****
Lieutenant Reiner was trying to calm and reassure the passengers in the theater when he heard and felt a resounding crash above them. The banging continued for several seconds and culminated in something breaking through the ceiling and dropping into the theater below! It was a glowing object, no larger than a basketball, trailing smoke and flames. Reiner was horrified to see it fall directly on top of an overweight man seated in the balcony section, pass through him, his seat, and the upper deck of the theater before finally crashing through an empty seat on the main level and rolling down towards the stage. It left a smoking trail of blood, gore and scorch marks, but failed to ignite a fire due to the amount of water that had soaked the seats and carpet in the theater.
This latest “event” was enough to get hundreds of people screaming again, especially those who saw the falling object squash the fat man like an overripe fruit. Lieutenant Reiner was momentarily speechless while he tried to make sense of what had just happened. He ran over to the object as it came to rest at last in a puddle in front of the stage. It looked like a black igneous rock. It still glowed and threw off steam like the lava flows he had seen at the ocean’s edge in Hawaii. Had it fallen out of the sky? And smashed through eight or nine decks to reach the theater? Were more coming? It was almost enough to send him into panic mode, but then he remembered his duty to the passengers and the ship. He allowed the passenger to freak out for another minute while he used his radio to inform the Bridge that there was a meteorite in the theater.
****
Captain Krystos wore a stoic poker-face since learning that his wife had been sucked into a whirlpool below decks. He wanted to run and search for her, or order all the crew to drop everything to find her, but those were things he could not do. He was responsible for the ship and every life aboard her. He couldn’t afford to grieve or be distracted by personal concerns until the ship was out of danger. By all indications, that still might be awhile. Nevertheless, his dilemma made him sympathize with Kevin Summers’ concerns for his own wife and daughter. The man had proven invaluable in predicting the course of events since the asteroid strike, but was clearly in fear for the safety of his family.
“Mr. Summers?” the Captain gestured him closer. “Thank you for your assistance. I think we all owe our lives to your warnings and advice. If you think the situation permits it, this might be a good time to gather your wife and daughter. Lieutenant Reiner said he left them in the Deck 10 stairwell lobby where you told them to wait for you and he thinks they should have been relatively safe there – safer perhaps than those I sent to the lifeboat stations. I can provide you with an escort to find your family and bring them back to the Bridge with you.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Kevin replied with obvious relief. “Yes, aside from the infernal rain and a brief threat of fireballs falling from the sky, I think we’ve made it through the worst of the initial effects. I’m anxious to find Emily and Amanda. I’m sure they’re worried about me too.” It was the first time Kevin had smiled since all of this began and it was nice to see the man had not lost hope.
The Captain nodded and shook Kevin’s hand before instructing the radar operator, whose position had become useless when the blast wave knocked out the radar, to escort Mr. Summers to retrieve his family. When the two men turned to leave the Captain’s thoughts returned to dwell on Lydia and he tried not to imagine all the horrible fates she might have met. He also reflected on the sure knowledge that even if Lydia survived, many other lives had already been lost and more remained in grave danger.
“Captain,” Mr. Crawford called across the Bridge. “Lieutenant Reiner reports that a flaming rock, or meteorite, has penetrated the ceiling of the theater, killing one of the passengers.”
The Captain shook his head, clearing his thoughts before replying, “Sound the fire alarm again and instruct the crew to maintain fire watch at Condition Epsilon. Then send a rapid response team from the deck crew to the theater to assist Mr. Reiner and the passengers there. Send others to check the decks above, in case that thing started more fires on the way down. And give me a status report on the bilge pumps, especially the forward compartments below the theater. I have reports of people being sucked below by the flooding.” That was the closest he could come to focusing on Lydia’s fate.
