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This is a novel.
To maintain historical accuracy this story is based on ships logs, diaries, official reports, and first hand interviews. If you weren’t there none of these characters are based on you.
The Wave
by Allen Arre
Prologue
They were finally underway, he always felt better at sea. They called her a Suezmax. At 50 meters wide and 18 meters draft, loaded, she was as large a ship as you could take through the Suez Canal, but that was not her destination today.
She was his ship. It didn’t matter what the papers said. She was registered in Liberia but had never stopped there, not even once. She was owned by a shell corporation but that only mattered when they were tied to a dock. He had just picked up a cargo of oil and she was his. The oil wasn’t the only cargo this trip, or even the most important, not to him.
They had just spent three weeks in dry dock making alterations. Midship and just starboard of the keel they had installed a vertical shaft 2 meters across and 20 meters tall extending just above the waterline but well below the top of the cargo level in that oil tank. Next installed was the mechanism and lastly the device. Device was such a polite word.
1 Sept. 1317 hours UTC
The passage was uneventful and they slowed to 2 knots as they passed Las Palmas Island on the west. Normally they wouldn’t allow themselves to come this close to shore but this is where the cargo was destined. As they hit the waypoint Captain Mohammed put his key into the trigger and turned. Those crew that were awake felt a mild upheaval but that was all. The captain ordered full speed and they were on their way to the Mediterranean to off load the remaining cargo.
The long slender shape and pointy nose were meant to reduce drag. The depleted uranium nosecone added much weight and was hard enough that the entire device disappeared into the bottom of the ocean.
Captain Mohammed turned the ship over to the First Mate and stared out at Las Palmas. He’d heard how beautiful the Canary Islands were but had never stopped there though he had passed them many times though never this close. He doubted that he would ever visit there now.
The ayatollah himself had come to inspect his ship as the installation was finishing up. It was, after all, his ship no matter which shell company held the papers. He ultimately took the profits and, though he seldom cared for the day to day running of the enterprise, for this sailing he set the destination. Allah had indeed blessed Captain Mohammed to bestow such an honour upon him.
Iran didn’t have a missile that would reach The Great Satan. In truth they didn’t have a missile that would lift this device off the ground, but they didn’t need to, nor did they need to spend billions to make a small enough device. allah had broken Las Palmas and left it there for the faithful to figure out his wishes.
It had cost billons of U.S. Dollars to build the device but it was really free as President Obama had provided all the cash the ayatollah could spend. They couldn’t do any testing without raising massive international pressure but the Russians had provided a proven and reliable design, for a hefty price. They had also provided the uranium, also at a hefty price. The Russians were not stupid, when the results from the investigation came back it would prove to be American uranium. Thank you Hillary.
10 Sept 2104 Alaska Time
Malcom wasn’t getting paid he was working swing shift at the Tsunami Early Warning Centre in Palmer, Alaska for credits towards his degree. “Brad, could you take a look at this?”
“Yes Malcom, what have you found?”
“There is a 2.4 at the Canary Islands.”
“A 2.4? You need me to look at a 2.4?”
“Sorry Brad but this looks like a nuclear blast.”
Brad had to smile at that one. These students could come up with some really weird ideas. It must be from hours of staring at screens. “Do you think the Canary Islands has started their own nuclear program or do you think China feels threatened and is implementing a preemptive attack? So much for your ‘A’ young man. Okay, what are you looking at?”
Brad was always giving Malcom a hard time but that made an otherwise mundane job interesting. “Look at this, I can’t explain it.”
“I see what you mean. Now, isn’t that interesting.” Right then the sensors local to the Canary Islands went wild and then quit.
11 Sept 0501 UTC
Canary Islands
It hadn’t been ticking really but when the computer reached its programmed time a fireball lifted out of the ocean almost two miles out. Most people were asleep so there were relatively few screams before the wave hit the shore.
The island was cracked and everyone knew it. The crack was wide enough to walk down and deep enough to be over your head. Sometimes the kids would go up there to explore otherwise it was point of interest to take friends and family when they came from off island for a visit. Otherwise it was just an occasional geologist with a grant or a camera crew making a documentary.
