April 15 1912 12:02 Am
Helen wasn't sure how long she stood there, trying to piece together the unfathomable fact. They had struck an iceberg. She was going to sink the unsinkable ship was sinking
Helen was pulled out of her thoughts by the now familiar voices of Ismay and Andrews. She turned and followed them. The pair met up with Captain Smith in a small room. Helen rounded the corner and stopped at the door.
"The water tight bulk heads only rise to E deck. The water is going
to flood in. Drag her down prow first. There's no doubt. We're
heading for the bottom."
Ismay shook his head disbelievingly. "This is the Titanic. she's
unsinkable... this ship can't sink!"
"It's a ship. She's made of iron. I assure you she can. "Andrews
replied darkly. "And she will."
"How long?" Captain Smith asked solemnly. "Mr. Andrews?"
Andrews shook his head. "Two hours. Maybe a few minutes more. Once
we lose boiler room 6, we're going to go down."
"Dear God" Helen gasped. The men didn't seem to hear.
"Alright. Uncover the life boats. Round up the women and children.
Mr. Andrews, Get your men. See if there's anything to be done.
Whatever time you can give us is appreciated. See to it the
passengers aren't panicked. Mr. Murdoch..."
Murdoch sighed and stepped forward. "I'm sorry Captain we had no
warning. We got the call down with 30 seconds to react.-"
"You had a hard decision and a split second to make it. Under the
circumstances, you did well." Smith replied. "The blame rests with
me. But now is not the time for that. We need solutions. Mr.
Lightoller, Go to the Marconi room. Send out the SOS. And CQD All
ships." He looked to the door and blinked, seeing Helen for the first time.
"Dr. Magnus. Under normal circumstances I would be pleased to see you."
"Forgive me if I'm intruding. I was on the deck when we hit the Iceberg. I saw Mr. Ismay come in here..."
"Well. Never mind that. Get to the lifeboats as fast as you can. And be careful"
The captain looked out the window with watery unfocussed eyes. "This was to be my last voyage. Indeed, I should have retired decades ago. But the sea, she called. What better way for Captain Edward John Smith to go out, but on the maiden voyage of Titanic, the grandest ship the world has ever seen? One last bone for this old seadog."
Helen watched the Sturdy old man warily. "What will you do now?"
The captain turned back with a steely glint of determination in his eyes. "Everything I can." He nodded and headed out toward the bridge.
Helen squared her shoulders and headed to the now crowded deck as she felt the engines thrum as the ship tried to move.
Helen arrived on Deck B; she saw Hartley setting up with the orchestra and the 'band' He tried valiantly to smile.
"Alright now. A good lively ragtime. Nice and lively. We don't need the passengers to panic."
"Yeah." Woodward Agreed, setting down his Cello. "Last thing you should do in a crisis." He said cheerfully. "Awful time to panic."
Helen kept walking heading toward the boats ignoring the general hubbub and grumbling.
"Listen Sonny. I don't care what the captain said." A familiar voice cut in above the rising Din. Helen recognized Margaret Brown following a nervous looking seaman around. "Quit running away and tell me what's going on. You keep telling me nothing is wrong and waking us up in the middle of the night is just procedure. Nothing to worry about, but the crew is running around like they got a fox in the henhouse." Helen followed the sound of the voice until she saw the energetic woman arguing with a crewmember.
"No don't you try and feed me that normal proceedings horse sh-Helen!" Maggie smiled and hugged her briefly. the harried looking seaman made good his escape and disappeared into the crowd. "Helen dear, where is your life belt?" She pulled an extra life vest from a pile of them in her hand and gave it to Helen. "I though these would come in handy. But no one will tell me what it's about. They said it's all procedure, just a drill, just a precaution. The crew is saying not to panic meanwhile they're running around like scared rabbits."
Helen sighed. "They're trying to keep it quiet, and hold order. But the truth is the ship is crippled. She's going to sink. Soon"
Maggie stared at her in disbelief. Helen feared for a moment she was going to scream. As it were Helen felt like crawling into a corner to cry.
"Alright then." Maggie finally nodded. "Well we can't leave it all up to the crew can we? Let's get those boats filled." She briskly walked up to a first class women arguing about her bag left behind in her stateroom.
"Now don't you fret dear. The bags will be brought up later. Just get into the boat now. Besides you'll want the elbow room. Come on Love. That's it into the boat. Come along Mrs. Crosby. Yes your daughter too."
Helen turned to another woman, a young 20 something and helped her into the boat, a small white and not very sturdy compared to the grand Titanic she hung from. Helen saw the number 7 painted on the side before the crewman called them to lower the boat.
As the boat dropped into the icy water, Watson's words rang in her ears.
Helen. You deserve this. You need this
"Oh James dear what did I ever do to you to deserve this?"