(Decisions)
"Donna! I'm picking up a radio conversation between at least two ships! Come quickly."
Fortunately the children were already asleep so there were no protests as Donna slipped away. She padded aft to where Raj had already turned on the speaker. Definitely two and perhaps three different stations were talking back and forth and the transmissions were on a designated ship-to-ship frequency. Waiting until there was a momentary lapse in the transmissions Donna keyed the mike that Raj had handed her.
"Calling any station, calling any station. Come in please."
"Hold on," Raj muttered. "Leslie see if you can boost the signal." The girl scientist nodded. With her glasses perched on the end of her nose and the tip of her tongue sticking out in concentration she adjusted the antenna position and fiddled with the control.
"Try now."
"Any station, any station on this net come in please."
There was silence again. Then a surprised voice answered.
"Station calling say again. Station calling say again."
"This is the 'Sloop John B' of United States registry attempting to contact anyone out there. Would you identify yourself please?"
A deeper voice took over, filled with authority. "This is Captain Michaels, the captain of Ark Four. Who is this please?"
"This is Petty Officer Second Class Donna Greene of the United States Coast Guard, Captain of the 'Sloop John B' formerly of Pasadena California. We're a sailboat with fourteen souls on board the majority of which are faculty members from Cal Tech."
Another voice took over, one sounding educated and precise. "Goodness, we understood that Cal Tech, that Pasadena, indeed all of the West Coast was wiped out."
"Well fortunately the group with me suspected something was really wrong. We were prepared and managed to get out to sea as the disasters took place."
"How did your group figure it out? This is Doctor Adrian Helmsley. I'm curious."
Raj gestured for the microphone. Donna nodded. "Just a moment Doctor Helmsley. I'm going to turn you over to some of the brains. I'm just a sailor."
"Doctor Helmsley this is Doctor Rajesh Koothrappali. I believe we met once before courtesy of my mentor Doctor Satnam Tsurutan."
"Of course. If memory serves me you are also an astrophysicist." The voice on the radio turned sad. "I fear I have to tell you that Doctor Tsurutan didn't make it. He was supposed to be here but there was an accident with the helicopter on its way to pick him and his family up and it crashed."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Who else is with you?"
"Doctor Leonard Hofstadter, an experimental physicist and Nobel-prize winner along with his wife Penny and their daughter. His Nobel Prize co-winner Doctor Leslie Winkle is on board. Howard Wolowitz, a NASA Mission Specialist and MIT engineer is here along with his wife Doctor Bernadette Rostenkowski who is a microbiologist. We also have Doctor Sheldon Cooper, a theoretical physicist and Doctor Amy Farrah Fowler, a neuroscientist."
"Of course there is Donna Greene our captain and her two children. Finally we were fortunate to rescue Sheila Martinez and her two sons from the wreckage of their boat."
Raj went on to describe his long ago talk with Doctor Tsurutan and how the group of friends had become suspicious of the disasters looming all over the world and how they had banded together to try to escape them. He went on about their escape, some of the dangers they had faced and how they had come to be carried out so far into the Pacific by the waves and the storms.
Doctor Helmsley expressed his admiration for their adventures. He promised to arrange for further contact in the morning but indicated that he needed to confer with several people before then.
Raj returned the mike to Donna and she and Captain Michaels exchanged positions and courses before radio contact was ended. The group gathered to talk over what all of this meant.
"Well it means that the world hasn't been wiped out," a relieved Leonard commented. "We will have some place to go after all."
A long and spirited discussion went on for half the night. The children were tucked in their room and Donna caught a few winks while Penny and Leslie took turns at the tiller.
In the morning they crowded around the radio. The sea was calm so the sails had been lowered and the sloop was riding gently in the water with no need to have anyone at the tiller. Precisely at the agreed time the radio came to life.
"Ark Four calling Sloop John B. Come in. This is Doctor Helmsley. Over."
There was a moment of panic as the speaker started to hiss and nothing Raj could do managed to stop it. Since the lights were still glowing and the strength meter working Donna grabbed the headphones and the mike, giving a sigh of relief and a thumbs up to the anxious group.
It was hard to tell exactly how the conversation was going as Donna listened much more than she spoke. She produced a pen and then gestured for something to write on. Leonard scooped one of Sheldon's printed declarations from his attempt to designate himself captain. They shared a grin.
