The Skies of Pern (24 page)

F’lar had gone to muster Benden Weyr, sending sweepriders to warn the most obviously vulnerable holdings along the Nerat and Benden coastline. Few on the rest of the planet would have any idea what had just happened in the Eastern Sea. It was
Monaco that would suffer the first huge wave. T’gellan had thirty-four experienced older bronze riders to manage evacuations. F’lar would ask J’fery at Telgar and G’dened at Igen to send more bronzes to assist. Manora and Brekke would organize supplies, food, medicines, and healers. She would organize Landing. She had before. Ramoth had called Benden’s junior queens to help with dragons coming and going. Jaxom and Sharra would bring Sebell. They’d have to call a conference with Lord Holders and Craftmasters—that is, as soon as she had enough details.

She finished the last of her klah and turned as she heard the door click open. Erragon stood there, his face expressively conveying that his “details” were not going to be good news. Resolutely, he closed the door and strode over to the Mercator projection, fumbling to extract a red marker from his pocket.

“I’m afraid,” he said, “that while Monaco Bay is in the direct line of only one main wave, it will also be inundated by several waves, diffracted by the inner Ring islands.” He put his red marker on the islands and made a rapid downward stroke, ending at the coastline. “I figure the first wave—”

“First wave?” Lessa exclaimed.

“Um, yes, first wave of five, to be accurate.” While Lessa was speechless, he hurried on. “The first will strike at Monaco Bay at four hours fifteen minutes, local time—three hours and twenty five minutes after impact—and hit the Jordan River mouth an hour and a half later. Rather spectacularly, in fact.” He paused. “I can’t help it, Lady Lessa.”

“That’s just the first wave?” she asked grimly.

“Stinar’s trying to do a diagram so you—so we all—can see how the waves will be spaced and reflect against the shore. One comes in a straight line from the impact site. The others won’t be as strong, of course, as the unimpeded tsunami.” He tapped the headland that jutted out into the sea east of Monaco Bay. “The cape may provide some protection, but the harbor facility …” He shrugged with regret. “I’m confident that the dolphins will warn ships at sea. We know they do. They
will surely have
felt
the impact. They are so tuned in to their medium. Ships may not experience more turbulence or be much the worse for it. It’s when a tsunami meets the shore, or shoals or shallows, that it crests and runs in. As to Cove Hold, Lady Lessa, it’s shielded by the point east of the coast and the islands between—” He tapped it by way of demonstration. “—from some of the waves that Monaco Bay will experience. Additionally, the underwater extension of the eastern point at the Upwelling will break incoming waves. Spectacular breakers but much less actual wave height until fairly far west along the coast. Most of what the Cove will see is a splash wave as a result of the secondary wave breaks.” He gave her a swift ingratiating smile.

Lessa shifted restlessly in her chair. Devastated by Erragon’s talk of
five
tsunamis striking Monaco Bay, she felt perversely irritated by the fact that they had only recently restored the Hold to its pre-hurricane elegance.

“I suppose the news about Cove Hold provides a little relief.” Instantly aware of how bitter she sounded, she held up her hand, “Which is none of your fault, to be sure.” She nodded at him to continue. Better to hear the worst and clear her mind to plan how to proceed.

“Now, there will be flooding west of Cove Hold.” His pen crossed the open area to the out-jutting of Southern. “These two coastlines will also be flooded,” his pen moved again, “possibly with less force.”

“The new Dolphin Hall?” she asked, hoping that young Readis’s new project would survive.

“I believe it’s on the west side so this headland,” and he marked the spot to the right of the mouth of the Rubicon river, “will protect it. There might be a very high tide but the dolphins will surely have spread the warning.”

“That’s their bargain with humans,” Lessa said drolly.

“However, to go on west,” Erragon continued, almost as inexorably as that wretched tsunami, Lessa thought to herself, “Macedonia will experience four different waves, but I understand that coastline is not well settled.”

“Then Monaco has not been singled out?” Lessa asked caustically. She had to find some balance in this calamity; her mind roiled with all they would have to do. At least this time they would be able to rescue those most vulnerable, unlike the hurricane that had taken them by surprise. She had to keep that thought foremost in her mind.

