The Symbiotic Travelers Ch. 6

The symbiotic Travelers

California or Bust

BADSAM

After leaving Fort Yuma, it took the two syngeneic lovers twenty days to get to San Diego, arriving on August 26, 1889. During the whole trip, Yaphet was adamant; she didn't want to stop again until they reached their final destination. Throughout the entire journey, she kept insisting, "I don't want stop until we get to San Diego."

Zlatex would answer her, "I'm with you on that Yaphet. I don't want to stop either. I'm tired of getting sidetracked and mixed up in America's wars. California is a huge state. We can travel up and down the state without anyone ever noticing that we are extraterrestrial beings who do not age."

San Diego, was the first area of California in which the Spanish settled, it has often been described as the "birthplace of California." It was established as a fort and a mission in 1769 by Spain. San Diego officially became part of the U. S. in 1848. Then when California was granted statehood in 1850, the city was named the seat of San Diego County. But the town remained a rather small metropolis for several decades. After 1880, it started to grow due to development of houses in Chula Vista and the establishment of multiple military facilities in the area.

At present the two travelers are living in Chula Vista, a suburb of San Diego, California. It is south of the city, about twelve kilometers from the central business district of downtown San Diego. The city is part of the greater San Diego metropolitan area, but it has its own local government; the Spanish originally named it Otai in 1769. Before that, it was occupied by Native American Indians for thousands of years. Around 3,000 years ago, people speaking Yuman, the language of the Quechan people, began moving into the region. The name Chula Vista can be roughly translated from Spanish as "beautiful view."

The day after they arrived, James applied for a job as a writer for the San Diego Union newspaper. He believed that he and his consort could easily get news of any pending wars faster if he were working for a newspaper. The newspaper has a direct telegraph link to the heart of San Diego's government offices, as well as links to Washington D. C., New York, New Orleans and Chicago.

When he applied for the job, he wrote on the application that he could read and write English, French, Spanish and some Latin and that he had experience with editing and publishing a newspaper as well as typesetting a printing press. He also told the man who interviewed him that he knew Morse Code. He showed him a portfolio of some newspaper clippings that he wrote. The manager hired him immediately.

One of the first things he learned while searching the archives of the newspaper for Yaphet was that France gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States on July 4, 1884. The French did it to commemorate the centennial of American independence and as a sign of the alliance between the two nations. Completion of the assembly and dedication of Lady Liberty in New York Harbor was on October 28, 1886.

It is February 16, 1898, James is working as a writer for the San Diego Union newspaper. He has been working there ever since he and Yaphet, his symbiotic equivalent have arrived in the area in August 1889. They have only had to move once since settling down in the city.

They originally rented a house in Otay Mesa, which is a county south of Chula Vista. But after living there for eight years, they moved to the Chula Vista neighborhood. They found a house where the rent was cheaper and closer to the newspaper.

But they are thinking about moving again. They are eating dinner at a local restaurant and discussing whether it is wise to remain working for the paper. This morning one of the other writers of the newspaper asked James how he managed to keep his youthful appearance. The alien just replied that he washes his face, arms and body daily using just plain water.

"Julia, I understand that the San Francisco Call is looking for writers," Zlatex says to his extraterrestrial partner, calling her by her Earthling name, since they are in a public place where someone can overhear their conversation. "I can take a train up there and talk to the managing editor. If he hires me, we can move there. What do you think?"

"I think that's great, James. When do you think you can go?"

"My vacation is coming up starting the 28th. Together, we can go to San Francisco then, and while we're visiting the city and enjoying the sites and tourist attractions of the place, I can go talk to the Call's editor and apply for a position as a writer."

"That's a wonderful idea. Maybe I can search the newspaper's archives and find out more about the history of America and the United States while we're visiting."

As soon as they got off the train in San Francisco, they rented a horse and buggy and went house hunting. Yaphet was insistent, she wanted to "live in comfort," something closer to what they had while living on Herth.

"Zlatex, I want to find a house that has electrical lighting and indoor plumbing. It's 1898, not 1766. Alexander Cummings invented the first flushable toilet in 1775. There's businesses, apartments and homes all over that have them, and I don't want to live anymore in anyplace that doesn't have electricity and a toilet that I can sit on and flush."

"OK, Yaphet. We'll look for a place..."

