Touching down onto a flat, snowy field was anorange and white helicopter. The helicopter had skison the bottom so it could land on the ice and snow.
The bus came to a stop at the edge of the field.
"We must be going to the volcano in a helicopter!"said Annie.
"By air!
Just like the rhyme says!" said Jack. "Great!" Jackhad always wanted to fly in a helicopter!
Nancy stood up. "For those of you getting off47the bus now, please remember," she said, "thehelicopter blades are extremely dangerous. Alwayswait for a signal from the pilot before approaching thechopper."[Image: A bus.]
Everyone watched as the spinning blades slowlycame to a stop. The pilot waved from the helicopterwindow.
"Okay, Pete says we can go!" said Nancy.
Jack put their rhyme back into his pocket. He pulledon his backpack. Then, carrying his notebook andpencil, he filed down the aisle after Annie and theothers who would join them in the helicopter. Theyall scrambled off the bus into the dazzling sunlight.
48"Jump aboard!" said Nancy.
Jack and Annie followed the four other adults upthe steps of the helicopter and squeezed into a smallcabin. Sitting in two rows of seats behind the pilot,everyone buckled their seat belts.
Nancy pulled the door shut and turned the latch.
Then she sat next to Pete and put on a set ofheadphones. "Headphones on, everyone! They'reunder your seats," she said. "They'll protect your earsfrom the chopper noise, and also serve as a radio so Ican talk to you."Everyone reached under their seats and took outheadphones. Jack and Annie pulled off their hoods.
Without taking off their goggles or face masks, theyplaced the headphones over their ears. The thick padsmuffled the sounds around them.
Jack heard Nancy's voice over his headphones:
"Testing, one, two, three. Can everyone hear me?"Everyone nodded.
"Okay, Pete, take us to Mount Erebus!"49Pete the pilot started the helicopter. Even with hisheadphones on, Jack heard the roaring of the engineand the spinning of the blades. He held his breath asthe chopper trembled and lifted off the ice and snow.
The helicopter shook and tilted. Then it buzzedforward through the blue sky.
Annie aimed her camera out the window and tookpictures. The Korean photographer did the same, andthe Australian journalist scribbled in his notebook.
Jack was too excited to take notes now.
This is great,he thought.
All the words in the rhyme are coming true.
As they flew toward the burning mountain of iceand snow, he tried to remember what words camenext. He slipped the rhyme out of his pocket and read:
...
you must goTo a burning mountain of ice and snowOn wheels, By air, then all fall down...
505152"All fall down"? Wait a minute. What doesthatmean?
thought Jack.
Does that mean the chopper falls down? Do we fallout of the chopper?
As these thoughts swirled through Jack's mind,Annie turned and gave him a thumbs-up.
Jack didn't want to scare her, so he nodded andshoved the rhyme back in his pocket. He watchedanxiously out the window as the chopper approacheda bright orange-red circle on top of Mount Erebus.
"Below is one of the world's most famous lavalakes," said Nancy over the headphones.
The chopper hovered motionless above the crater ofthe volcano. The lava lake bubbled and boiled. "Thatburning lava is miles deep," said Nancy. "Itstemperature is over seventeen hundred degreesFahrenheit. Can you guys on this side see okay?
Pete?"Pete tilted the helicopter to one side and then theother. Everyone but Jack oohed and aahed. Kim Leeand Annie took pictures.
53Go!
thought Jack.
Before we all fall down!
"Okay, Pete, that's great," said Nancy. "Let's land atthe lower field camp now!"The helicopter tilted upright and began movingdown the side of the volcanic mountain. Jack saw asmall orange building sticking up from the snow.
Colorful snowmobiles were parked near it.
Moments later, the chopper touched down onto theslope. It rocked and shuddered, then came to a stop.
Whew,thought Jack. They'd landed without falling fromthe sky into a burning lava lake. But then what could"all fall down" in the rhyme mean?
"Stay seated till the blades come to acompletestop!" said Nancy.
Everyone remained in their seats with their seatbelts and headphones on.
"As you know, we'll be driving our snowmobiles upto the summit," said Nancy. "Driving a snowmobilecan be very dangerous on these steep, icy slopes.
Please remember everything you54learned in your snowmobile training yesterday." Asthe others nodded, Annie nodded, too. Jack nudgedher. They'd never had any training withsnowmobiles!
"Another warning," said Nancy. "I know you'vealso been training this week to prevent altitudesickness. But still--it can be very dangerous. So pleaselet me know if you feel any symptoms."Altitude sickness?
Jack wondered. He pulled off his glove again andopened up his backpack. He took out the researchbook and looked upaltitude sicknessin the index. He turned to the right page and read:
Altitude sickness,also known asmountain sickness,is caused by a lack of oxygen at great heights.
Symptoms include headaches, dizziness, andshortness of breath. Climbers traveling up MountErebus train for days by climbing to graduallyincreasing heights.
55Oh, no,thought Jack.
The spinning of the helicopter blades had come to astop.
"Okay, happy campers," said Nancy. "All clear!
Before we drive up to the top, we'll gather in the hut!"Nancy opened the helicopter door. Everyone tookoff their headphones, undid their seat belts, andfollowed her down the steps of the chopper. Jack waslast as he struggled with putting the research bookaway, getting his glove back on, and then pulling hispack onto his back.
"What took you so long?" Annie asked when he gotout of the chopper.
Jack just shook his head.
"Have a safe trip back to the station, Pete!" calledNancy. "See you later!"Pete waved from the window. Then the chopperblades started rotating again. The chopper lifted offthe ground and thundered away. |