Джек Макдевитт - A Voice in the Night

“What is that, Whit?”

“Believe it or not, it’s a newspaper.”

“It looks as if it’s just hanging in the air.”

“I think it is. A tall guy to my right, he was off-camera, rolled it up and threw it. And it seems to have locked in place. I mean, you can see it hanging there, right, Paula? Nine feet up?”

“I can see it. This must be a hoax.”

“If it is it’s a good one. Look at that woman. How can she stand like that with one foot in the air? She’s in mid-stride. Been like that for at least a couple minutes. Let’s talk to the guy who threw the paper. Sir, what’s your name, please?”

“I’m, uhh, Robert Thomas. I’m from the Falls area. On the Canadian side.”

“Mr. Thomas, how long has it been like this? Do you know?”

“Am I on television?”

“Yes, sir.”

“We’ve only been here for a few minutes. I’m parked over there. In the middle of the block. I don’t know how I’m going to get my car. The pickup turned right here onto Pine and then it just stopped. The driver never moved. Then those two guys went to see what was happening, and they stopped. And then the woman. And the dog. I’ve never seen anything like that dog. You ever see a dog standing absolutely still?”

(Sound of approaching sirens.) “Thank you, Mr. Thomas.”

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to get to my car.”

“Paula, there’s a rescue vehicle coming. Or a police car. Can’t tell which. Okay, here it comes now. It’s police. People are getting out of the way, making room. There’s someone trying to flag them down.

“They’re stopping in the middle of the intersection.” (Crowd noises. Shouts.) “They don’t know what to make of it either.” (Crowd noises lessen.) “I don’t think they want to listen. Oh, Paula, look. It’s happening to them too.”

“This is Sherry Weinberg at City Hall. The mayor’s out of town, but a press conference has been scheduled and is already behind time. This place is chaotic. People running in every direction. We’re hearing that they’re going to evacuate the southern section of the city, from Niagara Falls Boulevard to the river. Meanwhile, people and cars are stopping dead on the streets. Nobody has an explanation for any of this, but we can hear sirens all over the city. We’re getting reports of similar conditions on the Canadian side. Wait a minute. There’s Matt Stockton, one of the mayor’s aides. Matt, can you tell us what’s going on out there?”

“At the moment, Sherry, I don’t know any more than you do. We’ll have an official reaction shortly. Excuse me. Have to go.”

“Paula, I’ve been in this business a long time and I’ve never covered anything remotely like this. People not moving. Invisible barriers that nobody can cross. Wait, there’s a door opening from the sanctum sanctorum, and, yes, I guess we’re about to get our statement.

“The woman taking her place at the lectern is Susan Edward. She’s one of the mayor’s staff assistants—.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s hard to know what to say at this point. I won’t pretend we know what’s going on. I’m told the law of gravity isn’t working any longer on Rainbow Bridge. What I can say is that all our resources are being brought to bear. We’re sealing off the southwestern section of the city, from Main Street to the river on the south, and from the intersection of Main and Lockport across to the river on the north. So far, we haven’t received any reports that anyone’s been injured. I wish we could tell you what’s happening, but at the moment we’re just asking everybody to stay calm. We do not know whether the affected area may spread, so we are strongly advising evacuation of everyone as far east as Hyde Park Boulevard and south of route 182. We also suggest people stay off the river. When we have more information we’ll pass it along. I can assure you we are fully engaged. Hold on a second, Wally. Yes, federal help is already on the way. No, we don’t know how many people are caught in the affected area. It includes most of the major hotels on this side, and the Casino and some hotels on the Canadian side. The affected area appears to be about a mile and a half across. It’s centered near the river between Niagara Street and Buffalo Avenue.

“As you know, the mayor’s in Los Angeles, but she’s getting ready to fly back now.

“Sorry, Wally, I’m not sure I have any answers. To be honest, at the moment I don’t know any more than you do.

“The liaison office will stay open and anything else we get will be made available as soon as we receive it. Thank you.” (Sounds of conversation, chairs scraping.)

“Sherry, am I correct in assuming the area we’re talking about includes the Falls?”

“Yes, it does, Paula. Both the American and Canadian sides. The water looks frozen in place.”

“Okay, we’ve put up a map so everyone can follow this. It includes the entire river front along the Falls area, which is to say the tourist area. Is that Rainbow Bridge?”

“Yes.”

“And what’s the ship?”

“The Maid of the Mist . It was headed downstream away from the Falls when the effect took hold. A few more minutes and she would have been clear.”

“So we’ve got a ship in trouble too. It’s not moving either. And the water’s not moving.”

“That seems to be the case, Paula.”

“How is that possible?”

“You’re asking the wrong person.”

“What did Ms. Edward mean when she said gravity’s not working on Rainbow Bridge?”

“Don’t know. Paula, I’ve been in Afghanistan, Kosovo, and the Gulf War—.”

“—And—?”

“I’ve never seen correspondents look so rattled.”

“Hello, Paula. (Voice somewhat difficult to make out over the roar of blades and engines.) This is Mark Espy in the WKBW newscopter. We’re approaching the Falls from the south. From up here the river looks pretty swollen. The water’s piling up about a mile above Goat Island and they’re getting substantial flooding on both sides.”

“Mark, we can’t see any kind of obstacle in the river.”

“Neither can I. But it’s as if there’s a wall down there. Look at it. Charlie, how about we go a little lower? He’s shaking his head no at me, Paula. We’re a little concerned about this bubble they’re talking about. They’re saying it’s a mile and a half across, more or less. But there’s no indication yet how high it goes.”

“Can you see Rainbow Bridge?”

“It’s off to the north. We’re about two miles from it. Okay, we’re headed there now. The city below is filled with police units. And it looks as if they’ve called out the National Guard. They’re putting a cordon around this entire section of the city. A lot of people are clearing out. Down in the affected area, it’s like a ghost city. Look at it. Nothing moving anywhere. No cars. No people. And my God look at the Falls!”

“They’re frozen. How cold is it there?”

“Forty degrees or so last night.”

“The river’s the same way. Inside the bubble it’s just not going anywhere.”

“Yes. The water’s not moving. It looks like crystal from up here. You can see lots of people down there, some standing along the overlook, others on the approaches, but nobody along there is moving. Everything’s dead still.” (Long pause.) “Here’s something else past Rainbow Bridge. It looks as if the river drops off again. Only a few feet. But it’s there. Curved slightly, all the way across. But there’s never been anything like that before in this part of the river. It reminds me of that movie, The Ten Commandments , when Moses raises his staff and the waters roll back. Except this has only rolled back a little bit.”