ARkStorm: A Disaster Thriller, page 1
ARKSTORM
THE OTHER BIG ONE
BOBBY AKART
THANK YOU
Thank you for reading ARkStorm, a novel by author Bobby Akart.
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PRAISE FOR BOBBY AKART AND ARKSTORM
“Read one of his books and you are hooked!” ~ Amazon review for Perfect Storm 4
“He has a way of taking real life scenarios and combine them with believable characters to create an amazing story.” ~ Amazon review for Perfect Storm 3
“Bobby Akart continues to give his readers spell-binding scenarios that are so close to real life, it's scary as all get out.” ~ Amazon review of Black Friday
“He's right up there with James Patterson, David Baldacci, Brad Thor and others that write thrillers. To me he actually surpasses them.” ~ Amazon review for Nuclear Winter series
“I cry for the injured and defenseless, rage at the bad guys, and scream with impotent rage when one of my favorite characters are hurt or killed! Such is the artistry of the author. Such is the realm of Bobby Akart.” ~ Amazon review of Black Gold
“Love the intensity of his stories, his through research, his creativity, the characterizations and the abundant action and realistic locations.” ~ Amazon review of New Madrid Earthquake
ARKSTORM
THE OTHER BIG ONE
by
Bobby Akart
OTHER WORKS BY AMAZON CHARTS TOP 25 AUTHOR BOBBY AKART
The California Dreamin’ Duology
ARkStorm (a standalone, disaster thriller)
Fractured (a standalone, disaster thriller)
The Perfect Storm Series
Perfect Storm 1
Perfect Storm 2
Perfect Storm 3
Perfect Storm 4
Black Gold (a standalone, terrorism thriller)
The Nuclear Winter Series
First Strike
Armageddon
Whiteout
Devil Storm
Desolation
New Madrid (a standalone, disaster thriller)
Odessa (a Gunner Fox trilogy)
Odessa Reborn
Odessa Rising
Odessa Strikes
The Virus Hunters
Virus Hunters I
Virus Hunters II
Virus Hunters III
The Geostorm Series
The Shift
The Pulse
The Collapse
The Flood
The Tempest
The Pioneers
The Asteroid Series (A Gunner Fox trilogy)
Discovery
Diversion
Destruction
The Doomsday Series
Apocalypse
Haven
Anarchy
Minutemen
Civil War
The Yellowstone Series
Hellfire
Inferno
Fallout
Survival
The Lone Star Series
Axis of Evil
Beyond Borders
Lines in the Sand
Texas Strong
Fifth Column
Suicide Six
The Pandemic Series
Beginnings
The Innocents
Level 6
Quietus
The Blackout Series
36 Hours
Zero Hour
Turning Point
Shiloh Ranch
Hornet’s Nest
Devil’s Homecoming
The Boston Brahmin Series
The Loyal Nine
Cyber Attack
Martial Law
False Flag
The Mechanics
Choose Freedom
Patriot’s Farewell (standalone novel)
Black Friday (standalone novel)
Seeds of Liberty (Companion Guide)
The Prepping for Tomorrow Series (non-fiction)
Cyber Warfare
EMP: Electromagnetic Pulse
Economic Collapse
Copyright Information
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
The author and publisher have provided this eBook to you for your personal use only. You may not make this eBook publicly available in any way.
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CrownPublishersInc@gmail.com.
© 2023 Crown Publishers Inc. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this book may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means including, but not limited to electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the express written permission of Crown Publishers Inc.
CONTENTS
Dedications
Epigraph
Prologue
Part I
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Part II
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Part III
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Part IV
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Part V
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Epilogue
Thank you for reading ARkStorm!
What’s coming next from Bobby Akart?
Fractured
Real World News Excerpts
Author’s Note
A BRIEF OF HISTORY OF THE HISTORIC FLOOD OF 1862
Acknowledgments
About the Author, Bobby Akart
Other Works by Amazon Charts Top 25 Author Bobby Akart
DEDICATIONS
ARkStorm was written at a time when my heart was heavy with sorrow and grief. Our beloved English Bulldogs, Bullie and Boom, had brought us joy and laughter for thirteen-and-a-half years. The princesses of the palace, as my long-time readers know them, passed away within two weeks of one another several months ago. While they’ll be missed our journey as a family will continue.
This novel is devoted to our sweet girls as they were always our family’s calm in the storm.
EPIGRAPH
There’s always a calm before the storm.
~ Heather Graham, American Actress
The greatest of floods begin with a single raindrop.
~ Unknown
Survival is the ability to swim in strange water.
~ Frank Herbert, Author of Dune
Rain doesn’t count; building arks does.
~ Warren Buffett, American Financier
I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.
~ God speaks to Noah, Genesis 6: 17
PROLOGUE
Late October
Station II Emergency Operations Center
Crescenta Valley, California, USA
That summer had brought drought and fire to California. Not unusual for the region, but certainly cataclysmic even for the Golden State. It had been two decades since the Station Fire had scorched its way through the neighborhoods of Pasadena, the hillsides of the Crescenta Valley, and the Angeles National Forest. Nearly two hundred thousand acres had been consumed by the blaze, as were hundreds of buildings. Station Fire I, as it had been renamed now, took a month to extinguish.
