yells at Jack, and they each run in different directions.
Arriving at the medical room, Frank yells, “Keith, bring Maggie, we have to leave now. That’s the radiation alarm!”
“She’s too weak to move!” Keith yells back. “I know you set the alarm to ring. I heard her talking to you last night!”
“I set it for this afternoon like she asked. This alarm is real. We have to leave now.”
Keith looks hard at Frank and see’s the truth of what he is saying in the expression of fear in the return gaze. He looks at Maggie, and she says weakly, “Let’s go.”
Keith scoops her back up in his arms and follows Frank. They weave their way to the crane amidst the blaring siren and blinking lights on the interior hallways. Stepping outside there is a slight smell of smoke in the wind that is blowing. Burning particles from all the fires in New Orleans have finally reach the oil rig with the increased wind.
When they arrive at the crane, George is still standing on the deck, and Jack is sitting at the controls and hitting them.
“It won’t start!” Jack yells and everyone looks at Frank for a solution.
“Let’s get in the emergency lifeboat.”
Lifeboats for oil rigs are large and orange. They are usually big enough to hold up to thirty people. This one has a capacity of twenty-eight. It looks like part boat and part submarine which it technically is in a way. It isn’t designed to operate underwater, but because of how lifeboats are launched from oil rigs, they need to be watertight.
The lifeboat is sitting on a ramp angled down to the water at forty-five degrees. There is a ninety foot drop for it once it is released, and it will become completely submerged before its buoyancy pops it back out of the water to float on the surface. It is quite like an amusement park ride designed to drop you and give you that instant stomach churning sensation of uncontrolled falling.
They climb aboard and all help to get Maggie secured before strapping into their own seats. Frank pulls the lever and the lifeboat begins its freefall into the water. Keith is across from Maggie and can see she is barely there. The feeling during the impact and the subsequent bouncing is as disturbing as the drop. Frank starts the engine and drives the lifeboat over to George’s moored fishing boat.
“George, get out and get your boat going. We have to head east and try to get ahead of this wind,” Frank calls out to him.
“Head south instead,” George says while climbing out of the lifeboat hatch to get onto his boat. We’ll leave the radioactive winds quicker and can turn east when we need to. As soon as we don’t smell smoke we should be out of it.”
Frank doesn’t wait for George to get his boat started. He guns the engine and heads south trying to get clear of the invisible death in the air. Keith has unstrapped Maggie from her seat and is sitting on the floor and cradling her in his arms.
Jack climbs out of the cabin and sits outside with a rag wrapped around his head, covering his mouth and nose. He is smelling the air to tell when they clear the smoke coming from the city. He also wants to stay out of the smoky air remaining in the cabin out of a justified fear that it is radioactive and he doesn’t want to filter it with his lungs.
The smell of smoke disappears ten minutes south of the rig, and Frank keeps going another ten minutes just to be sure. George’s boat is much faster. He caught up with the others before they cleared the affected area and bounced alongside them as they sped along the small waves.
Jack lashes the two boats together once the engines are cut, and George climbs back onto the bobbing orange escape craft.
“I don’t think she made it,” Frank says quietly to the others as he steps down to the bow.
“I’ll go check on Keith,” George says. “You two need to start cleaning up. Take off your clothes and dump them overboard. Grab a bucket and the deck scrubber, and scrub each other down with
Arriving at the medical room, Frank yells, “Keith, bring Maggie, we have to leave now. That’s the radiation alarm!”
“She’s too weak to move!” Keith yells back. “I know you set the alarm to ring. I heard her talking to you last night!”
“I set it for this afternoon like she asked. This alarm is real. We have to leave now.”
Keith looks hard at Frank and see’s the truth of what he is saying in the expression of fear in the return gaze. He looks at Maggie, and she says weakly, “Let’s go.”
Keith scoops her back up in his arms and follows Frank. They weave their way to the crane amidst the blaring siren and blinking lights on the interior hallways. Stepping outside there is a slight smell of smoke in the wind that is blowing. Burning particles from all the fires in New Orleans have finally reach the oil rig with the increased wind.
When they arrive at the crane, George is still standing on the deck, and Jack is sitting at the controls and hitting them.
“It won’t start!” Jack yells and everyone looks at Frank for a solution.
“Let’s get in the emergency lifeboat.”
Lifeboats for oil rigs are large and orange. They are usually big enough to hold up to thirty people. This one has a capacity of twenty-eight. It looks like part boat and part submarine which it technically is in a way. It isn’t designed to operate underwater, but because of how lifeboats are launched from oil rigs, they need to be watertight.
The lifeboat is sitting on a ramp angled down to the water at forty-five degrees. There is a ninety foot drop for it once it is released, and it will become completely submerged before its buoyancy pops it back out of the water to float on the surface. It is quite like an amusement park ride designed to drop you and give you that instant stomach churning sensation of uncontrolled falling.
They climb aboard and all help to get Maggie secured before strapping into their own seats. Frank pulls the lever and the lifeboat begins its freefall into the water. Keith is across from Maggie and can see she is barely there. The feeling during the impact and the subsequent bouncing is as disturbing as the drop. Frank starts the engine and drives the lifeboat over to George’s moored fishing boat.
“George, get out and get your boat going. We have to head east and try to get ahead of this wind,” Frank calls out to him.
“Head south instead,” George says while climbing out of the lifeboat hatch to get onto his boat. We’ll leave the radioactive winds quicker and can turn east when we need to. As soon as we don’t smell smoke we should be out of it.”
Frank doesn’t wait for George to get his boat started. He guns the engine and heads south trying to get clear of the invisible death in the air. Keith has unstrapped Maggie from her seat and is sitting on the floor and cradling her in his arms.
Jack climbs out of the cabin and sits outside with a rag wrapped around his head, covering his mouth and nose. He is smelling the air to tell when they clear the smoke coming from the city. He also wants to stay out of the smoky air remaining in the cabin out of a justified fear that it is radioactive and he doesn’t want to filter it with his lungs.
The smell of smoke disappears ten minutes south of the rig, and Frank keeps going another ten minutes just to be sure. George’s boat is much faster. He caught up with the others before they cleared the affected area and bounced alongside them as they sped along the small waves.
Jack lashes the two boats together once the engines are cut, and George climbs back onto the bobbing orange escape craft.
“I don’t think she made it,” Frank says quietly to the others as he steps down to the bow.
“I’ll go check on Keith,” George says. “You two need to start cleaning up. Take off your clothes and dump them overboard. Grab a bucket and the deck scrubber, and scrub each other down with
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