Sedulity 2: Aftershock (Sedulity Saga) (2 page)

The theater had proven to be the ideal safe haven for many of
the survivors and Reiner learned that the captain’s wife, Lydia, had been responsible
for bringing them here to take shelter. This knowledge only increased his sense
of loss at seeing her get sucked down a whirlpool by the same flooding that
carried him into the theater. After that he had assumed command of the
situation in the theater and done his best to keep the passengers calm and safe.
Eventually Reiner had turned on the video projector to share the news with
everyone. He had hoped that news from the outside world would bring calm and
peace of mind to those gathered in the theater, but the news had not been good.
He and the rest of those with him spent the rest of the night watching a global
disaster unfold.

The President of the United States announced the destruction
of Hawaii and described terrible damage from earthquakes in California. The GNN
satellite news channel had shown brief and deeply depressing reports from
Australia, as well as the Philippines and other island nations of the Pacific.
In several cases the images of towering waves rushing towards a camera marked
the final communication from whole cities, even nations. In other places
survivors were able to make sporadic contact with the outside world by using
portable satellite phones or short wave radios to beg for help and share their
tragic stories of destruction and loss.
 
Throughout the night the news got worse and
worse, as did the mood of the people gathered in the theater to watch it.

Most of the crew did their best to calm and comfort the
passengers. Soup, sandwiches and beverages were brought to the theater.
Blankets, towels, and pillows were passed out. Yet Lieutenant Reiner could feel
a growing shift in the attitude and demeanor expressed by many of the crew.
They were suffering the same level of shock and trauma as the passengers, and
it was becoming clear that some of the crew were in no mood to wait on the
guests. Their own homes and families were first and foremost in their thoughts.
The complaints and demands from the passengers were more than some of the crew
could handle. Reiner had already relieved several waiters and stewards who had
reached the breaking point. He sent them to find somewhere dry to get some
rest, with orders to report back for the next shift.

As dawn approached it became clear that he couldn’t keep the
passengers cooped up in the theater for much longer. There were constant
complaints and requests to return to their staterooms. He didn’t have the heart
to tell them that most of those staterooms had been gutted by fire and
flooding, destroying their personal belongings and making most of these
passengers virtually homeless aboard the ship. If he had told them that harsh
truth it probably would have started a riot. So he tried to console them by
explaining that the crew were still conducting damage control and making the
rest of the ship safe for the passengers to occupy again. He didn’t know how
much longer that story would work and needed to come up with a better solution
soon.

In the meantime, Reiner and several other members of the crew
had done a headcount and taken down the names of everyone in the theater.
 
There were one thousand two hundred and
twenty-three passengers there, as well as eighty-three members of the crew.
Thirty more people had been taken down to the ship’s medical center for
treatment of various injuries and conditions. A dozen or so had suffered broken
bones when the ship was tossed up and down by the tsunami waves, and others suffered
cuts and lacerations. They would be treated and those with minor injuries might
return to the theater soon. The ones who suffered strokes and heart attacks
were more problematic. With the average age of the passengers on this cruise
well into senior citizen range, the stress and terror of the asteroid strike
had proven too much for some of them to handle. They were given first aid and CPR,
then taken below on stretchers, but Lt. Reiner knew that triage protocols were
in effect and doubted if many of the most serious cases would get the care they
needed to survive. There were too few trained medical personnel to cope with
all the casualties.

Reiner felt sorry for the injured, just as he felt sorry for
all the passengers gathered in the theater, and the crew as well, but after
spending hours watching this catastrophe sweep around the world on TV, he had
come to realize how lucky the survivors aboard the
Sedulity
really were. It was that message that he tried to convey
to everyone who came to him about minor inconveniences and discomforts. Of
course, those who had seen their home cities and countries washed away on television
had much more reason to grieve and complain. He was intimately aware that many
of the crew came from Indonesia and the Philippines, as well as other island
nations that had already been hit by the monstrous tsunamis. He could only
imagine their grief and despair, and was amazed that any of them continued to
perform their duties at all. Perhaps they focused on their work to keep their
minds off of the fate of loved ones at home.

The lieutenant shook his head as he recalled an earlier
incident that came closest to causing a true riot in the theater. A
particularly difficult passenger, Mr. Hank Donner, had returned from assisting
some of the injured carrying a waterproof case containing a satellite
telephone. He had walked up to Lt. Reiner and handed it to him like a gift.
Only the fact that the rest of the passengers didn’t know what the case
contained had prevented a stampede. One working phone for over a thousand
people, all of whom were desperate to contact someone, would have caused a
riot. Some of the crew, however, had recognized the case for what it was and
had approached him privately to ask if they could use it to contact their
families ashore. He had impressed on them all the need for secrecy, then
allowed them to take turns making brief calls from the card room on the
mezzanine outside the balcony level of the theater. Some returned to the
theater in tears and a few failed to return at all. Nevertheless, it was the least
he could do to let them try to contact their loved ones.

Reiner also had friends and family that he wanted to call,
but he placed his duty first and remained in the theater. After all, his home
was half a world away on the coast of the North Sea. He had no fear that
Germany would be affected by this asteroid strike in the Pacific Ocean. No,
Reiner was sure that his friends and family were safe from tsunamis and
earthquakes, but he still wanted to call them and ease their fear for his own
safety. However, there would be plenty of time for that after the situation
aboard the
Sedulity
returned to some
semblance of normalcy. He had no idea how long that would take. For the moment
he, and most of those with him in the theater, sat transfixed by the horrific news
on television.