“Oh, no,” Erragon assured her. “The most direct wave will arrive in Macedonia about nine hours after impact, about four in the afternoon local time. Then a direct tsunami will strike Southern Hold about eleven hours after impact—four in the afternoon local time. The second will arrive about fifteen minutes later and the third at about four fifty, local time.”

“Toric is going to be furious,” Lessa commented, but that caused her none of the heartache that she had felt on hearing about Monaco Bay.

“On the Northern continent,” Erragon went on as he shifted his all too busy red marker upward, “a tsunami will strike the Foot of Nerat, and all the way up the shore.” Lessa sat straight up as she saw him reddening the entire eastern coastline.

“But there’s time,” Erragon assured her. “Three to four hours
after
impacting on the southern shores, the other section of the waves will reach High Shoal in front of Loscar and demolish it—which, I understand from seamen, might reduce the dangerous currents the Shoal produces. Loscar will definitely need to be evacuated but there’s time enough to get people to foothills. Even a good portion of their belongings and herdbeasts. You see, there’s not much to stop the straight line of the tsunami as it radiates due west from the impact site.”

Lessa stared, disbelieving the extent of a “wave.”

“Ista,” Erragon continued, producing a tentative smile, “will only get ripples produced by reflection off Nerat’s Toe. They did suffer far more damage during the hurricane.” He paused briefly, and turned to the other side of the Mercator projection. Lessa gasped.

“The Western Ring of islands will absorb much of the tsunami’s force, though, from the tip of Tillek and south to the end of Southern Boll, they can expect to experience tsunami about sixteen
hours after impact, or four-thirty in the morning their local time. It will reach the west coast of Fort, much of which is rocky, about twenty-one hours after impact, seven in the morning their time. Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Lessa echoed.

“Yes, it takes time even for something as violent as a tsunami to cross that much sea. The farther away from the impact point or the secondary points, the less the expected effect of the incoming wave. It will spread out and reduce amplitude until it encounters an obstacle.”

“Like Monaco Bay,” Lessa murmured bitterly.

“For instance,” Erragon said, trying to interject a positive note, “the west coast of Southern, from Ierne Island to the tip on the east side of Great Bay, will feel only a small effect from the eastward wave.” Now he looked closely at the map and, checking longitude and latitude, made a little X. “The two waves, what’s left of them after losing much of their energy, will intersect in the open sea at about Longitude two degrees at Latitude fifteen degrees, but I don’t think that’ll be notable.”

Lessa regarded him blankly. Erragon continued.

“The worst of all this should be over in about sixteen to seventeen hours,” he said in an attitude of encouragement.

“I hope you’ll be able to repeat this, Erragon,” she said wearily. “We are obliged to inform those Lord Holders most affected. Now that we know who they are.”

He bowed his willingness. She closed her eyes briefly while she contacted Ramoth to bespeak the dragons at the various Holds. It saved some time, at least, that Benden had the right to convene an emergency meeting and expect those invited to respond speedily. Even as speedily as that sharding wave was going to smash along both coasts.

When she opened her eyes, Erragon’s expression showed deep concern. He was rather a good man, she thought, and not like some who could thoroughly enjoy spreading bad news.

“Sit down, man, and I’ll get us something more to eat. We’ll need to fortify ourselves.” She left the room, giving him a few moments alone.

T
wenty minutes later, Master Idarolan and Erragon had contrived to red mark the vulnerable portions of coastline along both continents, including some quick estimates of how deep inland the flood would surge. To Lessa’s intense sorrow, they had intricately marked the projected paths of the five different assaults on Monaco. F’lar had returned with F’nor. No sooner had the two Benden riders started to eat a hasty luncheon from the food Lessa had found than Lords Ciparis and Toronas arrived. Close behind them came Haligon, representing Lord Groghe, Jaxom, and Sharra; Lord Ranrel of Tillek with the new Masterfishman Curran; Fortine of Ista; Langrell of Igen; Kashman of Keroon; Janissian from Southern Boll as Lord Sangel was too old to travel anywhere, even a-dragonback, and the other six Weyrleaders.

“What’s this about some sharding wave going to destroy the coast?” demanded Fortine. “Surely it can’t reach from the Ring Sea all the way to my coast?”

