It took two minutes for the image of Kira's father to fill the screen. Behind him, she could see the old "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" banner had been strung up for the occasion. She was in the middle of typing her apology: "It's always tomorrow here, but I'm on time for your birthday there. Sorry for the delay; I'm only passing by Station 3 for a few minutes. On patrol."
He was in Charlotte, North Carolina; she was east of the Sea of Japan, and a mile below. Her patrol of the Tamu Massif volcano had brought her under Idemitsu Station 3, who were happy to piggyback her messages back to the surface, along with temperature and seisomographic readings. But her instruments were picking up enough noise (especially near the platforms), so she had to ride silent except for emergencies.
She could see her father's smile awkwardly attempt to hold its position, while he read the message. He started to type. Kira held up a self-made birthday card, and moved her head, so he would know the image was fresh.
Dad sent back three words. "Is everything par?"
Reflexively, Kira gave him a thumbs up. "Par" was her dad's personal lingo from his security guard years: 4 campuses in 30 years, in support of his children's dreams. When she was growing up, she got a two-way radio, and grew adept at finding her father's security channel on his overnight patrols. She had even done a ridealong once, when he worked at Wake Forest, and they spent all night riding the cart or strolling the campus, and he showed her how he did his job. He refused a second ride, even when they moved; when asked, he said, "I taught you everything there is about my job; you can do better."
She checked her instruments. To her left, the temperature reading was flickering upward. She initiated a sulphur check; there were a hundred reasons above her, but only one reason below that was her jurisdiction. Increased levels of sulphur could be evidence of volcanic vents, the snores of Tamu Massif.
The Tamu Massif reigned over the Northern edge of the 'Ring of Fire', the seismic belt that stretched a subterranian river of lava across the length of the Pacific. Tamu Massif, the largest volcano on the planet, was identified in 2013, and implicated in the 5.3 Fukishima earthquake. It was Kira's job to make sure that the giant slept.
She scanned the monitor images on the ocean floor. East of her path, she could make out the outline of the deep-water reef she called "Rufus" (her personal label, after a colleague's haircut; it was only coordinates, officially.) Deep-water reefs tend to congregate around sources of warmth; she might have a detour from her patrol, in her future. She recorded her coordinates.
Kira's dad held a confused gaze, awaiting her answer. Kira smirked and typed, "It's par." Nine years of school, two degrees, three published papers... and she was in her father's line of work.
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