NOLAN'S QUEST
Part II From "Nolan's Quest" (Titanic Scene)
Copyright Carl E. Ireton
Copyright Carl E. Ireton
Not To Be Copied or Redistributed Without Author's Permission!
From her lifeboat in the distance, Gennifer watched the huge, sinking liner, ablaze in lights. It was apparent from the angle the Titanic lay, she could not last much longer. She could hear the sweet sounds of 'Autumn', as the music drifted out over the waters from the dying liner. Terrified, she watched the ship sinking and heard the cries of those struggling for life in the frigid waters. Where was her Nolan? And what about Ryan? She hoped and prayed they were together. Were they still aboard the ship, or were they out there somewhere in a lifeboat? Or were they part of the drowning, freezing masses of people in the sea! She shuddered as she tried erase that thought from her mind. She gasped in horror, as the forward funnel crashed into the sea. The stern of the ship continued its relentless ascension into the air. She was awe-struck at the size of the ship's propellers which were now above the surface. How had it all come to this? The Titanic was such a huge, beautiful ship. She had seemed so safe because of her size, and Gennifer had felt so safe and secure aboard her.
Two hours ago, she had finally given herself to Nolan. All his love, all the passion, all the feelings he had held inside for her for fifteen years, flowed like wine with an intensity she'd never experienced before. Now she didn't even know whether he was alive or dead. She buried her head in her hands and wept.
When the wave surged forward as they tried to make Collapsible B ready for launching, Nolan, too, was swept off his feet and washed overboard. When the funnel fell, Nolan was only a few yards away from Lightoller. He was horrified as he saw the funnel hit those swimming nearby. As it sank beneath the surface, it sucked down with it some who had survived its crash. A mangled body of a man with his arms grotesquely bent out of shape floated past him. He suppressed a scream and sucked his breath in. Suddenly an ear-piercing, unearthly sound reached across the cries and screams. Inside the bowels of the ship came a terrible, screeching, tearing sound, such as metal separating from metal. The Titanic, due to the stress on her hull by her angle in the water, was breaking in half underneath the surface! Everything loose inside, potted plants, Grand pianos, boilers, trunks, crockery, and silverware, crashed through the bulkheads until they reached the black void of nothingness where the ship separated, hurtling towards the bottom of the sea. As the ship separated amidships, the lights which had been burning bright flickered and then went out. The Titanic seemed to settle back and right herself. Slowly the great ship began to tilt forward again, until she was almost perpendicular. People on the stern section were jumping from the ship, as others held onto anything for dear life, and others slid down the deck into the ocean. It was a terrifying sight to behold.
Gennifer cupped her hands over her ears to shut out the screams and the cries for help coming from the ship and in the water. But her eyes remained transfixed on the Titanic as she stood poised for her final plunge.
One man clung to the starboard railing, as the ship began her inexorable slide towards the bottom. His fear turned to panic as the cries, shrieks, and screams of those left aboard began their elevator descent to certain death below. He could hear among the screams, people praying.
Slowly, very slowly, she began to slide beneath the surface, gathering speed as she went. Slowly, ever slowly, picking up speed as she went, the Titanic began to disappear under the sea. One by one, her darkened portholes dipped under as she made her final descent beneath the surface. With a slight gulp, her flag at the uttermost part of her stern, waving defiantly, slipped beneath the surface in a froth of bubbles and wreckage.
"Oh, my God, she's gone! Oh, my Nolan! I pray you were off the ship!" Gennifer cried out. Except for the ever-diminishing cries for help and the screams, an eerie stillness pervaded the sea. Gennifer broke down and began to sob uncontrollably.
A light mist hung over the spot where the Titanic had disappeared beneath the surface. It was a ghastly scene. Deck chairs and wreckage of every description floated around, intermingled with hundreds of dead bodies and lifeboats, and the ever-diminishing cries for help from those struggling in the water. Those hundreds who had escaped to the uppermost part of the stern in the futile hope of escaping the freezing water below, had all taken an elevator ride down into the ocean, some actually being dragged down to a cold, black, watery grave.
