Leapholes (2006) (12 page)

"Grab a line, mates!" a sailor shouted.

Ryan and Hezekiah took hold of the line. They replaced two other men whose hands were bloodied with rope burns. About a dozen volunteers were on their team. At the lead sailor's command, they pulled and released, pulled and released, slowly lowering the lifeboat. It was hovering about five feet above the deck when passengers started climbing up the rail. They grabbed at the ropes and even jumped on top of other passengers. Every last one of them was desperately looking for any possible route to secure a precious place in the lifeboat.

"Order, order!" a sailor shouted. But it was to no avail. In a matter of seconds the situation had turned into utter chaos. The lifeboat was nearly filled before it could even be lowered into position for boarding. Ryan felt the strain on the rope in his hands. With the added weight of passengers, there weren't enough men to secure the boat.

"We can't hold on much longer!" Ryan shouted.

The crowd ignored him. Frightened passengers forced their way forward. There were men as well as women, and even some crying children who had been separated from their parents. They all knew the choices: Get on a lifeboat, or go down with the ship.

"It's overloaded!" someone warned.

Just as those words were spoken, the rope snapped. The main pulley gave way. The lifeboat came crashing down onto the deck. People were screaming. All were frightened. Many were injured, some severely, crushed beneath the weight of the fallen lifeboat.

"Help! Help us, please!"

The men dropped their ropes and ran to the lifeboat. Some tried to help the injured, but many simply fought for their own seat on the boat. The most badly hurt, the ones unable to pick themselves up and slide to safety, were trampled in the human stampede.

"Have you all gone mad?" a sailor shouted. "Stop, stop, I say!"

"Let's get out of here," said Hezekiah.

"But what about these people?" said Ryan.

"We can't save them."

"But--"

"Don't argue with me, Ryan. You said it yourself: This ship is doomed. Come on, now. Let's get to another lifeboat."

It was difficult, but Ryan forced himself to turn away from the crowd and follow Hezekiah. The deck was sloped even more dangerously than before. Ryan had to brace himself against the rail to keep from sliding into the roaring ocean below. Finally, with the wind battering their faces, Ryan spotted another crowd of passengers closer to the stern. The lifeboat had already been lowered into position. Passengers were boarding. The process wasn't exactly calm, but it was more orderly than at the other station. A man was standing at the bow of the lifeboat. From the looks of his uniform, he appeared to be the ship's captain. Perhaps that accounted for the lack of chaos. The boat appeared to be fully loaded. The captain was signaling to his crew to begin lowering them.

"Just two more!" the sailor shouted. "Room for just two more passengers!"

Hezekiah pushed Ryan forward and shouted, "Here, sir! This one is just a boy!"

The sailor took a close look at Ryan, saw his youth, and then waved him forward. "Bring him aboard."

Another sailor grabbed Ryan by the shoulders and lifted him into the boat. Ryan resisted and shouted, "Not without my friend!"

"Sorry, lad," said the sailor. "No room for old men."

"I'm not going without him!" said Ryan as he broke free from his grasp.

"Have it your way, lad. Stay behind and drown."

Another sailor intervened. He shoved both Ryan and Hezekiah onto the lifeboat. "It makes no difference," he said to his fellow crewman. "You think that little lifeboat has a chance in these seas? All of us, young and old--we're all going to the bottom!"

Ryan and Hezekiah squeezed in between two passengers in the boat. At the captain's command, the sailors aboard ship lowered them toward the ocean. Ryan watched with a heavy heart as the other screaming passengers begged for their lives.

"Please, sir!"

"Take my granddaughter, captain!"

"Make room for just one more, please. Don't leave us here to drown!"

Their pleas were in vain. The lifeboat continued its descent. Soon, the screaming and begging had completely given way to the sound of the lifeboat splashing into the ocean. The oarsmen untied the ropes that tethered the lifeboat to the ship. The moment they were adrift, the lifeboat started to roll from side to side. It was pounded by seas as high as twelve feet.

Ryan could hardly move. Hezekiah was pressed against his left side. The woman on his right was sitting so close that Ryan couldn't move his arm. There was some shifting and stirring among the passengers as the oarsmen maneuvered into position and placed the oars in the locks. Slowly, they began to row away from the ship. The rain had finally stopped, and there was a momentary break in the clouds. In the moonlight, Rya
n c
ould see just how much trouble the William Brown was in. Half of the ship was under water. Some passengers had already slid into the ocean, screaming and splashing in the freezing water. Ryan spotted another lifeboat some distance away, but it was hard to tell how many had finally made it to safety.

"So many left behind," a man said sadly.

"Poor souls," said the woman next to Ryan.

A huge wave smashed into their boat and drenched all the passengers. The rain was letting up, but the wind was blowing even harder.

"We'll be joining our friends in the icy depths soon enough," said the oarsman.

The oarsman pulled with all his strength, but the powerful seas seemed to be winning the struggle. The moon again disappeared behind the clouds. The rain returned. The full fury of the storm was upon them once again. Punishing waves slammed without mercy against the side of their little boat. Ryan gripped the person next to him. One more wave like the last one might send them all tumbling overboard. On impulse, he took one last look over his shoulder.

There was only darkness in the distance. All signs of the William Brown had faded from sight.

The captain stood tall at the bow of the lifeboat. His cape flapped in the breeze as the rain pelted his face. He cupped his hand around his mouth like a megaphone and shouted, "We're overloaded!"

Another wave splashed over the side. The boat was rocking and taking on seawater.

"I say, there are too many aboard!" cried the captain.

A monstrous wave slammed the boat and completely washed over them. It was too dark and crowded for Ryan to be able to see his feet, but he could feel the cold water in th
e b
ottom of the boat. It was up over his ankles. Yet another wave hit them, and the boat took on more water.

