Noah's Ark: Contagion (10 page)

“Tell you what,” he said, taking a sharp left and heading for a set of lifts, “your daddy is sleeping and Doctor Lister is very busy. Probably best we don’t disturb him. How would you like to come and visit the bridge instead, see where we drive the ship from?”

“Can’t we wake Daddy up?”

“He really needs his rest. It’s the best way for him to get better. I’ll ask Doctor Lister to give us a call as soon as he wakes up, how does that sound?”

Erica considered this, her head tilted to the side, a finger held to her lips. “Okay, I suppose that would be alright.”

Jake grinned. “Come on,” he said, “I’ll race you to the lift!”

• • •

“Jake! Where’ve you been? Oh!” Lucya exclaimed. “What a gorgeous girl. Hello, what’s your name?”

“Erica. You talk funny!”

“That’s because Lucya is from a long way away,” Jake explained, smiling.

“What, like, another planet?”

“Nearly. I’m from a place called Russia.”

Erica didn’t look impressed. Instead she ran to the front window. With her hands above her head, she pressed her face to the glass, taking in the immense view.

“Jake, where’ve you been? All hell has been breaking loose,” Lucya said in a low voice, keeping an eye on Erica.

“Tell me about it. We’ve lost the fish catch, and there’s been a fire in the kitchens.”

“Yes, and now lunch service is being delayed because of it. People have been calling up for the last half hour wanting to know what’s going on. Ella and Amanda are on their way up here now for an emergency committee meeting. And what’s this about a mystery virus sweeping the ship?”

“‘Sweeping’? That’s a bit of an exaggeration. Three people have gone down with something nasty. Well, maybe four. Grau’s working on it. I’m sure it will be fine. Her dad is one of those affected.” Jake pointed at Erica, who was sliding sideways along the windows, still awestruck by the view. “That’s why she’s up here. I’m looking after her for a while.”

“You? What do you know about children?”

“Nothing. That’s why you’re going to help me.”

Before she could protest, the door opened and Ella and Amanda walked in.

“Hello, ladies,” Jake said amicably.
 

“Captain,” Amanda replied coldly. “We called Doctor Lister to join us, but he informs me that he has placed himself under quarantine.”

“That’s correct. Take a seat, I think I need to fill you in on a rather messy morning.”

• • •

The emergency meeting took about twenty minutes. Silvia was excused; she was too busy to attend. Max also didn’t show up as his new security team were making their presence felt in the restaurants. Despite having somehow managed to get rationed meals out three times a day every day without fail, one late service was enough for people to start kicking up a fuss. Max’s men and women provided a powerful reminder that public order was still to be respected. He had drawn staff exclusively from ex-military sailors from the former crew, and law enforcement professionals from the passenger list.

While they were still discussing the impending food crisis, the phone rang. Dave, who was maintaining the lookout, answered.

“Jake? Doctor Lister. He says it’s urgent.”

Jake took the phone. He was ready to defend his decision to not bring Erica to medical, but Grau had other things to worry about. At the doctors request, he put the call through the speaker system so that the other committee members could hear.

“We have had four more cases of paralysed feet and legs since you left here, Captain. We have no space left. Scott, Barry, and Kiera are all laid out. With Mandy and myself there is simply no more room.”

“What do you think about relocating to the gymnasium again? Like we did after the asteroid?” Jake asked.

“No, that is not where I’m going with this. These people that have been taken ill, they all came from the same place. They all came from deck eight. That is the same deck Scott was from, and Maryse Wernström. Whatever this thing is, it looks like it may have started there. I think we need to close the deck, quarantine it, effective immediately.”

“Doctor Lister, are you sure about this?” Amanda asked. “Closing an entire deck is likely to cause panic. And what about the people stuck in there? How do we provide care? Meals? What about families split across decks?”

“I understand your concerns, but these are things we can worry about later. We have to close that deck, right now.”

“Grau, people will be in the restaurants at this time of day. Even if there’s no food being served they’ll still be there trying to get fed. This will just be a case of shutting the door after the horse has bolted.” Jake was rubbing his forehead.

“So we do it silently, we do not announce it. Send Max and a team to man the stairs. Prevent the lifts from stopping on that deck. Anyone coming back is allowed in, nobody is allowed out. They will need masks, the security guards.”

