You Can Never Go Home Again Read online

  It wasn’t all dissimilar to his debunking of the El Capitan theory of creation. People just weren’t aware of cataclysms on a global scale though ironically every ancient religious text and all writers up to Plato and many after him all wrote about global catastrophes. The Greeks even had a word for the cause of the catastrophes: theomachy. War of the Gods.

  Jonathan realized he could not in all conscience give them a detailed description of what he suspected. He brought up the microphone.

  “Until, we can see the extent of the damage in the islands, I cannot give you a worst case scenario. We will be in Hawaii fairly soon, maybe an hour or two, and then I can reevaluate.”

  “Why a couple of hours? I thought we were close to Hawaii?”

  “The captain, for reasons of safety, flew south so we will have to back track when he feels confident the swarm has passed.”

  Jonathan could hear the rain begin to slacken which he felt was a good sign yet not a sign that their troubles were over. Just that particular trouble.

  Others noticed the lessening of the rain. The conversations became quieter than before. No more pings or thuds could be heard. Jonathan hoped no one would ask him about the rain slash ice. Fortunately for him, no one did.

  Jonathan handed the microphone back to Stacey and returned to the cockpit. Found his seat and strapped himself in.

  Terry smiled quite broadly when Jonathan entered the cockpit and said to him when he was settled, “good thing no one asked about the raining ice.”

  Jonathan smiled wanly and nodded.

  Terry turned to Jonathan and became earnest, “I was just telling the captain and Bob that one of your scenarios is probably, no I should say, almost positively correct. The sun is not in the right place for where we are located on the map. Tell us more about the consequences of a pole shift if you don’t mind.”

  “The waters at the equator would move toward both poles. The waves would be incredibly high and really they would be floodwaters like tsunamis rather than ocean waves. The devastation to any coastal areas, unprotected islands and low lying areas in front of these waves would basically be total.”

  “The Swalik hills and many other debris fields show…”

  “The what?”

  “Right. Well, the amount of destruction is dependant to some extent on the amount of axial displacement but if the pole moved even two or three degrees then it’s still possible that upwards to sixty percent of the world’s population could perish.”

  A “sonvabitch,” escaped the lips of Captain Schollander. “That bad?”

  “Well, this is a worst case here and I’m only using former catastrophes as a reference and comparison. It’s too early to say what the true extent will be.”

  “Jonathan, how many of these, ah global catastrophes have there been?”

  “That depends on who you talk to. The gradualists haven’t so many. The most famous one is, of course, the destruction at the K-T boundary.”

  When the cockpit crew said nothing and Terry looked at him quizzically Prezlee added, “you know, the extinction of the dinosaurs.”

  “Oh, right. Jeez, this won’t be that bad will it?”

  “No, not anything like it, in fact.”

  “By the way, Terry, why do you say that the sun’s not in the right position?” Jonathan asked.

  “I plotted a course for an atoll I know and have been over several times. It’s not there.”

  Jonathan nodded his head while thinking. “Could the oceans have gained so much water this fast to cover the atoll?” He had thought out loud.

  As McNeill looked at him he added, “probably not. However one of those waves I mentioned may have reached it.” Then thought out loud again. “No, probably too soon for that as well.”

  Terry nodded and spoke, “it might be a bit difficult to locate Hawaii.”

  “The route of the swarm will, in all likelihood, be the direction of the axial shift,” Jonathan said. And Terry returned to examine his charts.

  Again silence returned to the cockpit. After about ten or twelve minutes, Captain Schollander asked Jonathan, “when you say we would have to live underground, well, why did you say that?”

  “Again, I’m only guessing, but this swarm will undoubtedly have its own orbit and probably be a bit irregular. It may take years of stargazing to determine what the exact orbit of the swarm might be.” Jonathan refrained from mentioning that if all the worlds’ volcanoes are now active and erupting there could be an envelope obscuring the heavens for years to come.

  “Anyone caught out in the open or on the wrong side of a prominence, such as a ridge, would be vulnerable. Of course, the meteors will eventually either all fall to earth or burn up on its way to the surface. Oddly, the Muslims worship a space rock…”

  “How long?” asked Schollander. “I mean how long would it take before the threat of these meteors would be gone or would the threat always hang over our heads?”

  “It’s just a matter of time,” responded Jonathan thinking about the Furies of Greek mythology. “Probably, anyway. Not knowing the volume of the swarm nor how many fall as it enters our atmosphere it’s hard to say, but decades, certainly. Centuries possibly.”

  Both Bob and Terry turned in their seats to face Jonathan as if looking at him they could find fault with this prognostication. Captain Schollander just groaned.

  The rain had finally stopped and Captain Schollander had brought the plane up to five thousand feet. Terry had worked out a flight plan to return the ship back to the original reckoning of the planes flight path. In essence, the plane would then be following the swarm.

  “I’m not too sure that’s wise,” Jonathan said. “The swarm is a concentrated ‘thing’ but the edges and presumably the rear will have stray or rogue meteors. It might be better to find where that atoll is and the position of Hawaii would be known. A pole shift would not change the relative positions of islands.”

