Текст книги "Noah's Ark: Survivors"

Автор книги: Harry Dayle

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Twenty

MAX MOOTING WAS not happy. He had always been loyal to Ibsen and Hollen, and now suddenly he had to answer to some young upstart. It was true, he thought to himself as he roamed the ship, that young Noah was coping pretty well considering he had been thrown in the deep end. He just wasn’t convinced that he truly had the new captain’s ear. Young men always seemed to have something to prove, to show the world that they could go it alone. They were so often too proud to ask for help, or accept it when offered. He’d lost more than one soldier that way, men who with a bit more experience and training would have been fine officers. Sent to war too soon and too young, their naivety and ego were their downfall. Would Jake suffer the same fate? He wasn’t ready to be captain, hadn’t got the formal training, and much more importantly, didn’t have the hours at sea. If Jake screwed up, then they were all in trouble.

What worried Max even more was that he could tell he wasn’t the only one who had concerns about the leadership on board. Everywhere he went he heard whispers, gossip, chit chat. He had ignored the captain’s request and was not wearing uniform. He viewed that order as meant for the others. It wasn’t realistic to expect him to blend in and gauge the mood if he stood out as some kind of policeman, or even a crewman. So the security uniform had been ditched in his cabin, and he was now clad in black jeans, black shirt, and a black leather jacket. In his civvies, he went where passengers congregated. Most of the bars were busy, despite being closed. Groups of people packed around tables, discussing whether or not the world really had ended. He noted with mild interest how like minded people somehow seemed to congregate. One bar had a particularly high concentration of conspiracy theorists. He sat with them a while as they talked at length about how the final broadcast had been a hoax, CGI effects and green screen work. They’d convinced themselves that this was part of the cruise experience, that they would soon sail into harbour where their families and loved ones would greet them with cries of “surprise!”

A cafe off the Palm Plaza appeared to be the favoured spot for the doom mongers. Generally a bit older than the conspiracy theorists—more middle aged—they were chewing over the depressing details of how exactly everyone was going to die through starvation. That was, if there wasn’t an outbreak of some disease first, possibly even an alien space-disease dispersed by the tail of the asteroid.

The happiest groups had been the older folk, the pensioners. Maybe it was because they had for the most part already lived long fulfilling lives that they seemed more carefree. Their main cause of concern was the “young people” and what a shame it was that their lives were going to be cut short. The largest group looked like they were enjoying themselves so much that Max wasn’t sure at first if they understood what was happening.

“Oh yes dear, the world has ended. But what can you do?” said one purple haired old lady when he asked her if she knew why they weren’t moving, why there were no lights, and why the cafe in which they were sitting was shut. “It’s terrible of course, some of my friends have lost their entire families back home. But I say if we’ve been granted a few days more, then let’s enjoy them! Would you like to join in our card game? We’re playing canasta.”

Max said that yes, why not, he would play some cards to pass the time of day.

The real concern came later when he wandered into the cinema. It was so dark he tripped over the first row of seats, causing the voices he had heard from outside to stop talking abruptly. When his eyes eventually adjusted to the dark he saw that a group of about twenty people, almost all young men, were seated at the back. Nobody spoke another word until he left. Now the question was how to find out what was going on. It was possible there was an entirely innocent reason for the men to be huddled in a dark room to hold their conversation. Possible, but highly unlikely. Max had a nose for trouble, and this didn’t smell good at all.

His first thought was to try and listen from the projection room, which was accessible without going through the cinema’s auditorium. That was locked, but Max had a master key that allowed him access to most areas of the ship. He entered quietly, taking care not to fall over any equipment this time. He’d never been in there before, and had expected to find a huge projector, maybe some reels of film. Being a modern ship though, the cinema was fitted with state of the art digital projectors. The projection room was really just a control room with a table, a couple of computers, and some servers sat in a rack in the corner. He tip toed to the front where there was a small window that overlooked the auditorium and its impressively wide screen. The window was triple glazed. The whole room had been fully soundproofed. Cursing under his breath, he left the room and found a place where he could sit discreetly watching the door of the cinema without drawing attention to himself. He hated stakeouts, but knew what had to be done.

• • • • •

“So you understand why it has to be done like this, right?” Flynn said.

“I don’t know, I still think my way could work.”

