Written by Messernacht
Based on some situations originated by James Cameron.
The door burst open. Jack and Rose
dashed out onto the deck, laughing all the while. The tension from the chase
through the ship vanished as they reached the outside air, the sign of their
freedom.
High above, lookout Frederick
Fleet gazed down, then reverted his gaze to the forward horizon. As he gazed
forward, he noticed a shadow, a dark form against the horizon. "Bloody
hell," he breathed. Then, he rang the alert bell with all his might.
On the bridge, First Officer
Murdoch picked up the phone. "What do you see?"
"Iceberg right ahead!"
roared Fleet.
"I see it. Thank you."
Murdoch hung up, then spun around. Now, he had to make a choice, a decision;
which way to turn to avoid the white mass in front of the ship? He considered
it for a second, and then barked, "Hard to port!" The wheelman spun
the wheel hard over until it locked. Murdoch dashed to the engine telegraph and
swung it through the position of the port engine to full reverse.
Down in the engine room, the
telegraph relayed the order; port full astern. Immediately, engineers began to
decelerate the spinning crankshaft. Finally, the thousand pound mass stopped,
then began to spin in the opposite direction. Outside the hull, the immense
ferro-bronze propeller began to generate reverse thrust, effectively tightening
the turn of the ship.
Slowly, the Titanic began to
turn.
On the bow, Jack and Rose felt
the shuddering of the ship. Looking up, they saw the iceberg looming over the
ship. Impact. Ice fell on the deck. Jack grabbed Rose and dragged her out of
the way as a table-sized block of ice fell right where she had been. Then, with
a shudder, it was over. The Titanic sailed on into the night.
Within half an hour, there was a
knock on Captain Smith’s door. Opening it, he saw the face of Thomas Andrews,
the ship’s designer. Andrews stepped into the Captain’s cabin and shut the door
before speaking.
"She won’t sink, sir."
Smith breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank God for that."
"A few dents and a small
hole in the forward cargo hold, but the pumps are keeping up."
Smith smiled and extended his
hand. "This is one fine ship you’ve built, Mr. Andrews."
Andrews smiled and bade the
captain good evening. Minutes later, the Titanic was underway.
*****
Rose and Jack wandered the deck.
Everywhere they looked, people were playing with the chunks of ice that had
fallen to the deck. They strolled to the rear of the ship and stood by the rear
rail. Jack held Rose in his arms. "We can hide you in third class,"
he whispered. "Then, when we get to New York, we’ll sneak ashore. My
cousin lives in New Jersey. Once we get there, we can…"
A shot rang out.
Jack staggered and clutched his
chest. A ragged red hole had appeared. He stumbled, then collapsed on the rail.
Rose looked back and saw Cal, standing fifty feet away, a pistol in his hand.
"You just couldn’t go along
with it, could you?" he asked softly. "Just couldn’t bear to spend
your life with me, but you could live with this…gutter trash. Well, I can’t let
you live together, but I can let you die together."
He pulled the trigger, and the
bullet tore into Rose’s heart. In an instant, her heart stopped, and she fell
to the deck. Cal stepped forward, dangling the Heart of the Ocean in front of
her. "Such a pity."
A hand grabbed Cal by the foot.
Cal looked down and saw Jack, his hand clamped around his ankle, glaring up at
him. "You took the only thing that even meant anything to me away,"
he rasped. "If I go, you’re coming with me." With his final burst of
energy, Jack slid himself off the edge of the ship. Cal had no time to cry out
as he was dragged over the side of the Titanic and into the icy waters of the
Atlantic. All that was left was Rose’s body, and beside it, a blue gem rattled
to a standstill.
Silence fell.
The End.
