The waves rolled over the Contessa without notice. Approaching Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji they slowed and grew in height, like a bear slowing its charge to stand on its hind legs and terrify its prey. The tsunamis couldn’t drown the mountaintops of these island nations, but they scoured all life from the shorelines and foothills. That portion of the waves then regrouped, only slightly diminished, and hurtled on towards New Zealand.
****
Kevin and Petty Officer Perkins waited outside the Med Center while Lydia Krystos received a quick examination by the Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Segal. Aside from numerous bruises and minor cuts, Lydia was amazingly healthy. She had been choking up water, on the brink of drowning, when Kevin pulled her through the tangle of floating bodies. The shock of finding her path to the surface blocked by dead bodies had finally broken her nerve and she released her held breath in a moment of terror. That would have sealed her fate, if not for a desperate final grab that closed on Kevin’s ankle. His assistance in pulling her to the surface had made all the difference. Dr. Segal recommended rest and gave her a small bottle of pain killers before shooing Lydia out of the Med Center to make room for the seriously injured. Rachel had been moved close to the front of the line and Armando was assuring her that he would search for her husband.
“Let us escort you back to the Bridge, Ma’am,” Perkins said to the Captain’s wife. “Mr. Summers’ family is waiting there and so is your husband.”
“Yes, thank you. I’d appreciate that very much,” Lydia replied with a tired smile.
“I’d like to go up to the Bridge too,” Hank Donner chimed in. “I’ve got a pile of questions for the Captain of this tub.”
“I’m sorry, sir, only authorized personnel are allowed on the Bridge.” Perkins replied.
“Then why is he authorized?” Hank pointed at Kevin accusingly. “He’s just a passenger, ain’t he?”
“Aside from the fact that Mr. Summers saved all of our lives with the advice he gave the Captain, he has also been invited to be there. You, sir, have not.” Perkins was clearly losing patience again with Mr. Donner’s attitude.
Armando stepped forward to defuse the scene. “But Mr. Donner, I thought you promised to go back up with me to look for Rachel’s husband, Brad Brewer.”
Hank paused for a moment while a pondering frown crossed his face, then said, “Yes, I did, didn’t I? Okay then barkeep. Let’s do that, but I’m going to light my cigar before I go near any of them crispy critters up there. Trust me, a good Cuban cigar smells a lot better than cooked human flesh.”
Armando gave Hank a withering glare, all too conscious of the smell of his own burned flesh and clothing, but simply motioned Hank to accompany him and started heading for the stairs at a brisk pace. Hank tipped his cowboy hat to Lydia, glared at Perkins and Kevin, then went to retrieve his boots from where he had placed them on the stairs. Kevin paused to give Hank time to start upstairs before offering Lydia his arm and starting the long climb back to the Bridge. “We just have one stop to make,” Kevin said. “There’s a scientist aboard who might help us understand more about what’s happening.”
The trio exited the stairs on Deck 3, letting Armando and Hank continue up to the Martini Bar on Deck 4. Perkins led the way back to Professor Farnsworth’s stateroom where he knocked lightly on the door. The professor opened it immediately, still wearing his lifejacket, with his middle aged wife standing behind him, similarly attired. “Would you care to join us on the Bridge now?” Petty Officer Perkins asked.
“Can my wife come too?” the professor asked. “She doesn’t have a scientific background, but I can’t leave her here alone.”
“Of course,” Lydia answered before the men could decide what to say. “She will be my guest while you men discuss the fate of the world.” She gave a welcoming smile and the elderly couple came out to join them in the corridor. “My name is Lydia,” she said. “Please excuse my appearance, but it’s been quite a night.”
“I’m Max Farnsworth and this is my wife, Judith. You’re all a sight for sore eyes. We thought the ship was going to sink and take us with it.”
“You weren’t the only ones feeling that way,” Kevin said. “It was a close call and we still don’t know how it will turn out in the long run. That’s one of the reasons I want to include you in the discussions I’ll be having with the Captain. I have an idea of what is coming, but I don’t want my opinion to be the only one he hears.”
“I understand completely,” said the professor. “Although I can’t say I’m looking forward to what lies in store for us and the world at large, I suppose we have to face facts and make decisions accordingly.”
The group walked down the hall towards the forward stairs. As they approached the lobby they were surprised by the restoration of normal lighting. Then they heard the ding of an elevator arriving in the lobby. Kevin and Petty Officer Perkins both broke into a run and arrived at the elevators when the doors to one of them opened and four people emerged in a panicked state. The two elderly couples wore lifejackets over their evening wear. Kevin realized that they had been trapped in the elevator since the power failed when the initial blast wave struck the ship. They must have been en route to their muster stations at the time. Being caught in the elevator probably saved their lives, but they appeared terrified.
“Take it easy, folks,” Kevin called out. “It looks like you’ve had a rough time in that elevator, but the ship is still afloat and the power seems to be restored. You should continue forward to the theater where most of the other passengers are gathered.” The two couples took his advice and walked unsteadily towards the theater.
“Should we trust the power enough to take this elevator up to the Bridge?” Kevin asked Petty Officer Perkins when Lydia and the Farnsworths joined them in the lobby.
