Sedulity (Book One) Impact

by David Forsyth

  “But you heard the Captain,” Lt. Reiner protested.

  “The hell with that! Kevin is the one telling him what to expect next, isn’t he? Emily and I are going to do just what he told us to. That lobby is far from any windows and I want to be where he expects to find us after this is over. It’s away from windows and we’ll sit on the floor. If the Captain says to abandon ship, we’ll go to the lifeboats, but not a second sooner.”

  Amanda’s argument seemed to convince the young officer, at least enough not to compel her with physical force, which seemingly would have been necessary. He accompanied them back to the stairwell and allowed Amanda to sit down with her back to a bulkhead and her frightened daughter clutched in her arms.

  Other passengers were streaming down the stairs, following the instructions to head for muster stations on the Promenade Deck. Members of the crew were rushing down the corridors, checking staterooms to make sure that all the passengers were complying. The Lieutenant flagged down the chief steward for that deck and said, “This woman and her daughter can wait here for her husband. He’s assisting the Captain on the Bridge.”

  “If you say so, Sir,” the steward replied, glancing down at Amanda and Emily.

  “And focus on clearing the outside cabins first,” Lt. Reiner directed. “The inside ones are not in immediate danger.”

  “Yes, Sir,” the steward answered with a questioning look before rushing off.

  Turning back to Amanda, Reiner said, “I should go check on the muster stations to make sure everyone stays away from the windows. If something goes terribly wrong, you must come down to the Promenade deck immediately. Just follow the illuminated evacuation arrows on the stairs, okay?”

  “Yes, Lieutenant, and thank you,” Amanda agreed before he turned to dash downstairs. She stayed huddled against the wall, trying to calm Emily, while worrying about Kevin.

  ****

  Armando was scared and confused. The fireball crossing the sky had almost made him lose control of his bladder. He was close enough to have heard Mr. Summers yell “Asteroid strike!” before the sonic boom. Armando wasn’t highly educated, but he had seen enough movies to know that asteroids hitting the Earth were very bad news. He was in the process of ducking behind the bar when the sonic boom hit. He was shocked to see most of the glasses and half the bottles of beer and alcohol shatter around him.

  Armando stood there dumbfounded until the Captain started giving orders, then it took a few more moments for him to make sense of them. Each member of the crew had assigned fire drill stations. His was in the Sky Lounge. He stepped out from behind the bar and ran that way. His first priority would be to make any passengers leave the lounge and go towards their muster stations. Then he would open up the firefighting cabinet, uncoil the hose and grab a fire extinguisher, in case a fire started or spread into the lounge. Fire was usually the greatest threat to any ship at sea, short of a collision with another ship, or an iceberg, or a reef. Those other dangers were almost unheard of now, due to radar, depth finders and GPS, but fire remained a constant threat that every crewmember was trained to combat.

  Upon entering the Sky Lounge he was faced with an immediate decision. Several dozen passengers were clustered by the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the bow, staring out at the massive glow beyond the horizon on the starboard side of the ship. Armando was also momentarily transfixed by the scene, but his training and instructions quickly kicked in.

  “Ladies and gentlemen!” he called out. “You must go down to the Lifeboat Muster Stations! This is not a drill. It is not safe to be up here by the windows.” As he said that he noticed that one of the giant windows was already spider-webbed with cracks from the sonic boom. If was unlikely to survive much more punishment. “Please clear the lounge and go below immediately. This is for your own safety,” he implored them.

  “What is it?” asked an elderly woman, pointing towards the glowing horizon and over at the damaged window. “What’s happening?”

  “I’m not sure, ma’am, but the Captain says it’s not over yet. Everyone is to go below to your muster station and stay away from the windows. Now, please, you must all leave now!” Armando was growing anxious. The ship was listing in a hard turn to starboard and he was terrified to realize that would put them on a direct course towards whatever the hell was happening over the horizon. “Get out of here!” he yelled.

