Voyage (Powerless Nation #2) (3 page)

Computer screens and equipment displayed information about the weather forecast, the number of passengers aboard, the location of the ship and much more. Front and center was an oversized office type chair which she assumed was the captain’s chair, and on one side of the room was an old fashioned ship’s wheel. 

Lydia offered to let the kids take photos and they jumped at the chance, sitting in the captain’s chair and pretending to steer the ship with the large wheel.

Sena was waiting for a turn at the wheel when she was distracted by an urgent need to know where the nearest restroom was. Glancing around, she had a moment of anxiety until she saw a few steps leading down to a hallway, and a small sign with the familiar symbol for bathroom.

Sena looked for Lydia so she could tell her where she was going, but the guide was on the ship’s phone talking to a member of her staff about their next tour that afternoon. Sena didn’t want to interrupt, so she slipped into the bathroom, sure she’d be back before anyone noticed she was missing.

If the ship’s bridge was high-tech, the bathroom was as basic as it got. She sat down and got out her phone to look through photos of the tour. Flipping further back, she caught sight of a picture of her foster family. It was a candid shot she’d taken while they were at a friend’s barbecue. 

Her foster parents were sitting together on a porch swing, holding their two young children on their laps and laughing at something. She stared at the photo for a while and wondered where they were and whether they missed her at all. 

Without warning, the screen of her phone flickered and turned off. A moment later, the bathroom light went out too, leaving Sena in total darkness. A wave of panic washed over her. Bad things had happened to her in the dark, and now she avoided it at all costs.

She waved her hand in the air, thinking maybe the light was motion activated, but it remained off. 

With shaking hands she fumbled to turn her phone back on. All she needed was a glimmer of light, enough to stop the darkness from pressing in on her skin and her eyes. She felt like it was choking her. Why wouldn’t her phone turn on?

Sena cursed under her breath. She’d probably used up the battery taking photos on the tour.

It’s just a bathroom
, she told herself firmly, trying to slow her breathing. Her legs were so weak with fear that they wobbled under her when she finally managed to stand up.

In slow motion, she felt her way around the small bathroom until she found the light switch. She flicked it off and on. Nothing happened. No matter, she’d found the door. 

Sena tried to recover her composure before going out. She wiped her tears away and reached for the handle.

She wasn’t prepared at all for what she saw when she opened the door.

All the flat screen TVs on the walls of the bridge were off, as was the radar monitor, and Sena thought perhaps they were staging some kind of drill for the benefit of the kids. On the other side of the room, Lydia hustled the last of the students off the bridge.

The staff captain barked orders at the other crewman and Sena was paralyzed at the thought of crossing the room to the exit and possibly getting yelled at. She shrank back against the bathroom door. There weren’t any lights in the small hallway and she was partially hidden in shadows. She’d stay here until things calmed down or she saw an opportunity to sneak away.

Though all the lights in the room were off, sunlight flooded in through the windows and she had a good view of what was going on. The staff captain picked up the bridge phone. “Chief Huang, are you there? Adam, can you hear me?” He held the phone to his ear for a moment and then turned to the other crewman in the room. “Go get the captain. Tell him we’ve got no power and no communications on the bridge.”

“Yes, sir,” the other man responded and quickly left the room.

The staff captain picked up the intercom, which didn’t seem to be working either. Sena heard him mumble to himself and saw him fiddle with the controls. Then something caught his eye and he gasped. Sena took a step forward to see what he was looking at. 

She couldn’t be seeing it right. Sena pushed her glasses up higher on her nose. 

There was no mistaking it now.

They stood in horror as a passenger airplane crashed into the ocean no more than half a mile from the ship and burst into flames.

CHAPTER THREE

S
ENA
HEARD
SCREAMS
AND
thought for a brief moment they came from the plane, before she realized passengers on the decks above the bridge had also seen the crash. Their cries of horror filled the air as they witnessed the tragedy unfolding directly before the ship. 