She interrupts him, "I know we can't get all the comforts we had while aboard the spaceship, air conditioning, radio, television, microwave oven, refrigerator, freezer, traveling in an airplane or automobile. Earthlings will eventually invent those things and other modern conveniences. But in the meantime, let's find a place that at least has electrical lighting and indoor plumbing with bathtubs and toilets."

They found a furnished two bedroom house to rent not far from the San Francisco Call office building that had everything Yaphet wanted. She was delighted beyond measure. So was her symbiotic equivalent. Although they can lock the doors of their new home, they still keep SAM, the Simplified Automatic Mainframe computer, in its chest for safety. They decided that they will continue to do this until keyboards, SPoDs, screens, printers and other computer peripherals are invented. They are hopeful that that won't be too far in the future.

James applied for a position as writer for the San Francisco Call the third day after arriving in the city. The managing editor hired him; he said that he could start the seventh of March. He also told him that Julia could search through the newspaper's archives any time she wanted to. There was a secretary who worked in that department who could help her find any article she wished to locate.

While searching through the archives, whenever Yaphet found an article that she thought Zlatex might also want to read, she would write down the date and page number of the article, so that her symbiotic lover could also read it.

Zlatex and Yaphet read about the Spanish and American War in the local newspaper. They wanted to make sure none of the battles would take place anywhere near them. If so, they would quickly move away from the skirmish to another city. They wanted to ensure for themselves that neither of them would get wounded. If the injury healed overnight, then everyone would soon discover that they are not indigenous Earthlings.

During Cuba's war for independence from Spain, there was a growing popular demand by many U. S. citizens for the American government to intervene. It became a persistent call, especially after the inexplicable sinking in the Havana harbor of the American battleship USS Maine on February 15, 1898. The outdated vessel had been sent there to protect U. S. citizens after a large anti-Spanish riot in the city.

Due to a prolonged nine year construction period, the armored cruiser USS Maine was virtually obsolete by the time it was finally completed and launched in 1889. Far more advanced crafts were either already in service or nearing final completion by that time. She was not commissioned by the Navy until September 1895.

A number of newspapers had conflicting reports about the actual sinking of the Maine. They reported that she exploded and sank on the evening of February 15, 1898, killing 260 sailors and marines, about three-fourths of her crew. Later, in 1898, a U. S. Naval board of inquiry ruled that the ship had been sunk by an external explosion from a floating mine. However, some U. S. Navy officers disagreed with the board, suggesting that the ship's magazines had been ignited by a spontaneous fire in a coal bunker.

Soon after the sinking, the United States declared war on Spain on April 25, 1898, during the Cuban struggle for its independence from Spain. Numerous Americans rallied to the cause of liberating Cuba from Spanish rule with the slogan, "Remember the Maine."

The Spanish repressive and heartless measures to halt the rebellion were graphically portrayed in many U. S. newspapers. Several sensationalistic tabloids throughout the nation engaged in "yellow journalism" in order to arouse American sympathy for the Cuban rebels.

The Battle of Manila Bay, also known as the Battle of Cavit was a crucial naval engagement in that the United States naval fleet, led by Commodore George Dewey, defeated the Spanish fleet in the Philippines on May 1, 1898, achieving a strategic victory. The battle resulted in the destruction of the Spanish armada, with minimal American casualties and it paved the way for the U. S. occupation of the Philippine islands. It also marked the end of Spanish colonial rule in the that area and manifested the effectiveness of modern naval warfare. It is sometimes seen as a turning point in the history of U. S. imperialism.

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The Battle of Cienfuegos, also known as the Raid of Cienfuegos, on May 11, 1898, was a naval conflict that exhibited the superiority of the U. S. Navy in the Caribbean Sea. Despite the losses sustained, the mission was considered a tactical success for the United States because American sailors and Marines were able to successfully severe some of the underwater telegraph cables, achieving their primary mission to hinder Spanish communication. Although the battle was not one of the major engagements of the war, it demonstrated the U. S. Navy's ability to disrupt Spanish military efforts. Cutting the cables was part of a larger naval blockade to weaken Spanish control over Cuba.

The Battle of Guantánamo Bay was an early amphibious assault that secured an American foothold in Cuba on June 6-10, 1898. It was the first overseas land engagement of the U. S. Marine Corps. The Spanish defenders were overwhelmed by the marines and forced to retreat after several clashes. The U. S. Marine and Cuban allies demonstrated effective coordination during the conflict. After the battle, the U. S. Navy and Marine Corps established a long-term presence in Guantánamo Bay.

