“You okay?” he asks her when reaches their side.
The small girl looks up at him with red rimmed eyes and tries to say something but only breaks into a massive coughing fit.
All around them, the heat from the fire is increasing as more of the ship becomes engulfed.
“Can you crawl?” he asks her.
When the coughing spell lets up a little, she manages to nod.
“Follow me then,” he says. Grabbing the older girl, he gets on his hands and lays her across his back. Moving on all fours with an unconscious girl upon his back, he begins leading the other little girl to the stairs.
At this level, the smoke isn’t nearly as bad, though it is still thick. Glancing back every other step, he makes sure the little one is keeping up.
They make it about halfway to the stairs when he suddenly feels the ship lurch slightly and cold seawater flows across the floor. The hold begins to fill with water. He doesn’t have that much time.
“Come on!” he manages to yell to the girl behind him. He removes the girl from his back and then stands up. The water is now about ankle deep and rising. Picking up the unconscious girl, he carries her toward the stairs, the little one following, holding onto his shirt.
As they reach the stairs and start to climb up, the ship lurches again and begins to tilt. Scenes from Titanic run through his head as he climbs the stairs. Before he makes it to the top, another section of the burning deck caves in and lands upon a small stack of barrels lining one wall. He hopes they aren’t flammable.
Clearing the hatch, he sees an inferno all around him. The girls who had come out before are huddled against one side of the ship. It’s the only area yet to be consumed by the fire and it’s not going to last very much longer.
When he reaches them, he asks, “Is this everyone?” Several heads bob affirmative.
He glances over the side to the water below. Debris has already begun to dot the surface. “Over the side!” he yells.
“I can’t swim!” one girl screams, terrified.
“You got no choice!” he tells her. One of the older girls goes to the rail and jumps over, a couple others follow. Finally he’s left there with the unconscious girl in his arms and the frightened girl who won’t go over. The heat from the fire consuming the ship is beginning to burn his skin. The central mast suddenly cracks and topples over sending sparks and embers flying.
One ember lands in the frightened girl’s hair and James quickly puts down the girl in his arms and brushes it out before it has a chance to catch. He then looks over the side and sees that Gwynne and the others have all managed to find something to grab a hold of to keep from going under.
“Gwynne!” he yells.
She looks up at him.
“One girl can’t swim,” he hollers. “You’ll have to help her!”
She gives him a nod.
Turning to the frightened girl, he says, “You can’t stay here!”
Looking at him with fear in her eyes, she says nothing, just stands there with her bottom lip trembling.
He picks her up and she begins fighting him. Struggling, he manages to get her to the rail and then tosses her over. She lands with a scream and a splash near Gwynne.
Gwynne immediately dives under the water and pulls her up. Helping her, they both grab hold onto the flotsam floating nearby.
Suddenly, the deck under which James is standing gives out with a crack, but doesn’t collapse. Picking up the unconscious girl he jumps over the side and together they hit the water.
The impact knocks the breath out of him and he loses hold of the unconscious girl. Little hands begin reaching for him and help him to the surface. When he breaks through the surface, he looks around in a panic and sees another girl having already rescued the unconscious girl.
“Away from the ship!” he hollers. “We’ve got to get away before it goes down!”
Bam!!!
An immense explosion sends wood and other debris through the air. The ship begins to tilt even more precariously in the water.
“Now!” he yells as they begin kicking and swimming away from the burning wreckage. From behind them, a groan and a crack can be heard as the second mast topples over.
They continue swimming away and soon, the ship upends before sinking completely under the water. Steam and hissing sounds erupt as the flames meet the water. Then, all is quiet.
As the second mast falls, the dinghy with six sailors in it begins moving carefully toward the wreckage. All the while keeping its distance from the raging inferno.
“There she goes!” one sailor hollers as the ship upends and sinks below the surface.
The flaming ship produces a massive amount of steam as its burning carcass enters the sea. When the steam begins to dissipate, Meliana screams, “There!” The others look to where she’s pointing and she sees several forms floating in the water. One of them is waving, trying to gain their attention.
“Is it James?” Miko asks.
“Hard to tell from here,” Illan says. “But I think so.”
“James!” Dave yells from his position by the rail. Waving madly, he looks as if he’s about to have a fit from jubilation.
The dinghy makes its way through the flotsam scattered about the surface of the water as it continuous to head for the survivors. When they draw close, those still on the ship watch as they haul them out of the water. After they’re all in the dinghy, they turn and start returning to the ship.
“It is James!” Meliana exclaims happily. She turns and gives her father a hug and kiss.
“But what happened?” he says to no one in particular.
“James happened,” Jiron tells him. When her father glances at him, he adds, “This is why the Empire wants him so badly.”
“But you said he had been drugged?” he asks.
“True,” replies Jiron. “That’s what we were told.”
“Then, how?” he wonders.
Jiron just shrugs and turns back to watch the dinghy as it returns to the ship. It suddenly alters course and begins returning to the wreckage. Two crewmen of the sunken ship are found hanging onto one of the spars. After they haul them aboard, they return to the ship.
Meliana rushes to the side where they’ll be coming abreast and watches as they draw near. Her eyes and James’ lock for a minute and she’s pleased to see a smile break across his face when he recognizes her. He gives her a wave.
Next to her, Paul waves to the approaching dinghy and shouts, “Gwynne! Daria!”
The girls see him and begin shouting, “Paul! Paul!”
When the dinghy comes to rest against the side of the ship, a rope ladder is let down to them and they begin climbing up. The girls are the first to come up, Paul gives Gwynne and Daria each a hug. The other girls know him as well and in turn give him a hug, several break down and cry.
As James takes his turn in climbing the ladder, Meliana positions her self to greet him. The others know what’s between them and allow her to be the first to greet him. When he finally reaches the top, Dave comes over and nudges her out of the way as he extends a hand down to him.
“Man, I didn’t think to see you again,” he says.
Meliana gets a hurt look on her face and her father’s demeanor turns dark.
“Thanks,” James says to him as he takes his hand and makes it over the rail.
Dave tries to say something else but Meliana rushes past him and gives James a hug. Burying her face in his shoulder, she lets out the pent up fear and frustration she’s felt ever since learning of his fate.
He pats her on the back and says, “Here now, I’m okay, there’s no reason to fret.”
“I was just so scared for you,” she cries.
James looks at the others slightly embarrassed at this display of emotion in front of everyone, though he does rather enjoy it. Dave is giving him an odd look and it doesn’t look like a pleased one.