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The Wrong Ship

A Story of the Titanic

By Acacia LawsonPublished 2 years ago 6 min read
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The deal had been struck.

There was nothing he could do about it.

He was only obeying commands and he could not stop time, even if he wanted to. The fact that his master was relentless did not ease his mind or his conscience.

Did he even have a conscience anymore?

His orders were to pull off the biggest unseen ‘trade’ of ships this harbor had ever witnessed. Not that anybody would be witnessing this, only he and the skeleton crew. In the dead of night. At the end of winter.

Was it even spring yet, he thought grimly to himself. The weather was frigid and blowy, denying that Spring even existed. His nose and cheeks were numb.

Nevertheless, he would do what he had been ordered to do.

He would swap the ships.

The Titanic had cost too much money and time to build. His master was continually bemoaning this fact when they were in close quarters together.

“You can never be too careful, Alexander. Eyes and ears are everywhere,” his master whispered into the freezing air of the enclosed carriage. “The damn thing cost me half of my fortune and is still running up bills. Even the maiden voyage will not pay for all of its expenses and finery. How was I to know that it would take this long?”

Alexander simply stared blankly at his master so that he might continue.

“There was never any warning and now I’m in a hard spot. I have no choice. I have to switch the ships. The Lucille is the same as The Titanic. You will transfer all of the fancy furniture, paintings and finery. Nobody will notice after she is off to sea.”

“Do you not think that one of the reporters will notice? Five of them took a tour of The Titanic three weeks ago. They took pictures of everything,” Alexander questioned him in an even tone that betrayed no emotion.

“I have the negatives of every picture taken. There will only be one of them on the voyage and he will be busy with the guests and gossip. You handle what I have told you to do and I will handle my end of it,” his master condescendingly replied.

Alexander knew nothing would sway his master. He had observed the hasty handshake between his master and the partially disguised royal minister.

The ball was already in motion.

* * * *

For five consecutive nights, Alexander and the 10 crew members moved everything over from the original Titanic to the new Titanic. ‘The Lucille’ name was painted over and ‘The Titanic’ was painted on in her stead, as well as a paint freshening on the entire inside of the ship.

It was a curious matter upon further examination. The Titanic was the twin of The Lucille. The layout, the rooms, the grand staircase; every detail was the same.

The only noticeable difference was The Lucille was tired if one looked closely.

But who was inspecting the carpet, the slight dissimilarity in furniture pattern, and the paint job besides Alexander?

That was his job. His master expected perfection and Alexander gave it to him every time, regardless of the mission.

Yet, Alexander could not fully fathom the need to switch the ships.

Sure, if anything went wrong with The Lucille, now turned The Titanic, the insurance on the original Titanic would pay much more money out than The Lucille insurance would bring. The Lucille was ten years old now. She had made close to 200 journeys and was due to be retired in the next two years.

However, that was only if something went wrong. The chances of that were unlikely as ships made this transatlantic crossing quite often these days. The Lucille had never broken down.

Did it even matter?

For all he knew, his master and the royal minister had agreed to have The Titanic carry weapons or classified documents to sell in America for extra money. Or his master had paid someone to set fire to the ship once it docked in the New York harbor in order to claim the insurance money.

His master would make his money back one way or another, and it seemed that it would be sooner rather than later judging by his master’s fixation with his dwindling fortune.

Alexander suspected that his master was playing both sides as he customarily did. However, he was not privy to the end goal as that was considered far above his status; he was a servant, after all. A handsomely paid servant with no family and no conscience. That is why his master had chosen him from a young age of thievery on the street.

Alexander had nobody to tell.

* * * *

His master looked around the ship and smiled wolfishly. “You have done an excellent job indeed, Alexander.” He rubbed his hands together in that way he had when he felt money coming in.

Alexander stood next to him and shrugged. “It was not as hard as I expected. They were surprisingly similar in design.”

There was no need to explain. His master already knew and that had been a part of his plan all along. Five years of planning. Alexander had been working for him for twenty years now. It had ceased to amaze him at how long his master would plan out certain events.

“The passengers load next week. The crew is perfect and the captain was recommended by a close friend. This will be the most publicized event in history! The grandest ship ever made and I did it all!” his master exclaimed in a shrill voice.

Indeed, Alexander thought as he lifted one eyebrow in response. He would know over the course of the following month just how deeply his master’s grand plan went. For now, it was best not to question him. He did not enjoy being interrogated on his motives or strategies.

“My fortune shall be restored! The heavens smile upon those that help themselves, Alexander,” his master smiled and then strode purposely out of the main room and into the cold April air.

Alexander sighed. All of his work over the past five nights meant he would have to work all day today despite being sleep deprived. ‘He should have set fire to it here before I had the entire boat painted again,’ he thought wearily.

But no, that minister had an end goal too.

He turned to follow his master. It was time for the next scheme to be enacted.

Another day, another plan.

Historical
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About the Creator

Acacia Lawson

Writer and Oil Painter

Soul Transformation Mentor

Lover of all beings on this beautiful planet

www.byacacia.com

Reader insights

Nice work

Very well written. Keep up the good work!

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  1. Easy to read and follow

    Well-structured & engaging content

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    Zero grammar & spelling mistakes

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