Cindy and her three companions looked relatively intact.
Kristen had the worst of it—a nasty gash on her thigh. When the ship capsized, the frantic pushing and shoving had caused her to be pinned down by falling debris. Now, though, things had stabilized somewhat.
"Dad."
Seeing Robert Ramsey, Jennifer's tension visibly melted away. "The crew told us to go to the grand hall to wait for rescue."
Gwen shook her head. "The hull probably won't hold out that long."
Robert nodded in agreement. "We need to find our own way out."
On the floor, Kristen, whose wound was being cleaned with water and bound with a handkerchief, let out a pained cry. Locke subtly tucked away a healing potion he had palmed. 'If she isn't dying, there's no need to waste it.'
Suddenly, Locke looked up toward the corridor. He raised an eyebrow. "Ms. Potts?"
Pepper Potts, supported by a man with a thin mustache, froze as she saw the large group. "Locke?"
Gwen rushed over to Pepper, noticing she was barefoot. "Ms. Potts, are you okay?"
The mustachioed man was a familiar face too. He was hard to forget—after all, he was the first one to lose money to Locke in the casino earlier that night.
Larry Crow, the "Mustachioed Prize Hog."
Larry saw Locke, then Robert, and gave a reckless grin. "It's you guys!"
Robert gave a curt nod of acknowledgment. Locke ignored him entirely, looking instead at Pepper. "Ms. Potts, where's Stark...?"
'No way. Did Tony Stark kick the bucket? If he's dead, who's going to be Iron Man in '08? Unless... Tony Stark has a body double like Master Huang in those movies? That would explain the personality shift from playboy to hero.'
But Pepper shattered his theories with a shake of her head. "The Poseidon wasn't the only cruise ship on the Pacific today. When the tsunami hit, Tony and Happy were already on a helicopter headed for the other vessel."
Motherfucker! So Tony Stark's "Lady Luck" had finally clocked in?
Locke wasn't envious. Tony's luck came at the cost of leaving his actual Lady Luck, Pepper Potts, behind. Locke would never trade his Goddess's life for a stroke of luck.
Gwen frowned. "Then how did you..."
Pepper gave a bitter laugh. "I was trying to cut through the ballroom to bring the Captain a New Year's gift. Then... this happened."
Gwen offered a sympathetic smile. "Don't worry, Ms. Potts. We'll get out of here. Locke is right here."
As long as Locke remained calm, Gwen felt her own fear subside.
Locke looked around. "Where's Dylan?"
Maggie looked at the empty space beside her. "Connor?"
Locke eventually found them at the end of the corridor—the man and the boy standing together like a father and son. Maggie rushed over. "Connor, don't run off!"
"Mom, there might be a way up this way," Connor said, pointing.
Robert walked to a set of heavy doors, frowning at their strange colors. He didn't dare touch them. Dylan handed him a fire extinguisher. "Let's hope for a backdraft."
Larry, the mustachioed hog, laughed optimistically. "Look at that, another friend!"
Dylan ignored him. He used a mop to pry the door open while Robert stood ready with the extinguisher. A cloud of spray filled the air. Nothing happened.
"It was just a flash-over," Dylan sighed, tossing the mop.
They stood by the railing, looking down. Seawater was already visible inside the hull, and the level was rising steadily. Dylan looked at Locke. "Which way now?"
Locke closed his eyes. The map of the ship materialized in his mind. He began erasing the escape routes he had calculated earlier. Those were designed for a ship that was right-side up. Now, he had to reverse everything—they needed to get to the "bottom" which was now the "top."
Five seconds later, Locke opened his eyes and pointed across the atrium. "This floor is a dead end. We have to cross to the other side. There's a kitchen there with access to the crew's internal elevators."
The atrium was a hollow void now, but during the capsizing, a massive metal scaffolding had collapsed across the middle, forming a crude bridge.
Maggie looked at the precarious span. "Is that... safe?"
Robert shook the frame. "It's steel. Should be sturdy enough."
Larry pointed toward the bridge and made a poorly timed joke. "Look at the monkey go!"
Jennifer's boyfriend had already scrambled onto the frame and was navigating it like an acrobat. Kristen followed, stopping halfway to call back, "It's solid! Hurry up!"
One by one, they started across. The children and women went first. Maggie and Connor, followed by Pepper, then Gwen.
Soon, everyone was across except for the men and Jennifer. Robert reached back. "Okay, honey, your turn. Be careful."
Before Jennifer could step out, a laugh interrupted them. It was Larry.
"Lucky Larry is ready to roll!" He clutched a flask, stretching his limbs. He looked at Locke, Dylan, and Robert. "Too bad for you three 'heroes'—looks like you're stuck together."
Dylan scowled. Robert looked ready to throw a punch. Locke caught Robert's eye and smiled. "Robert, let him go. Time is the most important thing right now."
Jennifer added, "Dad, just let him pass. It's not worth the fight."
Locke gestured toward the bridge. "After you, 'cowboy'."
The man claimed to be from Texas, but Locke knew better. A real Texan is polite even when they're killing you; it's a land of simple folk who don't care for verbal sparring.
"Three jerks!" Larry took a swig from his flask and crawled onto the frame, heading for the other side.
Locke watched him thoughtfully. His sixth sense had flared the moment his own foot touched the frame earlier. He didn't mind helping people, but he didn't want an unstable element in the group. If Larry wanted to be the scout, Locke was happy to let him be the sacrificial lamb.
As Larry reached the middle of the bridge—
*Thud! Thud!*
It sounded like gunshots. Everyone looked up toward the floors above. Larry paused. "Hey! Who the hell is shooting at us?"
*BOOM!*
A massive, black object dropped from above like a cannonball. In an instant, it slammed directly into Larry, who had been looking up. The impact shattered the metal bridge, sending both Larry and the debris crashing into the rising water below.
Fuel oil began gushing from a ruptured pipe in the ceiling. A second later, a roar of fire erupted from the water, turning the center of the atrium into a pillar of flame.
Locke's pulse quickened. *Close call.* If he had been on that bridge, he would have had to reveal his powers to survive.
"The bridge is gone! How do we get across?"
Locke didn't answer. He ran back into the corridor and returned a moment later with a long coil of life-rope. The pillar of fire had subsided, leaving a sea of burning oil below.
Locke grabbed the end of the rope and began to whirl it.
*Whoosh!*
The rope cut a beautiful arc through the air, the weighted end hooking firmly onto the railing on the opposite side.
"Hey!" Locke called out to Dylan and Robert, who were arguing about finding another route. "Keep arguing if you want, I'll come back for you in a bit."
He grabbed Jennifer around the waist, gripped the rope with one hand, and leaped.
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
*Thud.* Locke landed perfectly on the opposite railing. He let go of a hyperventilating Jennifer and flicked his wrist, retracting the rope before tossing it back.
He made the trip two more times. When everyone was finally across, Locke saw them staring at him in stunned silence.
He blinked innocently. "What?"
"I'm a cowboy. The best of the young generation in Texas."
"Using a rope is perfectly normal."
"And... very logical."
"..."