The lengthy Siege of Santiago, from June 23 to July 17, 1898, was a prolonged engagement that led to the eventual surrender of the Spanish forces in Santiago, Cuba. It marked a crucial moment in the conflict and ultimately led to the surrender of the Spanish forces in Cuba. It also signaled the decline of Spanish colonial power in the America.

The Battle of Las Guasimas on June 24, 1898, was a skirmish that helped secure the American advance toward Santiago. The Battle of San Juan Hill was an important land battle on the island of Cuba, on July 1, 1898. It was famously led by Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt and the 1st U. S. Volunteer Cavalry, known as the Rough Riders. Finally, the Battle of El Caney was fought on the same day as the charge up San Juan Hill, July 1, 1898. The battle proved to be crucial for the American advance into Santiago a month later.

The Battle of Santiago de Cuba was a naval engagement that took place on July 3, 1898. During the battle, the U. S. fleet destroyed the Spanish Caribbean Squadron, which then led to the eventual surrender of Santiago, Cuba.

The Battle of Puerto Rico on July 25 to August 12, 1898, was a series of skirmishes that resulted in the U. S. capture of the island.

Then in August, the Americans and Spanish began negotiations to terminate to the war. In the end, the Spanish accepted the peace terms stipulated by President William McKinley.

The hostilities formally ended on August 12, 1898; then the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10. In exchange for a U. S. payment of twenty million dollars, Spain gave up all its possessions in the West Indies, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. The United States occupied Cuba but, as provided for in the Teller Amendment, did not attempt to annex the island. The amendment placed a restriction on the presence of the United States military on the island.

According to the amendment, the U. S. could not annex Cuba but would leave control of the island to its citizenry. That is, the United States would recognize Cuba as a "free and independent nation." But the United States demanded that the Spanish government remove all its land and naval forces from Cuba and the waters surrounding the island.

However, the United States would not depart from the island until it could be assured that peace would prevail. In order to insure that, the U. S. would be permitted to employ land and naval forces as necessary to complete its objective. Once peace was fully restored, the United States would relinquish authority of Cuba's government to its people.

Until then, the United States would maintain a military base in Guantánamo Bay, which is strategically located at the entrance to the Caribbean Sea and provides the U. S. with a military presence in the region. Having the U. S. military there affords immediacy to Central and South America, and allows America to monitor shipping routes, which is of significant interest for management in the Western Hemisphere.

Many U. S. lawmakers, particularly those with connections to the military, believe that Guantánamo Bay is an important advantage for defending U. S. interests in the region.

Victory in the Spanish-American War transformed the United States into to a world power. Many U. S. citizens saw the conflict as a natural part of the nation's "Manifest Destiny;" the belief that expansion of the United States was both right and inevitable.

Zlatex and Yaphet discuss between themselves whether or not the U. S. government secretly sunk the Maine in order to provoke and persuade Americans to enter Cuba's war for independence. First of all, at that time, the USS Maine was an outdated ship, an expendable pawn that could be "thrown away." Secondly, there were many Americans who wanted to make Cuba another U. S. state. Tossing a lit kerosene lamp into the coal bunker would ignite the coal, then the whole ship would explode. Once it sunk no one would be able to tell how it happened. Then a story could be leaked to the press that would make it look like the Spanish were responsible.

This barbarism would then inspire the American people to support a war with Spain.

The two symbiotic lovers come to the conclusion that such an idea, while grotesque, even fantastic, is plausible. It is a well-known fact that governments commit atrocities in order to entice and incite their citizens to war against perceived enemies. It's totally ludicrous to believe that nations have never done anything like that in the past. Then to believe that some U. S. government personnel and greedy corporate executives of munitions companies and other corporations that supply the armed forces with the things they need to go to war, are above these kinds of barbarisms is at the least naïve and gullible.

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It is Friday July 8, 1898, the sun is low in the sky, about to sink into the Pacific Ocean. Zlatex has just returned from the San Francisco Call where he works as a writer. He has news for Yaphet about the annexation of Hawaii by the United States the day before.

"Hawaii, where's that?" Yaphet asks her syngeneic consort.

"Its in the middle of the Pacific Ocean."

