2042: The Great Cataclysm

by Melisande Mason

  ‘It’s good to see you mate. These gangs have been hounding us all day.’ Joe replied. ‘From what I’ve seen this morning, we’re going to be besieged by them for some time to come. Have you seen what’s out there yet?’ He said gesturing toward the coast.

  ‘We were in the thick of it last night, but we haven’t seen it by daylight yet.’

  ‘Come on, but be prepared for a shock. I can’t believe what’s happened. We lost power but the boys have rigged up the generator we nicked from the army.’

  ***

  Nick had a good idea of what they were about to see when they entered the clearing around the house, but the others gasped in shock as they surveyed the scene of devastation below. Even though Nick had expected it, he was shaken when faced by the sickening reality.

  Where there had been houses, farms and buildings for kilometres to the east, there was now only the sea! The former coast line had disappeared, covered by an angry, surging ocean. The multitude of distant high-rise buildings that once proliferated was gone, as were the ugly dykes!

  Only two buildings remained; the Phoenix complex, whose four towers were standing forlornly in the ocean like solitary citadels, islands in an angry new sea. The other building was not so easily recognisable, all other landmarks having disappeared. By counting the floors still visible above the water line, Nick calculated the depth of the water surrounding the Phoenix to be about fifteen metres! No sign of any other structure remained, every one crushed and destroyed by the wicked, awesome power of the tsunami.

  The turbulent sea roared inland until it crashed onto massive mountains of debris, the remains of the city that had been picked up by the towering tsunami and flung like millions of matchsticks onto the pulverised land. Spray hurled by the angry sea burst into the air and the once peaceful country side around the foot hills resembled a monstrous garbage dump.

  ‘My God.’ Karen whispered hoarsely to Nick. ‘It’s worse than I could’ve imagined. How far do you think that wave we followed came ashore?’

  ‘My guess is only about ten kilometres, but the sea level rose behind it pushing the water farther inland.’

  ‘Will it be like this everywhere?’

  ‘I’m afraid so. Cities lower than eighteen metres above sea level would’ve been annihilated.’

  ‘That’s most of the Australian coastline!’ The horror dawned on Karen as she mouthed the words. ‘What’re we going to do? Where are we going to get food? My God everything’s been destroyed! What about the rest of the world? There must be unbelievable destruction everywhere!’ They stared out across the newly formed sea, unanswered questions on all their lips.

  One of Joe’s security men approached asking which one was Nick Torrens. ‘There’s a call for you, someone called Josh. I couldn’t make out his last name. Communications aren’t good, the sat-phones are still working, but there’s so much interference.’

  ***

  Nick ran to the house before he’d finished speaking and grabbed the phone with trembling hands, eager to talk to Josh.

  ‘Josh, Josh, is that really you?’

  ‘Hello! Hello. Nick! Are you there? Are you okay? I’ve had a hell of a time trying to get through. Laura’s here.’ The line dropped out leaving Nick frustrated and annoyed. He waited for it to ring again and after five minutes began to think they would not get through. He paced the floor impatiently and flinched when the phone finally rang ten minutes later. Snatching it he babbled, ‘Josh is that you? We’re all okay. How are you? You said Laura was with you. Can I speak to her?’

  ‘Sure, buddy, but we’re breaking up all the time and I don’t know how long the communications are going to hold. It’s chaos over here. I’ll try to contact you again later. Is the Platypus okay?’

  ‘I haven’t made contact yet, it’s next on my list.’ Nick detected something in his friend’s voice. It wasn’t the distance, something was wrong. Before he could ask Laura came on the line.

  ‘Nick. Oh, Nick is that you?’ Laura cried. ‘It’s been so long since I heard your voice. I’ve been so worried about you. Is everything okay down there? Are you okay? How’s your family?’

  ‘I’m okay. It’s chaos here too, but we’re still alive, except for Brian.’ Nick’s voice caught. ‘I’m afraid he didn’t make it. Damn fool died trying to get the shot of his life.’ Nick swallowed hard. ‘What’s happened over there?

  ‘Oh Nick I’m so sorry. I know you were close.’ She hesitated. ‘There was a plot to kill the President but General Douglas stopped it.’