“Melvin, you’re smart, think about what would happen. If you want this to work, you’ve got one shot at it. By all means start tough, but be realistic about what we can achieve so soon. Rome wasn’t built in a day. We must take our time, do this properly or not at all.”

“Flynn’s right, you should listen to him,” a thin man with huge hair added.

“Thank you Clayton,” Flynn said.

“I guess…I need some time to think about this,” Melvin said. He stood up and paced around in the aisle between the seats, kicking at the floor.

The other men in the cinema whispered among themselves.

“Sure, take some time, but not too long or we’ll miss our best chance. It’s getting late. If we leave it too long there will only be a night watch on the bridge. When we show our hand, it has to be with the captain present.” Flynn looked the mobile phone in his hand and smiled. No signal, no surprise. There was no regular service this far north even before the asteroid, only that provided by the ship itself, and the power cut had killed that. He wasn’t hoping to make any calls though, he was looking at the picture he’d snapped earlier. The picture that was going to move his plan to the next phase.

In the dim light of the screen, Melvin’s lanky frame cast a long shadow over the seats on the other side of the aisle. It made him look even taller than he already was.

“Okay, we’ll do it your way,” Melvin said.

Flynn smiled to himself. This was going to work out just fine.

Twenty-One

BARRY NICKELSON HAD an office down on deck two, round the back of the casino. Jake’s only dealings with the man had been in the crew bar. The sailing crew, responsible for the operation of the boat itself, and the hotel staff, who looked after passengers and passenger facilities, had little interaction. The crew bar was the one place where these two worlds collided. Barry, being very much a people person, saw it as his personal mission to get all staff on board together as often as possible. This involved organising themed party nights in the crew bar. There was dancing, singing, and plenty of drinking. The parties had been responsible for several romances, and more one night stands than anyone would care to count. Barry, believing in a hands-on management style, somehow managed to do a bit of DJing, as well as serving drinks. It was with little hope of an answer than Jake tapped on his office door.

“Yes?” a voice called from the other side.

Jake pushed it open and walked in. The room was sparsely furnished with a small desk, a chair either side, and a filing cabinet in the corner. It was not what Jake expected. Barry must have sensed that as he watched him look around.

“Jake, my man. How’s it going? Huh, not very impressive is it. If I’d known I’d be receiving the acting captain, I would have decorated!”

“It’s fine, yeah, fine.” Jake smiled, offered his hand, which seemed to confuse Barry.

“Oh, yeah, okay dude!” He shook the hand vigorously. “So, end of the world. What about that then? And even more amazing, you’re the captain now! What happened to Ibsen?”

Jake winced at the mention of the name. “He…he didn’t survive. Neither did Johnny Hollen. So you’re stuck with me for now.”

“Huh! Get that, that’s a shame. I liked Johnny, he was a top man. Ibsen’s no great loss though. Sit down dude, sit down. So, what’s up? What are we doing?”

The two men took a chair each.

“You have one of the biggest teams on this boat, Barry. Between the bar staff, the casino, the theatre performers and the sports trainers, that’s a lot of people you’re responsible for. And the thing is, right now they’re all out of work. This ship is on hold, while we figure out what to do. Your team, and the passengers, once everyone starts getting over the shock of what’s happened, it’s going to be tough to keep everyone happy. There are going to be people with different views on what we should do, and keeping order is going to be more and more important.”

“What are we going to do?” Barry’s mask slipped, just a bit. His voice betrayed how hard he was fighting to keep it together.

“Until we know otherwise, we assume that the world didn’t end just because that broadcast stopped. For all we know, there could be dozens of northern countries, territories and states that survived. But we have to be realistic too. We can’t go sailing off visiting every continent looking for a safe haven. We all saw what that asteroid could do, it left entire countries flattened. We don’t have the fuel to search indefinitely. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that morale seems to be high right now, because we survived, against the odds. But that feeling is going to fade, and reality is going to bite. I need your team to do what they do best. I need them to entertain, to make people feel good about themselves, to keep them happy. And most of all they need to show that Pelagios Lin is still in control. It’s not exactly situation normal, but neither is it a lost cause. If we make a show of the fact we are confident and in control, it will help to maintain the peace.”