“It would certainly be a lot easier for Judith and me,” said the professor. “We’re a bit slow on stairs these days.”
“I’d rather use the elevator too,” Lydia agreed. “If you think it’s safe enough? I’ve had enough exercise for one night.”
“Right. Let’s give it a try,” Perkins decided. “It’s eight decks up to the Bridge and I’m getting tired of running up and down the stairs too.” He had been holding the elevator doors open and now ushered the rest inside. They almost changed their minds when they realized that one or more of those trapped in the elevator had vomited in the corner, but it was not enough to dissuade them. “Just cover your nose and this should be a quick trip. I’m not surprised they got motion sickness riding out those waves in a dark elevator.” He pressed a button to select Deck 12 and the elevator doors closed smoothly.
****
“Main power has been restored to most of the public areas, Captain,” said First Officer Crawford. “Engineering is keeping the breakers turned off for the staterooms though. They say there are too many shorts caused by flooding and fire damage in the balcony staterooms, but at least we can light up most of the common areas.”
“That’s good news,” said Captain Krystos. “Now get me a head count on passengers and crew. I want to know how many injuries we’re dealing with and how many people are dead or unaccounted for. See if any of the kitchens are operational too. We should get the cooks working to prepare coffee, soup and sandwiches right away. This is going to be a long night and half the battle of damage control will be dealing with the human element.”
“Yes, Sir,” Crawford said. “I’ll get right on it.”
“I understand a lot of passengers are in the theater,” the Captain continued. “That’s probably the best place for them to be tonight, but we’ll need to prepare some other spaces for them to spread out. And it sounds like most of the outside staterooms are uninhabitable. Instruct the cabin stewards to inspect every cabin, stateroom and suite to make a list of the ones that are reasonably intact, as well as check for additional survivors. I realize this would be Staff Captain Stevens’ job, but you’ll have to step up and fill in as acting Staff Captain now, Mr. Crawfor
d.”
“Yes, Sir. Of course, Sir. I’ll get all of that organized and have the Purser take charge of deploying the Hospitality Staff while the Boson supervises damage control and recovery operations by the Deck Crew.”
“Excellent,” the Captain said. “And send additional crew to help move the injured down to the Med Center. Find out if we need to commandeer additional cabins down there. If so, start with the crew cabins closest to the Med Center. I’ll follow up with Engineering and see when they can complete pumping operations and restore full power to the lower deck areas.”
Now that the immediate crisis seemed to be over and the Captain had been able to send a warning to the rest of the world, it was time to focus on getting the ship and crew organized. In many ways a cruise ship was operated like a small self-contained city. During regular operations it was run like the combination of a finely tuned machine, which it was, and a choreographed performance by more than a thousand members of the crew. The sole purpose of the ship and crew was to transport, house, feed, and entertain more than three thousand passengers in utmost comfort and luxury. That was how it usually worked. Not tonight. The asteroid strike had turned these passengers’ dream vacation into a nightmare. The survivors should consider themselves lucky, but Captain Krystos knew that many would be angry, indignant, and expecting a quick resumption of first class service.
This was not the first time he had captained a cruise that didn’t go as planned. Years ago he had commanded an older and smaller cruise ship in the Mediterranean Sea that suffered engine failure and floated adrift for three days until a tug arrived to tow it slowly back to port. Those passengers had been livid at missing the all the stops in the Greek islands. On a more recent cruise of the Caribbean there had been an outbreak of the norovirus that incapacitated hundreds of passengers and crew. Captain Krystos himself had come down with the nasty stomach bug. That cruise had also been cut short and the passengers, sick and healthy alike, were outraged. On yet another cruise the ship had to deviate far off course to avoid a major tropical storm, cancelling most of the planned ports of call and upsetting the passengers again. None of those incidents had ever been the fault of Captain Krystos or his crew, but they were always the ones that the passengers blamed for any misfortune. He didn’t expect it to be any different this time, at least until they realized the full extent of the disaster unleashed by the asteroid impact. In the meantime the passengers would bombard the crew with unreasonable demands and expectations. It was par for the course and the Captain would do his best to ameliorate the inconveniences while focusing on the overall safety of the ship and all those aboard her.
While the Captain was contemplating his options, one of the crew passed him a folded piece of damp paper. The hand written note from Security Chief Cohen read: The rain is hot in more ways than one. Recommend keeping everyone inside. Will come to the Bridge when the tests are complete. The Captain grimaced as he crumpled the note and dropped it into a wastebasket.
****
Armando’s burns and bruises were starting to get the best of him. The surge of adrenalin that had seen him through the peak of the crisis was gone, leaving weariness and pain in its wake. Facing the burned and drowned bodies of passengers scattered around the lifeboat muster stations was almost too much for him to handle, especially in the company of Mr. Hank Donner whose Texan drawl flowed nonstop.
“I told you there were a lot of bodies up here, didn’t I? Most of these poor folks got broiled alive and the ones that made it through that got drowned like rats. So how are we supposed to tell if any of them are the little lady’s husband? Do you even know what he looked like before getting burned up?”
