"They're running!" Rick pounded on the control wheel with excitement.

"Look! They're breaking ranks and running!"

"Excellent," the governor said calmly. "Now the other groups. Then, in spite of the rifle fire, let us go and tell those at the diamond pipe what they are doing. They will not hit us with those rifles."

Rick knew that was true. A lucky shot might hit them, but it took practice to hit a fast-flying plane, even with automatic weapons. "Let's go," he said.

CHAPTER XVII

Solution: Nuclear

San Luz was in a state of complete chaos. The majority of the island people dropped everything as the word of treasure spread, and the slopes of El Viejo were covered with treasure hunters using everything from shovels to pointed sticks in an effort to find _los diamantes_. Only a bare handful even knew that the diamonds occurred only in a small volcanic pipe on the western slope.

If the hunt continued, Rick thought, the slopes would be denuded of vegetation.

There was intermittent fighting around the volcanic pipe, the police reported. Guevara's peons had succeeded in holding the diamond pipe, but were surrounded by soldiers. Now and then Guevara attempted to clear the entire area, but with the entire army struggling to dig diamonds he wasn't having much success. The police officer who investigated also reported that an American was with Guevara. That would be Connel, of course.

The scientists had moved at once to start shooting again, with the police pushing back the diamond seekers until the dynamite could be set off in safety. The crazed hunters a.s.sumed that the explosions were also means of seeking the diamonds, and rushed to the craters before the smoke had cleared.

No one really cared. The data was being collected, and it showed that the situation was growing extremely serious.

"Ten days maximum," Zircon said. "Maybe less. The magma has about reached that rock dike, and once it melts through, there goes the mountain."

"We must get the people off," Governor Montoya insisted. "That is the first thing. I shall call at once for help from the Americans. They have forces at the Ca.n.a.l Zone and also in the West Indies. They will send help."

"Yes," Hartson Brant agreed. "But first, we have a proposal. We will need the troops, but we may also need other help."

Governor Montoya looked at him keenly. "This proposal is perhaps a solution for El Viejo?"

"Perhaps. Let me outline the situation." The scientist pointed out the magma on Dr. Williams' sketch. "This is where the magma is now. Above it is a very thick layer of rock in which we can find no major weakness. It may hold the magma for a while. At least it probably will melt slowly."

He pointed to a little line running from the western slope of the mountain down to the rock dike. "This was where we wanted to dig a channel. Now it is too late to go all the way to the rock. The heat would be too great. But if we could drive a hole through, with great suddenness, the magma would be released and the eruption would be away from the island and into the sea."

"How would you do this?" the governor asked.

"By getting help from the U. S. government, from Army Engineers and Seabees, who are U. S. Navy engineers. We would drive the tunnel as far down as time permitted. Of course we would keep track of the magma constantly. Then, as time ran out, we would place a charge in the hole--a shaped charge, as it is called--which would drive the hole most of the way to the magma. It would also crack the rock dike. The magma would seek the weakest spots, of course. It is under enormous pressure.

And we would have the result we want."

"But what kind of explosive would be enough for such an undertaking?"

Montoya demanded. "Not enough dynamite could be packed into the tunnel to do the work."

"We weren't thinking of dynamite," Hartson Brant said quietly. "We were thinking of a nuclear explosion."

Rick gasped. He had no warning of this. The scientists had evidently arrived at the conclusion while he was flying around over the diamond seekers.

Montoya gasped, too. "But that would kill everyone on the island!"

"Not at all," Zircon boomed. "It would kill no one. Of course we would clear the area with troops."

"But the radioactivity," the governor protested. "I have read it is deadly!"

"Only if it can reach people," Hartson Brant explained. "This shot would be far underground. There would be no fall-out, as it is called, at all.

Of course the earth around the explosion would be greatly radioactive.

Some of the activity would be trapped in the magma. But where would it come to rest? On the bottom of the sea. There might be some danger to bottom fish in the vicinity, but I think the water would get so hot from the lava that fish would avoid it, anyway. And eventually the radioactivity would decay of itself to low levels. Sir, I see no other way."

The governor raised his hands in a gesture of resignation. "I know nothing of these matters, and it is your business to know. I accept your a.s.surances without reservation. Now, what do we do?"

The scientists had not only conceived the solution, but had a detailed plan of action. Within a half hour, the loud-speaker had been removed from the plane, and Rick was flying Governor Montoya, Hartson Brant, and Esteben Balgos to Trinidad.

Arrangements had been made by phone while they were en route. A car, sent by the President of the West Indies Federation, picked them up at the airport and whisked them to the Federation's headquarters.

The President listened to the story with intense interest, then summoned the American amba.s.sador and the representatives of Venezuela and Colombia.

After a detailed discussion by Hartson Brant of the properties and limitations of nuclear explosions, the conference agreed. Immediate action was called for. The Venezuelan and Colombian representatives hurried off to notify their governments, while the President of the Federation put in a conference call to the United States, to the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, and the President's Special a.s.sistant for Science and Technology, who happened to be an old friend of Hartson Brant's.

A personal phone call from a head of state was without precedent--especially a conference call. The U. S. officials were located within an hour, and the call put through. On the West Indies end were the Federation's President, the U. S. amba.s.sador, Governor Montoya, and Hartson Brant, speaking from four different rooms. Rick hung over his father's chair, listening.

The Federation's President introduced himself and described the problem briefly. Then he introduced the governor. Montoya said briefly, "Gentlemen, we must have help or the island of San Luz will perish. I ask help on behalf of my 32,000 people."

The Federation's President then introduced Hartson Brant. Rick gathered that the U. S. President's Special a.s.sistant and the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission both greeted him warmly as an old friend.

The scientist outlined the problem and its solution. He continued, "According to our estimates, we will need ten kilotons in order to have a margin of safety. It will take as many Seabees or engineers as necessary to drive a tunnel. The tunnel dimensions will depend on what machinery you can get to us. I leave that to your experts. We will also need about five thousand sea-based troops to handle the island population. We may have to carry them bodily to safety. Now, can it be done?"

There was silence as the scientist listened. Rick stood on one foot, then the other, waiting. He could hear the mumble of voices through the earphone but could make no sense out of it.

Presently Hartson Brant said, "Yes. I believe the runway at San Luz could handle a C-124." There was silence again. Finally, the scientist said, "I'll look forward to seeing you tomorrow, then." He hung up and turned to Rick with a grin.

"Our President will put pressure on the local Venezuelan and Colombian amba.s.sadors here for an immediate decision from their governments, and our own Secretary of State will instruct our amba.s.sadors in Venezuela and Colombia to camp on the doorsteps until they get agreement. He will also notify the United Nations, and invite observers from the Security Council. The AEC will fly in a 10-KT nuclear charge and a group of experts. The Secretary of Defense promised that a battalion of Seabees with full equipment would arrive in San Luz within twenty-four hours.

The Military Air Transport Service will airlift in enough troops to handle the crowd. Any questions?"

Rick grinned back. "It sounds as though everyone's in the act but the British."

"Oh, they're in it, too. The Federation's President will represent their political interests, but we'll also have a British cruiser standing offsh.o.r.e for help as needed. And I forgot an important addition. Our President's a.s.sistant for Science and Technology is notifying the proper committees of the National Academy of Sciences. We'll have a planeload of geophysicists down here in a few days to get all the scientific data possible out of this event. So we're well covered."

"I guess we can relax now," Rick said with relief. "The job is out of our hands."

"Not quite," Hartson Brant corrected. "They all agreed that the Spindrift Foundation should be placed in over-all charge. So we've got our work cut out for us!"

CHAPTER XVIII

The Seabees