Chapter 2

Jan 13–14 2012

There was no doubt in my mind that the ship had hit something. I also knew that with rock versus metal hull, rocks win every time, and from the duration of the vibration I figured there was significant damage to the hull. I looked around. The crew seemed mostly unconcerned and most of the diners had returned to their meals.

Then, I watched a couple of the senior officers excuse themselves from their tables and hurriedly head for the exit.

At that point I realized I was still holding Kate's arm. I looked at her, and she said, "James, what's happened?"

We've hit something ... I think it's serious."

She looked around at the now returning to normal dining room, and with a bit of a smile, said, "But shouldn't there be alarms or whistles or something?"

Her smile faded when she saw how serious I was. She knew I wouldn't joke about something like this.

"Kate, Melissa, we need to get back to our cabins right now. Melissa do you have any idea where Alan is?" She shook her head and said, "I'll text him ... but what's this about?"

"This ship hit something and there may be substantial damage under the waterline. From the duration of the scrapping along the hull that we could feel, we could be in serious trouble." I replied, not really caring if Alan showed or not.

"In serious, you mean like we could sink?" I think she was ready to scoff, but she also knew I was an engineer and that I knew about metal and hydraulic stresses. "Okay, what should we do?"

"First let's get out of here. If the problem is as serious as I think, it won't be long before there will be alarms and announcements." They grabbed their wraps from their chairs and I escorted them from the dining room. We didn't chance the elevators just in case the power failed so we climbed three flights of stairs to reach our deck. As we made our way to our cabins the ship heeled sharply and made what felt like a U-turn maneuver. That only reinforced my feeling of dread. The captain had made that move for some reason. I hadn't paid attention to how far we were from land, now I wish I had.

Fortunately Melissa was on the same deck as we were but she was still some distance down the long corridor. The ship was damn near a thousand feet long.

After the little U-turn maneuver they both looked frightened. Kate clung to my arm as I said, "Look, here's what you both need to do. Change into slacks or jeans and sweaters and maybe your running shoes or something like that - nothing with a heel or slippery soles. Grab a jacket – no telling how long we're going to be on deck and get your valuables out of the safe and your passports and then get your life jackets on."

The lights flickered again. I think Kate and Melissa were starting to grasp the seriousness of our situation. I noticed the ship had slowed, but didn't mention it.

I gently pushed Melissa toward her cabin while opening our door. "Now go! We'll wait for you. See if you can be back in five minutes. And no large bags or suitcases!" I called after her.

I hadn't dressed for dinner, just putting on a casual-looking dark blue silk blazer over Dockers and a polo shirt, so I just tossed the blazer on the bed and grabbed my nylon windbreaker from my still packed suitcase. As Kate hurriedly changed into jeans and sweater, I got our stuff from the room safe. I couldn't help but notice she had worn a very sexy light blue bra and panties set, and with her model-tight body she looked damn good in them. I would miss the sex that was for sure. The rest – the cheating and the drama, I could definitely live without. I pulled my running shoes from my gym bag and swapped them for the loafers I had on.

There was a knock on the door. I couldn't believe Melissa was back already. She must have really been frightened. Unfortunately it wasn't Melissa, it was Alan. He looked like he'd had a lot to drink and bellowed, "What the hell is this all about? I keep getting texts from Melissa about the ship sinking. Where is she? Is this your idea of a joke?" He had balled his fists. What an opportunity I thought. Alan was in okay shape but I knew that he had no chance against me. I would have loved to take out my feelings on him by beating the crap out of him, but there was no time.

Just then Melissa reappeared. She carried a purse and two life jackets and threw herself into Alan's arms. "Oh God, I'm so glad to see you Alan!" He looked baffled as she stepped back and handed him his life jacket.

He looked back at me. Kate stood in the doorway, watching the two of us. That was probably when she realized, perhaps from my look and attitude, that I knew something was going on between the two of them. She looked sad and perhaps resigned. Before anyone could say anything more, the public address system came to life and there was an excited voice saying something in Italian. It was 10:15 and the ship had almost stopped.

The disembodied voice from the speakers made the same announcement in three or four other languages before it got to English requesting passengers to return to their cabins and wait for further instructions. Next, a female voice came on speaking what sounded like Russian.

"Let's go" I said.

"To where?" It was Alan of course. "The announcement said to go to our cabins..."

I looked at him and he seemed to shrink inside himself and I said, "To the lifeboats that's where."

"But we don't even know where they are." He tried to argue. It was true, we hadn't been on board long enough to even have a lifeboat drill, but from my pre-dinner excursion, I knew where they were. And I figured that designated lifeboat stations meant squat in a real emergency. No, it was a situation where the prudent would go to the lifeboats first and worry about the other stuff later.

