18
Dean Bravo, Bravo, Bravo
I heard my phone alarm going off but couldn’t open my eyes. Why was I so exhausted? Then I remembered. Charlie.
My room was completely black except for the red light of the smoke detector on the ceiling. I felt around for my phone and for Charlie. I couldn’t find either one of them.
Groaning, I rolled over to slide out of bed. Where was my damn phone? It sounded like it was coming from the living room.
Padding across the darkened room, I tried to be quiet in case Charlie was in the bathroom or something.
Finding the offending object, I turned the alarm off. 4:33 am. I also noticed a text from my mother. “When are you on leave again? I want to have dinner with my son and his wife before I’m too old to cook.”
It was too damn early to get up and too damn early to deal with my mother. I reset my alarm for 5:30 and brought it with me back to the bedroom. Maybe if I’m lucky, I thought, Charlie and I could have another round before I have to go into work. I’d deal with my mother later.
Using the flashlight, I looked around my room. “Charlie?” I whispered. “Charlie…”
It began to dawn on me that she wasn’t here. She’d left in the middle of the night without even saying goodbye.
Oh, so she’s that kind of girl.
My heart was heavy because I realized I’d been wrong about her. I was used to women trying to sleep with me so they could say they’d been with the captain. But I didn’t peg her for one of those types.
Then again, I really didn’t know her all that well. A couple of intense flirtations did not a relationship make.
Crawling back into bed to try to catch another hour’s sleep, I called for Ciao. “Here, girl…” I guessed I’d gotten my fling after all.
I hadn’t been back in bed for fifteen minutes when my phone rang. It better not be my mother.
As soon as I saw the call, adrenaline kicked in. It was Georgie, my night officer on the bridge. He was calling from the bridge, and I knew he’d never be calling me at this hour unless there was a problem.
“This is Captain Luca.”
“Captain. We need you on the bridge immediately. There’s a situation.”
“I’m on my way.”
It took me four minutes to throw on my uniform and race up to the bridge. We were prepared for emergencies and had regular drills when passengers weren’t on board. I had no idea what I was dealing with, but when you get the call to come to the bridge, you don’t stop for coffee.
Bursting through the doors, I asked Georgie, “What’s the situation?”
He said, “Come look at the radar.”
As soon as I got to him I saw it. There was a huge storm headed in our direct path.
“Tropical Storm Cameron has strengthened and has changed directions. It was supposed to go east and instead veered west.”
“What’s the latest from the NHC?” I was tapping on my computer to get the latest information. I found the statement and read it aloud to the crew.
“According to the National Hurricane Center, the current velocity of Tropical Storm Cameron is 430 miles and is brewing west of Anguilla and is heading west toward the British Virgin Islands at 17 MPH. The storm has maximum winds of 40 MPH and could become a category 1 hurricane with winds taking the speed of 75 MPH.”
I paused for a moment to consider my actions. “Any word from the cruise line?”
“No, not yet. None of the other lines have changed course yet either.”
On the one hand, we could try to make it to port and stay safely docked there while the storm passed. On the other hand, this was an unpredictable storm, and we didn’t want to run right into a hurricane in a ship with thousands of passengers.
“What’s an alternate course?” I asked.
Just then, Carlos came in. “I just got your call.”
I briefed him on the situation and then asked his opinion. If he was serious about wanting to become a captain, he’d need to make these kinds of decisions.
“I don’t think we have a choice, sir. We need to tell the cruise line that we’re changing course. It’s too risky to outrun this storm.”
I nodded my head. “I agree.” I was glad that he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. “I’ll make the call, and then we’ll put out a Bravo call to let everyone know that we have a problem. Carlos, can you get everyone together for a meeting? I want to give everyone an update before we execute our emergency protocol.”
“Yes, sir.”
I picked up the phone to call my boss. This was not a decision to be made lightly, but given the circumstances, I felt confident that it was the right one.
19
Charlie: Making Waves
I felt awful sneaking out of Dean’s place like that. In all the years I’d fantasized about my first sexual experience, tiptoeing out in the middle of the night holding my shoes was not part of it. I couldn’t believe my first time ended with a walk of shame.
Sam wasn’t in the suite when I got there, and it was just as well. I was tired and more than a little upset.
Why had it never occurred to me that he could be married? I mean, he didn’t wear a wedding ring, but lots of guys don’t. There weren’t any personal photos that showed a wife or anything. But when I got up to get a drink of water, his phone was right next to the sink and it flashed on with a message from his mother. I wasn’t trying to snoop, but my brain is used to reading messages quickly from when I did live streaming.
She invited Dean and his wife to dinner.
I should have known when he said his brother-in-law owned the vineyard. He’s Italian. Don’t they all take lovers?
It had started to rain outside, and the waves were getting rougher. It suited my mood.
