Chapter Thirty - Where Does This Ocean Go?
Project 86Chapter Thirty - Where Does This Ocean Go?
The storm had been going on for two days straight now and she was getting tired of it. To make the situation worse it wasn’t calming down but had instead picked up in intensity. The weather reports were saying that the typhoon had changed direction and their previous course of skirting the edges of it was now cutting right through the thick of it instead. It was going to be a horrible hell of a ride.
The cargo was secured tight, she had made sure of it herself but going through a tropical storm was a whole matter on its own. Could the riggings hold against the complete intensity of Mother Nature’s strongest forces? She wasn’t sure.
A huge force hit the ship and every piece of steel and iron creaked in response. She was thrown forward with the motion but luckily was holding onto the hand railings like one should and managed to prevent herself from going head first into the corridor’s junction wall ahead. That had been bigger than any other hit the past two days; the typhoon must have reached them.
Racing through the rocking corridors holding tight onto the railings at the side, she made her way out to a higher deck and towards the bridge of the ship. She needed to survey that the cargo was alright. Bursting through the bridge she found Captain Lugela and First Mate Andersen.
“Yuri, the typhoon is here,” Captain Lugela shouted as she approached the very front of the deck to look through the wide front windows of their bridge to see the cargo in front of them. All the lights on the deck and cargo had been lighting them all up. The narrow walkways between the tall stacks of cargo were lit on the edges by red signal lights to show the way. All ship crew was now inside waiting the storm out.
“Is everything still intact?” Yuri asked.
“For now, but we have lost the lights at section A32 and are receiving some error in the lock. We need someone to have a look,” First Mate Andersen said as another huge wave crashed diagonally onto the ship, the water reaching all the way up to the bridge window. The storm was only getting worse. “We need you to take a look at it Chief Engineer.”
“Alright. I’ll take Jameson with me and we’ll go have a look,” Yuri replied tying her long loose hair in a tight bun. As she was stepping out of the bridge to go down to engineering to get herself ready Captain Lugela called out.
“Yuri! First priority is staying safe. Cargo comes second okay? If it looks like you can’t fix and we’ll lose it you get back inside alright?”
Yuri waved an acknowledgement and exited the bridge as she heard Andersen’s voice on the ship wide announcement calling for Chief of Cargo Jameson to go wait at Engineering.
As she got there Jameson was already in the room and getting ready. He hadn’t been told what was required of him but knew already that it involved going outside to take a look at something. “So what’s the sitch?”
“A32 has no lights and is having a lock error, we need to go have a look,” Yuri replied as she walked over to her locker and took out her wet gear; boots overall pants and jacket and a headlamp on her safety helmet.
“A32 you say… alright. Let’s get to it,” Jameson said as he continued to pull on his overalls.
Yuri pulled a harness over her wet gear which would allow her to hook safety lines onto her and prevent her from flying overboard in the storm. Jameson was equally equipped; having strapped the most used and need tools to the harness and bringing more of them with him, these also strapped by a line to his harness. Everything needed to be tied down.
The cargo section they needed to reach was at the very bow of the ship. Luckily for most of the trip to it they could walk inside under deck to reach an exit point closer to the faulty cargo itself so they could avoid most of the raging storm while getting there. Even though they got to walk there in the safety of the inside of the ship, the storm rocked them hard and for the whole way they had to hold onto the railings to make sure they didn’t fly off.
Reaching the exit closest to the faulty cargo section both Yuri and Jameson tightened their hoods and checked their harnesses to make sure it was all good for their trip up. They both turned their headlamps and body lamps on before Yuri took the first safety rope attached to her harness ready to attach it.
The wind and water blasted in their eyes the moment they rolled the heavy door open, Yuri almost getting thrown to her back as it rushed into the interior corridors of the ship. Forcing herself outside already soaked she attached her line to the safety rail that ran up the steps as wave after wave water rained upon them and the wind blasted so hard it felt like it was cutting them up.
Up a few steps and Jameson was out as well, attached his safety line before closing the door behind them tightly. Even though it was only fifteen steps up to the main deck of the ship the climb was unstable and difficult with the wind, their hands already freezing even with their waterproof gloves on.
