Nicky and Lucas were newlyweds. They held hands as the plane took off from Sydney Airport. “Shame the new Western Sydney Airport is not up and running yet.” Nicky said as she snuggled into to her brand-new hubby. She was partial to the western suburbs, her childhood home, which was a country-like suburb when she was born. After they married they moved closer to the city, but she missed the open spaces.
“Yes,” replied Lucas. “They are moving quickly on it, shouldn’t be much longer before it’s finished. Hang on.” He said as the plane sped down the runway and soared into the sky.
“Can’t wait to get to Iceland, Lucas. Perfect timing to get a glimpse of the Northern Lights, it’ll be mind-blowing, The Golden Circle and the Myvatan area, a must see unique landscape according to all the brochures.” Nicky said excitedly. Lucas looked lovingly at his bride, her excitement was infectious.
“So lucky our parents helped towards our trip as a wedding gift but glad we saved and worked hard too. 30 hours and we’ll be there, Babe; a trip of a lifetime.” He grinned.
The next few hours passed slowly with lazy sleeps and some good reading, the excitement growing with every hour. The couple chatted about their future plans to buy a property, have a family and Lucas’ hopes for promotion within Starlet and Horsley Law Firm, where he hoped to eventually become a partner. He had studied many years to become a lawyer and loved his work, especially the pro-bono cases he was able to fit it. Nicky, a teacher a few years out from Teacher’s College, loved working with the littlies, especially kindergarten kids. Life appeared perfect; they were on the crest of a wave with a positive future ahead of them.
It seemed like a lifetime before they reached the North Atlantic Ocean. Nicky pulled the blanket up near her face. The cabin temperature was the same but the air looked cold outside.
“Look Lucas,’ she said as she pointed to a news article on her phone: Two pilots were rescued when their small plane went down off the coast of Greenland. Luckily the ocean was calm and visibility good at the time of their rescue.
“Can you imagine the horror for those poor men?” she said sympathetically.
“I can’t even imagine it, Nicky. How lucky were they? We are in that general area now, not far from the coast of Greenland; the area where the Titanic struck the iceberg and went down!” Lucas said, a tremble in his voice.
Suddenly, the plane began to shake and, over the loudspeaker, Nicky and Lucas heard the pilot announce, “We are experiencing unexpected turbulence. Please remain seated and fasten your seatbelts.” There was silence from the passengers as the plane continued to shake.
Nicky cuddled up to Lucas. “It’ll be okay, Nicky Girl, turbulence is common. Close your eyes and think of the fun we are going to have when we reach Iceland. What do you think the temperature will be?”
Nicky grinned sheepishly, not convinced by his assurance when a loud bang was heard from one of the engines. This was followed by the pilot’s urgent message; passengers, there has been a drop in cabin pressure, please use the oxygen masks being dropped down from the overhead luggage area. Lucas turned to Nicky, “Love you,” he said.
As everything went quiet in the cabin, Nicky thought his words sounded so final!
“Look, it’s the Titanic!” Lucas shouted.
Nicky gasped. Their plane had plunged into an underwater world. The other passengers had disappeared. She and Lucas were floating deep underwater toward the shipwreck. They didn’t seem to need to breathe as they drifted toward the wreck, onto the deck and into the grand dining room where an orchestra was playing.
They had survived the immense terror of an aircraft crash. To their astonishment and relief, they were both breathing normally and not swirling around in the icy sea. Nicky clutched Lucas as they looked around in amazement at the grandeur of the Titanic dining room. The hands of the large clock on the wall behind the orchestra were approaching 11.30pm. Passengers dressed in evening attire were dancing, drinking and socialising.
For a minute Nicky was speechless as she looked on in horror at the scene in front of her. “Oh my goodness, they have no idea what is about to happen,” she whispered to Lucas.
Lucas, meanwhile, noticed their sudden appearance was receiving unwanted attention from some of the passengers. He attempted to usher Nicky through a door onto the promenade deck but his legs refused to move.
“This is extremely spooky and highly unexplainable,” Lucas said, his voice adopting his formal ‘lawyer’ speak. “This is a totally uncanny experience. Are you able to walk?
Nicky shook her head. “No, my legs are wobbly and have no strength,” she replied as she attempted to put one foot in front of the other. This action, however, resulted in her being propelled upward toward the dining room ceiling. “Ooooh! I’m floating, Lucas I…………..”
Lucas watched in astonishment as Nicky’s body vanished through the solid wooden ceiling. He copied Nicky’s foot action and, he too floated upward through the ceiling, landing heavily outside on the promenade deck. “What the…?” he yelled.
“I’ve got the hang of this,” shouted Nicky. “You pretend you’re walking and you trigger this floating action.”
Suddenly, the silence was interrupted by muffled screams above Nicky and Lucas’ heads. They looked upward and, through the darkness, were totally astonished to find they were not alone. Lucas recognised some of his A-380 fellow-passengers who had been sitting around them in rows J and K. He counted 12 people floating around in a totally confused state while two men were on the deck gripping the side of a lifeboat.
“Mate, what is happening to us?” enquired the younger, very fit-looking man. He was wearing a T-shirt, revealing tattoos on his forearms. The look of terror on his face was mirrored by his friend.
Lucas shook his head. “No idea, my friend, but if we could get everyone down here safely gripping the lifeboat, perhaps we could work out how to return to the 21st century!”
