Sedulity (Book One) Impact

by David Forsyth

  “It’s a very big wave in the ocean,” Amanda replied.

  “Like the ones that made the boat go up and down tonight?”

  “Yes,” Amanda said with an involuntary shudder. She knew that the experience of being tossed around the Deck 10 lobby would come back to haunt her and Emily’s dreams, but could only be thankful that they hadn’t actually seen the giant waves that caused it.

  “And what’s an asteroid?” Emily asked.

  “It’s a big rock in outer space. Sort of like the moon, but smaller.”

  “Like a star?”

  “No, baby, stars are much bigger. They just look small because they are very far away. Asteroids are closer, but harder to see. If they get too close to us they turn into shooting stars.”

  “I like shooting stars,” Emily said with a yawn.

  “Yes, baby, I like shooting stars too.” Amanda stroked Emily’s forehead and hoped she would fall asleep. The commercial ended and GNN’s senior anchor, Fox Rusher, was back on the screen.

  “Movies depicting apocalyptic horrors and end of the world disasters are all the rage in Hollywood these days. This year alone some of the most popular and profitable films have featured a zombie apocalypse, nuclear terrorism, global warming, a killer virus, and a monster hurricane. And those are just the ones that grossed over a hundred million dollars. Joining us to discuss this trend and the psychological reasons behind it are noted anthropologist Dr. Karen Long and media consultant Stan Marks. Let’s start with Dr. Long. How do you explain the growing attraction of doomsday and disaster movies in modern culture?”

  “It’s an interesting phenomena, Fox, but one that far predates modern times. One of the oldest known works of fiction, Gilgamesh, is viewed by some as the genesis of the zombie apocalypse because Ishtar threatens to bring back the dead to devour the living. Many religions have also incorporated apocalyptic themes and threats. Noah’s flood and prophesies of a biblical apocalypse yet to come are only two of the best known examples. Many other cultures have prehistoric flood mythology, along with other apocalyptic legends or prophesies, such as fire and brimstone falling from the skies. It’s a common theme that crosses cultures and eras.”

  “And what’s your explanation for this, Dr. Long?”

  “It’s a complex issue. First of all, there is every reason to believe that many legends of great floods and other disasters are based on true events. The causes might not have anything to do with gods, or evil omens, and the events might be blown out of proportion in the retelling, but we know from our own experience that natural disasters happen all the time. Secondly, since we all know that disasters do happen, we live with a suppressed fear that one of them may befall us at any moment. Movies and books are a safe and healthy way to face those fears. Many of us are truly fascinated by apocalyptic scenarios and these movies play to this audience.”

  “Interesting perspective, Dr. Long. Stan? What can you tell us about this trend in the motion picture market?”

  “Karen is quite right about the psychology behind it, Fox, but I think a lot of the current fad has to do with recent advances in special effects. If you compare disaster movies today with those made just a few decades ago, the evolution of the art form is amazing. Good books have always been able to convince a reader to suspend disbelief when presenting an apocalyptic disaster. That’s because the visuals are filled in by a reader’s imagination, but it used to be a harder sell for movies. The special effects were often so cheesy that some of them were viewed as more of a comedy than a serious disaster film. All of that changed with the advent of CGI and other advanced visual effects. Today a talented director and competent special effects team can make you believe almost anything, including the end of the world.”

  “Excellent point, Stan. Some of these movies almost had me buying into their doomsday plots. I want to take this discussion further, but we’re getting more breaking news now. This time it’s from South America where strong earthquakes are shaking the coast of Chile. We’ll get more information during this commercial break. We can only hope that it doesn’t involve loss of life, but it’s quite a coincidence that a natural disaster would strike while we were discussing this topic. This is Fox Rusher at GNN headquarters in Los Angeles. We’ll be right back with breaking news and more of our discussion on doomsday blockbusters.”

