Sedulity (Book One) Impact (16 page)

“I told you there were a lot of bodies up here, didn’t I? Most
of these poor folks got broiled alive and the ones that made it through that
got drowned like rats. So how are we supposed to tell if any of them are the
little lady’s husband? Do you even know what he looked like before getting
burned up?”

“No,” Armando replied. “And we don’t have to check the dead
bodies. We’ll just check the injured passengers who are still alive. If Brad
Brewer is one of them, we can try to get him down to the doctor. Otherwise we
can help some of the others. I don’t want to have to tell Rachel that her
husband is dead anyway, so we will only check the living.”

“That makes sense, barkeep,” Hank agreed. “I don’t want to go
messing with dead bodies anyway. Hank Donner don’t mind helping folks get to
the hospital, but I’ll let you and the rest of the crew handle the corpses.
Can’t say I envy you the task either, boy. This whole part of the ship is trashed!
You’ll have quite a time getting it all cleaned up and ready for us to enjoy
the rest of this cruise.”

Armando bit his tongue and tried to smile, but it was too
much for him. He simply shook his head and walked past the bodies in search of
people he could help. Hank continued to talk about how much work the crew would
have to do so he could enjoy the rest of his vacation. Armando wondered if the
man were crazy, but he had too much experience dealing with pampered passengers
to challenge him. Knowing the extent of the damage to the ship and the
staterooms, he was sure that Hank Donner was in for a rude awakening, but
decided it was best to keep his mouth shut and take advantage of whatever
minimal help the man was willing to offer now. 

 ****

Emily had finally fallen asleep with her head on Amanda’s
lap. The news was back on TV and it was not at all good. Fox Rusher had reported
that all contact had been lost with the Pacific island nations closest to the
asteroid impact and panicked evacuations had begun all around the Pacific Rim.
GNN was sharing news and video feeds from Hawaii and Australia where Tsunami
warning sirens were already blaring in the background. There didn’t seem to be
much panic in Los Angeles or the rest of the Pacific Coast of the USA yet, but
the waves were still many hours away and even Fox Rusher sounded like he
thought the event wouldn’t amount to much in California. Amanda hoped he was
right.

Everyone was waiting for a special news conference that had
been announced at the White House. It wasn’t clear if the President himself
would be there, but GNN’s White House correspondent said there was unusual
activity on the White House grounds. Helicopters were coming and going, as were
motorcades, and there was a visible presence of armed Marines at the gates.
Whatever was happening, it was clear that the powers that be were taking it
seriously. GNN’s correspondent was standing in front of the Old Executive
Office Building where the news conference would be held.

“Yes, Fox, it is now clear that the US government recognizes
this as a major event with global repercussions. All reports indicate that some
sort of asteroid or comet has crashed into the middle of the Pacific Ocean. If
the alerts coming out of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center are accurate, it’s
possible that every coastline of the Pacific Ocean is in danger. We’ve been
told that there will be a news conference within the next few hours, leading
some of us to speculate that the President is waiting to see how seriously the
Tsunamis are in other countries closer to the impact zone before making a
formal announcement.”

The scene
shifted back to Fox Rusher in the LA studio who nodded sagely.

“That would make sense, Frank. There are still many hours
before those waves could possibly reach the West Coast of the United States.
However, we do know that Hawaii has already activated the Emergency Broadcast
System and authorities there are sounding Tsunami warning sirens. Of course
they are much more used to dealing with the threat of Tsunamis than the rest of
the US.  I’m sure the President and his national security staff are in close
contact with officials in Hawaii and other American possessions in the Central
Pacific, as well as our allies in the region.”

“That’s a good assumption, Fox. Hawaii, Australia and many
other island nations in the Pacific are squarely in the crosshairs right now. With
the waves reportedly traveling at over 300 miles per hour, it won’t be long
until we discover the magnitude of the threat facing the Pacific Rim.”