“Absolutely,” nodded the young man. “By the way, my name’s Declan.”
Nicky, meanwhile, had flown upward and joined hands with three women. They propelled themselves down to join Declan who had rummaged around, found some ropes and was securing other airline passengers who had floated downward out of the night sky to the safety of the lifeboat.
By 11.38pm all fourteen ‘flying’ passengers were stationary on the deck of the Titanic, clinging onto lifeboats. A couple were short of breath, another two or three suffering from shock, but all, like Nicky, Lucas, Declan and his friend Roger, were seriously pondering their future.
“I’m gob-smacked! In 2023 I was booked to go down in the Titan submersible to view the Titanic wreck but that didn’t happen because of the tragic loss of the submersible. Now look at me, I’m floating around on the Titanic in 1912! This is the weirdest experience ever. I pray we are all still in 2026 and alive!” Declan’s voice shook with emotion as he spoke. His words so poignant, his fellow-passengers nodded in agreement, joined hands and silently stared ahead for a second or two.
“Those icebergs are looking dangerous,” Lucas observed, pointing across the icy water.
One woman started blubbering, bubbles floating up and, momentarily, lost her grip of the lifeboat rope and began floating upward. Nicky managed to pull her back to the group.
“Right now we shouldn’t be thinking of why we have finished up in 1912 or whatever year it was the Titanic sank. Let’s work out how we can return to the 21st century. I think…” Roger’s garbled words were lost as, further below an iceberg scraped along the starboard side of the ‘unsinkable’ Titanic. The liner shook violently. Pandemonium erupted among the passengers, all 2,224 of them!
Lucas looked at Declan in horror. His new-found friend had let go of the rope securing him to the lifeboat, and drifting away from his fellow-A380 passengers shouting, “I’m going down to check the hull.”
The rest of the group screamed in horror as, with one almighty forceful ‘plunging’ action, Declan disappeared deeper down into the icy water of the North Atlantic Ocean.
Nicky screamed. “What is he thinking of? It’s a lost cause. Everyone knows how this story ends.”
Roger looked at Lucas. “Perhaps he thinks he can re-write the history books?”
That is exactly what Declan was thinking, ‘If I can fly through the air, survive a plane crash, go back in time and breathe and talk underwater why can’t I rewrite the history books?’ There was a certain insane logic to that he told himself. ‘I’m probably dead and in The Lord’s Waiting Room anyway.’
The thought,’Am I dead?’ was, not surprisingly, going through the minds of the other 13 ‘survivors’ too. They were largely being ignored by the other Titanic passengers but that was understandable in the panic and chaos that was erupting. They clung to the lifeboat ropes.
“Look, we all know what happened in 1912, we are all here, except for crazy Declan, we have a lifeboat, let’s lower it and we can escape before the others even think about an organised evacuation,” Lucas shouted to the group.
“What about Declan? We can’t just leave him,” said Roger.
“We won’t, he’s in the water looking at the hull, we’ll pick him up,” Lucas was already untying the lifeboat from it’s hand operated davit.
“Here, let me do that,” Roger pulled himself closer, “I learnt how to use these old fashioned things in the Navy.”
No one seemed to be taking any notice of the strange group releasing the lifeboat. ‘I wonder if they can even see us,’ wondered Nicky, ‘I really think we must be dead. Why isn’t my Guardian Angel here to show me where to go,’ she giggled a little hysterically.
The strange group struggled to get into the boat, their bodies half sliding, some flying about, but all managed to secure themselves a place with the help of each other. Some were in tears, others laughing somewhat hysterically at the predicament they found themselves in.
The lifeboat drifted from the ship with a thud. “Declan, Declan they yelled in unism.”
“I’m here, I’m freezing, I can’t do anything, the hole is too big,” an answering call reached their ears.
“We already knew that, you idiot, can you reach my hand?” Roger yelled back.
Willing hands pulled the would-be hero aboard.
“I’m freezing,” Declan shivered, “at least I can’t be dead. I don’t think you can feel cold if you are dead,” he cackled somewhat manaically Nicky thought. “So…what are we going to do now?”
The group looked down at the ship, which was now listing very noticeably, and broke into two.
“Row,” shouted Lucas above the noise, “row for our lives, we need to get clear away.”
‘This didn’t make sense, maybe this is all a dream,’ Nicky tried to console herself, ‘or a nightmare.’ The next thing she heard was the pilot’s voice.
“This is your captain speaking, thanks for staying calm, we are now below 10,000 feet and oxygen levels have returned to normal. After a huge dive and loss of pressure we have been able to recover control of our aircraft, Sydney to Reykjavik. Iceland, A-380. Failure to use your oxygen masks may have resulted in you suffering extreme discomfort or even hallucinations, but be assured loss of cabin oxygen was for the smallest amount of time. The flight attendant will check on you all. All aircraft problems been resolved and we are proceeding to Iceland. Note; for general interest we are now passing the over the sea bed where the Titanic rests. Can you imagine what a frightening time those passengers would have faced?
Nicky rubbed her eyes and looked at Lucas. He held her tight, “that was a bit scary, Nick. You okay?” She looked bewilderingly around at her nearby passengers, the ones whose faces she recognised from the Titanic, some of them the 1912 passengers. She smiled sheepishly at Lucas.
