Tears streamed down his cheeks. “Oh Eileen, I am so sorry. I loved you. I have always loved you and always will," he cried out loud.
Eric seemed to feel a presence at his side. He felt a caress on his cheek and felt a soft warm hand slip into his. “It’s all right Eric. I know you loved me, and I never stopped loving you. I knew that someday we would be together again. Now come and walk in the surf with me. We have so much catching up to do.”
The water was receding down the beach. He could see Kelp beds left stranded on the bare rocks and sand. The surf seemed so far away. As he continued to walk down the beach toward the receding water and the sunset, he felt Eileen at his side again. Eric did not even notice the wave gathering and approaching. He had found Eileen again and was happy at last.
The wave that washed ashore along the coast of Southern California had dissipated somewhat from its origin off the coast of Japan. It was estimated to have been only about five hundred high by the few people who saw it and survived to tell about it.
Chapter 60
June 5th, 2043
Houston, Texas
Mike Banscott knocked on Peter’s office door then came in and sat down as Peter looked up from the latest data on the Brown Dwarf that was now within the orbit of Jupiter.
“What are the latest reports from the Pacific?” asked Mike. “I have not been on my computer this morning yet.”
“Not good,” replied Peter. “They are catching it bad out there, especially Japan. That big Tsunami in the Pacific last week really hit them hard. The latest estimates I saw say it was over seven hundred feet high when it hit the coast of Japan. It was still five hundred feet high when it hit our west coast. If that one wasn’t bad enough, then there have been dozens of smaller ones. From the satellite pictures I have seen you cannot even make out the Hawaiian Islands due to all the ash, smoke and steam from the volcanoes there. The ships in the area are reporting that both Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea are erupting violently and there are large lava flows from both. The islands are ablaze from the hot lava and ash. There have been at least two explosions from the Krakatoa chain of volcanoes in the Java Sea and those volcanoes are spewing millions of tons of ash into the atmosphere.”
“The Pacific is not the only place getting socked. Vesuvius in the Mediterranean is blowing ash and pumice all over the region there and there have been several new volcanoes rising out of the sea off the island of Crete. Up in Iceland, there have been large numbers of people that had not evacuated killed by poisonous gases being released by the two active volcanoes there. It is not only just the volcanos and earthquakes causing havoc. If those are not bad enough, the coastal flooding is estimated to have killed hundreds of millions already.”
Mike just sat quietly in his chair. Peter looked at him curiously. “You did not come down here to ask me about the latest news reports on what is going on in the rest of the world. You get the same reports that I do, what is up?”
“I got a call yesterday from the Major in charge of the MP battalion that is trying to keep an eye on the evacuated areas of Southern California. A SAR helicopter crew found Eric about a week ago. I had asked a special favor of the Major in command of that unit. He had one of his choppers fly over the area that Eric lived in. That entire area had been devastated by the big earthquake there. Anyway, they found Eric living in a tent in his backyard. He was grilling a rabbit when they landed and made contact with him.”
Peter smiled. “Sounds like something he would be doing. He probably shot it on the golf course while trying to get in eighteen holes between earthquakes. Let me guess, he still refused to be evacuated?”
Mike nodded. “Yesterday, the same chopper crew flew over his neighborhood. It was in flames. Brushfires have spread like crazy and it was the first time the area had been surveyed after the large tsunami hit last week. They did not see any sign of him. They did report however, that his jeep which had been there previously was no longer there. He may have pulled out when the fire got too close. I know that Susan has been worried sick about him.”
Peter nodded. “This news will not help. Susan cries herself to sleep more often than not with worry. I try to explain to her that he is doing what he wants to do. It is his life after all. If I was his age, I would probably do the same.”
Mike held out a stained envelope. “This was sent to me by a courier from the captain that was on the chopper that landed and talked to Eric. Eric wrote it and asked that if possible, would he try and get it delivered to Susan. I thought it more appropriate for you to hand it to her. It has not been opened, so I have no idea what it says.”
Peter took the envelope and looked at the address, “My Dearest Daughter Susan.” “Thank you Mike for trying, I appreciate your efforts to try and get him out, and Susan feels the same.”
“It is no problem, Peter,” said Mike. “Don’t forget he was my good friend long before you and Susan were ever on the scene. I know that the last time I talked to him; he was really feeling down with guilt. He has never forgiven himself for what happened between Eileen, who was Susan’s mother, and himself. I met Eileen a few times that summer they were together. She was a beautiful, vibrant young woman. I don’t know if I could have given her up the way he did. But anyway, please give that letter to Susan with my love.”
Mike stood to go. “I have to get going. I have to catch a plane to Florida and give the NASA people who are huddled behind the dikes at Cape Canaveral a pep talk. I also need to see for myself how things are holding up there. We cannot afford to lose the heavy lift rockets there.”
“Good luck getting out the gate,” said Peter. “Have you looked out there lately?” He stood and pulled open the curtains of his third floor office. His window overlooked the front security gate at NASA/JPL headquarters. There was a crowd of seven to eight thousand protestors in front of the gate being held back by Houston City Policemen re-enforced with military police.
