Onboard the USS Ronald Reagan, reporter Eileen O' Neill watched the newscast coming out of the western Pacific. Like a mythological creature rising from the ground, spurs of smoke ascended high into the sky. Bo-o-om! Something unworldly! Columns of ash, rock, and gas burst into the darkening atmosphere and over a reddened moon. An ominous sense of deja vu rippled through her. Damn! Palpitating and breathing, it seemed the very heart of the earth had been given a new lease on life. A succession of explosions knocked her to the floor. Brilliant red flares, like fiery meteors crisscrossed the gloomy horizon, mingled with a thundercloud of noxious fumes and ashes would soon leave a trail over hundreds of miles all over the Pacific. "Oh no! No! No!" Darkness and gloom overwhelmed her. Damn! How could this be possible?