New Beach Project: Platform Delta

Not one single person ever before feared water.

Sure, there were those that, within their own life had experienced traumatic events through the years, when having fallen over the side of a cruise ship whilst sauntering along the promenade deck after being a little 'worse for wear,' following a night of over-indulging in the amber nectar, whilst in the casinos below.

Or a child who perhaps suddenly broke away from their mother's hand whilst getting a little too over-excited at the sight of a colorful fish from the relative safety of the pier above, and tumbling into the sea waters below, needing rescue services to retrieve them safely, returning him/her to mum, scared and rather soaked through to their skin.

Or the first time a young school child experienced the swimming pool, and their armbands didn't quite keep them completely afloat, and they ended up getting a mouthful of heavily chlorinated pool water.

Of course, despite surviving all those experiences, they contributed to the momentary traumatic moments that led to them developing a dread that carried on throughout their lives - some were able, with help and support, to overcome the fears but for many, they remained a part of nightmares that repeated in their sleep, over and over again, and contributed to a lifetime of never wading back into the water ever again.

Life went on for everyone.

They adapted.

At the end of every single day, getting back into the swimming pool or the sea was not too much of a pain in the backside, as it never stopped them from enjoying their lives in so many other areas.

Until that one day in 2153, when the worst nightmare for, not just those that had ever gone through one of those distressing moments, but also for every single human in the south of Britain and as far inland as the entire area of the capital of the entire island.

It took place on a beautifully hot summer's day when least expected. Everybody was relaxing, enjoying the high temperatures that the climate change had created, making the weather forecasters seldom ever bitterly grumble about rain and chilly times. It was 38°C and rarely was there a day that went by when there was a little breeze when sat on the sands, enjoying all that the seaside had to offer. Towards the end of the beach where the waves were lapping gently against the hot, dry, golden-brown sand, was the 300-hundred-year-old pier, with its heavy wooden crustacean-coated stanchions looming up from deep under the shoreline. Admirers of the pier could happily stare straight through the underside of the structure, timelessly watching the increasing depth of the sea, as white crests broke against the support struts that held the pier safe from the waters.

Children were cheerily scampering along the great stretches of sand holding their ice creams, giggling as the heat of the sun melted them, causing it to start dripping down onto their already burned skins, despite their parent's endless endeavors to religiously smother them in suncream lotions. The skies had been strangely devoid of any signs of avian life over the past few weeks. Ordinarily, nobody gave this anything more than simply a passing comment thought about that up until now, but this was starting to be more of a worrying topic of discussion as time progressed.

What with the evidenced absence of winds, higher and more extended periods of intensely hot weather fronts, and now the obvious paucity of what used to be frequent gatherings of seagulls, many ornithologists and meteorologist experts were beginning to ask some difficult and unusual questions. Of course, everybody pointed the finger at climate change being the No.1 reason why all this was occurring.

Over the past few decades, well-known asteroid observation centers had been tracking the paths of many varied size objects far above the skies of Earth, out there amongst the dark, cold vastness of outer space itself. None had ever collided with the planet to a point where experts would ever become jittery amongst themselves. Much smaller asteroids had simply been burned up in the atmosphere well before reaching planet-side. It had simply become what many civilians had thought of as an 'everyday event' now, and nothing at all to worry over.

Life carried on as usual.

Governments continued to noisily complain about other countries' transgressions. People still went about their days traveling to and from their workplaces like headless automatons.

Nothing changed.

Still, the mass of public gatherings down on the beach said only one thing, and that was that fun was to be had by all.

No, very little changed, that is to say, not until that one fateful day in 2153. A day that was to alter the course of existence on the planet forever.

If only the Governments of Earth had grown to be more cautious, more prepared for what was to come...

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Far beneath the ocean waves, an entirely dissimilar environment had evolved over main years of thorough planning and development, indeed nothing was as it was above the waters, in the same way as presented below ground. Whilst lounging on the hot sands above, with children engrossed in playing together and sun worshippers lapping up the rays, eager in achieving a tan, a vastly contrastive hive of activity was advancing. Play and laughter were abounding on the beach whilst many cooled off in the tranquil turquoise waters, oblivious to everything occurring elsewhere.

