System

29. Taking Control

It was still dark but the storm was behind them. Emily Post-Redwood and a few other passengers had climbed up to the main observation deck on the central hull to get a better view.

From this perspective, there was little hint that anything was wrong on the Swan. The night lights still twinkled along walkways and open decks, while the ship continued to plough on through the sea.

She peered forwards into the darkness but the sun wasn't due to rise for another hour or so, and the land was still some distance away. She could feel the wind on her face and tried to estimate their speed, but it was impossible. Only the navigation team would be able to give her that information with any accuracy.

Gordon Remick had climbed up with her and was examining the ship from above.

'It's a good ship,' he said sadly. 'It'll be a shame to see it go...'

'We may have a chance still,' she said. 'The engineers say they are making progress. They might manage to stop the ship before its too late.'

He shook his head.

'We're running out of time,' he sighed. 'Sooner or later we'll be so close to shore that we won't have time to stop. The Swan's got a lot of momentum.'

Emily had taken charge of their situation from the start. Her instincts had kicked in the moment the crisis began and she had quietly claimed a role as the coordinator of their efforts - but there was a lot she didn't know. Life at sea was still a mystery to her, but she was learning fast.

'Ships used to be female, you know,' she said obliquely. 'They had no mind of their own but sailors used to say 'she' and 'her'. Now the ship can think for itself, but we say 'it'. Why do you think that is?'

Gordon shrugged.

'A sailing boat is a living thing,' he replied. 'It moves through wind and water in unpredictable ways - and never quite behaves the way you want it to. You need to have a good relationship with your boat, or you'll go mad.'

'Nevertheless...'

'When a thing takes charge, it doesn't become a person. It just becomes a clever thing,' he continued. 'We know it's just a series of programmes and algorithms that make the ship work. That's not life. And anyway, all that thinking power is being provided by a disinterested mind, somewhere else in the system. It's hard to think of all that as a person.'

She nodded thoughtfully.

'Nevertheless - she's been a good ship...'

They stood in companionable silence for a while until someone called out.

'There's something out there,' another voice cried out and they all turned to see the lights of another vessel some distance away.

'It's the Odyssey,' said a lizard-man with black fur. 'They've been calling to us for a while, but they'll be here soon.'

'Can they take passengers off?'

'They can take us all,' he replied. 'Except the non-cons. It's about time! We might get off this wreck after all!'

Emily winced, but didn't reply. It made sense to get as many people off the Swan as they could, but someone would need to look after those who were still logged into the system - and they should also try to stop the ship from running aground - if at all possible!

'Tell them to come alongside,' she said before turning to Remick. 'Let's go and find out how the teams are getting on?'

They climbed down from the observation deck. There was a narrow spiral staircase which took them back to the lower levels and they could then make their way round to the Forward Leisure Lounge.

News of the Odyssey's arrival had spread across the ship already and a number of people were busily packing up their things. Emily took a deep breath. Things could deteriorate very quickly if they lost their focus.

'Hold on everyone!' she shouted out as she strode into the middle of the room. 'I know we've got a chance to get off - and that's good - but there's plenty of time. We've got enough life boats and small craft to get everyone away, but we need to make sure things are left in a safe state.'

She had gained their attention and a few people stopped what they were doing.

'What do you want us to do?' a woman with curly hair asked.

Emily smiled. She had already gained their respect, now she needed to persuade some of them to risk their lives.

'Before we do anything else, let's gather everyone up here,' she said. 'There aren't so many of us left now. We should be able to squeeze in.'

This seemed to be acceptable, and a few of them volunteered to find the teams who were working elsewhere and call as many people as possible up to the Lounge.

'What are you doing?' Remick asked quietly.

'Trying to avert a disaster...' she replied under her voice.

It didn't take long to gather the whole group. Most people were staying together in teams or sheltering in public spaces so it was easy to find them all and bring them together.

Emily stood on a chair and addressed the passengers as a whole. It was odd to see so many of them in one place, knowing that it would be the last time they could do this.

'As you all know,' she said loudly. 'We've got help on the way, and most of us will be leaving soon.'

There was a cheer from some of them - although many seemed too weary to celebrate.

'It's great that we can get off, but if we all leave now, we would be utterly irresponsible!'

There were a few grumbles at this.

'We've still got people logged in to the system, who can't be moved safely - and this ship will be a serious hazard if it continues to plough on without anyone in control!'

She needed to win a few people over - not many - just enough...

'How are we doing with the engines?' she asked, looking in the direction of the group who had been working to cut the power.

A tall man shook his head.

'We're not going to stop the engines soon - and time is running out. We think there is a control hub that we can cut into, but it might take a couple of hours.'

She nodded in reply.

'Okay,' she continued. 'What about steering?'

'We can give you one or two degrees,' a small mousey looking woman replied, to muted response.

Emily smiled. This was better than she had hoped.

'We've got a chance then,' she said confidently.

'What are you talking about?' someone shouted out. 'This ship is finished!'

'Not quite,' Emily replied forcefully. 'If we've got just a little bit of control, we might be able to decide how and where we run aground.'

She looked at them all firmly.

'Most of you can go with the Odyssey,' she said. 'But I need a few people to stay behind and help. You know what I need. Who's with me?'