Even if he could manage to reverse Mark‘s direction, the mouthpiece and facemask would be ripped from him by the strength of the current and Mark would drown; Stewart didn’t dare try.
Kathleen came down the steps and sat on the lower landing with him. She put her arms around him and then leaned her face against his head.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered softly.
He didn’t look at her, but he felt her presence and it gave him some amount of comfort.
***
Mark allowed the current to carry him toward the place where Ashlyn had gone under. He stared in amazement. There she was, just under the surface, fighting to break free, yet frozen in time, just as the bird had been.
Glinting from the sunlight, he saw particles of debris moving slower and slower until they were also fixed in time. He allowed himself to be dragged with them, past the barrier to where time had stopped.
Suddenly, she was moving, thrashing, and fighting to break the surface, trying to get to air. He swam with the current as fast as he could go. It was pulling her down. He reached her just before he ran out of rope, and held onto her tightly.
She was confused for a second until she saw him, and then relief washed over her face. He gave her the mouthpiece. She expelled the last of the air in her lungs into it, to clear the water. Then she took a deep breath, and then several more quick ones before handing it back to him.
He pointed to the rope and motioned for her to hold onto him as tightly as possible. She did just that. He gave her the mouthpiece and pulled against the current with all his might. Hand over hand he pulled them, stopping only occasionally to take a few desperately needed breaths of air.
Their progress was slow. It seemed an impossible force was pulling them back, but he didn’t stop until he finally reached the barrier of time. He could see exactly where it was because, like before, he watched the debris in the water. Only this time, instead of slowing to a stop, the particles on the other side of the boundary sped up so fast that they blurred together. He stopped there to take in some much needed air, and then he pulled them both through the edge of the Time Storm.
The pull against them was intense, but suddenly they were in normal time, and there was no more particle blur. He knew they were through it, and he could see the hull of the yacht before them. He took in more air before pulling them closer to the boat.
***
When the rope had gone taut, the boat had turned toward the swirling whirlpool. It had only been seconds since it had finished turning its tail to the sun when Stewart saw Mark’s head break the surface of the water.
Kathleen hadn't realized that she had been holding her breath until she released it. Horror turned to relief, and then to shock as Ashlyn’s head also broke the surface of the water. Stewart stood up gaping in disbelief.
The current was still pulling on Mark and Ashlyn, but he grasped the ladder tightly. When he was certain they were safe, he let go of the rope. Stewart grabbed Ashlyn by the hand, and with their combined strength, both Ashlyn and Mark made it onto the landing.
Ashlyn climbed the staircase shakily, and Mark followed behind her. Up on the aft deck, they crashed down on the sofa. He landed carefully next to her, and then pulled her into his arms. He buried his face in her neck, and sobbed silently while they held each other tightly.
Stewart and Kathleen went into the galley so that Mark and Ashlyn could have privacy.
“What’s going on—” she asked “—why is everyone acting so strange, and why are you …Why do you seem so …,” she didn’t finish her statement.
He pulled back and looked into her eyes. “Why am I so emotional?” Is that what you’re trying to ask?”
“Yes”—she answered softly—“I know that was a close call, but it’s all right. We all made it safely.”
He stared, amazed.
She met his eyes. They seemed far more bloodshot and swollen than they should have been—he was the one wearing the mask under the water. She knitted her brow.
“Mark, are you alright?”
He smiled, and then kissed her passionately for several moments.
“What’s going on with you?—” she laughed softly “—you’re acting like you haven’t seen me in years.”
He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He just stared at her and smiled. He shook his head and kissed her again.
“How did you get to me so quickly?”
“I didn’t”—he groaned—“Ashlyn, I thought you were gone.”
“What do you mean, you didn’t?—” she asked in confusion “—you were there almost as soon as I went under, how did you get there so fast?”
The expression in his eyes took her breath away. It was as if he were looking through her eyes into eternity itself.
Then he stood up and reached for her hand. “Come with me.”
She followed him up the stairs through the pilothouse, and up to the flybridge. He looked over, and the bird was still there. He pointed to it suspended in midair. She stared at it in awe.
She opened her mouth to ask how, and then saw the faint green glow emanating from the water below. She looked up into the sky, and saw the swirled clouds—she understood. He was standing behind her with his arms around her. He kissed her wet hair, and then kissed the back of her neck.
“I love you more than life itself.”
Her eyes filled with tears because she knew that he did. She turned around, and her lips found his again.
“I thought what happened here was because of the machine?”
He shook his head, “I guess not.”
She looked back over the water. “It looks almost normal, if not for the bird. How did you know?”
She turned back to him and saw intense sorrow in his eyes. “I didn’t,” his voice broke.
She waited for him to regain control, then he pressed his lips against her forehead before pulling back to look at her again.
“I thought you were …,” he couldn’t even say the words.
“I was sitting up here—” he pointed to the chair “—right here.”
She waited.
“That bird flew past me so closely that it almost hit me, and then it stopped, right where it is now.”
She could see the painful memory and the wonder of it all in his eyes, rolled up into one.
“How long, Mark?—” she asked him seriously “—how long was I under before you realized?”
He shook his head and let out a sharp breath. He stared down at where he had collapsed onto his knees in pain. She followed the direction of his eyes, and then looked back at him.
“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.
They sat down on the deck and leaned against the hull. He had his arms around her.
Ashlyn stared up into the b
lue 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.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3As I
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
ABOUT THE AUTHORJuliann Farnsworth
Time Storm Shockwave Page 26