Noah's Ark: Contagion (2 page)

Jake looked back at HMS
Ambush
, the sleek black form of the Royal Navy nuclear submarine cutting its way through the water beside them. Its crew had saved his life, and now it was going to help save mankind.

• • •

“Daddy, why did the ship stop again?”

“They were just testing the new engines, angel. We’ll be moving again soon, I promise.”

The seven-year-old looked at her father, her head tilted to one side, a face that expressed a level of scepticism usually reserved for someone many times her age.

“Are you
sure
? You said that before, and we didn’t go anywhere for ages and ages!”

“Yes, but that was before, wasn’t it? Before we had the submarine to help us. Tomorrow we’re going to go to Scotland. Won’t that be exciting?”

“I don’t want to go to Scotland, I want to go home and see Granny!”

Scott Collins swallowed hard. He hated lying to his daughter, but he hadn’t yet found the words to explain that Granny was dead. That
everyone
was dead. She knew, of course, that something bad had happened, but not the details. He got to his knees, putting himself at Erica’s height, and took her little hands in his own.

“We can’t go and see Granny. But Scotland will be exciting. We’ll see mountains and snow! And then, when they’ve found lots of yummy food for us all, we’ll sail far away, south, where it’s sunny and hot all day.”

“Yay! Will we be able to go swimming again?”

“Yes, I’m sure we will be able to go swimming.” He gave her a big grin and hugged her tightly.

“And then we’ll go and see Granny! I’m going to go and tell Andrea. She can come swimming with us too, can’t she?”

Erica turned to run towards the cabin door, eager to share the news of their new destination with her best friend. Andrea was in a cabin down the hall. The girls had discovered on the first day of the cruise that they shared a birthday. To them, it was a sign of something mystical, a special bond. She took a step forwards and stopped dead, wobbling, as if balanced on a tightrope. Another step, and she wobbled again.

“Erica? You okay, sweetie?”

“Yeah, but my feet feel all weird.”

“It’s probably pins and needles, it’ll pass, give it a minute or two.”

“It’s okay, Daddy, I think they’re better already. See you later!”

She skipped out of the door, waving behind her.

• • •

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a bridge like this. One forgets so quickly what the sea looks like when spending so much time buried beneath it!”

“Well in that case, Captain Coote, perhaps you would like to take the captain’s chair? The course is laid in, just give the order and we’re away.”

“Captain Noah, I thought you’d never ask! It would be an honour and a pleasure. Do you know, I’ve never commanded a civilian ship before? Well, I suppose in a way we’re all civilian vessels now, aren’t we?”

 
Jake held out a hand towards a very ordinary-looking chair.

“Please, it would be an honour for us. I’m afraid the driving seat isn’t quite up to the standards of the Royal Navy though.”

“Nonsense, lad, you’ve seen my office. This place has the ultimate luxuries: space and a view!” Coote eased himself into the comfortable cream seat, taking in the impressive vista. It wasn’t just the floor-to-ceiling windows running the length and breadth of the bridge that made the view so spectacular, it was the height. Up on deck ten, the captain could be master of all he surveyed, and he could survey just about the entire thirteen-deck cruiser. “Ah, now I could get used to this, you know.”

“You want to watch out, Captain Noah, he’ll be after your job,” Lucya smirked from her console.

“Not necessarily,” Coote said. “A magnificent view has its merits, certainly, but it also means one is very visible oneself. Those of us who are used to a life below the waves have come to appreciate the advantages of being inconspicuous.”

“Maybe so, but there’s nobody left to hide from now, Captain.”

“That remains to be seen, my dear. We shall remain vigilant. I have no doubt that if the
Ambush
could survive, many other submarines also made it, including some of your former comrades!” Coote chuckled merrily.

“We’re all supposed to be friends now,” Lucya said, a note of defensiveness creeping into her voice. “You don’t need to worry about Russians.”

“I hope you’re right, Officer Levin, I truly do. Well then, shall we set sail so to speak?”

“Whenever you’re ready, Captain,” Jake said.

“Helm, one quarter ahead and steady as she goes!”

“Aye, sir,” Chuck replied.

As silently as during their test run, the
Spirit of Arcadia
began very slowly to ease forwards.

“
Ambush
reports they are matching us,” Lucya called out from her station.

