her way around the small bathroom until she found the light switch. She flicked it off and on. Nothing happened. No matter, she’d found the door.
Sena tried to recover her composure before going out. She wiped her tears away and reached for the handle.
She wasn’t prepared at all for what she saw when she opened the door.
All the flat screen TVs on the walls of the bridge were off, as was the radar monitor, and Sena thought perhaps they were staging some kind of drill for the benefit of the kids. On the other side of the room, Lydia hustled the last of the students off the bridge.
The staff captain barked orders at the other crewman and Sena was paralyzed at the thought of crossing the room to the exit and possibly getting yelled at. She shrank back against the bathroom door. There weren’t any lights in the small hallway and she was partially hidden in shadows. She’d stay here until things calmed down or she saw an opportunity to sneak away.
Though all the lights in the room were off, sunlight flooded in through the windows and she had a good view of what was going on. The staff captain picked up the bridge phone. “Chief Huang, are you there? Adam, can you hear me?” He held the phone to his ear for a moment and then turned to the other crewman in the room. “Go get the captain. Tell him we’ve got no power and no communications on the bridge.”
“Yes, sir,” the other man responded and quickly left the room.
The staff captain picked up the intercom, which didn’t seem to be working either. Sena heard him mumble to himself and saw him fiddle with the controls. Then something caught his eye and he gasped. Sena took a step forward to see what he was looking at.
She couldn’t be seeing it right. Sena pushed her glasses up higher on her nose.
There was no mistaking it now.
They stood in horror as a passenger airplane crashed into the ocean no more than half a mile from the ship and burst into flames.
CHAPTER THREE
S ENA HEARD SCREAMS AND thought for a brief moment they came from the plane, before she realized passengers on the decks above the bridge had also seen the crash. Their cries of horror filled the air as they witnessed the tragedy unfolding directly before the ship.
If they were to avoid sailing through the disaster, the staff captain would have to change course, and with that thought, Sena realized the ever present sound of the engines was no longer in the background. The ship wasn’t moving. Not only that, it was slowly listing to one side. Pencils and other round objects rolled off tables and onto the floor.
The staff captain touched his fingers to forehead and chest in a religious gesture and then tried the ship’s radio. “Mayday! Mayday! This is Staff Captain Brady of the Duchess . There’s a large passenger plane down at location 53, 53.4 North, 169, 584 West. Requesting immediate rescue support.”
No response from the radio.
The sound of running footsteps in the hall signaled Sena to press back into the shadows. The door burst open and Captain Crane rushed in, followed by Mona and several other crewmen.
“Status report,” barked the captain.
“Sir, we’ve lost all power and comms to the bridge. Power to the ship appears to be down but there’s no report yet from the engine room. Radio is down, radar is down. And there’s…” He trailed off, pointing to the wreckage of the airplane, where flames appeared to float on the water. “What are your orders?”
The captain stared at the burning plane, lost in thought. The actress nudged him and his attention shifted back. He snapped at one of his crew, “Get down to the engine room and find out what’s going on. I want the power back on now.” The crewman left the room at a run and the captain pointed at another. “Find Lydia and send her in. Why isn’t she here already?”
Another sailor raced away.
“What’s wrong with you people? Why are you all standing there? We have to keep the