RTT Chapter 5 / Meeting An Old Friend

Two days passed. At 01:32pm the following day, Dirk Pitt and Admiral Sandecker met up with Kane Smith and told him some news that he wasn't expecting.

"We've got all the details from the new White Star Line, engineering drawings and technical specifications along with a complete structural design for the Titanic." said Sandecker.

"We've looked into the ship's crew list and I think, maybe, we lucked out." added Pitt.

"What do you mean?" asked Kane.

"One of the survivors, who was never mentioned on the list, is a man named, John L. Bigalow," Sandecker said. "He was a junior third officer in charge of cargo and we've located him in England somewhere in Cornwall."

Kane almost became speechless. John Bigalow was an old friend of his who was on the Titanic during her maiden voyage and her sinking. He was among the survivors and the last living remains of the crew.

"John Bigalow..." Kane said. "He's still alive... damn... I thought he had been dead by now." 

"With Matthew's help, I've arranged a visit for us to see Bigalow and tell him about our salvage operation." Pitt said to him.

After the Navy had located Bigalow again, Pitt and the others headed for Cornwall, England, UK by helicopter. They arrived the following day at the docks.

"It will be nice to see my old friend again." Kane thought to himself. "For years, I've been wondering what he has been doing since I last saw him."

"I still don't get why Matthew had to come along." Emily Rose said.

"Pitt said that he is the only one who knows where Bigalow lives," said Daniel. "Besides, he interviewed him for the Titanic Historical Society a few years back."

"Hopefully, he still remembers us." said Kiara.

"You think?" whispered Emily Life. "He's old now and won't even know that we've not aged, let alone tell him we're immortals."

"He might remember," Kiara replied. "He must have good memories to even still know who we were."

Later, Pitt, Matthew and the others arrived at Bigalow's house where it sat overlooking the ocean. Matthew knocked on the door... moments later it opened and there stood an elderly man with deep blue eyes, a few strands of hair on his head, which were pure white, as was his beard, and his face showed the ruddy, weathered look of a seafaring man. It was John Bigalow. He looked happy and surprised to see Matthew Anderson.

"Matthew! It's good to see you again, my friend. What brings you out here?" he said, shaking his hand.

"Well Mr. Bigalow," replied Matthew. "Me and along with some friends of mine have come to visited you."

Bigalow looked behind his friend and discovered Dirk Pitt and others but as he looked to his left, he spotted Kane Smith along with Kiara Galaway and Emily Life.



"Kane? Kiara? Emliy? Is that you three?" he said, wide eyed.

The trio ran over and gave Bigalow a big welcome hug. The overwhelming look of emotions on their faces said it all for this was certainly a great reunion after so many years. Matthew was shocked on how Bigalow could recognize them.

"You know them?" he said.

"Of course I do," said Bigalow. "We were on the Titanic together. I haven't heard or seen them since... up until now."

He turned to Kane, Kiara and Emily, saying, "I thought I would never see you three again."

"We thought the same." replied Emily Life.

John Bigalow was a young junior deck officer on the ill-fated voyage of the Titanic. He was now the last surviving crew member of the ship, which four of them made it out alive with him. He had aged as the years went by and like the families and relatives of those who died and those who survived the disaster, Bigalow had many questions unanswered. Titanic sank in less than 3 hours after she struck an iceberg. Back in 1912, two inquires were held in Britain and America to investigate the loss of the ship. The chairman of the American inquiry was Senator William Alden Smith. He wanted to gather accounts from passengers and crew while the events of the tragedy were still fresh in their minds at the time. Smith also needed to subpoena all surviving British passengers and crew while they were still on American soil, which prevented them from returning to the UK before the American inquiry was completed on 25 May. The British Government were quick to follow suit and ordered their own inquiry into Titanic's loss. Lord Mersey was appointed to head the British Board of Trade's inquiry into the disaster, which took place between 2 May and 3 July. Each inquiry took testimony from both Titanic's passengers and crew including the crew members of the Leyland Liner Californian, Captain Arthur Rostron of the Carpathia and other experts that were involved. Both inquires took blamed the Board of Trade for not increasing the existing scale regarding the number of required lifeboats for the ship to carry which was why there were so many lives lost in the sinking. After the final report into the loss of the Titanic was published, ships were built to be much safer and to carry more lifeboats for everyone on board. John Bigalow had not forgotten about the Titanic or the people that lived and died aboard her. He hoped that someday the ship would be found and looked upon once again. Sixty-eight years on, there was now hope of some answers for him, the remaining survivors and the families and relatives of those who perished.