Blasted by torrent of water like razors cutting their cheeks the two soldiered on to finally find themselves on the top deck where the spotlights were brightly lighting their way. The emergency red deck lights showed the safe way across the deck where nothing would tangle their legs and where the safety railing was within reach.
It was a hazardous walk of only about fifteen metres, but the constant barrage of waves crashing over the side of the ship and the howling wind pushed against every inch that they moved forward. It felt like this storm had been always going on, always raging against her. She had been fighting this storm forever inside her and there was no reprieve from it ever.
The cargo section A32 that had been damaged was clearly visible to them as it was the only one without working lights and as they got closer, even in the deafening howling of the wind they could both hear the irregular creaking of the containers; something was loose and it was barely holding together.
Jameson pointed at the stack and Yuri looked up to see how there was a huge dent on a few of the containers on the edge. One of these dented containers was on the deck level and Yuri pushed through to see that the contents of it were okay and nothing had broken. She felt the tug of Jameson who was attempting to pull her back, as if to go there first to check it but Yuri shrugged him off. She was chief engineer and maintenance officer on ship; if something was broken she needed to have a look to see if she could fix it.
As she took a few steps forward she felt a thud on the deck floor. Looking back she found Jameson on the ground having slipped up. He looked up though and gave a thumbs up showing her he was okay. Yuri returned the gesture and managed to reach the broken side of the container and was taken aback by what was inside.
Weapons. Hundreds if not thousands of rifles that had been packed under millions of potatoes to hide their existence. The damage onto the container had ripped a big enough hole for the guns to be showing. She felt a tug on her side and saw Jameson, his face serious.
“What the hell are these weapons doing here?!” Yuri shouted as she leaned in close to Jameson ear so that he could hear her words.
“They are… a special delivery,” Jameson replied similarly directly into Yuri’s ear.
“Wha- does Captain Lugela know about this?”
“No. But Andersen is on board. Now that you know, well, I hope we have your cooperation in this matter. Maybe you can even get a little cut in if you stay quiet.”
Yuri was shocked. Their ship was smuggling weapons into the country and part of her crew, people she thought she knew and trusted and had spent years together hauling goods across the globe, these people were smuggling illegal instruments of death.
She felt the pinch of Jameson’s hand wrapped around her arm and could see the serious expression that was painted all across her face. Telling her captain was the right thing to do but it would cost her life. She knew it and she wasn’t ready to die yet.
“I promise I won’t tell anybody, because there is nothing to tell. It’s just potatoes, right?” Yuri said to Jameson as she attempted a weak convincing smile. Jameson nodded and patted her back in approval.
“That’s right, why talk about these containers when there are only pot-”
The ship lurched as it crashed head on into a huge wave cutting right through it. Yuri and Jameson barely found their balance as they looked up towards the bow where they saw the wave tens of metres high about to crash into them.
Barely managing to grab hold of the safety railing they felt the wave hit the containers shuddering their surroundings and an ear piercing scream of metal bending rung their ears before it was all washed over by the violent wave. For most of it Yuri managed to hold herself to the railing but right at the end her hold slipped and she fell onto the deck. The safety line went taught and she thanked her stars that she was tied to the rails. She had lost sight of Jameson in the wave too.
The earlier screams and creaking of iron and steel got louder and Yuri looked up to see a container come loose and fall down. Before Yuri had time to properly scramble up from the deck the container smashed behind her and she felt a violent pull before she was flung towards the side with the rocking ship; her safety line had been cut loose by the container.
It was a moment of clarity and surprising calm as she felt herself floating in the air with the wind and rain soaking her. The howling was so loud it drowned out all the other sounds of her area, her world falling into a silence where only the wind existed.
Then the crash.
Her body slammed hard into the water of the typhoon storm waves and she barely had time to see the spotlights of the ship before she was taken underneath the waves and into darkness and cold. She struggled to get herself up to the top, to fight her way through to fresh air. But her body was tired, her clothes were heavy and the waves so rough that no matter how hard she fought it turned and twisted her around, like a cat playing with a ball.
