Lost at Sea

by A. E. Radley

  Or worse, arrested.

  “Housekeeping!” A male voice called out.

  Annie grimaced. She couldn’t pretend she wasn’t in; there was a chance that he’d enter the room if he thought it was unoccupied. She hadn’t thought to slap the ‘do not disturb’ magnet on the outside of the door.

  She quickly crossed the room and opened the door, just a crack.

  A young man smiled at her. “Hello, Miss Serena. I am Elvin.”

  “Hi.”

  “I am here to introduce you to your stateroom. I can come back later?”

  His smile never wavered. Annie realised it would be better to get it over and done with, rather than to have the poor man come back at a later time.

  She took a step back and pulled the heavy door open.

  Elvin entered the room. “Welcome to Fortuna.”

  Annie closed the door. “Thank you.”

  “I am your stateroom attendant; my name is Elvin. If you need anything then you can call me on your phone.” He gestured to the telephone beside the bed, pointing to a specific button. “You can order food or drinks. I can come and clean your room, replace your towels. Whatever you need.”

  “That’s great, thank you.”

  “I will come and clean the room twice a day.”

  “Twice?” Annie had stayed in hotels before but never received housekeeping twice in a single day.

  “Yes, ma’am. Once between nine and two in the afternoon, and again in the evening between five and nine.”

  “Wow. Do you ever sleep?” Annie asked.

  “Yes, ma’am. Every member of staff gets ten hours of mandatory rest every day.” Elvin’s smile seemed to be a permanent feature. It never waned, and it seemed genuine. “Unfortunately, there has been a problem with some of our scanners and luggage delivery has been delayed. I know this is a terrible inconvenience, and I would like to apologise on behalf—”

  Annie raised her hand, cutting off the prepared speech that Elvin had obviously been asked to repeat to everyone he met.

  “It’s fine, I won’t need my case for a while anyway. As long as I have it before bed,” she said with a chuckle.

  “We will get it to you as soon as we can,” he promised. He turned and walked over to the balcony. “If you need more chairs for the balcony, I can get them for you, if you want to invite anyone you are travelling with to your stateroom.”

  “Oh, I’ll be on my own all of the time,” Annie said.

  Elvin’s cheery disposition faltered for a nanosecond before springing back to life. “I’m sure you will meet lots of people on board. We have many solo travellers; they leave with many new friends.”

  Annie got the distinct impression that wanting to have a quiet cruise, alone in her room, was going to thoroughly confuse poor Elvin. She offered him a tight grin and nodded.

  He pointed to the television. “You can do lots of things on your television. You can order room service, and then I will deliver it to you. Or you can call me. But if you prefer to use the television, then you can. You can book dining reservations at any of our restaurants. You can have a look at the activities on board.” He held out the remote control and gestured to a button. “You can also watch our on-board TV shows. Our hotel director, Dominic, will speak to you every day about our activities on board and our shore excursions. And you can watch the weather with Captain West.”

  Annie tried to look enthused, but she didn’t intend to participate in any activities or go on any shore excursions, and she really didn’t care about the weather.

  Elvin seemed to sense her despondency. “There are other channels.” He put the remote down. “Do you have any questions?”

  “No, I think I’ll be fine,” Annie said. “To be honest, Elvin, I’m planning to have a nice, quiet holiday. Lots of rest. I’ll probably be in my room, or on my balcony, most of the time.”

  “We have many swimming pools and whirlpools you can rest by,” Elvin explained.

  “I like things quiet,” Annie said.

  “We have an adults-only solarium. Very quiet. And bar service directly to your sunbed.”

  It sounded very appealing, but Annie had to remind herself that she was supposed to be keeping a low profile.

  Elvin must have noticed her lack of enthusiasm. “We also have a casino, many restaurants, bars. Lots to do. You can ask me anything. Or look at your TV.”

  “Thank you. I will.” Annie realised that she sounded miserable and that Elvin was doing his upmost to provide her with the best customer service he could. She felt guilty for sounding so down. “I’m very tired, I’ve travelled a long way. I’ll feel better when I have rested and eaten.”

  “Would you like me to get you some room service?” Elvin perked up at the news that he could help Annie to feel better. He grabbed the food menu from a magazine rack on the wall. “It’s all very, very good.”

  Annie chuckled. “No, I’m okay at the moment, but thank you so much, Elvin. I appreciate you being so helpful. I just need a while to get used to my new surroundings and have a break. Probably on the balcony.”

  He nodded. “Very well, Miss Serena. I will come by to clean your room later tonight. If you need anything—”

  “I’ll call you.” Annie smiled. “Thanks, Elvin.”

  Elvin hurried from the room, leaving Annie to wonder just what he would be cleaning when he came by in a few short hours. Life aboard a cruise ship was a completely new experience. She could tell already that Elvin was going to find her a mystery, the strange woman on deck fourteen who never wanted to leave her room.

  Annie considered the point for a while. She needed to keep a low profile but not so much that she looked suspicious. Maybe checking out the pool would be a good idea, just once or twice so as not to look odd.

