Chapter 1
“So
there it is.
“Just think - four weeks ago, no one in the world would have
believed this possible,” so sad a thought “and now everything changes.”
He
mused sitting atop the flying bridge of R/V Forward. It was overcast that
morning, and the swells lightly rocked the ship across the beam. The whole
scene there was in stark contrast with everything believed to be true in the
world.
“I
don’t know just how we’ve missed this for so long, but I’m glad we’ve found
it,” said the other up on the fly bridge.
“Something
doesn’t seem right, though.”
Chapter 2
Blue
dotted lines have divided the land.
“The
trick is trying to see what comes next. Really there is no sense in holding on
to what we have, that is only transient now.”
“I
don’t get it though,” said a concerned Mark. “Things where so stable here, it
seemed as if nothing would ever change.”
“Forget
it, kid! It’s all about band-wagons now,” I wish it were still stable here “just
keep your eye out for one. Maybe it will lead to some place better than this.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Just
look out for yourself, alright?”
Chapter 3
Why
are we heading back east? A thought shared by all those among the group. “There’s so much more to
learn about it, you know,” said John.
“I
was thinking maybe we needed to recover more data, but we are too far for that
now,” seconded Andrea, staring the computer printout in front of her.
“There’s
no sense in it, this is the opportunity of a lifetime!
“Thing
is, no one up stairs is talking, so what can we do but speculate?” ended
Francis, watching the swells roll off below the stern of R/V Forward.
Something
isn’t right here.
Chapter 4
Mark
could feel it in his shoes as he walked down the stark corridor.
“There’s
not much hope for our nation, our way of life - all that we know, is there?” he
asked of Bernard.
“Why
would you say something like that now? This is a crucial time, we need to be
optimistic!”
“Can’t
you read it?” elicited Mark.
“What
do you mean...” stop that right now, I know what you’re thinking!
“The
writing, it’s all over the walls. Something is going to change.”
“Don’t
seal our fate yet, Mark,” said Bernard, as the two approached the emergency
council meeting.
Chapter 5
“John,
something isn’t adding up!
“I
watched in awe today as CSO (Chief Scientific Officer) did a purge audit of our
findings,” said Andrea in a hushed tone as she cornered John in the forward
passageway.
It
had been three days since they turned back east and they were due into Vallejo
within the week.
“So
it’s all gone?” I can’t believe he did that! “All that work purged?” he
asked.
“Well... no.
“I sort of copied it when we
turned back east,” she replied smiling a bit.
“None
of this makes sense... do they know of your copy, Andrea?”
Chapter 6
Starring
out the window Bernard could see unrest over by the corner. This part of the
city has been increasingly prone to riots lately.
“The
cops,” started Bernard “why wont they do anything?
“This
has been going on for weeks now.”
“At
least a third of them agree with those in the crowd, statistically,” argued
Mark.
“Bernard
looked over at his fellow delegate in despair. What happened, to them, to
him? He thought.
“The
people can’t get over their differences anymore, thats all,” said mark the
mind- reader.
“They
will next Friday, they have to.”
“Don’t
count on it, Bernard.”
Chapter 7
The
cold gray January sky dominated R/V Forward. Just one day off the coast, the
ship was cold and the crew anxious.
“Did
you hear we are only stopping for a few hours in home port?” she asked.
“I
can’t believe this, why would they be sending us down off the far south coast?
We need to be back where we came from!” Francis seconded angrily.
“There’s
something they aren’t telling us, there’s something we need to know,” said
John.
The
ship lay asleep that morning, while those three wrestled with their reality out
among the white capped swells.
Chapter 8
A
quiet rap at the door, someone wanted in.
“Who
on earth could that be?” don’t open it “We aren’t here.”
Peering
out the window, Mark noted, “I don’t see any rioters down there, so it’s
probably safe.”
“Well,
go on and answer it then, Mark,” spoke Bernard cautiously.
The
large heavy door opened to reveal a courier bearing a small envelope. He
briskly handed over the message and vanished from sight.
After
quickly glancing at the contents Mark began, “So it looks like they’re afraid
to use the phones now. There’s an Emergency Council Meeting scheduled next
Friday”
“Finally.”
