“T…Tomorrow. You only have…tomorrow.”
And then Joma really was dead. He let out one final breath and then faded away like the melted candle on his table.
Day 249 -1400hrs
Jack woke up with one thing on his mind. Today was the last day before tomorrow. Today was his last chance to save the world.
Jesus Christ, I think I’ve gone insane. This can’t be happening..
Jack fought against the urge to stay under the covers and accept whatever fate chose to bring him. It was tempting beyond belief, but he could not allow himself to sit idle while the fate of billions rested in his hands.
Damn you, Joma, for putting me in this situation.
If Jack was going to try to stop the virus one last time, then he had to get going. The security guards would arrive soon and they would waste time he couldn’t afford to lose. Jack headed over to his suitcase and hoisted it up onto the bed. He yanked out half its contents and laid them on the bed. Of the things that lay in front of him, Jack’s eyes came to rest specifically on the unopened Glen Grant bottle. The liquid inside sang to him, but he covered the bottle with an evening shirt.
Think it’s about time I went at things with a clear head.
The next thing he examined was his paperback book. It was crazy – and almost ironic – that in all the time he’d been stuck aboard this ship, he hadn’t managed to read a single page. The final thing Jack’s eyes fell upon was something he’d almost forgotten he’d brought along with him: the small leather wallet lay open on the bed, a silver shield and crown above the slogan which read, SERVING-PROTECTING-MAKING A DIFFERENCE. On the opposite side of the wallet was Jack’s identity card for the West Mercia Police. Once upon a time the small wallet had meant everything to Jack, and then later it had meant absolutely nothing. Now, for some reason… now, it seemed to matter again. He’d taken an oath once, to serve and protect the innocent by bringing the guilty to justice. That oath applied now more than it ever had. Jack was a police officer, and it was his job to do what needed to be done.
Jack got dressed and left his cabin. He knew it would be for the very last time. He took the familiar elevator upwards and stepped out into the familiar corridor with the familiar laundry cart on his right. He walked towards the Promenade Deck and skipped, mid-stride, as the ship tilted expectedly. Stepping outside, he turned immediately to his right and put a hand up.
“Hey! Hey, lads.”
The two boys stopped in their tracks a mere second before they collided with him. Jack smiled at them both. “You kids be careful now, you hear? Don’t want you falling overboard and getting eaten by a killer whale.”
The two boys giggled and then walked away, keeping their speed within sensible levels. It was the first time they’d ever listened to Jack.
Let’s hope it’s my first victory of many today.
Jack went in the same direction as the two boys, which led him out to the pool area. He needed to be wary of security looking for him, but there was someone he wanted to speak to while he still had the chance. Before he went upstairs to speak to Claire, though, Jack strolled over to the edge of the pool just in time to catch a young lad about to go sprawling to his knees. The boy tripped over his own feet and fell into Jack’s arms. The mother came rushing over to thank Jack, and he told her she was welcome. With that task completed, he headed up to the Sun Deck.
Upstairs, Claire lay sunning herself beside the empty lounger with the green towel. Jack picked up the towel and took it to the edge of the ship. He balled it up and threw it into the sea, watching it fan out and sink below the waves.
“I…er, think that belonged to someone,” Claire said from behind him.
Jack went and took a seat on the lounger next to her. “It’s been there a long time. Whoever left it there obviously wasn’t bothered about it.”
“Guess you’re right. Did you have to throw it overboard, though?”
Jack shrugged. “I didn’t like the colour.”
“Fair enough.”
“Claire?”
“How do you know my name?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Jack said. “Just listen to me, okay?”
Claire looked worried, but she remained quiet.
“Something is going to happen tonight and I want to know that you and the baby are safe when it happens.”
Claire’s worried look changed to fear. “What? How…”
“I know I’m frightening you, but it’s important you just do as I tell you. If tomorrow comes then you’ll understand why. I really hope it does, but to be honest I don’t really know what’s going to happen.”
