UNDERCOVER on the TITANIC (book 1)

Part 39 - Titanic

A few minutes later Licia, Miguel, Charlotte and I ran up the stairs to the top deck. Charlotte had to carry Pacman in her basket, he was bulging with food and couldn't even waddle. 

The night sky was brilliant with stars despite the lights on the ship and it was icy cold with a frigid wind rushing from the bow of the ship. 

'Heavens,' Charlotte said, 'it's windy tonight.' 

'But, there are no waves,' Miguel pointed out. 'So it is a calm night. The head wind is simply the ship pushing through the still air at 15 or more knots.'

I pointed up at the stars. 'Look. There's the pole star which means we are between latitude 40 and 50 degrees North and heading in a westerly direction.'

'How do you know that?' Charlotte asked as we all stared at the sky. I pointed out the pole star between the up-side-down W, the five stars of Cassiopeia, and the big dipper before we started shivering with cold and took shelter behind what Charlotte told us was the officers' cabins and the bridge. 'The bridge is what they call the place where they steer the ship.'

A boy wearing a uniform and a tiny pill box hat pushed passed us and opened a door to a small cabin. 'Hello Sparks,' he said cheerfully to a man who was tapping furiously at a small lever on a table. 'I brought you some more messages to send.'

'Strewth, that's just what I need' Sparks said sarcastically. 'More bloody telegrams.   It took me hours to fix the Marconi and everybody on the ship wants to send a message to their bloody relatives and I can't get through because of some idiot hogging the airwaves chatting about being stopped for the night because of icebergs.  I wish he would shut up.'

The Marconi radio operator started hammering at the key on his desk. 'That's odd,' Miguel said. 'The Marconi radio operator (they are all called "Sparks" by the way) is sending, "Shut up. Shut up." in Morse code.'

'You know Morse code?' I asked.

'Yeah, obsolete technology. I know,' Miguel replied. 'But my grandfather is an amateur radio nut. He has a giant antenna in his garden and chats to friends all over the world.'

'Why don't you tell him about the Internet?' Licia asked. 'I'm getting cold.' 

'We could go inside,' Charlotte suggested, 'there is a gymnasium or we could look in the clothing shops and the beauty salon.'

Miguel was not listening, he was staring up at one of the old fashioned wooden lifeboats lined up along the side of the deck. We all followed his gaze.

Charlotte was the first to speak.   'Someone is hiding under the lifeboat cover with a puppet. It looks like a duck.'

'Psst! Guluk oik. Ziff laddie,' said a familiar voice. Dunc was peering over the side of the lifeboat. Only his head was visible. 'Ach, it is yeh. Ah didna recognise yeh with the fancy dress. But yehr wrong, lassie, ah'm no duck.   Ah'm a goose wurking undercover. Honk honk honk,' he giggled.

'Get it? Ah'm under the lifeboat cover.  Honk, Honk, Honk.' 

'How did you find us?' I asked. 'Ah flew around the decks several times. So, ah had to take a wee rest.'

'You didn't look in the engine room,' Miguel said.

'Well yeh didna think ah would be a wee bit conspicuous doon there?' Dunc asked. 'Ondie went doon on his own.'

Charlotte was staring up at Dunc's head in amazement. 'That is the most realistic puppet I have ever seen.' 'Lassie, ah'm no a puppet!'

Miguel was reading the words painted on the lifeboat. 'RMS Titanic. That's a stupid name for a lifeboat.' He laughed in disbelief. 

Licia was looking at the other lifeboats. 'They're all called Titanic.'

'That's the name of the ship.'  Charlotte sounded surprised. 

Miguel and I stared at her, incredulous, but Licia hadn't heard. 'What?'

'Do you think this could be a movie set?' Miguel asked nervously. 'The radio operator was talking about icebergs.'

I was suddenly nauseous. This was not some elaborate charade like an elaborate school play. This was real. 'Charlotte,' I said weakly, 'how long has the ship been at sea?  When did you leave London?'

'We didn't leave London. We embarked at Southampton on April 10th.' She sounded mystified as if I should have known. 'That was four days ago. It's the fourteenth today.'

Miguel and Licia were gaping at me, stunned. 

'I don't understand how,' I told them, my voice quavering. 'But I think . . . this is real. Somehow, we are not where we are supposed to be.' 

'Charlotte, what year is this?' Charlotte looked at me sceptically. 'It's 1912. Why do you ask? Is this a game?'

'Charlotte,' I blurted, 'the Titanic is about to hit an iceberg and sink. We have got to warn everybody.'

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