  ‘Shit. It’s chaos everywhere, is Josh okay? He sounded odd.’

  ‘I’m afraid Josh’s family were lost too.’

  ‘Oh.God no.’

  ‘He’s devastated. Apparently Jenny panicked and took the kids before Josh could pick them up. They got caught up in the huge traffic jams.’

  ‘Where are you?’

  ‘We’re at Mt Rockwell, it’s safe here but the whole of Washington’s flooded. We’ve been in contact with Los Angeles briefly. Tsunami have wiped it out, plus there was a huge earthquake along the San Andreas fault. It’s just as you predicted. They’ve got a terrible problem down at San Diego. The zoo animals were all released and the wild ones are running riot in the hills killing people. It’s horrible! We can’t contact San Francisco either, God knows what’s happening there! Christ Nick. New York’s been wiped off the map!’

  Nick groaned. ‘Now you’ll understand why I had to come home?’

  ‘Yes, it’s where you belong, just as I belong here. What are you going to do now?’

  ‘Honestly, I don’t know. I can’t come back to the USA. I won’t be able to refuel anywhere. Planes will find the same. It’s the end of long distance travel.’

  ‘Oh God. I never thought of that, but you’ll stay in touch won’t you?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  I hope everything will work out for you Nick. Nick?’

  ‘Umm. You too. Look after Josh, okay?’

  ‘I will. Goodbye Nick.’

  She hung up.

  ***

  The enormity of what the world was facing hit him like a sledge hammer. He sat for several minutes staring at the silent phone tapping his feet in tune with his thinking, wondering where to go from here. His emotions were running riot. He had lost his home, his brother and now Laura and Josh. He prayed he had not lost the Platypus. He reminded himself that he still had his best friend, Graham, and there was also Karen to take care of. Brian would have wanted that.

  He vowed then to keep himself occupied, knowing activity would override the pain. They needed transport, so he would go back with some men to salvage the jeep and Graham would want to get back to Liberty. There was not a great deal Nick could do right now, but Graham and his army of Vetos were needed. He could only imagine the vast task facing the army and the government, who now had to establish new ways of running the country. He couldn’t begin to judge the massive loss of life among the inhabitants of the seaside towns, the millions of Chinese and Indians who lived here. If only they had remained in their satellite cities inland.

  He wondered just where he could fit in, what role he would play in this new society of homeless frightened people? He decided to begin by finding a boat and going out to the Phoenix complex to see how it was surviving the continual onslaught from the ocean. He did not have to wonder long. The phone rang again and this time it was Dave Parker on the line.

  Chapter Forty-seven

  Rescue at The Phoenix

  Dave’s voice was anxious. ‘Nick, glad I found you. You okay? What about the rest of your family are they all okay?’

  Nick hesitated, his feelings went numb when he thought of Brian. ‘My brother was killed while filming the first wave.’

  ‘Shit. I’m sorry mate. Were you close?’

  ‘Yeah, as close as twin brothers can be. I’m grateful in a way that things are so crazy. Won’t give me time to dwell on it.’

  ‘I heard you had some drama yourself.’

  ‘Yeah
. Sounds like the communications are okay.’

  ‘Sat-Phones are okay for now, but not for long, there’s nowhere to charge ‘em up. Power’s gone everywhere. We’re back in the dark ages here. What happened to you Nick?’

  ‘It’s a helluva story. I’ll tell you one day if we ever get the time. Without Graham I’m not sure where we’d all be. We were trapped in the Phoenix building, some bloody looters nearly cost us our lives.’

  ‘Yes, I heard. That’s why I’m calling you. There’s a problem at the Phoenix. We had the Vetos out at dawn, and there are some people trapped in the south-east tower. The Navy’s got a ship nearby and can bring them out, but the problem is that the access from the sea level is impossible, we have to go in from the top. There’s only one Veto pad and it’s on the north tower of the complex, which is very unstable, and the walkway between those two buildings is a twisted mess, so we’re going to have to lower some men from the Veto straight onto the south-east tower roof. It’s a bit risky, but I’m going to have to ask Graham to go out there as all my Vetos have been deployed to Brisbane. That entire city’s been wiped out, we’ve got no idea how many people have survived, there’s massive flooding up there and they need every Veto available, so Graham will have to drop someone on the Phoenix and run there to help with the massive rescue effort. I’ve managed to find some old two-way pods, I’ll leave one here for you, it will make communications more reliable out there.’

