Noah's Ark: Survivors (7 page)

“It’s getting worse out there. I need to disperse the crowd, but I’m outnumbered. I need a weapon,” he said, walking to an innocuous-looking locker at the back of the room.

He took a key out of his pocket and went to insert it into the lock, but found another key already in there. Cautiously, he pulled the door open. Inside were eight rifles, neatly stacked upright. He pulled open a drawer under the rifles. Neatly packaged in a foam inlay were four automatic pistols. There was a conspicuous space where a fifth pistol clearly should have been.

“Well that explains where the captain got his gun from,” Max said to nobody in particular.

Lucya walked over, saw the contents of the cupboard, and whistled.

“What are these doing on board? This is a cruise ship, not a navy transport!”

“Anti-piracy measures,” Max said. “We’ve been carrying weapons for the last year, in case we were attacked by pirates.”

“How come nobody told us? What good are weapons if nobody knows they’re here?”

“Captain knew. And I knew. Johnny knew, too. We each have a key to this cabinet. The company wanted to keep it quiet, figured it might make folks worry if they knew we were prepared in case of attack. The guns were put here at the same time a bridge recording system was installed. It records video and audio of everything that happens up here. Can’t see the point of it myself, they’ve never been able to prosecute these pirates. Having video evidence isn’t going to change that.”

“I would have felt a lot safer knowing we had those handy,” Lucya said. She pulled out a rifle, held it up, and looked down the sights.

“I always forget you were in the Russian Navy,” Silvia said, taking a step back involuntarily. “I hate guns. I hope you’re not expecting me to carry one, Max?”

Max pulled the gun from Lucya’s hand.

“I’m not expecting anyone to carry one. The intention is to keep the peace. Situation outside calls for a little extra persuasion, so I’m just going to borrow this for a bit.”

He closed the lock, then turned and removed the key, slipping it in his pocket. He strode over to the main door, unlocked it, and swung it open quickly, taking those outside by surprise.

“Ladies and gentlemen, would you please return to your cabins or the public areas of the ship.” He made a show of placing the strap of the rifle over his shoulder.

“We’ve been here for over an hour. We want some answers,” a man called out.

“Yeah, got that right, dude!” another man chimed in.

“Where’s the captain? We want to speak to the captain,” said the woman in red, apparently the ringleader.

“The captain will be talking to the whole ship when he is good and ready,” Max said. “Right now, he’s busy. As I’m sure you can imagine, he has a lot on his plate. The safety of all passengers on board is his priority. It is the priority of every crew member. Now, please kindly get back to your cabins or I will have to treat this little gathering as a specific threat to the crew.”

There was a lot of mumbling, but the impressive firearm strapped to Max’s shoulder was enough to persuade the rabble that they were better off complying. They shuffled off, muttering amongst themselves.

 
Max closed and locked the door. “We need Jake. He’s had a couple of hours to rest, we can’t wait any longer. We need some decisions, and to get word out about what we’re doing.”

“I’ll go and wake him,” Lucya said, jumping from her chair a bit too enthusiastically. “There’s not much I can do here anyway. I’ve set up a couple of radio scanners to sweep the main channels. If they pick up any signals they’ll lock onto them and you’ll hear it.”

“Silvia, can you go and fetch Martin?” Max said. “We need his input too.”

“Sure. What about Doctor Lister? Anyone else?”

“No, the doctor is busy enough looking after the wounded. They need him more down there than we do up here.”

Max opened the door again and checked that the passageway outside was clear. The two women slipped outside and headed for the stairs. Max remained on guard outside the bridge.

Fifteen

“D
ID
YOU
SEE
him? Did you see the captain?” Flynn asked.

“No. I got a good look inside when the guy with the gun came out. There were two women in there. I didn’t see anyone else.” Eileen looked pleased with herself. She had carried out her husband’s instructions perfectly. He would be pleased with her, and that meant life would be a bit easier. For the time being, at least.