“I don’t know Jake, we got hit hard. A lot of people dead. You can’t expect my guys to pick themselves up, dust themselves down, and carry on like nothing happened.”

“No, and I’m not saying they should. This isn’t about being in denial about what happened. It’s about staying positive, saying ‘yes, the situation is bad, but we’re not going to lay down and die’. It’s what my dad would call wartime spirit. This is a critical time. If everything just stops, the passengers will rebel. If we show them that we’re not beaten, that we’re tackling this thing head on, then they’re more likely to follow our lead.”

Neither man spoke. Barry’s seemed to be weighing up Jake’s suggestion. Finally he came to a decision.

“I guess it’s worth a try. What’s the worst that can happen, right?”

“Right. I think. Can you brief your team?”

“Yes, but I think it would be better coming from you dude.”

Jake had no intention of speaking to more people than he had to. All he really wanted to do was get back to the bridge and delegate everything via the telephone. On the other hand, shouldn’t he practice what he was preaching? Lead by example?

“I’d love to, but I can’t, not straight away. I have too much to do as it is. Besides, I don’t have your charisma Barry. Nobody can motivate a group like you can.”

“You’re such a creep. But I understand. I’ll get on it.”

“Thanks Barry. Now, two more things. Firstly, can you join me in the temporary morgue in the morning? There are a number of unknowns down there, some of them will be crew. I need help identifying them. Let’s say oh-seven hundred hours?”

Barry pulled a face.

“You know nearly everyone who works on this ship. If there was anyone else, I would ask,” Jake pleaded.

“Okay. But I might have a few drinks first, to help me get through it.”

“All food and drink is rationed.”

“Not my personal supply, and I’m not telling where it’s hidden!”

“Fair enough. But I’ll find out later. Now, one other thing, have you seen Tania Bloom anywhere?”

“Tania? No, not for days. But if I do, I’ll ask her to go see you.”

Jake got up to leave, and as he did so there was a jolt, a noise like a huge washing machine spinning up, and a vibration. With a flicker, the lights in the office came on.”

• • • • •

The screen popped into life and Lucya let out a sigh of relief. In front of her were a disarray of pages, scribbled notes, folded navigational charts, and a couple of reference books. Finding the nearest and most northerly permanently inhabited settlement had been easy. Calculating the course taking into account currents, the shifting ice, and the maximum fuel efficiency had taken some doing. She was reasonably happy with her results, but seeing a computer resurrect itself filled her with joy. She grabbed the topmost page of scribbles, and the biggest chart, and put them down next to the navigation terminal. There was still a bit of time left before Jake and the others were due back, and she wanted to make absolutely sure her calculations were correct.

No sooner had her fingers alighted on the keyboard, than there was a bang at the door.

“Who is it?” she called without looking up.

“We want to see the captain,” came the response.

“Who’s ‘we’?”

“We represent those who have not been given a voice.”

Lucya stopped what she was doing, stood up slowly, and walked very quietly to the door. It was locked, but there was an extra security bar that was supposed to be used in case of piracy attacks or terrorism. As gently as she could, she slid the bar into place.

Three more bangs.

“We demand to speak with the captain now. We aren’t going anywhere until that happens.”

“The captain isn’t here.”

“Bullshit.”

“If he was here, he would probably be telling you to leave. Most likely in stronger terms than that. You’re wasting your time. He’s not here.”

“Then we’ll wait.”

“Shit,” Lucya muttered to herself. “Shit, shit shit. Where are you when I need you Max?”

She briefly considered calling for Jake over the PA, but dismissed the idea quickly. Those outside would hear the call and would be waiting for hm. She didn’t know what they had in mind when they got to see the captain, but from their tone she was sure it wouldn’t be good.

She looked around the bridge, making sure that she was safe. The broken windows had been covered up with high strength plastic sheeting by a team from engineering. The hatch for the fire escape was bolted shut from the inside. There was no possibility of using it, it couldn’t be locked from the outside, and leaving it open would compromise the bridge. Nobody could get in. The only problem was she couldn’t get out. She picked up the telephone and started calling round the heads of department.

• • • • •

As he was already down on deck two, Jake figured he should make the effort to go down one more flight of stairs and congratulate Martin on getting the generator going again. He walked into the engine room to see a group of three engineers high-fiving each other.

