A week later, the tremors ceased. The venting operation stabilized the ridge, preventing what headlines later called “a narrowly averted natural disaster.” The coast held. Families returned to intact homes, never knowing that their safety had hinged on a man who’d spent nearly two decades sleeping away on a hospital bed.
Reporters flooded the Bureau for details. Initial briefings mentioned “anonymous archival data.” Once identification was verified, an official statement corrected the record: Dr. Caleb Ward’s recovered research formed the basis of the emergency response. Only Helen and Rachel understood how long that data had waited to be believed.