  ‘What’s happening right now at the Phoenix?’

  ‘The Navy have anchored a ship nearby and their divers are inspecting the footings on the south-east tower now. We plan to take the survivors off onto the ship but the bottom six floors on that building have been gutted, and it’s a big drop to the ocean below. It’s pretty wild out there.’

  ‘How can we help?’

  ‘Is Bill Simpson still with you Nick? I thought he may be able to give us some information about the interior of the buildings.’

  ‘Yeah, Bill’s here.’ Nick replied. ‘He’s been injured though. Shot by those bloody looters. I know the building reasonably well and I need to do something to keep my mind off Brian. Let me go, I know what to do. The Platypus was in the North Sea a couple of years back and we helped with a rescue mission on a stricken oil rig. It was hairy stuff.’

  ‘Sure Nick. I was hoping you’d ask. Can you get back to Camp B where you were last night? I’ll call Graham and tell him to wait for you.’

  ‘Graham’s here with me. We’ve got a slight problem and it could take us a little while to get back to the camp. We’re all fairly exhausted after yesterday, but wild horses won’t stop us. See you out there.’ Nick called Bill to the phone to answer Dave’s questions and left to find Graham. Despite having no sleep Nick felt a surge of energy, and was eager to plunge into the rescue operation.

  He found Graham and Karen on the verandah unable to tear themselves away from the impossible scene.

  ‘Beauty, mate!’ Graham whooped when Nick relayed the details of Dave’s call. ‘We’d better get that jeep out of the ditch, pronto.’

  ‘I’m coming too.’ Karen added.

  ‘I’m not sure that’s a good idea.’ Nick pleaded. ‘You’ve had a big shock.’

  ‘So have you, it’s not stopping you though is it? People could be injured.’

  ‘There’ll be other medical people out there. Why put yourself through that?’

  ‘I need the diversion just as you do. There’s plenty of nurses here but none out there. Please, don’t make me beg you.’

  Nick knew he had no right to stop her, but it would be dangerous. There could be more big waves from after shocks, and dealing with panicking frantic people under those circumstances would be a challenge. ‘Okay, get your gear.’ He capitulated. ‘But I don’t think you’d better tell Bill your going, he’ll have a fit.’

  Karen found Bill and Veronica deep in conversation in the lounge room. Bill smiled up at Veronica as she stood over him massaging his neck from behind.

  ‘Uncle Bill, we’ve got some more work to do so I’m going with Nick and Graham. Will you be okay here? I know you two don’t like being alone but I’m afraid you’re going to have to get use to it.’

  ‘We’ll be fine dear.’ Veronica answered warmly. ‘Your uncle and I have some catching up to do. She looked down at him. ‘Don’t we Bill?’

  Bill patted her hand affectionately. ‘Yeah we sure do, but what about you Karen? You haven’t stopped crying.’

  ‘That’s just it. I need to do something. I feel so helpless. There’ so many people feeling the same, everyone’s lost people close to them. I don’t know if I’ll ever get over the past few days.’

  ‘How’s Nick taking it? He asked.

  ‘He’s devastated. We haven’t had time to talk about it, but I’ve caught him crying once or twice.’

  A horn honked outside.

  ‘I have to go. You stay here. This is your home now. I don’t know when we’ll be back.’

  Karen wiped away more tears as she left them as she hurried off to join the others.

  ***

  Nick had commandeered two of Graham’s security men with their land-rover and hurried back along the bush track to retrieve the jeep, discussing their plans along the route. ‘What’s the plan?’ Nick asked Graham.

  ‘I’ll lower you and Karen onto the roof using the hoist and sling, once you’re in the building you can assess how to get the people out.

