Sedulity (Book One) Impact (13 page)

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Perkins asked
without a hint of humor. “I wish you hadn’t told me, but now I understand why
you guys sounded so depressed. Do you really think those waves will be that big
when they reach land? Won’t they get smaller the farther they travel?”

“Oh yes, they will decrease in size as they spread out in an
expanding circle,” Kevin replied. “Then they will grow even bigger when they
reach shallow water. They’ll slow down and pile up on top of each other. The
whole event is really a massive transfer of energy through the medium of
seawater. Tsunamis spread out and decrease in height as they move through the
middle of the ocean, but then they get bigger when they hit a continental
shelf. Much bigger. If the conditions are right, or maybe I should say wrong,
those waves could build to thousands of feet high and sweep many miles inland.
You remember what earthquake generated Tsunamis have done to Japan? Or the
seafloor displacement off Indonesia?  Those were child’s play compared to
this.”

“Holy hell,” Perkins muttered. “You make it sound like the
end of the world!” Kevin paused and met Perkins’ horrified gaze. He didn’t say
anything. He didn’t need to. After a moment of silent communion the two men
continued down the stairs in search of Kevin’s family.

****

Amanda cuddled with Emily on the sofa in the Captain’s Dayroom.
This was a combination office, study and bonus room positioned between the Bridge
and the Captain’s suite on the port side of the ship. She hadn’t realized that
the Captain would have some of the best accommodations aboard, but it made
sense. The neighboring guest suites were all First Class and it was only to be
expected that the Captain deserved equal or better. It also gave him direct
access to the Bridge whenever he was needed. The Captain’s suite had remained
intact, due in large part to the Bridge Wing that protruded twenty feet
outboard of the superstructure. It had broken the force of the flaming blast
wave and the subsequent mountains of water, shielding the Captain’s suite from
direct exposure. Amanda had no idea how much worse the other balcony staterooms
and suites had faired, but her current surroundings helped to reassure her that
the ship had survived the challenges posed by what Kevin had called an asteroid
strike.

She was startled when a crewman rushed into the room and went
directly to the big flat screen television in front of the sofa where Amanda
and Emily were ensconced. The crewman fiddled with some controls and the TV
sprang to life. It displayed the familiar scene of a new studio that she
recognized as belonging to GNN in Los Angeles. The typical
Breaking News
icon flashed at the bottom of the screen and Amanda fully expected the story to
involve the incredible events that the
Sedulity
had just experienced.
The crewman pushed a button to turn up the volume.

“A Las Vegas woman is lucky to be alive today after her
estranged husband tried to kill her with a chainsaw. Carol Jones, mother of
three, lost both hands and suffered serious cuts to her face and torso before a
passerby with a concealed carry permit was able to shoot Mr. Jones in the
couple’s front yard. Mrs. Jones is in serious but stable condition at a local
hospital. Mr. Jones was reported dead at the scene. The shooter, Martha
Jackson, is a thirty year old preschool teacher. She was questioned by police
and released without charges. Gun rights activists are already praising her as
a champion of their cause.

“In other news, initial reports of a massive light show in
the evening sky over the Middle East and South Asia are now mixed with eye
witness accounts of minor damage from a massive sonic boom. Experts suggest
that a large meteor may have exploded in the upper atmosphere, but there is no
indication as yet of any significant impact on the ground. One scientist at the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena calculates that part of the object may
have fallen into the Pacific Ocean, far from any inhabited areas, and assures
us there is no cause for alarm. We at GNN will continue to follow this breaking
news and update you as necessary throughout the day.

“Coming up, we’ll take a look at some of the season’s
blockbusters and ask our panel of experts why disaster movies seem to be
topping the charts…”

The crewman used a remote control to change channels, but the
only other English language stations coming in were HBO and the Discovery
Channel. He switched back to GNN, which was on commercial break, and turned to
speak to Amanda.

