‘Oh Jay-zus, no… H-help us.’

‘You’ll die, Liam.’ The man smiled again. ‘And that makes you perfect.’

‘P-perfect?’

The man took several steps forward, wading waist-deep into the water towards Liam.

‘Tell me, do you want to live?’

‘What?… Is th-there another w-way out?’

The lights in the passageway flickered out in unison. Then a moment later came back on.

‘Sixty seconds until she buckles, Liam. Not long now.’

‘Is th-there another w-way out of — ?’

‘If you come with me, Liam,’ he said, holding out a hand, ‘there is anotherway. You’ll live an invisible life. You’ll exist as a phantom, never quite in thisworld of ours. Never able to make new friends, never able to find love.’ The mansoftened that with a sympathetic smile. ‘You’ll learn about things that… well… that can ultimately lead to madness if you let itmess with your mind. Some people choose death.’

‘I w-want to live!’

‘I must warn you… I’m not offering you your life, Liam. I’m offering you a way out, that’s all.’

Liam grabbed hold of the candelabra of a flickering wall light and pulled himself backwardsup the slanting passage, his feet finding the floor once more. A shuddering groan rippledaround them — deafening.

‘She’s dying, Liam. The Titanic’s back is goingto break in just a few seconds. If you believe in God, you might wish to joinhim now. If you stay here, I assure you, it’ll all be over very quickly foryou.’

Drowning. It was Liam’s worst nightmare — for as farback as he could remember. He’d never learned to swim because of his terrible fear ofwater.

Liam looked up at the man, looking at his face for the first time: deep sad eyes surroundedby wrinkles of age. And then a thought occurred to him.