Every second the freezing cold water ate at her will and her muscles tired getting no closer to the surface. She wasn’t even certain which way was up as she tumbled helplessly in the currents of the black ocean. She hadn’t had time to properly catch her breath before she fell overboard and her lungs were beginning to burn from holding in the air. This was it. She couldn’t hold it in any longer. The last wisps of oxygen escaped her.
opened and immediately was filled in with the cold salty sea water, her body beginning to convulse and cough as she attempted to stop it and catch a breath. It hurt, it hurt so bad. Her lungs filling up fast with water and ready to burst. There was no way to out. Soon the numbing cold was taking her as her vision faded to the dying light of her cargo ship, her body falling deeper into the ocean floor. She didn’t want to go, but by now the pain was too much. Sweet silence and release.
With a start she woke up sweating profusely. Her bed was equally drenched as if it had been dunked in the sea while she was asleep. The ship was rocking hard back and forth, the storm had only been picking up in intensity and seemed like it wouldn’t subside. Yuri looked at her watch on the table; it was five in the morning and time for her shift to start.
Strained and tired from the poor sleep she got up from her bed, showered in a flash and dressed in her all white sailor outfit and conical sailor cap, making sure her blue bow was on straight and clean and exited her cabin.
The dream was still haunting her. Why had she dreamt of being an engineer on a cargo ship with weapons smuggling? It was a weird dream itself but the end result had been even more terrifying. Drowning. It was a real threat especially being out here in the open ocean but she usually didn’t think of it. She had sailed many years worth on ships and there had never been an issue. Sinking was a rare occasion, but this dream kept her shook as she entered the lounge of the cabin crew where Chief of Staff Xiumei was waiting for everyone to gather.
“Good morning Yuri, you look pale today,” Xiumei greeted as Yuri came in to grab herself a cup of coffee before the briefing. “Not getting sea sick I hope?”
“No, no… Just bad dreams that’s all,” Yuri replied still a little out of it but the black dark roast of coffee was quickly bringing her back to reality.
Sipping her coffee and massaging her scalp Yuri waited as the rest of that shifts crew filed into the morning briefing where the most pressing tasks of the day were distributed and the overall plan for the day was discussed.
With the horrible storm weather outside passengers had been told to stay inside the ship. The storm had started last evening and had originally been predicted to clear for the morning, however the storm front had turned right on their path so all outside activities were suspended. The outdoor deck materials and chairs would need to be pulled inside and the staff would have to prepare to entertain everyone in the cruise ship.
Coupled with a few others Yuri was first assigned to set up the game rooms and lounge with more than usual food and beverages as well as seats as there would be an increase there. Xiumei and a few unlucky ones would have to brave the outside and clear it of all clutter and beach chairs so they wouldn’t be lost to the sea in the intensity of the storm.
Following this in quick order everyone was dispatched to their duties Yuri quickly setting up the game rooms with the required amenities. Done with her main duties Yuri had some free time but she heard that the cleanup of the outside was still in progress, so she decided to don her rain gear and go help them outside with the clearing.
She arrived at the sun deck with its immaculate pools and waterslide, all out of use for the day during the storm. The poolside was littered with sun loungers and parasols, the latter having luckily been shut tight at the onset of the storms and hadn’t flown away, although all of them would have to be taken inside.
All set for the rain above Yuri opened the door to the sun deck immediately being blasted with harsh rain that came at such an angle you would’ve been forgiven to think it was being shot directly at you from a hose. It was difficult to see much but close to the main pool she saw a few people gathered, seemingly talking to each other, not working.
Yuri walked closer and with the wind and storm neither of them heard her approach until she was only a few metres away from them, both rather surprised that there was someone up there with them.
“Yuri? What are you doing here?” One of the two asked as she tucked a huge bag she was holding to the side. It was Xiumei’s voice.
“I came to help with the clean up here, I’m all done with duties in the casino,” Yuri replied, surprised to see Xiumei herself up here in the storm.
The other figure to her right was still quiet. Hood up and closed tight all Yuri could see was that it was a woman. She didn’t recognize her as one of the staff, but then again she didn’t know every single staff on board anyway.
