The Olympian Sisters: Book 1~ The Birth of Titans

Chapter 26

SOUTHAMPTON APRIL 20 1912 "OLYMPIC"

It was with heavy boilers that I entered into Southampton 5 days later. My head bowed low in grief and my normally broad white frothy wake a weak mixture of white water and frothy bubbles.

Ismay had survived the disaster. That was the only thing I was happy about. Now I could kill him myself. I'll admit that revenge by death did cross my mind more than once in those gloomy first days. And although I eventually dropped the idea, opting instead for a living brokenness instead of a merciful death, I never stopped hating the man. It wasn't his fault, I knew that somewhere, but that didn't mean I didn't blame him to some degree.

He had ordered the speed, he knew ice lay ahead. He would never admit it at the trials but it was because he had ordered a sustained speed of 22 knots that left my sister with too little time to react to the iceberg sighting.

Nor did I view men the same way again. They had betrayed me, betrayed all of us. Although I got along fine with most of them, I never trusted them the same way again.

Approaching the dock I saw Ellie Smith standing there dressed in black. Remembering my promise to EJ, I approached her. "Mrs. Smith?" I called, since I had the Gift of Minds, I could contact her directly. Sure enough, she looked up and she had the good sense to pretend it was Haddock who was calling her and not me. "Oh, it's you Haddock. Don't know why I'm standing here, old habits I suppose."

"Would you like to come on board?" He asked, catching on quickly. She nodded and Codfish led the way to the bridge. Gesturing to the wheel, Codfish said "Someone wants to tell you something." Like her late husband, Eleanor Smith knew all about the telepathic relation between a captain and his ship.

"It's alright." Codfish assured her when she hesitated. At last she placed her hands on the wheel. I didn't wait for introductions. "Your husband told me to tell you that his last thoughts were of you and little Mel." I said and not waiting for her to begin crying, I showed her the memories that EJ had shown me.

When I was done, she was crying softly anyway. "Oh," She whispered. "It's beautiful, Thank you Olympic. Thank you so much."

"Anytime Ellie, anytime." I whispered back. "I am so sorry for your loss." Ellie whispered. "And I for yours." I replied.

Ellie removed her hands from the wheel and Codfish made a point of escorting her off the ship. There was one more very painful duty for me to preform before I could dock at Southampton. Sighing, I turned towards Belfast Ireland and Gigantic, my only remaining sister.

Gigantic was still sleeping as I entered Belfast. She was growing nicely but the workmen had told me that they would have to start over. "We'll have to reduce her to a keel again." They said. "To add and raise her bulkheads and give her a double bottom above the waterline.

Fortunately, she was still asleep but occasionally she would twitch and cry out as the workmen removed her plates. It was a lot like scrapping, slow and painful. Whenever she would shriek, I leaned in and whispered in her ears "It's okay, little sister." She seemed to know I was there, and would often respond to me with a grunt or once a nod.

I would often talk to her, distract her from the painful job the workmen were doing. At last, they finished their remodel and Gigantic was sleeping softly. "If only you could've met Titanic." I said. "She was a beautiful, graceful ship. A Ship of Dreams, and in the end, she made a brave and noble decision. You should be very proud of her." As I leaned over to nuzzle her, she stirred.

"I am proud of her, and of you." She said and opened her eyes. I pulled back to look at my newborn sister. She had a steep, graceful prow and eyes greener than Carpathia's.