If they were to avoid sailing through the disaster, the staff captain would have to change course, and with that thought, Sena realized the ever present sound of the engines was no longer in the background. The ship wasn’t moving. Not only that, it was slowly listing to one side. Pencils and other round objects rolled off tables and onto the floor.

The staff captain touched his fingers to forehead and chest in a religious gesture and then tried the ship’s radio. “Mayday! Mayday! This is Staff Captain Brady of the
Duchess
. There’s a large passenger plane down at location 53, 53.4 North, 169, 584 West. Requesting immediate rescue support.” 

No response from the radio.

The sound of running footsteps in the hall signaled Sena to press back into the shadows. The door burst open and Captain Crane rushed in, followed by Mona and several other crewmen.

“Status report,” barked the captain.

“Sir, we’ve lost all power and comms to the bridge. Power to the ship appears to be down but there’s no report yet from the engine room. Radio is down, radar is down. And there’s…” He trailed off, pointing to the wreckage of the airplane, where flames appeared to float on the water. “What are your orders?”

The captain stared at the burning plane, lost in thought. The actress nudged him and his attention shifted back. He snapped at one of his crew, “Get down to the engine room and find out what’s going on. I want the power back on now.” The crewman left the room at a run and the captain pointed at another. “Find Lydia and send her in. Why isn’t she here already?” 

Another sailor raced away.

“What’s wrong with you people? Why are you all standing there? We have to keep the passengers calm.” He moaned and sank into the captain’s chair. “I do not need this. Do you know how much bad press we’ll get for losing power? I’ll be ruined.”

“Sir,” said the staff captain, “what about the plane?”

“What
about
the plane?”

“We need to go out and check the wreckage. There could have been survivors.”

“Don’t tell me what I need to do, Brady. Look at that mess! There’s no way anyone survived that. If they didn’t die on impact they’re rotisserie chicken by now. We’ve got our own problems to deal with.”

Sena couldn’t believe what she was hearing. From the look on the staff captain’s face, and several others in the room, she wasn’t the only one.

“But, sir, we could just—”

“I said no. If this is a terrorist attack I need my people here, ready for action.”

“Terrorists?” gasped the actress, collapsing dramatically in a nearby chair.

The captain’s tone changed. “Don’t worry, my dear. You’ll be safe with me.” He gave her a comforting look and then turned on the crew again, “Where’s my security chief? And where’s the IT guy? Why don’t we have back-up power yet?” He raised his voice, “And why is everyone still sitting around? I want answers. Now!”

Sena decided it was time to get out of there. Before she could go, a member of the crew burst onto the bridge. 

“Fire in the engine room!” he shouted.

“Get a hold of yourself, man,” said the captain. “What’s the situation down there?”

The man spoke in quick bursts between ragged breaths. “They don’t know how it started. The monitors and lights went dead at the same time, so Chief Huang sent someone to check on the engines. Number four engine is an inferno, and we don’t have any fire suppression or water pressure. Back-up generators are down.”

“Fire doors?”

“Will have to be closed manually, sir.”

“I see,” said the captain, turning again to gaze out the full-length windows at the flaming wreckage of the airplane. He was silent a long moment, lost in thought. It was an awkward silence that should have been filled with emergency orders and ship-wide reports.

When the captain faced his crew again he said, “Brady, you were right about that airplane. I’ll take a lifeboat over there myself. Anyone who wants to join me—we are going now.”

“But sir,” began Brady, “you can’t leave now.”

Captain Crane ignored him and helped the actress to her feet. “Come, my love, let’s get you off this ship.”

Brady blocked the doorway. “I insist, Captain. You can’t abandon ship. She needs her captain.”

Tension in the room was high, and for a moment Sena thought the captain might strike his officer. Instead, he pushed him aside and headed for the door. “Staff Captain Brady, you have the bridge.”

With that, the captain led the majority of the ship’s commanding officers out of the room.

Staff Captain Brady looked at the remaining crewmen and took a deep breath. “Thank you for your sacrifice. Daryl, grab a bullhorn and get passengers to their muster stations. Same for you Oscar. Passengers are our first priority.” 

