Emilia

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2022 (The day of the Shutdown)

Fear.

It unfurled like the petals of a rose, its sickly sweet smell infecting the crew, leaving them frozen as they stared at the bloody sky.

It came swiftly. Within a matter of moments, the strange phenomena had spread until every corner of Emilia’s vision had been tainted red. Pushing past the crowd of sailors that had congregated at the prow of the cargo ship, she looked down at the ocean.

Its clear, pristine blue where you once could see passing schools of fish had become a swamp of blood, whose burgundy color presented an ominous threat. Intimidated by the body of water, many of the men on board backed away from the rails as if they would be hexed by it.

The same message was playing in each of their minds: “Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.”

From the age of eight when she first set foot on a ship, Emilia’s father kept repeating old superstitions to warn her away from the water. For the first time in her self-professed career of doing the complete opposite, she listened.

Spinning around to locate the Sun, her search was barren as it seemed that even a giant, fiery ball of gas couldn’t compete with… whatever this was.

The ringing of the ship’s bell cut through their trance.

It was rather early for a meeting, but a freak incident now of all times warranted one.

As the crowd of sailors departed for clearing, the massive ship lurched beneath their feet. Momentarily confused as her feet were thrown out from under her, she found herself facing the sky.

Crack.

The back of her head hit the edge of the stairs and she cascaded head over heels down the remaining few. Wincing as she struggled to get up, her vision turned red. Tentatively brushing her forehead, she came away with crimson fingertips.

Pulling out a handkerchief, she wrapped it around her head to stem the flow of the blood. Judging by how little was coursing down her cheek, she supposed she should be thankful that it wasn’t a deep cut.

Navigating the maze of containers she’d known for most of her life, she noticed that some of the sailors walked in the shadows of the looming stacks of cargo as if it would hide them from the sky.

The officers were in intense discussions, periodically stealing glances at the horizon to see if the sky had changed. Amongst them was Mr. Daniels, the elderly first officer who hung back, shaking his head in incredulity at his fellow officers’ ignorance.

Winking to Emilia, he turned back to the officers and ordered them to the positions as the rest of the crew trickled in.

Looking around the main deck, she saw her father and Mr. Jefferson gathered near a white cargo container in the back. Walking over to them, she didn’t see the outstretched arm until it clapped the side of her head.

The handkerchief flew off as she bowled into a nearby group of sailors.

Raucous laughter erupted from the group led by the large Caucasian man with a shock of red hair who’d hit her, Jean Bain; a simpleton who lived on a diet of violence and anger.

“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t see you there, wetback,” he snorted with a sleazy tone, rousting another wave of laughter from his men.

Apologizing profusely to the men she’d knocked over, she glared at Jean as she reapplied her handkerchief. Being short in stature and significantly lighter, all she could do was bite her lip in embarrassment and walk away as people turned to the commotion.

The officers were occupied, compiling their notes for the meeting to notice and it was unlikely they ever would. Marcus Noren and his right-hand man, Jean, always made sure they weren’t seen.

And now, during a time when everyone else was trying to remain inconspicuous and silent, they grew boisterous, relishing in the uncertainty and fear like a pack of hyenas circling a kill.

“What in God’s name happened to you, girl?” Jefferson queried in his deep Southern accent. “The side of your face is covered in blood.”

Huh? “Oh, it’s really nothing, just a small cut that reopened.”

Looking back at Jean, he was still cackling madly as if his latest assault on a minor had made his day.

Following her eyes, his brows furrowed in anger. “Did they do this to you? You should fight back, Emilia. That’s the only way they're going to stop. Show them you aren’t scared.”

“Right… brilliant plan Jeff. If only I wasn’t 5’6” and 100 pounds less than them. But otherwise, great idea,” she groaned sarcastically, nursing a growing migraine.

Her father, who had been fervently discussing something with another sailor excused himself and turned to her.

Grabbing his daughter’s head, he wiped away the dirt and blood that had plastered her hair to the side of her face. As his hands continued to appraise Emilia, his hands settled on a growing bump where she’d hit her head.