  Her heart was still beating hard and fast. She sat on the sofa and stared at her shaking hands. She wondered when she’d start to feel more like herself. Or if she ever would again.

  Muster Drill

  Caroline walked onto the bridge and approached Natalie Rodriguez, the shift navigational officer.

  “Anything more regarding the low pressure coming from the east?” she asked.

  Natalie shook her head. “No, it’s still travelling at the same speed. I think it will hit us on the way to Marseille.”

  “Still around midnight?”

  “Yes.” Natalie pulled some papers from the tray on the navigation station and handed them over.

  Caroline read them. Nothing had changed since the last weather update, but she needed to be certain. Fortuna was a luxury cruise liner, and they needed to do everything they possibly could to make the journey as smooth as possible.

  Weather was the unknown element when it came to cruising, but forward planning could eliminate almost all related issues. Keeping up to date was essential.

  “Okay,” she said. “Stick with the current plan, we’ll come out of Palma and move as quickly as we can up until the winds begin. Then we’ll ease off for the sake of comfort until the winds die down again. Anything more about the conditions in La Spezia?”

  “Yes, I’ve plotted a new route to get around the tanker there. They say their engines should be up and running before we get there, but judging from what they’d been saying before…”

  Caroline rolled her eyes. “Indeed. Keep to your new route. Conditions are going to be clear enough that we can add a little time to ensure we’re out of their way.”

  Natalie nodded her understanding and returned her attention to the navigational maps.

  Caroline crossed towards one of the bridge wings, a part of the room that jutted out from the ship to allow a good view of the side of the vessel for navigating the ship in and out of ports. Thomas stood there, looking down at the port.

  “Everything in hand?” she asked.

  “Yes, we’re getting the last people aboard now. Nothing to report.”

  “Excellent, I want you to join me at the cocktail party after dinner tonight. Practise for that promotion.�
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  “I haven’t been promoted yet,” he reminded her.

  “Yet,” she repeated. “It’s bound to be coming this term. It will be good for you to shadow me a little more for the entertainment side of things.”

  Thomas let out a tiny sigh.

  “You certainly can’t do that once you’re promoted,” she chided him.

  “I wouldn’t in front of the guests.”

  “At all.” She gestured to the people walking aboard the ship down below them. “You have to be on twenty-four seven. They can’t ever see you as anything other than deliriously happy to see them. I know you started this career to be a bridge officer and to focus on the technical side of things, but sadly you’re good at your job and that means progression to the showbiz side of this business. You can’t pass up another promotion.”

  Thomas smiled a big, wide, and extremely fake grin.

  “Beautiful,” Caroline said. “Just keep that up for the next five months.”

  “Sure thing.” He picked up a pair of binoculars from the wing console and kept watch of the deliveries being taken aboard the ship.

  Caroline turned and walked into the SCC, the Security Command Centre, located behind the main bridge controls. She looked over the shoulders of the various bridge crew members at their screens. She trusted her crew; most of them had been handpicked by her. With a rotational schedule of between ten and sixteen weeks, it was easy to reassign anyone she didn’t feel was doing the job to the best of their ability.

  An alarm sounded; someone was opening a secure door down on deck one. Within a couple of seconds, a bridge officer had located the area on the expansive CCTV network, called security, and was in the process of calling the nearest telephone to the location.

  On such a vast ship it was common for people to take the wrong door and try to enter locations where they weren’t supposed to be. Most of the time it was a mistake, human error, but that didn’t mean that protocol wasn’t followed to the letter each time.

  She peered at the screen. It appeared to be a member of the cleaning staff who had presumably gotten turned around and was accessing the wrong door. She waited, listening as the bridge crew member spoke to the cleaner, had them close and seal the door, and then instructed them on where to go. A few moments later, a security officer arrived and checked the door was sealed.

  Caroline put her hand on the officer’s shoulder and squeezed it in a silent indication of a job well done. She needed every single member of her team to be operating at the top of their abilities every moment they were on duty. Between them, they were responsible for the safety of thousands of people, both passengers and fellow crew members.

  As master of Fortuna, she never allowed herself to forget that safety was her number-one priority. Nothing could slip past her. If something did, the results could be catastrophic.

  She looked at her watch. It was coming up to quarter past four, which meant it was time for the bridge and all operational areas of the ship to become a hive of activity.

  It was time for the muster drill.

  Mustard Drill

  Annie allowed her eyes to flutter closed and softly blew out a slow breath. The adrenaline was finally dissipating, and exhaustion was taking over. The stateroom bed was surprisingly comfortable, and she felt like she could just sleep through until the next day. Waking up in the middle of the ocean, far away from Diego, seemed perfect.

  If she was lucky, no one would know where Annie Peck had disappeared to. Hopefully Serena had kept her word and had also gotten out of Barcelona.

  Maybe she could get away with it.

  A loud beep sounded from the ceiling. Annie’s eyes flew open in shock.

  “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Fortuna,” a male voice said through the speaker in the room. “In just half an hour we will be performing our mandatory muster drill, as required by the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea. At this time, we will ask that all guests report immediately to their assembly point, which is displayed on your pass key. In fifteen minutes, all ship services will be suspended for the duration of the drill. We thank you for your participation. Please listen out for further announcements.”

