Disclaimer: I do not own anything from this story, they are the FANTASTIC creations of Kenneth Oppel.
Chapter 2- Sabotage
Aaron didn't believe me at first, until he went to throw his dirty shirt into the laundry hamper. It wasn't everyday that your roommate soaked his T-shirt in fuel. My wristwatch told me that it was 7:00. I had lounge duty until eight, when the passengers would be in the dining room having the Eggs Benedict and bacon and home fries and French toast and whatever else their hearts desired.
Grabbing my tie and fumbling with it as I went, I headed down the keel catwalk to the passenger decks. The smell of cooking breakfast was even strong amongst the smell of mangoes and fuel. The lounge wouldn't be to packed, the passengers always made it customary to sleep at least 12 hours aboard the Aurora. The crew had been up before five having their breakfast. I had gotten so used to it that back at home I would have to get up at five and have a bowl of cereal and some toast before my mother even opened her eyes.
The lounge was practically abandoned, except for a man in the corner who was reading last week's Lionsgate Prophet . I could distinctly read the headline "Saboteur aboard the Spirit." Of course I had heard of that. The airship Ocean Sprit had been sabotaged and brought down into the streets of London when it's envelope had been deliberately set on fire. The reason for, or culprit was still unknown. Absolutely no evidence. The Aurora had to have extreme precautions taken to make sure no unwanted characters hitched a ride.
The minutes went on and nobody came in. Finally I took a book from my coat pocket and began reading. The clock above the drink counter chimed every fifteen minutes. The fourth chime was more of a song, and seconds later another cabin boy, Alex Emihalo came in to replace me.
"Three seconds late Alex!" I joked.
" See ya Tom!" he said with a laugh.
Back in the passenger deck corridor, I headed down towards the stern and to the aft starboard engine car. I wanted to see the reason why the propeller had gone crazy like that. The ladder leading down to it was surrounded with florescent warning tape which I ducked under. I knew I wasn't supposed to be here, but like a Pandora's Box curiosity got the better of me.
Wind hit my face from the spot where the propeller should have been. . The pole that I had used last night was on the floor, and as I picked it up, a chill crept up my spine. The pole had been purposely cut cleanly near the end. Sabotage! The cable had evidently been cut by hand, and the bracket in which it was held up by weakened. This was no accident. Even if it had been the propeller that had cut through it, that doesn't explain the Aruba fuel leakage. I found that pipe too, and it was, like the others sabotaged. And if that saboteur was behind this, he was still here. The Aurora could have gone down like the Ocean Sprit.
"Dad! DAD!" I shouted while pounding on his cabin door. " Dad it's important!" When he finally opened the door, he gasped in surprise to see that I was holding the electric cable and the pipe from the engine car.
"What is it Tom?" he asked worriedly, and I hurriedly explained.
" And so the guy who blew up the Sprit is trying to do the same to the Aurora!" I finished, and thrust the cable and pipe into his hands.
" Tom, how did you find this out? You didn't…"
" Yes I went in the engine car, but that's not the point! What are we going to do?" I asked, waiting for my dad's calm and helpful advice.
" We are going to go about or business and head to Sydney as planned. Look, this cut was clearly by the propeller, as it's more jagged than any other instrument capable of cutting through this cable. It's a good thing that Mr. Tursely wasn't in the car when this happened. We have little evidence that this was in fact a sabotage attempt and even if we did, the passengers would find out and we would alert the saboteur himself, if there is one. He would become very violent and we can't afford that."
He smiled, and for a moment I was ready to think he was right. But I knew that this was more than a propeller failure and I was determined to prove it.