I took a shower and crawled back into bed. While I was washing, I had tears streaming down my face. I thought I could just sleep with someone and be over it. But as my hands washed my body, and I remembered where his hands and mouth had been, I realized I’m not that kind of woman. I’m not a one-night stand kind of girl. The next time I make love I will be in love. And it won’t be with a married man.
Now, as the ship rocked back and forth, I let my tears wash away my feelings. I needed a good sleep, some breakfast later, and all would be well.
I was sleeping when I started dreaming of a siren. Beep, Beep, Beep. As the sound kept going, I started to wake up, but the sound didn’t stop. It wasn’t a dream! It was really a siren.
Through the loudspeaker in my room, I heard a voice speaking.
“Good morning. This is Captain Luca. I am sounding the alarm because we are having a situation on board that I need you to know about. Tropical Storm Cameron unexpectedly changed its path and is headed in our direction. There is no need for concern, and we will be taking evasive action. Just to be safe, I am asking everyone to grab the life vest that is in your cabin and head to your muster stations. Again, there is no need for alarm, this is simply a precaution, as we are experiencing some turbulence from the wind and waves. Proceed to your muster station immediately and I will give you updates as I have them.”
Shit! I jumped out of bed and noticed that the waves had gotten much stronger since I went to sleep. I could barely stand. It was like being on an airplane when you hit those air pockets. I threw on some jeans and a sweatshirt, grabbed my bag and the life jacket in the closet and headed for the door.
The furniture was starting to slide around the room and I was getting scared. It made me feel a little better knowing that Dean was in charge of getting us to safety. But these waves were really intense. I could see flags being whipped in the wind and rain, and the ocean was all foam and white caps.
As I exited my door, staff members were directing passengers to the stairwells. They didn’t want us taking the elevator in case the power went out and we got stuck.
I could hear screams and cries echoing in the stairwell, and the ship tossed about so much that I was being banged back and forth between
the walls like a pinball. I sure to God hoped Sam and Josh were okay.
I was really worried about being thrown down the stairs by the waves so I gripped the handrail. Being in an enclosed space like this, I was getting a little nauseous. So much for the damn seasick pills. There wasn’t enough medicine in the world to handle seas like this.
The muster station was chaos. The outdoor ones had been moved inside, due to the whipping winds and rain. There was panic in the air, and the staff was doing their best to keep everyone calm.
“Please put your life jackets on. Everyone must be wearing their life jackets. If you have a child, put your jacket on and then theirs.”
I scanned the crowd trying to find Sam. Where was she? I needed to find my friend.
Pulling my phone out of my bag to see if she’d texted, I had an idea. Maybe I could get enough of a signal to live stream. Should I try?
Why not? There wasn’t anything I could do to sail the ship or get us out of danger. I was just sitting here.
“Charlie!” Sam called to me from the other side of the muster station. “Charlie!!!”
She came running over to me and hugged me. Our life jackets got stuck on each other and we were laughing and crying as Josh unhooked us.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yes! This is crazy!”
It was. Things were sliding all over the deck and the waves were pounding the windows.
I pulled out my phone and pushed the button. It looked like I had a signal.
“Hey everyone. This is Charlie Miller and I’m aboard the Allure. As you can see we are having a bit of bad weather here. The captain says that Tropical Storm Cameron is too close to us at the moment and we are trying to evade it.”
As I said that, a huge wave crashed into the window across the way. People started screaming and running away from it.
If I was going to die, I was going to do it on camera.
20
Dean Controlled Chaos
The bridge was a scene of controlled chaos. I had all hands on deck as we navigated through twenty-foot waves. I’d never experienced a storm like this in all of my years as a captain. But, I’d prepared for them.
Despite the intense waves and rain, we were actually quite far away from the storm. We veered west toward the island of Vieques and Cameron was directly to our north, headed straight for the British Virgin Islands.
All we had to do was get through about a hundred miles of these waves and we would be in the clear. I was in contact with the Coast Guard, and they were expecting us in Vieques.
I hoped my crew was keeping the passengers safe. My mind wandered momentarily to Charlie, and I wondered if she was scared.
I didn’t have time to think about that, though. I needed to get us through this storm.
“Captain! We have a problem.” Our chief engineer April was standing in front of one of the monitors.
I rushed over to her. “What’s going on.”
“The main engine is failing. We need to switch over to the backup.”
Shit. We were going to have to slow down.
“I’ll let the Coast Guard know,” Carlos said.
“Are we going to need to evacuate?” Sofia the Compliance Officer asked.
I shook my head. “It’s too dangerous to evacuate in these conditions. Our backup engine should be enough to get us to Vieques. April, can you go down there and see if the crew in the main engine room can find out what’s wrong?”
“I’m on it, sir.”
I sighed and glanced at Carlos. “Have you been in contact with your ex-wife?”