The blast weakened the already fractured island and sea water poured into the porous volcanic rock making it much heavier. Seven minutes later the ground shook and one third of Las Palmas Island slid into the Atlantic. The water rushed back into the hole created by the landslide carrying water, trees, fish, and bodies across the island and sending a tsunami towards Africa. There would be little warning, no warning system, and the distance so close that those along the shore would mostly be caught sleeping. The survivors would count themselves lucky.
The tsunami took off westward across the Atlantic at over 550 MPH.
11 Sep 0600 UTC
Mid Atlantic
Nancy figured that this was the only time that she would cross any ocean and she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to watch the sunrise. She decided to let Paul sleep in. He had been pretty busy even on vacation as the office wouldn’t leave him alone. Once they got on the Island Princess in Lisbon and away from the pier he was out of cell phone range. A little too much wine last night and extra sleep today is exactly what he needed. That’s weird, why would her ears pop at sea. She didn’t notice the tsunami. It was no towering wall of water. It was a long rolling wave with all the regular waves riding on top of it. The wavelength, from the top of one wave to the top of the next, was about 400 miles. Even with Nancy being as high as she was above the water the horizon wasn’t much over 8 miles or so in any direction.
____________
“Good morning Captain.”
“Good morning Charlie. How’d everything go last night?”
“Pretty normal except for the GPS. Just after 0600 it said we went an extra 3.2 nautical miles all of a sudden and 42 minutes later it did the same thing. I can’t find anything wrong with it. See, there it goes again.”
“Okay, thanks I’ll have Sparks check it out and we’ll confirm our location with a noon sighting. I need to keep up my celestial navigation anyway.”10 Sept. 2109 Alaska Time Palmer, Alaska
“Malcom, get out of that chair and let me have the console.” Brad hit the tsunami warning and started typing. “Tsunami warning for the Atlantic rim and the Caribbean. Massive landslide in the Canary Islands evacuate to high ground.” “You done good Malcom, it looks like we hit the button first.”
“Does that mean that I get my ‘A’?” Malcom joked.
“An ‘A+’ from where I sit. Either that or I’ll be looking for a new job tomorrow and someone else will be filling out your grade.”
“Brad, you know it is already September 11th in the Canary Islands…and on the East Coast.”
Brad recognised the significance of that date. “Lets take another look at that first shock.”
This is a novel.
To maintain historical accuracy this story is based on ships logs, diaries, official reports, and first hand interviews. If you weren’t there none of these characters are based on you.
The Wave
by Allen Arre
Prologue
They were finally underway, he always felt better at sea. They called her a Suezmax. At 50 meters wide and 18 meters draft, loaded, she was as large a ship as you could take through the Suez Canal, but that was not her destination today.
She was his ship. It didn’t matter what the papers said. She was registered in Liberia but had never stopped there, not even once. She was owned by a shell corporation but that only mattered when they were tied to a dock. He had just picked up a cargo of oil and she was his. The oil wasn’t the only cargo this trip, or even the most important, not to him.
They had just spent three weeks in dry dock making alterations. Midship and just starboard of the keel they had installed a vertical shaft 2 meters across and 20 meters tall extending just above the waterline but well below the top of the cargo level in that oil tank. Next installed was the mechanism and lastly the device. Device was such a polite word.
1 Sept. 1317 hours UTC
The passage was uneventful and they slowed to 2 knots as they passed Las Palmas Island on the west. Normally they wouldn’t allow themselves to come this close to shore but this is where the cargo was destined. As they hit the waypoint Captain Mohammed put his key into the trigger and turned. Those crew that were awake felt a mild upheaval but that was all. The captain ordered full speed and they were on their way to the Mediterranean to off load the remaining cargo.
The long slender shape and pointy nose were meant to reduce drag. The depleted uranium nosecone added much weight and was hard enough that the entire device disappeared into the bottom of the ocean.
Captain Mohammed turned the ship over to the First Mate and stared out at Las Palmas. He’d heard how beautiful the Canary Islands were but had never stopped there though he had passed them many times though never this close. He doubted that he would ever visit there now.
The ayatollah himself had come to inspect his ship as the installation was finishing up. It was, after all, his ship no matter which shell company held the papers. He ultimately took the profits and, though he seldom cared for the day to day running of the enterprise, for this sailing he set the destination. Allah had indeed blessed Captain Mohammed to bestow such an honour upon him.
