Several minutes had passed since Titanic had come to a complete stop. A few more passengers came outside to the forward deck to look at the ice. Some wondered if there was any severe damage to the ship with the engines suddenly stopping, but the rest of the people around Ash and Serena eased up. They concluded that, with the ship showing no signs of leaning toward the water, it was perfectly fine, and the crew simply needed to inspect it before getting underway. Thus, they began playing with the ice, with some kicking it around like they were playing soccer. They laughed as they played while others watched while holding pieces of the iceberg, depicting what had happened as proof that Titanic was unsinkable. Seeing no signs of damage from Titanic's iron skin above the waterline, Ash looked up at Serena and shrugged.

"Well, it looks alright. Maybe it wasn't that much of a bump," Ash said.

Serena frowned, knowing there could be damage below the waterline. She then noticed two officers coming down the steps from B deck with the ship's carpenter, Officer Booker, all ill at ease. Serena didn't know what precisely they were investigating, but reports after the sinking explained that Officer Booker and his fellow officers walked up on deck at the very bow of the ship and heard a hissing noise. Up at the ship's forepeak, the very front was a vent: the ship's peak tank. This was the forwardmost tank on the ship, and in order to be able to trim the level of the ship and keep it on an even keel, it could be filled or emptied with seawater. The air had to be displaced, so the vent allowed air to escape out, but now it was loudly hissing, indicating that the forepeak tank was taking water at an alarming rate. The first of Titanic's many symptoms.

Suddenly, Serena heard the sound of someone cocking a gun, and she turned her head to find Morfious standing behind Ash with his gun pointed at his back. He was followed by Mivashkama, Oleana, two sailors, and the master-at-arms. Ash held his hands up, and the master-at-arms put Ash's arms behind his back and cuffed him. Morfious smirked as he backed away and turned to Serena.

"We've been looking for you," he said. "Don't worry. They'll take good care of your thief."

"Thief? What are you talking about? I haven't stolen anything," Ash said.

Mivashkama chuckled with his mouth closed. He grabbed the Gieldanstone and yanked it from Serena's neck.

"Then what do you call this? This was meant to be an engagement present to my fiancee!" Mivashkama shouted. "You used Serena's feelings to get to my safe and steal it so you can give it to her, trying to win her!"

"He didn't steal it. I opened the safe and took it. You gave me the combination," Serena said.

"There's no way you could have known this necklace exists, Serena. This was meant to be for our engagement gala next month. I wanted to publicly express my feelings for you with this," Mivashkama said, emphasizing on "publically." "Not even your stepmother or Morfious knew about it. Did you, Oleana?"

"No, Lord Herløv. I had no idea you had such a magnificent present," Oleana said.

"Morfious?" Mivashkama asked.

"No, Lord Herløv," Morfious said.

"You gave the Gieldanstone to me two nights ago after I almost fell off the ship. Ash had no idea about it until I showed it to him just a few hours ago," Serena said.

"That's right. I had no idea. I swear!" Ash shouted, trying to break free of the master-at-arms' hold on him.

Mivashkama chuckled and shook his head condescendingly.

"Poor, gullible Serena. So deluded that you would lie to defend your tramp," he said.

"That tramp happens to be my husband," Serena said. "We got married by Father Birch not two hours ago. I know you saw my note in your safe that I have signed with my married name."

Serena's words were met by Mivashkama laughing louder. Even Oleana lowly chuckled, and Morfious gave Serena an edge of a smirk.

"Oh, isn't that like a young lady her age? Caught in a little fantasy between her and some renegade. She even made up a priest to boot," Mivashikama said. "There was no note when I found my necklace missing."

"She's not lying!" Ash shouted. "Father Birch is a passenger on the ship! We have witnesses who -"

Mivashkama punched Ash in the gut, knocking the air out of him. Serena began rushing to Ash's side before Oleana grabbed her and held her back.

"I think you've shown your true, lowly colors well enough. Take him away," Mivashkama said.

"Yes, Lord Herløv," the master-at-arms said.

The master-at-arms grabbed Ash by the arm and dragged him away, with the two crewmen following him. Ash tried to pull away while looking back at Serena, but the older man's hold was too strong.

"No! No! No! He's lying! Serena and I haven't done anything wrong! It is her necklace! Serena!" he shouted.

"Let him go!" Serena screamed. "Mivashkama and stepmother are liars! Ash hasn't done any - mph!"

