Read Online The Company of the Dead by David Kowalski - Free Book Online Page B

Thoughts were starbursts and he experienced them all in an engulfing whorl. That first night in the desert, his rude arrival in this era, and for the first time in memory he was no longer afraid. He thought of the mystic, Stead, and wondered what would happen next. But only briefly.

X
    Dawn broke over the North Atlantic, transforming her still waters into a carpet of diamonds.
    Throughout the early hours of the morning, a few of the lifeboat passengers, communicating by shouts, cries and whistles, managed to locate one another. Their boats lay drifting, moored together by frail ice-encrusted ropes. Further out, rippled by the Titanic ’s departure, other lifeboats lay scattered amid wide sheets of field ice and the flotsam of the great ship.
    The survivors spoke quietly amongst themselves, conversations punctuated by sobbing and soft moans of realisation. When not looking at one another, they cast their gaze at sodden feet on the damp lifeboat decks or out towards the glowing horizon. No one could bear to look at the bodies that bobbed to all sides in the gentle ocean’s swell.
    At around six-thirty that morning ship’s time, Wireless Operator Evans of the Californian finally received the news that had already raced around the world. The White Star liner Titanic , out of Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York, had struck an iceberg and foundered in the North Atlantic off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. The coordinates marking her last known position put the ship less than thirty miles from the Californian ’s current location.
    Evans rushed to the bridge to find Captain Stanley Lord, first officer Stewart, and second officer Stone in earnest conversation. He caught snatches of their words concerning the rockets that had been seen the previous night, before blurting out his own news.
    Captain Lord, eyes widening in horror, asked him to repeat the message. He then turned to his second officer.
    “Captain, they were white rockets. Not red. We thought there was some kind of party going on.”
    “At four o’clock in the morning?” Lord shook his head in disbelief. “Mr Evans, see if you can find out anything more. Mr Stewart, set a course for the Titanic ’s last known position.”
    “What about the ice, sir?” Stewart stammered.
    “Set a sharp lookout and damn the ice, Mr Stewart.” White-faced, Lord continued barking commands as Stewart relayed the orders to the wheelhouse and engine room. “Summon the surgeon, the nursing staff, we’ll need plenty of blankets...”
    Throughout the ship, men ran to their posts as the Californian slowly inched its way out of the ice field and swung north. She caught up with two lifeboats within the first hour. Lord was on hand to greet the survivors. Apart from three of the Titanic ’s crew, both lifeboats were occupied entirely by women. It took little over half an hour to secure the passengers.
    By the time they had resumed their course, Evans had brought the captain further news. The Mount Temple and La Provence had found more lifeboats to the north. Captain Rostron of the Carpathia had telegraphed that his vessel, was on its way.
    Lord stood at the bow railing, binoculars pressed firmly to his eyes. As the morning’s mist thinned, burnt away by the encroaching sunlight, he saw first one and then another of the rescuing ships take form in the distance. As the Californian closed the gap between the vessels, evidence of the disaster became more apparent. Deckchairs and parasols, fragments of wood and children’s toys littered the surface of the ocean. After the first body was sighted, floating serenely face down among the wreckage, Lord ordered that all passengers be taken below decks.
    By early afternoon, the last of the lifeboats had been recovered. Captains Rostron and Lord stood on the forwards deck of the Carpathia. All up they had located eleven of the Titanic ’s original sixteen lifeboats and two of the four collapsibles. The five remaining lifeboats appeared