“Yes, Captain!” Daryl and Oscar left at a run. 

Sena noticed they hadn’t called him ‘Staff Captain.’

The captain spoke to the remaining man, “Ryan, I need you to alert the fire patrol. I’m hoping they are already activated, but without comms there’s no way to be sure. Then I need you to get the fire doors closed.”

The man took a step back. “All of them?”

“Do your best. You’re dismissed.”

When the man left the bridge, Sena gathered her courage and stepped out of the shadows. “I’d like to help if I can.” Even though she’d intended to sound convincing, her voice came out unsteady.

Captain Brady looked surprised. “How did you get in here? You need to get to your muster station right now. That’s an order.”

“I saw—”

“Never mind any of that. The only thing that matters now is getting everyone ready to evacuate. That includes you.”

Sena looked into the man’s face. He was slim and young, but steady, and there was resolve in his eyes.

“Yes sir,” she said. As she left, the room flooded with more members of the ship’s crew, all clamoring to help. She had to admire how quickly the staff captain had stepped into his new role. She knew how hard it was when people you counted on let you down. 

Captain Brady had the heart of a true captain. Maybe they’d survive this after all.

When Sena stepped out from the staff-only door, she immediately noticed the smell of burning plastic and hot metal. There were people all around her and she was soon swept along in the crush of panicked passengers trying to get to the lifeboats. After getting her bearings and making sure they were taking her in the right direction, Sena allowed herself to be carried along with the crowd.

Many of the passengers were in swimsuits, probably coming from the indoor pool area. They shivered in the brisk air and wrapped towels closely around themselves, trying to keep ahold of life preservers. Some held fussy children, but most were older, holding hands and trying to stay together.

Luckily, since her cabin was near the front of the ship, her muster station wasn’t very far from the bridge. That was where her luck ended. The place where her assigned lifeboat should have been hanging was empty — the lifeboat was gone. 

Around her, passengers complained:

“The nerve of him. Just because he’s the captain doesn’t mean he can take off with our lifeboat.”

“I thought the captain was supposed to go down with the ship.”

“We’re all gonna die!” This was from a little old lady with curly white hair that stuck out at crazy angles.

Sena looked for her classmates. They were crowded tightly at one end of the muster station, trying to remember how to put on the life vests. Some of the girls were crying, and others stared in shock. Miss Friedel, looking harried, attempted to get a headcount. 

“Where are the girls in 2109?” she called.

That was Sena's room. “I’m here,” she waved her hand, and scanned the group for her bunkmates. There was no sign of them.

“Charity? Paris?” called Sena. “Has anyone seen Jessica?”

“They all got massages earlier,” offered a male voice. Sena turned and saw that it was Kade. “Last time I saw them they said they were going back to their room to change.”

Sena was sick. Her roommates were probably lost. They had no idea where the muster station was or what to do in an emergency and it was all her fault. If she hadn’t agreed to check in for them at the drill, they’d be here now.

They could die, and she’d be the one to blame.

“How long ago did you see them?” she asked Kade.

“Not long, maybe twenty minutes.”

“I’ve got to find them,” she told him.

“What if you’re not back when it’s time to board the lifeboats?”

Sena pointed at the empty lifeboat mount and raised an eyebrow.

“Good point. We’d better go now while Miss Frizzle isn’t looking.”

The teacher spoke animatedly to a crew-member about the missing lifeboat. She insisted they find room for the kids on another lifeboat without splitting them up. 

The crew-member nodded and spoke in soothing tones to Ms. Friedel, “Everything is going to be fine, it’s no big deal. These kinds of things just happen sometimes when you’re on a boat.”

Ms. Friedel's cheeks turned red and she raised her voice in anger and disbelief. Sena thought her head might explode.

“Are you coming or what?” Sena looked over in surprise. Kade beckoned to her from a doorway leading into the ship.

“You can’t come,” said Sena in dismay. She didn’t want to be responsible for Kade missing the lifeboat too.