Later, Bigalow took the others to a restaurant to show his Titanic collection. Along the way, Pitt told him about the plan to raise the ship from her watery grave. Bigalow was happy to hear about it. He decided to talk about the memories of his life and about the Titanic.

"It's an odd thing, you know. I've had a few ships shot out from under me, more than my share. Three in the war of 1914-18, and two in 1939-45. But all anybody ever asked me about is the Titanic."

"And now I'm doing the same thing." Pitt laughed.

"And you and your friends are lucky that you came to the right man," said Bigalow. "Like I said to those before, it was cargo hold No. 9. D deck on the port side."

"You're sure of that location?" asked Matthew.

"No question about it," said Bigalow. "We all saw that vault when it was loaded aboard. And I saw the person who owned it and not likely to forget him. He had a bushy beard and eyes like the devil himself. Even if he hadn't put a gun at me like the way he did. I remember him alright."

"You say the gun business was happening when the Titanic was already going down?" asked Pitt.

"Yes, that's right," said Bigalow. "The lifeboats were in the water, only half filled and the people were scrambling all over the deck. Ooh it was dreadful... absolutely dreadful. It's something that many of the remaining survivors have been haunted by since that night... even I am for that matter."

Bigalow began to tell the others what had happened when the Titanic sank.

"I was on my up to the boat deck to give a helping hand when this crazy little fellow, American I think, shoves a gun in my face and wanted me to take him to cargo hold No. 9. If I didn't take him, he would've shot me in my backside. At the time, I was a young fellow and wanted to live as long as I could...so I took him. When we got down there, No. 9 was the only hold not underwater. Once the man spotted whatever it was he was looking for, he was happy. He went up to that vault of his... the thing was huge, 8 foot square and pated it as it were a dog. He wouldn't leave despite my efforts in convince him and that was the last time I saw him. The last thing I can remember was hearing the man muttering to himself, saying the same thing over and over... Thank God for… Southby. Thank God for Southby."

Dirk Pitt began to have a thought. So far, the evidence pointed that the Titanic was carrying the mineral in her cargo hold. But there was one question that was haunting... could the man who threatened Bigalow with the gun be Aurther Brewster? Was he really on board the ship? Only the Titanic herself could reveal that.

"This must've been a very quite life for a man like you, after all these years." Kiara said to Bigalow.

"God helps a man who can't live by himself," replied Bigalow. "We all end up in a single bed sooner or later."

Everyone arrived at the restaurant and stepped inside. John Bigalow took his friends to the court deck where he would spend his time there drinking with old friends or relatives. 



"Over here is my Titanic collection," he said. "It's all that's left of her now...except for the memories I have. This one painting, I have in the middle was made by a man named Ken Marshall, a wonderful artist who brings a feel to his paintings of the great liner, something that fewer artists can do."

Daniel saw a model of the Titanic, which was standing from under a photograph of the ship itself. 



"Hey guys look. There's a model of the ship!" he called out. 



"My word... it's beautiful." said Emily Rose.


"Yes it is," said Bigalow. "I built it myself. I even have a spare one just in case I were to lose this."

He picked up the model as memories of the ship came back.

"What a wonderful thing Titanic was. Standing as high in the water just like one of America's skyscrapers, longer than two rugby fields, and with furnishings to match the finest mansions in England. She and her sisters were unlike any other than before and were one of a kind too, no question about it... and we all said God himself couldn't sink her. But proved wrong we were, for in two hours, Titanic was gone... and fifteen hundred souls went with her."

