Dragonlots aka Dana Bell
Chapter 11 – Before the Wild Hurricane
Not certain what woke her, Elizabeth sat up in bed, pulling the covers tightly to her chest. Faint waves sounded outside her open window and the brine scent invaded her room. She tried to lay back down but her body refused to be still. Finally, she got up and pulled on her robe.
Trotting to the window she pulled back the drape and gazed out. Faint light sparkled on the water below. Nothing seemed out of place. Why did she have the feeling of something dreadfully wrong?
"What is going on, Lord?" she asked.
She obeyed the sudden impulse to get dressed and hurried out into the hallway and toward the gate room. On her way she encountered McKay.
"You sensed it too," he stated.
"I know something is wrong."
"Yeah. Me, too."
They entered the gate room to a flurry of activity. One of the geologists approached her.
"Dr. Weir," he reported breathlessly. "We just got a seismic event unlike anything we've ever seen before." His face reflected wonder and terror.
"Translated?" She waited for his answer.
"Well, back on Earth, they told us this could never happen."
"What could never happened?" Rodney interrupted.
"A massive, world wide earthquake."
The news took a moment to digest. "Are you sure?" Elizabeth felt a deep fear growing in her belly.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Aren't John and Teyla on the mainland?" Rodney's face paled.
"Yes. They are." Elizabeth activated her mic. "Major Lorne, I want you in a jumper as of five minutes ago!"
"Where's the epi-center," Rodney inquired.
"That's the problem." The geologist shook his head. "There doesn't seem to be one."
Rodney and Elizabeth looked at each other.
"God," Rodney said.
"If you say so," the other scientist retorted. "I think it's more likely something natural happened."
"You said yourself, they told you on Earth it could never happen." Rodney tried to reason with the man.
"I'm going back to my lab to study this." He stopped part way to the hall. "Oh, we might want to start watching for a tidal wave."
"My thought exactly," Elizabeth commented. "Rodney,"
"I'm on it." He sat down at the console and typed up some instructions. "We can put the shield up, but we'll have to be careful how much power we use."
"Do you think it will be enough?" She couldn't shake the feeling that this wave would be very different from the previous one they'd survived.
"Worked before."
"It did, yes." She lightly put her hand on his shoulder. "Just check to see how long we can keep it up, just in case."
He turned to face her. "What are you thinking?"
"Just a feeling, Rodney. I can't explain it."
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Rumbling, screams and the ground shaking uncontrollably woke John. He rolled out of his sleeping bag, instinctively grabbing his gun. "Teyla!" he shouted. She had bedded down in a tent not far away.
He could barely make out shadows running in every direction. A weird eerie red light dominated the night and he glanced upward to see the moon bathed in what looked like blood.
His feet dropped out from under him. "Whoa!"
"John!" Teyla's frightened cry reached his ears.
"Teyla!" Luckily for him, he wasn't injured and it didn't seem that far to climb back up. He clawed his way through the broken dirt and stood on somewhat level ground again. It pitched and rolled under him. John was forced to his knees.
Streaks of light flashed past, smashing into tents and immediately bursting into flame. Close by he heard a sick crunch as one of the meteors struck a person. John wanted to puck.
He struggled to his feet. Teyla. He had to find her. "Teyla!" he called again.
"Here!" she seemed to be farther away.
"God, please help me," he begged as he staggered over the broken terrain, trying not to fall into the deep gashes that opened up before him. He managed to dodge many and finally reached what had once been the edge of the settlement.
"John?" Teyla suddenly was there and threw her arms around him. The ground jerked and they landed in a heap.
"Must have been the earthquake we were expecting." John knew he stated the obvious.
"Yes." She tightened her grip.
He held her tight as the camp burned, wishing he could drown out the sounds of the people dying and the horrible constant roar.
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"Elizabeth,"
She started as Mike called to her. When had he arrived? He stood near the balcony entrance and motioned to her.
"You'd better come and look at this.'
Weir hesitated briefly before she joined him. She followed the direction he indicated and gasped. Outside, the moon had turned crimson bathing the city and ocean in a bloody haze.
"Oh, dear God," she breathed.
A window nearby crashed and Elizabeth jumped. Flames sprang up and a quick thinking soldier grabbed the extinguisher and put it out. Popping sounds echoed against the tower.
"The Deadalus." She activated her mic. "Colonel Caldwell."
"I'm here." He sounded groggy as if he'd just awoken.