“No,” Armando replied. “And we don’t have to check the dead bodies. We’ll just check the injured passengers who are still alive. If Brad Brewer is one of them, we can try to get him down to the doctor. Otherwise we can help some of the others. I don’t want to have to tell Rachel that her husband is dead anyway, so we will only check the living.”
“That makes sense, barkeep,” Hank agreed. “I don’t want to go messing with dead bodies anyway. Hank Donner don’t mind helping folks get to the hospital, but I’ll let you and the rest of the crew handle the corpses. Can’t say I envy you the task either, boy. This whole part of the ship is trashed! You’ll have quite a time getting it all cleaned up and ready for us to enjoy the rest of this cruise.”
Armando bit his tongue and tried to smile, but it was too much for him. He simply shook his head and walked past the bodies in search of people he could help. Hank continued to talk about how much work the crew would have to do so he could enjoy the rest of his vacation. Armando wondered if the man were crazy, but he had too much experience dealing with pampered passengers to challenge him. Knowing the extent of the damage to the ship and the staterooms, he was sure that Hank Donner was in for a rude awakening, but decided it was best to keep his mouth shut and take advantage of whatever minimal help the man was willing to offer now.
****
Emily had finally fallen asleep with her head on Amanda’s lap. The news was back on TV and it was not at all good. Fox Rusher had reported that all contact had been lost with the Pacific island nations closest to the asteroid impact and panicked evacuations had begun all around the Pacific Rim. GNN was sharing news and video feeds from Hawaii and Australia where Tsunami warning sirens were already blaring in the background. There didn’t seem to be much panic in Los Angeles or the rest of the Pacific Coast of the USA yet, but the waves were still many hours away and even Fox Rusher sounded like he thought the event wouldn’t amount to much in California. Amanda hoped he was right.
Everyone was waiting for a special news conference that had been announced at the White House. It wasn’t clear if the President himself would be there, but GNN’s White House correspondent said there was unusual activity on the White House grounds. Helicopters were coming and going, as were motorcades, and there was a visible presence of armed Marines at the gates. Whatever was happening, it was clear that the powers that be were taking it seriously. GNN’s correspondent was standing in front of the Old Executive Office Building where the news conference would be held.
“Yes, Fox, it is now clear that the US government recognizes this as a major event with global repercussions. All reports indicate that some sort of asteroid or comet has crashed into the middle of the Pacific Ocean. If the alerts coming out of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center are accurate, it’s possible that every coastline of the Pacific Ocean is in danger. We’ve been told that there will be a news conference within the next few hours, leading some of us to speculate that the President is waiting to see how seriously the Tsunamis are in other countries closer to the impact zone before making a formal announcement.”
The scene shifted back to Fox Rusher in the LA studio who nodded sagely.
“That would make sense, Frank. There are still many hours before those waves could possibly reach the West Coast of the United States. However, we do know that Hawaii has already activated the Emergency Broadcast System and authorities there are sounding Tsunami warning sirens. Of course they are much more used to dealing with the threat of Tsunamis than the rest of the US. I’m sure the President and his national security staff are in close contact with officials in Hawaii and other American possessions in the Central Pacific, as well as our allies in the region.”
“That’s a good assumption, Fox. Hawaii, Australia and many other island nations in the Pacific are squarely in the crosshairs right now. With the waves reportedly traveling at over 300 miles per hour, it won’t be long until we discover the magnitude of the threat facing the Pacific Rim.”
“We’re keeping a close eye on it, Frank. We do know that communication has been lost with some of the islands closest to the reported impact zone, but we have no reports or estimates on the level of damage there. We’re also following reports of earthquakes on both sides of the Pacific Ocean which may have been triggered by the impact event. In fact, Cal Tech has issued an eart
hquake warning for the local area here in California. That’s something of a first. Normally scientists can’t forecast earthquakes with any accuracy, except to predict where major fault lines will eventually shift. However, the rash of quakes following this asteroid strike caused them to take the unprecedented step of issuing earthquake warnings for the entire California coast, from San Diego up to San Francisco and beyond. There is no specific timeframe given for this warning, but we are recommending caution and…”
Fox Rusher broke off in mid-sentence and looked like he was doing a little dance in his seat as his face froze and paled. The shaking increased and Amanda saw camera gear and lighting stands fall into view. Even watching on television it was clear that she was witnessing a large earthquake in progress. Fox ducked under his desk just before the picture on the screen cut to a test pattern. Amanda knew that the GNN studios in West Los Angeles were only a dozen miles from her own home in Topanga Canyon. Her thoughts filled with worry for friends and coworkers. Luckily Amanda’s parents lived in Colorado and Kevin’s had moved to Florida, so they were in no immediate danger, as far as she could tell. Nevertheless, seeing disaster strike close to home was almost more terrifying than what she had been through on the ship. Amanda could envision the freeway overpasses crumbling, the walls and roofs of houses collapsing, and panicked people running into the streets as shattered glass rained down from multistory buildings. Amanda shivered and cuddled Emily tighter, wishing that Kevin would hurry up and join them.
Sedulity (Book One) Impact Page 15
