AN: This is the last main chapter. I had intended for this to be the last chapter but it ended up being a bit too long so I decided to break it up. The next chapter will be more of an epilogue. Enjoy!
Chapter Twenty Three: Rescue
It wasn't long before a Chinese rescue ship arrived at their location, lowered a ladder to them, and helped them aboard. They were all whisked away to the ship's on board sick bay to be treated for their injuries. When they had been checked out, those who did not need to stay in sick bay for further observation were given clean clothes and assigned a stateroom. Zack, Max, and Russell all checked out fine, just having minor scrapes and bruises despite having nearly been blown to bits. They let Cody go too after checking his ankle and putting his arm in a sling. Bob and London needed a bit more observing having taken some glass to the face when the windows in the Star Tropics lounge had shattered. Their initial prognosis by the Chinese medics was good and there didn't appear to be any permanent damage to their eyes. Connor, who had bonded to the twins like glue since they were rescued, informed them that out of their group only Nelson needed serious medical observing for a blow to the head that resulted in a serious concussion. He was expected to be okay in time. Connor's mom had several broken bones, the result of having been whisked down a corridor by a torrent of water during their escape, but the bones had been set and casts put on and she was resting in her stateroom. The rest of them, like everyone else, just had scrapes and bruises.
After taking hot showers and devouring the first meal any of them had had in hours they all retreated to their staterooms to get some much needed rest. They had wanted to call family members to let them know they were alright but the rescue ship didn't have the capabilities to patch everyone into their family's individual numbers. Instead the ship had reported the names and statuses of all the survivors to its homeport in Beijing. Since the survivors were all U.S. citizens, the port had contacted the U.S. embassy in Beijing who had in turn supposedly contacted the families. London was fairly confident her dad was going to be there waiting for her but the others in Zack's group were not sure who would be there for them. If London's dad was there they figured he would most likely fly them all back in his plane.
In Zack and Cody's room, both twins lay awake on their bunk beds listening to the sound of the rescue ship's engines. As tired as they were, they found sleep to be almost impossible.
"I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep until we're back on dry land" Cody said from the bottom bunk.
"I hear you Codes" Zack replied.
"Do you think dad will be waiting for us in Beijing?" Cody asked. This caused a sigh to escape from Zack.
"I don't know. I'm sure he would want to be there, but unless Mr. Tipton flew him out I don't know if he could make it" Zack replied.
"Mom would…there wouldn't have been anything that would have stopped her from…" Cody started before choking up.
Zack jumped down off the top bunk, sat on Cody's bunk, and gathered his brother in his arms. He held him tight as both of them cried for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. When they had cried themselves out once more, Cody was the first to speak in a shaky voice.
"I don't want to live with dad. I love him but I don't want to go on the road with him and his band" Cody said between sobs.
"I know, me neither. I tried it once remember and I ended up hating it…but we may not have a choice" Zack replied.
"Well, wherever we end up, at least we didn't lose each other on that ship…and we'll have God with us" Cody said.
"Yes, yes we will…and we'll have to make good on what we said and pay a visit to Grandma so we can go to her church as soon as we can" Zack replied.
"Yeah, that'd be great" Cody said, a small smile crossing his face.
"You okay now?" Zack asked.
"Yeah, well, better anyway than a few minutes ago…you?" Cody asked.
"Same, but I think it's going to take a long time for us to really be 'okay.' But like you said, we have each other and God…we'll get through it" Zack said. Cody nodded in agreement.
Zack then climbed back up to his bunk and the two went back to trying to fall asleep.
Next door, London and Max were having the same trouble getting to sleep, as were Bob and Russell across the hallway in their room. It would seem that none of them were going to be able to rest easy until they were finally on dry land.
... . . . … … . . . … … . . . …
The rescue ship pulled into the docks in Beijing late that night. The press was lined up along the shore to take pictures of the arriving survivors. Before departing Zack and everyone in his group, including Bob and London, said goodbye to Dillon and everyone in his group. They had exchanged contact information while still en route in the off chance that they may never see one another again. They were pretty sure though, as the sole survivors of the S.S. Poseidon, that they would probably be reunited many times in the future. Below, a pair of limousines and an ambulance waited for them. The limos were there to take the survivors to the U.S. Embassy where arrangements for the trip back to the States were to be made. The ambulance was for Nelson who was to be transported to a hospital for more observation. Connor gave the twins a hug and then he and his mother, along with Dillon, made their way down the gangway to shore and got into the first limo. Christian and Jennifer went next and got into the same car. Then Nelson was helped to the waiting ambulance. Finally, it was time for the twins, Max, London, Bob, and Russell to depart. They made their way down the gangway, scanning the crowd to see who would be there waiting for them. It was tough to see at first but then a giant lump formed in the throat of each twin as they spotted two men standing at the edge of the crowd next to the back door of the second limo. It was none other than Kurt Martin and Marion Moseby.
