Crash of the Argo

Crash of the Argo

I was working that night. We were heading south along the coast of Brazil. I had recently been hired to work for Colchis, a cruise line, which was great. I was able to go out and make a living for myself and get to see the world. I may have been a little naive at the time. The reality of the situation is that I get to work a shift with three other girls, Veronica, Julie, and Margaret. We work two to a shift, one shift cleans while the other takes a break and tends to the passengers. Our schedule was very strict, allowing me to see Julie and Margaret only in passing. We would clean up after the people on vacation, make sure that everything was presentable. It was very late, it must have been two or three in the morning, and most people had returned to their rooms. The band still played for the few who remained. Veronica and I were cleaning in the dance hall when we heard it. It was less an auditory experience, and more a tremor that rocked through the floor and our bones. Unsure what it was, Veronica looked out in the hall and heard the screaming, I looked past her and saw people running frantically towards the deck. I dropped the ammonia I had been cleaning with into a pocket of my apron, with my notebook, and went to see what had happened with her. As I neared the door, I smelled smoke, not tobacco smoke or that of the fireplace back home, this was a mechanical smoke. As I stared, more and more people began flooding past us, the smoke grew thicker and thicker. I hadn't realized it, but I was now running with them, I don't remember entering the mass, but by now my only options were to run with them or get trampled. I had lost Veronica. The herd ran down the hall and up the flight of stairs to the deck. There was so much yelling, that I couldn’t hear anything. I glanced back, and couldn't see the bottom of the stairs through the smoke. I panicked and ran to the edge of the ship looking desperately for a lifeboat. As I ran my arm was wrenched back and I was suddenly off the deck.

“This way! Get in the boat!” I heard a man shout as I was unceremoniously half handed half thrown into one of the long lifeboats. I looked up at my captor/rescuer and saw that he was a beast of a man, standing at least six feet tall and almost as broad. He helped another man board the boat, a tall lanky man, it was only later that I would notice that he was inexplicably holding a trumpet.

“Are you ok?” a voice behind me said, I turned around and saw yet another man, shorter than the first and significantly less stocky.

“I’m ok, just a little...”

“Theodore! The boats about to drop!” The man said as he jumped and grabbed at the ropes holding us up in a vain attempt to prevent us from dropping into the water below us. The man who tossed me aboard clambered over, and realizing the futility of trying to hold the boat, fully jettisoned us into the ocean. I briefly felt weightless before being savagely thrown down to the deck of the nearly empty lifeboat.

“Can we get anymore people?” Theodore asked,

“If we stay here we will get swamped and capsize! No one will be able to use the boat at all!” The man who helped me aboard replied.

“How did it deploy? No one launched us!” The man with the trumpet interjected. I stopped listening to them argue at that point, I am no more sure of what they said then I am of what caused the explosion which started the fire in the Argo. I stared at the giant ship as it burned. Spots of light on the side, the blossom of fire on the deck, we had barely managed to get away from that. I remember being confused, the only thought I had, ‘If he hadn’t grabbed me, I would still be up there.’ I could still only hear the panicked screaming. I began to collect myself and noticed that we weren’t the only boat that was ejected early. As I looked, I saw people jumping from the boat to escape the fire. I don’t think many of them came back up. I sat like that for a while, barely registering that we were now moving. I glanced around the boat. It was long and eerily empty. These boats were designed for many more people than our small group. Theodore, the man who grabbed me from the Argo, was rowing us steadily away from the crash. I looked back and saw the giant ship roll, and before I knew it, it was fully capsized. As it turned over, the outrageous din shrank away without me noticing. I heard the oars ease their way in and out of the water. The other boats started to be surrounded by forms in the water. The people on some of the boats reached out hands to help, pulling survivors aboard, many more than the boat could hold. Others attempted to keep people from boarding fearful that they will overcrowd the boat and cause it to sink, they grabbed the oars. People swarmed around those who were fighting the others. In the commotion, ours was the only boat to escape the madness. We drifted for a short period while the commotion died down before returning. People eagerly swam to us.

“You all saw what happened when the boats were swamped, if any of us will have a chance of survival, we must remain calm and orderly.” Theodore calmly declared. At this point those in the boat reached out and pulled women and children aboard.

