❝ If you look in your dictionary you will find: Titans - A race of people vainly striving to overcome the forces of nature. Could anything be more unfortunate than such a name, anything more significant? ❞ - Arthur Rostron, Captain of the rescue shi...
APRIL 14, 1912: Captain Edward John Smith is awoken from a nightmare, only to discover that the 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍 nightmare is about to begin: his ship has just collided with an iceberg on her maiden voyage.
── ⠀⠀ ── ⠀⠀ ── ⠀⠀ ── ⠀⠀ ── ⠀⠀ ──
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⠀⠀⠀𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐋𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒. Captain Smith once more found himself onboard the RMS 𝘖𝘭𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘤, haunted by ɢʜᴏsᴛs of the past who refused to cease their 𝔱𝔬𝔯𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱. It was that same dream again — that same distorted vision of reality, so vivid that it felt falsely real — of the dreaded incident with the HMHS 𝐻𝑎𝑤𝑘𝑒. Paralyzed by the iron grasp of 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞, he was trapped on Olympic's bridge, waiting for the 𝔴𝔬𝔯𝔰𝔱.
⠀⠀⠀The 𝐻𝑎𝑤𝑘𝑒 closed in on 𝑂𝑙𝑦𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑐 with horrifying inevitability, the impending 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏made worse by 𝔰𝔩𝔬𝔴 𝔪𝔬𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫. Captain Smith had forgotten how to breathe long ago; the frantic beating of his heart was the 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 which indicated to him that he was still alive. Somewhere amidst his struggle with Time, one of Captain Smith's hands found its way to 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐡'𝐬 shoulder, clinging to it with a death grip.
⠀⠀⠀ The 𝘏𝘢𝘸𝘬𝘦 dropped back to slip past Olympic's stern, slithering right by like a viper returning to its den.
⠀⠀⠀Beside him, 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞 let out an exhalation of relief. Captain Smith's heart began to beat faster; he knew what would next come to pass.
⠀⠀⠀ "Thank 𝑔𝑜𝑑 ." Wilde breathed out, shoulders sagging with the release of the 𝔱𝔢𝔫𝔰𝔦𝔬𝔫 that the last several minutes had generated.
⠀⠀⠀ Then came the impact.
⠀⠀⠀Titanic's master was woken by his own cry of alarm; for one palpitating moment, the vision had deceived his perception of reality. 𝘈𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘦. Ted reached out and switched on the light, steadying his ragged breathing. His racing heart rendered it difficult to grasp the truth, leading to a momentary belief that there had been a 𝔠𝔬𝔩𝔩𝔦𝔰𝔦𝔬𝔫.
⠀⠀⠀ It wasn't a dream. The mighty 𝘛𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤 shuddered, convulsing in 𝔭𝔞𝔦𝔫 . Something had happened, was happening. Ted's heart sank to his stomach. His nightmare was bleeding into the waking world.
⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀ It was real.
⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀Ted bolted out of bed, shoved on his shoes, grabbed his jacket and hastened through to the bridge. To his 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓, he was greeted by the sight of First Officer Murdoch pulling the emergency levers to close the 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓𝒔.
⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀ "What have we struck, Mr. Murdoch?"
⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀ He was surprised that his voice did not tremble as he asked this fateful question.
⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀ "An iceberg, sir."
⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀ Ted's blood ran 𝔠𝔬𝔩𝔡 . He froze, eyes widening like a deer caught in headlights.
⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀ "An 𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒈 ?" He repeated incredulously, as though he had never heard of such a thing. Dread began to seep into his heart, sapping away any semblance of pride and joy garnered thus far from being in command during Titanic's maiden voyage.
⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀ Briefly, he met Murdoch's eyes, and his heart shattered in two. The alarm bells still clattered mindlessly, seemingly reflecting the first officer's inner state. Murdoch's shock was palpable. It was evident to Ted that the reality of this occurrence had not yet settled in the young lad's mind, and once it did, the self-blame would reach 𝔡𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔰 levels. Murdoch at his core was a noble man; Ted would be morbidly surprised if the first officer did not hold himself personally responsible, even when that aforementioned responsibility was not his to bear.
⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀ Before he could offer his young protégé some means of reassurance, Murdoch rushed to explain himself, speaking with simultaneous 𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔢𝔡 and 𝔭𝔯𝔢𝔠𝔦𝔰𝔦𝔬𝔫 . "I put her hard a' starboard and run the engines full astern, but it was too close. I tried to port around it, but she hit, and I—"
⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀ Ted held up a hand, silencing his companion. "Show me where she hit."
⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀ Together, they rushed out onto the starboard wing. Ted smelled the damn thing before he saw it; when Murdoch first pointed, he saw nothing but darkness. Above and to port, the stars were glittering. What was it? Where was it?
⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀ Then, something ethereal, like a frozen plume of smoke, appeared on the starboard quarter. As the captain and first officer entered the great berg's vicinity, its magnificent profile was at last visible, a pale shape in the night floating silently astern.
⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀ Ted whirled around to face Murdoch, whose face was as pale as a ghost upon being presented with evidence of his fatal mistake. The captain's heart constricted once more, and his hand found his way to his first officer's shoulder before he could even 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 to do anything else.
⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀ This gesture was simple and silent, yet both gentlemen knew what it meant.