"Get the Deadalus out of here."
"Not sure if I can."
"You'll be safer in orbit."
"Tell me something I don't know."
Weir heard a crashing sound in the background. Caldwell yelled, "Get that fire out!" And communication with him ceased.
"Father, protect him." She wrung her hands. "Rodney, we need that shield!"
"If we put it up now, if a tsunami comes, we might not have enough power to protect the city!"
"And if we don't get it up, there won't be a city to protect." She ran over to him. "There are meteors falling starting fires."
"Do you really think our technology will protect us?" His eyes burned earnestly. "This is all supernatural."
"I don't think God will blame us for trying."
"Here goes." He pushed the button and held his breath.
"Mike? Is it working?"
He glanced outside and nodded. "They're hitting the shield instead of the city."
"You!" she pointed at the nearest soldier. "Get some teams together and put out the fires that got started."
"Yes, ma'am."
There was some static on her mic. "Dr. Weir?"
"Glad to know you're still with us, Colonel Caldwell."
"We took some damage to our engine section. I've got repair teams working on it. I see the shield is up."
"Yes."
"Oh, God. Elizabeth!" Mike shouted.
She whirled and rejoined him near the window. On the horizon a massive wave, far bigger than the one they'd faced before loomed threateningly.
"Rodney, is that shield going to hold?" She hated the tremor in her voice when her people needed her to be confident.
"Hopefully. I've got some wavering in the power grid."
"Where?" she demanded.
"Near the refugees quarters."
"I'll go," Mike volunteered. "Maybe we can get some of them out."
"Mike," what could she say? Please, don't go? "God be with you."
He winked and kissed her before running out. She touched her heart like she'd lost something precious, before rejoining McKay and looking over his shoulder.
Rodney glanced up at her. "Do I want to know how bad it is?"
"No."
"Good. I didn't think so."
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Mike didn't know if he'd get to the refugees on time. As he passed windows he could see the gigantic wave growing larger as it neared the city. He figured most of the people would be asleep and that wouldn't help him save them. Maybe he'd grab some soldiers to help - if he ran into any that was.
Upon reaching a transport station, he dived into the chamber and hit the button. Seconds later he arrived in the right part of Atlantis. Running up stairs he pounded on every door, yelling for them to wake up and get out.
Hopefully, his actions wouldn't be needed. Still, he'd learned with the technology it was never safe to assume anything. Several people appeared in the hall, rubbing their eyes.
"What's going on?" A tall man asked.
"No, time. Just wake everyone you can and evacuate to the center of city. Hurry!"
The group scrambled to comply. Shouting filled the halls, and it soon became too crowded. He pushed his way through just as a rumbling sound approached. Mike twisted to see water washing over the tower and realized too late, the shield had partially failed.
"Dear God," he breathed as the tower snapped, rolling him into the wall. He heard hysterical screams, windows breaking, and oddly enough, angels singing.
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"We have massive flooding," Rodney yelled. "The pumps are overloading. Switching to the back up generators."
The claxon sounded and doors sealed shut. Water sprayed in through the broken window.
"How bad?" Elizabeth asked, afraid of the answer.
"I honestly don't know," McKay replied.
"Colonel Caldwell, you still with us."
"Yes." His tone was grim. "Looks like part of the east dock is damaged."
"That's probably not all," she informed him. "Rodney,"
"Working on it." He typed on the keyboard. "At least the water will put out the fires."
"One good thing."
"Uh, Elizabeth," he twisted his chair. "Usually in the case of earthquakes there's more than one wave."
She took in the news. "Do we have enough power in the event of another?"
"If we don't activate it until we absolutely have to. We need to conserve power as much as we can."
"Colonel Caldwell."
"Yes, Dr. Weir."
"Can you get the Deadalus into orbit? We might have more waves and I want your ship in a safe place."
"Understood." There was a brief pause. "My crews managed to get the ship repaired. Luckily, the damage was minor. We're taking off now."
"See you soon." She pointed at the nearest officer. "You. At the window, now. You see anything, you let us know."
The soldier nodded and jogged to his new post.
"Do you think John and Teyla are alright?" Rodney busily worked away, though Weir knew he was concerned about his friends.
"I hope so. All we can do is pray for them."
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The roaring stopped replaced by moans, wailing, and an unearthly silence. John and Teyla shakily got up, still clinging to each other.