“We’re keeping a close eye on it, Frank. We do know that
communication has been lost with some of the islands closest to the reported
impact zone, but we have no reports or estimates on the level of damage there.
We’re also following reports of earthquakes on both sides of the Pacific Ocean which
may have been triggered by the impact event. In fact, Cal Tech has issued an
earthquake warning for the local area here in California. That’s something of a
first. Normally scientists can’t forecast earthquakes with any accuracy, except
to predict where major fault lines will eventually shift. However, the rash of
quakes following this asteroid strike caused them to take the unprecedented
step of issuing earthquake warnings for the entire California coast, from San Diego
up to San Francisco and beyond. There is no specific timeframe given for this
warning, but we are recommending caution and…”

Fox Rusher broke off in mid-sentence and looked like he was
doing a little dance in his seat as his face froze and paled. The shaking
increased and Amanda saw camera gear and lighting stands fall into view. Even
watching on television it was clear that she was witnessing a large earthquake
in progress. Fox ducked under his desk just before the picture on the screen
cut to a test pattern. Amanda knew that the GNN studios in West Los Angeles were
only a dozen miles from her own home in Topanga Canyon. Her thoughts filled
with worry for friends and coworkers. Luckily Amanda’s parents lived in
Colorado and Kevin’s had moved to Florida, so they were in no immediate danger,
as far as she could tell. Nevertheless, seeing disaster strike close to home
was almost more terrifying than what she had been through on the ship. Amanda
could envision the freeway overpasses crumbling, the walls and roofs of houses
collapsing, and panicked people running into the streets as shattered glass
rained down from multistory buildings. Amanda shivered and cuddled Emily
tighter, wishing that Kevin would hurry up and join them.

****

Chapter 13:

One hour and thirty-four minutes
after impact the San Andres Fault unleashed more than three hundred years of
stored energy. The entire coast of Southern California moved 66 feet to the north.
This movement was triggered by tectonic shifts on the floor of the Pacific
Ocean caused by the asteroid impact. The most concentrated quake destruction
occurred on the fault line running from Palm Springs through San Bernardino and
the San Gabriel Mountains. Buildings and homes were torn in half and roads were
broken and offset by dozens of feet. Interstates 5, 10, 15, and 8, as well as
highway 14, were bisected, cut in two by the fault, effectively blocking every
major evacuation route inland from Southern California cities.

While the earthquake was focused
along the fault line, it was not restricted to it. The whole coastline was part
of the northward shift. Everything and everyone from San Diego to Los Angeles
and up through Santa Barbara moved an average of 20 meters north during four
minutes of intense shaking. It was an active shift of the Pacific Plate on a scale
unseen in recorded history. The movement was not always smooth either. In spots
where local geologic formations blocked the plates from sliding smoothly the
earth buckled and rose, demonstrating how the coastal mountains of California
had been formed millions of years ago. This had the exacerbating effect of
triggering earthquakes on countless smaller fault lines that further shook the
coastal region.

Although the subsequent tsunamis
would make accurate casualty counts from the earthquakes impossible to tally,
initial reports indicated hundreds of fatalities, thousands of injuries and
millions of structures damaged. More distressing than widespread death and
destruction from the seismic events themselves were their crippling effects on
the evacuation of coastal population centers in the hours prior to the arrival
of the monstrous Tsunamis.

The elevator carried Kevin and the rest of the group up to
the Bridge without incident. He let out a quiet sigh of relief and was looking
forward to being reunited with his family. Petty Officer Perkins led them to the
secured door and used his keycard to gain entry. Kevin ushered the Captain’s
wife in first, then led Professor Farnsworth and his wife onto the Bridge. He
expected having to wait to introduce them while the Captain reunited with his
wife, but Captain Krystos was almost all business. He did give Lydia a quick
embrace and whispered something in her ear. Then he turned to smile at Kevin.

“Thank you for saving my wife,” he beamed. “You’ve become
quite the hero for all of us tonight. I know you want to see your own wife and
daughter, who are safe in the next room, but I think we should discuss a few
developments first. And who have you brought with you?”

“This is Professor Farnsworth and his wife. He’s a retired
Earth Scientist and Geologist. I think he can help us understand more of what
is happening and what to expect than I can. I hope you don’t mind that I
invited him.”

“Not at all. Thank you for coming Professor,” said the
Captain.

“I must thank these young men for finding us in our cabin,”
the professor replied. “And your wife for inviting my wife to come up here
too.”

“Yes, darling,” Lydia stepped in. “I said that I would
entertain her and Kevin’s family while you men talk business.”  She took Mrs.
Farnsworth by the hand and led her to the door that connected with the
Captain’s dayroom and adjoining suite. “Thank you again, Mr. Summers!” she
added over her shoulder with a smile that lit up her otherwise exhausted face.