"You aren't suggesting we go there, are you, Zlatex?"

"No, of course not. It takes about a week sailing cooped up on a steamship to get there. I have no desire to subject us to something like that. The other crew members could very easily discover that we are not humans. Besides, it would be very hard to conceal SAM, our central processing unit.

"You're right." She pauses and then says, "For our dinner, I've cut up and boiled some potatoes to go with some pork chops that I've breaded and fried. I left the skin on the potatoes. I know you like that. Why don't you go washup and I'll put everything out on the table."

While the two aliens are eating their dinner, Zlatex tells his partner about the history of Hawaii.

The United States annexed the island of Hawaii in early July 1898. The annexation was formalized by Congress a few days later on July 7, then signed into law by President William McKinley. This led to Hawaii becoming a new U. S. territory.

On January 18, 1778, the English explorer Captain James Cook became the first European to reconnoiter the Hawaiian Islands when he sailed past the island of Oahu. After his initial landfall, Captain Cook named the islands the "Sandwich Islands," after the Earl of Sandwich. He was killed by the native Hawaiians on his third voyage into the Pacific in February 1779 in a dispute over the taking of a longboat that some natives had stolen.

Eight islands make up the island group: Hawaii is the largest. It has three active volcanoes on it. The second largest island is Maui. It is divided into two volcanic mountain ranges, the Haleakala and Maui Mountains. The third largest island, Kauai is known as the "Garden Isle;" it has lush foliage, valleys and jungles, making it home to several botanical gardens.

Oahu has the highest population in the state and is home to the majority of the residents of Hawaii. Honolulu, the state capital, is on this island. Pearl Harbor is on the Southern side of this island.

Lanai is known for the many pineapples that are grown there. Molokai has the highest percentage of native Hawaiians. It has also been called the "Friendly Isle." With a very small population, the island of Niihau has become known as the "Forbidden Isle." Finally, Kahoolawe, the smallest island is used by the United States military.

In April 1898, when war broke out with Spain, the military significance of Pearl Habor on the island of Oahu, became apparent. The naval base was an intermediary port to the Spanish Philippine islands. President William McKinley signed a joint resolution annexing the islands, much like the manner in which Texas joined the Union in 1845.

The annexation of Hawaii was not only important militarily it was also valuable economically to American business. But Queen Liliʻuokalani stood in the way.

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The United States acquired a strong toehold in Hawaii as a result of the sugar trade. The U. S. government provided liberal terms to the Hawaiian sugar growers, and after the American Civil War, profits began to increase. The sugar industry grew significantly, with American planters investing heavily in Hawaiian agriculture. A turning point in the Hawaiian and U. S. relations arose when Congress approved the Tarriff Act of 1890, which raised import rates on foreign sugar. Hawaiian sugar planters were then being undersold in the American market.

In 1887, members of the Reform Party of Hawaii imposed a new constitution limiting the monarch's constitutional power. The sugar growers, mostly white Americans, knew that if Hawaii were annexed by the United States, the tariff problem would then disappear. However, the Hawaiian throne was passed to Queen Liliʻuokalani, who believed that the heart of Hawaii's problems was foreign interference.

On January 16, 1893, the U. S. Minister to Hawaii, John L. Stevens, under the façade of protecting American lives and property, ordered a detachment of U. S. Marines from the USS Boston to land in Honolulu.

Next, a group of wealthy American sugar planters and businessmen, known as the Committee of Safety, proclaimed the overthrow of the monarchy and established a provisional government. In order to avoid the bloodshed of her people, Queen Liliʻuokalani yielded her authority. The coup against the monarchy was carried out and the Republic of Hawaii was established in 1894 with Sanford B. Dole as its president. The Queen took up residence in Washington, D. C. to lobby for her restoration.

President Benjamin Harrison initially supported the annexation of Hawaii. However, his successor, President Grover Cleveland, opposed the overthrow. Cleveland ordered an investigation, known as the Blount Report, which concluded that the overthrow had been illegitimate and that U. S. forces had played an improper role. He called for the monarchy's restoration. He believed that the U. S. should restore the Queen to her throne. He asked for Dole's resignation from Hawaiian government affairs; Dole ignored the request.