“Flor pequeña, why do you have bruising? Did Mr. Bain do this to you?” His voice was calm and controlled, betraying the anger within.

“No, no, I just fell. Guys you don’t have to worry about me. It’s fi— I’m fine, relax!”

Unmoved, her father responded, “Sure you are, but you and I will be taking a trip to the medbay either way—”

“And I don’t want to hear any arguments,” he added, just as she was about to protest.

After a few moments of father and daughter furiously staring at each other, Jefferson awkwardly coughed and reluctantly, the trio turned their attention to the captain who had started the meeting.

“I must say, things have a natural way of working out nicely. Now I won’t have to call for two meetings. First off, in terms of tasks” — he said, grabbing a clipboard from the podium — “I know many of you are confused as to what’s happening.”

Pointing towards the sky which seemed to darken at his words, he continued in a stoic voice. “What I can tell you with certainty, is that this isn’t some act of God or any supernatural event. In the greatest likelihood, all this likely is is a natural phenomenon.”

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Seeing his words were lost on the crowd, he ruffled his blonde hair and sighed, “This doesn’t change what we have to do. Once we get the ship up and running, we’re still here to get our cargo from Point A to B, and nothing will change that. For now, we request that everyone stays on the main deck to avoid any mass confusion.”

Turning towards Mr. Daniels who stood by his left, he gave a nod. At the gesture, Mr. Daniels took the clipboard from him.

“Thank you, Captain Oliver. Gents and ladies,” he began by acknowledging the crew. “As the captain has said, we will wait here while the 4 officers and I try to make contact with Oregon and find a solution to our current situation. We may call for certain individuals to ensure that the maintenance of the ship isn’t neglected. Until then, you have the next hour off.”

Turning away, the officers of the ship made their way to the bridge and the communication equipment.

Is that it?

What would happen if they did get stranded at sea?

Even in the worst-case scenario — where they were forced to drift — she couldn’t imagine being stranded at sea for more than a week. Other boats would probably realize something was wrong and come to tow them back to the mainland. If they aren’t experiencing the same thing…

Her thoughts were interrupted by her father, who was returning after talking with Mr. Daniels. Waving her over, he steered her towards the medical bay.

“I got permission for you to get patched up. See the doctor and if he clears you for duty, well then there’s no problem, right?”

Emilia couldn’t help but smile at the word, “doctor” as if they had anyone of the sort. The closest thing was a former janitor who was as likely to accidentally kill a patient as he was to save them.

For the last 20 minutes they’d been on deck, the sky had only darkened until sailors couldn’t see 30 feet in front of them.

Flicking the light switch to no avail, her father grabbed a spare emergency lantern from the on-deck storage and they descended into the darkness of the lower decks.

It was deathly quiet without the hum of the engines or the constant din of the faulty gas and water pipes, raising a cacophony every time the ship hit a large wave. Without them, it was like they were on a floating hunk of metal.

Entering the large room that housed their medical supplies, she was given tablets to the dull vice-like grip of her headache, and then he went back into the office he took residence in.

“Juan, do you know where Katherine is? I lost track of her after breakfast,” Jefferson asked her father, having followed them.

“Oh, right. She told me that the captain had asked her and one other to handle the comms so that they could contact the mainland. I’m sure she’ll return soon enough.”

Smiling at a figure in the distance, he smirked. “Ha, speak of the devil.”

A large woman with dirty blonde hair tied back in a bandana like Emilia’s approached them. Waving her greeting, Katherine Miller walked up to them, her face covered in soot.

“Well, we won’t be going anywhere for a while.”

“What do you mean?” Emilia’s father asked.

“Ya know, the captain asked me to check the communications, right? I couldn’t. It was just static on the radio so we can’t be sure what the hell is going on.”

Relishing in their stunned silence, Katherine continued, “After the communications task, we were sent down to see what happened to the generator.”

Emilia’s father and Jefferson looked at each in confusion. “Wait, wait a second. How is the radio working in the first place? If none of the electronics on board are working, then wouldn’t that also not work?”

