Day Four

by Sarah Lotz

  And what of Jose Ferrigno, the man who discovered the ship and alleges he saw survivors on board? Ferrigno is far from a reliable witness given his history of drug smuggling, substance abuse and depression, but he has adamantly stood by his claims. Is he simply giving the world false hope?

  One thing is certain, The Beautiful Dreamer (or should we say, Nightmare) is far from the first ship to confound the world.

  • In 2003 a mysterious tanker with no name or registration was found 35 miles from the coast of Australia. It was believed to have harboured refugees but no one was found on board, and the only sign of habitation was a child’s soft toy animal.

  • In 1872, Mary Celeste, perhaps the most famous ‘ghost ship’, was discovered floating entirely unmanned, but with all her cargo and supplies intact.

  • The Jenny was found 17 years after it went missing in the Antarctic in 1823. The captain’s last message read: ‘May 4, 1823. No food for 71 days. I am the only one left alive.’

  Sailor Who Discovered Mystery Cruise Ship

  Found Dead

  The man who discovered The Beautiful Dreamer has died of a suspected drug overdose. Jose Ferrigno (49), who also had a history of depression and substance abuse, was found dead at his home yesterday evening at approximately 7 p.m. Initial reports suggest that he took his own life.

  Ferrigno, who achieved notoriety after discovering the missing cruise liner three months ago, was adamant that he had seen survivors on board. This was continually denied by those who arrived first on the scene, the US Coastguard and the NTSB.

  Conspiracy theorists, who have backed up Ferrigno’s assertions, believe there is a global cover-up and say that this is further proof that authorities are hiding something.

  A spokesperson from the Dade County Coroner’s Office declined to make a statement about these allegations.

  Ferrigno lived alone. His body was discovered by a neighbour.

  NSA Denies Survivors’ Existence. Describes Leaked Documents as ‘A Clever Hoax’

  The National Security Agency has once again come under scrutiny after several documents, which purport to be fragments of interviews with several passengers and crew who were listed aboard The Beautiful Dreamer, went viral yesterday.

  Leaked by @anonymous998, the source of the documents is unknown.

  The documents have surfaced amidst widespread speculation about the fate and whereabouts of the 2962 passengers and crew who were on board the vessel when it left Miami on December 28, 2016.

  According to the National Transportation Safety Board findings of the ‘most likely’ sequence of events, the ship ran into difficulties after losing power due to a fire in the engine room. Fearing that it would capsize in high seas, the crew ordered an evacuation. It is believed that a tropical storm may have sunk the lifeboats and claimed the lives of any survivors.

  Critics from a wide spectrum argue that the theory lacks coherency and is not corroborated by the known facts. Some critics have accused the Coastguard and the NTSB of being complicit in a cover-up of critical facts and of the survival of at least some of those aboard the ill-fated ship.

  The National Security Advisor took to Twitter this morning to refute the claims: ‘We categorically deny that these documents are anything other than fake.’

  ‘They are a clever hoax designed to undermine our security efforts.’ And: ‘There were categorically no survivors found on board The Beautiful Dreamer.’

  TOP SECRET

  DO NOT COPY DO NOT EMAIL

  Herein please find the abridged transcripts of the interviews conducted with the five subjects discovered on board The Beautiful Dreamer on January 05, 2017.

  The transcripts are in English. There are two additional transcripts that were issued as reports; they are summaries of the first three transcripts and omit the non-substantive and repetitive statements. Some of the information has been deleted from the enclosures because it was found to be currently and properly classified in accordance with Executive Order 12988, as amended. This information meets the criteria for classification as set forth in subparagraphs (c) and (g) of Section 1.4 and remains classified TOP SECRET and SECRET as provided in Section 1.2 of the Executive Order. The information is classified because its disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security.

  The accounts have been listed chronologically for purposes of cross-referencing. A summary of the findings will be forthcoming.

