Sedulity 2: Aftershock (Sedulity Saga) (19 page)

Hank took that in stride and was glad he had brought a few
pounds of beef jerky with him on the cruise, because he wasn’t sure if they
made it right down in Australia where had planned to work for at least a few
months.
 
It would serve him well now. His
mouth was actually watering as he led Romy and Fred up to the suite.

If Fred had been proud of his concierge class balcony
stateroom that had been destroyed, he must have been envious of Hank’s suite.
Although he hadn’t said a word since leaving the theater, his eyes widened when
Hank showed him in. It was twice the size of a normal stateroom with a double
wide balcony over the stern of the ship. There were two sets of sliding glass
doors, one in the bedroom and one in the sitting area, each of which boasted
flat screen TVs. The two areas were separated by a partition with frosted glass
walls and both rooms flowed into an open dining area with wet bar, mini-fridge,
and microwave.
 
The suite had a walk-in
closet and the bathroom had a jetted tub as well as a shower stall.
 

The worst news that the officer had given them while issuing
their passes was that there was a shortage of fresh water and water pressure
had been lowered to conserve as much as possible until the water-makers were up
and running. He also warned them not to open the doors onto the balcony because
the rain was still hot and possibly contaminated, but assured them that it was
safe as long as they remained inside behind closed doors.
 
Those two restrictions took a lot of the fun
out of having the suite, but it sure beat being stuffed into an inside cabin or
sent down to live with the crew. Romy perked right up and even displayed a
slight grin as she gazed around the suite.

Hank was happy to see that there had only been minor damage
to the suite itself. The TVs were still on the wall and the furniture was all
there, if not quite where he left it. Some of the cabin boys must have made a
quick run through to straighten things up after the ship’s roller coaster ride
over the tsunamis. He noticed that most of the wine and drinking glasses were
missing, undoubtedly broken, as were the centerpiece and bottle of champagne that
had been sitting on the dining table. His personal belongings that had been on
the desk, counters and tables were all piled in a corner of the bedroom. He
would have to go through them to check for damage to some things, especially
his laptop, but it looked like everything was there and in one piece.
 

The first priority was to set some ground rules with the new
roomies. He took off his hat and threw it on the king size bed before turning
to face them and said, “The couch in the sitting room folds out into a
queen
 
bed and y’all can make yourselves
at home there. I’m not sure if the TV works, but you’re welcome to try it. I’m
gonna wash up and grab some shut-eye before it’s time to go down for
dinner.”
 

Fred gave him one of those looks, but Romy said, “Thank you
so much, Mr. Donner. This place is nicer than the room we had and I can’t thank
you enough for sharing it with us. We’ll try not to get in the way. I can’t
tell you how much we appreciate it.”

“Yes, thank you, Mr. Donner,” Fred said in an obligatory
tone. They were the first words he had spoken since leaving the theater and
Hank took it as a good sign that the little twerp didn’t appear hostile and appeared
to have gotten beyond the quivering stage. Maybe the reality of his situation
was finally setting in.

“You folks can call me Hank. We’re roomies now, at least
until we reach land. So let’s make the best of it. Mi casa, su casa, and all
that stuff, right?”
 
He and Romy
exchanged smiles while Fred nodded uncertainly.
 

*****

Armando’s pain was getting the best of the painkillers, but a
couple more shots of Scotch made it bearable. He wanted to return to his cabin,
but felt a duty to remain at the bar if only to talk some sense into the men
who had gathered around it. One of the most important jobs of a good bartender
is to be a good listener and to offer comfort and sage advice to those who come
in to drown their sorrows.
 
Armando had
talked many men and a few women out of deep depression from across a bar in the
past, but this time his amateur counseling skills were being put to the ultimate
test.

He knew better than to get any of these men truly inebriated.
There was no telling what kind of trouble they would cause in a drunken rage.
So he was careful to water down cocktails and limit their consumption of beer
and shots. He did it skillfully, mixing humor with reminders of the quota on
drinks and saying he couldn’t offer more free drinks than they would have been
allowed to buy. He spent most of his time engaging the distressed men in
conversations aimed at convincing them how lucky they were to be aboard the
Sedulity
, how happy their families would
be to know they were safe here, and how important their contribution was to the
survival of everyone aboard. It worked with a few, some of whom even left after
their first or second drink, promising to go back to their assigned stations.

With others it was a harder sell. One Filipino maintenance
man was crying openly and kept telling Armando, in Tagalog, about his five
children and wife who lived on the coast near Subic Bay. He didn’t care about
anything except going to find them, even after Armando had all but convinced
him it was hopeless. He didn’t appear violent, but he was so struck with grief
that he would follow anyone who could help him go home, if only to bury his
wife and children. That was the motivation for most of these would-be
mutineers. They were not bad men. Their hearts were in the right place, but
their emotions had overwhelmed their common sense, or at least their sense of
duty and responsibility to the
Sedulity
and those aboard her. Their only thoughts were of home and family, even if –
probably because – they knew those precious things had already been destroyed.
Armando was certain that many of these men needed professional grief
counseling, but a bartender was the closest thing available at the moment.
 

While Armando was in the midst of yet another impassioned
appeal for the men to support the captain and return to their duties, he saw an
officer standing by the entrance to the lounge. The other men were all facing
the bar, their attention either on Armando or the television above him, and
hadn’t noticed the officer’s arrival. Armando recognized Lt. Reiner and noticed
a stern frown on his face, but the expression was also quizzical. He stood and
listened to Armando cajole the men into returning to work, while extolling
their courage in facing this disaster, and comforting them on their loss.
Coming from a man covered in bandages and still tending bar, it must have had
some impact.
 

