FicWad

Sanity

R.M.S Carpathia

8:00 a.m. Deck of the Lisa Marie
Atem stood looking out at the water. He had woken up an hour and a half ago from a nightmare that he had about him and Yugi. In the dream he and Yugi had failed to kill Dartz, and Yugi was killed instead. The dream had plagued him for days now. The first time he had the dream, he had woken up screaming and Yugi had to calm him down. From then on, whenever he had the dream, Yugi would wake up and just hold him while he shivered. The thought of loosing Yugi was just too much. He didn’t want to think about it. This time he had woken up and didn’t have the heart to wake up the younger one. So instead he had slipped quietly out of bed and, after finding a light jacket, left the room for a walk around the upper deck. It was still rather early for the crew to be fully up and working when he stole down the corridors to the galley. Mac was already up and starting to cook breakfast when Atem walked in. He nodded at him, offered a cup of coffee and went back to making breakfast. Atem had accepted the coffee gratefully, and set out to wander around the ship. He had walked around the entire upper deck three times before he finally stopped at the bow to look out at the ocean. The Lisa Marie had been underway since sometime late that night. The R.M.S. Carpathia laid under a little more than 500 feet of water at approximately 53° 13’ N - 10° 40’ W. The ocean was rather calm in the early morning hours. Atem knew that the waters off the Irish coast would start to get cold soon, what with the weather changing in the next couple of months. He was glad that the Wades had scheduled to do the dive now instead of later in the year. To be on the safe side, Dirk and Austin were both told that they would be wearing dry suits. A standard wet suit would be fine in warming waters, but in the water where they were supposed to be, the dry suits would keep them warmer. He sighed as a slight breeze filtered in from the south. He felt arms wrap around his waist from behind and he smiled.
“Good morning, love,” he said as he turned around and wrapped his arms around the person behind him.
“Morning,” Yugi replied.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked as he placed a small kiss on Yugi’s forehead.
“Yes,” Yugi replied as he sighed contentedly, “What’s wrong?”
“Huh?”
“I know you woke up early. Did you have the dream again?” he asked.
Atem studied the smaller ones face for a moment before nodding.
“Oh, koi, it’s going to be alright, I’m not going anywhere,” Yugi whispered before placing a chaste kiss on Atem’s lips.
“I know, but I can’t help but worry. I don’t want to lose you,” he murmured, “Not after everything we’ve gone through to get here.”
Yugi sighed and buried his face into Atem’s chest, “You won’t. Now, what do you say we go get some breakfast and then get this show on the road?”
Atem nodded, “Sure.”
The two left the peaceful deck and made their way below to the galley, where Mac was done with making breakfast. Eggs, bacon, home fries, sausage, and grits were laid out on the buffet table ready for anyone to help themselves. The two helped themselves to some of the food before sitting down at a table. The crew slowly started to trickle in and Tim, Dirk, and Austin eventually ended up sitting with them. It was almost 9:00 by the time the Wades had made their way into the galley. Seeing as Atem and Yugi were the only ones they really knew besides the Captain, they ended up sitting with them. They started out talking about the ship, which Tim filled them in on a lot of things. It slowly turned to talking about the upcoming dive.
“So what exactly are we going to be doing?” Alexander asked.
“Well, for today, we’re just basically going to be looking around,” Atem supplied as he sipped his coffee, “We’ll take the submersible down and use the ROV to look around the wreck. Dirk and Austin will be down there with us. They’ll be making sure that nothing gets tangled up in either the ROV’s cords or in the subs propellers.”
Alexander nodded as he ate more of his breakfast.
Stephanie put her fork down and tilted her head, “Now I know the Carpathia was the one that helped the Titanic life boats, but not much more than that. What’s she like?”
“Well, the Carpathia was a passenger liner, much like the others of her day. She was built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson for the Cunard White Star line. Yes the same White Star line that owned the R.M.S. Titanic. She was launched on the 6th of August in 1902. She received distress signals from the Titanic and immediately went underway to her rescue. They pulled 705 people out of the Titanic’s life boats, 4 of which that died before they reached the New York harbor,” Yugi explained, “She was approximately 541 feet (165 meters) in length. The total height, or beam as it is called in ship language, was 64.6 feet (19.66 meters) high. She had a displacement of 8,600 tons in the water. She could cruise at a top speed of 17.5 knots when she had both sets of 8-cylinder steam engines running at full capacity. She could house 1,704 passengers. She was used to transport American troops during the First World War when she was sunk by the German U-boat, U-47. It took three torpedoes to bring her down.”
“She was found in late 2000 by NUMA, the National Underwater and Marine Agency, (A/N: Don't own.) and currently belongs to Premier Exhibitions Inc., whom you had to get permission from for this dive to even be considered,” Atem said.
“Yes, we had a nice time getting them to agree with it,” Alexander said as he sipped his own cup of coffee, “The only way they agreed to let us dive was if we found anything, we had to promise to give it to them.”
“A legitimate claim,” Dirk spoke up, “They do own it.”
“True,” Stephanie sighed.
“There was a letter written by one of the passengers of the Carpathia when they picked up the survivors of the Titanic,” Atem said quietly. Everyone’s gaze turned to him.
“What did it say?” Stephanie asked.
Atem closed his eyes and quoted off pieces of the letter, “’... The horror of it all was appalling ... soon appeared out of the 'Dark of the Dawn' first one boat and the other 18 in all, loaded with men, women & children & babies ... there were about 150 made widows on board and the fatherless & motherless and mothers without sons to the end of the chapter...All talk about the shrieks of women ringing through our ship, which you have probably read in the papers, is the worst rot, if you had seen the fortitude with which they bore their sufferings and woe you would be prouder than ever of your sex. ..’"
“Wow… that’s… sad,” she said.
“The letter was written from a Mr. Luke Hoyt to a family friend simply addressed as Bird,” he said.
“The Carpathia’s history may not be as tragic as that of the Titanic but she still has some history to her,” Yugi said.
“That is very true,” Stephanie said in agreement.
Dirk shot a look to Austin and the two men stood up.
“We’re going to double check all of the equipment before we head out. We suggest you all take the next hour to get ready,” Dirk said.
The Wades nodded in agreement and the four of them left, the Wades heading to their cabin, while Dirk and Austin headed topside. Tim had left the group earlier to go report to his duties, so it just left Atem and Yugi at the table.
“I want to talk to the Captain before we dive. Care to join?” Atem asked.
Yugi smiled up at his love and nodded, “Sure, why not?”