  Amanda had watched the exchange with a mixture of shock and horror. She had never been a fan of disaster movies, although Kevin was, but it seemed almost obscene for the talking heads to be discussing this topic in the abstract while the real thing was unfolding. It was obvious that they didn’t have a clue how serious the situation was yet, or that an asteroid had actually hit the Pacific Ocean, but the idea that they and millions of other people actually enjoyed watching movies depicting events like that was suddenly repulsive. It wouldn’t have affected her like this yesterday, but after what the ship had been through already and what the crewman had said was in store for everyone living near the Pacific Ocean, she had an almost visceral reaction.

  Amanda recalled watching a movie on HBO with Kevin about an asteroid on a collision course with the Earth. Deep something or other, featuring a black President. She had thought that was fanciful at the time. The thing that really stuck in her mind was the giant wave that wiped out New York and other cities when only a fragment of the asteroid hit the Atlantic Ocean. The television commercial on GNN featured a new all-inclusive resort on the Pacific Coast of Mexico and Amanda couldn’t help but picture a giant wave washing it away. The image made her shiver and Emily raised her head slightly to ask, “Momma, what’s an apopalisp?”

  “Nothing for you to worry about, baby. Try to get some sleep. Mommy has to watch the news and wait up for Daddy to get back, but you don’t. It’s very late and I’m right here, so just close your eyes and think happy thoughts. Okay?”

  “Okay, Momma, but I want to wait up for Daddy too. Where is he?”

  “He’ll be here soon and then we’ll both tuck you in bed and we’ll stay together all night.”

  “Like a slumber party?”

  “Yes, baby, like a slumber party. A nice quiet one. We’ve all had enough excitement for one night.”

  “Yes, Mommy,” Emily said with a sleepy voice. “The sky was falling.”

  Amanda shivered again and whispered, “Yes it was, baby. Yes it was, but it didn’t fall on us.” She hugged Emily and started to hum Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

  ****

  “Yes, I am still holding and this is a satellite call from the middle of the Pacific Ocean. To whom am I speaking now?”

  “This is Dr. Kline at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii. Are you Captain Krystos?”

  “Yes, this is Captain Krystos aboard the SS Sedulity. We have thousands of eye witnesses aboard who saw a massive asteroid pass over this ship while we were crossing the equator. It impacted the ocean somewhere over the horizon. The blast wave, even from over the horizon, was enough to break most of the windows on the ship and ignite hundreds of fires. But more importantly, we can confirm the threat of unprecedented waves spreading out from the point of impact.”

  “But your ship survived these waves. Correct? So they could not be as large as you and some of our sensors are reporting.”

  “No, you idiot! It was a miracle that this ship made it over the first wave. It was higher than this cruise ship is long! Luckily it was more of a giant bulge in the ocean than a breaking wave, and we were able to get the bow pointed towards it, otherwise we would have capsized. As it was the massive swells caused extensive flooding aboard. It was like being on a roller coaster with the ship climbing a thousand feet above sea level before falling back into the trough. I don’t have a firm headcount yet, but I fear we have already lost hundreds of souls. I should be focused on the emergency here, but that is nothing compared to what is headed towards you and everyone else on the Pacific Rim!”

  “Calm down, Captain. I’m sure it’s not as bad as you fear.”

  “No? Then yo
u are a fool as well as an idiot and millions of people will die because of it. Do you think this is a joke? A prank? Do you think I am making your sensor buoys give you false data all over the ocean? I am reporting a global disaster in progress and you are the only people I know who can issue a warning in time to make any difference. Time is running out. You will begin losing contact with the Marshal Islands, Micronesia and French Polynesia any time now. It’s too late to warn them and wouldn’t help them anyway. Next in line will be Australia and Indonesia, as well as your location in Hawaii. Yes, it’s coming for you too. After that Asia and the Americas will only have hours to prepare, but only if you warn them now. Stop wasting time and sound the alarm!”

  “Please hold the line again, Captain. I need to confer with my superiors.”