“Not really. I didn’t see her. But I did text to find out how she was doing. She and her husband are at their muster station.”
“That’s good. They should be safe there.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Carlos. We’re going to be fine.”
He nodded and then grinned. “She said that there was some woman actually live streaming on YouTube. Can you believe that?”
It was my turn to grin. I had a pretty good idea of who it was, and if I was right, then, yes. I could definitely believe it.
“Captain. We have the Coast Guard on the phone.”
I grabbed the nearest extension and hit the button. “This is Captain Luca.”
“Captain, I understand you are experiencing engine failure.”
“That is correct. We have a team of engineers assessing the situation.”
“Your backup engine is functional, correct?”
“Affirmative. We had to slow down, but we are still moving.”
“Do you believe you will need to be towed to safety?”
“It’s too soon to tell. The seas are too rough at the moment and I think the best course of action is to proceed slowly in the direction of Vieques and then when the storm passes we will have a better idea of whether we are able to make it there on our own.”
“Sounds good. Keep us updated.”
“Will do.”
It was time to update the passengers. I hit the button on the intercom.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Captain Luca speaking. I want to thank you all for staying calm and proceeding to your muster stations in an orderly manner. As you can see, we are navigating through some intense oceanic activity at the moment. We have slowed down in order to further evade Tropical Storm Cameron and will be docking on the island of Vieques instead of St. Thomas. I’ll return with another update shortly.”
I figured it was best not to mention the engine failure, as that would likely panic people. I just needed to wait to hear from the engineering team and hope that we could get the main engine back online and get the hell out of this storm before someone got hurt.
And then, the power went out.
Great. Just what we need.
21
Charlie: Never Let Go
“Okay. You all heard it for yourselves.” Amazingly, I still had a live stream connection going. We had more than six thousand people watching live. “The captain just came on and said that we are changing course to go to another island. The ship is still rocking a lot and a bunch of people are getting seasick. I’ll spare you that video.” I grinned into the camera.
I was still scared, but broadcasting made me feel more confident. That and knowing that the ship was in good hands.
And, I had personal experience of just how good those hands were…
Just then, the power went out, and everyone started screaming. I checked my phone battery at it was at 87%.
“Okay, the power just went out. People are starting to panic, but it actually seems like the waves are getting smaller.”
I noticed that several news channels were commenting on the feed.
“I’m seeing the comments from the media and, yes, we are still safe. I haven’t heard of any injuries and no one is saying anything about evacuating the ship.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sam and Josh talking to that guy Kevin. He looked pretty scared and I could tell that Sam was trying to calm him down.
I was going to try to live stream for as long as possible. I figured I’d stop when my battery got to 20%.
“Okay, so I’m going to answer some more of these questions that are coming in. First, yes. the crew is doing a great job of keeping everyone calm. It’s hot, yes, but not too bad. From looking outside, it does appear that the waves are calming down. I see the sky lightening over there on the horizon.”
I couldn’t stop thinking about Dean. Imagining him up there, on the bridge, navigating us all to safety. The very man who commanded my body to climax in his bed last night was in charge of every person on this ship.
That was damn sexy.
It was starting to get hot. The backup generator gave us minimal light, but the air was really stuffy. I sure hoped they’d get the power back on soon.
“Okay, everyone. My phone battery is at 20% so I’m going to have to end the stream until the power comes on. Wish me luck, and, my tagline is more appropriate than ever today.
‘Stay healthy and stay alive.”
I ended the chat.
I just hoped I wouldn’t end up like Rose on Titanic. Sex once and then my lover dies in a tragic boat sinking.
“I’ll make room for you on the door, Dean,” I said to myself.
22
Dean: You Have Forty-Seven Missed Messages
“Sir, we should have the power back on in about ten minutes.” April had come up to the bridge.
“How are we doing with the main engine?”
“That was actually why we cut the power.” She grinned. “It’s an old maritime trick.”
“Like rebooting a computer? Turn it off and on again?”
“Something like that. Anyway, I am fairly confident we will be up and running soon.”
Good. I was glad to hear it. The last thing I needed was a Coast Guard tow. One thing we learned in school was that the safest place for passengers was on the ship and that evacuations were only a last resort. But it was definitely unnerving for the passengers to know that the ship couldn’t make it to port on its own.
“Excellent. Let me know when we’re up and I’ll alert the Coast Guard.”
“Oh, and Captain?” Carlos called to me.
“Yes?”
“Evidently the news media got wind of the story, so to speak. You’ll need to prepare a statement.”
Great. One more thing to deal with.
As promised, the power came back on, and the air conditioning blissfully returned. We made it through the worst of the storm and once we had the main engine back, we could pick up speed and get everyone off the ship. I’d need to get reports from all the staff about damage and if there were injuries. Hopefully, they were only minor, if any.
The Alpha's Second Chance Page 34