Kevin smiled back and when they were gone he asked the
Captain, “Any news or contact with anyone ashore?”

“Yes,” the Captain replied. “We restored access to satellite
news and I spoke to a scientist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. It’s a
damn good thing that I called too. The idiots thought their sensor buoys were
malfunctioning. I suppose I’d find all of this hard to believe myself, if I
hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, but I expected more from the scientists.”

“Scientists are people too,” Professor Farnsworth said. “This
event is related to my own field of expertise, but I was tempted to discount
the news when Mr. Summers told me what was happening. If I hadn’t been tossed
around my cabin and seen the glowing cloud and flaming ejecta through the porthole,
I probably wouldn’t have believed him either. My colleagues and I always spoke
about impact events in the abstract, like it was only part of the geologic
record and could never happen again. We all knew better, of course, but it was
more comfortable that way. Less chance of getting blacklisted at faculty
cocktail parties too. Most scientists learn not to rock the boat, but in this
case the boat rocked me. I’m glad for the chance to offer any help or advice,
Captain.”

“I can use all the informed advice I can get, Professor. In
any case, they finally accepted my report about the size of the waves. Shortly
thereafter GNN announced a tsunami warning for the whole Pacific Rim. I’m
skeptical about how much good that will do, considering the size of these waves,
but at least a warning has been issued to the public.”

“God help them,” Kevin muttered. “We’ve done all we could.”

“Perhaps,” the Captain said, then paused. “I was so intent on
getting them to believe me about the waves that I neglected to mention the rain
and clouds. And now I’m afraid I need to share more bad news. I had our
Security Chief use the radiation detector on the rain, as you suggested, and
I’m sorry to say that, in his words, it is hot in more ways than one. I’m
waiting for his full report, but it doesn’t look good.”

“Shit,” Kevin said.

“Don’t get alarmed yet,” Professor Farnsworth interjected. “It
is common for asteroid impact ejecta to disperse small amounts of radioactive
material. The asteroid might contain some of these elements, or the cratering
could have released them from below the seabed. In any event, I seriously doubt
that they will pose any immediate health threat. It’s nothing like the nasty
isotopes produced by nuclear weapons.”

“Great,” Kevin smiled. “I’m already glad to have you on the
team, Professor. I had simpply remembered something about radioactive elements
spread by the one that killed the dinosaurs.”

“Yes, but once again we are talking about tiny amounts of
radioactive material spread over wide areas and used by modern scientists to
measure the date and scope of the event. It wasn’t the radiation that killed
the dinosaurs, at least not radioactive elements. The thermal radiation from
the blast wave probably wiped out most of them in Central America and much of North
America too. But it was the cold that really finished them off.” The Professor
looked pensive as he trailed off.

“That’s what I’m afraid of too,” Kevin said. “As you know,
I’m a meteorologist. This massive cloud above us and all the rain pouring down
is what worries me most.” He paused to stare out the windows on the Bridge,
seeing solid sheets of steaming rain fall incessantly. “Dozens of cubic miles
of water were vaporized by the impact and much more will be released into the
atmosphere as steam until the crater cools down. I’m truly worried about the
level of climate change this event could trigger.”

“Absolutely,” the Professor agreed. “It is too early to know
for sure, but I think your fears are well founded. Nevertheless, we should
focus on the short term impact for this ship and the rest of the world. I
suspect the tsunamis that we already encountered will pose the greatest
immediate threat to the rest of the world, but I’m also concerned about seismic
activity. Captain? Has there been news of any major earthquakes since the
impact event?”

“Yes,” the Captain confirmed, nodding both in the affirmative
and approval that the scientist would foresee that aspect of the disaster. “The
scientist I spoke with at the Tsunami Warning Center mentioned large earthquakes
in Chile, Indonesia and Central America.”

“That’s not good,” Farnsworth said with a frown. “It means
that we might be seeing a cascade effect that could spread around the whole
Pacific Ring of Fire. Those quakes in turn could generate additional Tsunamis
of the traditional type. To put it simply, I’d say that half the world is in
danger right now.”

