"What do you mean there has been no response?" Lois echoed, trying hard not to sound as distressed as she felt. "This is a new day. There should have been a response by now."
"I mean," said the man behind the desk with gritted teeth, "that there has been no response. I'll tell you what, if you promise not to come back here anymore, I will personally come and deliver the telegram to you, ma'am."
"Where do they send the telegrams out?" Clark asked.
"It's called the radio room. It's not far from here, but I promise you that your telegram has been sent out. We run an efficient ship here. However, if you would like to see where your telegram was sent out, they do allow passengers a brief glimpse at the room."
Clark and Lois started walking to the radio room right after the man gave them directions.
She spoke on the way, "I don't care what that man says. If Oliver and Chloe got that message and there's no reason they wouldn't have, they would have sent Bart, A.C., somebody to check on us by now."
"I agree," Clark assured her. "It's definitely cause for concern."
There were two young men in the small radio room and fancy, antique-looking equipment filled what little space there was, but they all managed to fit in it.
"What would you like to know or are you just taking a peek?" the older of the pair asked.
"Did you type a message yesterday to Star City?" Clark asked.
"Yes," he answered slowly, obviously trying to figure out what these passengers were doing drilling him about modern telegrams.
"Are you sure it went through okay? What's your reception like?" Lois asked.
"Are we talking reception now or at the time of the original Titanic?" the younger of the two men asked.
"Now," Lois clarified with a roll of her eyes. She wondered where they dug up these people who worked here.
"It's much greater than it was then. There's no doubt that your message was delivered. The equipment may look old, but they're new and fully functioning."
"Has it been checked to make sure?" Clark asked, wishing he could use his x-ray vision to check the wiring himself.
"You bet. We checked it before we left port. If the electricity were to fail, we have a back up generator and batteries. This baby is set," said the older one like a proud father.
"Well, humor me," Lois said. "Pretend it's 1912, and I'm a snooty first class passenger wanting to make doubly sure my message was sent. Do you know how to check and make sure messages are going through?"
"Sure," said the younger one, rubbing his long fingers together like he was getting ready to play the piano. "I can send a message to our office in the UK. I'll tell them to send a response immediately."
The clocks in the room ticked loudly counting down the seconds as they waited for the answering telegram. The seconds turned into minutes.
"That's funny," he said, clearing his throat rather nervously. "I know it's working. We've been getting messages since we left."
"I'll be back," the older one announced. He looked a little nervous too.
"Are you the only means of communication to land?" Lois asked the young man.
"As a licensed ship, we do have other forms of communications. This little setup is mostly for historical purposes."
Lois and Clark both breathed sighs of relief. They weren't stranded in the ocean without communication.
"Would it be possible for us to send our message on the other equipment?" Clark asked.
"If sending out messages has somehow been disrupted, I'm sure you'll be allowed to have it sent out on the other equipment."
They waited until the other telegraphist appeared with a superior officer. The telegraphist appeared to be a shade or two paler then when he left.
"The captain would like to speak with the two of you personally," he said to Clark and Lois. To the telegraphists he said, "As for you two, carry on and let me or the captain know of any updates."
"What's this about?" Lois asked suspiciously.
"Nothing to be alarmed about, ma'am. The captain just wished to offer his profuse apologies and explain the situation."
They were led to the captain's quarters and left to speak with him.
"I want to apologize about that telegram business," the captain explained, "and assure you that you will be refunded the money."
"The money isn't what has us worried," Clark said, "is there any way to contact people on dry land?"
He looked uncomfortable momentarily but retained his composure and replied honestly, "At the moment no, but there's no need to really. It seems we can receive messages, but something is blocking messages from going out on all fronts. We've only recently become aware of the situation. I assure you we will get to the bottom of this small problem. Besides, we won't be at sea too much longer."
"We're cut off from the outside world, and we're going to continue as if there's nothing wrong?" Lois asked in disbelief.
"You have nothing to be fearful of, Ms. Lane, Mr. Kent, I assure you. If we were to experience any sort of distress, we have lifeboats, signaling devices. There's no reason to alarm the other passengers. Believe me, the last we need is a mob of panicked people," the captain smoothly explained. "I trust we can keep this bit of unfortunate news to ourselves."
"You're the captain, Captain," Lois said, her tone riddled with sarcasm. "If you say we stay on course, I guess we don't have any say in the matter."
They left the room. Time was growing shorter and the situation was getting more desperate.
"I was considering telling him about the note," Clark said, "but I don't think there'd be any point. He seems determined to cover this up."
"Our only hope is to find the person who slipped us the note. I don't think the crew is going to take us seriously until we have definite proof that we're in danger."
They hadn't gone far before a middle-aged man with a heavy mustache came up to them. "The captain wishes to offer you a complimentary tour of the ship and asks you both to dine with him this evening."
"Our bribe for keeping silent I suppose," Lois muttered.
"We'll take it," Clark agreed straight away.
Lois whispered to Clark, "Do we really have time to take tours right now?"
"What better way to get more familiar with the ship," he whispered back, "and who knows what else we might spot not running like it should. It might give us a clue about where to look next."
Lois couldn't argue with him there. "Let's take a tour then."
