Titanic 2020

'All right — I'm just. . .'

Her foot slipped suddenly on the damp rail and she screamed. The wind seemed to grab at her and pull her out, but Jimmy held tight. Slowly, slowly, he pulled her back down over the rail and they both collapsed, defeated.

***

Two minutes later she said: 'I'm trying again.'

'It's my turn,' said Jimmy.

'No — it's still my turn. It was the shoes — no grip.'

She showed him the sole of her shoe. Then she took them both off and stuck them inside her jacket. 'C'mon!'

Jimmy helped her back up on to the rail, and this time held her even tighter. She felt for her grip on the other side, made sure it was secure, then nodded at Jimmy to let her go.

He held on.

'Jimmy — now! I'm fine!'

Jimmy took a deep breath and released his grip. Claire pulled herself around the fence and dropped down on to the balcony next door.

'OK,' Jimmy shouted, 'here I come.'

He just about made it round — the force of the wind was incredible. But when he landed, Claire was already looking grim.

'The doors are locked!' she shouted. 'What do we do now?'

'We keep going until we find one that is open!'

'But what if they're all closed? The wind is going to rip one of us off eventually!'

'It's the wind or Pedroza — up to you!'

***

Four times they climbed from balcony to balcony, growing colder and weaker with each attempt, but finally they found an unlocked door and collapsed into the cabin. They lay on the big double bed and laughed and laughed and laughed.

It wasn't funny, but they couldn't help themselves. It was a heady mix of adrenaline and relief. When they could manage it they rolled over to the mini bar and feasted on Toblerone and Diet Coke. Claire opened a bottle of champagne and drank. Jimmy refused. 'I drink it all the time with Mummy,' she said. 'She buys a new bottle every time one of my ponies wins a . . .' Then she stopped. 'My poor ponies. Do you really think they're dead?'

Jimmy thought about it. He liked Claire, and knew the right thing was probably to spare her feelings. On the other hand, he was who he was. He said, 'Of course they are. Their flesh has been consumed by wild dogs and their bones boiled for soup by starving plague victims.'

'Sometimes you're very cruel, Jimmy Armstrong.'

'Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.'

Claire's eyes blazed. 'No! You should never be cruel to be kind. It's horrible. The truth is horrible.' She wiped at her tears. 'Everyone is dead, Jimmy. The world is dead. I have to believe my lovely ponies are still alive. I have to.'

'All right,' said Jimmy. 'I'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better, then they are still alive. Albeit in soup form.'

Claire hurled a Toblerone at him.

35 Pedroza

From the fourth deck, Jimmy and Claire could see that a second line now connected the Titanic to the Olympic, a flexible pipe used for ship-to-ship refuelling. It was being blown violently from side to side and looked as if it might be swept away at any moment. The wind seemed to be getting even stronger.

They ducked back inside and took seats opposite each other in the Olympic's library. They had to decide what to do next.

'If we go down and stand with Jonas,' Jimmy suggested, 'then maybe Pedroza won't try anything.'

Claire shook her head. 'No, Jimmy. Jonas said it could take four or five hours to refuel. Pedroza could just take us away again and they wouldn't be able to do anything about it.'

'Well what then?'

'What if we wait until the last possible minute to go down? Once we see the pipe being retracted, we'll know it's safe. Or safer.'

'But it'll just be the same when we get back, won't it? We know he wants to kill us. We have to do something to stop him, right here, right now.'

'Like what? If Captain Smith and the whole crew haven't been able to get rid of him — how can we?'

'I know. But over there he's got his whole band of mutineers; over here there's just him and Dolphin Arm. And if he has to leave Dolphin Arm to guard Jeffers and Jonas, then there's just him . . .'

'And a gun. And several knives.'

'But he hasn't got what we have.'

'What's that?'

'Your big arse and my lucky penny.' Claire gave him a look, and he quickly apologized. 'Look, all we need is a plan. Something not too complicated. Something that doesn't depend on him doing this, and this and this, before we can do this, and that.'

'We need to lure him somewhere, trap him and . . .'

'Kill him.'

They stared at each other.

'We can't kill him,' said Claire.

'Why not?'

'Because that makes us as bad as he is. And I couldn't do it. I couldn't . . . stick a knife in him. Or shoot him.'

'What then? Tell him he's been a very, very naughty boy and give him detention?'

'I don't know! Could you kill him? Stick a knife right into him and watch the blood burble out of him?'

'Burble?'

'Jimmy — could you?'

Jimmy was from a rough, tough part of Belfast, but he'd never stabbed anyone. 'I killed a gerbil once,' he said.

'That's hardly the— Did you kill him with a knife?'

'I knelt on him. It was an accident.'

'Oh. Well you may not have the opportunity to kneel on Pedroza.'

'So we still need a plan.'

'Yes we do.'

***

Jonas Jones was the first to see Jimmy as he came running into the fuel depot ninety minutes later, his face flushed, barely able to grab his breath.

'Jimmy, lad, where did you spring from?'

Jeffers was overseeing the pumping, while Dolphin Arm and Pedroza kept guard. Before Jimmy could respond Pedroza strode angrily across, grabbed him and threw him to the ground.

'How'd you get out of that cabin, you little rat?'

He took his gun out and pointed it down at him.

'Easy now!' said Jeffers.

Pedroza immediately swung his gun around to point at the First Officer. 'Get on with your work!'

'Just . . .just . . . take it easy, then . . .'

Jeffers turned reluctantly back to his labour. Pedroza snarled down at Jimmy.

'Where's the girl?' he snapped.

'She stayed with it. . .'

'With what?'

'The gold!'

Pedroza's eyes narrowed. 'Gold? What gold?'

'Please,' said Jimmy. 'I'm sorry . . . we were bored. It was easy to get out of our cabin . . . But listen, please, we came to tell you what we found! You won't believe it . . . incredible — an entire room, just full of it . . . gold bars . . . thousands of them!'

***

They had guessed, correctly, that Pedroza's face would light up at the thought of a room full of gold. He already had one potential fortune on his hands with Mamma Joss's medicine, but gold was something else entirely — paper money might now be worthless, but gold never loses its value. He had seized power on the Titanic and had grand plans to take the Olympic back to port. But it still meant that he would have two ships guzzling enormous amounts of fuel. In a broken world, where oil would be jealously guarded by the few survivors, gold would become the means by which such commodities could be bought. Civilizations come and go. But gold remains constant. Through all of history it has been prized above all other metals. It is, was and always will be completely irresistible.

All of these thoughts were whirring through Pedroza's brain as he marched Jimmy towards the eleventh floor. The chef's eyes were wide with excitement, the pulse in the side of his forehead was visibly thumping away and his breaths were coming fast and furious.