Suddenly, the hallway seemed to get very crowded as people tried to get back to their cabins. We were given some odd looks since we were wearing bright orange lifejackets. At the intersecting passageway to the stairs it was like swimming upstream against the mob of bewildered looking passengers but we managed. Even Alan seemed to grasp the situation. Or at least I had cowed him into remaining silent. This time we were going down steps several decks. The ship was at a dead stop now, and I noticed a slight list to port. I didn't mention it to my companions. We weren't the only ones milling about the lifeboat deck with life preservers on. None of this group thought of it as a lark. Most were probably, like me, they had decided to get their families out and to the boats quickly. Some petty officers appeared and began to direct others of the crew to get the protective covers off the boats, and open up their access hatches, but they would not allow anyone to get in them yet.

As we stood there I was relieved to see lights on the shore which seemed very close. I breathed a sigh of relief. If necessary I could swim that far. I pointed that out to Kate. She tried to smile but her eyes gave her away as she firmly grasped my arm. Of course Alan tried to act like a big shot and argue with the crew member at our lifeboat. It was obvious that the crewman spoke no English.

At that point I spotted a tall dark-haired young man, perhaps in his twenties, walking through the crowd asking for help in Italian and English. He walked up to a crewman and even though he was speaking Italian I could tell that he was explaining the situation and asking him for help. The crewman just shook his head. Finally he got to our little group and asked if Alan and I would come with him to help his grandparents, and his great-grandmother who was in a wheelchair. He looked very determined. Alan shook his head, but as the young man started to turn I put my hand on his arm and said, "I'll go."

Kate's grip tightened on my arm, "No James, please."

"Kate, I'll be right back." The ship lurched and the lights went out. This elicited some gasps and some screams form the thickening crowd. The emergency lighting system kicked in but it was hardly adequate. I thought about all the rest of the people who were still inside the ship.

That seemed to energize our boat crewman who stepped into the lifeboat and motioned people to get in. We were toward the front of the queue and I yelled at Alan over the commotion, as frightened people surged forward, "Get them into the boats!" He nodded looking frightened and perhaps relieved that I hadn't asked him to come on my fool's errand with the young man. Kate grabbed my arm one more time, and said, "I'm not leaving without you James!"

As the crowd pushed us toward the lifeboat I looked at her and said, "Don't kill Jack, Kate. Get in the damn lifeboat!"

She smiled, the tears obvious even in the dim light, understanding my reference to the movie Titanic. I hated that movie and every time it appeared on TV I said, "Rose killed Jack, by not staying in the lifeboat." It was my opinion that Jack would have survived like the character played by Billy Zane, had he not had to worry about Rose.

Kate gave me a quick kiss and smiled sadly as she said, "Hurry back, Jack". I smiled at her try at humor. In my best "Terminator" voice, I said, "I'll be back."

I turned and followed the young man into the ship.

He had grabbed an electric lantern from one of the lifeboats and used it to help us find our way. The emergency lighting was inadequate. We fought our way against the surge of now very frightened passengers and crew. The ship's list increased. Suddenly we were free of the crowds and it seemed we had the ship to ourselves. It was eerie. We arrived at the cabin of the young man's relatives and found an older couple sitting at the table playing cards by the single emergency light in the cabin augmented by a small LED flashlight, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. A very old and tiny white-haired lady kibitzed from a wheelchair nearby. She looked very elegant in a long black dress with a sequined top.

The young man, who had thanked me and introduced himself as Pietro Bartoli, spoke rapid Italian with the three of them, seemingly trying to interject a sense of urgency into this tranquil scene. Finally the woman at the table laid down her cards with a triumphal cry of "Basta!" and the game was over.

Pietro looked relieved as they gathered their things seemingly without a care in the world. There were only two life jackets in the cabin so I took off mine and made sure it was secure about the old woman. She spoke softly to me in Italian while I got it secured. The young man interpreted, "She says you're very handsome and gallant and if you drown by giving her your life jacket, she'll pray to Blessed St. Anthony every day."

I smiled at her and said, "Grazie."

Pietro shrugged and laughed.

The passageways were empty but the increasing list of the ship soon made it very difficult to push the wheelchair. I scooped up the lady in black and carried her in my arms as she giggled like a schoolgirl and whispered in my ear and then kissed my cheek. I laughed.

Pietro's grandmother walked with a cane and he had his arm around her as he helped her along the tilted passageway. He would never have got them out on his own.

I realized that sometime during the process of getting Pietro and his family I had heard the "abandon ship" announcement. I figured we'd be okay and Pietro urged his grandparents to pick up the pace which surprisingly they were able to do. Fortunately my charge seemed to weigh very little and we made good progress down the decks to the lifeboats. The crowds were gone as were most of the lifeboats, fortunately a couple remained and we were able to make our way to one of them. I looked over the rail and because of the list the water seemed very close. It seemed like many of the boats were already in the water and fortunately the lights of a town were not far away. As I handed Pietro's great grandmother into the boat she looked around and said, "Cecilia?" Pietro shrugged and shook his head.

"Who's missing?" I asked.