“From what I hear, they are blaming NASA for the Dwarf. They say that the Dwarf was sent by aliens to wipe us out after the aliens intercepted the old Voyager space probe that left our solar system several decades ago. The security chief said they are getting downright nasty and there have been multiple arrests. Several people have been shot in the crowd by someone. Security thinks there is some crazed sniper out there. You would think that the shootings would scatter the crowd but it just made them angrier."
Mike looked out. “I was briefed on the security situation earlier. There is no way I would attempt to drive out through that mob. I have a chopper waiting on the roof pad to take me to the airport, and then a NASA private jet from there to the cape. I will call you after I get to Cape Canaveral. If you get a chance, look over the latest design specifications for the Elpis landing expedition. They are still in real rough form, although the proposed ship is just a new variant of the ship design we used for the David Honstein.” He stood to leave and paused, “Give my best to Susan. Tell her we tried, but in the end her father was adamant and refused to leave.”
“Thanks again for trying Mike, have a safe flight,” Peter said as he gazed out the window.
…
Outside the security gate of the NASA/JPL headquarters Alfred Manley sat looking out from behind the curtains in the window of the second story apartment. He had come down to the demonstration as the voices in his head had told him to. The voices were telling him that behind that gate the government had twenty seven alien prisoners that had been captured when the Space Force had shot up their starship in orbit around Mars. The aliens were sending out psychic cries for help. The capture of the aliens was why the huge Dwarf Star was nearing Earth. The Alien’s home world had sent it to destroy Earth if the aliens that were being held against their will were not released to fly back to their home world.
Alfred could not understand why the government did not let them go. Was the government really so crazy that they would destroy the whole planet rather than let them go free? He could hear their voices screaming for help in his head ev
en as he sat trying to figure how to help them.
At first, when Alfred had joined the demonstration at the gate he thought that the other demonstrators had also heeded the calling of the alien voices, but after talking to a few of them about what the aliens were saying to him they just laughed and sneered at him. The consensus of the mob was that the Dwarf had been sent to destroy Earth after an alien race had found the old Voyager probe that had left the solar system thirty years ago. The aliens had determined that humans were a threat to rest of the intelligent civilizations of the universe and intended on destroying the human race with the Brown Dwarf. There had been no capture of any aliens. The aliens were much to smart and powerful for mere humans to catch them. The crowd was convinced that only by swearing to stop all manned space activity above Earth’s atmosphere would the aliens call back the Dwarf and let humanity live.
Alfred could hear the shrieks of the aliens in his head. They were being tortured by NASA to try and get them to have their home world call off the Dwarf. Alfred had brought his old single shot sniper rifle with him that his great grandfather had kept after World War Two. It was in mint condition, carefully oiled and cared for all these years by Alfred’s father, and his father before him. His father had left it to him when he had died several years ago of a heart attack. Alfred had brought the gun with him to try and rescue the aliens if he could.
The problem at the moment was that he could get nowhere near the gate. There were at least two to three hundred police and MP’s in front of the gate and then the crowd of thousands of demonstrators between Alfred and the gate. Not trusting the agitated members of the crowd at the gate, he had found an empty apartment and kicked in the door and found his present view point. On two occasions he had attempted to shoot one of the guards at the gate, but each time a demonstrator had jumped right into his line of sight. He had ended up shooting them by accident. Now, Alfred was afraid that there were undercover government agents looking through the crowd for the shooter. He was going to have to leave and come up with another plan to rescue the aliens.
As Alfred stood to gather up his gear in preparation for leaving, he caught sight of movement on the roof of the NASA headquarters building. He saw several people run out onto the roof to a waiting helicopter. The helicopter was not one of the armored military types, but a small corporate model that could carry five to six passengers. The voices in his head were screaming that the lead NASA interrogator was escaping the compound in the helicopter before the demonstrators crashed in the gate.
As the rotors of the helicopter started to spin up, Alfred realized that this may be his best chance to help the aliens. He sat down and braced the old sniper rifle on the window frame and looked through the sight. He could see the pilot of the chopper sitting in the cockpit. As the helicopter rose from the roof it started rising out and above the demonstrators below. Alfred saw that he was in luck as the helicopter was coming right over the apartment window that Alfred was perched in.
Alfred carefully took aim and fired the old bolt action rifle. Still looking through the sight of the rifle, Alfred saw the Plexiglas windshield of the helicopter starburst as the bullet struck it and the bulkhead behind the pilots head was suddenly splattered with blood and brain matter. The helicopter starting spinning violently to the left and rolled over on to its side and slid sideways right down into the crowd of demonstrators. Moments later, a column of fire and smoke leapt into the sky as its fuel tanks ruptured and caught fire.
Alfred jumped up and ran out of the apartment, totally forgetting about the old rifle as he sought to escape. He knew that he had just minutes to get out of the area before the plains clothes agents moved in. The voices in his head were screaming at him so loud that could not think, he could just run. He was still running when he crossed the street right in front of a responding fire response vehicle and died instantly when the heavy vehicle hit him and tossed him onto the curb, breaking his neck.