  The passengers, mostly senior citizens, reluctantly complied with barely restrained comments such as, “Well I never!” and “That’s a hell of a way to treat the passengers!” Armando didn’t care. They could report him later, but he would do what he had to do now. As soon as the last of them left the room he moved back from the windows and went to open the Fire Locker. Several other members of the crew should have joined him here by now, but they were nowhere in sight. They were probably Pollywogs, still scrambling to exit the pool or running to the crew quarters for dry clothes. Some people have a warped sense of priorities.

  With the fire hose ready to deploy and a fire extinguisher in hand, Armando moved to the circular bar in the center of the Sky Lounge. He felt more comfortable behind the bar. It felt safe and familiar. It would also give him something to duck behind if anything smashed through the windows. So he crouched behind the forward side of the bar and peered over it while the ominous glowing mushroom cloud grew and centered up in front of the ship.

  “Hail Mary, full of grace,” he mumbled as he reached for some Johnny Walker Black Label Scotch and took a deep swig straight from the bottle.

  ****

  Lydia accompanied Staff Captain Stevens and a group of uniformed crew members, some of them dripping wet, as they led the procession of passengers from poolside down the stairs towards the lifeboat muster stations on the Promenade Deck. Mrs. Krystos was not an official member of the crew, but they all deferred to her status of first lady aboard the ship. She didn’t know quite what to expect, but the fireball in the sky and the warning given by the meteorologist convinced her that this was truly a crisis situation.

  She thought about her husband’s warning to stay away from windows. Most of the lifeboat muster stations were clustered alongside windows facing the Promenade Deck where the lifeboats were located. Lydia was leading close to a thousand people downstairs and suddenly realized that she might not be taking them to the safest place to be. Inspiration struck her in an instant. She grasped Staff Captain Stevens by the arm as they descended the stairs and explained her concerns, as well as a suggestion for a safer place to lead the passengers.

  Staff Captain Stevens was the second highest ranking officer on the ship, responsible for both the deck crew and the hospitality staff, as well as the safety and comfort of all the passengers. He pondered Lydia’s proposal for only a moment before nodding and turning to call out, “Change of plans! Direct all the passengers forward to the main theater in the bow. There are no windows and plenty of seats for them to ride out whatever is coming.”

  “Yes, Sir,” replied a chorus of crew.

  Stevens turned back to Lydia and said, “Good idea. They will still be close to the lifeboats, if necessary, but that should put them out of harm’s way and make them more comfortable.”

  Lydia nodded and would have smiled her appreciation, if she wasn’t in fear for her life and those in their charge. It was a big decision for Staff Captain Stevens to countermand her husband’s order, but she was glad he agreed with her idea and it seemed like the right thing to do. The important thing was to get as many passengers as possible to safety. The big theater seemed like the safest place. Lydia could feel the ship listing into a sharp turn and realized that her husband was bringing it about to face whatever threat was approaching from the asteroid strike. The bow would be the first thing hit, but it was also the toughest part of the hull. She hoped that it was strong enough and that her suggestion wasn’t a huge mistake.

  When they reached the Deck 5 landing Stevens instructed several of the crew to direct half of the passengers forward into the balcon
y sections of the theater, while the rest continued down to Deck 4 to enter the main levels of the theater. Lydia went with the latter group and hurried straight to the stage with Staff Captain Stevens. It was the largest room in the ship, with seating for more than half the ship’s passengers. She watched hundreds of them file into the room and tried to remain calm. She knew that she needed to appear confident, if only to keep the passengers from panicking.

  Staff Captain Stevens stepped up onto the stage and turned to address the passengers in a loud and confident voice. “Ladies and gentlemen! Please take a seat and remain calm. There are no windows in the theater and the bow is the strongest part of the ship. We should all be safe here. However, if it becomes necessary to move to the lifeboat stations you will all go calmly out the exits and make your way directly to your assigned muster station. We don’t know quite what to expect, but I can assure you that Captain Krystos is doing everything possible to ensure your safety and the safety of this ship.”

  His voice had a calming effect on the crowd, but Lydia could tell that they were frightened and confused. It was clear that many of them didn’t like the idea of being cooped up in a room without windows, where they couldn’t see what was happening outside, even if it was safer. The crew would need to be diplomatic, but insistent, to keep them all in their seats.