  The cable on the Liberty is thirty-three metres, should be just about enough. It’ll be bloody dangerous. I can hover around a hundred and ten metres from the ground with safety. That building is about a hundred which leaves me roughly only ten metres leeway. The wind will be gusting badly, so I’ll drop you and get out of there fast.’

  ‘What if someone’s badly injured?’ Karen asked. “We’ll need to air lift them out.’

  ‘We’ll to deal with that if it comes up.’

  They found the jeep and had no trouble righting it. They replaced the tyre and headed back to Camp B with Graham acting as look out with the HK rifle gripped tightly across his lap. They arrived to find the camp crawling with army, police, civilians and medical people, all milling about in confused groups. Liberty waited serenely in the secured compound where Graham had left her. ‘I’m going to find Alex and get some supplies.’ Karen said, jumping from the jeep. ‘Don’t you dare leave without me!’

  Nick had collected the two-way pod and Graham had completed the pre-flight inspection when she returned with Alex in tow, carrying medical bags.

  ‘Alex is coming too in case someone needs a doctor.’ She announced, scrambling into the passenger compartment. Dust whipped in circles forming a yellow cloud around the Veto as the jet thrusters began their familiar throb and the nine hundred and fifty horses pulled her at seventy knots in a vertical climb over the camp.

  Within minutes they were flying over ocean, each of them silently absorbing the devastating picture unravelling beneath them. The new uneven shoreline, splattered and broken by massive piles of twisted steel and cement, broken timber and roofing materials, smashed motor vehicles and boats unfolded below them like one gigantic demolition scene. Bodies lay crushed among the rubble alongside mangled carcasses of horses, cows, and domestic animals. Great mounds of tangled building materials formed islands that the sea mercilessly pounded and dragged, spurting huge arches of sea-spray ten metres into the air. The surrealistic scene vanished behind them as Graham banked and headed Liberty over the ocean towards the Phoenix.

  A Navy Frigate lay at anchor on the ocean side of the south-eastern complex. Nick blinked at the startling sight. One hundred and seventeen metres long, her deck almost level with the fourth floor of the building, the top of her tall Navilon dome riding high beside the tenth floor. Her Sea sparrow missile system on the bow pointed ominously to the south. From their perspective it appeared that one could almost walk from the deck into the building, but in reality, the building was gutted up to the eighth floor, and the only access for man woul
d be by the turbulent sea. Her Veto pad on her bow was devoid of its machine; the huge grey Westland Sea Kite, now deployed to Brisbane. Graham hovered over the south tower.

  ‘Are you ready Nick?’ He shouted.

  ‘Too easy mate. After that episode last night I’m game for anything.’

  The sling, as Graham called it was really a padded loop that fitted over the shoulders and under the armpits, a little more sophisticated than the crude rope sling he’d fashioned for their escape from the Phoenix.

  ‘I can angle the jets away from the skids but you’re going to have to drop fast and run like hell when you hit the roof.’ Graham shouted.

  Nick checked his two-way, a small antiquated tool, but a very reliable one, and poked it into a pocket in his shorts, slipped the sling over his shoulders and edged out of the Veto ready for the drop down. ‘You’re next.’ He signalled to Karen. Alex’s face blanched as he watched Nick standing on the skids tugging on the spin resistant stainless steel cable checking its strength. Graham had assured him it would hold up to one hundred and forty kilograms. He slid off the skid slowlyto dangle momentarily below the fuselage. Graham pressed the spring-loaded switch on his guidance lever and Nick descended so fast it was unlike anything he had experienced. His breath caught in his throat threatening to choke him and his stomach felt as though it would drop right out of his body. In a matter of seconds his feet touched the roof. The hot wind whipped up by the wake of the tsunami whined and nipped at his body in an unsuccessful bid to pry him loose, as he landed as a parachutist, with knees buckling limply, falling into a roll then standing quickly, throwing off the sling at the same instant. He did as instructed and ran out from under the downdraft to wait for the others.Now we’ll see how brave you are Karen. He said to himself, as he waited for her to step out. Minutes later he saw the flash of her red jacket as she began her breathtaking descent. She shrugged out of her sling and rolled like a pro, bent low and ran away from the danger area in a blink of an eye.