Lower Deck OneA strange sense of calm came over Ed as they fought the flames back. Sure, they were right across the hall from certain death, but the sailors acted as if this was the most natural thing in the world.
Behind him one of the men roared at him instructions on using the hose. He felt a sudden rush of exhilaration as he reached forward with his free hand and pulled back the lever with a shout. Water erupted out of the end, blasting the fire in front of them with all the fury of the ocean. That was where the water was coming from, Edward guessed, since they couldn't have been carrying that much water on board without drastically increasing the weight. Saltwater, then.
To either side of him, there were more people on the hoses. Ed recognized that Constance lady on one side, looking very disgruntled about having to have anything to do with this. Apparently have to actually
earn her keep on the boat was a foreign concept to her. She seemed to almost be struggling with the hose until Captain Conway stepped up behind her and supported her hose with her. "Come on, lass! This 'ere fire's the least of our worries if we quit now. Brace yerself and pull on that lever!"
Behind him the man Ed thought he recognized as the pilot supported his hose, and to the other side stood Luna and someone Ed didn't quite recognize, but it looked like he knew what he was doing too.
It was slow going: the fire was raging hard, violently resisting all attempts to put it under control. For a time it seemed like they wouldn't be able to control the flames, but then the grizzled sailor Edward recognized from the mess hall stepped up with another hose. "Not today, you Godless hellspawn!" Then another torrent of seawater joined the rest.
A sudden lurch of the boat threw them all to one side, giving the fire a chance to breathe once more. "On the blasted thing, everyone!" Conway heaved Constance to her feet, pointing at the rest of them. "We're nearly out o' this, I can promise ye that! The worst of it's behind us now." He re-aimed his hose, and Edward followed suit.
Slowly and surely, the fire's licks of heat retreated, beaten back again and again by the sputtering gouts of water. They were doing it! Edward couldn't stop a fierce smile from breaking out. When they'd left, he'd hardly expected to be thrown so utterly into the fray of adventure. He'd expected to be sitting down and taking notes, not slipping around the ship while the waves pounded against them.
This was
living!He outright laughed when the last little burp of fire disappeared under the downpours. "And fuck off!" he shouted, pumping his fist in a totally un-cool facsimile of victory.
It didn't last long, however, as a voice came on over the PA system.
"Head's up, Cap'n. There's a hundred-footer between us and safety. The Garrloch can make it over, but we're going to be tossed around a fair bit. We'll be hitting in fifteen seconds, tops. Everyone brace for impact."Conway reacted with much more grace than the rest of them. He grabbed the nearest person to him, who just so happened to be Constance, and dropped to the floor. "Hit the deck and grab ahold o' somethin'!" The captain roared.
"Shit," Edward breathed, as the groaning metal of the ship tilted beneath his feet. A hundred foot wave? It seemed like something that they were prepared for, but the mere sound of the words sent ice down his spine. His feet slipped out from under him with a sudden lurch, and he hit the ground hard.
All the saltwater they had blasted the fire with receded as the ship tilted, with gallons of the stuff pooling down at the end of the hall. It appeared that the door had been sealed, and good thing too, or who knew what damage that water would do. Unfortunately it meant a dazed and in pain Edward was now slipping down the tilted deck toward the surprisingly deep pool of saltwater.
"Help," he managed to croak, but he was still too stunned to move.
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