Chapter 2: PROLOGUE 2

January 13th, 2012

Costa Concordia cruise ship

30 minutes in the sea

Jake was finally relaxing. No more books. No more annoying manager riding his ass. Best of all, no more tension about the huge loan he took to study for his master's in England. He loved the country but god! The weather over there!

Jake had been waiting to go on this cruise forever. Sure, there were a lot of others but this was the state of the art. One of the greatest cruises in the world. It even had a Thalassotherapy pool and a Turkish bath! Jake didn’t know what a Thalassotherapy pool was, or a Turkish bath for that matter, but he sure wanted to try them. It had 4 swimming pools. He couldn’t help but salivate at the thought of all the beautiful European women dressing in skimpy bikinis.

The ship had thirteen bars! It even had a coffee and chocolate bar. What exactly was served at a coffee and chocolate bar and how that was different from a regular coffee shop he didn’t know and he couldn’t wait to find out. 

 The cruise had just taken off from Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, Italy. Now he could finally kick back and relax. Have a drink. And go have a good time with a beautiful girl.

 

Jake looked around. He was sitting on a deck chair, gazing at the reflection of the stars in the sea. They sparkled like little gems. Their beauty was unmatched. That was the kind of view you couldn’t get in the cities. Cities were good for night-outs or parties but the only place to experience true peace and such beauty was under the open sky and away from all the lights. He didn’t know how long he sat there, admiring the wonders of the sea but when he saw the time, it was almost time to go for dinner.

After having a delicious meal of wild mushrooms, chicken, and bacon risotto followed by a gelato( real Italian gelato, none of that shitty American ice cream). Jake headed to his cabin. His cabin. Another reason he chose this ship. It was a beautifully made cabin with a private balcony and direct access to the spa. While booking it, the salesman said that every morning it gives a beautiful view of the sunrise. He had seen the sunset over the sea. It was like watching the sun melt into molten gold with a wonderful shine before it finally disappeared. He could hardly imagine what a beauty the sunrise would be.

He looked at his watch. It was 9 pm. He might as well go to sleep and start early tomorrow.

 

***

 

The ship suddenly jerked, rousing Jake out of his sleep. He looked outside, confused. Still dark. He looked at his watch at his bedside. It showed 9.45 pm.

“Hello Jake”

“Argh!” Jake turned around, ready to fight the man who broke into his cabin in the middle of the night, only to come face to face with an… old man? 

“Excuse me? Who are you? How did you get into my cabin?” Jake asked, bewildered

“It’s a beautiful cabin. I really like the sea-themed designs.” the old man said.

“Answer my questions!”

“Oh very well. You can call me Liam. As for how I got here, that’s a very long story. Suffice it to say I am here to help you.” The old man smiled as if expecting his gratitude.

Jake raised an eyebrow.

“Look, old man, Liam, it’s the middle of the night, I’m very tired and I really need this vacation, so I’m really not in the mood to play games. I want you to get out and maybe we’ll talk in the morning.”

“Very well. Let me come straight to the point. Listen. Do you hear the alarm? That’s the alarm to alert the passengers that an evacuation is about to begin,” the old man started.

“An evacuation?! Are you crazy? We just set sail. And there are no glaciers on our route.” Jake interrupted.

“But there are rocks. And one of them just tore open a 50-meter gash on the port side. Now slowly the engine room will fill up with water and cut off the power to the engine and other electric services. The ship will slowly tilt to one side and become unstable, finally going down in just under 6 hours, killing you and 32 other passengers.” Liam informed Jake.

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“There are close to four thousand people on board. I can simply evacuate with them”, Jake said, moving towards the cabin door and trying to push it open.” What the fuck! Why isn’t it opening?”

“I’m afraid that during the accident, the jerk was so strong that it shifted the large wooden sofa outside your cabin directly between the door and the deck railing. It’s jammed.”

“Alright”, Jake said calmly, “ I can get down from my private balcony.”

“You could have if it was daytime,” The other man said, with sympathy on his face.” but at this time, if you jump off the balcony you won’t be found in time. Your wet clothes will lead to hypothermia and you’ll soon drown.”

“But-”

“I’m sorry Jake, but there’s no version of this accident where you live,” Liam said, patting Jake's shoulder sympathetically.

“How do you know all that?” Jake growled the question at him, angry and scared.

“How do I know all that?” Liam repeated with a wry grin. “Why, because of this of course”. He pulled out a file. “Jake Webster, age 22, was born on January 17th, 1990 after 20 years in  Manhattan, moved to London for his masters. Died on January 14th, 2012 during the sinking of Costa Concordia after the tear in the hull off the coast of Isola del Giglio, Tuscany.”

He turned the file towards Jake and showed him his picture. There he was, grinning at the camera, his brown hair fringing over his forehead and his brown eyes showing pure joy. He was wearing a gray hoodie and navy blue jeans. Jake remembered that he was going for a game of bowling with his buddies when they clicked this photo.

“How do you have that?” Jake exclaimed.

“That’s a long story better left for another time. Right now, the more pressing issue is your impending death”, said Liam, bringing the conversation back on track. 

“What am I supposed to do? I can’t go down the deck, I can’t jump down the balcony. What’s left to do?”, Jake groaned in frustration.  

“Ah-ha!”, the old man exclaimed. “That's the right question. What are you supposed to do? And let me answer that. You’re supposed to make a choice. You can either stay here and become one of the 32 dead people on board or, you can come work with me.”

“What do you mean come work with you? And how are we getting out?”

“You see, I’m part of an organization responsible for righting the wrongs. We live in the shadows and work behind the scenes. We don’t exist anywhere. There’s no trace of us. As for how we’re getting there, that’s a long explanation that involves a mixture of science and science fiction.”

“You make it sound like you’re recruiting me for the MIB.”

“Haha,” Liam chortled. “Close, but we don’t work with aliens.”

“Now, what do you say Jake?” the old man continued.”Would you prefer to drown here or would you come with me?”  

“Why me?”, Jake questioned. “You said 32 people die tonight. Why not any of the others?”

The other man smiled sadly. “As much as I would like to save them all, it’s not possible. I can only take one person with me. And as for why you, it’s a long story. But the short answer is that you’re different, Jake. Special. Now, make the decision. Certain death or a chance at life?” 

‘It isn’t really a choice, is it?’ Jake thought. “You swear there’s a way out of here that doesn’t involve me dying?”

“Of course.”

“At least I’ll be free from the education loan” Jake sighed.”Let’s go.”

“Wonderful!” Liam smiled excitedly, grabbing Jake’s wrist with one hand and pressing a lever on his watch with his other one. “Brace yourself.”

And they were enveloped in blinding white light.

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