Rick could see instantly what Balgos meant. "Dad, an eruption on the west side would be perfect! The mountain itself would protect Calor and the rest of the island!"
"That's true, Rick," Hartson Brant agreed. "The problem is, how can we possibly create a break in a layer of hard rock so far underground?"
David Riddle answered him. "There's one way. Drive a tunnel down through it."
All eyes looked at him.
"Can it be done?" Julius Weiss demanded.
"Yes. If there's enough time, enough machinery, and enough manpower. But look at the problem. Once the magma starts to move upward through those faults Jeff has drawn, it will move fast. The tunnel would have to be done before the magma started to move. Otherwise, the heat would be too great for men to work, and even if they could work they'd be drilling right into magma."
"This stuff is beyond me," Connel said. "Let me know what you decide, will you?" He turned and walked from the room.
Rick's eyes met Scotty's. The ex-Marine nodded, and in a moment quietly slipped out of the room.
Julius Weiss demanded, "Are you seriously proposing that we drive a tunnel for over a quarter mile, almost straight down, through solid rock?"
Riddle shrugged. "Do you know any other way of releasing the magma safely? I don't."