Before them the camp lay in shambles. Gapping holes had swallowed tents and entire families. Sharp edged rocks protruded up, on one of them, a man had been impaled. Teyla turned away her face and John buried his face in her hair.
"Dear God, why?" he questioned.
Carefully they edged around the ruins of the once thriving settlement. Flames still burned and if his eyes were seeing right, the crops had become a raging prairie fire.
"There's nothing left," Teyla disbelieving said.
"I'm sorry, Teyla." He didn't know what else to say.
"We knew this was coming, but," Tears streaked down her face. "This is worse than any Wraith attack.'
"Let's go see if the jumper survived. Maybe we can get some of your people to Atlantis." He just hoped the city was still there.
She nodded and they began to search for any who might have survived.
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Katie sat curled on the bathroom floor holding Bob as tightly as the cat would allow. The feline had awoken her just before a meteor busted through the bedroom window. She'd managed to put out the fire and nearly fainted when she'd seen the red moon and the horrifically high wave.
Instinct had taken over and she'd grabbed the cat to hide in the bathroom. After all wasn't that where one went for hurricanes and tornadoes? To ride out the storm and hope the room stayed intact?
"Oh, Rodney, I wish you were here."
Crackling pierced the air and she released the cat to put her hands over her ears. Bright light hurt her eyes and seconds later loud thunder followed. She'd been afraid of such storms since she'd been a child. Even though she knew her fear was silly caused by be awoken in the middle night, she still had a hard time not wanting to crawl under something.
"Meroow." Bob butted his head against her.
Oddly comforted by his familiar bid for attention, she stroked his head. "At least you're here.'
Bob purred and hopped up into her lap. He kneaded against her bare leg and she gently moved his claws so he wouldn't accidentally scratch her. More lightening and more thunder followed and Katie shivered.
"Please, God, make it stop. I'm afraid."
The cat had laid his head down and now he lifted it. Puzzled at the motion she turned her head to see what had gotten Bob's attention. Standing in her doorway was a being with huge wings.
"Peace, Katie. I have been sent to tell you there is nothing to fear. God is with you." The being vanished.
Katie blinked. "Was that an angel, Bob?"
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With the Deadalus safely in orbit, Caldwell took a moment to look down at the planet. There were waterspouts in several places and as they crossed over the land, he gasped at what he saw. The continent had been broken in half. Several new volcanoes had sprung up and they belched ash and molten rock into the air.
He shook his head unable to fathom such devastation. If the planet below him had suffered like this, and if what Weir and the others had been saying about the earthquake had really happened, what must other planets look like? What had happened back on Earth?
Caldwell was almost too afraid to even contemplate the outcome. He sat silently, pondering if what they believed could be true. If they were right, then even worse things were coming. Did he want to face them without God in his life?
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Novak shut down her computer Bible and bowed her head. She prayed for everyone on all the planets who had either died or survived the Wrath of the Lamb. She knew it had been prophesied but she hadn't expected it to be so horrible.
"You're so much better off where you are, Hermiod," she told her absent friend.
With a new determination, she plunged into the hyperdrive manual. "Please, help me to understand this better or else send someone to help. I know we're going to need the Deadalus for an important task. Thank you, God."
She felt a warm hand on her shoulder. With marveling eyes she saw the angel standing there.
"God has heard you. Do not fear. He always provides." The angel was gone.
"Wow." She closed her eyes feeling unworthy of the great honor she'd just received. "You really are watching out for us aren't you, God?'
Now why did she get the impression God was smiling at her?
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More darts returned to the ship without food for the nearly starving hive. The drone marched to the black clad leader, reporting what had happened while they had flown over the planet. The leader snarled and went to the queen.
"Our warriors were unable to procure enough food for us all," he told her. "The planet had massive earthquakes and stars fell from the sky and burned the vegetation. Many humans died."
She slowly sat up in her throne. "Did they return with none?"
"There are a few, my queen. But not enough."
"Feed those you can. We will get more at the next world." She listlessly sat back as if she no longer cared.
He bowed and left her, concerned at her lack of will. If she died, than the hive would not survive. He could not allow that to happen. He would bring one of the humans for her to feed upon, though he was certain she had been starving herself. He did not know why, but he would not allow it any longer.
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"There's another wave coming in!" the soldier warned them.
"How high?" McKay asked.
"Not as high as the last, but at least as tall as this tower."
"Let me know when it's close, and I do mean close."
Several tense seconds ticked by.
"Now, sir!"
Rodney activated the shield and hoped for the best.