could at this time confide in, and with Ransom at his side to bolster him and to help explain the horrible circumstances, he quietly, calmly informed these men of the nature of the danger aboard his ship.
Everyone took it in with admirable reserve, the British stalwart outward appearance of acceptance of such a fate, taking it in as calmly as if Ransom and Smith were warning of a storm ahead out at sea.
Smith carefully laid out the seriousness of the matter, and he asked Declan to delineate the nature of the plague on board, and the fact no one knew any longer precisely how far and wide it’d spread aboard the ship.
Smith, sighing heavily, ended the meeting by telling them of his and Ransom’s plan, finishing with, “It is time now to put into effect the final solution.” Smith looked around at them all—Murdoch, Lightoller, Dr. Johnny Simpson, who’d been shown his boss’ diseased body, Declan, Thomas, and a handful of crewmen that Murdoch and Lightoller had said were absolutely loyal to the officers, to their captain, and to the ship—two of them being lookouts who worked the crow’s nest. “We must have no shirkers, gentlemen, and we must all be of one mind for this to work. We must all do our jobs precisely as told. Can I count on you?” Smith finished.
Ransom marveled at the British for their exacting military and maritime protocols. Here were men swearing on their lives, no matter the order. “No one survives this voyage—none of us,” Smith added, eyeing the civilians as well.
“In for a penny, in for a pound,” agreed Declan.
Thomas held his tongue, his jaw quivering.
“But how? How can we bring down a ship that’s unsinkable?” asked Murdoch, his hand playing over his mouth, head hanging.
“We ask God and nature for help,” Smith replied, stuffing a hand in his pocket and coming up with six Marconi messages. “Ice ahead, gentlemen. We’ll find an iceberg a great deal sooner than we can find and kill this demon- spawning creature you’ve described, Charles.”
Lightoller nodded but said, “But Will’s right. How can we be certain an iceberg will do the job and do it cleanly?”
“It’s our best shot,” replied Ransom for Smith.
“We must not make a direct hit to the bow, Will,” said Smith. “A direct hit will not bring her down.” Smith was speaking from experience, but also from the knowledge that a straight hit would only put the first compartment under water, allowing
“You want us to drag her over a spur, don’t you?” asked Murdoch.
“It’s far more likely to cause the kind of damage we can count on, yes.” Smith breathed deeply and ran his hand through his thick mane of white hair. “I can’t believe I’m in the position of having to ask this of you men.” He paused find his resolve. “But we are firmly backed into a corner, and this plague cannot reach shore. Nor can anyone on board now, as anyone might be the carrier.”
“My God,” inwardly groaned Lightoller. “Sir, are we truly speaking of no survivors, sir?”
“It’s the only way,” said Smith. “No one can get off. We have no tests, no way to determine if a person is infected until… until he’s a corpse!”
“People will panic,” said Murdoch, imagining the aftermath of his running the ship into the ice as he would be behind the wheel according to the plan. His most trusted look-out, Frederick Fleet, would man the crow’s nest, and every man in the room was sworn to secrecy.
“We must find it, and we must kill the damn thing,” said Thomas, pounding his fist into the nearest wall. “I don’t want to die on this damnable ship without sending word to my mother and father!”
Ransom grabbed Thomas. “Keep it together, Dr. Coogan.”
“What we need aside from this doomsday plan, Captain, is to break out the arms,” Murdoch said.
“What if we were to track it to its next victim using the dog? Hell using every dog in the cargo bay?” asked Lightoller, still holding out hope. “We get another shot at it, who knows… maybe that’d do it.”
Declan disagreed, his arms going up. “Even if we could kill the carrier and sacrifice one victim more to this affair, Mr. Lighttoler, we have no idea how many of those eggs are hatching all over the ship—and if they should hatch and infect numerous human hosts… .Well, it may well have happened already, don’t you see?”
“It’s already an epidemic, I understand that, but we must try some action before we intentionally destroy
“What’re you talking about?” asked Ransom.
“We don’t ram the ship’s bottom over an ice spur, but rather we come to a halt at the iceberg, load the bodies, not our passengers onto the lifeboats and send the loaded boats to the iceberg surface.”
“He may have something there,” said Thomas.
“Perhaps, sir,” said Murdoch, “it’s worth the attempt.”
“In time, the ocean will claim the frozen bodies we leave behind, sir.”
Thomas took a deep breath of air and exhaled. “By god, now there’s a reasonable plan that doesn’t call for us to die.”
Smith thoughtfully considered this. “Put your plan in motion, Mr. Lightoller, while Murdoch and I put my plan in motion. Whichever of us arrives at the—the final solution first, so be it.”
While Murdoch huddled with Dr. Johnny Simpson and Captain Smith, Lightoller huddled with Ransom and the young doctors, saying that they must convince the crewmen and perhaps the Black Gang to help them locate and isolate any additional victims of the disease organism. As Lightoller took charge, he said, “We must enlist the help of Mr. Andrews, the ship’s architect, more fully. The man knows every inch of the ship.”
“Make it so,” said Smith on overhearing Andrews’ name. Smith then said he had to break the news to the ship’s owner on board as well, Ismay. “However, for the time being, Mr. Murdoch, you have my permission regarding the guns. Arm only the men who are with us, understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Oh and Will, see to it that Constable Ransom here gets a firearm as well. Furthermore, Mr. Murdoch—” Smith hesitated, gathering his resolve.
“Yes, sir?”
“Be a good chap and save a bullet for me when the time comes.”
“I will see to it, sir.”
“Before doing anything else, Mr. Lightoller, Mr. Murdoch, see to confiscating all binoculars aboard.”
“Binoculars, sir?” asked Murdoch.
“We must collect every single set issued to the crew, and especially the crow’s nest crew.”
“What’ll we do with ’em, sir?” asked Murdoch.
Smith looked sternly as his first officer. “Over the side with ’em but discreetly so. Mustn’t have anyone seeing the berg before we do… before we can take her full throttle for it at maximum speed for the best impact, as I said, along her side.”
“Which side, sir?”
“The one closest to the berg, of course!”
“Yes, sir… of course, sir.”
“The bottom of this ship is double-hulled, you know,” said Captain Smith, his voice giving way to weariness. “I never imagined I’d ever give orders to scuttle a ship, but look, we… we need to tear a hole in the bow section large enough to drive a tugboat through at very least—if we’re to succeed in this devilish task.”
“A success for the Grim Reaper it would be,” muttered Thomas, pacing in a small circle.
“As you wish, Captain.” Murdoch’s tone was stiff. “You can count on me, sir.” Murdoch started off but turned and added, “With hand-picked chaps in the crow’s nest, and them without binoculars, we’re sure to hit something out there.”
“As I trust you will, Mr. Murdoch,” replied Smith. “Reports of ice ahead coming in from all latitudes; if I make it out right, the ice extends fifty, maybe sixty miles if not more.”
“Wise of you to not tell Wilde about all this, sir,” said Murdoch. “He… he can be unreliable in a crisis.”
“He will know in time, but I agree with your assessment, Will.”
“And the lifeboats, sir?” asked Murdoch. “Shall we scuttle them where they dangle from their davits?”
“No, no! Captain,” pleaded Lightoller. “We’ll need them all for my plan, sir, depending on my being successful, of course.”
