Once We Were (13 page)

Chapter 9

Emmett nodded off to the long winded survivor testimonies. He heard one, he heard them all. He recited the senator's introduction in his sleep. “Gentlemen, welcome to the United States Senate Inquiry of marine disasters, session 45. The purpose of this committee is to investigate survivor accounts and facts surrounding the sinking of the RMS Titanic and to present a report on improving passenger safety at sea. I am Henry Smith, Senator of Michigan, and these gentlemen beside me are Admiral Andrew Reginald, of the Navy, Secretary John Thomas, and we are joined today by White Star Line Representative, Nestor Henry, of the White Star Line American branch. Employee number 582, please state your name, ship, and occupation before the board.”

“
Ioan Rhys Saier, RMS Titanic, Junior Officer, Boson, Able Bodied Seaman.”

“
You're quite a handy man then. How do you explain that title?”

“
I was an enlisted deckhand training as an officer on Titanic.”

“
And how long have you worked for White Star Line Shipping Company?”

“
Since I was fifteen. A little over 11 years ago.”

“
I understand you were not originally assigned to Titanic.”

“
Yes, sir. I worked on the Philadelphia before the coal strike. The company voted to save the extra coal for their larger liners. They docked their smaller ships and I was transferred to Titanic.”

“
That is unfortunate. Before we examine the details of your account, I would like to confirm a handful of events stated by your fellow crewmen. To the best of your memory, how many lifeboats were on board the ship?”

“
Twenty, sir, with the capacity of seventy men.”

“
Why so few?”

“
The designers were under the impression that the ship didn't need any. Later, they were forced to accept at least a minimum of 20 lifeboats aboard. Safety precautions and such.”

“
Please make a note of that, secretary. Officer Saier, is it true the majority of those boats were not filled to capacity?”

“
I can't speak for the entire crew, but not many passengers were keen on leaving their belongings.”

“
You couldn't convince them?”

“
Convince them of what exactly? Honestly, we had no idea ourselves what was going on or what would unfold. We just followed orders.”

“
Did you receive any warning of approaching ice fields?”

“
All radios are silenced at night. The operators turn them off after their shift.”

“
Make a note of that, secretary. Any communication during the sinking?”

“
Only the Carpahtia responded. I swore I saw a ship sitting at five, maybe ten miles off.”

“
The Californian, perhaps?”

“
It was a ghost ship. I couldn't identify it.”

“
How is it you stand before us, Mr. Saier? We have no reports from deck that you boarded any lifeboat.”

“
I jumped and left my fate to the Atlantic. I was awake long enough to hear the fate of the ship and those I tried to save.”

“
Did you see the ship sink?”

“
No, sir. I blacked out before she went under,” Ioan replied. “Her bow pulled up by the weight of the stern and she headed straight down. So I thought. The lights quivered and everyone in the lifeboat jumped after hearing a deafening explosion. She broke at the keel and the failure crawled up the decks breaking the double shell plating at top, and before our eyes the bow of the ship collapsed back into the ocean. She was in two pieces.”

“
You say the ship split in half?” the senator questioned.

“
No, sir, not cleanly in half, but it broke.”

“
Pardon me, senator,” Mr. Henry spoke up. “Mr. Saier, are you aware of how unlikely that is to happen?”

“
I am aware, sir. You wouldn't believe it unless you saw it.”

“
I
don't
believe it,” Mr. Henry persisted. “It is scientifically impossible. There is nothing that could falter the double bottom of that ship. Masterful engineering gave birth to that hull. It would have withstood anything.”

“
Except ice,” Ioan replied.

Mr. Henry glowered at him and Senator Smith immediately steered the interview. “What exactly is an iceberg? Can you describe how it sent the ship to doom? What exactly an iceberg is made of?”

“Well ice, I suppose.”

Chuckles echoed from the journalists seated in the back. The senator cleared his throat. “Officer Saier, I understand your agitation, but we only mean to help.”

“I understand that, gentlemen, and I only mean to cooperate, but you can only make the right reforms at sea if you hear the truth,” Ioan answered.

“
The ship did
not
break,” Mr. Henry insisted. “I already explained it to you. The double hull of the ship was specifically designed to prevent that from happening.”

“
With all due respect, sir, it didn't work.”

“
Why should we take your word for it when a number of your senior officers disagree, including, Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightholler. He says the ship remained in tact.”

“
Well he's wrong.”

“
How dare you insult his seniority!” Mr. Henry declared. “You're just a deckhand in an officer's uniform. No one cares for your hotshot opinion. You'll remember your place.”

“
Please, Mr. Henry, take your seat. Are you sure you saw Titanic break, Officer Saier?” the senator asked.

“
Perhaps you made a visual mistake. There were no lamps at sea.”

“
I would put my life on it. It broke.”

“
That's impossible!” Mr. Henry roared.

“
It was suppose to be impossible,” Ioan snapped. “I'm at logger heads as you are. Someone told me it wouldn't happen and it did. As much as we'd like to think ourselves so clever and accomplished, and how we'd like to remember her like an angel lying in one piece at the bottom of the Atlantic, it'll never be so. She's destroyed. She ripped herself apart. I won't tell it any other way.”

