She stopped and tried to open the door or turn the handle. It clicked as she went to turn it. Someone had locked it. Below was a sign which read, Open 24 Hours. She felt that uneasy sensation one feels when they are about to discover something very bad has just happened. She felt tight in her chest and her heart fluttered.
The Antarctic Solace provided luxury cruising to adventurers. Anyone interested in hiking across the Arctic Circle or climbing glaciers usually likes to exercise when they’re confined to a floating hotel. Like everywhere else onboard, the cruise ship provided state of the art training equipment and industry leading fitness instructors and exercise physiologists.
She knocked on the glass door loudly. “Hello. Anyone in there?”
Silence.
Alexis sighed. Maybe her life wasn’t quite ready to return to normal. She then continued to walk towards the theater. Her previously relaxed and casual pace now brisk. This time she didn’t detour at any of the usual places where people could be found along the way. She passed the beauty salon, health retreat and spa.
Alexis ignored the boutique shops. All of which displayed the customary yellow ‘closed’ sign she had become used to seeing. That in itself didn’t worry her. The shops often only opened during the evenings. She didn’t once stop to question if she’d ever recalled seeing a yellow ‘closed’ sign on anything previously — which she hadn’t. Subliminally, they simply contributed to her sensation that she was on some sort of deserted ghost ship.
She finally reached the entrance to the grand theater.
The golden doors were closed. It was a good sign. The amphitheater doors were left open when not in use so that guests could come and go. The fact they were firmly shut implied a show was currently being performed. Her ears perked trying to listen for sounds, but found only silence. She hoped that was related to the heavy soundproofing of the theater.
She tried the door handle. It was locked.
Then she noticed the yellow sign on the floor. The string which appeared to have previously held it over the door looked like it had been broken. Her heart pounded as she knew before she turned the yellow placard over, what it would say — Closed. Back in 15 minutes.
She banged loudly on the doors.
Then saw the axe on the side of the wall. It was there in the case of fires. I’m done waiting. It’s time to see what’s behind closed doors. Alexis grabbed the small hammer on the side of the unit and then broke the glass cover of the fire axe. She reached inside and took the axe from its alcove.
No longer afraid of the repercussions of being caught, she lifted the axe high above her shoulders and swung it so the head struck in between the large doors. It cut a small slice out of the door, but nowhere near enough to open it. She repeated the process again. And again. By the fifth attempt, something gave way in the locking mechanism and she was able to open the doors.
She stepped inside the two hundred seat theater. Completely empty, the place echoed with her footsteps.
Chapter Three
Her heart quickened. Has there been some sort of disaster and I failed to receive the order to abandon ship with the others? She held onto the axe for reassurance. Then ran to the edge of the room and opened the thick glass doors to the exposed deck, which wrapped around the sixth level. Alexis stepped out into the freezing cold air. It was a technically a few degrees above, but that didn’t make it feel any warmer — and she wasn’t dressed for it whatsoever. Even so, she didn’t feel the cold in her rush to learn the truth.
She ran to the portside where her designated life raft was supposed to be. She had performed a practice drill to reach it on her first day at sea. It rested at the edge of the 80 foot marker. Before she even reached it she’d imagined all the life rafts missing. Alexis anxiously passed the heavy bulkhead and found her life raft still secured inside its cradle.
The sight gave her a small amount of reassurance.
Her eyes scanned the vacant sea for other life rafts or signs of a tremendous calamity. None were seen. Instead all she could see was dark blue water, mostly still and reaching the horizon in every direction. She walked along the deck in a counter-clockwise direction. There were multiple life rafts situated in their cradles and suspended above the edge of the deck. By the time she’d reached the starboard side life rafts she accepted nothing terrible had happened to cause everyone to abandon ship.
There must be another explanation. One that didn’t include anyone getting injured or hurt. She just couldn’t think of any.
She stared at the water. There was something different about it. The dark blue water still filled her vision to the horizon in each direction, but there was something else. Then she realized what it was. The sea water was dead calm.
It was the first time she’d given the concept any thought. She looked at the horizon. It appeared almost perfectly horizontal, which meant the ship was still. There was barely even a gentle rocking motion. Even a ship at anchor swung around a little.
Have we run aground?
It was an impossible explanation. If they’d run aground surely there would have been signs of the impending disaster. Life rafts missing. Life jackets dropped as passengers tried to hastily don their survival devices, which would serve little use in an area with water temperatures approaching freezing.
So, if the Antarctic Solace hasn’t run aground, where did everyone go?
Alexis opened the glass doors on the starboard side and entered the main entertainment level on the sixth floor again. Her eyes scanned the empty ship for any signs of recent activity. The lights were on. The fridges in the bar were running. The jukebox rattled as it waited for someone to choose the next song.
She yelled, “Hello. Is anyone still here?”
The sound echoed.
I’m thousands of miles away from civilization — and I’m totally alone.
Like a frightened child left alone in a strange place, she shrunk.
What if it wasn’t the sea that got them?
What if the Antarctic Solace has been attacked and the passengers are all hostages?
The thoughts made her quickly realize that she needed to be quiet, careful and sly in her movements. But even those thoughts only provided her with more questions.
Why would anyone attack them?
And if they did, why leave the ship completely empty?
She walked down to the fifth level and carefully slunk towards the bow of the ship again. Each of her senses heightened by fear, searching for anything that sounded different. Smelled different. Or looked unusual. Her confidence grew with each movement.
Over the course of the next two hours she searched the ship and found nothing. The ship was stopped at sea, with all passengers bar herself missing. With the exception of the crew’s quarters on the lower decks, she’d searched everywhere. She would have searched the crew’s compartments but they were only accessible by the elevators and required security access cards.
She returned to the bow of the ship, along the deck on the sixth level. There, she took the outside stairs that led to the seventh level. At the top she found a solid glass door. A prominent white sign with the words, “Cruise Ship Staff Only” barred the door. She ignored the sign. It was time to find answers. She hacked at it with the axe until it smashed to pieces.