Dole was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to American missionary parents. He was obstinately opposed the rule of Queen Liliʻuokalani and a proponent of western style democratic governance. He supported the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, which was orchestrated by a group of mostly American and European businessmen and politicians with support from U. S. military forces. After the overthrow, he became the president of the provisional government of the Republic of Hawaii, which was established to seek annexation by the United States.

He lived through the periods when Hawaii was a monarchy, a provisional government, a republic and was governor of the territory after it was annexed by the United States in July 1898.

He advocated for the westernization of a Hawaiian government and culture. After the overthrow of Queen Liliʻuokalani, he served as the president of the Republic of Hawaii until his government secured Hawaii's annexation by the United States as a territory.

In May 1894, the U. S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution opposing restoration of the Queen, opposing intrusion into the affairs of the Dole government, and opposing American action that could lead immediately to annexation.

However, spurred by the nationalism aroused by the Spanish-American War, the United States annexed Hawaii in 1898 at the urging of President William McKinley. Hawaii was made into territory in June 1900, and Sanford Dole became its first governor.

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On the evening of December 17, 1903, Zlatex comes rushing home to inform his extraterrestrial partner of the great news. As he enters the house they are renting, he finds her in the kitchen frying some chicken thighs; there are some sliced potatoes and peas in two other pans on the stove.

"Modern inventions are finally here, Yaphet," he tells her.

"What are you talking about?" she replies.

"I heard on the news that earlier today Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first successful powered air flight. Orville flew their Wright Flyer biplane for 12 seconds for 36 and a half meters on the sandy dunes of Kill Devil Hills in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina."

"Oh! That's wonderful."

"They made a total of four flights, the longest for nearly a minute for almost 260 meters. If you'll remember from studying the history of Herth, the same thing happened there and within a few years after that there were commercial flights all over the place."

"Yes, I do remember, Zlatex. From now on, I hope we can travel by air instead of by horse and farmer's wagon. When do you think Earthlings will invent an automotive vehicle?"

"I don't know," Zlatex answers. "But I'll bet it's not too far off. I want to make sure we enter the date and the important info about their flight into the computer before we go to bed later this evening." He pauses. "You do keep SAM, and the rechargeable battery plugged in, don't you? In case we need it."

"Yes, they are both plugged into electrical outlets in the other bedroom," Yaphet responds. "Ever since we had that electrical outage last month, I make sure they are both plugged in, in case we have another one. I don't want to be without electricity if we have to enter something important into the Simpilified Automatic Mainframe computer processor."

Zlatex quickly kisses Yaphet warmly on her lips. Then he yells, "Yahoo! Modern times are finally here!"

The first gasoline powered internal combustion engine was invented by a German engineer, Karl Benz in 1886, the Benz Patent Motorwagen. The gas powered automobile became available to the public soon after 1908 when Henry Ford introduced the Ford Model T. He revolutionized manufacturing by using assembly line production. This method reduced the cost of production, which lowered the cost of the vehicle, making it affordable for the average person.

In February 1912, Yaphet and Zlatex bought a 1912 Cadillac Model 30 automobile with a self-starter. They were both tired of getting around in a horse drawn four wheeled farmer's wagon.

It is Monday April 15, 1912, the two extraterrestrials are now living in Sacramento, having moved there in 1899. Zlatex is a writer for The Sacramento Bee newspaper. He rushes home from work to give his syngeneic counterpart some horrendous news. He finds her in the living room putting the finishing touches on a wicker basket. After she makes about four or five, she brings them to a local hardware store. The proprietor usually buys them and sells them in his store. If he doesn't buy them, then she sells them in a flee market down by San Francisco Bay.

He wraps his arms around his lover and kisses her warmly on her lips. Their tongues dance together. She rubs her hands up and down his back.

When they break the lip lock, she quips, "Thanks, my love. What brought on such a hot greeting from you? What's got you so filled with amorous feelings?"

"I needed to lift my spirits; I wanted to reassure myself that life goes on, in spite of shocking tragedy." He pauses for a moment. Then, "The passenger ship RMS Titanic sunk this morning. Last night she struck an iceberg at 11:40 PM and sank two hours and forty minutes later at 2:20 AM this morning, Atlantic Standard Time.

"Oh! That's terrible, Yaphet answers him. "Did everyone get to their lifeboats safely?"

"No, over fifteen hundred people perished in the icy waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. Most of those were the third class passengers."