450 feet below the seabed housed a 2,460-foot by 528-foot reinforced steel and concrete construction, no windows were in place, simply twelve secure airlocks built-in for purposes of entry and exit use. Knowledge of this subterranean facility was kept a close and highly guarded secret, with the sole awareness of the existence of this facility, only made available and answerable to the nation's defense committee within the central government itself. Trailing off from each of the secure double airlocks were cylindrically designed access road tunnels, illuminated by fluorescent tubes partially embedded into the uppermost ceiling level, powered directly from the power generators housed back within the concealed facility, which all came to combine as one further subterranean access road, which steadily coursed the two-way travel back and from the deep-level structure back to a disused airbase.

Media sources and the general population carried on going about their usual daily lives, blissfully unaware that it was ever there. Its covert nature remained aided in that way through camouflaged steel conduits, running from within the structure, and fusing with the various buoys that were floating innocently on the seas above, which provided the fresh air supply for the base deep below. However, the hidden base had been rapidly equipped with its emergency oxygen storage matrix, which was put in place after discovering that the natural air provision was unable to supply the breathable air concentration needed, for the subterranean levels.

Why was this though? If it was a question put directly forward to the general populous then that answer would have been squarely blamed upon the climate crisis, and for that, they wouldn't be far too wrong either. Certainly, climate change was partially to blame for the far-reaching lower levels of oxygen concentration across the planet. Unfortunately, the construction of a densely populated underground complex increased the problems of getting natural air 450-foot down under the natural seabed. The re-breathable oxygen generators were the welcome answer to that difficulty, as they supplemented those natural supplies that the aboveground initially supplied.

**** **** **** ****

Maybe a child slipping out from their mother's hand whilst getting a little too over-excited at the sight of a colorful fish from the relative safety of the pier above.

Or the first time a young school child experienced the swimming pool, and their armbands didn't quite keep them completely afloat, and they ended up getting a mouthful of heavily chlorinated pool water.

Of course, all those experiences contributed to the momentary traumatic moments that created such a dread that carried on through their lives - some were able, with help and support, to overcome the fears but for many, they remained a part of nightmares that repeated in their sleep, over and over again, and contributed to a lifetime of never wading back into the water ever again.

Life went on for everyone.

They adapted.

At the end of every single day, getting back into the swimming pool or the sea was not too much of a pain in the backside, as it never stopped them from enjoying their lives in so many other areas.

Until that one day in 2153, when the worst nightmare for, not just those that had ever gone through one of those distressing moments, but also for every single human in the south of Britain and as far inland as the entire area of the capital of the entire island.

It took place on a beautifully hot summer's day when least expected. Everybody was relaxing, enjoying the high temperatures that the climate change had created, making the weather forecasters seldom ever bitterly grumble about rain and chilly times. It was 38°C and rarely was there a day that went by when there was a little breeze when sat on the sands, enjoying all that the seaside had to offer. Towards the end of the beach where the waves were lapping gently against the hot, dry, golden-brown sand, was the 300-hundred-year-old pier, with its heavy wooden crustacean-coated stanchions looming up from deep under the shoreline. Admirers of the pier could happily stare straight through the underside of the structure, timelessly watching the increasing depth of the sea, as white crests broke against the support struts that held the pier safe from the waters.

Children were cheerily scampering along the great stretches of sand holding their ice creams, giggling as the heat of the sun melted them, causing it to start dripping down onto their already burned skins, despite their parent's endless endeavors to religiously smother them in suncream lotions. The skies had been strangely devoid of any signs of avian life over the past few weeks. Ordinarily, nobody gave this anything more than simply a passing comment thought about that up until now, but this was starting to be more of a worrying topic of discussion as time progressed.

What with the evidenced absence of winds, higher and more extended periods of intensely hot weather fronts, and now the obvious paucity of what used to be frequent gatherings of seagulls, many ornithologists and meteorologist experts were beginning to ask some difficult and unusual questions. Of course, everybody pointed the finger at climate change being the No.1 reason why all this was occurring.

Over the past few decades, well-known asteroid observation centers had been tracking the paths of many varied size objects far above the skies of Earth, out there amongst the dark, cold vastness of outer space itself. None had ever collided with the planet to a point where experts would ever become jittery amongst themselves. Much smaller asteroids had simply been burned up in the atmosphere well before reaching planet-side. It had simply become what many civilians had thought of as an 'everyday event' now, and nothing at all to worry over.

Life carried on as usual.

Governments continued to noisily complain about other countries' transgressions. People still went about their days traveling to and from their workplaces like headless automatons.

Nothing changed.

Still, the mass of public gatherings down on the beach said only one thing, and that was that fun was to be had by all.

No, very little changed, that is to say, not until that one fateful day in 2153. A day that was to alter the course of existence on the planet forever.