“No, I’m sorry,” Emma interjected. “You can’t just stop people leaving the deck and not tell them why. And besides, if they are in danger of getting ill, they have a right to know. We have a duty to tell them! And, Doctor Lister, if you’re stuck down there in medical, who is going to help these people on eight?”

“She’s right, Grau,” Jake sighed. “We have to tell people. But we have to be discrete. We put out a call telling all deck eight residents to return to their cabins as a matter of urgency. Max stops anyone leaving. When we’ve got them all back, or as many as we can, we announce the quarantine. And we play it down, insist it’s just precautionary.”

“People will still panic,” Lucya said. “I would if it was me.”

“It’s a risk we have to take,” Emma said. The others nodded solemnly.

“Our new nurse, Mandy, and I will bring the existing patients up to deck eight. We will use Mrs Wernström’s suite; it is big, and empty. We will move the patients now, using the crew lift by medical. If anyone else gets sick, send them to deck eight, suite 845.”

“And if anyone gets sick with anything other than this mystery thing?” Amanda asked. “If we send them to you, we’re possibly condemning them to something worse.”

“That’s just something we’ll have to deal with on a case-by-case basis,” Jake said. “In another twelve hours or so we’ll be entering the Scottish lochs and the
Ambush
will surface. Surgeon Lieutenant Vardy will be accessible again, so we won’t be entirely without medical support.”

It looked like everyone was in agreement on what had to be done. Jake thanked Grau and hung up the phone. So far the doctor seemed to have forgotten about Erica, and he was keen for it to stay that way. He had no desire to explain himself in front of the rest of the committee.

• • •

Martine Jacobs and her two children, Oliver and Chloe, set off towards the lift.

“When are we going to eat, Mum? I’m starving!” Oliver dragged his heels along the carpet. His sister grumbled in agreement.

“You’re not starving. How many times have I told you? You eat three meals a day, you can’t be starving just because one is late. Try not eating for a week, then you’ll know what starving really means.”

“A week? Is it true then Mummy?” Chloe looked shocked. “Was the fire true? How will we live with no food for a week?”

“No, no, that’s not what I meant. I meant…oh, never mind. Of course it’s not true. There wasn’t any fire, that’s just a silly rumour.”

“What’s a rumour?”

“It’s when lots of people start believing something that isn’t true.”

“You mean like when everyone started saying those things about you and Uncle Barry?”

Martine turned a shade of scarlet. “Yes, that sort of thing. Right, who’s going to press the button for the lift?”

“Me, me!”

The children pushed and shoved each other, running the last few metres. Oliver won, knocking his smaller sister out of the way at the last second. She folded her arms and began to sulk.

The three of them waited in silence, looking up at the digital display above the brushed-steel sliding doors. It counted upwards: 5…6…7…9.

“It forgot to stop!” Oliver protested. He pushed the call button repeatedly. “Stupid lift! Come back here.” The number refused to change. Oliver rubbed his stomach. “It’s doing it on purpose, it knows how hungry I am!”

“You’re silly, lifts don’t know anything!” Chloe giggled, her momentary tantrum forgotten.

“Come on you two, we’re not waiting around all day for a broken lift, we’ll take the stairs.”

Martine led the way.

“Aw, I hate the stairs!”

“Me too!”

The trio made the short trip to the centre of the ship, the nearest staircase that would take them down to their allocated restaurant.

“Who’s that man, Mummy?” Chloe asked.

“I don’t know. Walk behind me, darling, you too, Oliver.”

“Why?”

“Just do as you’re told!”

The burly man wasn’t the only thing blocking their route. The stairways formed an intersection between the parallel corridors that ran the length of deck eight. This intersection had been sealed off with plastic sheeting.

The man turned to face Martine. “Sorry, madam, stairs are currently out of bounds.”

“What do you mean out of bounds? And why are you wearing that ridiculous mask? It’s very hard to understand you.”

“Can’t say any more right now, madam, but the stairs are no-go. Please return to your cabin with your children and await further instructions.”

Martine felt her cheeks flush red. Oliver’s head poked out from behind her. He saw the white mask and gasped. She pushed him back. “What’s going on? Why aren’t the lifts working? Why are you shutting us in?”

