2042: The Great Cataclysm

by Melisande Mason

Wolf stamped his feet to shake away the fluffy white snow flakes that clung to his boots. He noted Nick’s frown and he nodded toward the moose. ‘It was here when I arrived. I’ve been meaning to get rid of it, but he’s become a friend, of sorts. You need all the friends you can get here.’ He coughed and removed his thick weatherproof coat and brushed more snow from his florid face.

  ‘The big tremor swarms started six weeks ago and they haven’t stopped - I’ve lost count of how many.’

  The men stripped down to their insulating body suits as introductions were made to the two assistants. Wolf began pushing papers aside on the coffee table. ‘We’re recording too many around the lighthouse and the wild life have disappeared. That’s really scary.’ He pointed to a scarred map on the wall to the south-western tip of the island. ‘We’re in for some big quakes.’ He pulled at the fiery growth along his right jawbone, a habit Nick remembered he had developed when things were getting out of hand. ‘Shishaldon’s been rumbling for weeks. By Got, it could pop any time!’

  While the others removed their coats, Jeremy pulled some crumpled papers from his pocket and thrust them at Wolf. ‘I brought these with me to show you, they’re identical to yours.’

  ‘Ya, the Pacific Ring of fire is buckling again.’

  ‘I know what’s happening but I didn’t expect it so soon.’ Nick said beckoning in Jeremy’s direction. He unfolded the map Jeremy passed to him and picked up a pen. ‘Here. There’s a new fault line on the Pacific Plate. It goes from the Aleutian Trench here, down though here by Hawaii, and all the way to Mururoa Atoll. The plates are moving, that’s what we’ve been monitoring.’

  Wolf’s bushy eyebrows climbed like signal flags. ‘Nicky! There’ll be a chain reaction and we’re only ninety miles from the Aleutian Trench.’

  Nick considered for a moment. He knew the Aleutian Trench formed part of the boundary between the two tectonic plates, where the Pacific Plate plunges beneath the North American Plate, and north of that trench a string of volcanoes had formed when the melting of the earth’s crust had been caused by the descending Pacific plate.

  ‘I don’t want to deliver the bad news to the world unless we’re sure. We’ll take the Bunyip down and get a closer look at the fault here. We’ll shove off early in the morning, so we’d better get some shuteye.’

  Wolf’s station was not the Hilton, but to these men it could have been, it was warm and cosy despite light snow falling outside. The long animated discussions eventually dwindled and the over-proof, coupled with the heat from the fire began to take its effect. Nick finally slid into a heavy alcohol-induced sleep, lulled by the combination, unable to resist the comfort offered by the big overstuffed chair. Wolf retreated to his basic quarters with his men and offered Jeremy the one spare cot available, that he in turn offered to their Platypus crew member, preferring to remain by the mesmerising flickering fire with Nick.

  Chapter Three

  The following day saw a marked deterioration in the weather, and rain fell in sheets as the little group, their vision constantly restricted by the driving rain, fought to keep their footing on the rough track back to the rocky shoreline. The dark sea curled it’s white-tipped tentacles toward the shore, threatening to pluck anything in it’s path and churn it below it’s icy surface, and the chrome sides of it’s heavy swell gleamed in the eerie light before dropping into canyons of black water.

  Nick knew it was tempting fate setting out for the Platypus in this foul sea, but they had no choice, they did not expect a change in conditions for days.

  The crew member unhitched the rib line from the steel peg Wolf’s men had driven into the edge of the water, while the others dragged and pushed the heavy rubber rib back into the wild water. They slipped and skidded over sharp rocks that thrust their way above the foaming waves and threatened to turn an ankle or worse. Each man scrambled into the small boat one at a time, grabbing the sides of the rib, while the treacherous waves lashed them with icy water and fought their departure with an intensity only beaten by the push of the powerful outboard motors.

  During their roller-coaster ride back to the ship, the rib was swamped by the raging sea non-stop. Shouting into the wild wind only served to freeze their teeth with air so cold it brought tears to their eyes. Nick and Jeremy knew better than to let go the hand holds, but Wolf almost went overboard when he wrapped his arms around his body instinctively to shield himself. His head slammed into the centre console and he floundered on the floor, but safe.

