Stories the Officers Wouldn't Tell: The Chest

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Titanic characters. They belong to their respective owners and to history. All non-Titanic characters are mine and made by me. I make no money off this bit of silliness. It is written for entertainment purposes only.

Chapter One

That morning had been particularly strange for the deck officers on the legendary Titanic. Someone, sometime, put a large chest against the wall on the bridge. It wasn't particularly fancy or pretty to look at. In fact, the only thing it looked like it was good for was sitting on.

Third Officer Herbert Pitman eyed the chest suspiciously. Whoever was the owner had made sure the sides were decorated in pretty gold leaf wallpaper. The edges that were covered in metal were also gold.

For a minute he wracked his mind to find out if it had appeared out of one of the science fiction novels he had read recently. H.G. Wells never mentioned anything about a chest. Nor did what's-his-name? Nope, not a thing about magical chests.

"You've been staring at that thing for several minutes now. It's not alive, you know," Sixth Officer James Paul Moody said before offering his companion a cup of tea.

"But who put it there?" Herbert protested. Reaching out he gratefully took the tea and peered inside the cup. At least it wasn't that horrible lemon tasting tea that they had yesterday. That drink could choke a goat!

James shrugged. "Maybe Mister Andrews did. You know how he's always walking about and fussing over things."

"Maybe your friends know. It seems Bride and Phillips know everything."

"I wouldn't risk asking them. Jack already threw a drink and made a rather rude gesture at the Marconi machine today. He said something about the creator's hamster…"

"The Marconi creator's mother was a hamster," Herbert corrected. He paused and looked to the younger man who was busy staring off into the distance. Impatiently he snapped, "Stop visualizing it, Moody!"

James snapped to attention and quickly nodded. "Sorry."

Herbert rolled his eyes. He was really wondering about this younger man that stood beside him. "Well, since it's just sitting there we had might as well make it useful."

Shrugging James followed Herbert to the chest to sit down on it. His feet were beginning to ache and he didn't want to waste a good chance to sit down on something. It certainly beat sitting on the floor!

While James felt himself sitting on a rather solid, though uncomfortable chest Herbert found himself pitching backwards. He cried out in surprise followed by a few profanities. It would certainly take more than one Hail Mary to get him out of trouble for those words.

Leaping up from the chest as if it had bitten him James spun around to find his companion gone. For a moment he thought Herbert had fallen behind the chest.

Second Officer Charles Lightoller entered the bridge only to see James bent over an open chest with his backside high in the air.

"If you're looking for your dignity it's gone, James, long gone," Charles said.