Armando closed his speech by saying, “All right mates, let’s
have one final round in honor of our fellow crew who were lost last night, and
for all those in peril across the sea, and most of all to those who helped God
save this ship!” He was pouring small shot glasses of spiced rum for each of
them while he spoke, including one for himself and another for the lieutenant.
“After this I am shutting down the bar and sending you all back to work.”
 
Many nodded while a few shook their heads
sadly. Then Armando said, “Lieutenant Reiner, Sir? Will you join us in a
toast?”

It was an awkward moment when the assembled crewmen realized
that an officer was standing behind them, but Mr. Reiner took his cue and
walked up to accept the offered shot glass. He raised it aloft and said, “To
the
Sedulity
and all who man her! God
save this ship!”

“God save this ship!” the men chanted before downing their
shots.

*****

Captain Krystos ordered a course change as soon as the wind
and swells had subsided to a manageable level. He also increased the ship’s
speed from 15 to 22 knots. This would not only shorten the length of time it
would take to reach Australia, but also allowed for maximum stabilization, even
if it consumed diesel fuel at an alarming rate. All four generators and
propulsion pods had been brought back online. Captain Krystos’ goal was to reach
port as soon as possible and with the least amount of discomfort to the
passengers. He was also concerned about the reports of unrest among the crew,
including the news has wife had shared with him about the kitchen staff
abandoning their duties. The sooner the ship reached land, the better.

The faster the ship moved through rough seas, the smoother it
cut through the swells and the better the stabilization. Stabilizers were like
stubby airplane wings, or dive planes on submarines. They rotated in opposite
directions on each side of the ship, controlled automatically by gyroscopes, to
counter the rolling motion that the swells tried to impart on the ship. An
ingenious invention of the 20
^th
century, they had drastically
reduced seasickness and improved comfort on ocean liners and cruise ships.
 
When the swells tried to tilt a ship the
stabilizers would fight to keep the ship upright. The faster the ship was
traveling, the more effective they were. The downside was that using
stabilizers at full speed greatly reduced the ship’s fuel economy. In this
case, however, the captain was committed to reaching a safe port quickly and at
all costs. Either they would secure more fuel in Darwin, or the
Sedulity
would remain there
indefinitely.

While a fast ride through high seas was smoother in some
ways, the pounding sounds and shudders coming from the bow were impressive,
even disturbing to the uninitiated. The bow rose and fell as it sliced through
the swells, each downward plunge causing vibrations to reverberate through the
hull, rattling unbroken glass and display cases.
 
Captain Krystos was confident that the hull
remained sound, even after the beating it had received from the blast wave and
tsunamis. Slamming through twenty foot swells was nothing compared to the towering
monsters the
Sedulity
had already
survived.
 
Nevertheless, the captain remained
on the bridge to monitor the ship, and because he didn’t have any desire to
follow any more news about the wave of destruction sweeping up the West Coast
of America and the shores of Asia.

Kevin had also ceased watching the news after the destruction
of Southern California, while Professor Farnsworth stayed glued to the TV until
his own home near Stanford University was washed away, along with the rest of
the Bay Area.
 
They were both back in the
navigation room, sharing even darker predictions, when the captain came in with
more news.

“We’ve restored satellite internet service. It’s not as fast
as normal, but we are online. I’ve restricted access by the passengers and crew
until you have a chance to send all your weather data and projections. Here’s a
list of the places requesting it,” the captain said, handing Kevin a sheet of
paper.

“Good,” Kevin replied. “We have several files ready to upload
immediately.” He glanced at the list, noting familiar names such as the
National Weather Service, National Hurricane Warning Center, NOAA, along with a
host of foreign weather service websites. It felt strange to be providing vital
weather data to all these experts, instead of receiving it from them for use in
his nightly news forecasts.

“After you get your data sent you can use email or internet
telephone to contact anyone else you need to,” Captain Krystos offered. “I’ll
open up some workstations and phone lines for passengers and crew to use too.
I’m sure that everyone aboard wants to check in with loved ones. I just hope
that most of them still have someone to contact.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Professor Farnsworth said. “We have a
daughter in Texas who must be worried to death.”

“Amanda and I have parents in Colorado and Florida who I’m
sure feel the same way,” Kevin said. “Thank you, Sir. We’ll handle the data
dump first, of course. And we’ll probably want to call the National Weather
Service directly. But it will be great to be able to let our families know
we’re still alive.”

“Yes, indeed,” Captain Krystos agreed. “I’m about to make
some similar calls to people in Greece, as well as my superiors at the cruise
line headquarters. This business with the crew has me worried a bit. Some of
them have already abandoned their posts. Perhaps being able to call or email
someone will help the situation, except for those who have already lost their
homes and family.” He shook his head in sadness and left Kevin and the professor
to their tasks.

The weather data and predictions they sent would trigger
panic among the global meteorological community. Experts around the world must
already be worried merely from looking at satellite photos; now they would be
receiving precise measurements of rainfall, temperatures, wind, and barometric
pressure. Though computer models existed for this set of conditions, it
wouldn’t be long until the global ramifications became obvious.

*****

Lieutenant Reiner drank his shot of rum with the men and
stood silently as they filed out of the lounge. From what he had seen and heard
while standing in back of them, it was likely that most of these men would
indeed return to their duties. After they left he looked back at the bartender.
He recognized Armando now, although the bandages and bathrobe had thrown him at
first.