Depth Charge - illuminations

Chapter 12

HAWAII

The tour guide had just directed the latest group of tourists onto the walkover at the memorial of the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbour. A heavy silence hung in the air as they contemplated the lives of the Americans who died during the attack by the Japanese. The large clear windows along the walkway allowed them to view the sunken ship. It was almost as if they could imagine the fallen, frantically trying to protect their homeland.

An elderly lady named Glenda moved her glasses aside to wipe a tear from her eye with a tissue. In front of her, a seven year old blonde haired girl spoke excitedly, "Granma, look! It's even got a light show!"

"What?" Glenda replied with a slight waver, still having a lump in her throat from the emotional experience. Adjusting her glasses, Glenda viewed an array of blue, red and white lights moving quickly and growing in intensity. "Oh, how unbefitting," she grumbled. The group of tourists pressed closer to the glass viewing panes to see the show.

An enormous rumbling shook the walkway, sending most of the tourists to their knees. "Gran! Are you okay?" Glenda's granddaughter huddled over her, hugging her tightly as the shaking continued. The sound of steel and thunder rang through the ears of the tourists, followed by a larger crack as the walkway split in two. The tourists screamed as they slid hopelessly into the cold lighted waters.

Their cries of panic where halted as a tremendous explosion rattled through the air. Kilauea shook violently. The instruments at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory went into overdrive. The spasmodic display of instruments was just as alarming as the shocked looks on the faces of the observatory staff. The events within the observatory were short lived as the entire volcano blew apart with the force of a hundred atom bombs.

Terrified screams echoed across the islands of Hawaii. The tall buildings of Honolulu collapsed with the immense earthquake. Large jagged chunks of molten rock from the volcano explosion landed indiscriminately, destroying anything under their shadow. Islands split as sea water enveloped the land. From within the water, the veracious attacks of underwater nightmares began to unfold. Ash, rock and lava laid a heavy cover in the skies, while broiling waters with bright flashing lights and spinning sea creatures illuminated from below. Humans scrambled helplessly, caught in between hell of earth, sky and water.

As scattered reports came in from Hawaii, America and the world were starting to come to a realisation of something sinister behind the natural forces of the earth. Still no official word had been forthcoming from the governments, but the tabloids and conspiracy theorists were jamming the media lines with every end of world scenario they could think of.

The tremendous earthquakes throughout the Pacific had triggered mammoth Tsunamis. The west coast of America was placed on high alert. The ring of fire was being set alight by the biggest event the world had ever experienced.

CRANEY ISLAND NAVAL CENTER

"We can't afford to wait for the ships to get there!" Colonel Hardy turned a new shade of red in sheer frustration. "I need fighter jets in the air now! If we don't get some nukes down the A-hole of those Cork's, there'll be no stopping them." The Colonel turned an even more threatening shade of red as the person on the other end of the line made his comment. Colonel Hardy held the phone at a distance away from his mouth as he shouted fiercely. "Don't talk to me about protocol. As far as you're concerned, I AM the President! Now get those fighters in the air NOW!"

The Colonel hurled the phone into the wall, shattering it into tiny pieces. Colonel Hardy had the slimmest of hopes that by collapsing the alien seafloor, it may create a vacuum that would lessen the effect of the impending Tsunami. The warships were underway, but as usual, the deep sea aliens were one step ahead. Thinking back to Captain Mark's words, the Colonel contemplated the worst. Picking up a nearby chair, the Colonel hurled it through one of the glass windows. A brief silence occurred as people stopped what they were doing, surprised at the Colonel's unusual display of lack of control. Be damned if he'd be going without a fight.