“Something’s going down, Eileen. For the captain to leave the bridge at a time like this, something ain’t right, I tell you. Only reason he wouldn’t be there is if he was out touring the ship, and we ain’t heard of no tour going on. So that means either he’s injured or he’s dead. This is it, Eileen, this is my chance already. I didn’t think it would happen this quickly, but God must believe I’m ready. I need to get me to the bridge. I’ll be ready. The people need a leader, and I’m going to show them a better way to live.”

Sixteen

J
AKE
HAD
DRIFTED
in and out of consciousness several times over the last couple of hours. He saw visions of his wife, but every time she appeared she would be blasted to atoms by a giant asteroid. When he slept, he dreamt of a burning planet, a molten ball floating alone in space. After a particularly upsetting dream, in which the world exploded, he realised he wasn’t going to get much more sleep. Easing himself out of bed, he wobbled to his feet, stepped into the bathroom, and caught sight of himself in the mirror. The light from the small porthole was not bright, but he could see that the side of his face had turned blue, and that his hair was matted with blood.

He tried the shower, unsure of whether or not the flow of water relied on electric pumps. Miraculously a jet of water spurted out. It was freezing cold, but Jake didn’t care. Using only his good hand, he wriggled out of his clothes and stepped under the icy flow. The chilled liquid on his skin jolted him awake and brought with it a new clarity. As he watched the grime of the ash and the blood of his captain wash off his body and mix with the clear water, turning it a muddy brown, he resigned himself to his fate. He was in charge now, effectively the captain of this ship. The job he had never wanted. The responsibility he had always feared. He had nearly been killed three times. He should have died; the passengers deserved better. He was no leader, he had no idea what to do. If he hadn’t survived, Lucya would probably be in charge as the next most senior officer on board. Or maybe Max.
There
was a man who people would respect, look up to. If Max told you to do something, you would do it without question. He inspired confidence. He would make a great captain. He would know how to lead these people to safety.

Could he pass up his duty? Appoint Max captain? Or even Lucya? Did he have the authority? He hadn’t even begun his staff captain training. He didn’t know what he could or couldn’t do. He’d never wanted to go as far as first officer, but he’d gone along with the program, taking courses, exams, moving up the ranks, keeping his family happy whilst all the time wondering what he should really do with his life. He’d made it this far by accident, not by design. And now he’d just been fast tracked to the top in the worst possible circumstances.

The jet of water slowed to a trickle, and eventually stopped altogether. Jake stepped out of the shower and dried himself on a fluffy white towel, embroidered with a tiny image of the ship and the name
Spirit of Arcadia
. He didn’t think he could appoint another in his place. He was going to have to try and give this a shot.

“Don’t think about the end of the world stuff,” he said to himself aloud. “Think of this as a temporary assignment. A training exercise. You’re just acting captain until we reach a safe port. That’s the objective here. Reach a safe port.” A little voice in the back of his mind tried to tell him that there were no safe ports, that the asteroid had destroyed them, that they were alone at sea, destined to slowly starve to death. It tried, but Jake chose to ignore it. He couldn’t think like that. If he accepted that as their fate, they were already dead.

There was a gentle knock at the door.

“Jake? Are you awake? It’s me, Lucya.”

“Give me a moment,” he called back.

He opened his wardrobe and picked out the first clean clothes that came to hand. A pair of jeans, another t-shirt, and a navy blue sweater. He dressed as quickly as he could with the limited use of his hands.

“Come in,” he said as soon as he was decent.

The door opened and Lucya walked in. She looked exhausted. Her long black hair was dishevelled, her clothes partially melted, and her face bore patches of ash like badly applied makeup.

“Hey you, you’re looking much better.” She looked around the room. “I thought I heard you talking to someone.”

“Talking to myself,” Jake said, and blushed a little.

“Hmm, you know what they say about that! So, erm, we need you up on the bridge. You know, to decide what happens next?” She let the words out carefully, as if they were going to turn around and bite her in the face.

“It’s okay, Lucya, I know what I have to do.” He was sitting on the edge of the bed, fumbling with the laces of his shoes. His bandaged hand prevented him from gripping them. “Shit, sorry, oh hell, could you…would you mind…?” He looked up helplessly.
 