  Captain Schollander turned his head and nodded to Terry. The navigator began working on a new course. In fifteen minutes he had it worked out.

  “By having a good understanding of the path of the swarm and the relative positions of the atoll to the Hawaiian islands…”

  “Sorry to interrupt you Terry,” said Captain Schollander. “But I believe you. How long do you think?”

  “I figure we should be above the atoll in approximately forty five minutes. Then it’s a straight shot to Honolulu in just under an hour.”

  The captain turned on the intercom. “This is the captain speaking. If everything goes according to Hoyle and the meteor swarm has passed we should be in visual contact with Honolulu in less than two hours.” Those in the cockpit could hear the passengers cheering.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “This is the captain speaking. I’d like everyone to stay in their seats with the seat belts fastened and those who have a window seat to watch for stray meteors. Now the good news. For those on the right side of the plane the Big Island is now visible. We should be sighting the south shore of Honolulu shortly. I am going to drop down and level off at an altitude of eighteen thousand feet until we can determine the situation below. Communication remains unavailable to us. The flight crew will be available and will move about the cabin. I would like any passenger who sees danger or the potential of danger to contact the nearest crewmember. The time in Hawaii is twelve twenty eight p.m.”

  Jonathan couldn’t believe it was three hours ago he had boarded this plane. And sat in first class for the first time in his life. What had he told himself, ‘life is wonderful?’ Yes, that was it. He had never eaten any words with a more bitter taste.

  Every eye in the plane eagerly sought some sign of surcease in the looming vista of Honolulu. Most of the passengers were aware of the volcanic dust obscuring the Big Island and some said they could see a lava fountain.

  The captain brought the plane directly above Waikiki. The quietude could be palpably felt, or so Jonathan imagined.

  One cannot see much from e
ighteen thousand feet and the dark mist hanging over the south end of Oahu made it more difficult. No other aircraft could be seen in the sky. Captain Schollander flew over the interior of Oahu following H-1 to Mililani. Scofield Barracks was below them but no activity could be detected.

  The plane upon leaving Oahu flew heading north in a long arc. Captain Schollander did not want any surprises on his return visit because he was going to fly very low.

  No one in cockpit had said a word. After hearing what Jonathan had said about global catastrophes they were going to wait and pray Dr. Prezlee was wrong. Somehow talking might jinx this aspiration. Only by silent vigil can the worst-case scenario be found to be invalid.

  On the return to Oahu, again flying down the central plain, Captain Schollander came in at three thousand feet.

  While viewing the famous north shore no one on the plane was certain of what they were at first seeing. Then the eyes of all aboard adjusted. Cratering was continuous and extreme. It did look like the moon except for the verdant green of the islands. There didn’t seem to be any area that hadn’t been hit by a meteorite. They flew over the mist of the south shore and were seeing red ribbons. At first that was all they could see.

  They then realized that the red ribbons were flowing streams of lava. The lava spewing from Diamond Head and Punchbowl craters sought the ocean. This was causing the mist or at least one reason.

  The plane arced to the right. Captain Schollander wanted to see how the Honolulu airport fared. Less mist and the visibility was better. The cratering here was extensive. There could be no landing at that site. The plane headed out to sea.

  Captain Schollander decided to return but at an even lower altitude. He flew above Honolulu at two thousand feet. He started on the makai side, ocean side, of Makakilo and headed towards Diamond Head. All those on the plane could see the capitol of paradise fairly well now. No tall buildings stood. Waikiki didn’t exist nor much of the shore from Barber’s Point to Koko Head. The effect of a tsunami was in evidence or to be exact the destruction it caused was in evidence.

  Debris that once was Honolulu was pushed up against the hills that abutted the shore plain. Debris had even been washed into Manoa and Niu valley. The valleys in Hawaii are of a higher elevation than the coast.

  Nothing seemed to move. Diamond Head’s crater was filled with seawater and steam rose as it came in contact with an active vent in the middle of the crater. Another vent had opened on the side of Diamond Head and it was this that produced the red ribbon.

  “God-almighty,” someone muttered.

  Jonathan didn’t want to be the first to break the silence so he spent his time considering where the safest havens might likely be found. He assumed there was probably enough fuel to get to a formidable and secure location if only he could think of one.

  Finally Terry broke the silence. “Doesn’t seem we have any reason to hang around here.” All the others in the cockpit nodded their heads absentmindedly.

  After another period of silence Captain Schollander began to give the plane altitude and head in a northeasterly direction. He asked Jonathan, “can you think of a place where we might be safe from these waves and the meteors?”

  “I have been thinking about it,” he said. “The Sierras would be safe from the tidal waves and any western slope would give shelter from the swarm.” This made him think of an old folk song. He thought it best not to bring it up.

  Getting back to the problem at hand, “landing might be a bit of a problem.” And those in the cockpit nodded their heads thoughtfully.

  “There is an interesting area which if we had enough fuel might be worth looking into. Vancouver Island off the coast of Washington and Canada may have escaped the damage or experienced lesser damage from the tidal waves. Though there are volcanoes nearby on the mainland there are none, or at least there were none on the island itself. It has transverse ridges. So the western facing slopes could provide good shelter.”

