A/N: Hola! Once again, apologies for taking ages to update, but college kinda takes up a lot of time these days… Thanks for the fantabulous reviews. Hope ya enjoy!
Chapter 8. In or Out
Saturday, April 13th came right on time. And Samantha and Katherine were at their stations. Following breakfast, they had some running around to do after contriving THE master plan.
"So, let me get this straight," Sam began, strolling with Katie along C-Deck. "We find some victims- I mean, recruits, and um, teach them the ropes?"
Katie nodded. "Pretty much, we got to get them in the right state of mind."
"Because we're in a right state of mind…" Sam replied sarcastically.
"Like with Bubs! He's practically one of us. We corrupted him into our lifestyle. He speaks in the Strong Bad voice when he sees us!"
Katie motioned for Samantha to follow. She rolled her eyes, before mumbling under her breath, "Right state of mind… oy vey." They headed up to the boat deck where Bubs, or rather… Jeffrey? Was that his name? They honestly did not know anymore. Anyway, Bubs had left his post at the elevator to help Katie and Sam set up their tables for the screening: Step one in THE master plan.
&&&&&&&&
"Okay," Katie said, facing Lowe. She held up a piece of paper and showed it to him. "Do you know what this is a drawing of?"
Lowe looked at her inquisitively before slowing replying, "Binoculars…?"
Katie nodded, pleased. "Correct! Now, if you saw these lying around, would you recognize them?" Lowe slowly nodded, wondering where this conversation was going. "Have you seen them lately?"
Lowe shook his head. "I haven't seen them for a few days, now that you mention it…"
Katie held out her hand for Lowe to shake. "Congratulations! You can now move to station two. Sam is just around the corner."
Lowe raised an eyebrow at her hand, slowly shook it, then hurried around the corner to try to figure out what these two had going on. He was simply passing the lift when one of the attendants told him he was wanted on the boat deck by the second smokestack.
"Ah, yes, Officer Lowe!" Sam said as he came into view. She stood up from the deck chair she had been reclining upon. "I see you've passed Katie's tests?"
"Erm, yes…" Lowe replied. Now he was very curious. When he had passed Bubs at the elevator, Bubs had told him that Miss Ismay and Miss Andrews needed his help on the boat deck. Being a ship's officer, any inquiry for help must be heeded, even if from those two.
"Okay," Sam said, pulling some paper out of a bag. "Let's see… Lowe… L…" She ran her finger down the list of about ten names. "So, you passed Katie's tests, so all you have left is to make me feel completely confident in your treasure hunting ability."
Lowe raised an eyebrow. "And how do I do that?"
"Take off your shirt," Sam simply said, folding her hands on her lap.
"What?" Lowe asked, confused, looking around for someone… ANYone…
Before he could even question her again, Katie marched around the corner with her hands on her hips. "You gotta stop that!" she yelled. "We already lost Lightoller AND Cal because you asked them to flex for you!"
"But he's got nice arms!" Sam defended.
"I don't care!" Katie reprimanded. "We cannot search the entire ship for these binoculars with just the two of us, so settle your hormones down and stop being a freak!"
Sam slowly lowered herself down into the chair, looking at Katie with a rather disappointed face. Lowe was still standing there, just observing the pair, the scene, the conversation… At least now he knew that they were trying to find binoculars on the ship. But why? He made a mental note to try to discover their motives.
In the moment of silence that followed, Lowe observed as Samantha's eyes grew to five times their normal size. Her mouth slowly opened and she rose from the chair. Katie grew an extreme look of both concern and fright as she slowly retreated.
"The the the- tea- Biz- Captain!" Sam gasped out. She just realized that, probably at that very moment, J. Bizzle was urging Captain Smith to light the remaining boilers.
Katie's eyes joined Samantha's in being unusually large. "TODAY?" Katie squealed. Now Lowe was even more lost. The blonde one forgot how to speak English and the little one was hitting unnatural decibels. However, his curiosity kept him still. "What are you waiting for?!" Katie screamed. "Go!"
"Gahhhhh," Sam cried as she burst down the deck. Ismay and Smith were most definitely having tea on B-deck and she most definitely was on the boat deck. After running inside the nearest door, she looked as the grates to the elevator closed then raced to the Grand Staircase. She could recite in her head the conversation that her father was about to have with Captain Smith…
Ismay sat in the chair, twiddling his fingers idly. Smith sat up proudly across the round table watching his colleague puff his cigar.
"So you have not yet lit the last four boilers?"
Captain Smith put his tea cup down. "I don't see the need- we are making excellent time."
Sam could hear every word as she raced down two stories of the Grand Staircase from the boat deck.
"Must… stop… J… Bizzle!" she let out between large inhalations during her mad sprint. She could see hear the quiet tinkle of china coming from the first class lounge. The final turn of the staircase was quite the tricky turn, and Sam took it way too fast. Before she knew it, she was flying through the air with a one way ticket to the ground. She landed with a crash at the foot of the staircase.
Smith and Ismay both quickly turned to see what the loud thump was. Upon seeing Samantha's motionless body upon the ground, Captain Smith began to rise from his chair. Ismay buried his face in his hands. He immediately recognized the moaning heap of person as his daughter.
"Oh, just leave her be," Ismay said, stopping Smith in his tracks.
"But isn't that your daughter-" he asked, concerned.
Ismay shrugged. "Yes, it is, but she does this all the time, it's almost a pastime, a hobby…"
Samantha rolled over onto her back, groaning in pain. "I think I broke my face!"