*****

“This is GNN bringing you live
coverage of unprecedented disasters striking the Pacific Rim in the wake of
today’s unexpected asteroid impact. Those of you watching from anywhere near
the coast of the Pacific Ocean should tune into local broadcasts for updated
news on tsunami warnings and evacuation plans. The Emergency Broadcast System
has been activated along the entire West Coast of the United States and
mandatory evacuations have been ordered for all coastal cities and towns. This
includes the earthquake ravaged regions of California, as well as the states of
Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. Canada and Mexico have also issued coastal
evacuation orders, as have the nations of Central America.

“As those who have been watching are aware,
in the past half hour we witnessed giant tsunami waves hit the Panama Canal
with disastrous results. We are receiving additional reports of tsunami strikes
along the coasts of Costa Rica and Nicaragua now, but have no live television
coverage of those events. Based on what has been seen elsewhere, we must assume
catastrophic damage. We can also predict that these waves will continue to move
north, striking the Pacific coasts of Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico before
reaching the West Coast of the United States in the next few hours. If you are
anywhere within ten miles of the Pacific Ocean it is imperative that you
evacuate inland and seek high ground immediately.

“As we saw in Panama, where portions
of the wave swept across the whole isthmus to spill into the Caribbean, these
waves can grow even bigger as they approach land and can travel much farther
than ten miles inland, especially along rivers, canals, and low-lying terrain.
Therefore, experts recommend reaching an elevation of several thousand feet
above sea level, or continuing inland as far as possible before the waves
arrive. Avoid low lying rivers and valleys leading towards the ocean, as these
can channel the force of a tsunami and drive it much further inland.”

The televised picture shifted from a replay of the
destruction in Panama to a view of the Griffith Observatory in the Hollywood
Hills. The familiar face of GNN anchor Fox Rusher was front and center, with
clouds of smoke drifting past the observatory in the background and throngs of
people mingling around the building. Fox was wearing his usual dark suit and
trademarked straight face, although both looked a bit frayed. The Washington
anchor handed off to him by saying,
“And
now we turn to live coverage from the scene of disaster in California.”

“This is Fox Rusher reporting live
from the Griffith Observatory, on a large hill above the earthquake devastated
City of Angels. From here we can see across the entire Los Angeles Basin and
all the way to the Pacific Ocean, at least where the view is not obstructed by
smoke from thousands of fires that have sprung up since the region was struck
by a major earthquake earlier today. As the camera pans past the observatory
and out of over the city you will notice that a large crowd is gathering here
at the top of Griffith Park. Most of these people had to hike up this mountain,
others arrived on bicycles and motorcycles, a few even got here on horseback,
because virtually every road in the city is impassable for normal vehicles.
These people came up here seeking the safety of high ground in anticipation of
massive tsunamis that are expected to arrive later today. All of these people
survived the earthquake, but soon realized there was no possibility of getting
out of the city before the next disaster strikes. Their only alternative was to
head for the hills. As you can see, the road and hiking trails leading up into
Griffith Park are packed with more people, all making their way up towards the perceived
safety of the observatory.”

“We can see that, Fox,”
commented the anchorman in the New
York studio.
“But are you sure that hill
will be high enough to ride out the tsunamis?”

“I sure hope so,”
Fox chuckled dryly.
“I’m told that the elevation of the Griffith
Observatory here atop Mount Hollywood is more than eleven hundred feet above
sea level.
 
As I mentioned, we’re also
more than ten miles from the coast. I can’t imagine any tsunami threatening
this location. However, there are growing concerns about the threat of
wildfires.”
His expression faltered before the camera panned away to show a
wider view of the city below.
“The
earthquake has ruptured gas pipes and toppled power lines all over the region,
sparking countless fires. Some of them are merging and moving towards the
Hollywood Hills.
 
Emergency services are
paralyzed and water pressure is virtually nonexistent due to all the broken
water mains.
 
We’ve been told that the
Mayor of LA has instructed city and country firefighting helicopters to focus
on protecting the higher elevations, such as Griffith Park, but we haven’t seen
any sign of them yet.”

“That sounds quite serious, Fox,”
came the response from New York.

“Oh, it is,”
Fox confirmed.
“But honestly, everything about this situation is serious. Asteroids,
tidal waves and earthquakes? They make wildfires seem almost tame by
comparison. I think all of us are having a hard time grasping the enormity of what
we are facing here. The devastation from the earthquake earlier today is beyond
anything I have ever witnessed. It has crippled Southern California at the
worst possible time. The entire population, more than ten million people, were
preparing for an orderly evacuation ahead of the approaching tsunamis. That all
changed when the earthquake struck. Now the city is paralyzed. We have some
footage that our helicopter took a few minutes ago that might help put the
crisis into perspective.”

The studio switched to recorded video from a helicopter
flying low over downtown Los Angeles. The most obvious things that jumped off
the screen were the burning and collapsed buildings, then the camera zoomed in
to pan down individual streets. They were all clogged with abandoned vehicles.
What really grabbed the viewers’ attention, however, was the endless stream of
people swarming around the crippled traffic on the streets. They were all
headed inland, away from the ocean and the threat of killer waves approaching
the California coast. The massive crowd could easily be mistaken for a swarm of
ants whose colony had been turned over by a shovel. Some people clutched or
carried small children. Others held whatever precious belongings they could
carry. In places it looked like violent clashes were breaking out and some
people were moving in and out of the broken windows of businesses, clearly
looting the merchandise.
 
When the camera
panned east it was obvious that all of these people were still miles away from
the safety of high ground.