Kane began to shed a tear in his left eye. For sixty-eight years, he had been haunted by the loss the ship. The memories had never left him and were still lurking deep in his thoughts.

"I remember watching her die," he said. "Her death was very horrific. It was like seeing a friend or a family member die on your watch. How... how could I or anyone else face that?"

Lowering his head, Kane turned away, wiping away the tear from his eye.

"She was too young... too young. She had her whole life ahead of her and Mother Nature took it.... Nature took her.... I couldn't face reality again... the pain and sorrow me and everyone else that went through it... how could they face it? How could those survived ever be the same again? They never would be... and neither would I... why?"

The others had little tears from their eyes too, including Pitt and Matthew. The story of the tragic sinking of Titanic had touched the hearts of many back in 1912 and even today, the story was still being told and new generations would be captivated by it. Kane could still remember everyone who was on the ship and even remember Edward John Smith, who went down with it.

"I really miss Captain Smith." he said.



The fallen captain's name got the others' attention.

"You still remember him?" Kiara asked her friend.

"Yes," Kane replied, almost mumbling. "If you remember, I tried to save him but he made his mind up and went down with the ship, sharing it's fate. Had I not made it, I would've died with him. It was just so tragic that he died an unhappy man. Not a day goes by that I still grieve over it."

"He was the best captain that ever lived and a well respected man..." Bigalow said. "..And he was a good friend... a very good and close friend."

The room fell so silent that a pin drop could be heard. As everyone slowly let their feelings of the Titanic story to sink in, Matthew saw a flag that he recognized in the photos of the famous ship.

"Hey, Bigalow, is that the White Star flag you have in that case?" he asked.

"Yes it is," said Bigalow. "I took it off Titanic before she went down."

He walked over to the case, took the flag out and handed it over to Dirk Pitt and Matthew, who were almost speechless when they felt the material of the flag with their fingers.

"Matthew, Mr. Pitt, I would like you to have it and put it up on her aft mast after you've raised her. I would also like you to locate duplicates of Titanic's other two flags, both the United States and the Union Jack flag."

"We'll see what we can do." said Pitt.

"Hey, why don't you come with us." Kiara said.

"Oh, I'm too old for sea trips now," said Bigalow. "But I do thank you for offering. I wish you all good luck in bringing the ship up again."

"You can count on us, Bigalow," Pitt said. "We won't let you down."


After waving goodbye to John Bigalow, Dirk Pitt and his friends went out on the biggest adventure of their lives. The stage was set for a remarkable and historic event. A few private organizations agreed to work in partnerships with NUMA for the preserving of Titanic if her raising was successful and the state of her condition. The U.S Navy agreed to fund NUMA's search and raise for the liner. Titanic lay in the middle of the North Atlantic, about three hundred or five hundred miles off the coast of Newfoundland and one thousand miles due east of Woods Hole. She was over two miles below the surface and at that depth there was no light and it was very cold. The sheer weight of water exerted a pressure of more than two tons per square inch, which was nearly five hundred times the normal pressure at sea level. Over the years, this had been a huge technological problem for engineers who had been designing new robotic systems to reach the bottom. Yet the battle to replace man on the seabed went on and the U.S Navy funded the new technology that NUMA were going to use in their search for the Titanic. The famous liner of White Star Line would put the new technology to the test to find her, explore her wreck and to bring back pictures from her interior. If all of this was success, then the case would be made for unmanned deep ocean submersibles for future dives as well as searching for other shipwrecks. To find, film and raise Titanic would be a historical and major achievement. However, even though she was a commercial ship, the Titanic Historical Society would not open her to salvagers. The British Government were also against any expeditions to the wreck. Only a month earlier, after lengthy negotiations and with the help of Matthew Anderson and Admiral James Sandecker, Dirk Pitt finally received British Government permission to find, film and raise Titanic. Kane Smith and his friends, as far as they were concerned, wanted the blessing of the family and friends of the lost people who died with the famous ship. They hoped that this would make sure that the memory of Titanic and all those people who were lost on her would not be forgotten.