  The Platypus loomed ahead riding on her huge anchor, fighting to stay in position, thrashed by themist and spray leaping off the ocean. Nick’s mind flashed back to Tahiti and the warmth they had left behind two weeks ago.A man must be bloody mad, he thought. ‘We’ll have to move quick or we’ll be crushed against the ship.’ He shouted.

  Onboard Platypus the crew wearing tethers lowered ropes and the gangplank. Confused waves battered the small boat against the side of the ship unrelentingly, while the crew member battled to keep her steady. Nick immediately fastened a rope to his waist and turned, just in time to see Jeremy about to fall overboard. He lurched forward, grabbing Jeremy’s arm just as he went over the side, holding desperately as the boiling sea tried to wrench his body from the rib.

  ‘Wolf, grab his other arm!’ Nick yelled. Struggling together they pulled Jeremy’s flaying body from the angry foaming turmoil, all three falling soaked and exhausted back into the rib. Nick secured one of the swinging ropes around Jeremy’s waist and yelled above the roaring sea. ‘Christ Jeremy! Thought y’were a gonna that time.’

  Jeremy regained his footing and gratefully slapped Nick’s shoulder.

  ‘Too easy, mate. Off you go!’ Nick said.

  Jeremy nodded and poked his thick glasses back from the tip of his nose, then with trembling bravado started up the swaying gangplank. Nick and the crew member held the rocking rib while Wolf followed, his big feet sliding several times, threatening to toss him from the slippery gangplank at any moment. Nicked leapt from the rib seconds before the crew member gunned the motors and swung away from the ship to escape the danger. Nick paused to watch the rib as he roared off toward the stern where the davit waited to pluck the rib from the boiling sea.

  ***

  An hour later after the men recovered from their ordeal, they got under way toward the Aleutian Trench. The ship pushed into a strong northerly wind with white-water breaking profusely over the bow, surging up through the hawser pipes and cascading down the forecastle, covering her foredeck with a constant spray of snow white foam. Sam watched the ship’s heading on the Gyro compass, while gratefully appreciating the climate control inside the Navilon hood isolating them from the raging wind. The clear-view screens set into it’s surface worked swiftly, their centrifugal motion throwing off the continuous spray that lashed with fury at the hood covering the foredeck.

  The blazing light of the Scotch Cap Lighthouse drew their attention. ‘That lighthouse isn’t the original.’ Wolf said. ‘The first one was hundreds of feet below it. They never knew what hit them when a hundred foot wave smashed into it. April Fool’s Day 1946, about 1.30 in the morning I think. That wasn’t all.’ Wolf continued. ‘There were more bigger waves, and four hours later a fifty-foot wave smashed into the Waipio Valley in Hawaii, thousands of miles away at the same time that another one wiped out nearby Hilo.’

  Sam whistled. ‘I heard about that. Didn’t know it started here though! They made paths up to the hills after that so people have an escape route if it happens again.’

  ‘Ya, there’s been many quakes here since then. None like that though. I hope I’m wrong but I think the next one could be bigger.’

  Nick noticed Wolf’s German accent becoming stronger. ‘I’ve got a bad feeling Wolf. I think you’re right.’

  The three men spent the rest of the journey in glum silence. Great foaming waves tossed themselves violently over the bow as they neared their destination.

  Wolf insisted on accompanying Nick and the others on b
oard the Bunyip, despite warnings of discomfort. The men had boarded before Nick, before the big gantry that supported the Bunyip slid on it’s skids to position her at the edge of the stern, where she would be slung out over the thrashing sea below. Satisfied that all was in place and ready to go, Nick climbed on and gave the crew the thumbs up before he squeezed through the hatch, locking it securely in place behind him.

  The morning had opened with a dark green sky with unrelenting wind and snow and the wind howled around the sodden bodies of the crew as they lowered the sub into the churning sea. Turbulent waves lashed the Bunyip, spinning her in giddy circles as they sank below the dark surface.

  Inside Bunyip all sense of movement retreated as they began the hydrodynamic shaped spirals to the seabed, the gyro compass their only means of knowing they were descending.

  After the half-hour journey straight down they went swiftly into action dropping instruments onto the sea bed. The readings followed the same pattern as those they had recorded in Hawaii, but were stronger in intensity. The depth sounder read eight hundred feet.