“If tomorrow…what?”
“Be in your cabin by eight-o-clock tonight, okay, and make sure you are nowhere near Conner. Conner is sick, and so are lots of other people. Stay away from them all.”
“You’re frightening me. I’m going to call someone.”
“You’re doing the right thing, Claire. You want to have this baby because you know you’ll make a good mother. I think so too. But you don’t need to be with someone who treats you the way Conner does. You deserve better. You can do it alone, so don’t stay with him just because you’re scared.”
Claire was speechless. She still seemed terrified, but something in her eyes suggested that she was unable not to trust Jack just a little bit. She was probably wondering how he knew all of these things about her life.
“In about ten seconds, Conner is going to turn up and question you and me about why we’re talking. Then he’s going to ask you to come look after him and get hotdogs. I know this, and a lot more about what is going to happen today, which is why you need to stay in your cabin tonight. If you ever want to see Leeds again ,you have to lock yourself away.”
Conner appeared on cue and stared at Jack. “How you doing?”
“I’m good,” said Jack. “How are you?”
“Not bad.” The lad extended a hand out to Jack. “My name is Conner. Who are you?”
“Name’s Jack and I was just moving on.”
“Sounds like a good idea, buddy,” said Conner, letting out a sneeze immediately afterwards. He turned to Claire. “Come on, babe. I need you to look after me, I feel like shit. We’re all getting hotdogs downstairs.”
Claire glanced at Jack for a split second and he saw the shock in her eyes that his predictions had come true. He just hoped he’d done enough to keep her safe tonight. Because tomorrow is finally on its way. Jack walked away from the young couple and passed by the old man and woman kissing at the balcony. Despite getting sick of the sight of everything onboard that had been repeating over and over for what seemed like an eternity, Jack couldn’t deny that there were certain things he was going to miss. It was ironic that he had prayed for the day to end but, now that it was going to, he felt afraid to let it go. He’d begun to find comfort in the things he could predict with certainty. The unknown was now frightening.
1500hrs
As Jack moved around the ship, it became clear that Tally had set security on him again. If he even managed to succeed in stopping the virus, then he would have a bunch of jumped-up sexual assault charges to answer to once he reached the mainland. Wherever Tally was hiding, she’d have hell to pay if he ever found her. He’d trusted her.
Jack wondered again if Tally was the one behind the virus. It made sense that it was released by a member of the ship’s staff. Someone who could move about unhindered and knew the ship’s layout. A young Romany girl didn’t fit the typical cast for a terrorist, but then who knew what was going on in her head? Terrorists could change colour and religion over time, but they were all the same breed of whackjobs in the end. Hatred for humanity was not exclusive to any one kind of people.
After leaving Claire on the Sun Deck, Jack had snuck inside the Mariner Deck. He evaded a pair of security guards by stepping through into the Lido Restaurant. Being the largest eatery onboard, and open twenty-four hours, Jack wondered if the virus had been transmitted via the food. Was there a way he
could find out if anything had been contaminated? He looked around the self-service buffet carts, at the trays full of chips, spaghetti, fish fingers, chicken nuggets, beef curry, and a whole host of other edibles, and realised that there would be no way of knowing. It wasn’t like he was going to find a glowing green pork chop on a bed of pus-filled maggots. He had a matter of hours to do something to help the passengers onboard, and prodding through several troughfulls of cheap food would not be a sensible use of his time. Anyway, if the food was the source of the infections, Jack was certain there would be more ill passengers than there were. Most of the ship ate at the Lido Restaurant.
On most nights, depending on what area of the ship he was in, Jack estimated an infection rate of about a third of the total passengers. No members of staff seemed to be unwell, which made it a safe assumption that any of the staff-only areas would be exempt as possible locations for the source of infection. Jack had also seen staff consuming their own evening meals inside the Lido Restaurant, which made his theory about the food being contaminated an even more likely dead end.