  Annie sat up in bed and rubbed tiredly at her eyes. “What the hell is a ‘mustard drill’?”

  She reached for the phone and picked up the handset, pressing the button marked ‘stateroom attendant.’

  It rang three times before Elvin answered, “Yes, Miss Serena?”

  “Elvin, what’s a mustard drill?”

  “Muster drill, Miss Serena.”

  “Okay, what’s a muster drill?”

  “I will come to your room.”

  Elvin hung up the phone, and Annie sat up. She stretched her arms up, satisfied with the tiny pops she heard down her spine. Exhaustion had come over her so quickly that she hadn’t gotten undressed, which now seemed fortuitous.

  A few moments passed before she heard a knock on the door. She crossed the room and opened the door, gesturing for Elvin to come inside.

  “Thank you, miss.” He looked at the desk and picked up Annie’s pass key. He held it up and pointed to it. “This is your drill station for the muster drill. B02, that is by guest services on the promenade. Everyone must go.”

  “Everyone?” Annie asked.

  “Everyone. All passengers and all crew.”

  “Okay. So, I have to go to guest services?”

  “Yes.”

  “For how long?”

  “Until Captain West dismisses us.”

  Great, just what I need, another man ordering me around, Annie thought.

  “It’s for safety,” Elvin explained. “So you know where to go in case something happens.”

  Annie pinched the bridge of her nose. All she wanted to do was sleep. “Okay, fine, do I need to take anything with me?”

  “Just your pass key. You will use your pass for everything; you should always have it with you. You can go now if you like, then you can get a seat. It will get busy.”

  “Sounds like a good idea. Thanks for your help, Elvin.”

  Elvin handed her the pass card and rushed around her to open the door. He really was the sweetest thing, and Annie felt bad that she had encountered him at a time when her life was in such disarray. Usually she’d be nicer and more engaged, but all she wanted to do now was get the drill over with and get some sleep.

  She walked out into the corridor and stopped to look in both directions. Elvin appeared beside her and pointed to the right. “That is your closest stairwell. There will be people there guiding you.”

  “Okay. I’ll guess I’ll see you later,” Annie said. “Have a nice… muster!”

  She walked down the corridor until she found a door that led to a stairwell. Two members of staff were stood there, guiding people.

  Annie held up her pass card to one of them.

  “Guest services, you need to go down to deck five.”

  “Thank you,” Annie said. She joined a small stream of people making their way down the stairs.

  Fortuna was a beautiful ship. Luscious, thick carpet, light wood, and glass. It wasn’t anything like Annie had expected of a cruise ship. Not that she had spent that much time considering it.

  She’d never thought she’d be on one. Life certainly had fun surprising her.

  She reached the fifth deck and saw more members of the crew guiding people. She held up her card again and was politely pointed in the right direction. The promenade was bustling with people, and she could see that it had been split into various areas for people to gather for the drill.

  There were people milling about by the spa registration, people by the café, people by the Champagne bar. And then there were people filing into the guest services area, all having their passes scanned as they did.

  Annie held out her pass to allow it to be scanned.

  “Thank you, Miss Rubio. If you want to head inside, we’ll let you know when the drill is complete.”

  “Thank yo
u.” Annie stepped inside and looked around the large space. There were only a couple of tables and chairs which had been placed there specifically for the drill. Her gaze fell on the couple from the elevator who were eagerly waving to her.

  Great, she thought. These two again.

  She walked over to them, and the man stood up and pulled out a chair for her. She wished she’d paid a little more attention to them and could remember their names.

  “Funny seeing you again, isn’t it, Graham?” the woman said.

  “Yes, we have the same muster station. It must be fate,” Graham replied.

  Annie offered a quick, tight smile.

  “How are you finding the ship?” the woman asked.

  “I’ve not really explored much,” Annie admitted. “I’m intending to have a quiet holiday, just resting and relaxing. On my own.”

  Graham let out a laugh. “You’ll be bored in no time and missing all the amazing facilities on the ship. We can show you around.”

  “Really, that’s not necessary,” Annie argued.

  “But I insist—”

  “Graham, leave the poor girl alone,” the woman replied.

  “But, Louise—”

  “No, she said she wants to be alone, so just accept it. Not everyone wants to examine every square inch of the ship like you do. Some people just want to order room service and relax on their balcony.” Louise paused her chastisement of Graham and turned to Annie. “Do you have a balcony?”

  “I do,” Annie confirmed.

  “Sea view?” Graham quizzed.

  “Yes,” Annie said.

  “Well, there you go. That’s a perfectly fine way of spending a holiday,” Louise said. “Some quiet time in your room. We’ll join you for dinner tonight in the main dining room, and then you can ask us any questions you might have, what with you being new to cruising and the ship.”

  Annie nodded her agreement. She had no intention of dining with them that evening, but she didn’t want to tell them that now and create a bad atmosphere. They had no idea where she was on a ship of thousands. Once the drill was over, it would be easy to lose them.