Unsinkable: A Wallace Hartley Story

Building Panic

R.M.S Titanic
Northern Atlantic Ocean
1:00 a.m

"Wedding Dance, gentlemen," Wallace said to his band mates.

The skies were still calm as could be, offering a breathtaking view of bright, gleaming stars. And if you concentrated precisely enough, you could make out some constellations like the Little Dipper and the Big Dipper.

The Titanic's bow was now about halfway underwater. The lights from the submerged portholes gave off an eerie glow underwater. The nameplate Titanic was nearing the waterline as she slumped further and further underwater.

The order to uncover the lifeboats was given around midnight, a mere 20 or so minutes after the ship struck the berg. The official order to begin loading the lifeboats was given at 12:45a.m, one hour after the collision.

Second Officer Lightoller was on the Portside, overseeing lifeboat preparations while First Officer Murdoch was on the Starboard.

Passengers alike were all ordered to come outside onto deck to begin loading the lifeboats. As for the band, they were standing just outside the First Class Grand Staircase entranceway playing their fine tunes to try and keep the panic among the passengers at a bare minimum. They were playing on the Starboard side of the ship.

"I never once thought this ship would ever sink," Theodore mentioned.

"Even the most grandest man made objects, such as Titanic, are not unsinkable my friend," Wallace said, "everything has a weakness. And unfortunately for Titanic, it was an iceberg."

"Are we going to play all night or get on a lifeboat?" Roger asked as both him and Wallace played the melody to Wedding Dance harmonically together.

As they played on, a loud boom sound could be heard. The night sky lit up, briefly giving off the false vision of daylight. It was a bright distress rocket fired from the Bridge.

Everyone, including the passengers and crew all froze and watched the sparks sprinkle down and fizzle out just a few feet above the ship. After that, everyone resumed their doings.

If you looked in the direction of the bow, you could see water slowly creeping higher and higher. The Titanic was truly sinking.

Wallace glanced over at Roger. He sighed heavily, continuing to slide his bow across the strings on his violin. "If you are a true gentleman, you would stay until the very end."

As he said that, Thomas Andrews went walking by frantically. He was headed for the Bridge. Wallace and Thomas briefly exchanged eye contact. Thomas slightly nodded his head and continued on.

On the Bridge, Captain Smith, Fourth Officer Boxhall, and QuarterMaster Rowe were all present. Boxhall was loading another distress rocket into the launcher.

"Mr. Andrews," Captain Smith said. "I wasn't expecting you—"

Without hesitation, Thomas interrupted him. The sweat was slowly running down his face, with his cheeks being bright roses red. "Why are the lifeboats being launched with minimum capacity?"

Captain Smith was baffled by Thomas's interruption. Captain Smith was not doing the one main thing he was commissioned to do—give orders and Captain the ship. He was not only leaving his crew to save as many onboard as possible, but failing the passengers.

"Minimum capacity? I have the order to load women and children first to both Officer Murdoch and Officer Lightoller twenty minutes ago," Captain Smith argued.

"Well go tell them to load them to full capacity. If you don't, I will," Thomas ordered. "The boats were designed to carry 65 people per boat, dammit!"

Captain Smith did not verbally respond to Thomas's outlandish order. He didn't need to. He was doing everything he could to save as many people as he could. If he was doing the best he could, why is he allowing lifeboats to be lowered half full?

Thomas Andrews stormed away. He proceeded on to go to the Portside of Titanic. That's where Officer Lightoller was supervising the lifeboat preparations.

Among the crowd of panicking passengers, Officer Lightoller could be seen standing by the davit system. A lifeboat was hanging overboard with about fifteen people already on. Mostly women and crying and confused children.

"Lower away," Lightoller announced to the two davit operators. Thomas Andrews ran up to Lightoller.

"Stop! That boat is not full," Thomas said outraged.

Officer Lightoller glanced over at Thomas Andrews. "I'm trying to save people here, Mr. Andrews. Now if you'd please excuse me!"

"You will not lower that boat! Not as long as I'm here! You will allow more passengers onboard this once!" Thomas shouted angrily at Officer Lightoller.

Officer Lightoller examines Thomas's body language precisely. He looked at Thomas from head to toe. He then put his head up confidently.

"Very well," Lightoller said. He was a bit agitated by Thomas's order. Why was he following this man's orders? He's not the Captain of the ship, Mr. Smith was.

"Women and Children," Lightoller said, "if you'd all step forward please. One by one if you will."

Thomas felt a brief sense of relief. Finally someone listened to him. How could someone like Officer Lightoller be so cruel to the brittle lives of human beings? That was a question Thomas Andrews would take to his watery grave.

He walked away going towards the stern to oversee more lifeboat preparations. He mostly wanted to see if lifeboats were being filled to full capacity. He pulled out his golden, round pocket watch from his jacket pocket. It had a chain which was clipped onto his pocket. He glanced at the time.

It was now 1:20 a.m. Thomas gulped and put the watch back in his pocket.

If only I hadn't been overridden to add more lifeboats, Thomas thought mentally to himself. Than maybe everyone could be saved.

Back on the Starboard side, the band had just finished playing Wedding Dance. Everyone took a brief lapse before starting their next elegant tune.

They all looked around. Launched lifeboats could be seen drifting further away from the vessel, slowly disappearing into the great abyss. On the horizon, Wallace noticed a flashing light. He pointed it out to his fellow bandmates.

"Look," he said. "Over there. Do you see that?"

Roger, Theodore, and John all squint their eyes to see the faint flashing light on the close horizon.

"Could that be a rescue ship?" Roger asked.

"Let's not make any assumptions just yet. It could just be a twinkling star," John said.

"Or a ship attempting to contact us," Wallace theorized. "It seems really close. I wonder how close we are to them."

"Someone should alert the Captain," Roger said.

"If only we knew where he was, I would do it," Wallace said. "But we have our orders. Keep playing, and keep the passengers calm."

"Hopefully someone will notice the strange light and try to contact them back. Let's hope someone on the Bridge does," Wallace concluded.

He put his violin back up to his neck and rested his head on the belly of it. "Valse Septembre."