“Is anyone here a doctor?” I asked as I began climbing around the boat looking for the first aid kit. I grew up as the only daughter in a family of seven, and as such I had learned some first aid from fixing up my brothers. While I felt comfortable treating some of the more minor burns or making splints for any broken bones, I was going to need some help actually setting them or stitching up those who needed it. I reached the compartment where the rations and emergency supplies were stored, but found it lacking the first aid kit. I turned back planning on doing what I could without it while hoping someone would supply me with one after some time. It was then that I noticed a person hunched over a child. As I watched, the child rolled over coughing and them man stood and moved on to care for another person. He was carrying the first aid kit.

“Are you a doctor?” I asked,

“I’m a physician, can you help me with any of this?” The man said, barely regarding my presence while he moved on to a woman with a bad burn across her leg.

“Yeah, is there anything specific you need me to do?”

“Anything you know how to fix. If you aren't sure what to do, don't risk it, call for me if it seems life threatening, otherwise move on and we will come back around for them.” The man calmly replied. We worked like that for what felt like all night, with Theodore and the other two from the boat pulling people aboard and rowing towards the shore nearby. We must have made four trips before we couldn't find anymore survivors. On the trip back to shore the physician introduced himself to us,

“I’m Dr. Jason Livingston, sorry for my rudeness earlier, I haven't worked in an emergency situation in quite some time.”

“There is no need to apologise, you did great. We are lucky you were here. My name is Susan Connors by the way.” I replied

We finished our introductions, with Theodore revealing himself as the famed hunter, Theodore Rainsford, and introduced his companion as Michael Spitz. He had been the one who warned Theodore that the boat was about to drop. This left us with the trumpeter Edward Barker. He was a tall, but lanky negro. He couldn't have been more than 16 years old.

“What are we planning to do when we get to the rest of the survivors?” Theodore asked

“How do you mean?” Michael asked

“Someone is going to have to make a plan for what we are going to do, are we just going to set up a camp?” Edward responded

Jason said “We are going to have to find out where we are before we make any decisions regarding that. Lets just go check on the rest of the survivors and see if any of them have some good ideas, but if we are close to where we are, then we could meet up with my fathers expedition. I was planning on departing at Calcoene for that purpose, we can’t be far from there.” And so we continued to shore. The survivors were mostly wealthy people who have never had to work a day in their lives. Many had heard of Theodore’s adventures and agreed to follow his lead. He took Michael and those who were in the best condition to salvage whatever they could from the lifeboats. Jason and I stayed behind to help those who needed it. Edward went around speaking with the survivors,getting their names and making a roster. Once Theodore and Michael returned the five of us; Theodore, Michael, Jason, Edward, and I, went exploring the nearby area to see if there were any landmarks in the vicinity. After some time, we came upon a river from which Theodore and Michael were able to find our location on a map. It was decided that we could not be more than two days from where Jason’s father’s expedition was to set camp. We were gone for almost an hour and returned to camp. Theodore was the first to notice that something was amiss. There were no people where we had left them. All that remained was a pile of emergency supplies and the stains in the sand from the serious injuries.

“What happened?” I heard Edward whisper only for Michael to suddenly grab him and signal for silence. He pointed across the beach. There we saw a person dive between the trees. Theodore looked to Michael and they wordlessly reached a decision. Suddenly Theodore grabbed me and Jason and ran towards the beached lifeboat while Edward stumbled behind us. Michael followed and pushed us out to sea. There were shouts from the jungle and several spears buried themselves in the beach. One flew over Michael’s shoulder, landing in the boat. Theodore began rowing away, leaving Edward and Jason to pull Michael aboard. He rushed us out to sea, towards where the Argo had sunk, and out of the range of our attackers. I looked back and saw at least a dozen dark skinned men wearing nothing but loincloths rushing to the beach to recover their spears. Theodore grimly rowed us away from danger. This brings you to where I am now. I am writing this in my notebook on the boat as we head to where we can only hope Jason’s father is. I do not know what happened to the rest of us. I am not hopeful that we will find them again. I plan on updating this once there is more to say.