In the early 1900s the transatlantic passenger trade was a highly profitable and competitive business. Several shipbuilding companies competed against each other for passengers, from wealthy travelers and vacationers to poor immigrants who wanted to board their crafts for transportation cross the Atlantic Ocean. Often, companies cut corners in order to increase their profits, like lowering the number of lifeboats onboard and exaggerating the alleged "comforts" of third class passage, all to increase the number of commuters that used their ships. It has been reported that Harland and Wolff, the construction company of the Titanic, used inferior steel and rivets, with limited construction in the bulkheads in the building of the Titanic.

White Star Line never "advertised" that Titanic was unsinkable. But the alleged watertight bulkheads motivated Titanic's White Star Line Vice President P. A. S. Franklin to say, "We place absolute confidence in the Titanic. We believe the boat is unsinkable." On the day of her departure from Southampton, one of her deckhands said of her: "Not even God himself could sink this ship."

Confidence in the ship's ability to say afloat was so high that the owners rejected any plans for 64 lifeboats, the number needed to accommodate everyone onboard if she were filled to capacity. At the time that the Titanic sank, there were only twenty lifeboats onboard her, fourteen standard lifeboats, two emergency cutters and four collapsible lifeboats with a total capacity of about 1,100 people, about

half of the number of passengers and crew members onboard.

The RMS Titanic of the White Star Line was the largest and most luxurious luxury liner in the world at the time of her sinking. She was carrying nearly nine hundred crew members and about thirteen hundred passengers. This was only about half of her full passenger capacity of 2,435. It was the ship's maiden voyage, enroute from Southampton, England to New York City.

On April 14th, just before the ocean liner struck the iceberg, she was travelling at a speed of roughly 22 knots, nearly her top speed. Her captain had issued orders to increase her speed earlier that day in order to have the ship reach New York harbor earlier than expected. Thus, expanding her prestige.

She had already received several warnings about sea ice from other ships. One such message came from the British SS Californian. "We are stopped and surrounded by heavy pack ice and a great number of large icebergs." Upon sighting the iceberg, the two lookouts in the Titanic crow's nest immediately notified the bridge. They rang the ships bell and telephoned the officers at the helm to inform them of the dangerous, "Iceberg, right ahead."

Although the helmsman tried to port around the iceberg with a command to turn the Titanic hard-a-port, it was too late. Because of her size, she was unable to turn quickly enough and sustained a glancing blow that buckled some of her starboard seams below the water line. Rivets popped, damaging enough plates below sea level to crack them open. Instantly, six of her fifteen forward compartments began to fill with water.

At the time of the disaster, the sea was unusually calm, and the weather was remarkably clear. The lookouts later reported that had they been issued binoculars, then they might have seen the iceberg sooner and maybe been able to give the bridge an earlier warning, which might have saved the Titanic.

The Titanic had been designed to stay afloat with up to four of her forward compartments flooded, which is what prompted some individuals to claim that she was "unsinkable." But there were flaws in the design of the Titanic.

The hull was sub-divided, or split-up, into fifteen "watertight" compartments, designated A through P, there was no I section. However, they were far from being completely impermeable as the name suggests. Doors were put into each of the compartment bulkheads to allow the passengers and the crew members access from one area to another. This in itself would allow water to flow from one section to another. Thus, as one compartment filled with water, the one next to it would also start to flood. This would continue until enough sections filled with water to sink the Titanic.

Not only that, although the celebrated bulkheads extended well above the water line, they were not sealed at the top. If too many sections were flooded in the front part of the ocean liner, the bow would settle deeper and deeper in the water. Eventually water would spill from one compartment over the top to the next one until the ship sank.

The crew used distress flares and wireless radio dispatches to attract help. They sent out messages, CQD, meaning "Come Quick Disaster" and SOS, meaning "Save Our Souls," to no avail. And "We have struck an iceberg and sinking by the head," as ordered by Captain Edward Smith. But no help came in time.

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In 1894-1895 Guglielmo Marconi invented the wireless telegraph. It became commercially available in 1897. By the early 1910s, most ships, including the Titanic, had a wireless telegraph onboard.

The RMS Carpathia was one of the closest ships to the Titanic. She was less than one hundred kilometers away. However, she was a much slower vessel than the Titanic and, even steaming at her maximum speed of 17 knots, it would take four hours to reach the stricken vessel. She arrived about an hour and a half after the ship sank, and by 09:15 AM on April 15th, she was able to rescue all of the survivors who were in lifeboats.

