Cataclysm

Chapter 1

It had been almost three years since the asteroid had struck the Earth. All life was supposedly wiped out except for those randomly selected fortunates, their families and the previously selected scientists, engineers, technicians and the like. They had escaped the impact which devastated the surface by retreating to government bunkers where they had survived underground, living on artificially cultured crops, domesticated animals brought down into the bunkers and a small but steady supply of tinned luxuries such as exotic fruits, fish and vegetables that could not be grown artificially.

The asteroid Garilaw 9-17 was one of the biggest in the solar system - about the size of Wales - and had been on a collision course with Earth when it was discovered by an aging scientist and his assistant, a nine year old boy. The news was rushed to the world leaders who then kept the news hushed up for several months while they decided on a plan of action. Unfortunately, the information was leaked to the press by a secretary and the news was promptly published for the entire world to hear.

There had been massive riots in major cities until martial law was declared and the governments' plans finalised. Every single nuclear missile that the various governments had hoarded since the cold war more than fifty years previously, would be fired at a weak point in the asteroid, blowing it apart. However, if for some reason it was not destroyed there was also a backup plan. People would be picked at random, and would be offered a place in the underground bunkers, so that they could re-appear after several years and colonise the planet afresh.

Simon had been a computer technician before the catastrophe. He was 27, and well built. His blonde hair was cropped close to his head, and he was almost never seen without his faded blue jeans. He wore his blue super-optic sunglasses and his autodog trailed him like a shadow. Now of course, there would be no more high tech gadgets, the Internet, Arpa Electronics systems or even home computers. There would be no life on the surface of the planet which would have been dark for years on end - the dust blocking out even the light from the sun. The plants would first had died, then those that fed on the plants. Then the ecosystems would have totally collapsed with their supporting layers removed.

After the emergence, the few people left would scrape together a living until the population and the vegetation brought back up replenished itself. The ancestors of the re-colonists would hold power over an entire new world. They could build and develop without the constraining influences of the past haunting them. In this way was humanity to be reborn.

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"Come on, Rhys" came Simon's striding tones. He smiled at her, she never had been very organised. Rhys had been a marketing director for Arpa industries. Nobody knew exactly what Arpa was doing the few months before the catastrophe, not even the vast majority of their workers. She hurried to put her boots on - nobody wanted to miss the emergence. The Emergence would be the first steps humanity would make back onto the surface of the planet, after the dust had cleared and the air was safe to breathe. Nobody even knew for certain whether the asteroid had even hit the Earth, the bunkers were sealed two days before the projected impact. Rhys tossed back her long black hair and got up to follow Simon.

The pair made their way up through the throngs of people milling around the sealed metal bulkheads. They saw Mark Johnson, the administrator of the bunker, standing on a raised platform next to the bulkhead. He was joined by Tom Bradshaw, the head technician and General Matthews, leader of the armed forces. Johnson raised his hands and the throng fell silent.

"As you know," he said, "today is the day of the emergence. The first day of the rest of your lives. General." he handed over the mike.

The general picked up smoothly, "Yes. Now remember, we have absolutely no idea whatsoever what it will be like up there, so be prepared for anything." He stepped off of the platform, and joined a squad of soldiers waiting for him by the bulkhead doors.

Suddenly a din arose as the crowd became more and more excited. The General signalled to Bradshaw who typed a code into the pad next to the bulkhead. The doors groaned, and the crowd fell silent again. Then, slowly and smoothly, the bulkhead doors slid apart. As they split, a shaft of light fell inside the room. It was followed by a great amount of dusty wind, and when the doors pulled back to their full aparture, beyond was visible the vision of the new Earth.

It was true. It had really happened.

Outside there was but a dust blown desert, a desolate wasteland.

The new world awaited.