THE DIARY OF MRS. TOMY RYAN
Chapter Five
I awoke that morning feeling refreshed. I had
a plan of action. There were lots of things I had to do. First, I had to
contact Thomas Andrews. I needed to get an idea into his head, and see if mine
would actually work. If all else failed, I was hoping to try to keep the ship
afloat long enough so that more people could be saved. Several theories had
been put forth in the late 1900’s of how it could have been done; now I had to
put some of them to a test, using Mr. Andrews to let me know if they’d really
work. Mr. Andrews knew more about this ship than anyone else on her. I called
my steward and arranged to have breakfast with Mr. Andrews. He normally ate
breakfast alone, but my steward assured me that Mr. Andrews had agreed to my
company. I wanted to see Tommy, but that would have to wait until after lunch.
I also needed to spend dinner in first class, so if I was going to get any
chance to see him today, it would have to be this afternoon.
At breakfast, I was as polite as possible.
Mr. Andrews knew how to put you at ease. Thinking of his wife at home, I
realized where he had learned this skill. "Mr. Andrews, I was wondering
about something. Could you answer a question for me?"
"Certainly, Miss Steadwick."
"Without thinking me a doomsayer, I have
heard that this ship is unsinkable. But that led me to think, what could be
done if the ship’s hull was breached?"
"I think the ship should be able to hold
up to all breaches."
"What about one that breached six of
your watertight compartments?"
"I really don’t see how that could
happen. But if it did, you could…" He stopped to pull out his ever-present
blueprints. "Assuming the pumps couldn’t get ahead, then you’d have no
other choice than to let the ship sink."
"Really? Mr. Andrews, think of what you
are saying. There aren’t enough lifeboats for all aboard. Would over half of
the people on this ship have to die?" I felt a tightening in my gut,
thinking that everyone had been right. There might not be a way to save more of
the fifteen hundred people who were fated to die. Grasping the last bit of
hope, I said, "What if you opened the watertight doors instead of keeping
them all closed? Would that let the water flow more evenly through the
ship?"
"I’d have to work that out on paper, but
it might work. Where in the world do you get these ideas? This ship is the
safest ship on the seas, next to the Olympic. Try not to think about accidents,
and have a good time."
"Thank you for entertaining a young
woman’s fancy. I’ll leave you to your breakfast now. It was a pleasure talking
to you, Mr. Andrews."
He stood as I did, ever respectful. I hurried
to my cabin and looked through my books to see what the name of the officer on
the Californian who had first spotted the rockets was. Ah, yes, the officer’s
name was Stone. I went out and headed towards the telegraph office. There, I
wrote out my telegram. Those flashes of lights you see are what you thought.
You must act. Signed, A Friend. Now, whether that would do any good, I
didn’t really know. I was basing what I said on the hope that when he saw the
rockets he would remember the message, hoping that a man in 1912 would heed it
and not think it a prank. I was grasping at straws, I knew, but I had everything
to lose.
Phillips was on duty, and so I stayed and
flirted with him. He was the senior operator, and he was the one who died.
Bride lived, and that was enough of a reason for me to flirt with Phillips. As
I was there, I thought of the ice warnings that were never delivered to the
captain. "Do you get messages for the captain?" I asked.
"Yes, although none so far today."
"Do you always bring them to him?"
"The official ones, yes."
"Shouldn’t you bring them all to
him?"
"Well, you see, we are really only
passengers, not in the chain of command."
"Why is that? If there was a message
that affected the safety of the ship, I should think you would deliver
it."
"I try my best, ma’am."
"That really is all one can do. But
really, sir, no disrespect meant, but I hope that you remember this
conversation in the days to come."
"I will, ma’am."
And with that, I left. If only all the ice
warnings got through. I had to get something to eat. I was starving. I had
talked at breakfast, and hardly ate a thing.