If only the Governments of Earth had grown to be more cautious, more prepared for what was to come...

**** **** **** ****

Far beneath the ocean waves, an entirely dissimilar environment had evolved over main years of thorough planning and development, indeed nothing was as it was above the waters, in the same way as presented below ground. Whilst lounging on the hot sands above, with children engrossed in playing together and sun worshippers lapping up the rays, eager in achieving a tan, a vastly contrastive hive of activity was advancing. Play and laughter were abounding on the beach whilst many cooled off in the tranquil turquoise waters, oblivious to everything occurring elsewhere.

450 feet below the seabed housed a 2,460-foot by 528-foot reinforced steel and concrete construction, no windows were in place, simply twelve secure airlocks built-in for purposes of entry and exit use. Knowledge of this subterranean facility was kept a close and highly guarded secret, with the sole awareness of the existence of this facility, only made available and answerable to the nation's defense committee within the central government itself. Trailing off from each of the secure double airlocks were cylindrically designed access road tunnels, illuminated by fluorescent tubes partially embedded into the uppermost ceiling level, powered directly from the power generators housed back within the concealed facility, which all came to combine as one further subterranean access road, which steadily coursed the two-way travel back and from the deep-level structure back to a disused airbase.

Media sources and the general population carried on going about their usual daily lives, blissfully unaware that it was ever there. Its covert nature remained aided in that way through camouflaged steel conduits, running from within the structure, and fusing with the various buoys that were floating innocently on the seas above, which provided the fresh air supply for the base deep below. However, the hidden base had been rapidly equipped with its emergency oxygen storage matrix, which was put in place after discovering that the natural air provision was unable to supply the breathable air concentration needed, for the subterranean levels.

Why was this though? If it was a question put directly forward to the general populous then that answer would have been squarely blamed upon the climate crisis, and for that, they wouldn't be far too wrong either. Certainly, climate change was partially to blame for the far-reaching lower levels of oxygen concentration across the planet. Unfortunately, the construction of a densely populated underground complex increased the problems of getting natural air 450-foot down under the natural seabed. The re-breathable oxygen generators were the welcome answer to that difficulty, as they supplemented those natural supplies that the aboveground initially supplied.

**** **** **** ****

"It's bound to strike Gerry, I'm damn certain of it this time around, the problem is, I can't narrow down a ground zero, let alone a precise date and time yet!" Phil Garrett's voice struck fear throughout the control center with those words affirming a long-held fear (that had haunted him solely within his dreams up until now) as he looked directly at Gerry Packill, the facility's tactical leader. Sure, over the maturing six years of the facility's functions and status turning active, nothing anywhere close to the scale of today's observations (up until now) had ever worried the scientific community deep within the secretive base. Weekly tactical drills had been actioned to the point where the base personnel had perfectly streamlined their disaster responses but, despite numerous past alert conditions having been raised from encrypted notifications received by individual worldwide asteroid watch centers, nobody was ever under the illusion of how the real thing would truly affect this training, should their fears ever materialize into reality.

That was, up until now.

Sure, they were pretty much certain that an incident was going to take place just one day but, they had no idea as to when, where, and on what scale, any of it would indeed, occur. That was the one part of their disaster response training that, if nothing else, was going to leave them blind to any effective response that was needed.

**** **** **** ****

Far above, you would have been forgiven for anyone lazing on the beach into thinking that it was far later in the day than it actually was. Laughing children began traipsing slowly back to their parents who were shouting out for their little ones to return to them, as the daylight was fading gradually, and it was time to pack up their half-devoured picnic foods and litter, and head on back towards their respective homes for the late evening routines of supper, baths and bedtimes. Unknown to anyone, timepieces appeared to have stopped at 17:08hrs, and the previously light blue skies had begun to darken, leading the beachgoers into rationalizing that it was far later than it really was, adding to this, the hot, brightly glowing sun having dramatically dimmed, further giving the illusion that the day was much later than anyone thought. There was no reason for thinking anything else as each and every person enjoying the beach and the cooling sea, were tiring anyway by now - time enjoying themselves was deceptively concluding the time for them.

Without warning, daylight extinguished inasmuch as it did when someone had simply flicked a switch to turn off an electric lightbulb. Out of the blue, what little daylight was left had perished, the earlier intense heat had vanished, suddenly turning very cold. Parents became panicky at the abrupt transformation and children stopped dead in their tracks, screaming out for their mums and dads, as the sudden loss of natural light put them all on edge and subjected fear into them. Panic ensued across what had earlier been such a scene of fun and innocent laughter.

