The four of them walked down the hall together, headed for the galley. Mike leaned close and whispered to Tony.
“You wanna stop and check the biofuel room?”
“Man, I wouldn’t even know what I was looking at. The power station is nuts, man. The desalinization plant is complicated enough. We don’t wanna start fucking around in the biofuel room.”
“We could just go take a quick look.”
The long moan reverberated throughout the ship again, as if on cue.
“Okay—just a quick look. But don’t touch a fuckin thing!” whispered Tony harshly.
“What are you two girls gossiping about?” asked Jess.
“We’re just making a quick stop on the way,” said Mike.
“Where to?” asked Theresa.
“Power plant. I wanna see these screaming pipes,” said Mike.
“The room that Ted just said specifically to stay out of? That room?” asked Theresa.
“Yeah, that one,” said Mike. “You can go to the galley and wait for us there if you want.”
“Hell no. This place is creepy now,” said Theresa.
The four of them walked into the power plant and stopped. In the cavernous room, pipes and huge tanks hummed. The noise was certainly the loudest in there. Each time they heard the moaning, it seemed to reverberate through the pipes.
“There? You happy now?” asked Tony.
“No. I want to see the biofuel room.” Mike walked through the room until he reached the door of the biofuel room. He ignored the sign that said “Technicians Only” and tried the door. “Damn. Locked.”
Another loud moaning. This time even louder, like two at the same time.
“That’s disturbing,” said Theresa.
“Yeah, well it’s coming from in there,” said Mike. He rattled the door harder.
“Mike, just leave it. I’m telling you, man, I can’t fix this system if we mess it up,” said Tony. He put his arm on Mike’s shoulder and gently pulled him away from the locked door.
Mike acquiesced, but added, “Fine—but when numb-nuts wakes up, I’m making him open that door.”
They left the power plant, each of them staring at the large overhead pipes as the noises echoed through the room.
“That’s messed up,” whispered Jess to Tony.
“Just noises. Don’t freak yourself out,” he said calmly, but inside, he was anything but relaxed.
Theresa leaned closer to Mike. “It sounds like we’re all about to die. I want bacon.”
“Shouldn’t you be watching? You know . . .” he said quietly and patted her butt.
“Oh nice. And you thought you had a shot?”
“I had it last night. I was fantastic, remember?”
“So now you don’t want it anymore?” she asked.
He shrugged and smiled. His first smile of the stressful morning.
***********
The four of them prepared a big breakfast, with each of them cooking something. Tony and Jess made fresh rolls from the frozen dough, Theresa made home fries from the canned potatoes, and Mike scrambled egg as he cooked bacon. They drank coffee and genuinely enjoyed each other’s company, like two couples that had been friends for years. After such a rough few days, including the morning’s scare, it was cathartic to cook a huge breakfast.
When breakfast was made, they started bringing it to the table. “Should we wake the skipper?” asked Theresa.
Mike stared at her.
Tony and Jess stared at her.
“Or not,” she added.
The four of them sat down and served each other, and then enjoyed their best breakfast since hitting the bottom.