"The plug is out!" a sailor shouted.

The plug was for a small drain in the hull. Normally, it was opened only when the boat was resting on board ship. A pulled plug at sea meant the boat was taking on water.

"Someone, quick, find the plug!"

The water had risen to Ryan's mid-shin.

"Lord, have mercy! We're all going to drown!"

One of the crew stuffed a rag in the hole, and the water stopped rising. The boat, however, was nearly swamped. The wind was whistling. Passengers were bailing water with their bare hands. Frantically they fought to keep the lifeboat from sinking. Several women were crying. A young child near Ryan was shivering and turning purple.

The captain was on his feet again. "Crew, what's the head count?"

The oarsman shouted, "We are a dozen too many, sir!"

"Then twelve must go!" the captain shot back.

Ryan looked at Hezekiah and whispered, "Go where
?

The captain stood at the bow and said, "Everyone, listen to me. There are twelve of us too many on this boat. If we do not reduce our load, we all shall perish. Do I have any volunteers? Is anyone willing to abandon this boat and save the rest of us?"

The passengers glanced nervously at one another. No one said a word. Perhaps they were too cold and wet to speak. Perhaps they all hoped to make themselves unnoticeable to the captain.

A black wave seemed to rise out of nowhere. Its foamy whitecap hit the captain squarely in the chest. He was nearly knocked overboard, but he managed to hold on. The water level in the boat had risen above Ryan's knees.

"You leave me no choice," shouted the captain. "We'll draw lots. The winners will stay. The losers must go. It's the only way, mates."

The captain directed two of his crewmen to come forward. Then he reached across his cape and tore off one of the brass buttons. He turned his back to the passengers, and then he wheeled to face them. His arms were extended away from his body. Both of his hands were clenched into a tight fist. He stepped toward the first row of passengers, keeping his crewmen at his side.

The captain looked at the man in the first seat and said, "Choose one!"

"What?" the man said.

"This is the way we shall proceed. Choose a hand. Find the button, and you stay. Choose the hand without the button, and may God have mercy on our souls."

"I refuse," said the man.

"Then you shall be the first to go overboard!"

The crewmen grabbed the man by the shoulders and lifted him to his feet. The man struggled and said, "All right, all right! I'll choose."

The crewmen released him. The man was shaking, Ryan noticed, and with good reason. He was literally making a life or death decision, just as Ryan and the others had been forced to do in the disease control center. It was suddenly clear to Ryan why the William Brown was so important to his own trial.

The man pointed nervously to the captain's right hand. "I choose that one, sir."

The captain opened his hand. To the man's great relief, there, in the captain's palm, was the brass button.

"You may stay," said the captain.

The man returned to his seat. The captain again turned awa
y t
o hide the button. Then he presented the next passenger with the same unthinkable decision. "Choose," said the captain.

The man stared at the captain's fists. Rivulets of rainwater ran down the man's face. Finally, he pointed and said, "I choose the left."

The captain opened his fist. It was empty. No button.

"Over you go!" the captain shouted.

"No!"

The crewmen grabbed him. The man squirmed in their arms, but the sailors were too strong.

"Someone, help me!" the man shouted. No one moved. The crew heaved him overboard, and the man soared into the air, arms flailing. Ryan looked away, but he heard the splash as the unlucky man met his fate.

"This is sheer madness," a woman behind him whispered.

"It's the only way," another man replied. "Or we'll all go down."

The captain continued down the row, stopping next at an old woman. He gave her the same choice. She made the correct one. He moved to the next passenger. "I choose the left, sir." Wrong choice.

"Over you go!"

The captain and his two crewmen moved methodically through the lifeboat, covering each row of passengers. Everyone was given the same chance. Everyone played by the same rules. The captain treated everyone the same, giving them the same choice. Right or left? Live or die? There were winners, and there were losers. Ryan turned and glanced at the surging seas behind the lifeboat. The losers had already disappeared into the black, churning ocean.

Finally, the captain was standing before Ryan.

"Your turn, son," said the captain.

Ryan took a hard look at the captain's face. His cheeks were red and raw from the winter storm, but there was no emotion in the captain's eyes. He had the self-assured and determined expression of a man who was simply doing his job. He extended his closed fists away from his body, looked at Ryan, and said, "Choose one."

Ryan stared at his choices. Right or left? He tried to make up his mind, but in his gut he felt nothing but revulsion for the whole process. It was the same feeling he'd had back in the hospital. No one had the right to choose who lives or dies.

"This is so wrong," said Ryan.

"Choose one, or you go overboard!"

The crewmen were at the ready, poised to pitch Ryan overboard if he refused to cooperate. It seemed like a contradiction, but Ryan had no choice but to make a choice.

"I choose the right," said Ryan.

The captain breathed a heavy sigh. Ryan couldn't tell if it was a sigh of relief or a sigh of pity. Slowly, the captain opened his right fist and said, "I'm sorry, son."

His hand was empty. Ryan's heart sank.

"Crew," said the captain. "You know what to do."

"Please, no," said Ryan.

The sailors grabbed him and lifted him from his seat.

"Hezekiah!" Ryan shouted.

One of the sailors grabbed Ryan's arm. The other grabbed his ankles. Ryan kicked and squirmed, but the crewmen were too strong. He couldn't believe this was happening.

"It's okay, Ryan," said Hezekiah. "Virtual legal environment, remember?"

His words did nothing to put Ryan at ease. Ryan was a skeptic when it came to leapholes, no doubt about it. But this was unlike anything he'd ever seen any computer ever do. This felt too real. The adrenaline rushing through his body was real.