“Captain on deck!” one of them shouted upon spotting him.

“Yes yes, you can dispense with all that. So, the generator’s going? That’s excellent news, well done.”

“It was harder than we thought, that ash had fused together in the confined space, and when it cooled it went rock hard. We had to chisel some of it out, and even now there’s some still in there, but we made good time,” a short tubby man in greasy overalls said, beaming. Jake thought that he couldn’t possibly have got into the funnel himself, but didn’t say anything.

“Make sure Martin lets you guys get some rest soon, you’ve earned it.”

“Taking over down here too, are you?” Martin appeared from behind a mass of pipes.

“No, of course not Martin. Just saying what a great job you and your team have done. What about the engine, is she ready to start?”

“I’d like to run some diagnostics before we do that,” Martin said. “She’s probably fine, but we need to check the cooling intake. She’ll need the preheaters on too, with the generator out for so long she’ll be cold. When we start her up it will have to be done gently. I hope you’re not expecting a fast getaway.”

“Far from it. Take all the time you need, as long as we can move tomorrow morning.”

Martin nodded, and disappeared back the way he had come.

“So,” Jake said looking around, “I don’t suppose any of you chaps have seen Tania Bloom around have you?”

Three heads shook in unison.

Twenty-Two

MAX SLIPPED BACK down the corridor. He’d followed the men without being seen, heard their demand at the door to the bridge. He knew he shouldn’t have listened to Jake, should have kept the rifle handy. He wondered if he could pull the same trick as earlier and use the bridge fire escape to go and get it back. The trouble was that pesky Russian girl was in there. She went all doe eyed every time the captain was around, probably wouldn’t stand for him using a gun when lover boy had asked him not to. No, the captain wanted things sorted out by peaceful means, so the captain could sort them out himself. He just had to find him.

• • • • •

“He was here, but that was a while ago, I haven’t seen him since.”

“Okay, thanks Martin.”

Lucya sank into her chair. She’d called everyone she could think of, and every time she’d either just missed him, or he hadn’t been there at all.

Three bangs at the door.

“We’re still here. If you’ve been lying to us and the captain is in there, there’s going to be trouble.”

“I am trying to locate the captain!” Lucya was losing patience with these people. “If you are not happy about that they perhaps you should return to your cabins and have a lie down!”

• • • • •

Max called on various areas of the ship and was met with the same responses Lucya had encountered.

“You missed him.”

“Haven’t seen him.”

“Wouldn’t know what he looked like if I did see him!”

He decided all he could do was wait until twenty two hundred hours when everyone was due to reconvene on the bridge. If he waited further up the corridor he had a chance of intercepting Jake before he got there, and could at least warn him there may be trouble ahead. In the meantime, he fancied a cigarette. Now the power was back on he couldn’t risk smoking inside, the detectors would probably start blaring out their horrible high pitched squark. He pushed open a door and stepped out onto the deck thirteen stern terrace.

“Well now isn’t that just grand,” he said. “I spend half an hour looking all over for you, and here you are taking it easy outside.”

“Hey Max. what’s up? I was taking five minutes quiet time before going down to the bridge.”

“Right. About that. You’re not going to get much quiet time on the bridge, there’s a hoard of angry passengers waiting for you.”

“What? Who let them in?”

“No no, not on the bridge. But they’re in the coridoor waiting to ambush you when you arrive. I followed them up from a little meeting they held in the cinema. I can’t be sure, but I’d say mutiny is on the cards.

Jake laughed. Max didn’t look impressed.

“Mutiny? Really? Have you been watching too many films Max?”

“This isn’t a laughing matter. We knew this was a possibility, and now it’s happening.”

“Well then we’d better go and see what they want,” Jake said, and strode off towards the door.

Twenty-Three

“GENTLEMAN,” JAKE SAID as he approached the group camped out in front of the bridge entrance. “Oh, and lady, excuse me.”

There were twelve of them in all, eleven men and a woman. All were in their late twenties or early thirties. Only one was standing, and he appeared to be the ringleader because the others all looked to him for a response when Jake spoke.

“I am Melvin Sherwood, and I am the representative for the unrepresented, the voice of the unheard, spokesperson for the silent majority.”

“I think that means he’s in charge of this rabble,” Max said loudly.