For another ten minutes Donna talked and made notes. Once she got Raj to call up a map of the South West Pacific. Eventually she signed off after promising to be back on the next morning at the same time. As soon as the set was powered down Raj and Howard immediately began to work on the speaker system.
"Whew."
"That says a lot in itself," commented Leslie.
"Indeed. Let me lay it all out. As we all thought, the entire world has been reshaped. Most of Europe is gone as are vast portions of the Americas. Asia was flooded, Japan wiped out completely as was Korea and even most of China and India. As for the southern hemisphere New Zealand's North Island is gone but South Island survived relatively unharmed. Australia was the same, northern and eastern parts of the continent swamped but not a badly as expected as the Great Barrier Reef broke the force of water coming in on that side and New Guinea and others protected it on the north.
"Africa is almost unscathed. The Arks, giant self-contained life boats one might call them are headed there with their passengers. As we suspected, they hold many political, business and scientific persons, including by the way Howard your friend Hawking as well as historic and art treasures from all over the world."
Donna gestured to the map laid out on the deck. "The Arks are going to have to take a very round-about way to their destination at the Cape of Good Hope. Many of the islands, Sumatra, Java, Indonesia and others were flooded while coastal waters were raised up and now a huge series of mud banks and shoals exist were once open water was. So to be careful they're coming this way."
An excited murmur swept through the group.
"They won't come within sight of us of course. But on our present courses the day after tomorrow they will pass close enough that the helicopters they have on board will be able to reach us. They can take some of us or all of us."
Trying to be completely casual Sheldon asked "In what particular order would we go?"
Donna tried to keep a straight face as she knew the answer was not going to be well received by the temperamental genius. "Well they are very excited at the chance to have Howard join them. As they; that is Doctor Helmsley, Captain Michaels and the senior staff aboard, say a good engineer is worth ten theorists right now. Of course Bernadette would also be welcomed not only as Howard's wife but in her own right. Amy too, practically no one in her specialty is known to survive. Of course as Nobel Prize winners Leslie and Leonard with Penny at his side would be happily accepted. And Raj being an old friend as well as having been trained by Doctor Tsurutan who discovered the cause of the whole catastrophe makes him especially welcome."
"What about me?" gasped Sheldon in indignation.
"They didn't say. I guess you fall into the class with me."
Sheldon fainted.
As Amy revived her boyfriend Donna went on to outline the conditions aboard the Arks.
"By the way, there IS an alternative. The helos, besides picking up people who want to go can bring us stuff. Equipment for research, for gathering vital information on the state of the seafloor and tectonic activity here and where we sail.
Donna looked around, receiving a nod from the rescued woman and her sons. "Sheila and the boys want to go. I expected that. The rest of you, think it over."
"What's to think over?" asked Sheldon, conscious but definitely miffed that he had been all but ignored by the Ark in naming people who's skills were wanting, Especially since an engineer, one of the Oompa-Loompas of the science world, was the first choice. "Here we are on a cramped, crowded boat and we're being given the opportunity to relocate to a spacious place."
"Sheldon were you paying any attention at all to what was being said?" asked Amy in the tolerant way all women have when their men have missed the whole point of something. "The Ark is grossly overcrowded. It was crowded as it was originally designed and then it was agreed at the last minute to allow as many people as could fit on board get on. If you think we're packed tightly here, well, you haven't seen anything yet."
"But surely someone of my stature, a mind that only comes along once or twice in a generation..."
Donna sighed. No matter how improved the new Sheldon Cooper was his ego was always going to be there. "Sheldon," she cut him off. "They didn't specifically want you. Or need you. You'd just be thrown into the mix with the rest of the refugees."
"That's terrible!"
"Indeed," said Leonard with a completely straight face. Turning away from his best friend he looked around. "So let's all think about it until morning."
The amount of room on the boat hadn't increased but each pair was able to find a place to be separate from the other and discuss their options. Donna appointed herself on watch and stayed there with her children as the day went on.
Penny and Leonard were talking quietly to each other when an excited Michelle rushed inside. She had remained with her "bestest friends" Daniel and Tiffany on deck and occasional thuds and laughter had marked their location.
"Mommy, Daddy, come quick!" the excited little girl called.
Giving each other a look of happiness the pair rushed after their now and forever daughter. They came out into the soft afternoon sun and mouths dropped open in amazement and awe.
