Gravity Versus Gravity, page 31
“Do you know that the bigger debris could descend anywhere?”
“We know that.”
“You were taking a huge risk.”
“We know that.”
“You could have never returned.”
All the young men were silent. They looked at each other.
“Do you know that a lot of water has also gone up?” the second commando said.
“That is what we were wanting to see as downpour when it fell as rain.”
“That would be no different from a hurricane.”
The binary comets could be seen in the sky. They looked faint in the light of the sun. In the same direction, the huge dark apparition was visible. It was at the level of the plane. Both the comets and the debris looked stationery. After some time, the debris looked closer and down. As it got closer, it looked more like a huge piece of dark cloud.
“That is the debris,” the third commando said.
“Wow! It looks like a huge cyclonic cloud,” the first young man said.
The cloud was growing bigger and darker as it approached and it was approaching fast. Just as it felt that the plane would head into the wind blowing in front of the debris, it swerved and headed southwest. Nevertheless, the plane got into a layer of fast moving air. It suddenly lost height and gave a jolt. The fourth young man fell, and the camera rolled away from him.
“And you were thinking of handling this thing from the ground,” the third commando said.
The fourth young man did not answer. He quickly retrieved his camera and took his position near the window. He was clicking frantically, and so were the other young men, one of whom was video recording.
“It’s moving with the speed of a tornado which has already hit the ground,” the first young man said.
“And it’s descending,” the third young man said.
The plane took a U-turn.
“Why is the pilot doing this?” the first young man asked.
“So that he can give all of you a better view of the debris?” the third commando replied.
“Seriously?”
“Well, that is the fact. The fiction part is that he is avoiding the whirlwind that is moving ahead of the debris.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because we have been briefed about the whole effect in this area unlike some of you who.”
The young men took their cameras to the other side of the plane and continued shooting. They could see from a distance the blackness touching the ground. Then the blackness started moving faster. At times, white objects could be seen hitting the ground. There was no lightning. It was a strange kind of rain. A few houses disappeared in front of their eyes. The young men had seen what they could not have seen from the ground.
“From here it looks like a river flowing down fast,” the first young man said.
“Yes, like a very high waterfall,” the third young man said.
“Do you think, the impact would create huge craters on the ground?” the first young man asked.
“Yes, some of them would be huge because of some of the big things that are in the debris,” the first commando replied.
“Trees?”
“Yes.”
“Cars?”
“Yes.”
“And what else?”
“Westminster Bridge.”
“You must be joking.”
“Not joking. You fellows were so busy with your cameras that you forgot to follow the latest news.”
“Yes, we had switched off the radio to avoid any distraction.”
“What happened with the Westminster Bridge? Is the whole of it there in the debris?”
“No. If a full Bridge would have gone up in the air, so would have many of the buildings. The zero-gravity effect reached the River Thames under the Westminster Bridge. As water went up, it ripped the Bridge. That is when huge pieces of the Bridge, which tore apart because of the impact also went up. Now imagine one of those things falling on one of your cars. All of you would have been plastered and then swept away with the deluge of water. And nobody would have ever found you.”
The ground below was completely soaked with water. Water was flowing in every direction.
“Is the water level high down there?”
“Should be between one to three feet.”
“The debris did not look really big. But the water seems like falling forever.”
“This is going to continue for about an hour.”
“In the same place?”
“No, the impact area would keep on moving further to the west. The debris will also keep on descending unlike a normal cloud, which gets rid of its water and may be gone. The debris went up when the gravitational pull of the binary comets on it increased. It carried on straight thereafter. When the pull started decreasing, the debris started to descend. But the pull would become zero only when the debris is some twenty feet above the ground.”
“Would the debris be quite big even then?”
“It would be about one-twentieth of the original size. But it would still be big. It would have been much smaller if the water from the Thames had not gone up.”
“And what will happen at that level?”
“Boom! That is what will happen. All that is in the air will come down with a crash. Fortunately, all the bigger pieces would have come down before that. So, the last part would be like a very huge downpour - the largest downpour ever in the UK multiplied by several times.”
“All of you seem more knowledgeable than most scientists.”
“Our job is like that. When we are given some task, we must know completely about it. We get trained by the best minds in the world whenever we are given an important task.”
“Thanks, commandos,” the second young man said as they started descending towards the airport tarmac.
“For saving you?” the commando said.
“No, for helping us get the best shots. We could not have managed such a fascinating view from the ground.”
“And even if you had, you would not have lived to show it to everyone.”
At other places, too, people had witnessed the descent transmitted through various cameras put all over the place and through the satellite pictures.
28
After their week-long road journey in their jeep along the south-western coast, the four young adventurists had planned to go cross the West Moor Park and hit the north-western coast. The jeep had been weathering rough terrain for the full week. It did not get any respite in the Park. The sound of the gravel on the road was deafening. The sound of the jeep’s old engine got louder as it got deeper into the Park.
