Читать книгу The Prime Network - Gerard G. Nahum - Страница 10

5 THE QUAKE

AFTER MR. GREGORY HAD HIS DEVICE WORKING, HE began to conduct scans of the Network on a routine basis. He became accustomed to seeing its ordinary activities, but one night, he saw an unusual pattern. It appeared that some of the Network’s nodes were transferring information at an accelerated rate and that the information exchange was occurring between different regions of the Network in ways he’d never seen before. He wasn’t sure what it meant, but because it was so striking, he decided to monitor it.

Over the next several days, the unfamiliar activity continued to expand. It was notable not only for its scope but also because of the rapid synchronization it was causing in the outputs of an increasing number of the Network’s components. Unlike the other instabilities he’d seen in the past, which tended to become damped as they filtered through to more distant areas of the Network, this one was recruiting more nodes into high-information-density states as it expanded. Clearly, it was a significant change that would have a major impact, but he couldn’t yet tell what it was.

The next day, Mr. Gregory’s LIFE analysis was finally able to recognize the signature of the disturbance. It was an earthquake—one more powerful than any seen in recent times. He still couldn’t tell exactly where it would hit or when, but it was coming.

Shortly thereafter, the details became clearer. The area that would be affected was in Southern California, near Los Angeles, and the quake would hit in early September. Left unchecked, it would result in a large-scale disaster.

Mr. Gregory knew that something needed to be done quickly to avert it, so he tried to deliver additional energy to the nodes at the margins of the disturbance to contain its spread by creating the equivalent of a firewall within the Network. But his valiant efforts were too little too late. The size of the disturbance was massive, and it contained too much energy for him to be able to intervene successfully; his efforts were simply overwhelmed by the advancing waves of information that continued to spread throughout the Network’s different regions.

The only thing he could do was alert the proper government agencies regarding what was about to happen. He thought they would have enough time to confirm the findings and stage an orderly evacuation of the area. The size of the earthquake would be enormous; his estimate was a magnitude of 8.9.

He called the secretary of Homeland Security. “I’m sorry to have to inform you of this, Madam Secretary,” he said. “There is going to be a major earthquake in the Los Angeles area.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, clearly alarmed.

“Yes. Unfortunately, I am.”

“When?”

“In four weeks.”

“How large?”

“A magnitude of 8.9.”

“Oh no!” she exclaimed. “Is there anything you can do to stop it?”

“I’ve been trying, but the activity in the Network just keeps getting stronger,” he answered. “Nothing I’ve done so far has been able to slow it down or contain it.”

“Well, for heaven’s sake, do whatever you can!”

She ordered an immediate review of the situation by the US Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They checked the data from their seismographic monitoring equipment, but all of the activity seemed within ordinary limits. Their standard earthquake prediction algorithms also didn’t reveal anything unusual, and after a week of review, they still weren’t able to confirm Mr. Gregory’s prediction of an impending earthquake.

The secretary called Mr. Gregory to let him know. “Neither the USGS nor the NOAA can confirm that there’s going to be an earthquake,” she said, clearly concerned over the lack of agreement.

Mr. Gregory was disappointed, but he wasn’t surprised. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he replied.

“Is there any updated information that you can provide?” she asked, hoping he’d found some more concrete evidence to confirm his prediction.

“Yes,” he responded blandly.

“What is it?” she asked in a voice full of anticipation.

“That their assessment is incorrect,” he replied simply.

She gave an inadvertent chuckle. “I was hoping for more than that.” There was an awkward pause in the conversation before she spoke again. Then she asked him bluntly, “How certain are you?”

“Extremely,” he said.

“Can you give me an estimate in terms of a percentage probability?”

“Based on everything I’ve seen, it’s one hundred percent. The magnitude will be between 8.8 and 9.0, but the timing is less certain.”

“What do you mean?” she asked abruptly. “How much less certain? We can’t just evacuate people indefinitely and wait to see if something happens.”

“Minutes,” he replied. “It will occur on the seventh of September at 10:26 a.m., give or take thirty minutes.”

The secretary set the wheels in motion. She mobilized the civil defense authorities, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and relevant military agencies, including the Army Corps of Engineers. An orderly evacuation of the Los Angeles Basin was begun a week before the time Mr. Gregory predicted.

Just as he’d said, the earthquake hit on September 7, at 10:49 a.m. The epicenter was thirty-five miles east of Los Angeles in the small city of Ontario, California, but the effects were felt from San Luis Obispo to the north to San Diego to the south and from Malibu to the west to Palm Springs to the east. As predicted, the quake registered 8.9 on the modified Richter scale, and it lasted for six minutes. Because of the preparations and the timely evacuation, there was no loss of human life.

The earthquake’s occurrence cemented Mr. Gregory’s standing as a credible purveyor of the future, regardless of how he was able to do it. The governor of California, the secretary of Homeland Security, and the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency all thanked him publicly. Once again, the president invited him to the White House. This time, he was the honoree at a ceremony in the Rose Garden to recount his successful earthquake prediction and the lives it had saved, as well as to award him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award that could be bestowed on a civilian in the United States.