  The space for human occupation, although designed to carry eight men, was not much larger than an elevator, and two-thirds of that space was taken up by instruments and equipment. Their Navilon body suits kept out any cold the air conditioning failed to stop, while they constantly checked navigation, life support and other systems.

  They edged slowly Northward away from the Aleutian Islands where the bottom shoals very rapidly to seventy-five metres. The seismic disturbance was leading them farther north like an underground highway. The Platypus steamed behind, their lifeline and support.

  It was midday on their first day out and they were at thirty metres when Nick angled his eye to a fisheye. The Bunyip’s search lights cut a yellow path through dark green water. ‘Visibility’s good here but there’s no sign of sea-life. Like you said Wolf. Wolf?’

  Wolf removed the headset he had found on board. ‘Eh? What did you say?’

  ‘No sea life out there.’

  Wolf pushed aside the headset. ‘Sorry. All the pings and racket of the instruments bothers me. How d’you put up with this all the time Nick?’

  ‘Arh... It’s like many things, you get used to it.’ Nick jotted into a notebook and glanced back at Wolf. ‘That’s a nasty bruise on you head. You look a bit tired. Are you okay?’

  ‘Ya. I’m getting lessons every day. Last night was bad.’ Wolf patted his chest. ‘All that rolling and pitching kept me awake.’

  ‘I must admit I’m not loving this trip either. What I miss most is the sun, it’s so bloody bleak here.’ He looked at Wolf’s white face and then his watch. ‘We’ve been down four hours, enough for today, take her up Beau.’

  Chapter Four

  They had travelled through the Bering Straight and were entering the Chukchi Sea in the Arctic circle. It was almost a week since they’d left Unimak Island and apart from overnight breaks on board the Platypus, they had spent six hours every day crammed into the three-metre pressure-sphere.

  Lethargy had blunted the men’s sharpness, so they were caught off guard when the Bunyip suddenly shuddered and nose-dived to the sea bed, tumbling over several times as she dropped. Wolf fell and hit the other side of his head and Jeremy crashed against the side of the bulkhead smashing his left arm. The Bunyip’s engine died, and with it the seven powerful search lights around her hull. The men lay dazed in the darkness where they had fallen for several seconds, until the emergency lights in the sphere flickered into action.

  Instantly a barrage of loud bangs on the titanium hull echoed through Nick’s brain and instinctively he covered his ears for a moment. The crashing only lasted briefly, then there was silence. He wiped his eyes and another large gash oozed blood from his hand and ran down his face.

  Beau’s inert body lay slumped against the wheel. Nick struggled up from the floor where he had fallen and grabbed Beau’s head as he regained consciousness. ‘Beau! Bloody hell Beau. Are you all right?’

  ‘Yeah...... I think so.Wh....at happened?’

  ‘We’re on the bottom. Motor’s stopped.’

  Behind him Jeremy moaned. ‘Oooohhhh. Shi..t.. I think my arm’s broken.’

  Wolf stumbled to his feet to peer through one of the fisheyes, rubbing the side of his head. ‘I can’t see a thing, it’s a black hole!’

  Nick began checking the countless number of dials on the console, paying particular attention to the life support system, while Beau struggled to his feet and regained his senses.

  Blood flowed profusely from Nick’s hand, dripping over his clothes, the floor and the console. Concerned at the mess he was making he pulled out the first aid kit and grabbed a bandage, wrapping it carelessly around his hand. He glanced over to Jeremy and rummaged through the kit for a sling to immobilise his broken arm. ‘Anybody else hurt?’

  Beau shook his head and jabbed at the starter button. ‘No. Just the sub. She won’t start.’

  Nick reached for the radio. ‘Come in Sam. We’ve got a problem. Over.’

  ‘Sam! Are you there? Over.’

  The warm tones of Sam’s voice echoed back, distant but clear. ‘Yes, boss. What’s wrong? Over.’

  ‘We ran into some trouble, we’re on the bottom. Can’t get the engine started. Stand by. Over.’

  ‘Je..sus. Standing by. Out.’

  Beau thumped the dashboard. ‘Dammit, it won’t turn. I think something’s jammed the prop. We’ll have to get a diver down.’

