Chapter 14
President Mwende walked into the breakroom to find most of the ThunderCats still sitting there. Panthro and Ben-Gali were talking about some sort of heater and Cheetara was speaking to Pali about something that he could not hear. Lion-O was noticeably absent.
"Where is King Lion-O?" He asked, the others quickly turning from their conversations.
"He is calling Third Earth to see what progress they are making. While we are speaking of progress, how did your trip go?" Cheetara wanted to know.
"Kostoff wasn't happy to hear what I had to say, especially once I showed him that the men we captured yesterday were in fact Russian Nationals. He's got the FSB looking into it and he's promised aid to the Doctors as they investigate the new holes in our planet. The bigger issue is that Russia is scheduled to begin evacuations within the hour," Mwende explained as he took a seat at the table.
"FSB?" Panthro raised an eyebrow.
"It is their national security agency, hunting terrorists is what they do when they aren't secretly terrorizing the citizens. Though I will admit that they are a step in the right direction from the predecessors," the President said.
"Ah, I see. Well in the meantime, what do you need us to do?" Cheetara asked.
"I'm afraid that until I hear back from Kostoff or the doctors out in the field, we'll be waiting. Evacuations are continuing on schedule so I am confident that one way or the other, people will be safe," he told them.
"Ah good, you're here. The doctors are calling in from the field," Lion-O smiled after poking his head into the room from the hallway. The group quickly got up and headed for Mwende's office.
"What have you found?" Mwende asked once everyone was in the room and the door was shut.
"There really is no way to plug these holes without making them larger which we've all discussed is not an option," Doctor Centi told them.
"Can we just build an enclosure around them to keep people out?" The President wanted to know.
"Not really. Should you get naturally occurring earthquakes, the hole could widen and lava could spew forth. The best option would be to move the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese biospheres away from their current location and place them in another safe location. They are damaged anyway and in need of substantial repairs. Luckily, they have already started evacuations," Centi said.
"How long does it take to build a new biosphere?" Lion-O asked Mwende.
"To build one the proper size for China, it would probably take eighteen months. Korea and Japan are smaller but they would still take a year each. It took a long time to get the systems up and running when we came here from Earth," he heaved a sigh.
"What about the state of the planet? There haven't been any more earthquakes. Do things seem stable?" Cheetara inquired.
"Things seem to be settling down my Queen. The Russian aid arrived and quickly got to work checking the nearby sensors. Some were damaged so they were replaced and everything seems quiet. I think we'll need more data before we can call the planet completely safe. Even then, it would probably not be a guarantee," Centi said.
"We aren't looking for guarantees, only that the planet will be livable once the damaged biospheres are fixed and the others moved," Mwende told him.
"I want at least two or three more days before I can give you anything. This type of data isn't something that can be collected overnight. It takes cautious and careful study," the seismologist put his foot down.
"Very good. Wrap up what you need to and head back," with that Mwende ended the phone call.
"Once everyone is safely off this rock, we can go over the doctors' figures and then we will need to go from there. For right now, our best shot at making this all come together is to get everyone working on the housing on New Thundera and Third Earth. Whether they are to become our permanent residences or we are able to move back here, there will be those who will not be able to move back right away," the President said to the group.
"I couldn't agree more. With any luck the perpetrators will be caught before they reach New Thundera," Lion-O hoped.
"Yes it seems that I had better check in with our Russian friends before they begin their evacuations," Mwende picked up the phone.
To Be Continued…