Another close ship was the was SS Californian, which had warned the Titanic of icebergs a few hours earlier. Fearful that his ship would be caught in a large field of ice, the Californian's captain decided about 11:00 PM to halt for the night and wait for daylight to find a way through the ice field. At 11:30, 10 minutes before the Titanic hit the iceberg, the ship's only radio operator, shut his wireless set down for the night and went to bed.

Among those who perished were Captain Edward Smith, Thomas Andrews, the ships designer, Ida & Isidor Straus, co-owner of Macys Department Stores, millionaire Benjamina Guggenheim, an American businessman and John Jacob Astor, one of the richest men in the world.

Also lost was a relatively famous Neoclassical oil on canvas painting, La Circassienne au Bain, by Merry-Joseph Blondel. It was exhibited at the Louvre in November 1814. It was a life sized work of art and depicted a young naked Circassian woman bathing in a classical antique pool.

Another casualty was a 1912, Renault Coupé de Ville. It was in Titanic's cargo hold and belonged to William Ernest Carter, a wealthy American first class passenger who had purchased the automobile in Europe and was bringing it back to the United States. He was traveling with his wife, Lucile Polk Carter, their two children and a couple of servants. The family and servants survived but the car went down with the luxury liner.

Of those who were saved, only two were notable. The "unsinkable" Margaret "Maggie" Brown, also known as Molly Brown. She was an American socialite and philanthropist. She unsuccessfully urged the crew in her lifeboat to return to the debris field to pick up survivors after the Titanic went under. But the crewman in charge of the lifeboat told her to sit down and shut up.

The other person was White Star Line's chairman and managing director, J. Bruce Ismay. Many believe that he should have gone down with the Titanic along with the captain and Thomas Andrews. Many condemned him and viewed his escape from disaster as dishonorable and an act of cowardice. After the tragedy he lived a reclusive life, withdrawing from public view. Ismay resigned from his position at the White Star Line in 1913, largely due to the ongoing criticism of his action.

However, there were several notable people who canceled their voyage.

The United States ambassador to France, Robert Bacon, had reserved passage aboard the Titanic for himself, his wife and their daughter. But their departure was delayed by the late arrival of Myron T. Hendrick, the new French ambassador. He and his family then sailed back to America on April 20th on the SS France.

David Blair was grateful for White Star Line's corporate procedures for saving his life. He had been appointed as second officer of the Titanic during her sea trials. But the White Star Line management wanted Chief Officer Henry Wilde to have experience aboard the Titanic, which he would someday captain. Wilde was transferred from the RMS Olympic to the Titanic, and Blair was sent to the Olympic. In his rush to get off the Titanic and onto the Olympic, Blair had stored the lookout's binoculars in his cabin but failed to inform anyone aboard the ship of this. Thus, the lookouts had no binoculars when the ship hit the iceberg. Wilde went down with the ship.

Alfred Vanderbilt, a member of the famous Vanderbilt family, and his wife were in Europe. But just before the Titanic was to leave on her maiden voyage, he changed his mind and decided not to board her. His reason for doing so, "too many things can go wrong on a ship's maiden voyage." However, three years later, his luck ran out. He was aboard the RMS Lusitania when a German U-boat torpedoed her off the coast of Ireland. A number of survivors reported that they last saw him offering his life vest to a child and helping the mother fasten it onto him.

Milton S. Hershey was a businessman known for inventing the Hershey Chocolate Bar and building the Hershey Chocolate Company, as well as his many philanthropic activities. Hershey and his wife were booked to travel on the maiden voyage of the Titanic. But they canceled their reservations at the last minute due to business matters requiring Hershey's attention. Instead, they booked passage to New York on the luxury liner SS Amerika.

An astonishing stroke of good luck saved three prominent industrial leaders, Henry Clay Frick, J. P. Morgan, and J. Horace Harding. The three of them are linked in a mystifying way.

Henry Clay Frick, a very wealthy American of the early 20th Century, who had substantial interest in steel manufacturing, initially booked passage for him and his wife aboard the Titanic. But his wife sprained her ankle and had to be admitted into a hospital. They were forced to give up their suite aboard the Titanic.

The suite was given to J. P. Morgan, one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the world. Morgan, with vast banking investments, was forced to alter his travel plans due to business, which lengthened his European stay.

