The initial tremor came so quickly nobody had a chance to prepare for it. Only a few moments later a second tremor rocked ORCA. It was followed by another and another after that. Over dozen or so tremors shook the station, each less powerful than the one before. Reports of damage and injuries quickly bombarded the bridge from all over ORCA.
On the bridge chaos reigned as report after report came in. Damage ranged from fallen shelves to flooding cargo holds. Officer Danton tried to keep control, but with only a handful of junior trainees he was ahving a hard time of it all. "Helen", Danton barked, "I want a full damage assessment, announce only serious damage be reported directly to the bridge and all other reports should be logged into the nearest access terminal, and tell Cmdr. Bates to get up here!"
"All reports should be logged into the nearest access terminal."
"That's great Helen", Jason said frustrated, "but I want to know if it's safe to go to storage shed 19B on Beta level. Thats all I want to know."
Neri and Jason hadn't gotten far before the second quake hit, or the third, or forth, and so on. They had no way to be sure they could get to Beta level, either because of damage, or the amount of people moving through the coridoors. Using Helen had semed the best idea, but with all the comm-traffic and emergancey procedures, she had no time for the simple request. Giving up the two of them walked back to Winston's lab through the sea of people.
Brett's head was throbbing ever since the initial shock wore off. He couldn't think of much more than the pain, but he did try and follow Sheri and Cass.
"Do you think he'll be okay", Sheri asked, "he lost a lot of blood. More than I expected."
"He's been through worse. One time he got bit by a snake, and fell down the side of a mountain. He almost died--wait...that was Winston, not Brett. I don't think was even there, and neither was Brett, or was he?"
Sheri just looked at Cass dumbfounded. Nothing she'd said had made a lick of sense at all. All she knew for sure was that this girl was weird, real weird.
"Brett, do you remember if we were there when Winston fell down that mountain?"
Brett looked in Cass's general direction, "Winston's not a mountain."
Both the girls stared to laugh.
Almost fifteen minutes had passed since the last tremor had struck, and the bridge was finally calming down. Damage reports had stopped, all injured personnel were at or on their way to the hospital, and the trainees had slowed down and started to work. At the main control console Officer Danton was reading over Helen's damage report. Most of it was pretty minimal, and didn't need much attention. "Helen remove all damage that doesn't need immediate attention." He watched the list shrink to a few items. "Now Helen find Cmdr. Bates."
"She is in lift 001 and should arrive momentarily."
A moment later Diane did indeed walk into the bridge. She walked straight to the main console and looked at the damage report. "Whats are status?"
"We have a few flooded storage sheds and a lot of broken shelves and lights, nothing we can't handle."
"Good", Diane was releaved, "we just got this place fixed up, and I didn't want to drag the repair crews back out here."
Behind them Dave Hartly came into the room, and handed Diane a report. "We lost the minifin."
"What?"
"During the quake it broke away and its on the floor somewhere. We can't see it, but it can't be far off."
Diane added the minifin to the list. "Why didn't you logged this?"
"Helen was busy, and I have to make a formal request for a ship that can fish the minifin out of the water. If you could sign it I take care of it."
"Sure thing Dave." She scribbled her name down on the report, and handed it back. "And try and get this done quick. We can't afford to lose a million dollar sub."
Dave bowed his head as he left. Diane turned back to Danton. "Do we know what hit us?" She could tell Danton was about to explain why he ahdn't checked, but she knew what it was like in a crisis. What hit you isn't as important as dealing with the affect. "I understand. Helen, can you locate the quakes origin?"
"I'm afraid that will take me some time Commander", said Helen. "I must search my databanks for all relavent data on this event, and I --".
"Thank you Helen", Diane looked at Dantons screen, and took a quick glance at the list. "Lets get the crews on this as soon as possible. We've been through enough quakes to get this cleaned up in record time."
Winston was in the middle of assessing damage when Neri and Jason returned. They found the whole lab turned upside down. Notes and discs were all over the floor, and his computers had almost been knocked off their desk. Winston was scrambling to pick up anything that could be broken off the floor. "Watch your step please."
"It is good to see your okay."
"Ah, thank you Neri. Most kind."
Jason picked up a handful of paper and started sorting. "Do you have any idea what hit us?"
"No, but Helen says Diane has her working on that very question. We should know soon."
"Think it might be the fault line again? It might have started opening up."
Winston shook his head, "no, I don't think so. All reports said the fault was absolutly stable, all thanks to Neri."
"Yes, it is something else. Somewhere". Neri could almost sense that the quake wasn't the fault line. When it had acted up before she could feel it, but the feeling wasn't there this time.
