Chapter 7
Steve grabbed the railing trying to pull himself up the outside stairs.
The metal tube that surrounded the steps protected him from the torrential rain on the outside but the heavy swaying of the boat tossed him about on the inside.
The life jacket he wore helped cushion some of the blows as he struggled to stay upright. It was taking all of his strength just to get up to the next level that Mandy's room was on.
He finally made it back inside but the shelter did little to drown out the sound of the pounding rain and thunder that roared all around them.
He held onto the gold finished handrail that ran along the hallway and pulled himself along in the dark, trying to keep his balance.
"Mandy?!" he yelled out as he was thrown back and forth against the walls, slowly making his way to her room.
She lay on the floor by her bed, gripping tightly to the leg of her nightstand that was bolted to the floor. Her hands slippery from sweat and fear, hearing a voice call out her name as tears of relief filled her eyes, knowing it was Steve coming for her.
"Here!" she yelled out. "I'm here!" A wave hit the window and she screamed, assured it was going to break the glass and the ocean was going to come right through.
The sound of her scream sent a wave of panic through him as he dropped to his hands and knees in order to get to her faster.
He reached up and grabbed her doorknob and turned. There was no need to push it open, the door flew open on its own, slamming against the back wall and then came back at him as the boat swayed in the opposite direction. He moved his hand just in time before it closed on his fingers.
He reached up again and used his body this time to prevent it from closing.
"Mandy?" he said calmly, wanting to let her know he was not panicking and neither should she even under the dire situation.
She pulled herself up to her knees and grabbed the bed, "I'm here Steve!" She fell backwards as the boat shifted once again, hitting the closed closet door.
He heard a thud and then her moan from pain.
"Hang on, I'm coming."
He lay on his belly and did an army crawl over to her, trying to stay parallel to the boats swaying, using his elbows to inch his way across the floor. He stopped first at her bed and reached underneath, having been instructed that there were life jackets placed beneath each one as an extra safety precaution. It was where he had found his. He felt around just as he was rolled onto his back, feeling the object and getting a hand on it and pulled it away from the Velcro hold.
He came around the side of the bed and saw her gripping tightly to the nightstand again with both hands this time. Her long yellow nightshirt pulled up to her thighs as she tried to brace her feet on something.
She had been somewhat composed and in a survival mode but the second she saw him she lost her composure and started to cry from the sheer terror that was engulfing her.
He crawled over to her, ignoring the cries and fear in her eyes, his first priority was getting a lifejacket on her.
"Help me get this on you," he said in a voice that was as calm as if there was nothing going on out of the ordinary. It in turn calmed her some, seeing he was not frightened.
She lifted her arm and he slid it in as they both began to roll against the bed. He put an arm around her waist and braced his foot against the closet door and gripped on to the same nightstand leg that she had, keeping them both stable for the few seconds it took to get her arms in the lifejacket.
They both heard a loud humming noise and then felt a vibration beneath the boat. His first thought was that it was coming apart, but then seconds later the yacht seemed to stabilize to a point that they both felt they might be able to stand. It still rocked back and forth but the motion was far less turbulent.
"The wings," Mandy announced, her voice as unsteady as the boat. "It's the…stabilizer…wings…on the boat."
At that second all she could do was be thankful that her father was afraid of the water. He had spent thousands of dollars in extra safety precautions on the boat when it was being built because of that fear.
"We need to get to the bridge," Steve said to her. "It's not safe down here." What he actually meant was that he needed to get to the bridge to help the Captain and was not about to leave her out of his sight for a second.
Mandy nodded as he zipped up her lifejacket, holding onto his forearms as they both were able to kneel down now, but still needed assistance to keep their balance against the relentless swaying of the boat.
"We have to use the outside stairs," Steve reminded her, watching as her eyes grew wide over the idea of going outside. The inside stairs did not go up to the bridge.
She understood his reasoning but still, the thought of going outside terrorized her.
"You'll be ok," he assured her. "You can just hang on to me and I'll get you up there safe." He looked her straight in the eye, "I promise."
She saw an unwavering strength in his eyes, feeling comforted by it even as the storm raged outside her window. He had protected her once before from danger that was beyond her control, why should she doubt he could do it again.
"All right," she replied, her voice more in control, "let's go."
"Slowly" he said, as he stood first. The boat still swayed but the rocking was less turbulent, both hoping the stabilizer wings held out.
She held firmly to his arm and stood up, parting her legs as she found her footing with his help.
He turned around; facing the door, "Hold on to my lifejacket."
She did just that, gripping the ties that wrapped around and clipped in the front. He moved slowly at first and then found it better to focus on a destination in front of them and make it a focal point, sharing his plan with her every step of the way.
The boat was dark, except for the flashes of lightening and the emergency lights that were powered by the generator from the engine room. They weren't as bright as the regular lights but served their purpose.
They only had one level to go up and Mandy closed her eyes tightly as they made the transition to the outside. The wind howled but they were somewhat protected from the upper level deck that provided cover for the outside seating area where they had had their first conversation the night before; the stairs were directly to the left of the sliding doors. The table below was secured to the deck but the dining chairs were not. She could see one of them that was teetering on the edge of the railing, being forced over by one of the large lounge chairs that was beneath it.
He tried to close the sliding door again but did not give it any more effort than to just push it, not caring if the rain went inside. His concern was getting her to the safety of the bridge as soon as possible.
He changed positions with her, putting her in front of him now and putting an arm tightly around her body so he could prevent her from falling if she slipped.
"Frederick?!" Mandy shouted over her shoulder as the wind blew through the tube and then rain pounded on the outside of it.
Steve looked up over her shoulder to the top of the stairs and realized then she was just inquiring about him but didn't actually see him.
"I saw him earlier," Steve said. "He's fine. I need to get you to the bridge," he said, not wanting to leave her, also not wanting to tell her of the flood of water on the lower deck that he shared with Frederick and Parker. Their last conversation was of Mandy. Frederick had insisted that Steve go to her and leave him to tend to the leak that was causing the flooding.
They made their way up and looked out as the rain blew sideways and the waves rocked them back and forth. She had both hands on each of the side rails and his around her waist as he stood next to her now, but still was finding it difficult to keep her balance.
"We're going to go quick," he shouted even though her ear was only inches away, but the noise in the tube was deafening and the thunder was far louder now that they were outside.
She nodded her understanding.
"Hold on to me, Mandy, tightly! Don't let go no matter what! Do you understand?"
She nodded again, "Yes, yes, I understand." She gripped on to the ties around his lifejacket again and held on so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
"No matter what!" he demanded again.
"No matter what," she confirmed.
Captain Bordeaux caught the sight of them and cursed loudly as he unstrapped himself from the control chair and held on to the support bars that ran along the side of the control board, strictly for the purpose that they were being used now.
He swung the door open as it flew against the back wall. He bent his head, trying to shield his face from the blast of wind and rain and reached out for Steve's hand.
Steve grabbed it and he pulled them inside.
Bordeaux grabbed the door and pulled it shut as Steve and Mandy braced on to whatever they could and wiped a hand over their dripping wet hair.
"Why did you bring her here?!" Captain Bordeaux yelled. "It was dangerous to bring her outside."
"As opposed to the danger in her room as she was being thrown about like a ragdoll!" he argued. "The bridge is the safest place for her!"
Bordeaux ignored the reply as he jumped back in the main chair and tried to steer the boat with the joystick control, but it was proving useless.
"How big is this storm?" Steve asked him, glancing at the control board instruments that showed a cluster of red spread out over the tiny mark that was presumably their boat and their current location. He did notice too that Rarotonga was not on the radar at all.
"The main steering is out," he yelled, informing Steve of the critical issues of the boat. "The whole system is down. The hydraulics must have failed. I'm working with the generator power."
"The lower level is flooded," Steve informed him.
The Captain looked at him horrified over that news, understanding now the issues that were causing his grief. "The engine room must be flooded then. Is the bilge pump working"?
"I don't know. Why wasn't it sealed shut?!" Steve yelled, unable to contain his anger over that, being told sternly on his tour of the yacht that it must remain sealed at all times. Bordeaux even went as far as telling him that if he caught him coming out and not sealing the door that he would bust his head for it.
"I don't know!" he shouted back. "Parker must have left it unsealed."
"Don't blame the kid!" Steve yelled. "This is your vessel, under your control, not Parker! As soon as the storm began you should have had a check list!" He wanted to punch him for not only underestimating the storm and putting all of them in danger but for not controlling the boat that he was in charge of.
"I'll go now," Bordeaux bellowed as he climbed off the chair. "We need to seal the engine room and conserve the generator power to get back the steering."
"No!" Steve growled, "I'll go, you stay and do what you can here. Have you called for help and given them our location?"
"The communication antenna is down."
Steve felt his heart drop to his stomach, knowing they were on their own.
He looked over at Mandy as she stood in the corner barefoot with her yellow nightshirt glued to her body below her lifejacket. Pieces of her hair stuck to her face, the rest of it dripping wet. She held on to the support bars on either side of her, staring at him with that same look of terror in her eyes that she had when he found her.
"Don't go down there," she begged. "Please don't go down there."
He stumbled over to her, holding the bar with one hand and bracing a hand on the wall by her head with the other. "Stay here. I'll be back. Don't leave this spot."
"Please don't go," she pleaded as she started to cry.
"Mandy," he scolded her, "stop! I need you to keep your head straight. Think and stay alert to what is going on around you. Don't let your guard down and don't worry about me. I'll be back and I need you here safe and sound when I do. Promise me."
He was depending on her, she thought astounded? It didn't matter if that's not what he had truly meant but it was what she had heard.
"I'll be here and I'm…I'm fine." She didn't blink as she looked at him. "I promise I won't move."
He smiled wanting to kiss her for that, but it would have to be another time, thankful again that she could remain level headed in a crisis and didn't become hysterical.
She watched as he made his way back over to the door.
"Frederick," Steve said to the Captain, "have you seen or heard from Frederick? He was below working on the flooding."
"No," Bordeaux answered, staring out the wide windows before him as the waves began to crash over the bow.
Steve glared at him. He was no real Captain; he was nothing more than hired help.
It took him several minutes to get down to the level of the galley and where his room was. On the way he had managed to close the large sliding doors to the living room but the damage was already done. The couches and fancy white plush rug were soaked and smelled of salt water.
He went down the inner staircase and stepped off the last step into a puddle of water, looking down at his bare feet that were in at least two inches of water.
He called out to Frederick, but heard no reply.
As he neared the galley, he could smell smoke, hurrying down the small hallway in the dim light, seeing it now as he entered the kitchen.
He stood at the door and saw smoke pouring out of one of the two ovens. He knew the galley ran on propane as he scanned the area looking for an emergency shut off valve.
There was a red steel box located just outside the pantry. He staggered over, pulling on the handle to open it and began flipping all the switches to the right, shutting it all down.
"Frederick!" he shouted again, but there was no reply.
He had to get to the engine room to get it sealed. The water at his feet was coming in from somewhere and he only hoped it wasn't the flooded engine room now overflowing, hoping Frederick had got the leak stopped. Too much water down there and one large wave could capsize them, stabilizer or not.
He made his way back out to the hallway and down the corridor past his room and then Frederick's, looking inside to see if he had fallen and hurt himself. He saw nothing, but as another large wave struck the boat he heard a large rushing of water.
"Frederick! Frederick!"
He made his way down to Parker's room and found the reason for the flood.
"Shit!" he yelled, looking across his room and seeing that his window hatch was undone, cursing the youth for leaving it open. He made his way over past the small desk and reached for the round glass and metal porthole but was blasted by another wave as he tried to close it.
He felt like he'd been hit with a fire hose as he fell backward, striking his forehead on the end of the dresser, dazing him.
He wiped his hand over the painful spot and saw blood but ignored it, going once again for the porthole, getting it closed this time just before another wave struck the sealed window.
He came back out to the hallway, ignoring the blood that ran down his face and dripped off his chin into the water at his feet, leaving a trail of red behind him.
The hatch to the engine room was on the floor at the end of the hall with a series of steps that led down into it, and as he had expected, it wasn't sealed. The lid was closed but he could see a crack of light coming from below
He pulled up on the handle as the water at his feet poured down the steps inside the room, but the amount of water that was already inside could not have come from the hatch in Parker's room, there was simply too much. There had to be a leak somewhere down below, a hole in a pipe or a valve perhaps. They were too far out at sea to have come in contact with anything large enough to puncture the hull of the yacht so it had to be faulty equipment.
"Frederick!" he shouted down, becoming alarmed over his disappearance.
He climbed down, wiping away moisture from his right eye, seeing his arm covered in blood when he did.
The room already had about two feet of water that came up just below his knees as he waded through it, taking off his shirt at the same time, wading it up in a ball and using it to cover the wound at the hairline of his forehead.
The ship swayed and he used his free hand to grip the black metal rails that ran along the two long rows that were almost the entire length of the ship. He listened carefully trying to decipher the difference between the raging storm outside and the running of water inside as he made his way down the first row. He lost his balance a couple of times as the boat swayed and the force of the moving water tripped him up. He fell against the steel railings, feeling as if his body was going to be one giant bruise by the time he was finished.
As he neared the end of the first row, he could hear a faint motor running, seeing a closed off room that was water tight, assuming that was the emergency generator; relieved that it was protected, but if the engine room flooded too much more the need for a generator would be useless, because they would be at the bottom of the Pacific.
He came down the next row as the ship swayed yet again, losing his balance and falling backward against the thick steel pipes and nozzles that where sticking out, striking him in the back just below the shoulder blade.
"Fuck!" he yelled out of pain and frustration, pulling himself back up again, losing his grip on his shirt as it floated away from him.
He didn't give it a second thought as his attention was focused only a few feet in front of him at the cause of the problem.
Water poured out of a valve that was attached to a pipe.
He made his way over and tried to read the sticker on the pipe but his eyes were blurry and he blinked a few times trying to clear the smoke in his head from the blow he had received.
He finally made out the words, Conversion tank, slipping his hand under the escaping water and tasted it, it was salty. He looked up at the pipes that ran between it and the next tank over. The leak came from the water brought in from the outside and then converted it to fresh water in this tank and then moved it to the third tank once it was ready. If he couldn't get the intake valve sealed, it would continue to pull water in from the outside until the ship finally sank.
He gripped onto the nozzle with both hands and turned it clockwise, hoping to tighten it enough to seal the leak, but it was useless. There was no way to shut it off by hand.
He moved on down further and saw an identical tank labeled Intake and followed the pipe from that one that attached itself to the leaking one. He turned its nozzle as well until it locked, his eyes on the main leak down the way, hoping it would stop.
He wiped away more blood on his face and suddenly felt dizzy and seasick from the swaying of the boat, closing his eyes to try and ward off the feeling that he was going to pass out.
"Relax," he whispered, but it was impossible under the circumstances; his adrenaline was off the charts.
He opened his eyes back up and smiled through his dilemma at the sight of the broken valve down the way. The water had slowed and as he continued to watch, it became nothing more than a small stream.
He waded through the water that was now above his knees to the ladder, forgoing the bilge pump for now. Holding tightly to the handrails, afraid if he fell again and hit his head he would drown in the water.
He got himself up the ladder and sealed the hatch, lying down on the floor that was still wet but free of standing water giving himself a few seconds to catch his breath and ward off another wave of nausea and the feel of faint. The rolling of the ship wasn't helping the cause as he tried to brace himself in the narrow hallway. He knew then that the head wound was worse than he thought.
The image of Mandy came to him and he forced himself to get up. He promised her he'd be back.
He made it as far as the next level, coming up the inner staircase headed for the glass doors on his hands and knees as the dizziness returned. He fell over on his side; his eyes fluttered as he fought to stay awake, blindly reaching out to the side for something to grasp on to.
The last thought that crossed his mind before he passed out was of her.
Mandy crouched down in the same spot he had left her, gripping tightly to the safety handles above her head. She had a good hold despite her sweaty palms as she stared at the door, praying hard for his safe return.
The room suddenly lit up and she heard a loud crackling sound and then an explosion as the whole bridge vibrated. She screamed out, seeing sparks falling from the roof past the windshield.
Bordeaux came off his chair and to the door, looking up. She didn't know what he was trying to see and just as he put his hand on the latch and turned, another wave hit from the far side, tilting the boat as the door flew open and he fell through it onto the deck.
Mandy screamed again as she was tossed about in the corner of the room having to let go of the protective railing as her arms twisted with the motion of her body.
Rain and wind poured in from the open door that wiped back and forth until the boat swayed in the opposite direction slamming it closed.
She crawled over to the window, knowing Bordeaux was still out there.
She used the bar beneath it and pulled herself up, looking out and seeing him on the deck trying to claw and kick his way back to the door.
She held on and moved her way down to try and aid him somehow but only got a few steps as the boat swayed yet again, pushing her body against the thick glass window. She watched in horror as Bordeaux slid toward the edge, his arms and legs frantically trying to hold on to something, but there was nothing until he slipped beneath the railing, grasping on to it with both hands. She could see the terror on his face as the boat swayed down, dipping him in the water and then raised up again. He still held on.
"Hold on!" she screamed, making her way to the door. But as she glanced out again at the railing, he was gone.
She screamed out his given name but knew he had gone overboard. There was absolutely nothing she could do for him now. His only hope was that he was wearing his lifejacket.
She sank down and crawled back over to her corner and faced the wall, gripping onto the railing above her head, picturing him in the turbulent water while she cried hysterically.
Another flash of lightening lit up the room and she screamed Steve's name this time, assured he had fallen over board as well.
She closed her eyes tightly and waited…waited for the ship to capsize and take her life too.