The reservations were once again given to another couple. This time to J. Horace Harding and his wife. Harding was another well-known banker. They were able to get an earlier sailing date aboard the RMS Mauretania. The suite was eventually given to J. Bruce Ismay, the chairman of the White Star Line.

The immediate cause of RMS Titanic's sinking was a collision with an iceberg in the North Atlantic. While she could stay afloat with as many as 4 of her 15 forward compartments filled with water, the impact damaged at least 5 or 6 of them. It was originally believed that the iceberg had caused a long gash in the hull. But after examining the wreck, it was discovered that the collision had produced adjacent hull plates to loosen, which allowed water to flood into the forward sections of the liner. Later examination of retrieved parts of the ship, as well as examination of the blueprints in the builder's archives, led to the belief that low-quality steel or brittle insubstantial rivets most probably contributed to the ship's sinking.

The luxury ocean liner took on water gradually after striking the iceberg at 11:40 PM, April 14th, with its bow sinking lower and lower and with the stern rising higher and higher. At approximately 2:10 to 2:15 AM, the angle of the ship's tilt became extreme. At about 2:18, the immense stress on Titanic's structure caused the hull to fracture, and the ship broke in two at the aft expansion joint, which was located between the third and fourth funnels. The bow section, now filled with water, sank rapidly, settling about 3,800 meters below the surface. After the forward section broke away, the stern righted temporarily. It too then began to fill with water. As soon as enough water filled it, it sank, corkscrewing and twisting, causing more damage, as it plunged to the bottom of the ocean floor. The exact moment of the break is estimated to have occurred just two to five minutes before her final plunge into the icy Atlantic. Then both sections of the ship sank within minutes of each other at 2:20 AM, April 15, 1912.

In the aftermath of the sinking, public inquiries were set up in both the United States and Great Britian. The U. S. inquiry began on April 19, 1912, under the chairmanship of Senator William Alden Smith and the British inquiry started in London under Lord Mersey on May 2, 1912. Both inquiries reached generally similar conclusions: the regulations on the number of lifeboats that ships had to have onboard were inadequate and out of date; the lifeboats had not been properly filled or crewed; Captain Smith had failed to take proper heed of ice warnings; and the collision was the direct result of steaming into a dangerous area at too high a speed. Both inquiries also strongly criticized Captain Lord of the Californian for failing to render assistance to the Titanic.

Subsequent inquiries recommended sweeping changes to maritime regulations, leading to the establishment in 1914 of the International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) which still governs maritime safety today.

The changes in maritime regulations implemented several new safety measures for all ocean going vessels, such as ensuring that more lifeboats were to be provided for all those onboard, and everyone onboard all ocean going liners should have at least two lifeboat seats available to them, one on the starboard side and one on the port side of the ship. Lifeboat drills should be properly carried out as soon as possible once the craft left port and radio equipment on all passenger ships would be manned around the clock. Radio operators were to give priority to emergency calls and hazard messages over private messages.

Zlatex stops his narrative of the events surrounding the sinking of the RMS Titanic. His syngeneic equivalent is crying. He hugs her and tries to comfort her. He too feels sorry for all the innocent people who perished when the ocean liner sank.

But she blurts out, "All those people died for nothing. Just so that when the Titanic would dock in New York earlier than expected, it would give the owners of the ocean liner more prestige and make some more money for them."

"You're right, Yaphet. But let's get positive about it. Look at the bright side. Look at the changes in regulations for ocean traveling transport vessels it helped to create. I believe that it is better to focus on the laws that radio operators on these vessels must now obey."

"I guess you're right, Zlatex," she wipes the tears from her face. "I just wish these procedures had been followed in the first place. It is too bad that far too often people are not inspired to seek more justified paths to walk before a disaster strikes."

"I don't know, Yaphet. Maybe God tries to inspire them, it's just that they are blinded by their greed for money and their desire for fame to see the truth."

They two alien beings then went to the Cathedral of Blessed Sacrament in Sacramental, California to join others who had gathered there to pray for the souls of those who died. After, they went to a seafood restaurant for dinner. But when they got there, they discovered that the bistro was closed. It had a sign on the door telling everyone that they were closed out of respect for those who had died when the RMS Titanic sunk. The sign also asked that everyone pray for the men, women and children who perished when the luxury liner went down.

To be continued...