R.M.S.

Rick woke up that morning and felt odd.

His back was aching. His neck was sore. He felt as if he had just been hit by a truck. It was odd, to say the least.

The day before, he had been at work. He did his usual teaching job, hoping his message was received. Then he went to a local restaurant and got roast beef with new potatoes. Dear old meat, and three. He came home, relaxed in front of the television, watching mostly reruns of classic films while falling asleep on the couch. 

He later woke up, noting the time, headed off to bed because he knew Saturday was coming. He could sleep in and had nothing to worry about for at least one day. He crawled into bed, and the lights were out. It was a typical day for Rick.

So, why was he aching so badly this morning?

"Alexa, good morning?"

The artificially intelligent ball of plastic and circuits exclaimed, "Good morning. Today is April 15, 2028. On this day, the Hillsborough Disaster took place in 1989. One hundred people were killed, and 800 were injured."

Rick groaned, now sitting on the side of his bed, wiping his face. He peered over at the Alexa device on his nightstand, looking out of the corner of his uncovered eye. That was uplifting, he thought.

"Alexa, play some 80's music."

Alexa responded, "Here is a station you might like."

The familiar sound of the 80's song "Power of Love" began echoing around the room. 

Rick chuckled, still wiping his face, "Interesting choice."

He recalled the film the song originated from, the Back to the Future classic.

Rick arose from the bed and headed into the bathroom to take a shower and straighten up. As he did, he turned back to look at Alexa on the nightstand and saw the yellow notification light was on. Despite loving the song, he decided to interrupt it.

"Alexa, notifications."

Alexa stopped the music, "You have one new notification. Today you're supposed to meet with your dad. Richard Martin Smith, Senior, sent you an invite to meet with him for an adventure, just the two of you."

Rick's eyes lit up as he stood there with his toothbrush still in his mouth. I'm supposed to meet with dad today! His mouth now dripped with toothpaste as he uttered, "Alexa, what time?"

"You are to meet with him at 9:15 AM."

"Alexa, what time is it now."

"The time is 8:55 AM. You better hurry, or you're going to be late."

Rick thought about all the extra details in the invite. His dad still hadn't figured out that you don't have to include those details in the subject of the message. However, that was trivial because he was about to be late!

Rick threw on some clothes as fast as he could and rushed out the door, requesting an Uber along the way. His dad had never been a patient man and was quick-tempered at times. He was not a man you left waiting. Fortunately, Ubers are quick to find even in the city.

There was a problem, though. As soon as Rick left the apartment, his back, neck, and buttocks all were aching, as they had been when he first woke up.

What did I do in my sleep?

He hobbled down the stairs to the main entrance of the apartment building and proceeded out the door as quickly as his body would allow. The Uber was already there, but he had taken so long that they were almost certainly preparing to give up on his fare.

He finally made it to the car, a late-model Renault Clio. The driver asked him where he was going.

"What do you mean?" asked Rick.

The driver looked at Rick's phone and said, "You never programmed the destination."

Rick looked down and realized he hadn't. Probably due to the pain he was in, he simply forgot.

"The Titanic Memorial, please."

"You mean museum, right?" Quipped the driver.

"Yeah, whatever. Listen, do you have anything for pain?" Rick asked, squinting through waves of pain still radiating up his spine.

"Sorry, none on me right now."

Rick thought, maybe they'll have something there at the...did he say museum? Why did he say museum? It's a memorial, at least I thought?

Rick shook his head, mostly from dealing with the pain but also shaking off that he must have heard the man wrong.

The streets were packed today, and it was already 9:20 AM. Rick knew dear old dad would not be happy with his tardiness.

There were so many people, though, all culminating at the memorial. That was kind of odd to him, but then he remembered. The director of the film was going to be there today. Some sort of event commemorating the sinking. But this was what his dad wanted to do today.

"Hey, I'll get out and walk from here," Rick said as he tapped the driver on the shoulder.

"You sure. You looked like you could barely walk a minute ago."

"I'm fine, thanks."

Rick paid the man with his phone and proceeded out of the car. It was funny, he could move good now and seemed to get stronger as he moved toward the memorial. That was until he noticed that he wasn't at a memorial at all.

In the bay, sitting directly in front of a building he did not recognize, sat...the Titanic.

He stopped dead in his tracks. Rick had been to this memorial a few times, and certainly creative replications abounded over the years, but this was a full ship. It stretched from the Isle of Man nearly to the Beatles Statue before the Queensway Tunnel. The ship was huge and resting there intact. That completely blew Rick's mind.

"What in the..."

Rick was interrupted by what he was saying when a familiar voice chimed in. "Son!"

His Dad was yelling for him.

"Dad!"

"Come on, or we'll miss the next tour of the ship."

"Tour? Dad, are you seeing this?"

"Seeing what? You were supposed to be here before 9:15. Our tickets are for 9:30. You know how hard it is to get them and tour the greatest luxury liner of all time."

"Dad! What is going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Dad, that's...that's the Titanic."

Rick senior looked over at the ship and then back to his son, "Yeah. So?"

"YEAH?! SO?! How?"

"What do you mean how?"

"How is it sitting there?"

"Are you on some sort of medication, son?"

"Dad?"

"Hallucinogen of sorts?"

"Dad! That ship has been at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean for 116 years! How is it sitting there? Intact?"

Rick senior stared at his son. He had a legitimate look of concern on his face as he did, "Son, the Titanic was decommissioned in 1952. Forty years after it was launched."

Rick was speechless.

Rick senior looked back toward the ship for a glance and then back to his son, "Do you not remember that? We've talked about it before."

Rick was stumbling over his words, "I...I really don't know what is happening right now."