**** **** **** ****

What had been silence below ground before, was suddenly turning into apprehension, as sirens emitted without warning and maroon strobes began flashing rapidly.

"What the hell," was all Garrett could impulsively say, as he reacted to the sudden chaotic scene by rapidly scanning the bank of computer screens in front of where he was sitting. Clicking the internal comms system, Phil Garrett hurriedly requested, "Packill, check over screen six, I don't believe what I'm seeing... it can't be correct, it can't be happening, there was no warning!" An almost immediate response carried over the radio from Packill, "is this real Phil, or just another one of those damned unannounced simulations of yours?"

Images on the monitors were now showing a huge object, the size of which had never been seen before now, that was causing the sun to be fully obscured behind it. An unannounced asteroid, previously never tracked before was blindsiding the full intensity of the sun's mightiness. "How the crap did this get by us, no other tracking facility has picked this up either?" exclaimed Packill. Phil Garrett could utter no words in response, he simply stared, his eyes glued to the live image presenting itself to him on the screen. It took all his effort to hit the 'send to master imager' so that what he could view, could be shared with the facility leader to now see too. Moments later, the entire station was quiet, save for the infernal noise of the siren still sounding; Garrett hit the 'silence sounder' key. The entire underground station fell silent, as everybody reconciled with the image that appeared upon every single viewscreen.

Not one person was capable of speaking even a single word. So much for the emergency disaster response training, they'd all trained for. There was little else anyone could do now, but pray. They couldn't warn anyone, the external comms system had gone down, and the base was functionally cut-off for all intense purposes. Temperatures were dropping across the base, and oxygen supplement devices now kicked in fully. Natural air supply was suddenly reducing below safe levels.

**** **** **** ****

Upon the surface above, it was a picture never before ever imagined. What had only been present in individual nightmares before now, was now breaching the realms into live reality itself. Many adults were running almost headlessly around the beach in all directions in sheer panic. The first to fall foul of the true-to-life sudden catastrophe were the younger ones. Dropping temperatures were creating events that nobody had ever before witnessed. Their bodies, usually more favorable to much more comfortable and temperate climes, were simply causing them to drop like flies onto the rapidly cooled sand before them.

From up on high, a scene nothing other than what could be best described as a most terrifying sight, for those that could focus through the calamity long enough to witness any of it, presented an orange-red fiery mass tearing its destructive and unstoppable path towards landfall below. Everything seemed to be happening all at once, terrified screams rang out everywhere below. The closer to the surface the asteroid closed in, the brighter everything appeared. Scattered bodies filled the beach save for those that simply sat there, almost frozen in fear and confusion.

As time appeared to pass by at a brisk rate of speed, another thunderous noise could be heard ringing out far out in the deeper waters, as the colossal asteroid achieved planetfall.

The ensuing catastrophe that took place simply took everyone left on the beach completely with more shock and horror than anything up until that moment had done. All that could be done was to watch and simply wait for what inevitably, was to come.

**** **** **** ****

Emergency override systems were quickly kicking in far below the destruction that was taking place upon the surface. Artificial life support was taking over every one of the manual systems that had been operating before now. One of the techs down there had finally managed to close off the siren, which had been automatically wailing from the start, the emergency lighting had activated, restoring normal lighting throughout the subsurface installation.

Sighs of relief washed through the complex as all emergency systems came on without a hitch. Despite this false impression, its effects were short-lived. The moment the monitors began to flicker back to life, the true extent of what had taken place on the beach was rapidly becoming apparent.

Platform Delta fell into a deathly hush.

Minutes after the impact of the unannounced asteroid, as it had plunged into the depths of the waters, the waters unexpectedly receded from the beach, just as if someone had simply guzzled all the water from the area. Minutes later, the monitors made it apparent why. Faces darkened in fear and mouths dropped as everyone belowground watched helplessly as the final moments unraveled before them.

An unbelievably expansive wall of seawater, without any moment of warning, began racing across the previously devoid barren area, crashing into the beach onlookers, frozen by fear, as they watched the powerful deluge swallow up the 300-year-old pier, engulfing everything and everyone unfortunate enough to not escape its path of devastation.

What was to come of the area and the onlookers, safely accommodated by the secure facility miles below ground? It certainly appeared to all that this was indeed to be the end but, was it to be?

Training had not helped anyone. What would?

The end… maybe…

Part two of this instalment can now be read by clicking on the image below.

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