The End of Eden (Water Worlds 1)

Chapter 17

17

After what seemed like eternity, the wave appeared to have reached its limit and was even beginning to withdraw.

Some people cheered and a few even started back down the path! We didn't try to stop them, but we weren't going anywhere. Tsunami training taught us to stay safe. Secondary waves would wash in soon.

The power plant was completely submerged now, with no sign of it at all. It was even hard to tell where it had been.

"It's not likely the technicians would've had time to shut the core down completely, would they?" Kasey asked Father.

"No," he said wearily, "I don't suppose it's likely."

"There!" I cried. I could just see the oval tops of the stacks appear as the roiling waters receded around it.

"How tall are those towers, Father?" I asked.

It was Kasey who answered. "That's a very large hyperboloid structure. Probably tops out at 200 meters."

"I agree," said Father. "That means that the water is dropping fast. Probably over fifty meters per hour, but we should see a second wave..."

Suddenly, there was a bright flash and a second later a loud boom literally knocked us back. I grabbed for the stones with one hand and raised my other to protect my head. I went down hard.

A massive explosion had bubbled up and out of one of the towers.

"It's blown!" shouted Kasey.

"That was the only way out for the hydrogen gas that built up in the reaction chamber," said Father. "At least the mass of water should keep the core cool. For now."

I pulled myself up and rubbed my elbow. That's going to hurt, I thought.

Just then a second explosion hurled a plume of flame and ash hundreds of meters high, some sprinkling back down gently over the churning water, like snow falling on a rippling field of grass.

"I only hope it blows away from us," said Mother. 

Slowly, as if in a ballet, the smoke plume twirled and dipped and dispersed to the southwest. Just as Mother had hoped, but there was no telling how much actual damage any of the deadly, invisible radiation would cause us.

A horrible thought came to me. This is being played out all along both sides of the Atlantic. Maybe all around the world, too.

I turned to face Father. He had heard me! He knew what I was thinking. His face said it all. This disaster was all his fault! 

"And pieces of Apophis are still falling!" I cried out to him. "Where will it all end?"

"In Vancouver." He said. "For us at least. We will find peace there."

I was stunned. He had an escape plan? Of course. I should have known. But how far would we have to run to escape his demons?

"Another wave!" It was Joo Chen. He was pointing now, out to the southeast.

A second surge of water was rolling in now. A quick look down the cliff face verified it. The mass of debris, bodies, body parts, lifted high and then was sucked down and away into black water.

I tried to vomit, but nothing came. It was hours since I had eaten. Dry heaves wracked my body and subsided. I recovered a little and took a sip of water that Mother offered me.

More waves rolled in and out over the length of the day. With each, the waters receded a bit. Water had washed the surface clean and gouged deep fingers as it retreated. Below us now was a freshly carved canyon.