  The interviews were supervised by and all of whom are trained in approved interrogation techniques. Parapsychologists and were also present. The interviewers were instructed to extrapolate information in as non-confrontational and physically non-intrusive manner wherever possible. The primary intent was to ascertain the whereabouts and fate of the other 2957 passengers and crew who were on board The Beautiful Dreamer when it left the Port of Miami on December 28, 2016.

  The subjects were kept separately at facility, which has a security rating. Their only interaction was with staff, which was monitored at all times.

  We have taken into account the possible correlation with the recent Costa Rica Incident where a fishing trawler allegedly carrying fifty-five illegal immigrants disappeared off the coast of Spain, and the events known to the media as ‘Black Thursday’. [See addendum 17a of Section 18c]

  Please review the material and provide your recommendations as to how to proceed, no later than 31/3/17.

  DO NOT COPY DO NOT EMAIL

  >>Smith, Xavier L/ Interview #1/ Page 1

  subject name: Xavier Llewellyn Smith

  dob: 17/11/88

  address: 47 A Street, South Beach, Miami

  occupation: Freelance writer. Writes a daily blog entitled ‘The Wild Card Blog’, the purpose of which is to debunk psychics and faith healers. Purports to be a member of the American Society of Skeptics. See addendum 34a for copies of blog entries extrapolated from Smith’s laptop computer. Smith is financially supported by a trust set up in his name by his deceased maternal grandfather. Smith is estranged from his biological parents.

  notes: Smith was initially hostile. Psychiatric evaluation shows no sign of delusional activity or personality disorder. No history of mental health issues. Tests reveal him to be occasional user of alcohol and marijuana.

  Mr Smith, please start by stating your name and date of birth for the record.

  XS: I told you people, I’m not saying anything else until I’m lawyered up. Seriously, what are you, NSA? Homeland Security? What?

  Mr Smith, we would appreciate your cooperation.

  XS: Go fuck yourself. I’m not some illegal immigrant. I’m an American citizen. You can’t do this to people like me.

  [Interview suspended due to subject’s agitation]

  [Interview recommences]

  Mr Smith, previously you have said that the vessel was drifting for five days with all communication and the majority of operational systems out of action. During this time, where was the ship located?

  XS: How in the hell would I know? I’m not a navigator. Ship got lost. Drifted into the Gulf Stream, maybe. Got lost in the Bermuda Triangle. I don’t fucking know.

  And you were on board the vessel in order to confront Celine del Ray about the Lillian Small case, is this correct?

  XS: Yeah.

  What is your interest in Celine del Ray, Mr Smith?

  XS: I don’t like what she does. Conning people.

  You have no personal history with her?

  XS: No.

  What was it that sparked your interest in Ms del Ray’s activities?

  XS: I heard her on that radio show. Kavanaugh’s show. She was saying how she knew that Bobby Small and his mother were alive. That pissed me off.

  And your intention was to confront her on the cruise ship?

  [Subject pauses for several seconds]

  XS: Yeah. Only that backfired on me, didn’t it?

  In what way, Mr Smith?

  XS: Jesus. I’ve told you this. Because of what
she did. Putting us under group hypnosis or whatever. I told you people that when I was first brought here.

  Please calm down, Mr Smith. We are only trying to help you.

  XS: Yeah, sure you are. Don’t think I don’t know that I’ve bought myself a one-way ticket to Gitmo. No one knows we’re here, right? The least you can do is answer that.

  Mr Smith, I can assure you, as soon as we have debriefed you, you will be free to continue your life as usual.

  XS: [Laughs] Yeah right.

  To recap: You believe that everything you experienced since day four of the cruise is the result of being under a delusion?

  XS: You tell me. It’s possible. What I saw wasn’t possible.

  We would appreciate hearing what it is you saw, Mr Smith.

  XS: I bet you would.

  Where are the missing passengers and crew?

  XS: You really want to know?