Chapter 9
“You
where there, Francis. You can’t tell me with a straight face they aren’t trying
to keep something from us.”
“Wait
what do you guys mean?” asked John frantically.
“About
a half hour ago, CSO was telling us about our new research project. It was as
if nothing ever happened, a complete blank slate for this trip.”
“I
just don’t get it, what we saw was something never before seen. The world needs
to know about it,” argued Andrea.
“Do
you still have your copy of our findings?” asked John.
“Yes”
“Do
they know,” I sure hope not “about it?”
Chapter 10
Since
when did you start to care? thought Mark.
“...and
that’s the thing, we just need to stay optimistic,” said Bernard, looking
hopefully out the window
of the large official building.
“I
was optimistic, “ you ignorant fool “until I realized something.”
“What
did you realize?”
“The
same thing you realized,” started Mark hotly. “This situation, our fate, it’s
all hopeless. At that point, exactly that point, I ceased to be optimistic,
while you - you just began to be optimistic.”
“Seriously
Mark, get a hold of yourself. We, this country - we”ll pull through this.”
“Sure
we will,” spoke Mark sarcastically.
Chapter 11
Waves
rocking the boat steadily from forward to aft only reminded the crew they were
close to home, for however short a time.
Down
below the decks somewhere two voices whispered within the metal, while up above
all was dreary. The consistent gray sky of the winter, and the thought of such
a short stop at home, left a somber tone with the crew.
Down
below somewhere:
“Is
it done?” She asked.
“Yes,
hopefully this works,” said the other
Up
in the pilothouse:
“What’s
that light on the panel over there?”
“Flooding!?”
“GENERAL
ALARM, GENERAL ALARM!” Echoed through the ship.
Chapter 12
“I
just want to know when I get to go home?
“Really we’ve been here for two weeks
now,” started Mark, emphatically.
“I’m
sure this whole situation will work itself out soon enough, and we can return
to a safer home,” finished a confident and positive Bernard.
The
stale air stagnated within the stuffy offices and cold meeting rooms which made
up the large government building. All those who were able to make it before the
transit system collapsed, have been there since.
“I’m
not so sure this can be worked out,” I think that ship has sailed, thought
Mark.
Chapter 13
Two,
maybe three in the morning, the hours during which anything unexpected can
leave a person in a haze. The seas were as they had been, slowly rolling, while
the ship was quite alive for the hour.
“FLOODING!
FLOODING!” whined the intercom system.
People
rushing about, trying to find where they belonged during such a scenario, left
plenty of confusion for the two responsible parties to scatter. At that hour no
questions are asked, no assumptions made.
“FLOODING!
FLOODING!” The cracking voice repeated over the intercom.
“So
it’s done,” said John to an anxious Francis. “Hopefully it buys us time.”
Chapter 14
CHOP-CHOP...CHOP-CHOP
“Looking
out the window, I can’t see the disorder.
“I still see lights in houses,” remarked
Bernard.
“They
said there’s been trouble, with-
CHOP-CHOP...CHOP-CHOP
“-conflicts,
on the surface roads lately,” said Mark changing the subject.
“I’m sure it’s exaggerated, really think about
it.”
“I
have thought about it. You are going-”
CHOP-CHOP..CHOP-CHOP
“-to
have to take off those rose-colored glasses Bernard.”
“What?”
“They
aren’t going to protect you from all of this,” finished a serious Mark.
All
the while the train chopped closer to the end of its time.
Chapter 15
Dark
and cold, would be the only way to describe the innards of a ship devoid of
power. The main generators stopped running fifteen minutes from the first
report of flooding, the emergency generator never picked up the load.
“What
do you mean the emergency generator never fired off?” asked the furious
Captain.
“It
didn’t, that’s all I can say.”
“Alright,”
attempting to maintain some semblance of calm, “how do we fire it off?”
Nervous
and dripping with sweat, the young assistant engineer yielded no reply.
“So
that’s all you have for me?” you useless sap. “Where’s your boss, then?”
