Sedulity (Book One) Impact (18 page)

“Kathy?” He asked her, “Don’t we have a video projector and
screen in here?”

“Yes,” she replied. “They lower from the ceiling, if they’re
still working. You want to show a movie?”

“Not a movie,” Reiner said. “Television. Let’s see if we can
show them a news program. Maybe it will help calm them down if they can see
what’s happening in the outside world.”

“That’s a great idea,” Kathy agreed. “I’ll go to the theater
control booth and see if we have a satellite signal and can get the projector
working.”  

While she was making the arrangements, Reiner had time to
second guess his reasoning.
What if the news is bad? What if we learn that
this isn’t an isolated event? What if the asteroid is causing a wider disaster?
How would that effect the passengers’ mood?
Reiner shook off those worries
and decided that any news would be better than keeping these people in the
dark.

****

Kevin had returned to the Bridge after the brief reunion with
his family and shared the bad news coming in on GNN. Captain Krystos was
disturbed to learn of the earthquakes in California. It looked as if the
scientist at the Tsunami Warning Center had been right. This was turning into a
global catastrophe, even before the giant tsunamis got to major population centers.
The Captain was tempted to go watch it all unfold on television, but there were
critical decisions to be made in the here and now. He asked Kevin, Professor
Farnsworth and his Executive Officer, Mr. Crawford to join him in the
Navigation Room.

The traditional chart table had a map of the Southern Pacific
posted on it. Although most of the actual navigation was now conducted on
computers at the work stations, the Captain still liked to be able to see the
ship’s position and course charted on paper too. He led the group to the table
and swept his hand above it.

“Our next decision is crucial. We must decide where to sail
the ship next. Our options are somewhat limited and will probably decrease
further as we learn how many ports will be destroyed by the tsunamis. A few
minutes ago we learned that the waves have arrived in northern Australia and
the scattered reports make it sound every bit as bad as we feared. Brisbane has
been hit hard and the waves will arrive in Sydney any time now. As you all
know, Sydney was our intended destination. However, I seriously doubt there
will much left of that port, or the city for that matter.”

The Captain ran his finger down the map, tracing the east
coast of Australia, before continuing. “This whole coastline is doomed. I’m
sure the capital of Canberra is far enough inland to be unharmed, but there
won’t be any ports or coastal facilities close by. I’m considering making a try
for Melbourne.  As you can see, it’s down on the southern shore of the
continent and might be sheltered from the tsunamis coming down from the north.
I’d like your opinions on that, gentlemen.”

Kevin deferred to Professor Farnsworth who leaned in for a
closer look at the map before saying, “Yes, Melbourne is on the other side of a
promontory, which will block and deflect most of the initial tsunami. However,
the island of Tasmania is shaped in such a way that it could easily reflect
much of the wave right back up into this gulf where Melbourne is situated. If
that happens, even with diminished wave force, the topography of this bay will
refocus the tsunami. It might be even worse for Melbourne than Sydney.” Kevin
nodded agreement with the old man while the Captain cursed under his breath.

“Well, we don’t have to decide quite yet, until we know the
full effects of the wave damage,” Captain Krystos said. “However, once we do
choose a destination we will be committed. This was a long cruise and we don’t
have enough fuel to go searching the whole ocean for a port. We can continue on
towards Australia and have enough fuel left to circle the continent once. Perth
or Darwin might be less effected, but I doubt we could acquire enough fuel at
either of those ports to make another voyage.” His finger jabbed at two ports
on the western side of the continent before his hand moved to wave at the rest
of the map.

“On the other hand, we still have enough fuel to turn back
for Hawaii or even California, or turn west towards Asia or the Indian Ocean.
I’ll have to do some computations, but we might even have enough fuel to make it
to the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal. I can’t imagine these waves
doing significant damage there. In any event, our scheduled destination will almost
certainly be destroyed, so we need to decide on an alternate objective. And
once we commit to a particular direction there will be no turning back.”

“Sir,” Kevin spoke up. “Since most of the passengers are
American, I think they would vote to turn for home. The problem is that we may
have just as hard a time finding an intact port on the West Coast of America
too. I suppose it all depends on what we learn in the next day or two. As you
said, we may not have many choices by the time these waves and earthquakes play
out.”

“Agreed,” the Captain said. “I just wanted to bring the
subject up for all of us to think about. Our choice of destination may indeed
become our final destination, if there is no fuel for the ship there, so we
need to consider every option carefully before committing ourselves to a
particular course.”

