1275psi
Posts: 7979
Joined: 4/17/2005 Status: offline
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Above them, the hatch........ In the engine rooms, the first fish is felt as a thud, shaking the dust down upon them in a great white snowfall. It freezes them all, as 6 pairs of eyes scan the guages, seeking for signs of disaaster. Hirate grips the throttle tighter, tensing, Charge stands, the damn condensate pump has tripped, he moves to the ladder for below. The second fish, the blast, flings them every which way, Hirate sprawling, his throttle watchkeeper slamming his face into the great wheel. Charge falls He falls to the platform halfway down, falls, lands, and breaks a great many things. Old men cannot really fall that far, and expect anything else. Hirate looks up, and horror fills him. All the steam guages read zero...........all of them And he can no longer hear the fans............. he is moving towards the telephone, mind overwhelmed, it rings............."get your men up!, abandon ship" Abandon ship............gods...........gods, yes...........shes going, he can feel it............ About him the turbines begin to wind down, and the lights are already beginning to dim. Charge!, where is the charge?. Fear grips him, almost paralises him............fwd, horrible sounds, metal tearing, water thundering sounds, ship dying sounds he moves though, not for the ladder, not to where he companions are already gathering, but the other way, to the ladder down..... Charge...........lying......Oh gods.........broken, pale A single leap, he joins him, reaches for him to pick him up, but the old man screams in agony. And then smiles. "A lifetime of fixing the bitch, and thebitch fixes me ney?......... 'Charge, please...........we must go.........." Charge nods......."yes, YOU must.........me, I, .........I think need to attend to some things first............." "Charge!" "The hatch hirate..........GO...go now!" Hirate goes.
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