Iran didn’t have a missile that would reach The Great Satan. In truth they didn’t have a missile that would lift this device off the ground, but they didn’t need to, nor did they need to spend billions to make a small enough device. allah had broken Las Palmas and left it there for the faithful to figure out his wishes.
It had cost billons of U.S. Dollars to build the device but it was really free as President Obama had provided all the cash the ayatollah could spend. They couldn’t do any testing without raising massive international pressure but the Russians had provided a proven and reliable design, for a hefty price. They had also provided the uranium, also at a hefty price. The Russians were not stupid, when the results from the investigation came back it would prove to be American uranium. Thank you Hillary.
10 Sept 2104 Alaska Time
Malcom wasn’t getting paid he was working swing shift at the Tsunami Early Warning Centre in Palmer, Alaska for credits towards his degree. “Brad, could you take a look at this?”
“Yes Malcom, what have you found?”
“There is a 2.4 at the Canary Islands.”
“A 2.4? You need me to look at a 2.4?”
“Sorry Brad but this looks like a nuclear blast.”
Brad had to smile at that one. These students could come up with some really weird ideas. It must be from hours of staring at screens. “Do you think the Canary Islands has started their own nuclear program or do you think China feels threatened and is implementing a preemptive attack? So much for your ‘A’ young man. Okay, what are you looking at?”
Brad was always giving Malcom a hard time but that made an otherwise mundane job interesting. “Look at this, I can’t explain it.”
“I see what you mean. Now, isn’t that interesting.” Right then the sensors local to the Canary Islands went wild and then quit.
11 Sept 0501 UTC
Canary Islands
It hadn’t been ticking really but when the computer reached its programmed time a fireball lifted out of the ocean almost two miles out. Most people were asleep so there were relatively few screams before the wave hit the shore.
The island was cracked and everyone knew it. The crack was wide enough to walk down and deep enough to be over your head. Sometimes the kids would go up there to explore otherwise it was point of interest to take friends and family when they came from off island for a visit. Otherwise it was just an occasional geologist with a grant or a camera crew making a documentary.
The blast weakened the already fractured island and sea water poured into the porous volcanic rock making it much heavier. Seven minutes later the ground shook and one third of Las Palmas Island slid into the Atlantic. The water rushed back into the hole created by the landslide carrying water, trees, fish, and bodies across the island and sending a tsunami towards Africa. There would be little warning, no warning system, and the distance so close that those along the shore would mostly be caught sleeping. The survivors would count themselves lucky.
The tsunami took off westward across the Atlantic at over 550 MPH.
11 Sep 0600 UTC
Mid Atlantic
Nancy figured that this was the only time that she would cross any ocean and she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to watch the sunrise. She decided to let Paul sleep in. He had been pretty busy even on vacation as the office wouldn’t leave him alone. Once they got on the Island Princess in Lisbon and away from the pier he was out of cell phone range. A little too much wine last night and extra sleep today is exactly what he needed. That’s weird, why would her ears pop at sea. She didn’t notice the tsunami. It was no towering wall of water. It was a long rolling wave with all the regular waves riding on top of it. The wavelength, from the top of one wave to the top of the next, was about 400 miles. Even with Nancy being as high as she was above the water the horizon wasn’t much over 8 miles or so in any direction.
____________
“Good morning Captain.”
“Good morning Charlie. How’d everything go last night?”
“Pretty normal except for the GPS. Just after 0600 it said we went an extra 3.2 nautical miles all of a sudden and 42 minutes later it did the same thing. I can’t find anything wrong with it. See, there it goes again.”
“Okay, thanks I’ll have Sparks check it out and we’ll confirm our location with a noon sighting. I need to keep up my celestial navigation anyway.”10 Sept. 2109 Alaska Time Palmer, Alaska
“Malcom, get out of that chair and let me have the console.” Brad hit the tsunami warning and started typing. “Tsunami warning for the Atlantic rim and the Caribbean. Massive landslide in the Canary Islands evacuate to high ground.” “You done good Malcom, it looks like we hit the button first.”
“Does that mean that I get my ‘A’?” Malcom joked.
“An ‘A+’ from where I sit. Either that or I’ll be looking for a new job tomorrow and someone else will be filling out your grade.”
“Brad, you know it is already September 11th in the Canary Islands…and on the East Coast.”
Brad recognised the significance of that date. “Lets take another look at that first shock.”
