A[U]CTOR

Machine

Beto and Francisco are machine operators on a luxury cruise that is taking the longest section of their journey without contact with the coast.
-Did they double check? - Beto asks, looking at a form.
-No. Ramirez said it was not necessary.
-But what I told you about sector 3, did you review it?
-I do not think so.
Beto becomes exasperted and scratches his head nervously.
-But that can be broken at any time. We can't navigate like this.
-Enough. Ramirez said it's fine, so it's fine. Don't make us get fired.
-Francisco, we have a lot of people on board...
-Exactly, you don't have to worry them without sense.
-Without sense? Don't you realize that...
The two remain silent for a moment and Francisco swallows. Then say:
-Did you hear that?

*

"Did they double check?" Beto asks, looking at a form.
"No. Ramirez said it was not necessary."
"But what I told you about sector 3, did you review it?" Beto asked him.
"I do not think so." Francisco replied nonchalant. Beto becomes exasperted and scratches his head nervously.
"But that can be broken at any time. We can't navigate like this." Beto admonished him, critizing his poor lack of judgement.
"Enough. Ramirez said it's fine, so it's fine. Don't make us get fired." Francisco insisted.
"Francisco, we have a lot of people on board..." Beto reminded him.
"Exactly, you don't have to worry them without sense." Francisco dismissed him derisively.
"Without sense? Don't you realize that..."
The two remain silent for a moment and Francisco swallows. Then say:
"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, I heard." Beto headed below the deck and went to check every sector in numerical order. Francisco soon followed, checking on the engine that he should've reviewed in the first place. The whirring and creaking of the machinery became louder as Beto entered sector 3. He saw steam coming out of the pipe, then he spotted Francisco on the opposite side of the sector.
"That bastard lied to me!" Francisco fumed. Ramirez wasn't the most talkative of the operators in the luxury cruise, but he knew how to spot damages and repairing parts, according to Francisco, but something wasn't right. There was no sight of him on the deck, nor on the engine room. He had no expertise on conducting the cruise ship as far as Beto knew.
"You were right, Beto. I should've listened to you. Now I have to fix this." Francisco gestured to the wedge and an apparatus protruding out of Beto's peripheral vision.
He looked within the series of pipes and saw a rusted tool.
"Francisco, look." Beto nudged at him and pointed at the gap within the pipes.
"A rusty monkey wrench? What is an old antique like that doing here?" Francisco reached out to grab the oxidated tool.
"Wait!" Beto stopped him. "It could be a trap." Beto lend Francisco his gloves to examine the ancient artifact, upon closer inspection, the monkey wrench had a dent.
"That clever bastard." Francisco muttered.
"We have to get to the bottom of this." Beto says, glaring at the rusted tool.
"We're already at the bowel of the ship. So what difference does it make?" Francisco remarked, Beto had to the resist the urge to beat the guy upside the head, if he wasn't larger than he was.
"I meant that we should find out who did this."
"I know. I'm still pissed that Ramirez stood me up like that." Francisco admitted.
Now that he thought about it, there were some inconsistancies with the maintenance of the cruise ship. Aside from the form that he revised earlier, he noticed that some things were not adding up; missing equipment, damaged surveillance system, disrupted signals, shady passengers, and an abscent navigator. If these signs doesn't show up as suspicious, than nothing will. And the damaged pipeline is a clear sign that someone wants to get rid of them and there is one word that also starts with the letter S, it's called...

Sabotage.

Ramirez is the obvious suspect, for now. If there are other suspects involved, there is no doubt that they're planning to sink the reputation of the Crowned Pearl cruise.

*

Beto returned to his post while Francisco stayed in sector 3 to repair the damages that Ramirez left behind. And the worst part is that they couldn't find him. He couldn't have gone far. They were in the middle of the ocean with no coast in sight. Ramirez had no means of escape, even if he found a way to escape. He would've drifted off at sea, surrounded by salty sea water with little provisions to sustain him.

He had to be hiding somewhere.

There had to be something he might have missed... a hidden security camera, a message, anything. Guess that he had to retrace his steps.

Francisco wiped the sweat from his forehead as he tried to fix the damaged pipe, tightening the screw that kept the pipe in place with a pipe wrench.

"Ramirez, did you check the machinery on sectors 2 and 3?" Francisco asked him in the early morning.
"Yes, all checked. You don't need to worry about it." Ramirez replied.
"You sure?"
"Yes." Ramirez grabbed the tools and his form as he got out of the room. Francisco shrugged it off at that time, now he had fixed one of the damages that were left unchecked.

One of the passengers got acquainted with Ramirez. A fat man in a black suit, he was partially bald and had inky hair. He was the vice president of the D'Light Hotels, Yves Della Licht. The Crowned Pearl cruise line has been associated with D'Light Hotels for decades. This man entered to this luxury cruise to take the load off from work in order to the de-stress, otherwise the paperwork would get to his head and he would lose more hair from his balding head than he needed to.

The business man spotted Ramirez wearing casual clothes.
"I've done what you asked." Ramirez notified.
"Good." He gave a wide smirk.