by Scott Todd
So I quickly found myself snuggled next to Jan, and looking at Terry sound asleep through a crack in the curtain of her bunk. Jan awoke and started to speak, but I quickly covered her mouth with my finger, and shook my head desperately at her. Her eyes immediately showed fear.
"We got something on radar," I whispered. "We have to be silent for a while." Even in my whisper, I could not conceal my urgent concern.
My mind raced with urgent questions. Was it more Chinese on the hunt? Or was it perhaps the Russians, or a search party of some kind? Regardless, I was totally with Gary for immediate and utter stealth. We might not be so lucky when the next nuke went off- especially if it was aimed directly at us. And if there were planes in the air, there could be ships and subs in the water heading our way. I understood Gary's actions- but my understanding didn't help to comfort the situation at all.
We still knew not a damn thing about the state of affairs in the rest of the world- whatever was left. But if the nuke that went off over the mountain was any indication, we understood clearly that we were in a state of war. Nuclear war. And yet the peaceful, quiet cruising in the ocean depths made it fatefully easy to forget that.
Gary however, was a constant reminder of doom. He suddenly appeared with total intenseness on his face and quietly awoke Terry. He desperately needed her back on sonar so he could monitor communications, and she seemed to respond much better after a nap. He glanced down at Jan and me as they headed off, putting his finger on his mouth, and reminding us to be quiet.
A few minutes later we felt the engines start up and the sub dive deeper. The hull creaked and groaned from the increased water pressure. I clung to Gary's previous words that we wouldn't exceed safe depth limits unless it was "absolutely necessary."
Yet surely he dove deeper for a reason. Maybe they detected something closer. Hell, we were already pretty deep as it was. So either he was being extra cautious- or he was running from something. But then the sub seemed to stop, and a deadly silence enveloped us.
To Jan's and my surprise, minutes later all three of them suddenly appeared in the bunks, looking at us intently.
"We've only got minutes, but we have to make a decision," Gary said urgently, yet still whispering. "We've got more incoming aircraft, and this time I am not picking up anything at all on radio- they are not talking. But from the looks of it, and the info is sketchy, but I think I may have identified one of the planes as a Russian bomber. I can only assume that the other planes are escorts of some kind."
"So we can take our chances that they are looking for survivors, or that they have a similar intent as those Chinese that tried to kill us," Ben quickly added.
"Since when do you look for survivors with a bomber?" I asked immediately. "You sure that is a BOMBER?"
"No, I am not," Gary reiterated. "But it sure looks like one, and the additional aircraft in formation would appear to support that theory. Regardless, we only have a limited time window in which to act. We can either let them pass and risk detection, or blow them out of the sky. If they have any satellites still working..."
"Which is probable," Ben interjected...
"Then they probably detected the atomic blasts back near the mountain," Gary continued. "They could be just checking it out. Ben and I are in a bit of a disagreement whether the Chinese know yet that their fleet has been destroyed, and if they could have notified Russia over it yet. We don't know if they are working in unison to finish off any US military remnants. And we don't know if they suspect any of our subs are still operational, given the big event. They may believe all the subs are gone, in which case that would give them the ability to destroy us without fears of nuclear repercussions."
"It is a complicated situation for sure," Ben surmised. "There still could be some nuclear missile ability left in eastern France and maybe Israel- but there was enough water from the event to make it through the Straight of Gibraltar, and thus into the Mediterranean Sea. That means 400 to 1,000 foot tsunamis for all countries bordering it. Israel could well be mostly wiped out. Britain is probably near a 100% total loss. I just can't be sure. Some of the water could have receded, too."
"Well if there's any of France or Israel left, I wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese or Russians have already attacked them in a calculated preemption, once they were aware of the utter devastation in America- and the likelihood that the subs were gone," Gary speculated.
"But a crucial note here is the direction in which that aircraft formation is headed," Gary continued. "They are headed in a southward and slightly southeast direction, not in a southwest direction towards the event site. It appears they flew over the Arctic at the north pole, and are headed almost directly for us- or towards the mountain. I am picking them up on passive radar, so I don't have a lot of range. But to engage active radar would be a death sentence, cause they could sense us. If we are going to act, we have to do it in the next minutes because of targeting issues and missile ingress routes. The more time I have to get that missile in there, the better I can disguise our position."
Gary looked up and around at us. The women stared bleakly into the floor, and Ben eyed me carefully.
Chapter 56: Fire or Die
To assume or not to assume. That was the question. I knew that assuming was just about the worst thing to do, but sometimes, in rare cases, you just have to assume. Where there is no other information, and not much time to make up your mind, with your life on the line, then there is no choice.
From what was presented we were going to have to assume. And from what had just happened back at the mountain we were going to have to assume. It sucked. I hated assuming. People's lives were at stake.
"So I take it your inclination is to fire while we have the chance?" I asked Gary and Ben, whispering.