"Are you feeling ok, son?"

Rick could tell his dad was really worried about him.

"I'm fine, but I don't understand what I see. It's not possible."

Rick senior looked at the ship and then back to his son. He walked over to him and said, "Why don't I show you the impossible then?"

He smiled at his son as passers-by continued, oblivious to the two men.

Rick thought, am I dreaming? How can this be real? The Titanic didn't survive it's maiden voyage. It sank, with 1500 souls. How is this possible? The ship is here now?

Rick's shock finally eased off as he continued to stare at the vessel. He knew there was only one thing left to do, as curiosity was killing him.

"Let's go have a look, dad."

Rick senior patted his son on the shoulder, and the two men followed the crowd to the Titanic. 

Rick couldn't believe his eyes. He was walking through history. A legend. A ship that had sat at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean was now in pristine form, all decks intact, all flooring original, and all amenities still present. The grand staircase was as beautiful as he had seen in pictures and movies. He walked the steps up and down several times, his breath nearly leaving his body. They walked past first-class cabins. They maneuvered through the dining halls. They came to an area retrofitted for war and housed injured from battle. This noted the ship's service in World War I and World War II. Updates were present, such as radar and sonar, which came along later. Captain Smith, the first captain of the Titanic, had a memorial honoring him, with a long line of successors that followed. The ship had a grander history of forty years of service that was more impressive than the legend of the sinking. But Rick could not shake that the sinking was all he ever knew. These new details he was learning for the first time on this day, 116 years after the ship set sail.

Then Rick came to the onboard museum for the ship, and an automated voice outlined what took place on the fateful night of April 15, 1912.

The ship never sank. Instead, the ship plowed the bow into the iceberg, breaching the first two compartments and crushing much of the forward part of the ship. But the ship stayed afloat. In all, only 113 passengers and crew lost their lives that day onboard the Titanic. The other 2000+ passengers and crew were safely evacuated from the ship and sailed to New York for needed repairs. Captain Smith was noted as a hero in the evacuation efforts, and First Officer Murdoch was condemned for his actions causing reckless endangerment to the ship, passengers, and crew. In his defense case, he noted that had he not performed the actions he did, there could have been a greater loss of life. The courts ruled him negligent and stripped him of his rank and command. He never sailed again. However, the Titanic sailed on for many years, surviving wars, plagues, and mother nature, as the voice continued on.

"That's unbelievable", Rick said.

Rick senior looked at him, "About what?"

"This was a hypothetical situation."

"What was?"

Rick kept reading some and then answered, "There was always speculation that plunging the ship forward into the iceberg might have saved it from sinking."

Rick senior looked at his son confused, "But that is what happened, son. Murdoch drove the ship dead ahead into it and killed hundreds in the process."

"But he saved thousands! Don't you get it, dad? He saved thousands of lives. The man is a hero!"

Rick senior was really worried for his son, "Son, that man blatantly and negligently killed innocent people with his actions. There are over 100 people whose lives he ended that day. This day, 116 years ago."

Rick looked at his dad, "From where I'm standing, he saved the lives of 1500 people that actually died."

Rick senior looked more intensely at his son, and his brow furrowed. "You really believe that, don't you, son?"

Rick looked back at his dad, "I don't just believe it. It's the truth."

Lights started flashing all around as a man approached them both, with a crowd following close behind.

Rick and his dad looked in the man's direction as he approached and were in awe. The man entering the museum was the director of the Titanic film. 

"Oh my", said Rick senior.

Cameras and film crews were all around as the director began speaking. "Thank you for following me in here." The crowd began to laugh.

"This was the actual inspiration for the film. I always wondered what would have happened had First Officer Murdoch not ordered all ahead full. He rammed the ship into the iceberg rather than trying to go around it. It was a risky move for the time, and most people think he was a bit crazy for doing it, but when you see my film, you get an idea of what could have happened."

A video behind the man starts playing scenes from the film Titanic. The film was the same one from 1997, with the same stars and circumstances that happened before, with the ship sinking. Even the same song was written for the film, but this time all as a hypothetical situation.

Rick was beside himself and could not hold his comments in, "That's it!"

Rick screamed this out as the scenes from the movie played, garnering the attention of everyone in the room, including the famous director.

"That's what I remember! That's exactly how things went. Ok, well, even though you proved some things were slightly different from your adaptation, but this is the truest telling of the Titanic disaster ever made. The gallantry and chivalry, and the angst and tragedy. All of it is what captivates people about the Titanic. The loss of life and all that came with it, man's hubris and folly. Mixed with their engineering and skill. The film was as breathtaking as the disaster itself. That's why it made over two billion dollars worldwide."

The crowd stared at Rick, and a man within it said, "I thought the film made over three billion worldwide?"

The crowd laughed, but three men did not. One was Rick himself staring back at the director. Rick senior was another, staring at the back of his son's head, filled with concern. The other was the director, that didn't stare at Rick. He looked at him, and a small smirk came across his face.

The director faced Rick more and walked up to him, asking a man with a microphone to step away. He looked back at Rick and asked, "By any chance, did your back hurt this morning?"

Rick's eyes got wide, "What?"

"Your back, neck, any part of your body?"

Rick was stunned, "Yes. Why..."

"I can tell in your eyes you believe what you're saying, don't you?"

Rick nodded in agreement.

The director looked down and smiled, scratched his head, and looked back up to Rick's gaze.

"The funny thing is, I had that happen to me once. What's funnier is that is how I remember the Titanic too. That's why I made the film the way I did."

Rick was speechless.

"I'm Jim." He extended his hand out to shake Rick's. "I think you and I need to have a talk. Because something has affected both of us, and you might just be both of our tickets back home."