Abandon Ship

[SFX: Hull groans. Emergency alarm; water rushes]

NARRATOR: Before harbor police could board, seawater entered tank seven. Someone had opened the seacock to erase the cobalt and the hidden compartment. The shifting weight began tearing the grounded ship across the reef.

ELSIE TRAN: If the tank fills, the Crown rolls. We have twelve minutes.

CAPTAIN ROWAN PIKE: All hands abandon ship.

NIA CROSS: Not until Samir clears the survivors and Elsie shuts that valve.

OWEN KELP: The salvage contract transfers command during abandonment.

NIA CROSS: That sentence may be the first honest thing you have said.

NARRATOR: Owen had opened the seacock, hoping to turn evidence into salvage. Rowan struck him and tried to close it, but the remote actuator failed. Elsie entered the flooding access trunk while Samir guided the survivors into a rescue launch.

[SFX: Ratchet wrench. Metal valve turns]

ELSIE TRAN: Valve is moving. Keep the pump on my mark.

NARRATOR: Nia searched the bridge for the manual pump code. Rowan blocked the console.

CAPTAIN ROWAN PIKE: If police recover the ledger, they seize every ship in the line. Four hundred crew lose work for crimes they never saw.

NIA CROSS: Marr saw them. You killed him.

CAPTAIN ROWAN PIKE: I hit him. He fell. I put him in the control room because I needed time. The gas was supposed to make his death look like a system fault.

NARRATOR: Rowan had finally replaced the passive voice with himself. Nia entered the code. Pumps caught, the tank level slowed, and harbor police crossed the storm in a pilot boat.

[SFX: Police siren on water]

NARRATOR: Owen tried to invoke salvage rights from the deck. The ship remained afloat by thirty centimeters, which was enough to leave him only a wet broker with an attempted evidence destruction charge.