"Anywho," Ismay said, turning his attention back to the Captain. "Wouldn't it be nice to give the newspapers something new to write about?"
"Yeah, about how your daughter broke her back?" Sam yelled from her residence on the floor. "Or how J. Bizzle… how he… how he likes to… oh, nevermind." She began the process of peeling herself off the ground, making as much noise as possible to keep Ismay from persuading the captain.
"This maiden voyage must make headlines!" he urged.
"WHHHHEREEEEEEE" Sam screeched, "ARE MY… KETCHUP BABIES?!" At this point, every head in the joint was turned to her, which she quickly became aware of. Undoubtedly her face turned ten shades of red when she discovered Caledon Hockley at a nearby table. Ismay, however, had enough. He grudgingly excused himself from the table and promptly led his daughter away from the dining area.
Captain Smith rolled his eyes. "Oh, I'm sure he'll get a headline… Ismay's Daughter Gone Mad…"
&&&&&&&&
While all this commotion was going on below decks, Katie was conveniently unaware. She had to man her station in case any other volunteers or recruits showed up for their top secret mission. Unfortunately, no one did, but she did have the chance to chat with Lowe. The conversation stayed mostly upon binoculars, but did stray here and there when she brought up the idea of icebergs. It couldn't hurt for them to be a little more visible in Lowe's mind.
"So why are you looking for these binoculars so badly?" Lowe asked.
Katie exhaled. "Well… you don't have any at the moment, correct?" Lowe nodded. "Exactly the reason we must find them." She was hoping that he would not delve deeper into their reasoning; how much could she afford to tell him?
"How do you know that we don't have them?" he asked. Something fishy was going on here…
"You just told me, duh!"
"Miss Andrews," Lowe said calmly, "I understand there are things you would like to leave out of some conversations, but when it involves the safety and well being of this ship's crew and passengers, I implore you to tell me."
Katie stood there, seriously contemplating the benefit of having a ship's officer know the truth. "Okay, we need to get Sam first." She grabbed his arm and dragged him through the hallways to Sam's stateroom. As usual, she just walked through the door, but realized she should've knocked, as Ismay was sitting irate watching Sam sit on the couch innocently.
"Uhh… sorry?" Katie said as Ismay's attention quickly diverted to her and Lowe's appearance. Sam's eyes linked with Katie's as she mouthed the words "Don't leave me." Katie suppressed a laugh. "Mr. Ismay?"
"What is it? Did you bring Sam's Ketchup Babies?" He was clearly agitated.
"What?" Katie asked. "You lost your Ketchup Babies?"
Sam shrugged. "Long story."
"Long story, indeed," Ismay guffawed, standing up and straightening his jacket. "I must go speak to the Captain and apologize for your behavior. I think it would be in your best interest to behave in my absence, young man." Sam shot him a look. "I mean, young woman. Young daughter… you!" Ismay huffed up then hastily exited the room, leaving the three of them alone.
"Ha, J. Bizzle just called you young man!" Katie teased, plopping on the couch. Lowe remained standing near the doorway.
Sam eyed him cautiously. "Did you kidnap him? Is he watching over you? Did you domesticate him?" she asked as inconspicuously as she could.
"No, he's here partially by his own will…" Katie trailed off. "But the real reason we're here. I think it's time to launch Operation Penguin of Doom."
Sam looked at her, full of interest. "Which would mean…?"
"Officer Lowe," Katie said seriously. "We're from the future. Tomorrow night, Titanic is going to hit an iceberg and sink."
"Katie?!" Sam screeched.
Lowe, however, stood with the same inquisitive look that he wore for the majority of time he spent with these two. "Is that so?" he asked.
Katie shook her head furiously. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but really. It's true."
Lowe crossed his arms, amused. "You and Miss Ismay are from the future?"
"Explains a lot, doesn't it?" Sam guffawed.
"Prove it."
"I was afraid that request might come about…" Katie stated. She looked to Sam. "I do believe it is time for the secret weapon, Samantha."
An evil smile flickered across her face as she did a few trunk twists and back stretches to prepare for the moment. Sam took a deep breath… then began:
"Harold Godfrey Lowe, born November 21, 1882, in a city I cannot pronounce in Wales. Ran away from home when you were fourteen, rejecting an apprenticeship from your father. You then spent some time working along the West African coast, five years, I do believe. Earned your second mate certificate in 1906 and first mate certificate in 1908. Then you worked on the Belgic and Tropic as third officer before hopping on this little humdinger called Titanic, for your first. Trans. Atlantic. Trip." Sam exhaled, holding a hand out which Katie high-fived.
Officer Lowe's face now grew to sheer concern. Did she just spit out a mini-biography?! "Okay, that is mildly convincing… but alright, that was my past. What happens in my future?"
"You get married. And have a daughter and son," she replied matter of factly.
"Who do I marry?"
"Me!" Katie exclaimed. She immediately turned beet red. "Uhh..." She began. "Or someone else…"
Sam rolled her eyes. "You marry Ellen Marion Whitehouse! Next year! September! I'll expect an invitation."
"So I take it we all make it back to land okay?" he inquired.
"Well, yeah," Sam said. "You were quite heroic, actually." He shrugged, approving of his so-called future.
Katie cut in, "POINT BEING that Titanic sinks tomorrow night and a bajillion people are gonna die unless we stop it. Are you in?"
Lowe looked at the two girls, who both gazed back at him with faces full of hope. And a little wistful longing… but with hope, none the less.
"…I guess I'm in."