  Prezlee considered this quietly for a few moments. “There will be tremendous loss of aquatic life in general but the eastern side of the island may have been protected. Food is going to be a problem and this may be an answer to that question.”

  The captain turned to Bob and asked him to take control and to Terry to plot a heading to San Francisco. He asked Jonathan to accompany him to the coach section. With a heavy heart the captain got up and with Jonathan in tow headed for coach seating area.

  On the way, Captain Schollander stopped off at one of the galleys to converse with Stacey the head flight attendant and discussed the need for the passengers to have a meal. The snack on their return to Oahu wasn’t that filling.

  Stacey said she would get everything prepared and Jonathan was surprised that she didn’t inquire as to the course the plane would take. She’s a real pro, he thought.

  The captain and Jonathan stepped to the entrance to the coach cabin. Schollander took the intercom and turned it on.

  “This is the captain. I’ve come back here to talk with you. About what we have seen and what we now feel may be termed a worst-case scenario. I’ve brought Dr. Prezlee, Jonathan, to explain what this means and what may be confronting us. Presently, we are heading to San Francisco though we are interested in finding a safe area from the meteors and the tidal waves. Doctor…Jonathan, will give you some startling information so please let him talk without too many interruptions. Later a question and answer period will follow. I know many are hungry and the flight crew is preparing your meals.”

  Captain Schollander took a moment then returned to addressing the passengers.

  “Jonathan has a very strong understanding of the worst-case scenario and I would appreciate it if he is given the courtesy of being listened to. Everything he has told me and the crew has shown he knows what he was talking about. You may not like what he is about to tell you and many of you must be grieving over loved ones and friends but we are now a community not just single individuals. I want you to think in terms of ‘we’ and not ‘I’. Jonathan?” Schollander turned the mike over to Prezlee.

  Jonathan didn’t know where to start.

  “I really don’t know where to begin.”

  After a pregnant pause he pushed on. “I’ll talk about the worst case scenario in the global sense. The earth has undergone over its many millions of years numerous cataclysms of varying degrees of destruction. Does anyone here know of the K-T boundary destruction?” Some hands raised with a few murmured voices of assent. Jonathan felt comfortable that here was some familiar ground.

  “Good. That happened 65 million years ago and it was so devastating that the dinosaurs became extinct. There have been other catastrophes since that time but fortunately not as severe. In fact, not even close to that severity.”

  “What we are going through is a worldwide catastrophe but not of the same magnitude. Yet, it is likely that the world we were accustomed to has vanished. And this is what I think the worst case is and why I feel the situation may be very close to what I’m about to say.”

  “There was a pole shift. This simply means the poles, the North and South Poles, are no longer in the same position from a few hours ago. Jim the navigator tells me he’ll know the exact amount of shift but the preliminary figures suggest a shift of around two to three degrees. Probably close to a couple hundred miles.”

  “The result of a sudden shift will be enormous tidal waves, gigantic tsunamis if you like, starting from the equator and moving toward the poles. Hard to say to the height and therefore the destructive power but little will survive if it’s in its path.”

  “The ice caps will melt and we will have upwards to a twenty-foot higher waterline. The ice caps will eventually reform but that will take many years. Weather patterns…well, we can go into that later.”

  “What the most difficult problem facing us, facing all humanity, is the swarm. Perhaps there are some classical scholars on board who can remember what the Greeks and Romans had to say about the muses and the Fates but basically this sw
arm, if in orbit with our planet as I believe it is, will dominate our struggle to remake our material civilization. Without specific knowledge but an educated guess the swarm will be a visitor for generations. Each pass, and at present we cannot know the frequency of these passes, will cause destruction.”

  “Therefore, I’ve recommended that one of the considerations in locating a safe haven is to find a ridge facing the swarm. We can then, literally, dig in below this ridge on the lee, the protected side, and have some modicum of safety.”

  Jonathan again paused. The cabin was very quiet which surprised him. He decided to stop. How much of this was penetrating the minds of the other passengers? Most, of course, never studied anything as he had. Most would think it a fictional story from a Hollywood movie.

  “The captain and crew are returning this plane to the mainland and have hopes they can find a safe place to put down and possibly, well…. restart our lives.”

  Now the cabin became louder but it was anxiety and not abject disbelief though not all in the plane could conceive of the worst-case scenario as being real.

  The aroma from the galley penetrated the cabin and everyone realized that the need for sustenance must be satisfied.

  Captain Schollander took the microphone and informed the passengers, “food has been prepared and it is a hot meal. Would everyone be seated and the flight attendants will look after your dietary needs. Those who have had special meals raise your hands so the flight attendants can verify your requests. I’m going to leave Stacey in charge. Later we can have a question and answer session.

  The captain turned the microphone over to the head flight attendant and nodded for Jonathan to follow him back to the cockpit.

  Jonathan idly hoped there’d be a tail wind. Suddenly, the thought of five and a half hours to San Francisco in this flying tin can had lost its appeal.