The whales were passing. All around the boat the great bodies swam. Flukes splashed water as they sounded and then returned to the surface. A mother with her calf came close, carefully keeping her body between the frolicking youngster and the boat while she investigated.
"Oh my God," breathed Penny.
"Humpbacks," said Donna softly. "Once hunted to the edge of extinction." She paused. "There's no way to believe 'if any good came out of this' because nothing can when you think of the millions and millions of lives lost but there won't be any harpoons or catcher boats or factory ships pursuing them ever again."
They all sat and watched. Even the children were quiet as though too much talking might break the spell. One by one the other pairs on board joined and watched. The whales continued to swim with the boat as though they had adopted it as a member of the pod. Twilight came and then darkness but still the sound of their new companions remained for hours until they faded away in the middle of the night.
As the informal gathering broke up Penny looked at Donna.
"You've made your decision haven't you?"
"I don't think really there was much doubt except I was worried about it just being me and the kids."
"Well, you won't be alone."
"Are you sure?"
Penny smiled. "There won't be any acting jobs anytime soon. Leonard says he can work just as well out here without distractions until we decide where we want to settle. And Michelle, she loves it here, she loves your kids and now this is home to her. So it is to us too."
"Raj and Leslie are staying. Bernadette and Howard are still debating but he LIKES being Chief Engineer and he keeps coming up with new ideas. I think they'll stay as well. So really it's just Sheldon and Amy."
Donna sighed. "I can't decide whether I want to ask him to stay or beg him to go."
"He has that effect," Penny admitted. "But I hope he stays. As difficult as he can be sometimes he HAS got better and of course no matter what he's still my husband's best friend."
As it turned out the decision was made the moment that Sheldon found the list of equipment and research supplies that was being offered to them. He immediately began to draft plans and hand out assignments to everyone on board including the children for the many experiments and theories that he planned. No mention was made of the fact that when he had found out that if they did leave that they would leave by helicopter made him faint again.
"Has anyone told him yet that Sweden really doesn't exist anymore and that there will never be any more Nobel Prizes?" asked Leslie very quietly.
"No one's had the heart yet," admitted Leonard.
Early the next morning a shape appeared on the horizon, growing shortly to become the bussing form of a helicopter. It had a load slung under it.
Much debate and planning had gone into its arrival. The sails had all been lowered and stored. The helo approached gingerly from the rear, lowering the cable which was long enough not to foul the mast. As quickly as possible the net had been opened and equipment and supplies distributed throughout the boat. It wasn't easy; the downdraft from the helo threw spray all around and made it hard to stand up. Fortunately the pilot was one of the best in the world, which of course is why she was chosen for the Ark, and she kept the disruption as low as she could.
Once the supplies were unloaded it was time to take on passengers. A harness was lowered and one by one Shelia and her sons, after many hugs, were lifted into the hold of the chopper. Then it was time for them to go.
The helicopter slid sideways slightly so its wash wouldn't have the same effect during its departure as it had on its arrival. Sheila, William and Harry waved from the cabin. Then it was lifting up and away. Those on the boat waved back as long as the craft was in sight. When it was gone there was a moment of silence.
Everyone looked at each other as to confirm one more time the decision they had all reached. The silence was broken by a whoop of Donna's.
"All hands make sail! We'll never find out where we are going to go until we get started."
In short order the sails caught the morning breeze. The "Sloop John B" picked up speed. Howard and Bernadette sat on one side of the bow, their arms around each other. Sheldon and Amy mirrored their pose on the other side. There was laughter as the following breeze blew the girls' hair around their faces and the faces of their men.
"That tickles," said Sheldon without the slightest bit of a Complaint in his voice.
Raj and Leslie lounged on top of the cabin, the sail hiding some but not all of their activities from everyone else. A few muted words like "Raj!" and "Oh my" drifted back to the rest of the group snuggled together in the cockpit
In the cockpit Donna sat with one arm around Daniel and the other around Tiffany. Michelle occupied her usual spot between Leonard and Penny. The boat heeled slightly and spray flew up, just missing them all. There was laughter, there was love and the whole world was ahead of them to explore.
(The End)
(Not the place I originally intended to leave our group but it seems right. They're all together, they're happy and they have a new life awaiting them wherever they end up.)