The Seastead Girl by Tara Maya & Tara Maya

Author:Tara Maya & Tara Maya
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tara Maya

Emergency

25

There were several different kinds of alarms on the island, but the one we had been drilled to respond to with the most alacrity was the weather alarm. In short, the biggest fear of the adults on the island was that a typhoon would hit the seastead. So we all learned the distinctive caterwaul of the typhoon alarm.

A voice came from each of our erists at the same time. A bleep bleep, in the same pattern as the island alarm, was followed by a pre-recorded slightly robotic sounding female voice.

“Please proceed to a designated safety area. This is a typhoon alert. A typhoon has been spotted in the area. Please proceed to a designated safety area. This is an alert. Please proceed to a designated area…”

Marsha Wizneski shouted at us, as she briskly walked up and down the rows of shooters, “Take off your safety equipment and turn in your guns at the counter before you exit. All students are to depart in an orderly fashion. Please turn in your guns and your safety equipment before you leave. We will walk as a group to our designated safety area in the Heart.”

Kaplan took my hand almost as if he were not aware of doing it. He was frowning intensely and his eyes kept darting to me. A little smile tugged his lips upward in his otherwise serious face.

Outside, it was raining, although to me it looked more like a gentle drizzle then a typhoon.

“If this is a deadly storm, it’s not even trying,” I said. Then I slapped my own forehead with my palm. “Sorry! I guess I shouldn’t jinx it.”

Kaplan laughed. “The typhoon warning is usually given when the storm is still a ways away. If the storm was already here, something went seriously wrong.”

We turned in our equipment, as Wizneski had asked, and on the way out another instructor handed us lifejackets. These were stored in every major building. There were always enough lifejackets for the maximum number of occupants allowed in the building. We didn’t even make a dent in the available store. Now we were all dressed like traffic cones in bright orange.

Outside the shooting range we joined a stream of other walking traffic cones, most of whom were already heading towards the Heart. Those who had not yet gotten life jackets stopped at nearby buildings where life jackets were available to put on.

Gradually all the streams of pedestrians and bicyclists converged at the center of the island, what we all called the Heart of the seastead. It was near the Sea Crest Grand Hotel where I had first stayed. The buildings at the Heart were all built to withstand typhoons and could serve as bunkers for up to 8000 people. The maximum expected population of a fully built seastead was supposed to be 5000, but every seastead had contingencies for tourists, visitors, temporary workers, or even refugees.

The alarm kept wailing in the background the whole time that we headed to the Heart. A short time

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