Outland (World-Lines Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

nowhere.”
    Kevin looked angry for a moment, and Richard wondered what particular bit of adolescent torture had caused that reaction.
    “Anyway, sorry, getting this working will give me supporting experimental results. Then it won’t be just metaphysics.” Kevin looked a little sad. “I guess I know how the String Theory guys feel.”
    “Well, glad to help, Kevin. You do know that I’m planning on riding your coattails, right?” Richard said gently.
    Kevin smiled. “Works for me. Nice to have company. Speaking of which, what about Bill and Matt?”
    Richard thought for a second. “They’re okay. They have the skills we need. They get to do thesis write-ups on the project. Quid pro quo . If they walk away afterward, no biggie. I’d rather they bought into it, though. Like you say, it would be nice to have company.”
     

Yellowstone Field Trip
    Volcanism almost certainly will recur in the Yellowstone National Park region.
    — Robert Christiansen, USGS
     
    June 16              Erin
    Erin, Lise, and Donna stood waiting with the rest of the class, while Professor Collins discussed preparations with the park ranger. Erin did her best to eavesdrop on the conversation, punctuated by Lise’s occasional sarcastic comment.
    Once he had finished his discussion, the professor turned to the students. “The ranger here tells me that the water level has risen on the east end of Yellowstone Lake and dropped on the west side. Can anyone tell me what that means?”
    Several hands went up. “Brett?”
    “It means the land has risen on the west side, which is part of the lava dome. The water has rushed over to the other end.”
    “That’s correct. So, Brett, what can we expect next from the lava dome?”
    “Hopefully, that it goes down.” That got general laughter, even from the park ranger.
    “Okay, I’ll give you that one,” the professor said.
    “Now, we’re going to split into groups. We have people from the USGS who will be performing their rounds, checking GPS transceivers and such like. You’ll be tagging along. Some of you will be helping them with logging any maintenance requirements. Others will get to do the more glamorous stuff like slogging through swamps. There are fumaroles to observe, hot springs to measure, rock strata to examine, and conclusions to reach. Tonight we will feast on hot dogs—not the name-brand kind either—and compare notes. Everyone back here at seven p.m.”
    The students, everyone in high spirits, organized themselves into their assigned groups.
    Erin said goodbye to her friends and went to find her group. She was relieved to find that it didn’t include Jenson Hildebrandt. Erin had labelled him creepy guy the first day she’d met him. It was no surprise to Erin to find that she wasn’t alone in this opinion.
    Erin could understand why the professor would keep Jenson as an assistant. His knowledge of geology was encyclopedic, his memory was near perfect, and he seemed to be quite happy to obsess over the smallest detail until he’d wrestled it into submission. Still he gave off a vibe that made Erin want to be as elsewhere as possible when he was around.
    When he looks at you, it’s like he’s dissecting you, She’d thought on her first day. She’d found him staring at her every time she looked up. The last time, she had glared back at him until he dropped his eyes. Since then, she’d seen him staring at other girls the same way.
    Erin found herself grouped with Ted, Sheila, and Cassandra. She knew all of them by name from various classes but had never hung out with them. Still they all seemed to hit it off right away. Going to be a good time .
    The four of them waited until their guide came over and introduced himself.
    “I’m Jim Shaw, and we will be doing a tour of some of the geology today. Not the touristy stuff like Old Faithful—we’ll be examining rock strata and looking for the ash and lava layers. Not as dramatic, but far more