“I appreciate the gesture but you need to go inside, now,” Xiumei said with a forceful voice.
“What, why I’m here to help I-”
“This doesn’t concern you, so leave now,” the other person said. She had shifted over around Yuri so the voice came from behind her. Yuri turned around to see her, a young white woman she definitely did not recognize.
“How does the cleaning up…” Yuri stopped talking as the wind flickered the woman’s sleeves enough for her to see the stacks of cash wrapped in cling film in her hands as she attempted to hide them from Yuri. She had stumbled into some sort of illegal transaction.
Rapidly turning around Yuri looked Xiumei in the face with shock, “Xiumei what is…. is that?”
“I’m sorry Yuri. I didn’t want this to happen.”
A thud.
All she felt was a sharp pain in the back of her skull and hot liquid flowing down her neck as her body went rigid and fell down onto the sunbathing deck of the ship. The ship rocked in the rough waves and she was now getting soaked in rain from the sky, her vision beginning to turn hazy.
The last thing she saw was Xiumei leaning over with the second person in the background holding a metal rod before she was rolled sideways her body falling into the pool next to them face down. With no strength in her body, with all her muscles unresponsive after the hit, she couldn’t even fight it. She hadn’t even had time or the mental capacity to take a breath of air as she rolled into the pool, so what little air she had in her lungs at the time was all there was.
And soon that was gone. Bubbles drifted out of and she could feel the burning in her lungs as she slowly asphyxiated. The air ran out and soon was filled with chlorinated pool water as her body instinctively swallowed trying to catch a breath only to take in more water.
Slowly her unresponsive body shuddered as it floated in the pool while blood trickled down her neck into the water colouring it red while the storm rain spread it across the pool. Spasms ran through her in increasingly rapid amounts before the jerking lessened and lessened, her mind slowly shutting down before the jerking stopped and her whole body stilled.
Her mind went blank. She was gone.
“Hey wake up sleepy it’s time to pull in the haul!”
Waking up with a start completely drenched in sea water and sweat pouring down her face Yuri looked up as Chargupta shook her awake. She must have fallen asleep on the job while waiting for them to begin hauling their nets in. Looking at her watch it was three in the morning so no surprise she was tired, but this was her job and Yuri stirred up quickly, a little embarrassed at having fallen asleep by the net winch.
“Party too hard yesterday night and didn’t sleep enough?”
“Something like that,” Yuri replied with a sneer and straightened herself up. The water was rocking the boat a little harder than before and the wind had picked up out of nowhere. Just how long did she nap? “Storm coming?”
“Yeah seems so, was all smooth and calm not five minutes ago,” Chargupta replied, noticing the other crew moving about ready for pulling in the net. “We gotta do this quick and leave, can’t stay here much longer.”
Turning on the winch the gears cracked to life, excessive oil in the gears assisting against the salty water and keeping things moving. The net began to move and pull towards the boat and as it pulled up to the deck the first fish began to flop into the ships cold storage down below deck.
Yuri and Chargupta had to keep the net pulling smoothly and tucking it in now and then to make sure that it didn’t get tangled on the way nor that any fish got left within the next and stuck in it to only be crushed as the net would roll up to its compact form. The wind was picking up the whole time, boat constantly rocking more and more as the waves were getting larger every minute and the first thunder echoing further out.
They were close to finishing when the rain started, washing away the worst of grime from the fish haul and drenching everyone in a flash. They still needed to pull it in and wrap the net up properly; they wouldn’t be able to lay any new line tonight. The moment the net was in the boat lurched forward to make for land as the rain was now even more horizontal, the wind pushing them on deck hard enough for them to have to be wary of slipping.
Finally with everything set and cleared off deck the crew went into the boat and hunkered down for the storm as the Captain did his best to keep the ship upright and with the correct heading towards home. The going was rough but the waves weren’t impossibly large yet and while the storm front was moving faster than their little fish boat could get away, at least they were moving in the same direction so it wouldn’t close in on them too fast. With luck they could dock and get within the safety of the harbour and its breakwater before its full fury hit them.
