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Collette stood next to the captain in the bridge, listening to the
conversations that rose up from the depths of the ship below. Thick
plumes of black smoke spilled into the already dark sky and mixed into a
blur. Shouts could be heard in the background as the captain
coordinated the fire-fighting efforts over the announcing
system.
"Thick smoke, sir," a voice
reported. "We have two crews decked out in gear and they are
going in. So far three people are not accounted for. The
doctor and his staff are waiting here in case," he paused as if
searching for the words. Continuing, his voice was softer, "in
case they are not dead, sir."
Pressing the talk button on the sound-powered intercom system the
captain acknowledged the report, "captain, aye."
"How bad is it?" Collette asked.
He looked at her
and remained silent, not sure how to answer the question. His face
was a mask of solemn regret and all he could do was shake his head in
response.
Collette nodded in understanding. She leaned
against the wall and with an ashen face she just looked out the windows
that lined the front of the bridge. The waves rose and collapsed
upon themselves in white capped wonder. The clouds were slowly
beginning to break apart allowing the warm sunlight to steam onto the
ship. The light glinted off of the metal railing that lined the edge
of the ship, sparkling brightly. The weather of the day was turning
lovely.
Below decks the day turned into hell.
* * * * *
Thump. Thump. Thump.
"What the hell is that?"
Victor McFarland asked in incredulous wonder. It resonated and he
could feel the ship shaking beneath his feet. Something below him
was thumping loudly and his teeth rattled in protest.
Hugo Ashley shook his head, "don't
know, Vic." Hugo's face was ashen, shock slowly creeping into his
delicate features. "Really don't know."
A shout rang out, "charge the
hose."
At his feet a three inch fire hose
inflated as the pressurized sea water was allowed to flow freely through
it. The hose jumped as it was charged and Victor stepped away from
the hose. Down the corridor another voice rang out as men, dressed
in fire-retardant suits and forced air masks, hastened to obey the shouted
commands, "be safe. Fight the fire and not each other."
Four
men dressed in fire-fighting gear opened a hatch and descended into the
depths of the ship, brandishing the charged hose like it was a
lifeline to the surface of an undersea cavern. They climbed into the
port engine room slowly. The room was full of smoke that glowed
eerily under the glowing lights that were mounted to their
helmets.
The lights of the ship flickered twice
and extinguished.
The thumping stopped.
The ship was plunged into total
darkness. Power throughout the ship was cut setting the ship
adrift. The ship tossed and plunged, at the mercy of the waves that
lapped against the hull. The weather was clearing up and the waves
were slowly growing smaller. Victor held a phone to his head and
pressed a silver button that resided just below the earpiece, "all
power cut ship-wide, aye. Thank you, captain." He turned
back to Hugo, "power has been cut."
Victor could hear the humor in Hugo's
voice, "I figured when the lights went out."
"Now they can fight the
fire," Victor said solemnly.
* * * * *
On the bridge Collette and I listened to
the communications from below decks and the bridge. The lights were
out ship-wide and only the light of the day illuminated Collette's blank
face. She was listening intently to the exchange silently praying
for the safety of her crew. I looked at the captain and asked,
"why did they cut power to the ship?"
The captain, his hand poised on the
sound-powered intercom system, turned to reply. "The electrical
distribution system of the ship is basically two separate systems that
meet in the enclosed electrical plant in the port engine room. The
port to starboard tie bus has caught fire. They meet so that either
electrical plant can power the ship totally. This allows for
maintenance and is useful in the event of problems with the electrical
generators. It is an electrical fire and to put it out, power must
be removed from the equipment that is aflame. It was necessary to
totally de-energize the entire electrical system to guarantee that power
is totally removed from the bus bar. With power out, the men below
can safely put water on the equipment that is on fire."
I nodded in understanding, "thank
you, captain."
He nodded and looked at Collette standing
ashen next to me, "are you okay, ma'am?"
Collette nodded, "yes." Her
voice was strained.
The captain
reached up and pressed the button that activated the intercom,
"Jacques," he said, "can you bring some water up to the
bridge please. Mistress Collette could use some." He released
the button and immediately Jacques, his accent thick, came out of the
intercom, "oui, captain."
"What is going on?" Melinda
asked as she and Travis emerged onto the bridge. Melinda's hair was
wet and Travis had a bewildered look on his face. "Why are the
lights out?"
Collette's voice was tired, the strain of
listening to the squawking report and the knowledge that maybe, just
maybe, some of her crew was dead was evident in her tone, "fire,
Melinda," she croaked in Melinda's native French. "In one of the engine rooms. Power
is out to make it safe to fight the blaze. It's..." her voice
trailed off and nobody heard her whisper, "horrible."
Melinda gasped
and said, "I am so sorry."
Collette nodded to her in
gratitude.
"Firefighters advancing,
captain," a disembodied voice sounded through the intercom
system.
"Captain aye."
The four of us, Collette, Melinda, Travis
and I stood silently waiting for the reports to filter in, listening for
any update from the depths of the ship. How bad was the damage? Was
anybody hurt or worse yet, killed? They had said that the doctor was
onsite and I prayed that he wasn't needed though I feared that he
was. I exhaled a tired breath.
We waited.
* * * * *
"Advance!" Horace
Greenbaum shouted, straining to be heard over the raging
conflagration. "Let's put this fucker out." He was a
strong man with huge arms. His face was steered up into a mask of
determination. He was not about to let some fire damage this
ship. No way in hell! He worked the port engine room answering
only to the chief engineer. It was his engine room, dammit,
and there was no way that he was going to allow anything to happen to his
engine room.