“A pleasure to meet you Mr Sherwood. I’m Jake Noah, captain of the ship.” Jake offered a hand, but it was ignored.

“What happened to Captain Ibsen?”

“Shall we discuss this inside?” he indicated the door.

“Jake, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Max said. “Shall I disperse this crowd so we can get on with business?”

“Nonsense. Sorry, Mr Sherwood, this is Max Mooting, he’s head of security.”

Max raised his eyes to the ceiling. So much for keeping a discreet eye on goings on. Sherwood didn’t quite know what to say, the wind had been taken out of his sails. He’d come expecting confrontation, prepared for a fight, and was met with a young captain being very reasonable. But it was early days, he thought. The captain hadn’t heard their demands yet.

“Lucya, could you open the door please,” Jake called.

There was a clunk, the noise of sliding metal, the click of a lock, and the door swung open.

“Please, let’s go inside.”

The group scrambled to their feet and rushed onto the bridge. Sherwood joined them, followed by Jake and Max, who closed the door behind them, but left it unbolted.

“I’m afraid we don’t have seating for everyone,” Jake said looking around at the sparsely furnished control room. “We’re not used to having such large groups up here. So, if you don’t mind standing? Now, how can I help, what’s this all about?”

Once again the assembled passengers looked to Melvin as their spokesperson. He glanced around at the expectant group, and began his barely rehearsed pitch.

“In the last twelve hours this ship has not moved. We have been told that food and water are to be rationed with immediate effect. We have spent most of the day without power or light, and no effort has been made to inform us why.”

“That’s not true!” Lucya interjected.

Jake held up a hand. “Lucya, please, let him continue.”

“We all saw the television report of the asteroid, we all have friends and families back home. We need to go back, to see what has happened to them. We cannot sit here and wait to die. Passengers outnumber staff by two to one, yet these decisions have been made without the involvement of any passengers. The minority are deciding for the majority. This cannot continue. We are here to take over control of the ship. I will assume the role of captain, and your staff will answer to me.”

“I see,” Jake said. “You understand, of course, that our priority since the asteroid passed over has been to save lives by making the ship safe, and by preserving our resources? You are quite right, passengers views should be taken into consideration going forward,” Jake winced as he heard himself use the phrase, he had always hated management speak. “Am I to assume you have been elected to the position of spokesperson by a majority of passengers?”

“You’re not listening to me Mr Noah. This isn’t about taking our views into consideration. This is about redistributing authority. We’re taking over. You’re done here. This ship is going home.”

Max took a step towards Sherwood, but Jake glared at him to back off.

“Mr Sherwood, this ship is the property of Pelagios Line until evidence says otherwise. Myself and my crew are employees of Pelagios Line, and are responsible for the safety of the Spirit of Arcadia and her passengers, our customers. Who knows, perhaps the world has ended and there is no more Pelagios Line, or shareholders, or indeed anyone else, but until someone can prove that to me, nothing has changed. I’m willing to listen to the views of passengers through a properly elected spokesperson, which it seems, as you ignored my question, you are not. Now if that is all, I have a lot to discuss with my crew, so if you’d like to return to the public areas of the ship?”

“We thought you might react this way,” Sherwood said, a nasty grin spreading across his face. “So we came prepared. We aren’t taking no for an answer.” He turned to look at the woman in the group, nodded to her. She fished a mobile phone from her pocket, passed it to Melvin. He pushed a button, slid a finger across the screen, held it out for Jake to see.

“No!” Jake said. “Where is she? What have you done with Tania?”

• • • • •

Tania Bloom opened her eyes and looked around as best she could. Her hands and feet were bound, her knees were pressed against her chest and more binding held them in place. A woman’s scarf had been folded and tied in a gag over her mouth. Not that anyone would hear her scream if she tried. Not up here in one of the luxury suites; they were soundproofed.

She was in the bottom of a wardrobe. Not many people would have been able to recognise the precise wardrobe if they were in the same position, but Tania knew every cabin and every suite on board like the back of her hand. She was a hands-on kind of manager, and regularly inspected the work of her housekeeping team. Her spot-checks were legendary. She had the ability to find dust in places no human should ever have to look. Even now, bound and gagged in the bottom of a cupboard, she couldn’t help but notice a cobweb between the back wall and the hanging rail.

