System

33. Facing Forward

The sun was already creeping over the horizon as Emily made her way up to the observation deck. The dawn light was shimmering over the gentle waves of the Mediterranean and gulls were circling overhead. It was going to be a beautiful day.

The observation deck was small and oval in shape with a small glass screen which could be raised up to protect passengers from the wind and the weather. She pushed it back so that she could see properly.

As she looked ahead, she could pick out the shape of the coastline. They were approaching it rapidly now as the engines continued to propel the ship forward.

Emily took a deep breath and stood firmly at the centre of the wooden deck. She was alone, but there were still a few others down below who had also refused to leave. Most had now taken to the boats or jumped into the water. There was nothing that anyone could do now.

They had worked hard through the remaining hours of the night, checking and rechecking their course. They had identified a shallow beach which might meet their needs and had just about managed to steer the ship a few degrees so that this was where they would come aground. The Odyssey had called on ahead and the local authorities had evacuated the area. There was nothing left to do but wait and pray.

There was a tall radio mast at the centre of the observation deck and Emily reached out with her hand to hold on to it. The coast was coming closer now and she could see the shape of houses and trees - even a few cars.

The ship shuddered as they struck the top of a sand bank. The moment of truth was approaching rapidly. A vessel as big as the Swan was not designed for this.

She could hear the sound of the ship scraping along the bottom. It was a faint murmur of distant friction, like rough sand paper on broken wood. The deck shook slightly and she held on more tightly.

They were being buffeted now as the three huge hulls lost buoyancy. There were several loud cracks as the structural framework of the ship came under severe strain - and yet they continued to move forward.

For the rest of her life, Emily would always remember what it felt like to stand on the deck of the Swan as it slid up the beach onto dry land. The ship was moving under such momentum that it kept on going as it emerged from the sea.

There was a point when she could look to one side and see the water meeting the sand. She knew when she herself passed from the sea to the land - but still the ship kept moving.

It was an exhilarating feeling to be standing on a ship as big as the Swan as it slid over the ground like a huge metal glacier. She could see emergency vehicles on the roads, ready to come to their help, but they were like helpless ants next to a beached whale.

She smiled with satisfaction as the ship finally came to a halt. Someone was going to have a lot of fun sorting all this out, but her job was done.

She stood for a while and looked around her.

'Welcome to Egypt,' she said with a grin.

The air was still and the morning sun was beginning to warm her face. She was alive!

A light suddenly came on and a warning note sounded from a nearby communications panel.

'There has been an emergency,' said a flat voice.

Emily grinned again.

'That would be an understatement!' she said. 'Who am I talking to?'

'This is the ship,' the voice replied in mild confusion. 'Where are the passengers? Why is there no water?'

'That would be a very long story,' she said with a note of amusement. 'I'll tell you all about it in a moment, but I need your help with a few things first...'

She chatted away to the ship as she made her way down from the observation deck. Her first priority was to find Travis...