Chapter 16
“Do
you have everything Sir?” asked the soldier, impatiently.
“I
believe so,” answered Mark cautiously.
“And
you Sir?” he asked of Bernard.
“Y-yes,
everything I need is here.”
“Now
listen, they’ve only guaranteed two more runs of the train to the capital, so
there’s no going back,” cautioned the soldier finally.
As
the car pulled away from the police station, their escort vehicle followed
suit.
“This is all happening so quickly,” said a
nervous Bernard.
“I’m
sure it will continue to happen quickly as well.
“Let’s
just hope we are on the right side in the end,” finished Mark.
Chapter 17
“Why
are we listing so badly?” asked one dark figure of another.
The
space is near pitch dark, with only a dim glow from placards providing light.
Listing strongly to port, the light-less engine room presents itself like a
tangly jungle of pipes and valves to the unfamiliar.
“We’ve
taken on quite a lot of water,” obviously!
“Are
we still taking on water, or has it stopped?”
Climbing
from an abyss-like bilge below the deck plates, Francis’ toothy grimace was
hidden to all but him.
“Well
that all depends, doesn’t it?”
“What!?”
“Why,
you want it to stop?
Chapter 18
“Listen,
Bernard,” started Mark. “We either go now, or we stay and watch from the
sidelines.”
The
two stood, eyes squinted, staring into the sun. Looking out over the straits,
ships could still be seen passing, train whistles still echoed through the
hills, and the planes still roared in the sky - but for how long?
“I
don’t think it’s going to come down to the collapse of the transportation
system, Mark,” remarked Bernard emphatically.
“There
were the strikes just last week, and with the petroleum shortage...”
“I
don’t buy it,” interrupted Bernard.
“I’m
not selling anything, just think about it Bernard.”
Chapter 19
“That’s
funny. I’d, have thought the lights would be back on by now.”
“Something doesn’t seem right... we did
exactly as Francis said to do, right?”
The
first glow of dawn found R/V Forward dead in the water, and just off the coast.
Tossing gently in the swells, the ship lay victim to the whims of the currents.
“I’m
sure of it, something else must’ve gone wrong,” answered Andrea nervously.
“This water is too cold for my blood.”
“At
least we are close to shore.”
Standing there on the open decks, the two knew
nothing of what transpired below.
Chapter 20
Staring
into the steam rising off his cup of coffee, Mark didn’t want to talk about it.
Nothing in the world could make this any better, including him being stuck away
from home during a time like the present.
“You
got notified, too, didn’t you Mark?”
“That’s
the story, unfortunately,” he answered Bernard.
“Listen,
now is no time to lose sight.”
“Give
me the white flag, I’ll throw it down.”
“Not
going to happen.”
“Listen
Bernard, it’s going to happen. The only reason I’m still in the game is to save
as many people as possible from this train wreck.”
Chapter 21
“Do
I want it to stop?” a bit of outrage singed the Captains voice.
Sitting
in the dark, Francis smiled. All it would take is one twist of my fingers, he
thought, as he sat there below the air receiver.
“That
was the question, and I am fully prepared to stop this flooding.”
“Well then, get on with it, we have places to
go!”
“Right
there, that’s the thing,“ we aren’t going anywhere “I think we should
stop and show our findings to the world.”
“Now,
listen to me very carefully, Francis. That isn’t going to happen.”
“Why’s
that, Skipper?”
Chapter 22
Riots,
strikes, less-than civil disobedience, all shaking the nation apart. Mark saw
it coming. For the first time since that boat arrived, he saw the wreck at the
end of the tunnel.
“We,
this country is sitting on a fault line,” he said emphatically to Bernard.
“That’s
a thousand miles east of here.”
“No,
more of a political one. This country is being torn into pieces by its own
people.”
“I
don’t think its more than a briar patch, really.”
“It’s
more than that, it’s a shattered existence.
“The
beginning of the end,” he said staring over the harbor.
Chapter 23
“What
we witnessed, Francis,” with a deep sigh ”was nothing short of amazing.”
“The
world is not ready for that yet, though,” spoke the Captain in his most
dejected voice.