  Staff Captain Stevens turned to Lydia and, in a low voice, said, “I must go to the muster stations and oversea the evacuation of the rest of the passengers. I need you to stay here and keep these people calm.” He paused and Lydia gave a forced nod of assent. “I’m not sure what is coming, but you’re probably correct that this is the safest place to be. Just be ready to evacuate to the lifeboats, if things go badly.” Lydia nodded again, feeling naked and alone in the crowded theater when Staff Captain Stevens stepped off the stage, leaving her to face the fearful crowd.

  ****

  The bow was coming around nicely when Captain Krystos finished his emergency announcement. He returned to stand next to Kevin, staring at the horizon, and asked, “What should we expect?”

  “I can’t say for certain,” Kevin replied. “Too many variables. How big was the asteroid? How far away did it hit? The point of impact must be at least a hundred miles away, or the blast wave would already be here.”

  “A hundred miles? And it still fills the sky like that?” Captain Krystos sounded shocked.

  “Yes, and that indicates a very large strike. Even at this distance we could experience supersonic winds and overpressures similar to a nuclear bomb. And that doesn’t even take into account the thermal effects.”

  “Thermal effects?” the Captain queried.

  “Heat. A massive wave of heat traveling with the blast wave. It could ignite anything flammable that’s exposed to it. So you were wise to send everyone inside, away from windows, and order the crew to their fire drill stations. By the way, what is Condition Epsilon?”

  “It’s the highest level of general emergency, where the whole crew prepares to fight fire and conduct damage control everywhere on the ship.”

  “Good,” Kevin said. “Let’s hope it’s not that bad.” Both men nodded and said their own silent prayers.

  “Captain!” a sailor called out. “Radar contact!”

  “Where?” Captain Krystos asked.

  “Everywhere! The whole eastern horizon. It’s on the weather radar, Sir. A massive front, fifty miles out and moving unbelievably fast! Forty-seven miles now and closing! It looks like a solid wall on the scope. Forty-five miles… Oh my God….”

  “Stand fast,” the Captain said. “Mr. Jennings, send out a distress signal with our position and report a mid-ocean asteroid strike. Warn all vessels and land stations in the region to expect blast effects. Helmsman? What’s our heading?”

  “Steadying out at 90 degrees true, Sir,” relied the helmsman.

  “Good work,” Captain Krystos said. “Sound the collision alarm and tell everyone to brace for impact.”

  Everyone on the Bridge was silent except for Mr. Crawford who relayed the warning over the PA to the rest of the ship and sounded the klaxon again. Another crewman triggered a continuous blast from the ship’s mighty horn, as if to challenge the approaching juggernaut. Kevin and the Captain stood staring at the horizon. Kevin saw it first. “There it is!” he exclaimed and pointed at a shimmering mass that bore down on them from the east. It did look like a solid wall moving at incredible speed. As it got to within fifteen miles they could see a white line of foaming water at its base, rushing headlong towards them.

  “I think we should clear the Bridge,” said the Captain.

  “Yes,” Kevin agreed. “I’m sure these windows are strong, but I don’t know if they will survive the blast.”

  “Fix course! Slow ahead! Clear the Bridge!” the Captain ordered in a commanding voice. The Bridge crew scrambled to comply and hurried back into the navigation room abaft the Bridge. Kevin and the Captain were the last to leave and were almost frozen in place by the unimaginable force bearing down on them. It was only a few miles away when they slammed the door to the Bridge behind them.

  ****

  There was a flat screen television mounted on the wall next to the elevator bank in the stairway lobby where Amanda sat and held Emily. It was always tuned to the closed-circuit view from a camera mounted above the Bridge, showing the ship’s bow and a view of the ocean in front of it. Amanda became fascinated as the view swung to encompass the faux sunrise. She could even make out the billowing and glowing column that blossomed into a towering mushroom cloud. It was terrifyingly beautiful.