As they neared, everyone was enveloped into a giant group hug. Tears flowed down many of their faces. Kurt was so overwhelmed he could barely keep his legs under him. He looked his sons in their eyes and did his best to speak.
"Boys, I'm so sorry about your mom…" he began before he choked up. He cleared his throat before going on "…but I am so glad you two are safe" he finished.
Moseby was also finding it very hard to keep his composure.
"When I heard about the ship…I thought…I thought I'd lost all of you…" Moseby began, wiping at his eyes "…Kurt and I caught the first jet out of the States and met up with Mr. Tipton here" he added.
"Daddy's here!" London asked.
"Yes London, he stayed at the Embassy for safety reasons…as you know he's not very popular in China right now" Moseby replied.
London smiled so big the twins were sure her face would split if it was any bigger. They got into the limo and Zack looked over at Moseby. While he was thrilled his father had come, he felt deeply moved that the hotel manager, a man whom he was seemingly always butting heads with but who also was sometimes more of a father to him and his brother than Kurt, had also come. Zack knew he probably came mostly for London, after all the man had practically raised her himself while Mr. Tipton was largely absent from her life. But Zack knew Moseby had a heart of gold and would have been there at the dock even if he and Cody were the only ones that had survived.
"Thanks for coming Mr. Moseby" Zack said.
"Nothing could have stopped me" Moseby replied.
Zack saw tears well up in Cody's eyes and knew exactly what he was thinking.
They arrived at the U.S. Embassy and, along with Dillon and his group, provided the officials there with brief statements of what had transpired the previous night. They were informed that at some point in the future, as they had expected, they would be called upon again to come in and give a more detailed account of the disaster back in the States. London had been overjoyed to see Mr. Tipton and the two clung to each other and cried. It almost made Zack feel bad for his earlier thoughts concerning the man's absence in her life. He was here now and that's what mattered. Moseby had made contact with Max, Bob, and Russell's families to let them know they had survived. He also had the unpleasant task of informing Mark and Barbara's families that they had not. Cody had purposed in his heart that he would meet personally with the Brownstien's when he got home to express his condolences. Bob also intended to meet with Mark's parents to let them know how bravely Mark had fought to survive.
As it turned out, Mr. Tipton would indeed be flying them all back home in his private plane. They would be departing as soon as his security team deemed it safe for them to head over to the airport. As they all sat together in the main lobby of the Embassy in a cluster of plush leather chairs, minus London who was with her father in another part of the building, everyone grew hungry.
"Why don't I go and try to scare us all up some snacks" Kurt offered.
"You want us to go with you dad?" Zack asked in a tired voice.
"Nah, you guys stay here and rest" Kurt replied.
"I'm too keyed up to sit still much longer, I'll come help carry stuff" Max offered.
Bob and Russell also decided they were tired of sitting and accompanied Max and Kurt. That left the twins and Moseby sitting by themselves. Moseby had his eyes closed as he rested from the day's events. Zack watched him sleep for a while until an idea suddenly popped into his head. Apparently, the same thing happened to Cody because at the same time they turned to each other and leaned in, each intending to whisper into the other's ear. The inevitable clash of heads would have been funny to them if they were not so eager to get their messages across to the other.
"I just had a great idea!" Zack hissed.
"So did I!" Cody whispered back.
Zack was too excited to wait and try to decide which one of them should go first and decided instead to just take the initiative.
"What if we ask Moseby if he will let us stay at the Tipton with him so we won't have to try and live on the road with dad?" Zack said.
Cody looked slightly shocked but recovered quickly.
"I swear sometimes this twin thing scares me…that's exactly what I was thinking" he said.
"Let's wake him up and ask him before dad comes back with the others" Zack said.
In a normal voice Cody reached over and gently shook the sleeping hotel manager.
"Mr. Moseby, wake up" he said.
"Hmmm, is it time to go?" Moseby asked.
"No not yet, we just have something very important to ask you" Cody said.
Moseby was fully awake now and looked intently at the twins.
"Ask away" he said.
Cody nodded to Zack, indicating he should be the one to lead off. Zack cleared his thoat and looked a little uncertain, not knowing the reaction he was going to get from Moseby.