The three passengers - Cheryl, Humphrey, and Nicholas were getting agitated at the sound of tires, the gravel, and the engine. Paddy was desperate to reach the other end of the Park at the earliest. She drove like she had never driven. In the dust and sound surrounding them, the adventurists did not notice the debris rearing its head from the east.
‘Faster,” Cheryl said.
“We should have gone around the Park. It was a bad idea to use this short cut,” Nicholas said.
“My whole body is covered with dust, and my ears are deaf,” Humphrey said.
“We’ll shortly reach the other end,” Paddy said, accelerating the jeep.
“Careful!” Humphrey shouted. “There is a big hole ahead.”
It was too late. Paddy changed the gear and put her foot on the brake with full force. The front left tire of the jeep went into the hole and got stuck. The engine gave a roar and shut down. Steam started coming out from under the bonnet.
“We’ll have to spend the night here,” Cheryl said.
“Let us not underestimate the skills of Nicholas,” Humphrey said.
They came down the vehicle and immediately looked around.
“It looks dark here,” Paddy said, trying to figure out why it was dark despite the sun shining in the west. She looked around, but all she could see was tall and thick trees in every direction. She could not see the debris in the east.
“This is difficult work if not impossible,” Nicholas said, rolling up his sleeves to open the bonnet.
“Any mobile signal?” Cheryl asked.
“No,” Humphrey replied.
“Don’t expect any till we are completely come out of the northern end of the Park.”
After five minutes, Humphrey asked Nicholas, “How is it going? Do you think you can fix it immediately?”
“Give me few more minutes,” Nicholas replied.
The few more minutes turned into a quarter of an hour.
“Let’s give up. We have to start walking, or we’ll not come out of the Park before it is dark,” Paddy suggested, looking at her watch. It was fifteen minutes to three.
“Yes,” Cheryl said. “If we walk fast, we can cover the fifteen-kilometer distance in three hours. We’ll be out before it gets dark.”
Cheryl, Humphrey, and Paddy took out their bags and got ready to walk. Nicholas finally gave up. He washed his hands, rolled down his sleeves and joined the others.
“Hey, did you read about the zero-gravity event?” Cheryl asked after they had walked for fifteen minutes.
“Yes. Was it supposed to be in Devon?” Humphrey asked.
“Not in Devon. But in London,” Nicholas replied.
“But there was some Devon connection,” Paddy said.
“The debris was to fall in Devon, I think,” Humphrey said.
“Yes, and it’s just one day before that happens,” Cheryl said.
“Are you sure?” Nicholas asked.
“I had read about it more than ten days ago. I might be mistaken. But I think it is taking place tomorrow,” Cheryl replied.
“Great. We’ll be out of this place by then,” Paddy said.
After walking for five more minutes, Nicholas looked at his watch and said, “We have covered only two kilometers. Let’s walk faster.”
“I’ve found a shorter route,” Paddy said, looking at her satnav.
“Not again,” Nicholas said. “We are in this situation because we made the mistake of taking a shorter route.”
“This time I can see clearly that the shorter route is really good. Let us move in that direction,” Paddy said, pointing towards a narrow walking trail.
“Let us not do that. Shorter routes are always trickier. We might get lost,” Nicholas insisted.
“How can we get more lost? We are already lost,” Cheryl said.
“No harm trying. We are not looking for a road. We can walk even if the path is narrow,” Humphrey said.
The lone dissenter could not help. All of them moved in the direction of the shorter route. They had walked another two kilometers when Nicholas’s fears started coming true. The trees started getting thicker and the path narrower. The satnav started to fade and then disappeared.
“I told you,” Nicholas said. “This is not the best way.”
“Keep walking,” Humphrey said.
They heard a rumble.
“What is that?” Paddy asked.
“Looks like a forest fire,” Cheryl replied.
“No, it’s an engine,” Nicholas said.
“Maybe we are near some factory,” Cheryl said.
The rumble grew louder.
“This is a flash flood. Run,” Humphrey screamed.
They started to run in the direction away from where the sound was coming. They ran to higher ground in various directions. The flash flood was not gone within seconds. It reached the higher ground, and everyone’s boots got drenched. The flash flood left behind a trail of deposits. The walking trail had disappeared.
“How do we find our way?” Paddy said as soon as everyone had assembled in one place.
“If we are not out of this place in the next few hours, we never will.”
“Okay, friends,” Nicholas said. “The first thing we need to do is not panic. The second is that all of us stick together. Third, we let only one person take charge.”
“Let Humphrey take charge. He has the best sense of direction,” Paddy proposed.
“Yes,” Nicholas said. “Let he be the one. He is our forest man.”
“What do we do first?” Cheryl asked.
“First let’s make a fire,” Humphrey replied.
“Fire?” everyone said in surprise.