• • • • •

“I said, what have you done with Tania?” Jake repeated.

“She’s safe. Well, as safe as you can be when you’re tied up. She’s with the passengers now. It’s an equitable swap. We’ve taken one of your senior staff, you get to take a passenger. That would be me. Like I said, I’m taking charge.”

“You’re doing no such thing son,” Max said. In two giant paces he was behind Sherwood, clamping the young man’s hands in his own.

“Tell your ogre to unhand me.”

“Tell us where Tania is,” Jake said.

“This is very simple,” said Sherwood. “My people are holding Mrs Bloom. They are under strict instructions that if they don’t get confirmation I’m in charge by ten thirty, they are to kill her. Then they will abduct another of your crew members, and we’ll start again. Now, unhand me.”

“You animal!” Lucya spat the words in his face. “You piece of shit!”

Three of the rebel passengers surrounded her, restraining her hands. She kicked and screamed until they forced her to the ground.

“She can’t be far, we’ll search the entire ship if we have to, but we’ll find her.” Jake’s mind was racing while he spoke.

“Really? You’ve got about forty five minutes to do it. Of course you would have had longer, but you kept us waiting out there. That’s less than five minutes per deck. Think you can find her in time?”

“Max, let him go.”

“What? You’re not going to listen to this jumped up little idiot are you?”

“Tania’s life could be at stake.”

“You think he’s going to let her go? Come on, think about it. You give him what he wants, he can’t let her go, he knows what we’ll do to him afterwards,” he glared at Sherwood as he spoke.

“Your ogre isn’t as stupid as he looks,” Sherwood said. “We have no intention of letting her go. Like I said, an equitable exchange. She becomes a passenger, I become crew. Well, captain. Unless you refuse, in which case she becomes polar bear food. Did the polar bears survive do you think?”

“I can’t relinquish control of this vessel. Maybe we can come to some sort of compromise.”

“Oh for goodness sake, have you gone insane?” Max propped himself up against a console, his forehead in his hand.

Melvin said nothing. He was thinking hard. So far everything was happening exactly like Flynn had said it would. Now he had to decide. He wanted to hold out, to force their hand, to take charge of the ship. But Flynn had been adamant; they would never let him take control he’d said, it was out of the question. They would take the risk of losing Tania and lock down the boat, they would have emergency procedures for that. He had to play the long game, to get a foot in the door. That was the true purpose of the mission. But he couldn’t be seen to give in too easily.

“The passengers have a right to be heard,” Sherwood said cooly.

“And I agree with you,” Jake said. “But this isn’t the way to go about it. There is a chain of command, procedure to follow. I cannot hand over control to a passenger. But I could appoint a passenger representative to join the senior officers when we are making any important decisions.”

“Not just for meetings. There should be a passenger representative on the bridge at all times. Overseeing the operation of the ship, with the power to veto any decision.”

“Okay, we could have a passenger here all the time, but no power of veto. There are international rules and regulations that must be respected. The captain has the final say,” Sherwood was shaking his head, Jake continued regardless, “but the passenger representative will have an equal voice among the senior crew.”

“We can quit saying passenger representative, that will be me. And when I am not on the bridge, one of my deputies.” He looked at his fellow passengers, three of whom were still restraining Lucya.

“You haven’t been elected. There are nearly two thousand passengers on this ship. How many have given their support for this?” Jake raised an eyebrow.

“We don’t have time to ask them all. But I have many supporters.”

“Alright. You get a seat on the bridge. But we’re going to be holding a census tomorrow. We can ask the passengers to vote for a representative at the same time.”

Melvin hadn’t anticipated this, and he wasn’t sure how to react. He certainly couldn’t take the risk of any kind of election, not yet. He needed to prove himself first. He decided to stay on the attack, it had worked quite well so far.

“Yes, there should be an election,” he said. “But it will be for captain of the ship. We set sail tomorrow, we return to port to find out what has happened. If, as the television suggests, the asteroid has destroyed everything, then Pelagios Line is no longer the owner of this ship, and the rules no longer apply, right?”

“That would be the case, yes,” Jake agreed.

“So I will be the representative until we know what has happened. And then, we will hold an election to see who will be the captain. These are my terms. You now have about forty minutes, but it shouldn’t take that long to decide.”