Peter jumped up when he heard the explosion and looked out his window in time to see a spray of burning jet engine fuel explode out across the crowd of demonstrators. In the middle of that crowd, was what remained of a NASA corporate helicopter. Peter felt sick. He sat back down in his chair as a wail of sirens could be heard in the distance. The people in the crowd who had not been injured in the explosion or sprayed with the burning fuel fled screaming in all directions. The Headquarters building security alarm started going off and he could hear staff screaming and security personnel running down the hallway. For the first time since his son was born, Peter laid his head on his desk and wept.
Chapter 61
June 12th, 2043
New Washington, Georgia
President Walden sat in the situation briefing room in the Colonial House. His advisors were all talking at once and trying to make themselves heard. "What a damn zoo," he thought to himself. Finally he had all he could stand. He stood up and shouted down the table, “All of you shut the fuck up!” The entire room grew silent and looked at him in shock.
“It is a good thing the majority of you are not in the armed forces or I would have you shot! I need some organization here and I want it now!" He pointed out the window. The general public is doing the same thing you are. You need to be better than this. If this country’s leadership panics, what the hell is going to happen out there? I don’t care if you are pissing your pants in terror, you had better not let the public see it. We need to set an example for them, and if you cannot do it, then get the hell out and find me someone who can. Do I make myself clear?”
When no one answered him the President sat down. “Now, one at a time, please brief this group and myself. We all need to have a clear picture what is going on so we can try and keep things under control. Mr. Warren, as chief scientific advisor, tell us what is going on with the Dwarf. Skip the trivial crap and stick with the big picture.”
Ronald Warren stood and spoke. “We are about eleven days from the point of closest approach from the Dwarf Star. There is wide spread flooding at high tide around the globe. Tides up to sixty feet have been reported at areas along the gulf coast. At the moment, probably a full third of the state of Florida is under water as the tides cycle through. Large amounts of farm land have been ruined from the saltwater and death estimates are probably several million in Florida alone. Most of the coastal cities on the eastern seaboard have been inundated by the high tides. Most, if not all of the shipping ports will take at least months to get dried out and operational again. It will probably take years to dredge out all the sediment deposits that are forming in the harbors and shipping channels. Two nights ago, the dikes at New Orleans gave way and that city and just about all the residents who stayed there are drowned. These flood tides are going to get even worse as we reach the Dwarfs closest approach point.”
“What about the dikes protecting Cape Canaveral?” the President asked.
“They are holding for the moment. Water is reaching about ten feet below the tops of the dikes. Crews are working around the clock shoring up the dikes and trying to raise them higher. It will be touch and go as to whether or not they are able to hold on. If the dikes fail, then we will lose the eastern heavy launch facility. The western facility has had about two feet of volcanic ash dumped on it so far. The Mag-rail Launch Facility has also been damaged. The New Madrid earthquake several days ago caused the collapse of several sections of the launch rail. At the moment, Cape Canaveral is the only space launch facility still operational.”
“Moving on to the earthquakes, yesterday, there was another large one centered on the area of Bakersfield, California. Preliminary estimates put it around eight point one on the Richter scale. It is doubtful that any building or structure within two hundred miles of the epicenter is still standing. The quake along the New Madrid fault line broke open levies and dikes all along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. There will be massive flooding the next time the water gets high all along those river basins. And speaking of river flooding, there is probably not a damn le
ft west of the Mississippi that the earthquakes have not destroyed. Areas below all the large dams have been totally wiped out in the released flood waters.”
“Besides the four volcanoes erupting in Hawaii, we have at least five others now erupting up and down the west coast, two in Oregon, one in Washington State, and two in Alaska. Downwind of those volcanoes there are multiple feet of ash being dumped. Most if not all of the wheat and corn crops of the Midwest are going to be total losses. We had counted on one more good harvest before the cold winters come for that area. Livestock losses will be catastrophic as the water supplies will not be fit to drink and the ash is covering the pasture land. Visibility is down to less than a tenth of a mile in most of the northern half of the country. Even here in the south, the sky is grey with ash and there are several inches of it in places. The sulfur in it will cause local lakes and streams to become very acidic and plants and fish will suffer greatly. Frankly, the whole world is getting hammered and some places have it many times worse than we do.” The science advisor shook his head and sat down.
The FEMA director stood for his turn. “I would like to say that my news is good, but in general it is not. We have a few bright spots but not many. So far the buildings in the new relocation areas have held up very well. They were built to survive a seven point zero magnitude earthquake without major structural damage. There has been some equipment damage, and some of the underground transportation tunnels have caved in, but nothing catastrophic. All of the emergency food storage areas are safe. We have mobile teams out all over the areas of the country that were not evacuated working in conjunction with National Guard and Army units. Except for the flood zones, casualties in the relocation states have been minor. We estimate that civilian losses among the waivered people who did not leave the west coast to be almost eighty percent. Between the earthquakes, tsunamis, wild fires, and volcanoes, the west coast is a scene from hell. After the Dwarf is safely past us and out of the solar system we will see what we can do to aid those people. We can all give thanks that President Montgomery started the re-location projects thirty years ago when she did. Our country was much better prepared than most.”
Dark Star Rising Second Edition (Pebbles in The Sky) Page 41