Nobody was really sure exactly where it came from but it certainly did not come from the front. All they knew was that before anybody had any time to react their boat was sideways up in the air and on the verge of being rolled over. Seemingly out of nowhere and without warning a massive wave had appeared, many times larger than their boat was or could handle. They were going to capsize.
They had been hit by a rogue wave.
At most what Yuri had managed was grab onto sidebars on the boat to brace herself as the boat tipped over and slammed into the sea upside down, the wave that had capsized them immediately running over. The shouts of horror and terror in the cabin as water began to quickly fill in and everyone scrambled to have their life vests on. This was an amateur mistake; they should have all been wearing them the moment the storm hit.
The violent tug of the ocean on their capsized boat threw Yuri loose off her hold and she landed on to the roof of the boat where she saw the still laying body of Chargupta his neck and head twisted in an unnatural and unsightly way. She didn’t have time to feel sad for him as the water rushed in and Yuri was pulled under with the boat.
It was quickly sinking and she needed to get out as soon as possible. On the opposite end of the cabin she saw how Kaliah swam out the cabin door they had managed to open. Just as Yuri pushed off the roof to give her speed to reach the open door, the wall to her side cracked under pressure and fell in, immediately trapping Yuri’s leg.
Panic filled her heart as no matter her pull she couldn’t free her leg as the boat sank deeper and deeper. She could feel the increase in pressure and soon the lights from within the cabin cracked and broke, the whole boat going dark. Her air was running out. She couldn’t get out. This boat would be her tomb.
Sinking further down with less and less bubbles rising from the wrecked fishing boat, the darkness took her whole and the last of the bubbles ceased to rise.
Suddenly aware of the softness under her Yuri’s mind woke up from her sleep and registered her surroundings. Turning to her side Yuri could smell the lemon scent wafting into her nostrils and she opened her eyes to the pleasant surprise of tea in front of her. Looking around her she had fallen asleep among the comfort of blankets and soft pillows on the deck as the yacht slowly bobbed in the gentle hold of the waves.
The sun was setting and the sky was painted in all the colours of autumn, as if orange and yellow leaves were falling in the distant horizon. Picking herself up she looked towards the stern where there was someone sitting on the edge of the boat, dangling her feet into the water and admiring the spectacle of colour that was unfolding. She had long hair and was a lithe figure, the white blazer she was wearing falling gently from her shoulders. It was a peaceful sight to watch.
As Yuri shifted her position to sit up properly the person sitting at the edge of the boat seemed to pick up on the movement and turned their head to look over at Yuri. It was a beautiful woman with a radiant smile. “I see that you’re awake. You were hard to find in all the storm.”
She smiled even brighter with her eyes disappearing into two slits. She was beautiful but Yuri had no clue who she was.
“Who are you? What are you doing on my yacht?” Yuri asked her. She had been sailing on this larger luxury yacht before she fell asleep in the warm air and after some good tea.
Thinking back there was something that she had wanted to get away from, to go far away and have time for herself to think and relax. Without telling anyone in her family or company she had up and gone to her yacht the day before and sailed off out of the harbour. Where does the ocean go? Where would it take her? She didn’t know and she didn’t care as long as wherever it was, it was far away from home. Home didn’t bring her happiness.
All of this was what her mind and memories were telling her, but who was this stranger? Had she left with someone else? No matter how hard she thought she couldn’t remember how. All she knew was that she was here now, and she had drowned. Again and again. Over and over. Tens of times she had drowned. Was that what she was trying to get away from?
Pulling her legs out of the water and turning around to face Yuri, the woman got up with a start and bright smile before walking over to the blankets and cushions where Yuri was lazing around in, “I have come here to wake you up. My name is Yoona. We haven’t met but you have heard of me.”
As this stranger to Yuri sat down on the couches their eyes met and Yuri stared at her for the longest time. Her mind was trying to think of a connection to where she had heard her name. Was she an associate of their company? A friend of her brothers? An estranged cousin who found her way to their family for that sweet, sweet inheritance money?
“I see you are confused and that’s understandable. Here, please give me your hand,” the stranger Yoona said as she sat down on the pillows and reached out to Yuri. A little apprehensive Yuri responded and took hold of Yoona’s hand and in an instant her world was turned.