“Yeah! Of course!” Lucya dropped to her knees and proceeded to tie the laces neatly, her own smaller patch less of an impediment to free movement.

“I can’t even put my own shoes on. How am I going to run this ship, Lucya?” Jake felt panic well up inside him. He wanted to cry. He wanted to bury himself in his bed and never come out. He fought back the tears, keeping his head bowed low; he didn’t want her to see.

“Hey! Hey, hey, it’s going to be okay, you know? You’re going to do fine. No, you’re going to do great! Everyone respects you, and nobody thinks it’s going to be easy. We’re all around to help you; you haven’t got to do this on your own.” She put an arm around him, pulled him close to her. Her hair smelt of fire and smoke. As it touched his face, something stirred within him. He immediately felt a pang of guilt. He pulled away from her, got to his feet. Sniffed. Tried to pull himself together.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Just tired. Thank you. It means a lot to know you have confidence in me.”

Lucya stood as well. She smiled, understood this was hard for him. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s get back upstairs and get to work.”

• • •

Acting Captain Jake Noah and Chief Radio Officer Lucya Levin left the cabin and set off down the passageway towards the stairs.

“Where did the captain go?” Jake looked around. There was no sign of the body, and the broken glass and blood had been cleared away.

“Max took care of it. He cleaned up, didn’t want anyone stumbling across it and asking questions.”

“What about Johnny?”

“He and Grau took both the bodies down below. They’ve set up a makeshift morgue in one of the store rooms, one of those ones that are always cold because they’re below the waterline and the heating never seems to work properly.”

“How did they get them down there without being seen?”

“I don’t think they worried about it, Jake. There are hundreds of people dead. The captain and Johnny were just another couple of anonymous bodies, wrapped in sheets and carried down below.”

They walked in silence, reached the stairs, and began to climb.

Seventeen

M
AX
GREETED
THEM
at the door and let them inside before he closed and locked it behind them. Silvia had already returned with Martin, who nodded once at Jake. Everyone assembled around the map table. Jake felt all eyes were on him.

“Right, so, erm…”

“Jake, we’re your friends, we have every confidence in you,” Silvia said kindly.

“Yes. Yes, of course, thank you, Silvia. Okay, first things first, what is the state of the ship, Martin?”

“I’ve got a couple of guys in the funnel clearing out the ash. It’s a slow job. They’re having to scoop it out with their bare hands. We don’t have the equipment to get in there and do it any quicker; our machines are just too big to get into that sort of space.”

Silvia perked up. “Would a couple of vacuum cleaners from housekeeping help?” Her face fell again. “Oh, but there’s no electricity.”

“No, you’re right, that’s not a bad idea, Silvia. We have a few portable generators knocking around in the engine room. We could run them off those. What sort of size are we talking about? It’s a pretty tiny space.”

“They’re about…so big.” Silvia indicated the dimensions with her hands.

“Perfect! They can get those down there. That will really save some time.”

“Okay, so with the cleaners, how long before we can get the generator working?” Jake asked.

“Maybe four hours? But it would make sense to clean out the exhaust for the main engine at the same time. If we start the main generator the guys are going to have to work around the hot exhaust from that. It will make the job ten times harder.”

“So how long to clean them both?”

“Well…” Martin pondered the question, drumming his fingers on the steel table top. “At a push we could do it in six hours, seven tops.”

“Alright, push as hard as you can, we have to get power back as a priority. Once we do, how long can we keep the generator going?”

“If we don’t start the main engines, and depending on which services we keep running, we’re okay for at least ten days.”

“Right, services.” Jake paused and thought. “We need light, the passengers are really unhappy about that.”

Silvia and Max nodded in agreement.

“We’re going to need heat too,” Lucya said. “I’m not the only one who has noticed how cold it’s getting on board, right?”

“Yes, heat, but the minimum. Keep the temperature at sixteen degrees at the most. We’ll tell people to wear more clothes if they’re cold.”

“Fifteen,” Max interjected. “Fifteen degrees. That’s more than enough.”

“Okay, fifteen. But no hot water. I just took a cold shower and I feel better for it. Hot water is a luxury we can do without.”