As Nolan struggled to reach Collapsible B, he stopped and looked up at the giant behemoth above him as she began to break apart inside. He was close enough so when the ship began to slip down beneath the surface, he was dragged down with her. Vainly, he fought to regain the surface, as he was pulled down into the dark recesses of the deep. The pressure building on his head, ears, and lungs increased as he was pulled ever deeper. This is it, he thought. Good-bye, Gennifer. Good-bye, Augustus. I'm sorry I couldn't have been a better father for you. As his struggles began to surrender to certain death, the downward pull began to decrease. He felt he might still have a chance to make it back to the surface. With a mighty kick and renewed determination, he fought for the surface. Just as he reached the surface, he had to exhale the air in his lungs, which left in an explosion of bubbles. His head bobbed above and he spit out the water that had filled his mouth, coughing and choking at the same time. In front of him floated a piece of engraved paneling and he grabbed it holding onto it for dear life. Where was Ryan? He looked around him frantically.
"Ryan! . . . Where are you!" His cries went unheeded over the din of those already crying for help. "Ryan! . . . . Ryan! . . . . " His efforts to find his friend gave him renewed blood circulation and warmed him. The water was so chillingly cold. He kicked his feet and held onto the paneling with one hand and tried to paddle with the other. It seemed everywhere he turned he bumped into a dead body or some flotsam of some sort.
Next to him was a man thrashing about in a panic. He grabbed Nolan by the neck and wrapped his arms around him, dragging them both under. Nolan let go of the paneling and both went struggling beneath the surface. Nolan knew that if he didn't break the man's grip around him he would drown. They struggled some more before Nolan was able to drive his elbow into the man's rib. He let go and they both rose to the surface. He looked at the man but there was no sign of life. He had drowned while struggling with Nolan beneath the surface. A bassinet bobbed up and down nearby. Nolan managed to swim up to it and pulled it over just enough to peer inside. There was a baby in it, still alive, and its arms waved back and forth and gurgled. How this baby had made it off the ship without even getting wet was a complete mystery. Nolan's heart just sank as he thought of the other babies and children who had died.
His will and strength began to ebb as he looked at this beautiful little baby, who was unaware of the watery death that awaited it if it wasn't rescued. Nolan had to save it. He hoped and prayed the infant could survive the cold long enough until someone came to the rescue. If there was one. Had any ships been contacted to come to their rescue, he wondered? Certainly there had to be some ships on the way to rescue them.
In the distance he could see lifeboats rowing about. He shouted amid the other cries for help, for them to come over and pick him up. But they seemed reluctant to do so. The cries in the water for help were slowly beginning to die off. Nolan felt anger surging through him, as he watched the lifeboats yet so near yet they wouldn't come close to rescue any swimmers. With renewed determination, he swam towards the closest lifeboat with one arm, while steering the bassinet with the other. With every stroke, he narrowed the distance between him and the boat until he reached an oar and grabbed it. Near exhaustion, he heard somebody yell for him to go away, that he would swamp the boat.
"I've got a baby! Please take the baby!" he said hoarsely. Somebody lifted an oar and tried to bring it down on his head. He ducked and it missed him by inches.
"Damn it! Take the baby and let me hang on for a moment!" he shouted.
"We're full and you'll tip us over and drown the lot of us!" someone shouted.
"Just take the baby and I'll go away!"
"For God's sake, pull him in and take the child!" he heard somebody implore. After a moment's hesitation, somebody reached out and pulled the bassinet from the water. The child began to cry as she was placed in the lifeboat. Nolan, numbed to the bone, swung around to swim away. Someone grabbed him and pulled him back. Nolan was too weak to resist and he was pulled from the water. The boat was really only half full. Nolan realized he was in Collapsible A, which had water practically up to every one's knees.