“Excellent, really excellent,” Coote said. “We should be in Scotland by lunchtime tomorrow.”

Jake could feel the air of excitement on the bridge. He had felt it everywhere on the ship in the hours after their short manoeuvre the previous day. Morale had been up and down since the asteroid. After the shock of what had happened, there had been a mixture of disbelief and relief at their incredible survival. Then hope, as Flynn Bakeman had taken command, promising to find land and a new home. A hope that had been dashed when it emerged how he had planned to kill almost everyone on board.

When Jake and his crew had regained control of the ship, hope wasn’t so easily re-established. Too much had happened, and besides, the reality of their predicament was beginning to make itself felt. Many had begun to question the value of survival when there wasn’t much of a world left in which to live. Life was going to be hard, everyone understood that. They may well have solved their immediate energy crisis by connecting the ship to HMS
Ambush
and her powerful nuclear reactor, but there were many problems still to overcome, not least of which was finding enough food.

The previous day’s test had reignited the hope though, and it was infectious, spreading throughout the ship like a virus, imbuing everyone with smiles and excited conversation. If they could move, there was a chance of finding food, and maybe habitable land. Perhaps even other survivors. The hardships of living in a confined space and under strict rationing were easier to bear when cushioned by hope.

“Captain?”

“Yes?” Jake and Coote said simultaneously. Jake looked over towards Lucya. She wore an expression that told him something wasn’t right. Coote continued to stare out to sea, enthralled by the rolling waves.

“I’m picking something up. It’s quite faint, but it sounds like a distress beacon.”

That got the submarine captain’s attention. He swung round his chair, bushy eyebrows raised. “Are you sure? Could it be one of your rather clever little pink buoys you sent out there, like the one we found?”

“It’s not one of mine. I coded a subcarrier signal into my own transmitters so I could be sure not to confuse them with anything else.”

“She’s a smart one, Jake, you want to keep hold of her.”

“I intend to,” Jake said, and exchanged a smile with his chief radio officer. He’d been holding her at every opportunity the last couple of weeks, and he was sure that Gibson Coote was as well aware of their blossoming relationship as everyone else seemed to be. “Officer Levin, where’s the signal coming from? Please tell me we’re headed towards it.”

“You’re not going to like this. It’s behind us. Directly behind us.”

“And you say it just popped up? Wasn’t there before?” Coote got up from his perch and joined Lucya at her station.

“No, sir, it definitely wasn’t there until a minute ago. Look,” she pointed to a screen displaying a map of their location, circling an area with her index finger. “I think it’s coming from around here. I’ve got scans running on all channels twenty-four seven. As soon as the scanner finds a signal it locks on. It takes less than sixty seconds to scan the full frequency range, and there’s a second scan running on the emergency frequencies too. If anything starts chirping within range, I know about it within ten seconds.”

Jake joined the others at the navigation station. “Can you get a better idea of distance?”

“No, not with this equipment. If it’s a GPS beacon, and if the asteroid hadn’t knocked out half the satellite network, it would probably be transmitting precise coordinates. I’m just getting a basic distress signal.”

“Captain Coote, unless I’m mistaken you’re rather better equipped for this sort of thing, are you not?”

“I’ll say! I expect Ralf and the boys are probably already tracing the signal. Can we give them a call?”

Lucya punched a couple of buttons and summoned up the submarine on her headset. “HMS
Ambush
,
Spirit of Arcadia
, receiving?” A short pause, and then she relayed details of the signal.

“Can you put Ralf on the speaker?” Jake asked. She nodded, and flipped a switch.

“Ralf? Coote.”

“Captain, we’re seeing the same signal as Officer Levin. It’s approximately one hundred nautical miles north. We have a good reading, and eighty percent confidence in the location.”

“Thank you, Ralf, splendid work. Stand by for further instructions.”

“We have to turn round, no?” Jake looked from Lucya to Coote. “If there’s someone out there, we have a duty to help them out.”

“The
Ambush
also has a duty to return to base, Jake. End of the world or not, we have standing orders. We are obliged to get to Scotland.”

“Of course, but a two-hundred-mile detour won’t hurt, will it? I mean, you came for us. You could have left us here two weeks ago and gone on to your base, but you stayed here and worked on getting our two vessels connected.”