  ****

  Chapter 11:

  In addition to the blast wave, impact Tsunami, and incipient torrential storms, the asteroid strike also triggered unprecedented seismic events. The impact crater on the seafloor of the Mid Pacific Basin generated an earthquake registering 8.9 on the Richter scale and lasting more than fifteen minutes. During that time the 12 mile wide and 4 mile deep transient impact crater went through collapse and reconfiguration into a complex crater 17 miles wide and only half a mile lower than the surrounding seafloor. The other three and half miles of crater depth were filled in by molten material from the asteroid and collapse of the surrounding seafloor into the transient crater.

  If this were the extent of the seismic activity it would have been a serious but predominantly local event. The seismic Tsunamis would have been minor when compared to the displacement waves that were already racing away from the impact zone. Unfortunately, the location, depth, strength and duration of the impact generated quake combined to trigger a tectonic shift along the Clipperton Fracture Zone running across the Eastern Pacific Ocean north of the equator. This 4,500 mile long series of undersea ridges and troughs include a string of previously dormant volcanoes strung in a line running straight towards Central America.

  Within half an hour of the asteroid impact the Clipperton Fracture Zone was active again for the first time in millions of years. Furthermore, it threatened to trigger additional tectonic shifts in the Clarion Fracture Zone, the Molokai Fracture Zone, the Murray Fracture Zone, and the Mendocino Fracture Zone. In short, the seafloor of the entire North East Pacific was destabilized, including fracture zones off the West Coast of the United States. The result was a series of earthquakes that spread like falling dominos around the Pacific Rim.

  Lydia gathered her courage and reached for the handle on the door leading up to the Med Center. It didn’t look as if the door had a lock, so only the latch handle was holding back the water that leaked from around the frame. She took a deep breath and, standing away from where she thought the door would swing, leaned forward to turn the knob. Her hand was almost broken as the door flew open under the pressure of the water trapped behind it. A raging torrent exploded across the partially flooded deck of Broadway, washing across the corridor and splashing back in a roiling wave that smashed Lydia up against the wall.

  Water continued to gush out of the narrow stairway behind the door and fear gripped Lydia as she realized she would have to make a break for the waiting Emergency Bypass compartment. She launched herself off the wall into the rushing torrent of water that carried her back down the corridor. Lydia was a good swimmer, despite her exhaustion, and fought to stay close to the wall where the bypass passage awaited her. The water was still only waist deep and she was moving with the leading edge of the flood. It felt like bodysurfing a breaking wave as it rushed into a narrow cove.

  Approaching the closed watertight door blocking the corridor and the open bypass door, Lydia was struck by fear as the force of the rising water pushed the small bypass door closed. She struggled against the current and reached the door mere seconds after it closed. It wasn’t locked and she grabbed the handle to pull it open. Unfortunately, the rising water level in the corridor was already exerting considerable pressure against the closed door. It was designed not to open if the water level in the corridor was higher than in the bypass compartment and it did its job well. The water filling that section of Broadway was already up to her shoulders and continued to rise inexorably.

  Giving up on her fallback plan, Lydia was almost out of hope and feeling defeated. Her mind almost went into panic mode, but she took deep breaths as her feet floated off the deck and forced her to tread water. She had allowed herself to be swept down Broadway to what had become a dead end. Her only hope now lay in fighting her way back to the stairwell that was still spewing water into the corridor. If she could get there and wait until Broadway filled completely, equalizing with the water pressure from above, she had a slim chance of swimming up the stairs in hope of surfacing before her breath ran out. Lydia marshaled every ounce of her remaining strength, kicked off her shoes, and started swimming back up Broadway as the water continued to rise.

  ****

  Armando and Rachel caught up to Hank and the other injured couple on the last flight of stairs leading to Deck 1. The point where they stopped had actually become the bottom of the stairs because standing water lapped at the third step up from Deck 1 where the Medical Center was located. Additional water continued to trickle down the stairs from Deck 2. More daunting than two feet of water filling the lobby of Deck 1 were the dead and injured people immersed in it. Bodies bobbed in the water as it sloshed back and forth to the gentle roll of the ship. Survivors sat or stood in the water, forming a ragged line in front of the doors to the Med Center. Cries of pain, suffering and fear echoed through the corridor. The steps above the water level were also crowded with seated wounded. It was a depressing and frightful scene.