  [Subject leans forward]

  We poisoned their Mai Tais with cheap vodka. Added extra refined sugar to the chocolate fountain. One by one they succumbed, so we had no choice but to throw them over the side.

  Mr Smith, we are simply trying to understand this situation.

  XS: You and me both. I don’t know where they are.

  [Subject raises his voice and thumps his fist on the table]

  I don’t know where they fucking are. Celine del Ray was heading up some sort of suicide cult. After the captain and crew abandoned ship during the storm, maybe she got them all to jump over the fucking side. I don’t know. Why are we here? What are you not telling us?

  [Interview suspended]

  >>Gardner, Madeleine/ Interview #1/ Page 2

  but yes. I knew Celine was a fake when I took the job. If you want me to say it, I’ll spell it out. So what? But that didn’t explain Lizzie Bean or Archie or what some of the other people said they saw on board that bloody ship.

  You believe these were actual physical beings, Ms Gardner?

  MG: You think I don’t know how this sounds? Listen, you asked me to tell you what I saw in my own words. That’s what I saw. I saw Lizzie Bean. Is it crazy? Then I’m crazy. Xavier has his own theories about that – group hypnosis or whatever. But you know when something feels real. Lizzie Bean shouldn’t have existed, but she did. The others shouldn’t have existed, but people saw them.

  Did you ask Celine del Ray about them?

  MG: No. But I have my own theory about why they were there.

  And what is that?

  MG: She used them to manipulate us. Scare us. It amused her. There’s nothing more potent than fear if you want to control someone. Xavier says I saw what I wanted to see. That I bought into Celine’s bullshit. But . . . all the stuff that happened later . . . there’s no way that was all in my head.

  You’ve said before that ‘Celine wasn’t Celine’.

  MG: All her actions after the ship stopped – after she had her episode or whatever the hell it was, were out of character. She wasn’t Celine. The old Celine, I mean. She spoke like Celine, had her memories, but . . . you could see in her eyes. No. It wasn’t Celine.

  Are you saying you believe she was possessed?

  MG: Christ. No. Maybe. I . . . look, I’m still trying to work through all this, wrap my head around it.

  Is this going to take much longer? When can I go?

  You are not under arrest, Ms Gardner.

  MG: But I can’t just get up and leave, can I?

  As we told you when you were first brought here, this is merely a debriefing. A necessary formality. The people who were on the vessel with you are still unaccounted for.

  MG: You hear stories, that’s all. About what you people do. [Laughs] Shady agencies, people disappearing, that kind of thing.

  We understand your concerns. To return to Ms del Ray. You have stated that she was possessed.

  MG: I didn’t say that exactly.

  If she was possessed could you speculate by whom? Or what?

  MG: I’m not ready to answer that yet. I’m not sure I even know the answer.

  Let’s go back. What happened after The Beautiful Dreamer became operational again?

  MG: Oh God. When the ship got moving again, Xavier and I stayed in Celine’s suite for a while. I guess we felt we’d be safe in there, and . . . I suppose I wasn’t ready to see where we were or what we might be facing. I don’t know about Xavier, but by then I was convinced something awful must have happened on land that prevented rescuers getting to us. Or that we’d drifted into unchartered waters somehow, only nothing’s unchartered these days, is it? So yeah . . . That fear, it froze me at first.

  I don’t know who made the decision to get out of there in the end. Don’t think we even discussed it, we just stood up and left. I knocked on Helen’s door again to double-check she wasn’t in there. I’d tried many times, so at that stage I didn’t know if she’d left on the lifeboats or not. I couldn’t see how, with Elise so sick. So yeah. We left the cabin and went outside to the pool deck. It was still dark – around four a.m. or so.

  Who was there?