Jack realised that Ivor and his family were over in the corner. He’d see them in here before at this time, so should have expected to run into them. Their little girl had the infection worse than anybody else. Perhaps she was the key to solving the whole puzzle. If Jack could find out how she caught the virus he might have the answer to how everyone else caught it. Then he might have half a chance to get things under control before it was too late.
Jack took a seat at Ivor’s table. Poor little Heather was as sickly as ever, snoozing restlessly in her mother’s arms. Vicky looked ill herself – and mortified – while Ivor wore his usual stern expression that Jack now knew was just a front for a frightened father. It was unfair that they were all going through this.
“How are you folks doing?” Jack asked them.
“We’ve been better,” Ivor replied in a gruff voice. “Who are you?”
“Officer Wardsley.” Jack offered his hand. “I understand you’re all planning on fleeing to Germany?”
Ivor’s jaw dropped and Vicky began to sob.
“Don’t worry,” said Jack. “No one else knows that you’re here. I just wanted to say that I agree with what you did, Vicky. Nigel Moot was an evil man and deserved to die. As a mother of a young daughter, what you did was understandable.”
Vicky looked at Jack as though she was hallucinating him being there. “T-thank you.”
“May I offer you some advice, though?”
“Yes…please.”
“Forget about it. Put what you did behind you. If you don’t, it will eat away at you until you’re a broken mess, trust me. What you did was a moment of madness, but anyone else would have done the same. Don’t let it change you. Your daughter needs you.”
“Why are you saying all this?” asked Ivor. “Is this some sort of trick to get my wife to confess?”
Jack leant forward and placed a hand on Ivor’s shoulder. His skin was clammy and hot beneath his shirt. “No tricks. I just wanted to let you know that I hope everything works out okay for you all.”
Ivor said nothing. He just studied Jack.
“Your daughter looks pretty sick,” said Jack, changing the subject.
“Just a cold.”
“Do you know where she caught it?”
“I don’t know. Kids often get sick when they travel.”
“How long has she been under the weather?”
Ivor shrugged and seemed irritated. “Since last night. We’ve all been feeling a little unwell. Like I said, though, it’s just a cold.”
Last night. So she got sick the evening we all boarded. She caught the virus yesterday, not today. Damnit! Why didn’t Joma cast the spell a day earlier if that’s when it started? How am I supposed to stop something that has already happened?
Jack stood up, feeling defeated. “One last question, Ivor. There’re a lot of people who have come down with the same flu as your daughter. You got any ideas how it could have spread to so many people?”
Ivor shrugged. “I’m not a bloody doctor, man. But I guess if you thought about it logically, the likeliest place to catch a cold is in high traffic areas. Places where people are bunched together.”
“Okay, thanks,” Jack said, mulling things over. “Hey, you know there’s a doctor on the lower deck. You should take your daughter down to see if he has anything to make her feel a little better.”
“We were just discussing that, actually.”
Jack nodded. “The doctor’s name is Fortuné. Give him my regards. Goodbye Ivor, Vicky. I hope your daughter gets well soon.”
He left the family alone for the last time.
1600hrs
Jack looked at his watch and grimaced when he realised it was approaching four-o-clock. Just over four hours until the infection reached its final stage. With every second that passed, it seemed more and more hopeless that Jack would find a solution. He had some facts to go on now, but they offered very little. Jack listed off the things he knew, one by one.
Ivor and his family became ill the night after boarding – yesterday.
Ivor’s daughter, Heather, is at a more advanced stage of infection – is that just due to her age?
Conner is another passenger that boarded the same day as Heather. He’s also sick, but his girlfriend, Claire, isn’t. That makes it seem unlikely that the early form of the virus is contagious as she would surely have been exposed by now – so was the virus initially transmitted in some other way?
Donovan worked for the world’s biggest drugs company, and was smuggling arms overseas, but he’s dead now – murdered, most likely, by Tally.