“Yes,” Humphrey replied. “Fire to dry us up. We’ll lose more time if we don’t do this now. Walking in wet shoes is not recommended.”
“But how do we make a fire?”
Nicholas took out a knife, gathered some twigs and made a fire in a few minutes. Everyone took out their shoes and put them in front of the fire. In ten minutes, the group left again. They moved in a file led by Humphrey. It started to drizzle.
“We are almost there,” Humphrey said.
They kept walking for another ten minutes but reached nowhere.
“We seem to be getting lost,” Cheryl said.
“No one seems to have been to this place earlier,” Nicholas said.
“I see a house in the clearing,” Humphrey said.
Humphrey ran towards the house, and everyone else followed him. Immediately upon coming out of the woods, they stopped in the open and looked above.
“You were wrong, Cheryl,” Nicholas said, looking up in the sky. His face was pale.
Everyone looked up and froze. Humphrey was the first to gain composure. “The debris may start falling over us any time. Let’s hurry,” he said.
The four of them ran as fast as they could and reached the house within seconds. The stopped in front of the gate, which was open.
“This place is deserted,” Nicholas said.
“I never expected anyone to be here in the first place,” Humphrey said.
“This place looks scary. The darkness of the skies makes it look scarier,” Chery said.
“Let’s go inside. We have no options. We cannot be waiting outside for the debris to fall,” Paddy said.
When they reached close to the door, they realized that it was locked. There was huge lock hanging from the door.
“What do we do now?” Cheryl asked.
“Break the lock,” Humphrey said.
“It would be easier to try through the window,” Nicholas said.
All of them went around the house to find a place to get in. The windows were as strong as the door. The rear entrance, too, was locked.
“Here,” came a noise from the roof top. Nicholas was waving his hand wildly. “I’ve found a way through the chimney.”
“Don’t try that,” Paddy said.
“We have no other way out,” Nicholas replied. And within seconds he disappeared down the chute.
There was silence for a few seconds. Then one of the windows opened.
“Here I am,” Nicholas said. He was covered in soot. Everyone laughed.
“It’s such great relief that we are able to laugh at ourselves in such a difficult situation,” Cheryl said.
“Yes, that should be the spirit, and we’ll find a way out,” Paddy said.
One by one everyone got into the house.
“This house is not abandoned. Someone has been here a day or two ago,” Nicholas said.
“Let’s search for something that can help us,” Paddy said.
They checked every room. Cheryl came out jubilant. “I’ve found a phone. It’s working,” she said, lifting the receiver when others entered the room.
They dialed the emergency number, and there was a reply even before the first ring had completed. “How may I help?” the person at the other end asked.
“We are in Devon,” Cheryl said.
“Where in Devon?”
“Not very sure but we think we are in West Moor Park.”
“Okay,” the person replied. “Do you think you are in some village?”
“Doesn’t look like one. We are in a house, but there are no more houses around.”
“Ok. We’ll try to locate you from your telephone number.”
“How long will it take before the debris starts falling?”
“It started five minutes ago. But there is no need to panic. It may be several minutes before it reaches your location. We’ll try to do something.”
The group went to the kitchen and finished off whatever was in the refrigerator within five minutes. They looked at each other and laughed again.
“Indeed feels so good to have a laugh when we have the biggest catastrophe of the UK right above us,” Nicholas said, munching a piece of bread.
“Could well be our last meal,” Paddy said. She smiled, but everyone was serious again.
“Look, what is here,” Cheryl said.
Everyone ran towards Cheryl. She was pointing towards a lid that he had opened. A flight of stairs ran down.
“This seems to be a deep basement,” Nicholas said.
“Let us go down there. There is very little chance that rescue would be able to come,” Cheryl said.
“I’ll wait upstairs,” Humphrey said. “I’ll let you know if the rescue comes. And if it doesn’t arrive before the descent of debris, I’ll join you in the basement.”
Everyone went down. It was dark in the basement.
“Do you think we are safe here?” Nicholas asked.
“Not completely safe. If the largest debris falls on the house, I don’t think any basement is safe,” Paddy said. Everyone kept quiet.
Five more minutes passed. Humphrey heard a helicopter. He ran out. He saw a helicopter over the hills. He waved the red cloth in his hand. The pilot either knew the location or had seen Humphrey. The helicopter was heading straight towards the house. Humphrey ran to the basement.
“Everyone come out,” he shouted. “The helicopter is here.”
Everyone was out within seconds. The helicopter had come very close. It had started to become dark.
“Look there,” Humphrey said, pointing towards the east. The black debris cloud seemed it was touching the eastern end of the Park. It looked very low. “If the hill were another twenty or thirty meters high, it would have touched the debris cloud,” Humphrey added. The helicopter was hovering above the house.
“It’s going to descend now,” Humphrey said.
“I don’t think,” Nicholas said, looking at the helicopter which had reversed its direction. The helicopter went further up and then moved away. Within seconds it was far from them.