“Mhmmm… well true. But the lantern in your hands is electric, right? And that works. The one I was trying to use was an old analog radio that uses separate batteries. Everything else like my phone is dead for some reason and the lights throughout the ship are being lil’ shits.”

Taking a deep breath, she spat out, “I swear, I half-expected to see someone jump out with a chainsaw when I was rounding the corner. Either way, I made it to the engine room and lo and behold, the entire system was blown. The whole room was filled with smokin’ fumes from the main generator.”

“Alright, what about the ship’s engine,” Jefferson asked, casually waving to the floor beneath their feet.

“No clue,” she replied, shrugging. “Could be that it was connected to the generator, could be the sudden stop blew part of the system, but the bottom line is we have to find something to entertain ourselves.”

They left Emilia by herself to cope with the headache.

Darkness settled around her like a blanket, putting an end to the furious mental debate raging in her mind.

The captain is right, there is probably nothing wrong with the sky. Just a natural event…

Jefferson

Clipboard in hand, Jefferson was making the rounds to ensure that all of the merchandise in the hold was accounted for. This far into their voyage, it was really more a redundant chore than a necessity, but he still enjoyed his time amongst the containers. This time, he found his thoughts drifting back to Emilia.

For someone so small, she made a job out of finding herself in trouble time and time again. And it had always fallen to him to rescue her. Not that he minded. She and her father, Juan, were like family to him, and he would’ve moved mountains to keep them safe.

As he rounded the corner of an aisle, he bumped into someone leaning on the containers.

“My bad,” he said until he looked and saw who it was.

Jean had been leaning against the cargo containers with his arms folded, his face expectant as if waiting for someone.

“Watch yourself,” Jean snapped back, towering over Jefferson in an attempt to intimidate him.

Snorting in amusement, Jefferson brushed past him and continued with his task. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Jean glare at his departing figure, muttering something to the wind and resettling into his relaxed pose.

Nothing out of the ordinary so far.

With the lack of visibility as a result of the atmospheric phenomenon, Jefferson had expected something more dramatic to happen, but he thanked the Lord above that it hadn’t. If nothing else, the walls of the sick bay would protect Emilia from the worst of it. He had desperately wished that her innocence would continue for a few more years, but prolonging the inevitable was a tragedy waiting to unfold.

The sooner the better it would be for everyone.

Stopping at the ship’s edge, he tilted his head up and marveled at the sky. He’d never seen anything like it.

BOOM!

Reflexively jumping back, his eyes widened as his worst fears had been realized.

The sky was changing.

Within moments, the flush velvet dome that encapsulated them displayed fracture lines that started right above the ship and extended outwards, growing until they were 500 meters wide. Similar sources of fractures appeared to the far west and deep south of him. Panicked yells broke on deck at the sight. Like they had a mind of their own, his feet stumbled back.

A jagged pattern formed by the fracture lines weaved through the sky. As soon as the last of the lines had connected, they began to rain from the sky. The smaller pieces were the first to peel away, but bit by bit they slowly progressed to larger pieces that rivaled the size of continents.

Yet as the first of the red shards was about to hit the ship, they froze, hovering in stasis.

Violently vibrating against an invisible force, they shot back into the sky, moving so quickly that all Jefferson saw were red streaks. A storm was growing where the veil once was. Swirling into funnel clouds, the shards were sucked in, fueling the winds. Thunder cracked across the sky and lightning danced around the raging vortices.

The ocean was responding, sending waves of salt water to buffet the sides of the ship. Somebody was ringing the ship’s bell, warning all sailors to take shelter. Untethering his feet, Jefferson held on to the straps of the cargo containers as he walked bowlegged to the safety of the accommodations building.

BOOM!

Squinting through a spray of salt water, a funnel cloud touched the ocean, sending a shockwave across the water. Fuck me—

His body was slammed back against the crate as the pressure tore into him. Eyes rolling back, the last image he saw was the vortices pulling back into the fold of the clouds. And in their place, a distant glowing meteor fell from the sky.