Tally probably killed Donovan and then made the false accusations about me so that I was hindered by Security – so what is she trying to keep me from achieving and how does Donovan factor in to that?
The ship is at sea and due to dock in Cannes tomorrow. Why did Joma stop the ship today? Why not back in Palma before the virus was even transmitted in the first place?
Jack felt like a blind man groping his way down an alley. The answers were in front of him but he could not see them. What was it that meant Claire was not infected but Conner was? Why was Heather worse than the others? Where onboard was busy enough, and cramped enough, to infect a third of the ship’s passengers?
What am I missing?
“Sir, can you come with us, please?”
Jack turned around to see four of the ship’s guards approaching him. They didn’t seem like they were willing to talk.
Jack threw a short uppercut to the closest man and then threw him into the others. One of the guards dodged out of the way and managed to throw himself into a tackle. Jack fell backwards but managed to apply a front face lock to the man, cinching in a guillotine choke hold. It was only a matter of seconds before Jack felt the guard pass out, but then he found himself trapped beneath the man’s bulk.
Unable to move, Jack was helpless to resist arrest as the other three guards recomposed themselves and bore down on top of him. They hoisted him up to his feet and started dragging him away. Jack knew he was on his way to see the captain again.
1700hrs
Marangakis entered the room with same authoritative disdain that he always did. This time Jack lacked the patience to show respect for the man’s position. Jack rose up from his chair to meet the captain. The guard in the room moved to restrain Jack but caught an elbow in the eye-socket for his efforts. Jack grabbed the Captain with both hands, spun him around, and wrapped an arm around his throat.
“It’s time you and me went and made a call,” said Jack, yanking the Captain backwards towards the door.
“You’re in very deep trouble, Mr Wardsley.”
Jack squeezed the man’s windpipe and made him choke. “Shut up. How do we get to the Bridge from here? We need to contact the mainland. There’s something very bad aboard this ship.”
“What are you talking about, you maniac?” The Captain fought against Jack’s arm but
he was going nowhere.
“The Bridge? How do we get there?”
“There’s a…there’s a ladder outside this room. It leads to an elevator.”
Jack dragged the Captain backwards into the corridor, keeping his eyes on the guards that were pursuing him. He found the ladder, which actually turned out to be a steep staircase. It led up to a staff area which seemed to comprise of the ship’s surveillance rooms. Jack saw an elevator just past the row of offices. He took the Captain towards it, keeping an eye on each of the doorways as he moved by them. At the furthest office, the one before the elevator, something caused Jack to halt.
Tally!
Tally sat in a small room that was lined by a bank of monitors. She wasn’t looking at them and was instead inspecting her nails.
She’s bored. She’s pulled this false accusation trick so many times that she’s tired of having to sit here every day while Security looks for me. Ha!
Tally looked up and saw Jack through the glass pane in the door. Her eyes froze on him and he saw the lump move in her throat. He prodded Marangakis in the small of his back. “Open it.”
“And let you terrorise the poor girl even more? Never.”
Jack applied more pressure onto the lower discs of the man’s spine until he was crying out in pain. Then he spotted a guard rushing towards him. “Get back or I’ll snap his neck as easy as a twig. DO IT!” The guard stopped and took a single step backwards. “Now,” Jack said to the captain. “Open this door or I’ll leave you here a vegetable.”
Marangakis reached into his hip pocket and pulled out a navy-blue key card. He swiped it against the door and a metallic click rang out as the magnetic lock disengaged. Jack shoved the Captain hard in the back and the man fell forwards, his head smacking against the thick wood of the door. Tally leapt up from her swivel chair as the two of them entered.
Jack kicked the door closed behind him and pulled at the handle to make sure that the lock had reengaged. Marangakis fled to a corner of the cramped room and turned around to face Jack. The expression on his face was one of outrage. Jack couldn’t give a fuck.
Sea Sick: A Novel of Horror and Suspense Page 17