"Are you sure", Jason asked, "because the fault--"
"I am sure", Neri interupted. "It is something else. Something not right."
Winston thought of the the number of tremors and how regularly they occurred. " It is possible. The tremors all had about the same amount of time between them. They might not have been natural. That of course raises the question of what caused them."
Jason and Neri looked at each other, as though they had both had the same exact thought. It wasn't possible, or was it. Jason spoke, "you don't think it was--"
In the hospital Brett was lucky to be one of the first injured to arrive, and he got patched up right away. The doctor had told him the wound wasn't bad, and would take about a week to heal completly. Brett stepped out into the lobby, and he could almost feel the mood of the room. The panic and worry of so many of the injured. Well sifting through the masses he over heard a lot of talk about Winstons fault. It didn't seem possible, Neri had fixed it, but maybe they were right.
"Brett."
It was Cass calling him over. She and Sheri were talking by the main exit. They put a quick end to their conversation as Brett got closer. Sheri rushed up and took a look at the back of Brett's head. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine", Brett assured her. "Doc said I'll be good as new in a week, and I'll have a scar too. Girls like scars right."
"Oh yeah", Cass filled the words with sarcasm, "and it comes with a great story. I fell down in the halls and hit my skull on the bulkhead. Very macho." Sheri and Cass started giggling.
Diane went over the list of damages again for the eighth time. It would probably take two days at the most to get ORCA back to normal, except for the minifin. That might take a few days or weeks to get the ship out here. Looking at the two flooded areas she decided enough time had passed and assigned a crew to take of it. Everybody should have recovered and been on their way to their assigned stations. "Helen, what have you learned about the tremors?"
"It's strange commander, but I seem to be having a hard time determining the nature of the tremors. Just another few minutes and I'll have a report for you."
"Crewmen Jason Bates, Brett Bates, Winston Seth, and Neri are to meet Cmdr.Bates in her quarters."
Sheri wondered what could be so important that the Cmder could be pulled away from the bridge. This was a crisis after all. Surely there were more important things she could be doing than talking with her friends and sons. "What does she want with you?"
Brett shrugged his shoulders, "not sure, but its gotta be important. I'll see you two later 'kay."
Cass and Sheri watched as Brett took off down the corridoor. Cass said, "so you have anywhere you need to be too."
"Actually I do. I'm still technically on duty, and they probably need all the cleaners they can get. I guess I better take off."
Cass figured she'd go see how her mom was doing.
Diane was fussing over Brett's injury when Neri, Jason, and Winston arrived. She waited until they were all ready before she started explaining why she'd called them here.
"Helens determined the cause of the tremors today, and it obviously involves all of us. First off, helen believes the tremors weren't a natural phenomenon. The time between the tremors is exactly the same each time, and the vibration patterns were also identical. finally, the source of it all is--"
"My island."
Diane nodded in agreement. "Neri's island. That's why you're all here."
Winston sat with his finger pressed aginst his lip. "Peculiar, but possible. If the lights in the spaceship have come back on, then its probable that other systems have been restored."
"There's no question about it it has to be spaceship, but its impossible", Jason said. "How could the ship start up? Its wrecked, parts of it have nearly collapsed."
"When did the lights turn on", Brett asked. "what are you talking about."
"Does not matter", Neri stated. "We must go to island, and see the ship."
Once Neri had made up her mind she didn't stop for anyone. She left the room for the lift, and swam to the island. Leaving the others to catch up. Gliding through the water fast as she could Neri reached the island quickly. Charley was waiting for her, and an explaination for the big shake. Neri explained as best she could, but concentrated on getting to the island most.
When she got there she was met by an incredible sight. It was like nothing she'd ever seen. Like the water had torn up the beach, and lay on top of it. The sight was both fantastic and terrifying.
Jason and Winston completely forgot the equipment in the rush to follow Neri. Half way to the island it dawned on Winston, but they couldn't turn back for it. Not that they really cared. Whether Neri was okay was more important. None of them had any idea what was to come. Brett had gotten Jasons first hand account of the events in the ship, but still didn't completely understand. He would soon enough.
The boat slowed and stopped just off the island shore. Neri stood on what was left of the beach waiting for them. She looked at them confused, waiting for an answer to what had happened. From the tree line out into the water the ground had been shaken away, and the ship underneath exposed. It's outer metal shining like the interior, like water. It was like the water had come together to make the ship.
The boat put up just behind Neri and they gathered round her, and stood looking in awe at the sight infront of them.