Time Storm Shockwave (26 page)

“Hours.
” He swallowed hard.

Their eyes met, and he knew that she understood. They stayed that way for a
long while, and then she gazed down at the water.

“
When that thing happened to us—” she furrowed her brow and shook her head “—there was no whirlpool; why do you think there’s one now?”

“I don’t know. Maybe there was, and we just couldn’t tell because
it was dark. The ship was spinning slowly, but—” he paused trying to make sense of it “—I thought it was the top of the elevator shaft draining into Atlantis, or what’s left of it.”

She opened her mouth in surprise, and then closed it
again. She stared out at the water.

“I can’t believe
you did that—” she smiled “—you dove in there after me, believing that it was draining into Atlantis.”

He gave her a crooked smile, “I would dive into hell
for you.”

She had said those exact words
to him the morning after she had lit the fires on the water. She thought that he hadn’t even been listening. She threw her arms around him. He held her until she felt safe and the rest of the world disappeared for a while. In spite of all the pain and loss the world had suffered, she knew that life would go on. Maybe they could help build a new world; a better world.

The
y sat down on the deck and leaned against the hull. He had his arms around her.

Ashlyn stared up into the blue sky. “I
sure missed that.” Then she furrowed her brow.

“What is it?”

She didn’t answer, but she pointed up at the flagpole.

The American flag was not there. What hung in its place was unfamiliar.

“I guess we did change things,” she said sadly.

He hung his head for a moment
, and then stared back up at the unknown flag.

“I don’t think we could have done more than we did to stop the
admiral—” his tone contradicted his words “—who knows, maybe we made things better.”

“
Whatever country that flag represents, good or bad, it was likely destroyed, just as the United States was. At this point—” he let out a breath “—we can only move forward.”

“I guess you’re right; there is nothing else we can do.”

She leaned into him, and he pulled her closer. They stayed like that, watching the suspended bird for a long time. Then, suddenly, the bird began to flap its wings again, and it continued its flight into the sunset.

“Do you think—” she swallowed hard “—
the destruction is over?”

He
contemplated that, and then said gravely, “The pole-flip has begun—” he gave her a meaningful look “—I guess it depends on which scientists are correct; will it happen quickly or slowly?”

“What about the heliosphere
shockwave—” she looked up at him “—do you really think those scientists are, right? They say that the earth will be uninhabitable soon.”

“It is happening to the outer planets already
—” he took a deep breath “—at least we are together, whatever happens.”

An ominous stillness hung in the air. She
turned toward him, and he pulled her closer into his arms. She buried her face against his neck.

Finally,
she pulled back and looked into his eyes. “You’re right, whatever happens at least we are together—” she kissed him “—I love you.”

“I’m so in love with you,” he whispered.

There must have been another huge solar flare because the sky began to dance with the colored lights of the aurora. They both stared up at it for a moment.

“At least it’s beautiful,” he said.

“Yes,” she agreed as they watched the odd dance of lights against the final rays of sunlight over the sea. It was the most beautiful sunset either of them had ever seen.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Juliann Farnsworth

Juliann is from Mesa, Arizona. She has a BS in Health

Care Administration, an MS in Psychology, and a PhC in Theology.

She is also a Graphic Designer, and a Composer.