  As the phenomena centered up on the TV screen, Amanda couldn’t identify an object that began to fill the lower half of the screen, obscuring the mushroom cloud behind it. Then she remembered what Kevin had said about a blast wave. Could that be it? It was too vast to comprehend and it was approaching at tremendous speed, blotting out the horizon along with more and more stars above it.

  She was mesmerized during the final seconds when the blast wave, for that is what it must be, expanded to fill the whole view. In the blink of an eye the picture went dead and it felt as if the ship had run aground. Amanda and Emily were thrown forward across the lobby and the sounds that tore through the tortured ship were indescribable. Amanda hit her head on the opposite bulkhead right before the lights went out.

  ****

  Armando drank almost a third of the bottle of Scotch in what he became convinced would be the last moments of his life. At least he could see his end coming, he reasoned. The Sky Lounge, perched two decks above the Bridge, had awe inspiring 180 degree views. Never had it offered such an awesome view as this! And Armando had it all to himself. The lounge could hold over 500 people, but he was the only one there now, watching death approach with 20-20 eyesight.

  The liquor was just starting to take effect when the blast wave became visible. Armando took a moment to look around and appreciate the beauty of the terrifying event. In the final seconds, after looking the monster in the eye, he dropped the bottle, dove to the floor, and scrunched up against the icemaker.

  “KBAM!” is far too tame a word to describe the sound and force with which the blast wave impacted the Sky Lounge. Every window imploded and superheated hurricane force winds swirled through the empty space. Window treatments and upholstery smoked and spontaneously ignited from the combination of intense heat and force fed oxygen. Shards from the windows and shattered glassware flew like thrown daggers and embedded in anything soft enough to accept them.

  Armando was plastered into the icemaker as the ship’s inertia was arrested by the compressed wall of hot air. Luckily for him, his weight upended the machine and dumped at least a hundred pounds of ice cubes all over him, preventing his skin from being charred and his clothes from igniting. Nevertheless, his face, arms and hands received flash burns as the hot air swept over him. And then it was over. The blast wave was past, but the flames it had started grew.

  Perhaps it was the alcohol he had consumed that kept hi
m alive. Armando had heard that drunk drivers often survived collisions that killed everyone else involved. Or maybe it was his resignation to fate that allowed his body to be thrown around like a rag doll and flash burned without going into shock. Whatever the reason, Armando found himself alive and surprisingly healthy, lying under a pile of melting ice, surrounded by a room full of flaming furniture and debris. His immediate surroundings were far from safe. Broken bottles of alcohol had ignited on both sides of the bar and the flames were racing towards him.

  It was a miracle that Armando found the fire extinguisher in the pile of spilled ice. He grabbed it and staggered to his feet as he pulled the safety pin. Pointing the nozzle at the closest flames, he discharged blast after blast at the base of the flames, just as he had been trained to do. This allowed him to clear out from behind the bar and through the growing inferno. Flames raged throughout the big room. Armando would have died of smoke inhalation, if not for the fact that all the glass walls were gone and a strong clean wind was rushing in to fill the vacuum created by the blast wave. The rushing air allowed him to breath, but also stoked the fire.

  Armando didn’t pause to count his blessings, nor curse his fate. He pressed on through the smoke and flames, trusting his fire extinguisher to clear a path and his body to follow it. Somehow he knew where he needed to go. Not the exit doors. Not through one of the broken windows to jump onto a deck below. No. He went straight to the fire hose that he was trained and prepared to use.

  ****

  Mrs. Krystos and the people in the theater heard the klaxon alarm and the warning to brace for impact seconds before the blast wave hit the ship. The sound was deafening. The whole hull rang and hummed like a giant gong when the blast of compressed air hit the bow. Most of the people standing were thrown to the ground and Lydia was glad that the majority were safely seated.

  The blast itself didn’t last long, but they could hear turmoil beyond the doors to the theater and some of the heat seeped into the large room. The most terrifying moment, the one that caused the most screams, was when the power failed and the lights went out, followed moments later by the distant shriek of fire alarms. The theater was plunged into brief darkness before the emergency lighting clicked on and floodlights sprang to life along the walls.