“That was a different situation, old chap. We couldn’t possibly leave nearly three thousand people stranded and without power. It was also in our interests to pool our assets. You need power, we get space above the water.”

“Are you saying you’re only here out of self-interest? I don’t believe that of you, Captain Coote.”

“We’re all here out of self-interest, old boy. It just so happens that our interests align nicely.”

“And what if that signal is another cruise ship, another three thousand stranded passengers?”

“I think that’s unlikely,” Lucya interjected. The captains both turned to look at her. “I mean, the signal is very weak. A big ship would send out something stronger. Even without power, emergency batteries would put out a better signal than this. If I had to guess, I’d say this is more like a lifeboat, or perhaps even a raft.”

“Even if there’s one person out there, we have to go and help them!” Jake couldn’t believe he was having this conversation.

“You’re right, of course,” Coote said, smiling. “You have a good moral compass, Captain Noah; it’s a shame you chose the civilian route. You might have done well in the navy. Scotland can wait; we will absolutely go and find out where this mysterious signal is coming from. Ralf, are you still there?”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Inform the crew there’s a change of plan. Watch that signal like a hawk. If it moves or changes in any way, I want to know about it.”

“Understood.”

“Do we need to inform the committee of the new plan?” Lucya asked.

“I don’t think so; this counts as an emergency,” Jake said. “No point wasting time getting everyone together. The committee has already agreed that the bridge crew have full authority to act in urgent situations. I’ve decided this is urgent. Helm, take us around. New heading: zero one zero degrees. Let’s go and see what’s out there.”

Two

“E
RICA
? A
RE
YOU
outside, Erica? Come on, Daddy needs to talk to you, darling!”

There was no response. The usually busy corridor lay silent. This last week it had reminded Scott of the East End street in which he had grown up as a boy, with people coming and going in and out of each other’s cabins, sharing gossip and rumours. A real little community. The kids played together in safety. Unlike the East End, nothing bad could happen to them here. There were no bogeymen waiting to swipe them off the street, no speeding motorcycles to knock them over. The only danger was boredom. The simply decorated cream and pastel-blue walls and brown carpet held little excitement, but children had a way of using their imaginations to change their surroundings. The previous day a group of them had decided that they were on a train journey across America. They had ploughed up and down that length of corridor for hours, stopping every now and then to let ‘passengers’ on and off as various members of the gang either returned to their cabins, or came out to join in the game.

Now there was nobody. Scott knew where they had gone. Everyone was outside, desperately trying to catch a glimpse of land now that they were finally on the move again.

Erica had told him she would stay close by. She was with Andrea, and she’d assured him they wouldn’t go further than her friend’s cabin up the hall. He couldn’t be cross with her; he would have gone outside too. Except right now he couldn’t go anywhere, and that was the problem.

His feet had turned to lead, and he was losing the feeling in the lower half of his legs.

At first he had assumed it was pins and needles, just as his daughter had experienced the day before. He had tried shaking the life back into his limbs, but his efforts were futile. Standing was impossible; without feeling, he couldn’t balance. After half an hour of waiting it out he realised they probably weren’t going to get better by themselves, and that medical assistance would be a good idea. The budget cabin was not equipped with a telephone; he needed his daughter to fetch help.

“Erica, sweetie? Daddy’s not cross with you, I just want you to help me with something. Are you there?”

He made a decision. If she didn’t come back within the hour, he would have to try and drag himself to the medical centre. Quite literally.

• • •

Jake stared out of the wide opening. HMS
Ambush
’s conning tower seemed a long way away. The makeshift ramp that the engineering team had rigged up looked flimsy at the best of times, and now that both vessels were moving, it looked even more perilous. The connection had been made from a flexible telescopic walkway that was normally used by passengers getting on and off when docked in a port. On the
Spirit of Arcadia
side, the walkway was securely fixed with special bolts, just the way it was designed. The far end had been lashed to the submarine’s tower with a complex array of ropes, knots, chains, and who knew what else. Martin had told him it was done in such a way that it would detach easily should the two boats become separated. This had not filled Jake with confidence; he had no intention of taking a swim. It was all well and good the ramp being attached to the deck two exit, but that was still higher than he wished to fall should the thing fail.