03 SOS

Chapter 03 SOS Jack stared at the name of the ship. “ You know what happened to the Titanic, don’t you?” he said softly. Annie nodded. “ It hit an iceberg and sank, ” she said. “ But I don’t get it. I thought this ship was unsinkable. ” “ That’s what people thought when the Titanic was built, ” said Jack. “ But they were wrong. ”

Suddenly, steam gushed out of the ship’s smokestacks. Then the engines cut off. The Titanic stopped moving. “ We’d better go home, ” said Jack. “ There’s nothing we can do here. We’ll have to find another lost ship—a safer one. ” “ No! We have to stay and help, ” said Annie. “ We can escape in the tree house anytime we want. ” “ But what can we do?” said Jack. “ This ship’s going to sink no matter what. We can’t change history. And we can’t take anyone into our time with us. ” “ Yeah, but maybe there’s some way we can help, ” said Annie. “ How?” said Jack. “ I don’t know, ” said Annie. “ Let’s look around. ” Holding Teddy, she disappeared down a small stairway.

Jack followed her to a lower level. Annie put Teddy down on the deck. The dog sniffed the chunks of ice that had fallen off the iceberg. The ship seemed strangely empty. “ Where is everyone?” Annie asked. “ Maybe they’re still asleep, ” said Jack. “ They probably don’t even know the ship hit something. ” Annie and Jack started toward the front of the Titanic. “ Come on, Teddy, ” said Annie. The little dog scampered after them. They passed the round windows of different rooms on the ship. Jack looked through them as they went by.

He saw exercise bikes and rowing machines in one room. In another, there were palm trees, bamboo chairs, and tables. Next, they passed a library filled with books. “ This ship is like a town, ” said Jack. Near the end of the deck, they peeked through another round window. Inside a little room, a man was wearing earphones. Jack heard a clicking noise as the man tapped a lever on a black box. “ What’s he doing?” whispered Annie. Jack shrugged. Another man stood nearby. He had a white beard and wore a fancy uniform. “ Send the international call for help, ” he ordered the man with headphones. “ Tell all ships close by to come at once. We’re sinking. ” “ Yes, Captain, ” said the man.

“ Great, they’re calling for help! ” Annie whispered. Jack shook his head. “ I don’t think help will come, ” he said.

He shined the flashlight on the book and found a picture of the radio operator. He read quietly to Annie: After the Titanic hit the iceberg at 11: 40 P. M. , the ship’s radio operator sent out an SOS. An SOS is the international distress signal in Morse code. Unfortunately, the only ship near the Titanic had turned off its radio for the night. All the other ships who received the message were too far away to help. When the Titanic sank around 2: 20 A. M. , she was all alone. “ That’s terrible, ” said Annie. “ I wonder what time it is now, ” said Jack. “ I don’t know, ” said Annie. Jack pulled out his notebook and wrote: