Once again ladies and gents it's a miracle! I'm writing this one hour before I leave for graduation! If that's not dedication I don't know what is! LOL!!
Chapter 15: Miracle
Sarah's heart pounded in her chest as the deathly silence descended on the Northwestern. From all the windows in the wheelhouse she could see water rushing by and leaking through the many cracks to slowly fill the small room. It was eerily quiet and she felt a thrill of fear when the Coast Guard did not respond to her call.
"Sarah!" shouted Jake from the galley.
He was wading through knee-deep water and stumbling around floating chairs and supplies in an attempt to get to the wheelhouse. When he arrived at the stairs, a small waterfall rushed down them, nearly knocking him off his feet. While he struggled up the stairs, Jon and Amy climbed onto the top bunks to get away from the steadily rising water line.
Amy was hysterical and began to scream in mortal terror. Alex's eyes were wide with horror but he remained calm for the sake of the crew. He grabbed Andrew by the collar and shoved him roughly towards the bunks.
"Get up there and stay there!" he ordered as he turned to follow Jake.
He slipped a few times as he climbed the water-strewn stairs and rushed into the wheelhouse, gasping for air.
Jake was talking urgently to Sarah, his voice tense with dread and fear.
"What'd the Coast Guard say?" he asked, looking into Sarah's terrified eyes, "You made the mayday call right?"
Sarah shook her head and tried to get over the numbing feelings of fear and doom.
"Of course I did," she said as she climbed onto her chair to get out of the water, "But they didn't respond."
Alex and Jake exchanged a glance before Alex turned to look intently into his captain's eyes.
"Then what do you want us to do?"
Sarah gazed back at him with a blank expression on her face. What could they do? They were under water and apparently sinking rapidly. As far as Sarah was concerned, this was the end for them all.
"Get the crew into survival suits," she said numbly, "Tell them to get ready to abandon ship. We'll try swimming for the surface…we might have a chance if we can do that."
Alex nodded, mind clearing with the familiar sound of orders coming from Sarah. It gave him a sense of structure and order and allowed him to ignore the terrible thoughts going through his mind long enough to fulfill his duty.
"Alright, I'll tell them," he said as he descended the stairs and half-swam into the galley.
Jake gave Sarah a despairing look. She gazed back at him and shook her head in disbelief.
"They trusted me to take care of the boat and to bring the crew home," she murmured, eyes glazed, "That's why they handed her over to me when they retired…and what did I do? I led you all to your deaths. All because I was too greedy…because I wanted to catch the crab."
Jake shook his head in protest and kneeled in front of Sarah. He gazed into her hurt and scared eyes and tried his best to comfort her.
"No, Sarah. That's not true and you and I both know that. We all agreed to come here, not just you. Sometimes things just happen. Now we don't have time to worry about that anymore, okay? Right now let's worry about getting everyone out of here safely."
Sarah nodded as Jake reached into a cabinet and pulled out two survival suits.
Just then, a loud creaking and groaning came from the boat. Jake froze and looked around to see what had caused the noise. Then the felt the boat move rapidly upwards. With a final groan of effort from the Northwestern, her bow leapt out of the Bering Sea and into the open air.
Jake and Sarah flew backwards and slammed into the back of the wheelhouse as the nose of the Northwestern hung in mid-air. Sarah moved her pounding head slightly to look over at Jake. He gazed back at her with a look of startled bewilderment. Below deck the other deckhands were crying out with surprise and startled yells.
Slowly, the nose of the Northwestern began to descend and the back of the boat slowly rose up. After several tense minutes, the entire boat rested solidly on the surface of the ocean.
Sarah moved quickly, not daring to stop and celebrate the miracle that had just occurred. She pushed several buttons on the controls and a whirling sound filled the boat.
"Make sure all the pumps are working!" she ordered Jake, "We have to get this water out of the boat before we go down again!"
Jake rushed down the stairs which were now flowing with water from the wheelhouse. Soon the wheelhouse had only a couple inches of water left on the floor and Sarah scrambled below deck to grab a bucket.
Alex rushed over to her the moment she entered the galley. The water was streaming out of it through the pumps and back out into the ocean. Alex's eyes were wide with amazement.
"What in the world did you do?" he asked, eyes shining with the joy of just being alive.
Sarah shook her head to indicate that she had no idea. She grabbed a pitcher that floated nearby and looked back over her shoulder at Alex.
"I guess we were just in one big wave," she said, voice shaky, "It took us under but the boat didn't take on water very fast so I guess we were still buoyant enough to head back to the surface."
Alex shook his head in disbelief and turned to help Jake check the pumps and calm the rest of the worried crew.
Jon and Amy began to help clean up the mess in the galley while Andrew sloshed through the remaining water to go help Alex.
Sarah went back up into the wheelhouse and began trying to bail the rest of the water out through the window. She sighed after a moment and sank wearily into her chair. She smiled briefly in happiness and looked out through the wheelhouse window.
The sun was rising and the dark clouds had moved on. The storm was gone and the waves were beginning to settle down again. As the sun's rays struck the choppy sea, they reflected onto the Northwestern, illuminating it in the early morning light.
Sarah thought that no morning had ever been so bright.
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