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flooded. Below the waterline at the level of the engine rooms was a large hole made by an explosion, and portions of the hull bent outward from the blast. The frightened passengers had congregated out on deck, clinging to the rails as the ship tilted more and more, taking on water.
    He could see no other boats within range, no rescuers who might offer any help. He’d have to do this himself.
    The Queen was an old ship, repainted and recommissioned, but Kal-El could see that she should have been scuttled long ago. Two of the white-painted lifeboats had already been set out on the water, whereupon they had immediately sprung leaks, and several passengers now splashed in the water, clinging to life preservers.
    Kal-El let himself drop down, red cape fluttering as he alighted on the bow, where a gray-faced, bearded captain stared at the disaster with red-rimmed eyes. “You seem to be having a few problems, Captain. I’m here to help.”
    Superman’s arrival startled them all. The passengers began cheering so exuberantly that several people lost their balance on the slanted deck and had to clutch their companions to keep from falling overboard.
    The captain straightened, showing a fresh burst of confidence. “Superman, you don’t know how glad we are to see you! I doubt we’ll be afloat for more than another hour. How close are the Coast Guard vessels?”
    “More than an hour away,” he said. His voice became stern. “Why don’t you have enough lifeboats for all these passengers?”
    The bearded man seemed ashamed and embarrassed. “The owners figured it would be a waste of their money to follow the recommendations from the safety inspection, and now these poor passengers will have to pay for it.”
    Kal-El answered with an angry frown. He looked at the ten people bobbing in the water who had been in the sunken lifeboat; they were clinging to life rings. “I take it you don’t have enough life preservers either?”
    “We never expected to sink, sir,” said the first mate, looking sheepish. He was even younger than Jimmy Olsen.
    Kal-El’s brows drew together. “No one expects accidents. That’s why it’s so important to take precautions.” He dashed off and promptly returned carrying two dripping passengers he had fished out of the water from the wallowing lifeboats. After another four trips, he had retrieved all the sodden people from the waves, but they weren’t much safer on the slanted deck of the Star City Queen.
    The crowd hung on his every word. Straightening his horn-rimmed glasses, a balding businessman said, “Even if you fly us to the nearest port, Superman, you can only rescue two of us at a time.”
    “Maybe he can carry one of the lifeboats loaded with people,” a plump woman suggested; then, lowering her voice, she said, “But the boat could fall apart on the way.”
    “You’re thinking too small,” Kal-El said as an idea came to mind, though he wasn’t sure he could manage something so extravagant. “Find a way to secure yourselves here on deck, all of you.”
    “What are you going to do?” the captain called. “Is there a way to save my ship?”
    Another thump came from belowdecks, a secondary explosion in the engine room. A cry of surprise and fear rippled through the crowded passengers. The Star City Queen lurched.
    Kal-El nodded briskly. “Trust me. This will work.” He sprang into the air, shot up high over the listing passenger ship, turned, and dove deep beneath the water.
    As the cold ocean folded around him, his eyes adjusted to the dimness. Above him, Kal-El saw a stream of air bubbles gushing out of the damaged hull as water continued to fill the Star City Queen. The ship gave a stuttering groan like a death rattle.
    Swimming upward, gathering speed and concentrating his strength, Kal-El approached the bottom of the large hull. The passenger ship seemed so enormous, and he was just one small man.
    But he wasn’t just a man. He was Superman .
    Kal-El spread his hands on