  “Christ on a crutch!” Hank Donner blurted. “This is a hell of a cluster fuck. Who thought it was a good idea to put the hospital on the lowest level of a ship? Didn’t anyone think that an emergency might include some flooding?”

  “I think they expected any flooding to come from below instead of above,” Armando said as he helped Rachel take a seat on the stairs. Turning to her he spoke softly, “Wait here while I go check with the medical staff. I’ll try to get you signed up for priority treatment too. I’m sure the most serious injuries will be handled first.”

  “Thank you,” Rachel whispered. It was clear that she was going into either physical or mental shock. Finding these bodies floating in front of their destination was certainly not helping. Armando fervently hoped that Brad Brewer wasn’t one of them. He was attempting to move past Hank when two more survivors arrived from above. Armando glanced back and immediately recognized them.

  “Officer Perkins! Mr. Summers! What are you doing down here?” Armando called out.

  “Armando?” Kevin asked. It was obvious that he found Armando hard to recognize after everything the bartender had been through. “We’re looking for my wife and daughter. Have you seen them down here?”

  “No, not here,” Armando replied with a smile and short laugh that brought Kevin up short. What could possibly be funny about that? Seeing his reaction, Armando quickly added, “They are safe Mr. Kevin. I escorted them to the Bridge myself. Then the Captain sent me here to have these burns treated.”

  Kevin sank to a sitting position on the stairs, as if all the wind had been knocked out of him, but in a good way. He raised his head and smiled at Armando. His worst fears had been wiped away, at least the personal ones. His family was safe. That was all that he could think about, even in the face of horribly injured and dead bodies, not to mention the horror that he knew was in store for multitudes ashore. All he could say was, “Thank God.”

  Then the first twinges of survivors’ guilt set in. Kevin looked around at the dead and injured, including Armando whose burned and blistered face was still smiling back at him. He took in the fact that several feet of water flooded Deck 1 and the Med Center. He saw and heard the others who had come here for medical care. And he realized that his own worries we
re minor in comparison to those of others. Kevin wanted nothing more than to turn and run back to join his family up on the Bridge, but his conscience told him to help these people first.

  “Officer Perkins?” Kevin said to the radar man. “Shouldn’t we see if we can offer some assistance here?”

  “Absolutely, Mr. Summers, and I’m happy your family’s safe. Let’s see if we can figure out how to drain off this water and get more aid to the injured.” He helped Kevin to his feet and they moved down to join Armando who had already turned to wade into the standing water.

  “Never let it be said that Hank Donner didn’t step up when the chips were down,” the Texan chimed in. “Just give me a second to take off my boots. They cost a fortune.”

  Kevin and Petty Officer Perkins exchanged glances, but held their tongues while they stepped down into the water and waded past the dead and injured towards the Medical Center. Armando went with them and Hank followed a few moments later.

  “Please remain calm,” Petty Officer Perkins called out. This was clearly something that all the ships officers were trained to say in stressful situations. “We’ll get this minor flooding sorted out and see that all of you get medical attention based on the severity of your injuries.”

  A woman dressed as a nurse heard them approaching and came out of the Med Center to meet them. “Thank God you’re here,” she said. “We’ve been trying to drain off this water, but the people on the Bridge say there’s a problem with some watertight doors causing the water to back-up in this section. It’s gone down a couple of inches in the past few minutes, but it’s almost impossible to treat patients in these conditions.”

  “We’ll see what we can do,” Perkins replied, heading towards a side corridor that he knew contained an elevator and stairwell with access to crew spaces on the lower decks. As he suspected, the stairwell was full of water. He and Kevin were about to discuss their options when there was a loud clang and a sucking sound. Suddenly all the water in the stairwell started to empty down below and the standing water in the Medical Center rushed to follow it.