****

Armando and Hank found no sign of Brad Brewer in or around
the Martini Bar and Casino. Based on where he had found Rachel, those seemed
the most likely places to find a man with severe burns. They did indeed find
such men, and women, but none that answered to the name of Brad. Armando wasn’t
surprised. Based on the severity of Rachel’s burns and the way she described
her husband shielding her from the worst of the heat and flames, he suspected
that her husband had not survived. Therefore he asked Hank to look for other
passengers in need of assistance, then went to do the same. It wasn’t
difficult.

He and Hank gathered half a dozen walking wounded, several of
whom had been blinded by flash burns, and organized their descent to the
Medical Center. Armando led the procession while Hank brought up the rear,
making bad jokes about herding cattle. If he was trying to cheer up the
injured, the attempt fell on deaf ears – some quite literally. Armando had
discovered that some of the injuries included ruptured eardrums from the
overpressure and sound waves unleashed by the blast wave.

Armando was lucky not to have suffered the same fate up in
the Sky Lounge when all the windows shattered, but dimly recalled closing his
eyes and covering his ears with his hands while wrapping his forearms in front
of his face. That was pure instinct, but he had seen what was coming and tried
to prepare for it. The passengers gathered at the muster stations, with no view
of the approaching blast wave, must have been taken by complete surprise.

After he delivered his charges to the line forming in front
of the Med Center, Armando was happy to see that the deck was mostly dry and
other members of the crew had arrived to render first aid and triage. A nurse
separated the new arrivals into several groups. Those that received a red tag
were sent directly into the emergency treatment rooms. Those with an orange tag
sat against the wall on one side of the corridor where members of the crew,
assisted by accompanying loved ones, applied bandages, ointments, and
administered other first aid until additional treatment was available. The ones
haded green tags were given Band-Aids aspirin, and burn cream, then told to
come back later if necessary.

Armando also noticed several people lying in a side corridor
with black tags and knew from previous triage drills that they had been
declared beyond saving and were simply waiting to die. In a normal situation
there is no question that a maximum effort would have been made to save each of
their lives, but in the current crisis their injuries were too severe to
justify diverting medical care from others with a better chance of survival. It
was a harsh system, but one that had been proven effective in countless wars
and disasters as a way of focusing medical resources where they could do the
most good for the most people.

Hank noticed him eyeing the dying and said, “Damn shame, the
way they just get tossed aside. There’s more like them upstairs. I met a woman
who got paralyzed. I think her back is broke. I told them I’d send back help,
but she’d probably just get thrown in with the rest of the hopeless cases.”

“But you told her you’d send help,” Armando protested. “Why
didn’t you tell me or the nurse about her?”

“Just slipped my mind, I guess,” Hank said defensively.
“Besides, they’d probably put her with the rest of the hopeless ones. But you,
barkeep, you should get yourself tagged and get those burns treated now. I bet
they take you straight to the Doc.”

“No,” Armando said. “We’ve going back to get the woman you
promised to help. Let’s find a stretcher.”

“Ah dang it,” Hank said. “Me and my big mouth! It’s not like
it’s going to make a difference anyway, you know.” But he followed Armando and
they found a folding stretcher before heading back up the stairs towards the
casino.

****

Lydia escorted Mrs. Farnsworth into the Captain’s dayroom and
saw Amanda sitting on the couch in front of the TV with her daughter asleep on
her lap. “You must be Mrs. Summers,” Lydia said. “I’m Lydia, the Captain’s
wife.”

“Yes, I’m Amanda,” she said and started to move Emily so she
could stand.

“No, no, don’t wake the little one. I’m sure she’s been
through enough tonight. I need to use the ladies room and change before we
think about formal introductions anyway. Your husband just pulled me from the
brink of drowning and I must look a fright! Perhaps you can keep Mrs. Farnsworth
company while I make myself more presentable?”

“Of course, Ma’am,” Amanda replied.

“Just call me Lydia, please. I’ll be right back and I can’t
wait to hear all about you and your family. Your husband must be an amazing
man. I understand that we all owe him our lives, me twice over!”  She smiled
and passed through the other door into the rest of her suite before Amanda
could think of a response.

“Please have a seat, Mrs. Farnsworth,” Amanda said after a
moment of silence. She gestured towards one of the two armchairs flanking the
sofa. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”