"Well, when we get back to Boston do you think…I mean would it be possible if Cody and I…" Zack began.
"Can we stay at the Tipton with you instead of going with our dad on the road?" Cody finished for him.
Moseby was taken aback. He was surprised that the twins would prefer staying with him than going with their own father. But like he knew the situation between London and her father, he also knew the situation between the twins and theirs. He knew they loved Kurt and liked being around him just fine, but he knew they did not want to live on the road in Kurt's tour bus.
"Well, obviously that would have to be worked out between you and your dad since I have no legal rights to you guys…but, if he agreed to it I would be more than happy to take you guys in. I know over the years I've called the two of you hooligans and insisted you were destroying my hotel, but you and London are the closest I'm likely to ever come to having children of my own…so yes, the answer is yes" Moseby said.
The twins instantly hugged Moseby who hugged them back. Then Cody turned to Zack.
"You think dad will go for it?" he asked.
"Sure, he may want to stay with us for a while because of everything that's happened, but eventually he'll want to get back on the road. It's his way of life, it's what he does. He won't want to uproot us and cart us all over the country in his tour bus" Zack replied.
Cody knew he was right. Moseby decided then to re-enter the conversation.
"You should probably wait until we are back at the hotel before you hatch this little plan on your father. Right now I think we're all still a bit caught up in everything that's happened…and speaking of that I also wanted to express my condolences about the loss of your mother…Carey was a good friend of mine and I will miss her" he said.
"Thanks Mr. Moseby" the twins said together before Cody added "and I agree, let's hold off on asking dad until later" to which Zack agreed.
After Kurt and the others returned with some snacks and they had all eaten it was time for them to depart the embassy and head to the airport where Mr. Tipton's plane waited. With his arm around Cody and his other hand holding onto Max's hand, Zack walked up the stairs and into the plane. Behind him walked Kurt, Bob, and Russell followed by Moseby, and finally London and Mr. Tipton with his bodyguards. This time the twins felt no fear as the plane taxied down the runway and lifted into the sky. After what they had been through they knew they hadn't survived only to be killed in a plane crash. The flight back was uneventful. Mr. Tipton's staff made sure that everyone was well taken care of. Full meals and drinks were served. It reminded the kids of the good treatment they used to get on the Poseidon. It already seemed like so long ago to them even if it was only just a few days ago that they were there living the sweet life.
Before they landed in Boston, Russell came up to sit with the twins, Max, and Bob. London had gone up front to visit her dad again.
"I just want to say thank you. Zack, Cody, and Max, you guys didn't give up on me…you saved my life. How do you repay someone for saving their life?" he asked.
"You just live the rest of it for the better, in honor of those who won't get the chance we've all been given" Zack said.
Russell nodded somberly in agreement.
"I want to say too that I'm sorry for being such a jerk to all of you before this even happened. I was wrong to treat you all that way…especially you Cody, I regret what I did to you outside the teen club…and I hope we can all stay friends after we get back" Russell added.
"Apology accepted, and I think I speak for all of us when I say that a person can never have too many friends" Cody replied.
The others agreed and everyone either shook hands or fist bumped each other. Russell was part of the group now. The tragedy had shown him the error of his ways and had changed him for the better.
Right about then London reappeared in the main cabin. She walked up to Bob and asked if she could talk to him privately. Bob got up and the two of them took some seats a little ways away.
"What's up?" Bob asked.
"Before we got back to our lives in Boston I just wanted to make sure I told you how grateful I am to you for helping me get out of the ship. I know I never would have made it out of that nightmare on my own" she said.
Bob smiled at her.
"You don't give yourself enough credit. You know, you're a lot smarter than you think you are. And it was you who took an axe and turned the ceiling below us into splinters. I think you could have done great by yourself if you'd had to" Bob said.
"Well, I'm glad I didn't have to. For one thing, half the time I wouldn't have known which way to go" London said.
"It's funny you should say that cause half the time I was guessing myself" Bob said looking down.
London knew he was still beating himself up over losing Mark. She reached out and patted his hand.
"Bob, you need to let it go. You did your best, you gave Mark a chance. I know if he were here there is no way he'd feel like you let him down. He died because of circumstances outside of your control. And you got me out…you did great" she said.
Bob smiled again.
"See, that was something only an intelligent person would know to say. Thank you London" he said.
Shortly thereafter the plane landed in Boston. They didn't have any bags to collect so they all just made their way to the limousines that Mr. Tipton had waiting to take them over to the hotel. When they arrived the staff who had seen them off were there to greet them and offer their hugs and condolences. It was a bittersweet return.