  Wolf lay beside a porthole but could see only blackness. A sudden cacophony of deafening crashes bombarded the Bunyip. ‘Rocks!’ He cried. ‘They’re falling on us!’ The Bunyip shuddered in response to the violent action.

  ‘Shit! We’ll all be killed!’ Jeremy yelled above the noise.

  Nick picked himself up yet again. ‘Nobody panic! We’re tough. Take more than a few rocks to do us in. Beside we’re only at sixty metres. At this depth the ADS divers can get us out of anything.’

  ‘What are ADS divers?’ Wolf asked.

  ‘We’ve got three atmospheric diving suits on board. They’re like suits of armour the divers wear. They can go down to six hundred and fifty metres and stay down for hours. Kinda like a mini sub.’

  Jeremy pushed back his glasses. ‘I wish you’d talk in feet Nick. What if the rocks bury us too deep?’

  Nick ignored his comment and smiled, trying to make light of the situation. ‘We’ll just have to get them to dig us out. We’ve got plenty of air and emergency rations. Er, just need a pack of cards to pass the time.’

  Wolf pulled at his jaw. ‘How much air?’

  Nick remained calm. ‘Oh, about five, six days. You might get sick of the food though.’

  Nick’s relaxed attitude did the trick and the men began going about their business, checking the instruments and looking for damage. He was confident the self-contained hard suits would enable the divers to move the smaller rocks, and manoeuvre the ship’s cables over the larger ones with their articulated manipulators. It was going to be a long wait.

  Nick flicked the communications switch. ‘Come in Sam. Over.’ He grinned as Sam’s welcome answer came immediately.

  ‘It’s running a force seven up here boss, and it’s bloody freezing. What’s your status? Over.’

  ‘Situation’s not clear yet. Rocks are falling all round us. Get the ADS’s ready and have them on standby. Over.’

  ‘It’s that bad hey? Any visible damage? Over.’

  ‘Not sure. The bloody motor won’t start, Beau thinks the prop’s jammed. Everything else seems okay. Searchlights are out. Can’t see a thing. Standby for instructions. Over.’

  ‘Roger that. Out.’

  More rocks thumped on the hull echoing like pounding drums in the stillness, and Nick imagined the debris surrounding them. Fear prickled his skin but he managed to hide it from the others. It was important to keep cool. He prayed the titanium hull would withstand the pressure, and the rocks would not envelope them entirely. The Bunyip was stro
ng, built to withstand great depths, but if they were buried too deep they may never get out.

  Time seemed suspended while they waited for the second bombardment to subside. Then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Deathly silence followed and the dim light in the cabin flickered like a candle. The fisheyes reflected blackness.

  Beau slowly felt his way around the bulkhead looking for cold spots. ‘Thank Christ! She seems okay.’

  Jeremy punched away on his computer with his good hand. ‘Everything here looks normal. The seismo’s settled down. Looks like the worst’s over.’

  ‘Yeah, good here too,’ Beau said. ‘Except we’re not going anywhere.’

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Five

  On board Platypus the men had rigged cables and lifting gear ready to go the sea bed to assist the divers in their efforts to remove the debris. Most of the men on board were qualified to dive, but Sam had picked his best men - Enrico, a young Cuban lad who had proven himself in previous sticky situations and Joe, his best diver. A third diver would standby on the ship to relieve them.

  The ADS suits stood at the ready looking more like space suits than diving. A big tank made of cast aluminium and mounted at the rear on the divers shoulders provided an internal pressure of one atmosphere, which eliminated the need for the diver to decompress while surfacing. Thruster packs with constant variable pitch were mounted either side of this tank, and supplied propulsion for the diver and the pincers at the end of the divers arms. Movement was controlled by the feet, left foot for vertical control and right foot for lateral. Rotary joints in the legs and arms provided great mobility while remaining largely unaffected by high pressure.

  Getting the suits ready was a time consuming and laborious task. First they were subjected to intense inspection before the men were suited up. Four long hours had passed before Nick gave his instructions and at last they were ready.

  Enrico and Joe tested their wireless communication systems and the dual on-suit video cameras, while Sam checked their forty-eight hour oxygen supply with it’s independent backup system. Sam gave the thumbs up to the davit operator to lower the men over the side. It was up to them now, it was Sam’s turn to play the waiting game.