“Sorry to disturb you, Mrs. Summers, but now that some of the
satellite receivers are working again the Captain wants us to monitor the news
for any mention of what we encountered. If you don’t mind keeping an eye on the
news, I’ll be back to check shortly.”

“Certainly,” Amanda agreed. “It doesn’t sound like they have
the full story yet, does it?”

“No, ma’am,” the sailor agreed. “The Captain is on the
satellite phone right now trying to correct that. He says it’s important that
people along the Pacific Rim are warned of the waves heading their way.”

“You mean like Tsunamis?” Amanda asked.

“Yes, but bigger than anything we’ve seen before. At least
that’s what your husband told the Captain. Now we’re trying to raise the alarm.
So please keep watching the news and we’ll see how long it takes for the word
to get out.”

Amanda nodded as the crewman returned to the Bridge. She
tried to get Emily to take a nap by having her lay down on the couch with her
head in Amanda’s lap, but the girl was far too stressed out to sleep. She had
been through a traumatic event and Amanda wasn’t keen on the idea of her
watching television news about chainsaw attacks, disaster movies and the
asteroid strike. She didn’t let Emily watch the news much at home either, feeling
it was too full of sensationalized violence and hostility between those of
differing politics and beliefs. However, she understood the importance of
monitoring the news right now and resigned herself to putting Emily through it
too.

“Momma? What’s a too-nommy?” her daughter asked innocently.

“It’s a very big wave in the ocean,” Amanda replied.

“Like the ones that made the boat go up and down tonight?”

“Yes,” Amanda said with an involuntary shudder. She knew that
the experience of being tossed around the Deck 10 lobby would come back to
haunt her and Emily’s dreams, but could only be thankful that they hadn’t
actually seen the giant waves that caused it.

“And what’s an asteroid?” Emily asked.

“It’s a big rock in outer space. Sort of like the moon, but smaller.”

“Like a star?”

“No, baby, stars are much bigger. They just look small
because they are very far away. Asteroids are closer, but harder to see. If
they get too close to us they turn into shooting stars.”

“I like shooting stars,” Emily said with a yawn.

“Yes, baby, I like shooting stars too.” Amanda stroked
Emily’s forehead and hoped she would fall asleep. The commercial ended and GNN’s
senior anchor, Fox Rusher, was back on the screen.

“Movies depicting apocalyptic horrors and end of the world
disasters are all the rage in Hollywood these days. This year alone some of the
most popular and profitable films have featured a zombie apocalypse, nuclear
terrorism, global warming, a killer virus, and a monster hurricane. And those
are just the ones that grossed over a hundred million dollars. Joining us to
discuss this trend and the psychological reasons behind it are noted
anthropologist Dr. Karen Long and media consultant Stan Marks. Let’s start with
Dr. Long. How do you explain the growing attraction of doomsday and disaster
movies in modern culture?”

“It’s an interesting phenomena, Fox, but one that far predates
modern times. One of the oldest known works of fiction, Gilgamesh, is viewed by
some as the genesis of the zombie apocalypse because Ishtar threatens to bring
back the dead to devour the living. Many religions have also incorporated
apocalyptic themes and threats. Noah’s flood and prophesies of a biblical
apocalypse yet to come are only two of the best known examples. Many other
cultures have prehistoric flood mythology, along with other apocalyptic legends
or prophesies, such as fire and brimstone falling from the skies. It’s a common
theme that crosses cultures and eras.”

“And what’s your explanation for this, Dr. Long?”

“It’s a complex issue. First of all, there is every reason to
believe that many legends of great floods and other disasters are based on true
events. The causes might not have anything to do with gods, or evil omens, and
the events might be blown out of proportion in the retelling, but we know from
our own experience that natural disasters happen all the time. Secondly, since
we all know that disasters do happen, we live with a suppressed fear that one
of them may befall us at any moment. Movies and books are a safe and healthy
way to face those fears. Many of us are truly fascinated by apocalyptic
scenarios and these movies play to this audience.”