What the Captain said made a lot of sense to Kevin. It also
got him thinking about longer term concerns, beyond simply reaching an intact port.
His greatest fear in the wake of the initial catastrophe was the potential for
drastic climate change. Kevin didn’t say anything about it at the moment, but
knew that he must take that into account when making his final recommendation
for a destination.

“Alright,” the Captain continued after everyone had nodded in
understanding. “For the moment, since fireballs have stopped falling from the
sky, we are still traveling at low speed towards the site of the asteroid
impact. I suspect that we are the closest ship to survive the event. As such we
may be able to make some important observations and reports, especially
regarding the weather conditions that Mr. Summers has predicted. Does anyone
foresee any significant dangers to approaching the impact zone?”

“I wouldn’t recommend getting too close, especially before
sunrise,” Kevin said. “I’m not sure how large the crater is, but I’m willing to
bet it’s still throwing up a column of superheated steam that could be miles
wide. That’s what’s creating all this rain and cloud cover.”

“Yes,” Professor Farnsworth agreed. “The impact crater will
be converting water to steam for days, perhaps weeks, and the ocean will keep
rushing in to fill the void. As you approach the impact zone you will want to
keep close track of the water temperature and currents. That will certainly be
valuable information for any scientist attempting to model the long term impact
on the climate and the oceans. Of course we don’t want the ship to get blasted
by steam, or be sucked into a whirlpool, and there is no telling what further
volcanic activity could be triggered by the impact. So discretion is still the
better part of valor.”

“Dully noted,” the Captain said. “If there is nothing
further, I’ll get back to the job of getting the ship back in order. I’ve asked
my wife to monitor the news and inform me when the American President makes his
appearance, or other critical news is released. I understand the waves will
reach Hawaii in another hour. They should hit Indonesia and the Philippines
even sooner. I know that will directly affect the families of many of the
ship’s crew. I’m not sure how much to tell the passengers and crew about what
is happening, or when to tell them, but they will find out sooner or later.
We’ll need to give that some serious thought too. Keeping order aboard the ship
will be a major concern.”

****

Chapter 15:

The tsunamis swept down the eastern
coast of Australia with devastating impact. Within a few miles of the coast the
water depth decreased from 2,000 feet to less than 200 along the continental
shelf. Even after spreading out over thousands of miles of ocean the waves
piled up on that shelf and grew to heights exceeding 1,500 feet, slowing from
over 300 miles per hour to less than 50 mph as energy converted from speed to
height. Since the coast faced east and the waves approached from the north-east,
the tsunami formed a continuous line of monster swells that tore down the coastline
like a gigantic line of surf, sweeping all signs of human occupation into
oblivion.

When the tsunami approached the mouth
of Sydney Harbor it flowed over the town of Manly like it wasn’t even there,
after which it truly wasn’t, and broke over the protective hills of Queenscliff
and North Head without pause. The waves thundered into Sydney Harbor as a wall
of whitewater that dwarfed the Opera House before flattening it and ripping the
picturesque Sydney Harbour Bridge to shreds.  The water swept through the city
in a literal sense, sweeping everything off the streets and bringing down many
of even the tallest buildings. Although an evacuation had been ordered more
than an hour previously, it was the middle of the night and there hadn’t been
time for more than a small fraction of the city’s residents to escape. The
roads were jammed with vehicles full of people attempting to flee when the
waves washed them all away.

The water that came ashore in Sydney
didn’t stop there. Some of it gushed over the city and parks to flood Botany
Bay, but most of it rushed inland, following the river and lowlands until it
finally spent its force against the Great Dividing Range of mountains, more
than twenty miles inland. There in the foothills it deposited massive debris
fields composed of twisted and deformed pieces of buildings, vehicles, human
bodies and their former possessions which told of the fall of a great city. In a
strange twist of fate the tsunami left a fully intact passenger ferry perched
on a hillside fifteen miles inland. Her frantic crew, who had been trying to
escape the harbor before the waves arrived, were some of the only people to
witness the destruction of Sydney and survive to tell the tale.

****

Lieutenant Reiner was close to losing control of the crowd in
the theater when the projection screen lowered from the ceiling and the lights
dimmed slightly. He took that as a sign that the plan to show these people the
news was going to work. He broke off his argument with several people who were
demanding to be allowed to return to their staterooms and suites, walking
swiftly to the stage to address his captive audience.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” he called out. “Please be seated. We
are attempting to access a satellite news channel and provide you with more
information on the current situation. By now I am sure that the rest of the
world is aware of what has happened out here in the ocean. I’m just as anxious
as you are to know what it all means. So please be patient a few moments longer,
as we work to bring you more news.”

