April 15 1912 2:19 AM
Helen would have liked to grant a moment of silence to the passing of Col Astor, but she didnt have time. The ship was sinking rapidly. She pushed onward toward theships
was a long labrythine passage, hard to navigate. Finally she found the ladder heading to the boiler rooom.
Loud crashing noises were heard over head as everything shifted forward. Helen
thought she heard the distinct sound of a piano being smashed. More distinctly she
heard voices up ahead. A pair of men were grappling with the oncoming water and a
largrge panel of switches.
"Oi!" one of the men took notice of Helen "How did you get in here?" Helen
recognised the voice of Joseph Bell.
"We need to get out of here." Helen replied urgently. "The ship is sinking and
theres very few lifeboats left."
Mr Bell shook his head. "If we leave, the ship loses electricity. We cant let that
happen. If the electric goes out, we lose the pumps, and the ability to call for
help. The ship will sink faster and people will die. Go on back up, we'll buy you
time."
Helen shook her head. "Im not leaving you here. Theres a ship coming, the Carpathia.
Its on its way here! It-"
"Its already too late." Another man shook his head. "Go on, get out of here. We'll
buy you some time."
"Theres got to be a way..." Helen replied desperately.
"There is" Bell nodded. "And this is it. Dont make it a waste."
He turned to his companion who agreed "Save who you can, Miss, but not us." He said,
pushing Helen bac to the door. "Go now, before its too late."
Helen scrammbled back up the ladder , a feat made more difficult by the slant of the
ship. She clung desperately to the rail as she climbed almost sideways and
hastened to the rising stern. She held the cables to the fourth funnel and gasped
as the stern stood straith up out ot the water.
"Dear God!" Helen gasped. She turned as a loud creak was heard from behind her. A
large chasm opened at her feet as the Titianic split in two. Helen held tightly to
the cables and watched helplessly as people fell past her.
This was it, Helen realized with sureal calm. this was the end. Dr Helen Magnus
'the Oxford woman' head of the Sanctuary and creator of the Five was going to die.
She would never marry John. She would never have a child. She would never see Nigel again She would never fogive James for this.
As Helen watched the churning water swallow the unsikable wonder, her thoughts
floated to her erstwhile friend, Nikola Tesla.
He reminded her of Icarus, with his flights of fancy, grand ideas and childlike
belief. Sure Nikola could be brash and arrogant. At times he was even selfish. But
somehow, it was all part of his charm. He was bold and daring, flying to the sun on
wings of chance. He left Croatia with nothing and arived in Oxford with only a
handful of ideas. Grand impractical ideas. It was his ability to belive in the
impossible that made him perfect as one of the 5
He would not takeher death well.
Helen watched calmly as the waiting sea drew closer.
Just before she was sucked under, the front of the ship broke clear off, releasing
the stern. The remaining half of the ship plunged bak into the water. Thesuddenshift
made the Cablehele washolding to snap. It whipped ou. carrying Helen high into the
air and tossing her deep into the middle of the momentunm sent her well
below the surface. almost imediately,her lifeboat pushed her back up to the
broke the surface just as the Titanic retreatedtothe icy depths of the
black atlantic.
There was a great shudderas though the dying ship too a last desperate breath. The
lights flickered once and went out. for the last time. Then, the worlds largest
steamer slipped beneath the waves, never to see sunlight again.
A great clamour arose as hundredsof people in the water screamed, criedand begged
for help. Helen stayed still and silent as the icy water soaked into her bones.
London, New York, the middle of the ocean-what did it matter? Surrounded by
hundreds of people, Helen was alone. Shrouded in a cloud of misery she couldn't
shake. Adrift in her own body, In her own soul. Adrift in a life that fell apart
when she was making other plans.
Her future with John was gone, her child delayed. All she saw in store for herself
was long endless years in a cold, vast lonliness. A deep abyss no one could save her from
She was ready to die.
NOTES
The song is called Nearer my god to thee. one of the last songs reportedly played by the band, just before the end
Joseph Bell and his engineers, all stayed at their posts to the end.
Without their self-sacrifice, the Titanic would have lost electrical power much
earlier, and without wireless, pumps and lights the death toll would have been much
higher. Bell died at his post, keeping the pumps going and lights burning until 2
minutes before Titanic sank. Thomas Andrews, the ship's designer, thought the Titanic
would last for an hour. Joseph Bell and his men kept her alive for 2 hours 40 minutes.
Without the efforts of the Engineering team, water would have overwhelmed the
boilers and engine compartment much earlier, causing explosions which would have
sent the ship to the bottom sooner. The power would have gone, plunging the ship
into darkness. No distress call could have been sent, It's unlikely many boats would
have been launched, and no rescue ships would have raced to the Titanic's position.
Iccarus is an ancient greek myth about a young idealistic boy. His father
created wings for himself and his son with wax and disguarded feathers. Icarus was
having so much fun flying about he didnt realize he got too close to the sun, melting
the wax and making his wings fall apart.
The moral is basically about humans over reaching their abilities and thereby failing with cataclysmic repercutions.