Oleana covered Serena's mouth while keeping her hold on her waist. Mivashkama put the Gieldanstone in his coat pocket and turned to the bystanders to circulate with his index finger pointing at his head. The bystanders decided to mind their business and returned to playing with the broken ice. Mivashkama smirked, pleased that he deceived so quickly, and turned to Morfious.

"Keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn't try anything funny," he whispered.

"As you command, Lord Herløv," Morfious whispered back.

With his gun still out, Morfious followed the master-at-arms and the sailors with his eye fixed on Ash. Serena kicked, trying to break free of Oleana's hold while calling out to Ash despite her mouth covered. Tears ran down Serena's face as Oleana began dragging her away with Mivashkama walking behind them. She looked up at the starry sky as though looking at the Lord himself and mentally asked why he would allow her to be robbed of the one chance of happiness she had left.

For the next twenty minutes, Titanic's officers investigated the damage the ship took. Officer Booker reported that the first compartment had flooded, and Captain Drake ordered his men to spread out to investigate the ship's following seven compartments. Quartermaster Eldritch went to Timothy's cabin while Timothy was working on redesigns and asked him to help him check out the flooding. Together, they toured the forward part of the ship, visiting the flooding mailroom and the squash court, which were filling up with water fast.

Timothy returned to his cabin to grab the blueprints for Titanic before meeting Captain Drake and his officers in the chart room on the Boat Deck. Chairman Rose was there before everyone, wearing a coat covering his pajamas and slippers with the Macro Cosmos symbol on them. The chairman crossed his arms and tapped his foot as Captain Drake and Timothy entered the room.

"This is a most unfortunate situation, Captain," Chairman Rose said.

Captain Drake moved papers off the table, and Timothy unrolled a blueprint, neither listening to Chairman Rose. Marlon, Siebold, Cress, Kanoa, Falkner, Orson, Quartermaster Eldritch, and the other officers and sailors surrounded the table. Many of them were uneasy from seeing water so deep inside the ship. Captain Drake and Officer Booker stood between Timothy as he put weights on the sides of his blueprint and began pointing at it.

"Water 14 feet above the keel in 10 minutes. In the forepeak, in all three holds, and in boiler room 6," Timothy said.

"That's right, sir," Officer Booker answered.

Timothy looked at Officer Booker and then back at the blueprint, his eyes filled with horror. Chairman Rose rolled his eyes and pushed through the officers to give Timothy an annoyed glare.

"When are we getting underway, Timothy?" he asked.

Timothy looked up at his friend, shocked that he wasn't paying any mind.

"That's 5 compartments," he said. "She can stay afloat with the first 4 compartments breached, but not 5. Not 5. She's going down by the head, and the water will spill over the tops of the bulkheads at E deck from one to the next back and back. There's no stopping it."

"What about the pumps?" Captain Drake asked. "We can open the doors and -"

"The pumps buy you time, but minutes only," Timothy said. "As of this moment, no matter what we do Titanic will founder."

Captain Drake and his officers and sailors looked at Timothy in shock. Many hoped he was going to say Titanic was going to stay afloat and would need repairs when it reached Wyndon. And yet, after looking at the damage, they knew the worst had come. Chairman Rose stared at Timothy, then looked at everyone else in the room, confounded.

"But - but the ship can't sink," Chairman Rose protested.

"She's made of iron, Rose. I assure you she can, and she will. It's a mathematical certainty," Timothy said.

Timothy's words silenced Chairman Rose. In the years they had known each other, Chairman Rose had never known Timothy to overreact or fail to know what he was talking about regarding ships. Captain Drake looked at the blueprint and then at Timothy.

"How much time?" he asked.

Timothy said nothing at first. He took out his pocket watch, noting the time between the ship hitting the iceberg and at that moment. He calculated in his mind before turning to Captain Drake.

"An hour. Two at most."

Captain Drake's eyes widened, and he stared at the wall as his heart sank.

"And how many aboard, Mr. Marlon?" he asked.

"2,200 souls on board, sir," Marlon answered.

The room grew silent again as the danger felt more real. Reason would dictate that the officers moved right away to prepare lifeboats as quickly as they reacted to spotting the iceberg, but they were stupefied by the inevitable loss of life. Captain Drake swallowed and turned to Chairman Rose.

"Well, I believe you will get your headlines, Chairman Rose."