He stepped forward, the nozzle of the
charged fire hose leading him like a beacon. He led the group of
four men, himself included, past the sealed door of the control room, past
the port emergency motor-generator and towards the middle of the
ship. He could feel the heat of the fire as he approached long
before he could see it. The room was full of thick black smoke and
it billowed sinuously, almost like an erotic dance.
Finally light appeared, bright and
strong. The electric distribution panel was a raging fire, the
flames licking the ceiling. The port to starboard breaker was a
twisted hunk of metal and was lying useless on the deck. The rest of
the large cabinet was aflame and Horace could feel the heat even through
his protective suit. He shouted into the smoke-filled air,
"opening the nozzle!"
The water
flew from the nozzle and immediately thick steam mixed with the black
smoke to hinder the sight of the four men even further. Horace swung
the nozzle back and forth, spraying the electrical panel with the cold sea
water. Slowly, swinging the nozzle in slow arcs, the four men
extinguished the fire.
Horace maintained a concentrated vigil,
looking for any sign that the fire would reflash, once again bursting into
a raging flame. "Russ," Horace called, "return to the
staging area and report to Victor that the fire is out. Have the
starboard engine room restore power to the ship and lets get ventilation
restored to get the smoke out of here. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," Russell
replied. He released the hose, leaving the three men behind to man
the hose in the event of the fire restarting due to any lingering heat
that may remain trapped in the smoldering piles of melted
metal.
"Return here when you are
done."
"Yes, sir," he repeated and
turned to obey.
* * * * *
The captain spoke, his voice a solid
timbre, "the fire is out and the reflash watch is set, aye."
Then with a gentle tone he said, "thank you, Victor."
Victor replied, "happy to report
it, captain."
The captain laughed, "I am sure
you are." The captain then spoke again, this time giving a
command to the starboard engine room. "Bring the starboard power
plant back online. Return power to the ship."
The order was acknowledged and within
minutes the ship was aglow with the lights of the overhead fixtures.
A voice squawked into the bridge, "power has been restored to the
ship, captain. Half of the equipment aboard is without power, but no
essential services are hindered. We have restored ventilation to the
port engine room. As soon as possible repair crews will work to get
the port power plant back online."
The captain said simply, "captain
aye." He released the intercom and turned to Collette, "let me
explain what has happened."
"That would be great,
captain," Collette said, her voice strained.
The captain spoke slowly, pausing to make sure that we understood exactly what
had happened. "As I said there are two separate electrical
plants that feed the ship. Half of the ships equipment is powered
from the port generator while the other half is powered from the starboard
electrical plant. Generally both plants are online and operating,
providing power to all shipboard equipment. Either electrical plant
generates enough power to power the entire ship.
"The port-starboard tie bus allows
us to keep everything powered if one of the two generators breaks or is
taken down for service. We shut the breaker and supply both electric
plants from the only operating electrical generator. The breaker
itself caught fire and welded the breaker open. We were able to put
the fire out once we deenergized the whole electrical system for the
entire ship. Any questions so far?"
There were none.
"Okay," he continued.
"With the fire out we now have to keep the port electrical system
totally offline until we can repair the damaged electrical distribution
panel. The starboard system is operating normally and supplying
power throughout the ship. Half of everything is without power as
the port bus is totally without power. The ship is equipped with
spare equipment for just such emergencies. No ship wide services are
hindered. We should have power fully restored in less than two days.
Any questions?"
Again there were none.
"Thank you, captain," Collette said in understanding.
The voice
of Victor spilled onto the bridge, "captain, the doctor has descended
into the engine room. All crew personnel accounted for sir. There
are no fatalities, repeat, no fatalities. The doctor is treating
some minor burns and smoke inhalation."
"That is great news," the
captain replied. "Great news indeed."
Behind him he heard Collette exclaim,
"wonderful!" Her voice was still strained but finally a tinge of
elation could be heard. The fire was out and nobody had more than
minor injuries. It could have been worse, she knew, and she knew how
lucky they had been. Her crew had come through in the face of
adversity and had succeeded in fighting the fire with hardly any injury.
"Thank you, captain," Collette
said as she led Melinda, Travis and I from the bridge.
She lead
us to the kitchen where the four of us sat heavily in the comfortable
chairs with only half the lights shining down upon us. Collette looked
tired as I reasoned I did as well. The last hour had been extremely
stressful with all of us standing around waiting with anxiousness for any
news from the depths below. We had heard that the doctor was waiting
to search for the crewmen that had been missing and when the news of their
safety came to us we had left. It was as if we were morbidly
awaiting that news.
Now we sat silently and only murmured a
simple "thank you," to Jacques when he delivered a small tray of
cheese and pepperoni and coffee.
"I'm tired," Collette said,
stating how we were all feeling.
I nodded in agreement.
The
day was young giving way to night and after the four of us sipped the
coffee and nibbled on the cheese and pepperoni, Collette stood, "we are
off to bed," she proclaimed to me and again in French to Melinda and
Travis.
Melinda spoke and Collette
replied.
Collette gripped my arm and pulled me to my
feet, "Melinda and Travis will come get us for breakfast in the
morning. We will have some fun then." She smiled weakly, not
really feeling as light as she was trying to sound.
I nodded.
And we parted ways for the night to
await the possibilities of the next morning.
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