"My cousin Cecilia ... but I'm sure she's on one of the boats..." He really didn't sound so sure.

"When did you last see her?"

"Just before I came to the boat deck and found you ... at her cabin. She said she was going to great-grandmother's cabin and she would get them ready to go and we would meet there." He frowned. "What could have happened?"

"You may be right she probably got to the empty cabin and then made her way to a lifeboat." I suggested.

Thinking about it, Pietro slowly shook his head. "Something must have happened. I'm sorry I didn't think about her when we got to the cabin. She should have been there already."

"Where was her cabin?"

"Down the corridor on the same deck, but a long distance from my grandparents."

"Pietro, you take care of your family, and I'll go find her."

He shook his head. "No that's my job."

"Are you a strong swimmer?"

He shook his head.

"Well that's settled. I'll go find your cousin and bring her out. I am a strong swimmer, and we're not far from shore so it won't be a problem if there are no lifeboats."

"But..."

"I'm going, and I'll find her." I said it with a lot more conviction than I felt. I kept thinking about how tall this ship was and the fact it could turn over at any time. I quickly made my way back to the deck where her cabin was supposed to be. Damn this ship was big. I was practically walking sideways to counteract the list and the emergency lights were gone now. Fortunately the lantern was very bright.

I was almost at the grandparent's cabin when I caught sight through an open door of someone lying on a bed. I wouldn't have seen him had the bed not moved to the opposite bulkhead because of the list. I walked in and saw a man dressed in slacks and a expensive looking silk blazer lying on the large bed. I moved to wake him thinking he must be drunk, but I held back shaking him when I noticed his eyes were open but unblinking. It was pretty obvious that he was dead. Damn, what to do? Well I figured I'd get his wallet anyway so once I got ashore I could let the authorities know he was dead. As I held the light over him I noticed a very thick black leather money belt clutched across his chest. I reached inside his jacket and took out his wallet. It was very expensive looking black calfskin that was intended to be stored inside a suit coat or jacket and it contained his driver's license and his passport, and a number of large denomination dollar and euro bills. I quickly looked at the license. It was from New York State and said his name was, "Robert Burns." I almost laughed, as I said, "Well Robbie, my boy you'll nah be singing Auld Lang Syne anymore."

I replaced the passport and license in the wallet and put them both in the money belt which I fastened around my waist under my windbreaker. I grabbed Mr. Burn's lifejacket from the floor near the bed and put it on. As I turned to leave the cabin the light splashed across the desk which was fastened to the wall. A pile of cash had slid across the surface and come to rest on the bulkhead (downhill) side along with several unopened decks of cards. Bridge player? Gambler? I wondered. I scooped up the cash and discovered in its' midst an expensive looking watch. I stuffed the cash in my pockets and fastened the watch to my wrist as I did my best to hurry down the corridor again. It looked like a Hublot Big Bang - a $21,000 chronograph I had coveted for many years, but could never afford. Whoever this guy was he had expensive tastes. It made the nice Citizen eco-drive on my other wrist look positively, well ... like I was one of the hoi polloi - which I considered myself a proud member.

The list was so bad now that as I traveled down the long corridor I had one foot on the bulkhead and the other on the carpeted floor. I kept kicking myself for being such an idiot. Despite the fact I had discovered Kate's unfaithfulness just hours before, I had not suddenly acquired a death wish, but now it looked very much like I didn't have much more time. Maybe it wasn't too late to get the hell out of here. I kept telling myself, just a little bit further and then I'd give up on finding Ms. Bartoli. And then I'd go a little further and convince myself the list hadn't gotten worse, and I would push on.

Suddenly, there she was. In the light of the lantern I saw a petite thirty-something dark-haired woman dressed in a black sheath cocktail dress with her back against the bulkhead. She shaded her eyes against the light as I struggled to figure out what to say, and settled for, "Your cousin sent me."

It even sounded lame to me and I didn't even know if she could speak English. Perhaps, "Ms. Bartoli, I presume" would have been more appropriate. Why is it you always think of these great lines after the fact?

She smiled, and simply said, "Thank you."

As I looked her over I was taken by her beauty. She was maybe five foot three and very slim. Ballerina, I thought. And the way she was leaning against the bulkhead caused her dress to ride up revealing magnificent bare legs. Yup, damned gorgeous.

I said something else profound, "We should go".

"I'm sorry, but I am injured." She said in Italian accented English and pointed to her ankle.

I held the light lower and it was easy to see the problem. Her right ankle was very swollen, maybe twice the size of normal. No wonder she had been a no show at her grandparent's cabin. It must have been a nightmare trying to make it along the maze of corridors in the dark, with her ankle filling every step with pain.

The first thing I did was to take off my life jacket (again!) and make sure it was tight around her. This was just not my night for life jackets. She didn't say a thing as I fitted it snug about her. Perhaps she was in shock or maybe just thinking I was some sort of an apparition.