****
Chapter 7:
The island nation of Kiribati, formerly known as the Gilbert Islands, was composed of more than 30 atolls scattered over three million square miles of ocean. Many of these islands had been inhabited for thousands of years and were home to slightly over 100,000 people when the asteroid struck. Fully half of the nation’s population resided on Tarawa, where the Sedulity had visited earlier that fateful day. The remainder lived in traditional villages spread out on the other islands. Kiribati had been a leading voice in the political movement to prevent global warming. They feared a rise in sea level because more of their islands stood only a few meters above the current sea level. They wouldn’t even act as speed bumps for the effects of the asteroid strike.
The islands closest to the point of impact were swept clean of life by the initial blast wave. Traditional buildings made of thatched walls and roofs were ripped to shreds, even as they ignited in flames. On the main island of Tarawa the devastation was severe, but some modern buildings survived the blast and it was far enough away that only scattered fires were sparked. Still, no typhoon had ever struck so hard, not to mention without warning. Even elderly natives who had lived through the invasions and bombardments of World War 2 had never experienced this type of onslaught. Windows shattered, trees fell, and fires sprang up across the island. There were few initial fatalities, but everyone got the wake-up call. The people of Tarawa picked themselves up to help their families and others recover from the shock and destruction caused by the superheated blast of condensed air. They had more than an hour to comfort their loved ones before the real waves arrived.
Moments after the falling fireball hit the pool-side bar Armando decided that he should go below to check the damage, in case it had started new fires. Realizing that the rain was hot enough to scald his skin, not to mention giving off a strange smell, he retreated into the elevator lobby and went to the stairs on the other side of the atrium. He ran down several flights to the deck below the Resort Deck and moved up a corridor towards the bow. The fireball would have come down through an inside cabin, possibly a common area, just aft of the forward stairwell.
Running down the corridor Armando encountered an increase in the smoke and that same strange scent that he could only describe as brimstone. Approaching the end of the corridor, he noticed one of the inside cabin doors was buckled and smoke seeped out through the bent frame. He paused for a moment to grab a fire extinguisher from a recessed cabinet in the hall, then moved forward to kick the door open. Sure enough, the cabin was in shambles and flames were licking up the walls from the beds which were almost fully engulfed by fire. He pulled the pin on the fire extinguisher and immediately attacked the blaze.
Armando was aided by the hot rain water that fell through the hole in the ceiling, but hindered by smoke that roiled up through a matching hole in the floor. Worse than the smoke and flames were the screams and shouts that echoed up through that hole from far below. It made what was left of Armando’s hair stand on end, but he persisted to fight the fire in that cabin until the flames were suppressed and the extinguisher expended. Then he backed out of the cabin and pulled the door closed as much as possible to contain the smoke from below, or at least direct it up through the hole in the Resort Deck like a chimney rather than pollute this deck.
His next plan of action was to descend another deck and see what damage had been done below this cabin. If necessary, he would repeat the process on each succeeding deck until he inevitably reached the source of the screams emanating from below. Armando turned in the direction of the bow and jogged towards the forward stairwell. Approaching the lobby he thought he heard the anxious cries of a young child.
****
After gathering her thoughts in the Resort Deck lobby, Amanda led Emily slowly back down the stairs they had recently ascended. She didn’t know what else to do. The Spa and Fitness Center were a disaster area and, as little Emily described it, the ‘sky is falling’ outside. All she could think to do was return to the Deck 10 lobby where they were supposed to wait for Kevin to find them. Emily continued to chatter questions in fearful excitement, trying to make sense of what they had seen, but Amanda didn’t know how to explain it either.
Rounding the landing on the next deck with the intention of continuing below, Amanda was shocked to see a man run out of the corridor into the stairwell. She vaguely registered that he was dressed like a crewman, but it was hard to tell with so much of the white uniform scorched and soiled by flame and smoke. She didn’t immediately recognize his face either, especially with most of his hair singed off and burn blisters rising under the soot plastered to his skin. He, however, recognized her and came to an abrupt stop.
“Mrs. Summers! Little Emily! You shouldn’t be up here. Are you alright?” The mother and daughter stared at him in speechless shock, so he continued, “It’s me, Armando, the bar tender.”