  MG: Almost everyone who was left on board. Most of Celine’s contingent. Two hundred people maybe. And a couple who’d been on Celine’s deck. The Linemans or Linekers their name was – something like that. I remember seeing them when Xavier and I ran for the lifeboats. No one was speaking. Eerie is probably the best word to use. By then I should have been used to things freaking me out, but it still made me shiver. There was no sign of Celine. Then a man’s voice, Italian, came over the intercom, and said we were approaching Miami. He sounded nervous, his voice wobbling. Later I learned that was Baci. He’d stayed behind when the other officers abandoned the ship. I don’t know why he didn’t leave. He was never part of Celine’s group. I don’t think he’d even met her until the engines came to life.

  Why Miami? Why not another port?

  MG: I don’t know. Maybe that was the closest port to us. Xavier said the crew were able to track where the ship drifted using manual navigation, so it’s possible. Maybe Baci just wanted to get home. Maybe it was Celine’s idea.

  Did you talk to anyone while you were on deck?

  MG: No. Everyone was shell-shocked, still recovering from the storm. I saw Jacob, one of Celine’s original followers, if you can call them that, and he acknowledged me, but that was all the interaction Xavier and I had with anyone at that point. We’d all been through so much at that stage. Oh wait . . . I tell a lie. Xavier went up to a girl he knew. Lisa, he said her name was. She looked out of it, barely seemed to see him.

  We stood in silence and waited. Five, ten minutes went by, and Xavier said that the officer must have made a mistake about our location.

  Why?

  MG: Because if we were approaching Miami, we should have seen lights. But there were no lights. The coastline was completely dark.

  I’m tired. Can I have a break now?

  [Interview suspended]

  >>Trazona, Althea/ Interview #1/ Page 2

  the cruise line for five years.

  And were you happy in your position, Ms Trazona?

  AT: It was a good job.

  Did you have any dealings with Celine del Ray while you were on board?

  AT: Yes.

  Could you tell us what those were?

  AT: No. I will not say anything more unless you guarantee me a green card. You cannot make me speak.

  [Subject refused to speak at this time despite several attempts to encourage her to do so]

  [Interview suspended]

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  >>Zimri, Jesse C/ Interview #1/ Page 1

  subject name: Jesse Clarence Zimri

  dob: 17/11/84

  address: 7 Acacia Road, Sun Valley, Cape Town

  occupation: General Practice Medical Practitioner. Dr Zimri voluntarily left his former practice in Tokai, Cape Town after misdiagnosing a sixteen-year-old girl, Sasha Lee Abrams. Ms Abrams was complaining of stomach pains, which Dr Zimri diagnosed as colitis. Abrams subsequently
died from complications from an ectopic pregnancy. Subject was addicted to pethidine but did not enter a rehab facility at that time.

  Subject is married to but separated from Farouka Majiet.

  notes: First interview with Dr Zimri was aborted. Subject was delirious, vomiting, and suffering from pethidine withdrawal.

  >>Fall, Helen/ Interview #1/ Page 2

  the British Embassy? This isn’t an interview. This is an interrogation. Does anyone even know we’re here?

  Ms Fall, you are in a unique situation.

  HF: Where are we? I assume we’re still somewhere in Florida. How did you manage it?

  Manage what, Ms Fall?

  HF: Spiriting us away like this. I’m assuming no one knows we’re here. It’s all very Tom Clancy, and I’m very impressed. Now. Let me make something clear to you. I will not talk to you whatever you do to me.

  Ms Fall. You have our guarantee that as soon as we have finished debriefing you to our satisfaction, you will be released from the facility.

  HF: And what exactly does ‘to your satisfaction’ mean?

  We need answers, Ms Fall. We need to know the fate of the passengers and crew who were absent from the vessel when it was discovered.

  HF: How are you going to do it?

  Do what, Ms Fall?

  HF: Dispose of us after we’ve answered your questions, of course. Do you have a system like the mafia where you feed us to the pigs? Make us disappear in some porcine bowel track? There are worse ways to go I suppose.

  Ms Fall. We have your computer. We have reason to believe that your intention and reason for being on the cruise ship was to take your own life.