Ryan found himself struggling to hang onto overturned Collapsible B, along with some of the other survivors. Lightoller had climbed aboard with the help of others already there and began giving directions so that the boat would remain afloat long enough for rescue. Ryan recognized one of the men hanging onto the boat as Wireless Operator Phillips. The water was so cold and every now and then someone would simply let go of the boat and drift into the darkness. Those on top of the boat who died from exposure were lowered over the side and somebody else was taken on board. Ryan stayed put. He had to exercise extreme self-control. As the night progressed Phillips passed into the netherworld. Everyone who clung onto Collapsible B concentrated on one thing, survival! The night drug on and the cries for help slowly drifted away until those in the chilling water had all succumbed to the coldness or had drowned.
An hour later, the dawn shed some light on the surface of the sea. A ship approached, firing rockets in order to attract their attention to let them know help was coming.
The Carpathia, which had been fifty eight miles away and had heard Phillips call for help, had turned around and raced as fast as she had ever run in her life. Passengers who thought they were headed to the Mediterranean were rudely surprised as the ship raced through the night and the weather turned cold. More than once the Carpathia had to dodge icebergs at full speed in their attempt to rescue those aboard the Titanic. And now here they were.
Someone in one of the lifeboats had lit a rag on fire to signal the rescue ship. An iceberg lay directly in front of the Carpathia, so she had to stop her engines where she was as the flotilla of lifeboats made their way slowly to her. A swell had sprung up sometime that morning, and the exhausted survivors bobbed up and down as they came closer. Rope ladders were thrown over the Carpathia's side and some of the crew dropped down to the first lifeboat to assist the passengers up. A gangway door on C deck was opened and survivors slowly climbed up to it. It was a pathetic scene. Even though the boats consisted of mostly women and children, it was only about half full or less. Gennifer was assisted up the ladder and taken to the dining saloon where she and some of the other women and children were given blankets, hot coffee, and sandwiches. She was despondent. She wanted to end her life. She had spent fourteen horrible years with an abusive husband, and just when her prince had arrived to save her and take her away from all the horribleness, he, too, was taken from her. There was almost total silence. among the survivors. Everyone was still too stunned. Soon, however, they began to give themselves to their grief, some crying out loudly for lost husbands and children, others just weeping silently.
Nolan's boat was on the verge of sinking beneath them. They had tried to get it launched off the ship, but they'd had troubles getting the canvas sides up, and now those in the boat were in cold, waist deep water. Nolan looked at the little baby, determined the little infant would stay as dry and warm as possible. This baby alone gave him a purpose to live at that moment. Others in the boat were already half dead.
Lightoller blew his whistle in the chill air, then hailed some nearby boats. Soon two boats pulled alongside. Those who were still alive were taken off the overturned and now almost sunken collapsible, or pulled from the water, including Ryan. Lightoller jumped in himself and took charge of the lifeboat.
Nolan and others were led to the dining saloon. In what had seemed like an eternity, Lifeboat no.14 had pulled alongside Nolan's boat and took off those who still remained alive. Nolan and the baby were now in the warmth of the dining saloon. A stewardess convinced Nolan to let her look after the baby. She said she would help him look for it's parents. Suddenly he saw Gennifer sitting across the room. He jumped to his feet and ran to her. They embraced each other tightly, sobbing in each other's arms.
"Are you all right, Gennifer?" Nolan asked her.
"Oh, my God, Nolan, what has happened? It's all so terrible. So many people . . . . . dead."
"It's okay. It's all over now. We're safe," he said as he held her and patted her back comfortingly.
"Where's Ryan at? Did he make it?"
"I don't know," Nolan said softly. "If he didn't I'm never going to be able to live with myself for bringing him on this voyage."
"Don't blame yourself. Nobody knew the ship was going to sink. It isn't your fault. I would have come with you even if I knew the ship was going to sink."
"I love you so," he said as his heart swelled inside. "Oh, Gennifer, just hold me for awhile."
"Oh, Nolan, it's so hard to imagine our warm, safe, staterooms now lying at the bottom of that cold, black, tomb of the ocean," she said as she held him close to her breast.
"Oh, Gennifer, I never thought I'd ever be warm again. All those people out there dying . . . I'll never forget that scene for as long as I live," he said, as he shuddered. As his head lay nestled in Gennifer's arms his mind reflected briefly to when the ship had taken the final plunge and he had been dragged under.