“Armando!” Amanda exclaimed in recognition and relief. “What’s happening? The fire? The water? Things falling from the sky… It’s unbelievable.”
“Yes, ma’am, it’s all from that thing your husband called an asteroid,” Armando replied. “It’s a miracle that the she ship has survived. But what are you doing up here? Shouldn’t you be at the lifeboat muster stations?”
“My husband, Kevin, told us to wait for him in the Deck 10 stairwell lobby while he went to the Bridge with the Captain. After everything seemed to calm down a little, well, I just got tired of waiting and thought we should go find him. But we don’t know how to get up to the Bridge. Do you?”
“Yes, Mrs. Summers, you are actually quite close. It’s just a bit forward on this deck.” The look of confusion on her face caused Armando to explain. “Most people think the Bridge would be on the highest deck, but on a big cruise ship like the Sedulity the Bridge is actually positioned below the Sky Lounge and Resort Decks. Come, I’ll take you. I should make a report anyway. Then I must go back to fight the fires and look for other survivors. Follow me.”
Armando led Amanda and Emily out of the stairwell, through the lobby and up the corridor towards the bow. They passed by the doors to half a dozen premium suites before reaching a watertight door that secured the end of the passage. Armando pulled out his crew ID card and used it on the key-card-reader. A red light blinked back at him, indicating he was not authorized to override the security level in place. Undaunted, he reached for a telephone receiver mounted to the wall marked Crew Only and pressed a button labeled Bridge. After a few moments he spoke into the phone.
“Sir, this is Hospitality Mate First Class Ramos,” Armando said. “I’m at the starboard door to the Bridge area with the wife and daughter of Mr. Summers, the weatherman. They believe he is in there with you, sir, and want to rejoin him. I can also report on conditions at the Sky Lounge, Resort Deck, Grand Atrium, and below deck where some sort of burning object crashed into the ship, sir.” After listening to a reply Armando said, “Yes, Sir.” A moment later a buzzer sounded and the light on the lock turned green, allowing them access to the restricted Bridge area.
****
Kevin had followed the radar operator, Petty Officer Perkins, off the Bridge and directly to a Crew Only stairwell that took them down without entering the public areas. They exited on Deck 10 and Kevin rushed to the public stairway lobby where he expected his wife and daughter to be waiting for him. A kernel of fear gripped his gut when he didn’t see them. Freezing in front of the elevators he yelled, “Amanda! Emily! Where are you?” He repeated that call up and down the stairwell before rushing towards their stateroom down the hall. The radar operator kept pace.
“Amanda?” Kevin called out as he tried to open their cabin door. The electronic lock was not working, but the crewman with him produced a manual master key and jiggled it in the lock until the door reluctantly opened inwards. It only opened about a foot before jamming in place. Kevin leaned his head inside. At first he thought it was the wrong stateroom. Nothing looked familiar. A bed, or what was left of one, was jammed up into the bathroom doorway, blocking the main door from opening further. The interior walls were blackened, in contrast to the off-white colors he remembered. The balcony window was shattered and the curtains had been incinerated. Water still dripped from the fire sprinklers in the ceiling and everything in the room was soaking wet. Then he spotted what was left of Emily’s favorite stuffed animal lying on the floor near the entry door. Squatting down, Kevin reached his arm inside and pulled out Mr. Snuggles who, though singed and soaking wet, was still recognizable as a cuddly dolphin from Sea World. “Emily!” Kevin shouted again, but there was no response.
“Come on, Mr. Summers,” the radar man said. “We know they weren’t in the stateroom during the event, and it’s clear they didn’t get back in afterwards. They must have gone to another deck, probably down to the lifeboat muster stations after the Captain made those announcements.”