Today, Station Fire II was nearing its fort
Deputy Chief Finnegan Fergus O’Brien, a mouthful of a name to be sure, stood on the ridge overlooking his beloved neighborhood of La Cañada. An Irishman, he’d immigrated to America with his family from Dublin when he was a boy. They’d lived in Boston for a few years before they’d uprooted and headed to the Los Angeles area.
Growing up, the other neighborhood children had immediately been drawn to him, especially because of his accent. They’d quickly corrected him when he mispronounced the name of his new community as “la-Canada,” like the country. “Lah-can-ya-da,” they’d explained, was the way to say it. Finn had shrugged, as he’d had little experience with the Spanish language or the reasons why towns in California seemed to be named using Spanish words. Then he’d learned the history of the state and understood.
Finn, as everyone called him, had always wanted to be a fireman. He had been a throwback as a kid, shunning video games and MTV. He’d loved to play outdoors, especially riding his bike and visiting the many mountainous parks north of LA. As he’d advanced through school, his entire focus had been on a career as a fireman.
And so he was. He’d learned and undertaken virtually every aspect of the job, from battling structure fires in the city to search and rescue missions. However, he’d gained a particular expertise in battling the many wildfires that plagued the state each year. The summer fires were an annual occurrence for California.
However, this one was different. It was devilish in its ability to reconstitute itself. It was monstrous in its destructive capability. Now, Station Fire II, an absolute beast of a blaze, was threatening his home.
He’d led Region 1, North Operations Bureau, Division 3 of the Los Angeles County Fire Department for just over ten years. With retirement coming like a freight train at the end of December, those he’d established relationships with throughout the fire department as well as civic leaders in the Crescenta Valley promised they’d miss his devoted service. None of that was on his mind that day as he commanded units from battalions 4, 6 and 22 as they battled Station II.
A hot gust of wind pushed its way up the valley, smacking him hard at the top of the ridge with a combination of ash, smoke, and debris. It seemed to remind Finn his work was not done.
The first flames had been reported much farther to the north, most likely caused by a lightning strike or a campfire left unattended. The investigation would take place later. The fire had to be contained first. Due to the hazardous terrain, containment was challenging enough without attempting to extinguish the blaze. Eventually, Finn knew, the fire would run out of fuel. Unless, of course, it made its way into the valley. There, homes would feed the fire’s hunger.
To fight any wildfire, you have to remove one of the factors of the so-called fire triangle. Heat, oxygen, or fuel. It had been hot well into late October, and there was no forecast of rain in sight. The fire was too large to smother, so the only option was to remove its fuel.
He’d been leading a group of firefighters across the ridge, searching for flashy fuels, easily ignitable grasses, leaves and pine needles that carpeted the forest floor. Finn worked with his team to create a series of fuelbreaks, strategically locating strips of bare earth where the combustible plant material once lay.
Take away the fuel; starve the fire. A simple concept that was a nearly impossible task on the side of a ridge. Using two bulldozers the fire department borrowed from the California National Guard, they cut a swath through the forest threatened by the fire. They’d been carving their way through using chainsaws, axes, and the dozers’ blades for more than twenty-four hours without stopping.
Above the fuelbreak, Finn marveled as powerful indrafts of air generated fire whirls, also known as firenadoes. The fire was drawn upward, burning towards the sky, throwing flames and debris into the air. This was indicative of an extremely strong wildfire. Superheated air changed the dynamic of any blaze.
Coupled with the efforts of other firefighters and the planes dropping water from the sky, Station Fire II was gasping for air as it began to die down. Finn wanted to breathe a sigh of relief as he saw the battle turn in his favor. However, he knew he and his crew would be building backfires for days to draw the flames toward the top of the ridge in order to lure them away from the homes below.
His home. The one he grew up in with his long-deceased parents. The one in which his beloved wife had passed away following a fight with breast cancer before they could have children.
As he prepared to order his team home to get some rest, he paused. For the first time in over twenty-four hours, he removed his helmet. He desperately wanted to smell the clean air that part of the Crescent Valley afforded him. Instead, his nostrils were filled with rancid smoke and the smell of charred wood.
Despite the effort his sense of smell demanded, his ears picked up a sound rising from the valley.
Faintly. In the distance. Surreal.
It was a lonely saxophone playing a tune he couldn’t quite make out, conjuring up images of the emperor Nero playing his violin as Rome burned. The inability to discern the song being played or the direction from which it came haunted him for weeks until it washed from his memory when the rains came.
And so it begins …
PART 1
DECEMBER
In spite of all the marvels the hand of Man has wrought,
He yet stands impotent before the fury of flood and fire,
No matter with what courage these great Forces may be fought,
They leave in their path destruction, inevitable and dire.
~ Kate H. Wright, La Crescenta Women’s Club, January 12, 1934,
following the Great Crescenta Valley Flood
ONE
Monday before Christmas