“Ready
or not, it happened. The world will see what we saw,” said the voice from the
deep shadows of the dark engine room. Left hand on the air receiver bleed
valve, the ship was at Francis’s whim.
“Listen,
don’t do this. It’s not worth it.”
“It
is going to happen, they are going to see.”
“Francis, don.....”
HISSSSSS
“What is it you want!?”
That
done, the ship was helpless.
Chapter 24
“When
do you imagine they’ll have the power grid restored?” asked Bernard.
“It’s
been taking longer and longer to get this sort of stuff back in order lately. I
don’t honestly know how much more of this we can absorb.”
“This
is terrible, who would’ve thought it’d come to this?”
“Terrible
or not, I don’t believe it’s over. These people will take this as far as they
can."
“Why
don’t they declare martial law?”
“Honestly,
who’s going to declare martial law on whom, exactly?” asked Mark as the two sat
there waiting for night to wash away the available light.
Chapter 25
“It’s
been hours,” started Andrea.
“Seriously,
something isn’t right,” said John, as the two sat on the decks waiting
anxiously to know what transpired below.
Turning
the large silvery valve handle, Francis sealed the ship’s and its captain’s
fate. Tucked neatly between the pipes and deck plates, no one would ever find
him beneath so many leagues of water.
Well,
that’s that, he
thought leaving the engine room, which was quickly filling with sea water.
“Are
you alright? What happened down there? Where’s the captain?” assailed the two
waiting up on deck with the rest of the crew.
“It’s
alright.”
Chapter 26
The
smash of a window down some narrow street.
“That
was all it took?” he asked of the event.
“That
seems to be the spark, which lit the fuse,” answered Mark.
The
tense air, which suffocated the nation as of late, broke. A strong wind, which
started from a single broken window, swept across the land. All the tension,
the anger, built up over the preceding weeks released like a rusty spring,
leaving its broken fragments across the land.
“If
that window was the spark, these new strikes are the fuse.
“I’m
only afraid of the detonation,” finished Mark somberly.
Chapter 27
“He
never made it down there, and I couldn’t stop the water from rushing in. It was
too dark,” said Francis, with a tone that wouldn’t hold up in court.
“That’s
too bad, he was a good guy.”
“Hopefully
they’ll find us soon,” said Andrea as the three watched the dangerously listing
ship lurch closer to the bottom of the sea.
“The
water must be at-least seven-thousand feet deep here?” asked Francis hoping for
concurrence.
“More
like ten,” why would you want to know that.
“This
is a pretty deep canyon.”
“You
still have the findings?”
Ah-ha!
Chapter 28
Passing
through the nation towards home, the world seemed to be at an uneasy peace.
There were no riots, there was no unrest, but for how long? The air was
stagnant with the waters of animosity.
“Some
pretty scary stuff that boat found,” commented Bernard.
“Yea,
that’s for sure,” wait a minute.
“Some
things just shouldn’t be found.”
“Really
though, I think the reaction people are going to have will be more scary than
anything that boat could have dragged up.”
“Why
is that?”
“Whatever
it is they found, it was already there.” The people, they scare me, thought
Mark.
Chapter 29
There
they stood, the three of them in front of the world. What they had seen, what
they had recorded only their shipmates knew. Totally unaware of the
consequences, which would eventually arise from their disclosure to the world,
they continued with their story.
“We
believed the world should know exactly what it was we saw,” continued Francis
to the crowd of media before them.
“And
what of the Captain?” asked one anxious reporter, during the barrage of
questions.
So
when the world falls to pieces, thought John as Francis’s devilish smile answered question
upon question. It’s all on him.
Chapter 30
“Given
nature and consequences of recent disclosures to the public, it is the decision
of this government to suspend all political activities for the present time.
“All
Delegates are to return to their respective districts and work to maintain
relative security of the general populace,” finished the Chair of the national
Delegation in a grave tone.
A
low murmur broke out in the Council Chamber.
“Well
Mark, this nation has seen a good run. I fear we will meet again under much
duress, and witness its end. Good luck,” said an old friend and mentor, turning
towards Mark and Bernard.