“Of course,” Kevin agreed, holding back the worst of his fears. “Or maybe they are waiting at the other stairs in the Atrium.” The two men continued down the passageway to the center of the ship where the main elevators and stairways overlooked the ten story atrium. There was no sign of Kevin’s family, but he shouted their names repeatedly. Then he looked over the atrium balcony and witnessed the devastation that had been wreaked upon the Sedulity. Scattered fires on almost every deck illuminated more than the emergency lighting would have, but the scene was obscured by billowing smoke from smoldering areas that had been dowsed by the temporary flooding. Kevin realized now that the massive waves they encountered had actually saved the ship from becoming a floating inferno. Nevertheless, looking down to the bottom of the atrium, it was disconcerting to see water still flowing down the grand stairway and swirling around in the main reception lounge.
Kevin yelled Amanda and Emily’s names up the stairs and down into the atrium without a direct response, although they could hear indistinct voices and screams over the persistent fire alarms. Nodding in unspoken agreement to continue down to the lifeboat muster stations, Kevin and Petty Officer Perkins began their descent towards the echoing cries of fear, pain and despair below.
Lydia wasn’t sure where she was, having never been in this section of the ship. She was pretty sure it was part of the crew quarters, below the theater, but was unsure how far down into the ship she had been carried. The water level had fallen to below her knees when she let go of the light fixture and dropped to the deck of the corridor. It was still like wading in a swift river, but she managed to keep her feet under her.
Although Lydia wanted to go back up to the theater, she realized it would be too difficult to try wading against the current, especially considering she was already exhausted from her ordeal. The only alternative was to go with the flow and hope she found another route up towards the public areas of the ship. The corridor was lined with doors and she notice one of them was open. Glancing in the door, she confirmed that the cabin was intended to house four members of the crew. Water swirled around under the bunk beds and it was clear the whole compartment had recently been flooded, just like the corridor, but there was no sign of any crew members.
Following the flow of water draining from the upper decks brought her to a narrow stairwell. More water flowed down from above here, but nowhere near as much as had carried her out of the theater. It merged with the water she was wading in and poured down the stairs to a lower deck which seemed almost fully submerged. Lydia shivered as she noticed several human bodies floating at the bottom of the stairwell. It was only by the grace of God that she had not joined them.
There was less water spilling down the stairs from above than was flowing through the corridor, but it would still be a stru
ggle to climb the stairs with several inches of water pouring down them. Lydia didn’t see any other choice, however, and grasped the handrail to begin her ascent. If she slipped and fell, or another sudden rush of water came from above, Lydia knew that she would be carried down the stairs to join the floating corpses below.
Lieutenant Reiner was having trouble getting the people in the theater to calm down after the burning rock fell through the ceiling. Some of the passengers fled the theater, despite his shouted protests. Screams of shock echoed back from where they ran, probably caused by coming face to face with drowned and burned corpses or badly injured passengers near the lifeboat stations. Well, he reasoned, they would have to face the reality of this disaster sooner or later anyway, but his orders were to keep as many of them as possible in the theater until the situation stabilized.
His current challenge was an irate American from Texas who insisted that he had a right to speak with the Captain and be told exactly what had happened and what was being done to fix things. It truly irked the Lieutenant because those were obviously questions that everyone else wanted answered too, but most were smart enough realize that the answers were not so easy to come by.
“Please relax and take a seat, Mr. Donner,” he said in a tightly restrained voice. “We will all be informed on the ship’s status as soon as the Captain and crew get a handle on the situation. I can assure you that we are all working hard to ensure the safety of the ship and passengers, which is why I must insist for your own safety that you take a seat and try to remain calm, sir.”
“Remain calm, my ass, sailor boy!” the big Texan erupted. “You’ve got fires, flooding, and honest to gosh-darn meteors hitting this ship, son! Hell, I didn’t even have time to grab a lifejacket from my suite before you folks herded us down here like cattle! Then you shake us up like buttered popcorn, almost drown us in a flood, and now we’re supposed to just sit and wait for more rocks to fall out of the sky and crush us like bugs? Hell no, son! That’s not how Hank Donner is checking out! No sir. I think it’s high time to get on those lifeboats, don’t you?”
Sedulity (Book One) Impact Page 8