This mollifies the crowd who turn expectantly towards the
descending projection screen. Reiner nods in satisfaction and walks swiftly to
the control booth where the Cruise Director is busy working the controls. “What
have you got?” Reiner asks as he enters.

“GNN is the only news channel active on the satellite
system,” she replies. “Maybe we should show them HBO or the Discovery Channel
instead. It doesn’t look like good news on GNN.”

“What do you mean?”

“They are talking about earthquakes and tidal waves. I’m not
sure that would improve the mood of the passengers.”

“Put it on!” Reiner almost yelled. He had also been kept in
the dark about most of what was happening, aside from witnessing the asteroid
strike, the blast wave, the fire, the flooding, all of it from the perspective
of the ship. Was this event really having even worse effects on the world at
large? If so, he wanted access to that information as much as anyone. “We need
to know,” he said in a calmer voice. “Everyone needs to know.”

****

Armando and Hank had left the casino and continued forward
when Hank mentioned all the passengers gathered in the theater. Armando wanted
to see them, if only to reassure himself that there were still unharmed people
aboard. What he had seen in the rest of the ship was less than encouraging. Every
public space he had been, from the Sky Lounge to the Resort Deck to the Med
Center to the Martini Bar and Casino had been scenes of disaster. Even the
Bridge had shown signs of fire and flooding. What he had glimpsed of
staterooms, through doors blasted open by fire, water, or flaming rocks, had
been equally discouraging. To see a thousand or more healthy passengers and
crew would help Armando retain faith and hope in the face of despair.

Hank Donner was also eager to return to the theater. After
his ill-conceived exit and distressing reconnoiter of the ship, he was looking
forward to reclaiming his seat in the First Class section and telling his
fellow passengers how lucky they were to be sitting in the theater. He had seen
enough destruction, death and suffering in the other public areas to know that
staying in the theater wasn’t such a bad idea at the moment. Saying so might
even earn him some points with the officer he had insulted and ignored. Hank
was feeling a bit embarrassed by his earlier behavior and hoped that the
Filipino bartender would vouch for his efforts to help other survivors.

When Armando and Frank entered the theater a large video
screen had just come to life displaying a Breaking News Alert screen with the
GNN logo. Framed inside the masthead and news ticker was an aerial view of city
that appeared to be burning and in disarray. The commentator was speaking, but
it took a few moments for his words to sink in.

“…from the GNN helicopter over Los Angeles. The Great California
earthquake, now classified as 9.1 on the Richter scale, has caused widespread
damage and loss of life. The event was strongest in Southern California,
affecting population centers from San Diego to Santa Barbara, but we also have
reports of major damage in the San Francisco Bay Area, including damage to the
Golden Gate Bridge and portions of the Bay Bridge. It appears the entire San
Andres Fault has shifted.

“The freeway system in Los Angeles is crippled and all
utilities have failed. This is expected to severely impede the evacuation of
coastal areas in advance of the impending tsunamis.”

Armando and Hank stood frozen in the aisle, surrounded by
stunned utterances of the other passengers seated around them. The scene on
screen continued to pan across the sprawling expanse of Los Angeles, revealing
hundreds of structure fires, massive traffic jams, broken highways and crumbled
buildings. The televised picture zoomed in on what appeared to have been a high
rise hotel or condominium that had toppled over, crushing dozens of smaller
buildings beneath it and blocking several major intersections.

The scene then cut to another aerial view. This one was an
evening shot of what looked like Waikiki Beach in Hawaii. It panned over the
string of beachfront hotels to show thousands of people lining the streets
outside, waiting to board a line of buses crawling slowly through snarled
traffic.

“The evacuation of coastal residents in Hawaii has been in
progress for over an hour and residents of many smaller communities have already
made it to high ground. In Honolulu, however, the transportation system is hard
pressed to evacuate everyone in time. Buses are taking tourists out of the city
and the military has been mobilized to assist and keep evacuation routes open.
Officials are uncertain of how far inland, or what elevations, will be safe
from the massive tsunamis expected to hit Hawaii.”

The picture cut again to show a news anchor sitting in a
studio with a worried expression as he read the unthinkable news flowing across
his teleprompter. A new alert was scrolling across the bottom of the screen
now, displaying a growing list of major earthquakes.