“Come, come,” Master Idarolan said, gesturing impatiently to the newcomers. “All of you be seated.” He waved at Haligon to distribute chairs from those stacked in one corner.

“It had better be good,” Toronas of Benden said, “getting us up and down here so precipitously.”

“Oh, it is, I assure you,” Lessa said in such a caustic tone that no one else spoke as they hurried to get settled around the table.

“At least it was already morning for you, Toronas,” Jaxom said, seating Sharra, who was blinking to clear her eyes from what little sleep she had had. “Not the middle of the night and yet you see Ranrel, Haligon, and Janissian wide awake and with us.”

Lord Toronas clearly wanted to object to the presence of Janissian, who looked younger than she was, even if she had been sent to represent her grandfather, Lord Sangel.

“Sit by me, Toronas,” Lessa said, smiling encouragingly at Janissian who remained close to Sharra and Jaxom. The Southern Boll girl composed herself to listen but her eyes were darting to the red-streaked maps and then back to the other members of this
emergency meeting. Ranrel nodded a greeting to her and Kashman stared boldly.

“If you will begin again, Journeyman Erragon,” Lessa said formally, “then everyone will have a better understanding of why this meeting is so vital. Some of us have less time than others and none of us have time to waste.”

Just as Erragon was about to explain how the multiple waves would inundate the southern coastline, a rumbling
boom
made him stagger. Lessa clutched at the arm of her chair as the awesome noise vibrated through the soles of her feet.

“What was that?” she cried. They could both hear the shouts and screams from the hallway.

“That,” Erragon said on his way to the door, “was the ground shock wave from the fireball impact.” He glanced at the clock. “Right on time! Excuse me!” He hauled open the door. “It’s all right! That’s the shock wave reaching us!” He shouted to those milling in fright in the hall and closed the door behind him, leaving Lessa to contemplate the multiple disasters of the day.

The three dragons arrived at Sunrise Cliff Seahold circumspectly, above the first rank of dunes that marked high tides. The dunes would no doubt be wiped away, dragged back by the tsunami, F’lessan thought. The dragons glided along the shore to where the granite escarpment had been broken during an earthquake, tumbling boulders, creating the wide shallow bay and a defile along which a stream now found its way to the sea. Beyond the stream, the escarpment began to rise again, ending in another height on the eastern arm. Along the white sand beach, they could see small fishing craft pulled up. Don’t let them talk you into rescuing their boats, T’gellan had said, but maybe they could somehow sling …

Not before people
, Golanth told him sternly.
People we save today
. It looked like the entire population of the Seahold was out, standing on the dunes, gazing northward. White sands sloped
down to the little waves lapping serenely up the wide beach with a picturesqueness that would shortly be devastated. They had barely two hours to evacuate. F’lessan sensed that was not going to be easy. Who would believe his tale of catastrophe in the making? Everyone was so intent on the fiery ball inclining now toward its impact. The air was so crystalline clear!

There were twelve holds leaning up against the orange cliffs where the granite began to rise from the sands. These seaholders had done well in the fifteen or so Turns since they’d settled here, F’lessan thought. They wouldn’t abandon their prosperity so easily. Babes were being held up to see the fireball, and a scatter of children, in various states of dress, had followed their parents to behold the wonder! Near to a hundred people in all, F’lessan estimated quickly. Some of the older folk would have a hard time scrambling up the switchback way to the safety of the cliff height.

Dolphins!
Golanth said. Startled, F’lessan switched his gaze to the sea. Scarcely fifty meters offshore, where the shallows sloped into deeper, bluer water, the curving bodies of eight or ten dolphins dove in and out: but not idly. He could hear their highpitched screeing. He was accustomed enough to their graceful movements to realize that their antics today were frantic. Three rose, tail-walking, then splashed heavily back into the water, their dorsal fins cutting the waves they made. Their squeeing was shrill though he couldn’t hear what they might be saying.

So they know!
Relief diminished at least that worry from F’lessan’s mind. Natua and her calf, all the Monaco Bay pod, would be somewhere safe.
I can’t hear them but it’s obvious this pod is trying to warn the seaholders!

If they are, no one’s watching them
, Golanth said, gliding in to a landing.
We will be more noticeable
.