"If we don't and are detected, we will pay for it with our lives," Gary said morbidly. "I don't believe the Chinese know, OR have advised the Russians yet of the reason for the loss of their fleet. The fact that these planes are flying in formation would tend to support that. If they knew what hit them, they likely would have advised the Russians not to fly in formation, where they all can be destroyed at once. If all those planes were flying 100 miles apart, we couldn't be so effective with one or two nuclear tipped missiles.
"And furthermore," Gary continued, "You all should know that if they manage to detonate a nuclear missile directly above us at sea level, we are already so deep that the blast wave will sink this ship further into depth pressures that will crush and kill us instantly. So we can't take that chance. So given all of the above, I unfortunately have to advise us to fire. NOW."
"I hate it, but I have to agree," Ben said without much hesitation. "Until we see radar images a bit more promising, we are going to have to defend ourselves."
Terry looked up at us with a mean look on her face. "I still can't believe those assholes are trying to KILL us! Then FINE. They want war, then let's give it to them. I vote to fire."
"Well doesn't sound like we have much choice," Jan said sadly. "And that's three votes already, so looks like it's decided. With mine it would be four votes."
"Well we wanted to include you all in the process, and explain why we are doing what we are having to do," Gary said somberly. He looked at me with a final glance. "Ok?" he asked.
I stared back at him, silently questioning his soul if this was really the right thing to do. His gaze back did not waiver at all. "Ok, I guess," I finally replied.
"Ok then, please stay here with Jan and again, remain quiet. The blast wave should not be quite so bad this time, this far out and with us so deep. We may not even feel it. Gotta run, and quick. Ben and Terry, come on please," Gary whispered, and off they all scurried.
Within minutes, again we heard the ship's missile systems activate, and fire what appeared to only be one missile this time. Gary must have been confident that just one would be enough if he placed it just right. I could only imagine the nuclear tipped Tomahawk skimming the sea surface and turning up at the l
ast second to climb thousands of feet into the air and instantly end more lives.
Some eight minutes later, we felt the sub shift a bit, and then heard a faint low rumbling in the distance after that. He was right- we hardly even felt it.
Shortly after that, Gary appeared and gave us the news. "Ok well, all the dots are gone off the radar screen... So if you don't mind, how about watching that screen again for a while, Brian. I have other things I have to do."
Jan looked up somberly, saying "Well... Anyone hungry?"
"Yes that would be excellent, Jan," Gary replied. "Just give us a shout."
So back to the radar screen I went, while Gary and Terry scrambled off to another part of the sub. Ben looked at me with a regretful look on his face. "I really hated to do that," he said. "War sucks."
Realizing that I was alone with Ben again, all of a sudden I remembered the stalemate we had been left in. It needed some closure.
"Ah... Regarding what we were talking about earlier, I didn't have plans to tell anyone about it... Not even you," I said quietly, and checking to make sure we were alone.
"I mean why tell you? What good would it do?" I continued. "Like you didn't already have enough to worry about with all THIS going on? What happened on the mountain with the President and his aid was a personal choice, given what rotten intent his minions had already displayed. I acted for a new beginning, free from overbearing, untrustworthy, power-hungry people. It was really time anyways that average men reclaim their stolen destinies. We've seen enough of lying politicians and their ways, have we not? And the same goes for those that support them with their false facade of self innocence.
"And as to my initial rage over the drilling... Sorry about that. I am over it now. All we can do is move on. And I will agree to keeping the mutual secrets. I believe it is for the best," I concluded.
"Well I am still not sure about those particular decisions you made, and especially with his female aid," Ben remarked softly. "But I do understand WHY you made them. And I can't necessarily disagree, all things considered. I struggle with it a bit, but right now we have much more pressing matters."
"And don't you think I struggle with it?" I retorted. "Hell, I didn't want to do that. But damn it, enough was enough. If you read my notes then you know why I decided she was going to be absolutely no good for us. I ended abuse of power over me and over us right then and there. And we'd better all not forget that, as we forge ahead to deal with whatever's coming next. I think we're off to a good start- you and Gary seem to be handling things well, with discussion and consultation- and including us too," I noted.
"Yes, I am content with that part of it so far," Ben agreed. "I was expecting something else from a military man, but Gary is surprisingly cordial, humble, and including us in his thoughts and actions. His ceding command authority to us spoke volumes about his character, when he could have seized it. Let's hope it remains that way," he reflected.
After a moment of brief, reflective silence, I again relished the chance to be alone with Ben. I had so many questions. So many questions I didn't even know where to begin. But he had plenty of his own for me, and beat me to it.
Chapter 57: TechnoBabble
"So I have been needing to find out more about what exactly you saw on your computer, and what kind of program you were running. Tell me in as much detail as possible while we have a few minutes here, please. I need that information to help me form opinions about what happened at the event site," he asked.