“Madam, please. For your own safety, return to your cabin. The lifts have been temporarily disabled. The captain will issue instructions once everyone is back on deck.”

“What? What does that mean, back on deck? Just this deck, or all decks? Is it just us? I need to go and see my friend, on deck two. He’s very important, he works here. And my children need to eat!”

“Madam, I shan’t tell you again, please return to your cabin or I will have to have you taken there by force.”

“Mummy, I’m scared!” Chloe whimpered.

Martine stared at the man. He stared back, his hand on a radio at his belt. It was clear she wasn’t going to get anywhere with him. “Come on kids, let’s get back. The restaurant is still closed.”

“But Mum! I’m starving!”

“Come on, last one back has to clean the bathroom!”

The challenge worked, and the children charged off at top speed, bumping each other into walls along the way. Martine turned back to the guard. “You can’t imprison us here like this. I’m calling the captain, and the committee. What’s your name? I’m reporting you!”

“My name is Rob Dobson, security officer. The committee sent me here, they closed the deck, madam.”

“Well you haven’t heard the last of me, Mr Dobson.” She turned and stormed off, unsure who she was most annoyed with, the guard for his attitude, or the committee for taking such strange actions. She made it almost all the way back to her cabin before losing her balance and toppling over.

“Mummy? Mummy! Are you alright? Get up Mummy! What’s wrong?”

“It’s fine darling, it’s fine. It’s just…my feet. Mummy’s got a little problem with her feet.”

Eleven

“C
APTAIN
N
OAH
, I think you need to see this.” Dave turned from his lookout position, handing his binoculars to Jake. “On the horizon, twenty degrees to port.”

Jake adjusted the heavy field glasses, bringing the image into sharp focus. They had been sailing past the Outer Hebrides for hours, the low-lying land covered in the now familiar grey ash. Now mainland Scotland was coming into view in the distance. But that wasn’t what Dave had been interested in. “Is that…it looks like…alright, what do you think it is?”

“If I had to guess, I’d say it was a life raft.”

Lucya looked up. “Like the one we found yesterday? Are you sure?”

“It does look like it could be a raft,” Jake agreed. “Difficult to tell from here.”

Lucya put on a pair of headphones and started working her communications console, twisting dials and punching numbers into a computer terminal. Deep in concentration, her face turned to a frown. “I’m not picking up any distress signals, nothing at all.”

“Could we have a problem with the radio?” Jake asked.

“No. I mean, I’m seeing the
Ambush
’s transponder, and our own, but there’s nothing more than that. No raft. But you’re right, the radar is seeing something tiny ahead. Hang on, talking of the
Ambush
, they’re calling now.”

“Put them through the speaker.”

 
There was a crackle and a hiss, then Captain Coote’s voice boomed loud, filling the bridge.

“Good afternoon,
Arcadia
, Coote here! Listen, we’re seeing what looks like another raft on the port side.”

“We see it too, Captain, although this one doesn’t seem to be broadcasting a distress signal.”

“Indeed not. However, it is not much of a detour. I believe we should investigate.”

“Agreed. If there’s anyone in there, they need our help.”

“We will surface the
Ambush
. As we’re approaching the lochs, it’s not going to make much difference to our sailing time. Perhaps you would be good enough to have your men re-establish the connecting walkway? Mine will be standing by to assist.”

“Of course, Captain.”

• • •

Jake left Erica in the capable and delighted hands of Lucya. The
Ambush
was on the surface once more, and the engineers were in the final stages of hooking up the gangway. By the time he got to the deck two exit, the raft was almost upon them. The two vessels had once again slowed to a crawl as they negotiated their passage carefully, scooping up the raft exactly as before.

“Hi, Jake,” a voice called from the conning tower.

“Eric, good to see you. How has life been underwater?”

“Oh you know, same old same old. Coote’s on his way up. We’re the welcoming party again.”

Jake made his way to the middle of the ramp, watching the sea pass beneath his feet. He could see Atlantic salmon darting about just beneath the surface, and felt immediately hungry. He hoped that the lace makers and crocheters who were repairing the fishing net weren’t caught up in the deck eight quarantine. There were some nice cabins up there, and many of those who had been assigned to work teams had been reallocated rooms on that deck.