“
Unfortunately, we can't consider your testimony in our evidence,” Mr. Henry answered. “You said yourself that you were partly unconsciousness during the sinking, which is ideal for the mind to significantly alter your perception. In a state of peril and hypothermia, you can't possibly know for sure what was hallucination and what was reality.”

“
I didn't imagine anything,” Ioan persisted. “Neither did the thirty or so people in that lifeboat. We all saw it break. You can't discredit what they saw for your own convenience.”

“
Yet officers exceeding your rank differ in opinion, along with several noted first class passengers, all fully conscious and alert during the sinking. Anyone else who stated otherwise have either withdrawn their claim or failed to confirm it. Some were child testimonies and we'd naturally excuse them as insufficient information. Only a child would believe the ship broke in half.”

“
Were you there?” Ioan declared. “Were you floating on a damn deck chair listening to women and children drown in the dark and completely helpless to stop it? Or are you the  man who kicks his feet up with a cigar and shrugs his shoulders because he put a little extra padding under a the ship? You know nothing about how your decisions destroyed over 2000 lives and it is
their
word, not your speculation, that should stand above all else. Any company that places more value on politics rather than the lives of its patrons is headed straight for its own iceberg. May you have your own double bend to cling to as you sink.”

“
You're out of line, Saier!” Mr. Henry barked.

“
Gentlemen, let's keep our heads!” the senator said quickly. “I declare an intermission. I think we could all use a smoke and some fresh air. This session will resume once we've collected ourselves and are prepared to settle this with class.”

Mr. Henry was the first to storm out the room. “I'm finished here!” he hissed. He  snatched his paperwork and marched for the door. Emmett grinned as a tornado followed the charging Mr. Henry out. He hurried after him. “Mr. Henry,” he called.

“Not now, Mr. O'Riley.”

“
For the record, sir, if you're in need of a job after today, I have a clerical position open in my office.”

Mr. Henry ignored him.

“No doubt this will be bad business for White Star Line if that petty officer goes whining the ship split. Do you suspect he'll gather every witness he can? Those badgering protestors you're so very fond of? He's just wrapped a noose around your neck, hasn't he?”

“
I said not now, O'Riley!”

“
If you reconsider taking that position, ring me up,” Emmett called cheerfully after him. “Or would you rather just put an end to him now?”

Mr. Henry turned on him suddenly. “I've had it to here with you!”

“And we've both had it further than that with Saier.”

“
Why is it you never get to the point? Speak what's on your mind, man!”

“
I have some information about Officer Saier's preoccupations on Titanic that might be of interest to you.”

*              *              *

“Gentlemen, are we ready to conclude intermission?” Senator Smith announced. “I'm glad to see you could join us again, Mr. Henry.”

Mr. Henry nodded an acknowledgment. “You may commence.”

“We were discussing the likelihood of the ship sinking intact,” Senator Smith said.

“
I have no further concerns on the topic. I would like to proceed with my own questions, if you don't mind.”

“
You may have the floor.”

“
Mr. Saier, I believe you were offered a compensation package upon your promotion which would insure your close relatives if something, God forbid, were to happen to you on a ship. You rejected it.”

“
I have no close relatives. My mother and father passed away.”

“
And you're not a married man?”

“
No, sir.”

“
And what relationship do you have with the Harlows? I hear you're currently entertaining them at your home for a rather extended visit. A wedding party, perhaps?”

Ioan was dumbfound and Mr. Henry charged forward. “Coincidentally, if I'm not mistaken, according to our records, there was a Miss Cora Harlow traveling second class on board Titanic. One starts to wonder how a single man becomes suddenly engaged in a matter of four days. It causes great suspicion. As an officer, I'm sure you're well aware that such passenger relations are strictly forbidden, especially while on duty.”

“I don't know what you're getting at, Mr. Henry, but I conducted myself by the standards laid out by White Star Line policy. I performed my duties to the ship above everything else and have witnesses to support that claim. If any of what you accuse me of were true, it'd be a personal matter that you'd have no business in. I had no knowledge that Cora Harlow was on board Titanic. I hold her household in high regard for their years of kindness. They are family to me. We are all mourning passengers grateful to live another day.”

“
If they are such good friends, how is it you never conversed with Miss Cora Harlow once on board the ship?”

“
I don't see any relevance in these questions. I believe we were discussing Titanic,” Ioan said.

“
It's not your personal affairs that I'm interested in, Mr. Saier. However, when it comes to Titanic and what happens on the ship, I have the right to question on behalf of the company. You speak so passionately, practically in anarchy, about the apathy and ignorance of White Star Line executives. Yet perhaps company reform should start at its crew. How can we uphold the safety and trust of our passengers when our crew, our highly esteemed officers, chase female passengers rather than prevent disasters for the company and its patrons? Who was responsible for keeping that ship afloat? The company chairs who set the standards or the officers who traded them for a little intrigue below decks? It could very well cost you your place in this company.”

“
Such brilliant standards,” Ioan remarked. “I risked my life to fix the mistakes this company made about Titanic and instead of thanking me and bidding farewell, you insult my integrity with accusations you have no evidence of.”

“
You haven't answered the question, Mr. Saier. Is there or is there not a lady passenger staying in your home? Bride or courtesan? Which is it?”

“
I wasn't aware that I was on trial,” Ioan returned. “This topic is highly offensive and irrelevant to the investigation.”