“Interesting perspective, Dr. Long. Stan? What can you tell
us about this trend in the motion picture market?”

“Karen is quite right about the psychology behind it, Fox, but
I think a lot of the current fad has to do with recent advances in special
effects. If you compare disaster movies today with those made just a few
decades ago, the evolution of the art form is amazing. Good books have always
been able to convince a reader to suspend disbelief when presenting an
apocalyptic disaster. That’s because the visuals are filled in by a reader’s
imagination, but it used to be a harder sell for movies. The special effects
were often so cheesy that some of them were viewed as more of a comedy than a
serious disaster film. All of that changed with the advent of CGI and other
advanced visual effects. Today a talented director and competent special
effects team can make you believe almost anything, including the end of the
world.”

“Excellent point, Stan. Some of these movies almost had me
buying into their doomsday plots. I want to take this discussion further, but
we’re getting more breaking news now. This time it’s from South America where
strong earthquakes are shaking the coast of Chile. We’ll get more information
during this commercial break. We can only hope that it doesn’t involve loss of
life, but it’s quite a coincidence that a natural disaster would strike while
we were discussing this topic. This is Fox Rusher at GNN headquarters in Los
Angeles. We’ll be right back with breaking news and more of our discussion on
doomsday blockbusters.”

Amanda had watched the exchange with a mixture of shock and
horror. She had never been a fan of disaster movies, although Kevin was, but it
seemed almost obscene for the talking heads to be discussing this topic in the
abstract while the real thing was unfolding. It was obvious that they didn’t
have a clue how serious the situation was yet, or that an asteroid had actually
hit the Pacific Ocean, but the idea that they and millions of other people
actually enjoyed watching movies depicting events like that was suddenly
repulsive. It wouldn’t have affected her like this yesterday, but after what
the ship had been through already and what the crewman had said was in store
for everyone living near the Pacific Ocean, she had an almost visceral
reaction. 

Amanda recalled watching a movie on HBO with Kevin about an
asteroid on a collision course with the Earth. Deep something or other,
featuring a black President. She had thought that was fanciful at the time. The
thing that really stuck in her mind was the giant wave that wiped out New York
and other cities when only a fragment of the asteroid hit the Atlantic Ocean.  The
television commercial on GNN featured a new all-inclusive resort on the Pacific
Coast of Mexico and Amanda couldn’t help but picture a giant wave washing it
away. The image made her shiver and Emily raised her head slightly to ask,
“Momma, what’s an
apopalisp
?”

“Nothing for you to worry about, baby. Try to get some sleep.
Mommy has to watch the news and wait up for Daddy to get back, but you don’t.
It’s very late and I’m right here, so just close your eyes and think happy
thoughts. Okay?”

“Okay, Momma, but I want to wait up for Daddy too. Where is
he?”

“He’ll be here soon and then we’ll both tuck you in bed and
we’ll stay together all night.”

“Like a slumber party?”

“Yes, baby, like a slumber party. A nice quiet one. We’ve all
had enough excitement for one night.”

“Yes, Mommy,” Emily said with a sleepy voice. “The sky was
falling.”

Amanda shivered again and whispered, “Yes it was, baby. Yes
it was, but it didn’t fall on us.” She hugged Emily and started to hum Twinkle
Twinkle Little Star.

****

“Yes, I am still holding and this is a satellite call from the
middle of the Pacific Ocean. To whom am I speaking now?”

“This is Dr. Kline at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in
Hawaii. Are you Captain Krystos?”

“Yes, this is Captain Krystos aboard the
SS Sedulity.
We have thousands of eye witnesses aboard who saw a massive asteroid pass over
this ship while we were crossing the equator. It impacted the ocean somewhere
over the horizon. The blast wave, even from over the horizon, was enough to
break most of the windows on the ship and ignite hundreds of fires. But more
importantly, we can confirm the threat of unprecedented waves spreading out
from the point of impact.”