The two left the galley and made their way to the upper decks. The Captain was currently standing in the Bridge overlooking several maps. He straightened as the two walked in.
“Well, if it isn’t our two dive experts,” he said with a smile.
“Morning Captain,” Atem greeted.
“Morning, and what are you two up to?” he asked.
“I was just curious about this magnificent ship of yours,” Atem replied with a shrug.
“Well, the Lisa Marie is a very unique ship,” he said as he motioned them over to the front of the bridge, “Believe it or not, but this ol’ ship is actually an icebreaker.”
“An icebreaker?” Yugi asked.
“An icebreaker ship can break up ice. She can handle anywhere from 2 feet (61 centimeters) to a little over 6 feet (1.8 meters) of ice,” he explained.
“How is that possible?” Yugi asked.
“The hull is reinforced steel. There are four steel plates that are several feet thick that make up her hull. Her bow has two additional steel plates to help break up the ice,” he supplied, “There’s more to her than just that, though.”
“Oh?”
“She’s not only an icebreaker, but she’s also a research ship. There are all kinds of instruments aboard the ship. She can research oceanographic, meteorological, biological, and even the ice she breaks through. We unloaded some of the equipment that usually clutters the deck for this trip,” he said.
Yugi looked thoughtful for a second, “That explains the two ballast tanks then.”
“Yes, unlike normal ships, the Lisa Marie is equipped with two ballast tanks in case the hull ever gets damaged. She can keep us afloat for a good 6 hours. That’s enough time to either reach port or to drop the lifeboats,” he said with a nod.
“What happens if both ballast tanks get hit?” Atem asked.
“If both ballast tanks are taking on water, they will automatically try to balance out to keep us afloat long enough to get the lifeboats in the water,” Captain replied.
“How does it know when the lifeboats have been dropped?” Yugi asked.
“There are censors connected to the cranes that hold up the lifeboats. When one is dropped, the sensor sends a signal to the main computer. When all have been dropped, the main computer will automatically stop the ballast tanks and the ship will sink,” he replied with a shrug.
“Let’s hope it never comes to that,” Atem replied.
“Indeed,” Captain said, “You boys have a little over a half an hour until you launch. I suggest you spend the time getting ready,” he said.
“Thank you Captain,” Atem said.
The Captain nodded and watched the two leave the bridge, “Mr. Allen, two degrees to starboard.”