Gennifer looked up and saw some of the Titanic's passengers enter the dining saloon, looking around for friends and loved ones. "Look, Nolan, it's Ryan!" she said excitedly as she roused him.
"Ryan!" he shouted. Ryan searched for the voice and, seeing Nolan and Gennifer, he rushed over to them. "I thought I'd lost you both!" he said as they put their arms around each other. "I am so glad to see the both of you."
"What happened?" Nolan asked. "I lost you out there."
"That's a long story, something I'll tell you about someday," Nolan said.
"I was so frightened for the both of you. I thought you were both dead when I came on board," she said as she flung her arms around Ryan. "I don't ever want to lose sight of either one of you ever again," she said, her voice muffled as she buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed.
"After last night, I promise, nothing will ever separate us again," Ryan said.
"Promise me that when we get back to Denver you and Desiree won't be far away from us?" Gennifer asked. "I promise." Ryan said quietly as he put his arm around her.
As the Carpathia sailed to New York with 706 survivors, Nolan and Ryan stood by the railing and stared at the tremendous ice field which lay all around them. The sun warmed them and felt good after their ordeal in the water. Gennifer had been taken below to a cabin to rest. Some of the icebergs stood over two hundred feet in height. "I can't imagine how we could have possibly sailed right into something like this. Weren't there any warnings of any kind?" Ryan asked.
"I don't know," was all Nolan could reply.
"I've heard talk that those who died on the ship are in the hundreds. That's unbelievable. It seems just like a couple of hours ago we were enjoying a nice, comfortable, voyage then, suddenly, we were struggling for our very lives. Why? How could this happen? Tell me!" Ryan said, looking to Nolan for an answer.
"I don't know," Nolan repeated, in a subdued voice, "All those people . . . . . . . " His voice trailed off as he bowed his head. "All those poor, poor people . . . . ."
Thursday night came and the Carpathia steamed into New York Harbor. It was pouring rain as she slowly made her way to her pier. She was immediately surrounded by tugs from whose decks contained hordes of reporters shouting questions through megaphones. Tens of thousands of people crowded the river front to get a view of the "Carpathia" as she steamed across the harbor. One reporter from a tug actually climbed aboard the ship from the tug he was on. He was quickly apprehended and held in custody on the bridge until the ship docked.
The gangway was lowered and the Titanic's passengers were allowed to disembark first. As they descended the gangway, thousands of flashbulbs began to go off as reporters stood on the dock to try and get a story for their papers. The passengers shielded their eyes from the flashes as they came across the gangway. Nolan, Gennifer, and Ryan stood on the dock not knowing where to go from there. Ryan searched the crowd, hoping by some chance that Desiree would be there. How he needed her right now! Suddenly through the crowd he heard someone calling his name. He turned around and saw Desiree's hands waving above the reporters.
"Desiree!" he shouted as he turned to run to her. Reporters standing in his way thought he was charging them and quickly made room for him and they quickly backed away to make a path as he ran to his Desiree. She and Rachel, who had accompanied her, ran up to him and they embraced in silence, not saying anything, tears in their eyes. Nolan and Gennifer, arms around each other's waist, watched the happy scene. After awhile they walked over and Nolan embraced Desiree.
"I'm so glad to see you all alive," she said. "When the newspaper reports came out about how many had died, I almost fell to pieces worrying about you."
They hailed a taxi and asked to be taken to the nearest restaurant. Inside the cab, no one spoke for awhile. Desiree could sense that the memories were still too fresh for talking about at the moment. Ryan sat close to Desiree and Rachel, gazing at them often.
"I've missed you and your mother so much, Rachel," he told his daughter.
She smiled. "We've really missed you, father. Come home with us." Desiree nodded warmly.
Joy filled Ryan's heart, as he tried to swallow the lump in his throat, at the sound of those words. He choked on his reply. "Believe me, there is nothing more in the world that I want to do. I'll to do my best to help make us a family again. Is that all right with you?" he asked them both. They nodded, and Ryan and Desiree took each other's hands and kissed.
Copyright Carl E. Ireton
Not To Be Copied or Redistributed Without Author's Permission!
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