2042: The Great Cataclysm Read Online Free

the readings from the ERS2.
    Using radar interferometry they were able to view changes and movement below the earth’s surface by observing the fringes of the images projected from fourteen satellites in space. The ERS proved a reliable tool in predicting earthquakes, and it was this equipment that first alerted Nick to the unusual patterns in the area surrounding Hawaii and Tahiti.
    They knew they were nearing the Aleutian Islands and their destination of Unimak, when two days out the weather took a turn for the worst, and the crew readied their wet weather clothing.
    Once the Navilon hood was opened, foam would slush across the deck like snow until it became a no-go zone. Grim faced men hauled out safety harnesses and hung them by the exit doors, as no-one had to be told of the dangers of falling overboard in the icy sea.
    Clouds deepened and a heavy leaden hue pulled a curtain over the light from the sky. Nick and Sam peered through the wheelhouse window at a sea that had been growing more angry by the hour.  Frosty white caps fringed the tops of the black waves as they peaked and sloughed into deep troughs, and the biting northerly wind whipped the ship in it’s a nasty frenzy.  The island loomed ahead like a misty dark grey fortress, bleak and barren with little vegetation visible. Nothing but a formidable coastline of blackish blue rocks, dominated by the Shishaldon Volcano towering over the ice-locked reaches, it’s elongated fingers of cooled lava threatening to call out it’s fire demons any moment. It was a dramatic, chilling contrast to Tahiti.
    Once suited up the men moved to the exit and Sam opened the rear section of the Navilon hood. D imethyl sulphide, the distinctive smell of the ocean hit their senses like a sledge hammer. Sam hugged his elbows. ‘Man o’man!  Who’d want t’ live in this mis’rable place? I’d forgotten what it’s like to be cold, it’s still bloody freezing here.’ 
    Nick cupped his hands to his mouth and puffed a stream of warm air over his tingling fingertips. ‘Beats me. Even the Russians hate it! They call it the Roof of Hell because of all the active volcanoes. There’s so many here, and any one of them could blow this end of the world apart. Arhh...you reckon this’s freezing, you should’ve been here five years ago, it’s warmed some since then.’
    Wolf had warned them the landing wharf at Unimak had broken up last year, and getting onto the island in one piece was going to be a challenge. Sam anchored the Platypus well offshore where she would be safe, while Nick and Jeremy prepared to go ashore in the rib, leaving Sam and Beau on board with the crew to look after the ship. The sight of them in their heavy clothing and life jackets drew a full throttled laugh from Sam. ‘Man, you two look like the Bridgestone man. You’ll drown if you fall in the water wearing all that gear.’
    ‘I’ll risk it.’ Nick grinned and slapped his sides. ‘Like you said, it’s bloody freezing mate.’
    The port and starboard gangplanks were stowed flush to the bulwark, in a weather skirt pocket on each side of the ship, and were activated by a switch on the deck rail that swung them out and down to the water, locking them in place beside the hull.
    They looked down this gangplank to the bouncing rib waiting below. From this point the rib looked fragile, and not something equipped to battle these seas. Jeremy paled and stepped back.
    ‘I’ll go first.’ Nick offered. ‘You be okay?’
    ‘Sure, piece of cake’ Jeremy swallowed hard and frowned as a crew member took Nick’s arm to guide him onto the steep gangplank.
    The angry sea whipped the rib back and forth, and the crew member sitting by the centre console bowed his head as he grappled with the wheel to keep her steady. Foam billowed over his head, dripping over his oilskins in large blobs. Nick jumped in without hesitation and scrambled into his place behind the centre console. He looked up and waved to Sam above