Flooding memories of her real childhood and family, her brother and the problems, her struggle to get through early adulthood to finally finding a pleasant life and job together with Taeyeon. It was all there just waiting behind a light screen that needed to be shifted to the side for her to see the truth.
She was dreaming.
“Taeyeon!” Yuri’s eyes shot wide as opened in shock, “how is she doing? Is she okay?”
“Taeyeon is fine, I woke her up before you.”
Yuri’s body immediately relaxed, her shoulders dropped down and neck released any tension that was in it. Even the worried creases and wrinkles on her face smoothed out and she immediately let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God, that’s good to hear. So what happens now?”
“Well, I wake you up from this coma and you will wake up back in the shrine where almost everybody else is awake and waiting.”
“Who else is still sleeping?”
“Just Tiffany.”
Yuri nodded and went silent for a while, contemplating on what she had just heard. The realities of the waking world would be harsh and horrible now that the dream world had collapsed. Of course she would have to face them, besides her best friend Taeyeon was there and no matter how great this coma dream reality was it wasn’t perfect without Taeyeon, although her dreams here in the coma had been anything but pleasant. This current one was a huge exception to the rule.
“Do you know what my dreams were like?” Yuri asked, looking up at Yoona as the memories of her time in this dream world flooded her mind.
“I do. I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner. How many times…?”
“Did I drown? I don’t know. I think I lost count after twenty times or so. Yet every time I would think that the drowning was just a dream and wake up quickly forgetting it happened, before I would be drowned once more. Do you know what it feels like?”
“No, I don’t think I would ever want to.”
“You don’t,” Yuri said, her face already sweating from just thinking about the hell she had been living through. Dream after dream, a new life only to be ended by drowning in water somehow. She didn’t know why it was drowning every time but she was glad it was all done and over now, although in the back of her mind there was a little feeling and fear that even this now would end with her drowning and she would wake up in another dream.
“Were you ever scared of drowning?” Yoona asked as she sipped some of the tea. She still wasn’t sure what made people dream certain dreams in the coma, whether it was just random or something related to their subconscious.
“No, not really. Now I am though. Now I’m terrified of ever drowning because I know exactly how horrible it is,” Yuri gave a half hearted laugh before looking up at Yoona. “I know exactly what it feels like at the moment of death and everything leading up to. All the way to the end, all of it, it is painful. There is no reprieve.”
With an apologetic smile Yoona looked at Yuri, not really knowing what to say or do. Was there really anyway that she could soothe these thoughts? Was there any way she could make her forget the horrors she had experienced here? She didn’t know. Maybe it was a power she had or could have later but right now all she could do was listen.
“Is it okay if we stay here for just a while longer? It’s so peaceful and… I haven’t ever had a chance to rest like this,” Yuri said as she looked at Yoona with pleading eyes.
She knew this was all a dream and that she would have to leave with Yoona to return to the real world. But right now it was so peaceful here and after all those drowning dreams she wanted a little rest and peace before having to return to reality, one that she now could remember was fraught with a collapsed dream world.
“Of course,” Yoona smiled, a little surprised at the request but glad that it was something she could definitely help with. She picked up the hot ceramic pot on the tray in front of them. “More tea?”
Pouring tea and eating biscuits, the two relaxed and basked in the warmth of the perpetual sunset of this dream world as the yacht gently drifted in the calm sea bobbing up and down, the water carefully caressing the sides. For what felt like hours the two calmed their racing minds and emptied their thoughts, allowing to completely rid themselves of all worries and anxiety for this moment in time.
They spent hours lazing here and could enjoy their time, as the hours here were mere seconds and minutes in reality. And reality could wait for a while. Just a moment longer.
Finally, once Yuri’s heart was filled with calm and peace and the memories of the tens of drowning’s she had experienced while in this dream world had faded away, Yoona touched Yuri sending her to the world of the waking to meet her best friend Taeyeon who had woken up just moments earlier. Yoona herself would go on to wake up the last of their sleeping compatriots, her closest childhood friend and practically her sister; Tiffany Hwang.
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