By the time the sun rose, the crews of the old subs had been replaced by the new. News had spread that Ballard had found Titanic and now everyone wanted a piece of the action. Titanic herself was a bit flustered over all the attention. "It's chaos down here." She told Ballard through the video feed. "I've got little submersibles climbing all over me. It tickles." A childish giggle escaped her and Ballard held back a smile. She was after all, only 10 months old when she sank, still very much a child in ship terms. "I can ask them to stop if you like." he said. "No, that's okay. I kinda like it. They say such silly things." Another laugh. "Do you know how long it's been since I've laughed?" She said breathlessly. Curious, Ballard shook his head. "I haven't laughed since I was last with Olympic in Southampton. April 3, 1912. Shocking, isn't it." She said. "No, it's not shocking. With everything that's happened, I can't see much to laugh about." He replied. "Until now." She smiled. "Until now." He agreed. "What's the weather like up there?" She asked. "Sunny and 65." Ballard replied. "Calm seas?" She asked. "Wouldn't be having my subs down there otherwise." He replied. She nodded. "Let's hope it stays that way." She said. "I hope it does too Titanic but it is approaching hurricane season. In a few weeks I'll be having to leave this area and I won't be back until next year." He said. She sighed. "I'll be here as always." She said. "I have a lot of work to do yet before I can even attempt to raise you." He said. "I know, I know I just I want someone with me." She whined. "When I reach Woods Hole, I'll see if I can find a companion for you." He said. "You mean it?" She perked up considerably at this. "Every word." He replied.

She bit her lip. "There are others here." She said. "I don't like them, the way they treat me." "They'll be going too. Their slaves to the season just as I am." He said. "You better come back." She said. "I will, don't worry." He replied. "Promise? And you promise you won't let these, what do you call them, salvage experts at me?" She asked. "I promise on both counts." He replied.

...

A year later, Ballard was in for a nasty surprise. When he sent his two submersibles down, one ended up being caught by something large. It growled and jerked its head side to side as tore through the subs hull. Frantically, Ballard took up a mike and tapped into the video feed that he knew Titanic had surely gotten into herself by now. "Titanic stop, stop!" He shouted. The great ship paused, the sub still in her jaws. "Ballard?" She asked. "It's me, it's me old girl." He said. She spat the sub out. "You promised!" She wailed. "You promised me and they-they came and..." "Hush, I'm sorry Titanic. I'm so sorry. I wish I could've helped you. I came as early as I could..." He said. "They wouldn't stop. Even when I struck at them they learned to bring whips with them." She whimpered. "They whipped you?" Ballard whispered in shock. He never liked salvagers, they took what they wanted and didn't care what damage they did to the stuff they didn't want. They were cruel, but Ballard hadn't known them to be that cruel. "Are you alright?" He asked her, fearful the salvagers might've done more harm to the ailing ship. "Just a few scratches. I may be old but I can take a worse punch than that." She replied. "The whips were only half the issue though." "What did they take?" Ballard asked, catching on. "They took almost all the artifacts from the Strauss room, including clothes and they took a few things from Andrews' room as well." She replied. "Bastards!" Ballard hissed. "Did they do any other damage to you?" He asked. Whimpering, she shook her head slowly. "We've got a lot of bloody silt here." came the voice of the first sub's pilot. "Can you locate its source?" Ballard asked. "We're trying to but it's getting really thick." came a faint reply. Finally, after several tense minutes the pilot came back on. "Yeah I'm seeing several deep gouges in the old girl's port side. Definitely man made. They were barbed tipped whips by the looks of it." He said. "Damn, is it still bleeding now?" Ballard asked. "It's just oozing but it's beginning to clot. Also the cold's helping to seal off any exposed blood vessel. Probably explains how Titanic didn't just bleed out when she split in two. Sheer cold and pressure just pinched the veins shut and her body took care of the rest, sealing them off permanently." The pilot replied. "I see. Do what you can to stop the bleeding, I'm getting in contact with DC." Ballard said. "Robert..." Ballard paused. "Yes Titanic?" He asked. "I knew you'd come back." Ballard smiled, placing a hand reverently on the screen, wishing that he could actually feel her instead of a mere image of her. "I promised didn't I?" He replied. "Now I'm going to get in contact with the government, they need to know what's been going on here." He said. "Good luck." She said. "thanks." He replied.