“We are now receiving reports of additional earthquakes in
Alaska and Japan, as well as volcanic activity in the state of Washington where
an earthquake has already hit the area surrounding Mount Rainer, causing
moderate damage in downtown Seattle. Numerous scientists have issued warnings
in the past hour predicting more seismic and volcanic activity around the
Pacific Rim.

“For any of you just joining us, all of these disastrous
events are being linked to an asteroid strike in the Central Pacific Ocean
which occurred several hours ago. We are expecting additional updates from the US
government, including a Presidential Address from the White House shortly. A
Level One Tsunami Alert has been issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
in Hawaii calling for the evacuation of all coastlines along the entire Pacific
Rim. The warning advises all coastal inhabitants to evacuate to high ground,
preferably at least ten miles inland, or twenty-five hundred feet above sea
level. We have been getting some alarming reports from several islands in the
South Pacific and ships at sea of waves that are hundreds of feet high. Most of
these reports have been difficult to confirm, however, as contact has been lost
with many of the witnesses after their initial reports.”

The announcer paused before reading a new bulletin and his
face showed clear distress. Voices began to buzz in the theater as the
passengers grasped what was happening. A few scattered shrieks began to erupt
around the room, but the general mood was one of shock and disbelief. Many
people were shaking their heads in denial or burying their faces in their
hands. Couples clung to each other for support and comfort. Armando and Hank
remained transfixed in the aisle while the news continued to unfold.

“We have just received confirmed reports from Australian news
agencies that massive tsunami waves have indeed struck the northern and eastern
coasts of that continent with devastating results. They are describing the
damage to some cities, including Brisbane and Sydney, as catastrophic. We will
bring you more information from Australia as it becomes available. In the
meantime the waves continue to spread across the Pacific Ocean. We believe tsunamis
have already begun to impact the islands of Indonesia and expect the
Philippines to be hit in the next half hour.”

This final prediction jolted Armando out shocked immobility.
He turned and ran out of the theater, all thoughts of pain and discomfort
forgotten as he raced towards the forward staircase. His thoughts were for his
family at home in the Philippines. He was horrified by the idea of the
monstrous wave he had seen and survived now rushing to crush his nation, his
village, his family. He had to get in contact with them, but how?

Armando had heard that the ship’s telecom system was down, so
he couldn’t just pick up a phone to make a call. He stopped and thought for a
moment. The Captain had been holding an Iridium phone when Armando spoke to him
on the Bridge. Should he rush up the stairs to the Bridge and beg the Captain
to let him use a satellite phone? Hundreds of others might have the same desire
and the Captain or one of the officers were almost certainly using that phone
to stay in touch with authorities ashore. Then he remembered seeing a number
stenciled on the bright yellow Iridium phone that the Captain had held. It had
been number 12. Armando realized that meant it had come from Lifeboat Number
12. Every lifeboat had one just like it in a box next to the driver’s seat.

Armando dashed past the stairs, ran through the shopping mall
and casino, into the Martini Bar. Some of the other surviving crew had begun to
place plastic tarps over the piles of corpses and Armando snatched one up with
hardly a second thought. He lifted the tarp up to cover his head, wrapped it
around his body, and ran out the broken doors onto the open deck. The scalding
rain was pouring down and the heat of it through the plastic caused Armando’s
burns to flare in agony, but he ran on without pause. Lifeboat 12 was right in
front of him, but he knew the phone had already been removed from that one. He
turned and ran towards Lifeboat Station 10, but that boat had been swept away
by the waves.  Armando ran on without pause to Lifeboat Station 8.

Tattered canvas covers still sealed the door to Lifeboat 8
and he took that as a sign no one had yet entered it. Without time to consider
his actions Armando reached out to climb the davits securing Lifeboat 8 to the
ship. When he let go of the tarp he used his teeth to hold the parts folded
around his head in place. Only portions of his face, hands and arms were
exposed to the scalding rain. Unfortunately, those parts of his body were also
where the worst of his existing burns were concentrated. It was sheer torture,
but he fought through the pain and scaled the davit to reach the bow of the
lifeboat.

Armando clung to the safety cable on the side of the lifeboat
while sidestepping down its side to reach the closest access door. Fortunately
there are no locks on the entry doors to lifeboats and Armando was able to gain
entry after only a few more seconds of painful effort. He slammed the door
closed behind him and collapsed into the closest seat, shedding the hot plastic
and covering his burned face with his burned hands. He moaned in pain, yet
realized that all his suffering would be in vain if he stopped now. Armando took
several ragged breaths, fighting down pain so intense that he thought he might
vomit or pass out. Then he mustered his resolve and rose to search for the portable
satellite phone.