the faults would be an asset to the team. "Sure. If you don't bite."

"Only if you do first." Tom laughed.

"Okay." Dr Rebecca said. "If Claire and Brandon agree, and you three work without flirting too much, it would be a great idea. We should meet back here, and stay in contact by phone, though phone service is spotty at times. I'll take my car for the three of us today. We'll be going to White Sands National Monument. Lots to see and do. Grab a few last notes, and let's all begin."

Amber shook hands with Brandon and hugged her mom. Her mom hugged her tight. "I'll be fine mom. They seem okay. Good luck today!"

"I wish Karen had come," Brandon said.

"I'm glad she didn't. It's too quiet here." Amber raced back to grab her supplies for hiking. Her pillowcase nestled on the pillow. Her fingers slid across it, and almost left it. She grabbed it. No matter that they were supposed to be back tonight; whenever hiking in strange country, always be prepared.

The door slammed shut behind her as she raced to the van.

Chapter 5