Yugi and Atem spent the next half hour getting ready for the dive. They each wore a dry suit over a pair of insulated underwear. Dive boots covered their feet and they both had a diver’s knife attached to their legs. They weren’t about to take too many chances. When they were done, they met the Wades outside of their room and the four of them headed up to the submersible. The four seat submersible was almost cigar shaped and had a propulsion system attached to the back of it. Two of the four seats were visible through the windows. These were the seats that Atem and Yugi were going to be sitting in. Atem was to pilot the craft while Yugi kept a check on the systems and the amount of time they had been under. They had a total of 4 hours down time. With a nod to Dirk and Austin, the four got in the submersible and the dome was shut, sealing them inside. Atem and Yugi took their positions at the front of the sub, while the Wades sat directly behind them. Atem gave a thumbs up to Tim, who sat in the crane that was attached to the sub. Tim nodded and immediately the crane began hoisting the sub up into the air. He lowered the sub until it was a couple of feet above the water before he released the hook on it and the sub fell into the water with a small splash. Almost immediately, Atem activated the subs power and she began to sink into the abyss. They heard rather than saw Dirk and Austin’s dive into the water. Yugi activated the subs internal lights and the cabin lit up. The Wades were behind them talking excitedly about what they might find.
Keeping one eye on the gauges, Yugi asked Atem, “Think we’re crazy yet?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Well, we’re in a sardine can, about to be several hundred feet under the only form of civilization within miles with a couple of people that we don’t even know,” he replied, “Not to mention, we’re expecting someone to come and kidnap them.”
“Hmmm… no we’re not crazy yet,” Atem said with a smile.
“Jerk,” Yugi tossed back at him.
“Ahhh, but I’m your jerk,” Atem said in a dangerously low tone.
Yugi shivered at the sound and shot his darker half a coy smile.

Several minutes later…
“Bottom’s coming up,” Yugi announced.
The bottom slowly appeared in the sub’s external lights. Directly ahead of them sat the Carpathia. When she had sunk, she had rolled and now sat upright. Atem pushed the throttles forward and the sub crawled along the sandy floor until it reached the bottom of the ship’s hull. Three massive holes shown like dark cave entrances in the ship’s hull. The four of them stared up in wonder at the impressive ship. She may have been under the water for many decades, but she was still beautiful. Atem pressed a series of buttons and the ROV underneath the sub came alive. It slipped from its cradle and crawled towards the wreck. Dirk and Austin joined them a few minutes later and guided the ROV into one of the gaping holes. Atem used the monitors inside the sub to thread his way into the ship. Many pieces of the ship littered the deck as the ROV slunk its way forward.
“This must have been the 3rd class deck,” Yugi said quietly.
“How can you tell?” Alexander asked.
“The walls are rather plain and there isn’t any real decorations here. The first class was often richly decorated, so this must have been either the third class or the crew’s quarters,” he said.
Atem pointed the ROV into one of the rooms that was open and trinkets of all sorts lay scattered about. There were several suit cases lying on one side of the room. A painting lay on its side in the silt that had accumulated over the years. Tattered remains of furniture lay in various spots in the room. The ROV backed out of the room and started to explore other parts of the ship. The Wades chattered excitedly as Atem directed the ROV from room to room.
“Hey guys?” Dirks voice filtered over the internal communications. Dirk and Austin both had worn dry suits with dive masks that contained a portable radio inside.
“Go ahead,” Yugi said.
“We’ve got a problem,” he said.
“What’s the matter?”
“Austin’s air hose has been cut.”
The Wades both had gasped when they heard that and Atem stopped the ROV, his eyes on Yugi.
“Roger that, get topside as soon as possible, but be careful, understand?” he asked.
“Affirmative. Be careful yourselves,” Dirk replied.
“Will do,” Yugi said, “Pull the ROV back in, Atem. We’re heading topside.”
“Gotcha,” Atem replied.
He began to pull the ROV back through the ship when something caught Yugi’s eye.
“Wait, what is that?” he asked as he pointed to something on the screen.
Atem zoomed the ROV’s camera in on the object that Yugi was pointing to, “It looks like a locket.”
“Grab it with the ROV’s hands, we’ll take it back with us,” Yugi said.
Atem nodded and pressed another button. Invisible hands extended from the ROV and latched onto the locket. As soon as the locket was in the ROV’s firm grasp, Atem finished pulling it out of the ship. After depositing the necklace in a basket on the sub, he put the ROV back in its cradle and the sub started on its journey back up to the Lisa Marie.

An hour later,
After the sub had reached the surface and had been pulled back up onto the ship, the four of them had left the sub. Yugi took the locket they found to the lab that was on board the ship to see if they couldn’t clean it up. The four of them then went to their separate state rooms. A few minutes later, and Atem and Yugi were back up on the main deck looking at the air tank that Austin was carrying.
“It’s definitely been cut,” Atem said.
“How can you tell?” Dirk asked.
“The split in the hose is straight. If it had been an accident, the cut would be jagged,” he said.
“Oh,”
“Any idea on who did it?” Austin asked. He had buddy breathed with Dirk on their trip up and was rather thankful that they had decided to do things the way they did.
“No, not yet,” Atem said.
“We’re going to find out though,” Yugi said.