The Journey of A Lifetime

Unknown Dangers

As Ryan is walking over to the helm to relieve Mullen, Joey secures his water bottle to the hand rail on the overhead with a paracord lanyard. 

"Seaman Langlois, offering relief", Ryan says.

Mullen quickly responds, "I stand relieved. Let me know if you need anything, I will be on the messdeck for a bit".

Meanwhile, Jed and Devin have climbed up the ladder to the flybridge and relieve Lauren of the lookout watch. 

"Have a good night, see y'all in the morning!" she says, clearly in a rush to get the hell off the bridge and go get some rest. 

By now, the vessel has been underway for 9 hours, and everything is looking good. Jed begins to ask Devin what he knows about light configurations on vessels. 

Bewildered, Devin responds "I know they have lights, and I know they have to have a white light visible in 360 degrees, as well as a red light on the right side and a green light on the left. That isn't all that you are looking for, though, is it?"

Chuckling, Jed finally lets out "Well, that is more than most new people know. Let's get you caught up on the different lights you may see in-port, such as--". Jed is interrupted by a loud alarm that sounds like a bell going off. After a few seconds, Draim is heard on the PA system saying "now, set general emergency, set general emergency, set general emergency. White smoke in Aux 2. All hands man your stations. Now, set general emergency." The alarm repeats, and Devin shoots Jed a worried look while asking, "What do we do if we are on watch?" 

"Just go, I have the watch for now. Usually, we will be relieved by Ryan or Greg, depending on what watch you are standing. I will handle this, you go to Fire Locker 3. Let them know I am on watch but should be headed down shortly", Jed gets out, as he begins to scan for vessels in the area once more.

Breaking out his flashlight, Devin makes his way down the port side of the ship to the fantail. Soon after he arrives, Chief Damage Controlman Morris begins roll call. As he is rattling off names, everyone is helping the fire team dress out and responding with a loud "HERE". Chief Morris soon reaches Jed's name, saying, "Hadden". Hearing no response, he repeats "HADDEN". "On watch, DCC", Devin finally says. DCC moves on, finishing out the roster, and radios the bridge with a quick "Fire Locker 3, all personnel present or accounted for. Investigators dispatched to Aux 2. Standing by for further instruction". 

Two minutes pass by, and Draim is heard once again on the PA. "Now, stand down from general emergency".  The crew sighed with relief, knowing that the danger was narrowly avoided. 

"What happened for us to have smoke in Aux 2?" asks Devin. 

DCC answers, stating, "I believe I heard the bridge say it was from one of the AC units. It was probably just an overflow of oil and it was burning off on some pipes, it happens. We get a lot of scares like that, but we have to treat each one like it is a true threat to the vessel. If we don't, it'll be a bad day".

Still shaking from the whole situation, Devin made his way back up to the flybridge, where Jed was standing. 

"Did you ever get relieved? I never saw you down at the fantail", Devin says.

"I did, but I barely got down the port side before it was secured. I just ran right back up and relieved Greg really quick a few minutes ago. But hey, now you know how quickly things can take a turn for the worse. We were lucky to only have smoke, but be prepared to hear that alarm a lot this trip".

Devin begins to think to himself, "How can he be so confident that we will hear the alarm so much? Is this ship really that broken down, and what does that say about our ability to complete this mission?"

I added a little more for today, but I will see what I can do by Friday! Hopefully you have enjoyed it so far, and please let me know! As I finish this footnote, I realize I have used terms most people might not be familiar with. I will create a new part after the prologue that covers them!