I told him as much as I could, including all about my computer, the programs, and all the particular seismic stations around the Pacific and elsewhere I was monitoring at the time. I told him I was monitoring all those seismic stations in spectrogram mode. Many seismologists will display seismic data as waveforms to assess earthquakes, but spectrograms are a way of displaying the data that provides easily seen frequency information. Spectrograms can be very advantageous- especially monitoring volcanoes- and for other special needs in geology, and even nuclear weapon assessment.
He had a notebook out and was writing down furiously everything I was telling him- like a wild-eyed kid in a candy store who hadn't seen a candy bar in years. The following fifteen minutes became a high speed exchange of technical information which he gobbled up like he was starving. I described the nasty looking, clipping red spectrograms.
"You mean you saw solid red all the way up to 25 Hertz, on every single station?" he asked, gasping in disbelief.
"Yes! I know!" I retorted. "At those incredible distances, there should have been some serious high frequency attenuation. But there was NONE! As you know Ben, the earth quickly absorbs and consumes most anything above 10 Hz in a relatively short distance, unless there is considerable power behind the seismic waves. So once I realized what kind of incredible power would be needed to see solid red at 25 Hz on stations seven thousand miles away, I freaked out. That's what caused me to go into panic mode and get the hell out of there fast. I knew that couldn't be real what I saw. But it was," I related desperately- finally relieved to pass it on to someone who really understood what it meant- and much better than I did.
Ben was staring at me transfixed, yet still writing as fast as he could. But clearly his mind was thinking much faster than he could write. Then he looked up with a startled gaze.
"Well no WONDER Marty was in such a panic! He had just switched over to looking at one of those station's data in spectrogram mode while we were on the phone, and was freaking out about it- when we suddenly got cut off. But you, on the other hand, were already looking at ALL STATIONS in spectrogram mode- so YOU saw... You saw it ALL... At ONCE. Oh GOD. I've got to seriously think about how you could possibly see 25 Hz in red at over 9,000 km away!" Ben said urgently, and receded into deep thought while beaming wide-eyed at his notes.
"And completely clipped too, because I checked at least two waveforms of the farthest stations- so we will never know just how big those amplitudes really were," I added. "I mean even the biggest great earthquakes never manage THAT. I saw the magnitude 9 Japan quake in 2011 on many distant stations, and by the time the seismic waves hit the US west coast, anything over 10 Hz was gone for the most part."
He shook his head in disbelief and begged me to fetch his briefcase. I soon arrived with it, digging for his calculator. But suddenly he stopped writing, staring blankly into his panel instruments.
"I think... I THINK, if my initial calculations are correct, that the event had enough power to confirm a suspicion I've had- that the Earth may have been knocked off orbit," he said somberly. "But I can't deal with this now. I've got to stay focused on my post duties, or we're going to get off course," he concluded- irritated that he couldn't keep calculating.
My eyes lit right up. "I wondered the same thing while we were on the mountain," I replied. "I've wondered a lot of things. The abnormal heat, that sulfur cloud, the..."
"Are you two STILL talking about that?" a voice interrupted. We both looked up startled to see Jan standing there with a tray of sandwiches. "I don't know what much good it's going to do us now," she said, handing them to us. "I'll be back with some water."
The food took precedence, and we gobbled them up. By the time she got back with drinks, they were gone. Ben ate, but I don't think he realized that he did. He was far too consumed in deep, profuse thought.
Finally he looked up and said, "You know, I've probably got everything I need around here with the ship's instruments and onboard data to calculate earth orbit parameters- but the fact is, as bad as I want to, it's going to have to wait. Jan's right, in effect- I'd better stay focused on steering the sub and where we are going.
"Besides, I'm not sure we want to know the answer," he lamented. "It may not matter anyway, considering we're being hunted like animals- except with nuclear weapons. But it's nice to know there are more survivors, huh?" he asked sarcastically with an angry tone. Jan sighed and left.
Then Ben collapsed into his chair with a sigh and stared at his instruments, not saying anot
her word. He didn't have to. That stark nuclear reality was still upon us and the rest would just have to wait. Death was threatening from both natural, and now human infliction.
And yet according to written human history, it was not the first time that natural catastrophe had led to war. History was simply repeating itself, except this time with an unprecedented, human-provoked earth event and nuclear weapons. I had to wonder if history was just sick and tired of saying the same old thing, so it made sure this time its voice would not be forgotten.
Ben looked up and shared from his own deep contemplation. "Science is always held in check by the unexpected," he said quietly. "Some things apparently CAN happen for the first time on earth. I am just embarrassed to be part of the living humans at the time when we unwittingly uncorked a mega-colossal, sub-oceanic super volcano. Bad move. Bad, BAD move," he said, disgusted and shaking his head furiously.
I had to comment. "Well the Japanese paid a heavy price for bombing Pearl Harbor, but this is one mistake they won't get the chance to recover from ever- seeing as they're under several thousand feet of water and dead. The bleeding edge of science just chopped its own head off at the direction of politicians, despite profuse international warnings and objection- taking the rest of the planet with it- and leaving a mere fraction of humanity to fight with nuclear weapons over what's left..."
