He knew that nobody was coming to rescue him — his cleaners would have their own problems to deal with, if the earthquake was as bad as he suspected. Therefore, the only hope he had was to make it outside and put his trust in a passing Samaritan to take him to safety.
He focused on his goal, an elaborately carved wooden door set in an arch of golden mosaics depicting the Virgin Mary guarded by two seraphim. He had tried to steer a path away from any walls and pillars, the plaster and brickwork crumbling so much so that daylight streamed in through holes and cracks. He wondered how much longer it would be before one came tumbling in on him.
His progress was slow and made even more arduous by having to go around larger objects that had fallen in his way. But he had reached his halfway point — directly beneath the Grand Dome — and allowed himself a moment’s rest to look up at the compassionate face of Christ, gazing benevolently down on him. He lay on his back, his chest heaving from his exertions, to study his greatest achievement to date. The incandescence radiating from the gold aura surrounding the figure illuminated the entire cupola. The vibrancy of the colours that made up the central figure was now on show for the first time in half a millennium.
However, as he studied the face of Jesus, his emotions turned from pride to incredulity, then to terror as the Lord’s expression changed; the altruistic smile morphed into a hideous, toothless grin. As the crack widened, it distorted the features even more, making the image appear as though it was laughing at him. He tried to crawl away, but he was too slow and the recently restored figure of the Christian Messiah, as judge and ruler of all, came crashing down on him, burying him under a mound of plaster and gilt mosaics.
‘Dawn, are you alright?’ Seb’s voice came over her headset as the helicopter climbed to a safe height, above the cloud cover.
‘Yeh, we’re both fine,’ she replied shakily. ‘But that was a close call.’
‘What happened?’
‘Not sure, some kind explosion.’ Dawn looked at Devrim for inspiration. The pilot just shrugged.
‘Well, leave that for the time being. We’ve had a hysterical listener on the phone, reporting a major traffic incident on the First Bosphorus Bridge. Can you make your way over there and see what all the fuss is about?’
‘Will do. I’ll come back to you when we’re there. Over and out.’
It took them less than ten minutes to get to the bridge from where they were, using the helicopter’s GPS. As they descended out of the cloud, Dawn could not find the words to describe the panorama that unfolded in front of her, but would later tell her mother that the only word she could come up with, in hindsight, was ‘apocalyptic’.
They both sat there in stunned silence, mouths agape, surveying the devastation all around them.
‘You there yet, Dawn? Over,’ Seb broke their trance.
‘I… I… er… I can’t believe what I’m seeing,’ Dawn managed to say with some effort.
‘Well, try! You’re the wordsmith and our sponsors don’t pay us to guess what you’re seeing. It’s not TV, you know!’ Seb said angrily.
‘I… I… can’t describe it.’
Seb moderated his tone, sensing that it was something serious. ‘Sorry, Dawn. What is it? A multiple-car pile-up? Is the bridge closed?’
‘No, it’s gone.’
‘Gone? What do you mean, gone?’ The irritation was back in Seb’s voice.
‘I mean, the whole middle section of the bridge… isn’t there. Just the supporting pillars are left at either end. It must have collapsed into the sea.’
‘What else can you see?’
Dawn looked around and below her. ‘The whole city’s gone and there are fires everywhere,’ she replied in a monotone voice, still trying to comprehend what her eyes were registering.
She couldn’t see a building standing that was over one floor in height. Streets were buried under a mass of debris and cars were crushed into unrecognisable lumps of metal. It was reminiscent of the images of Nagasaki and Hiroshima after the Americans had dropped their atomic bombs. A thick layer of smog had started to form over the conurbation.
‘Okay, Dawn, listen to me,’ replied Seb, his voice agitated. ‘There must have been an earthquake. We’ve had some tremors here, but nothing on the scale of what you’ve experienced. I’m going to put you on air across the whole network. I’ll get one of the presenters to talk you through what you can see. Are you ready, Dawn? This could be your big break.’
The words seemed to snap her back into reality. She heard her lead-in, via the headset. ‘We interrupt our scheduled programme to bring you some breaking news of an earthquake that has devastated Istanbul, from our reporter on the scene.’
‘Hi, this is Pete. I understand you have some breaking news?’ It was obvious that was all Pete had been told.
She recognised his voice as one of the presenters on Radyo Ankara. ‘Hi Pete, this is Dawn,’ she replied in far too jolly a voice.
‘More serious!’ Devrim hissed under his breath, as he manoeuvred the helicopter closer to the ground to get a better view.
She lowered her voice a couple of octaves. ‘I am witnessing what can only be described as devastation on a biblical scale.’
She could see Devrim nodding his approval out of the corner of her eye.
‘Can you describe to our listeners what you can see?’ Pete prompted.
Yes. We’re flying over what’s left of Istanbul. Most of the buildings have been levelled by an earthquake and I can see thick smoke rising into the air from fires that have broken out across the city.’
‘And what about survivors?’
Devrim pushed the controls forward and they descended. He pulled the stick back, levelling the helicopter at just a hundred feet above the ground, the downdraft from the rotor blades fanning the conflagration.
‘I can see a few people caked in soot and dust, just sitting in the middle of the carnage, dazed. Others appear to be digging frantically, trying to rescue loved ones trapped under piles of rubble. But the majority are clambering over the debris, still dressed in their night clothes, trying to get away from the fires.’
‘And how many casualties do you think there are?’
‘It’s difficult to tell,’ Dawn looked down at the ground below her, but she couldn’t determine if what she could see were just heaps of clothes or bodies. ‘I suspect that most people were still in their beds when the earthquake struck, so we can expect a significant loss of life.’
She signalled to Devrim to take them higher to get an aerial view of the holocaust.
‘There are very few buildings still standing,’ she went on, ‘and I can see the Hagia Sophia. However, it appears to have sustained considerable damage.’ She pointed at the building rising incongruously above the smoke.
Devrim accelerated in that direction.
‘I can see that one of the exterior walls has fallen down, the minarets have gone and the Grand Dome has caved in. But, apart from that, it seems to have withstood the brunt of the earthquake fairly well. Wait! I can see the ground shuddering in front of us. It must be an aftershock… it’s shaking the building… part of the roof’s just fallen in… now the walls are crumbling… What’s that, over there?’ Dawn was pointing to a prone figure inside the ruins. ‘I can see somebody inside the building… he’s waving up at us. We’re going in to get a closer look.’
Devrim steered the helicopter until it was hovering just above the building. Dawn had a clear view of the interior through a large hole in the roof.
‘I can see the person now, it looks like a man. He’s crawling towards the door at the side of the building. The ground’s still shaking quite badly and the roof’s disintegrating, slabs of plaster are missing him by inches, but he’s nearly made it. If he can just get outside we’d be able to land in the park and pick him up. He’s made it to the door, but he’s struggling to stand up to open it. He’s up! He’s leaning against… Oh my God!’