The crew and passengers of the second helicopter that had carried the metal coffins and the clothing for the pirates were better prepared, and all wore biological protection suits which protected them from infection.
Before the second helicopter had left, the Doctor had supervised the collection of one of the bodies from the Sea Dancer, and its subsequent sealing within an airtight coffin. They had first put it in one of the body bags, repacked it again in two other body bags, and then put it in the coffin which had been delivered to them by helicopter. The coffin sealed hermetically when closed, eliminating the risk of exposure to anyone during transport. The doctor was assured that it would be handled carefully and delivered to the World Health Organisation representatives, who were waiting for it at the airport. Representatives had just arrived in San Juan and were in the process of setting up a field unit in a high security medical laboratory, where the body could be examined under stringent conditions. Everyone knew that the virus or bacteria that was behind this infection had to be identified as quickly as possible, whilst also containing the infection and ensuring that it did not spread beyond the natural confines of the island.
When Dr Mitchell had collected the body from the ship, a cotton shirt ripped into shreds and wrapped around his mouth and nose to help him stop breathing in infected airdrops, he had discovered that there had been another death, and the condition of the others who were infected had decreased significantly.
Furthermore, on the shore, two other pirates had come down to the beach, complaining of chills, nausea and dizziness.
The doctor knew that this was just the beginning.
Captain McGregor's mind was buzzing. Instinctively he knew that he had no choice but to submit to the 'authorities' of this new world. He was a leader of men, a fighter, and a warrior, but part of winning any battle or achieving any military objective was the adoption of the correct strategy.
Captain McGregor had always been a good strategist. He was an intelligent man, and he used his intelligence to predict the future, to understand the effect different tactics would have, and to visualize the impact it would have on any military engagement.
From what he had seen since he had stepped foot on this island he knew without doubt, they had stepped into a different world. The inhabitants of the island claimed that this was the future - relative to the Captain's own world - and the Captain was now convinced that they were telling the truth. The 'how' and the 'why' of it was beyond him. He knew simply, that it was so.
He also knew that he was only a leader if he had men to lead, and that if he left his decision too late, his men would all succumb to the plague that was beginning to knock them down like skittles. Thinking practically, as a leader, he had to save his men, so that they could survive and fight again another day,...if needed.
Yet, currently they had the position of strength. They controlled the resort, and had hostages that they held captive. They were in a position to make demands or barter with the forces that ran this world. To give up that strategic advantage went against everything that he had ever been taught.
But, this was no normal engagement. This was unique.
And where would his 'advantage' be this time tomorrow, when the majority of his men were ill and dying? Then it would be a simple matter for the authorities of this world to attack this 'palace' and regain control.
Escape was not an option: the demonstration of power and military might that Miss Sally had arranged had shown clearly that once the ship set sail and left the harbour, their survival time could be measured in minutes, rather than hours. A single shot from one of their flying metal birds would blow their ship out of the water and kill all his men, before they even had time to realise that they were dead!
Realistically, whatever way Captain Rob looked at the problem he was faced with, there was only one real answer: to willingly surrender and submit to the authorities, ...but on three conditions: firstly, that his men were treated fairly, and given medical supervision and help as soon as possible; secondly, that Captain Rob was guaranteed that he and his men would retain ownership of the Sea Dancer and all its contents; thirdly, that when this was all over, he and his men would be granted free passage to leave the palace unhindered. Naturally, in return, if requested, they themselves would agree to return all the food and water that they had taken from the palace grounds.
Richard Tyler had closed his eyes. Alarmed, the Captain signaled for the doctor to come back over. Dr Mitchell responded and came over, and bent close to Mr Tyler.
"He's not dead. He's still breathing, although it's labored. We need the drugs soon, otherwise..."
"Thank you, Dr Mitchell. You are a good man."
The Captain stood up, about to place a hand upon the doctor's shoulder, but seeing the frown upon the doctor's face, retracted his hand. The message was clear: "No touching!"
The Captain turned around, looking for Sally. She was nowhere to be seen.
He found her five minutes later, just outside the great banqueting hall of the palace, where she had returned to confirm what was happening and to see the condition of the remaining hostages.
She saw him coming towards her, and walked hurriedly down to meet him. She was wearing a thin, white mask that covered only her mouth and nose, and was pinned to her face by some cord that stretched around her head.
"Hi, please... put one of these on. I suddenly remembered that we had a large box of them in the storage room, which we got last year when there was the threat of SARS, but which we never used..."
"SARS?" the Captain asked, taking the proffered gift from her hand and playing with the elastic by stretching it out and then releasing it, letting it ping into his palm.
"Don't worry about it. I keep forgetting that you missed all the excitement of the past three hundred years. Here, let me put this on for you," she said, taking the medical face mask out of his hands and fitting it over his head."There, that's better. I have passed them out to everyone in the hall, and shown your men how to put them on. It's not a lot, but it's something. I have also asked your men and the residents to spread themselves out even more. If you insist on keeping them hostage in there, you have to keep them as far away from each other as possible. Several more men were feeling ill, and Silver sent them down to the beach. Silver is really angry, by the way. I think he is finding this much harder to come to terms with than you."
"Do not worry, Miss Sally. Silver is not angry with you. He hates me. He blames this all on me. Yesterday when we were in the storm, I made all the men pray for salvation, and now...here we are. The demonstration with the flying metal bird was too much for Silver. God has sent us all to hell, and it is because of me. Silver knows it, and blames me. I will have to watch him. If I am not careful, he will challenge me, and if he kills me, he will take control."
"Then for Pete's sake, end this now. While you still can! Have you made your decision yet? The W.H.O. doctors will come soon, but only a few, because of the hostage crisis and what you are doing. Surrender, and more will come, and we will get all the help we need."
"Miss Sally, in the world I come from, every day is a fight for survival. We are pirates, but that is only because for my men, there has been no other way to survive. For me, however, there is no such excuse. I volunteered...came willing to the Caribbean, to become... 'a pirate', as you now call it. Then it was different. One day, perhaps, I will explain my story to you, if I survive, but for now I ask only that you will do one thing for me: help my men. Help others to understand them and not to judge them without understanding the circumstances which make them what they are today. I trust you. I find you intriguing. And I see that you are also a leader of men, even though you are a woman. I have made my decision, Miss Sally. I will surrender my command and my men to you as princess of this palace, and to your leader - the Governor of this island, but only if you will both agree to three conditions. Agree to my simple terms, and we will lay down our arms within the hour."
"And what if we do not agree to
your terms?"
"Let us not consider that. Death is hunting all of us today, and I am proposing that we join forces and help beat this silent killer that threatens us all."
"So what are your terms?"
"The three conditions for our surrender are firstly, that my men will be treated fairly and given the help and medicines they need from your doctors. And secondly, that when the illness passes and the survivors pose no risk to others outside this palace, we will be allowed to leave this place freely. And lastly, that everything that is on my ship, will remain in our ownership. It will remain ours."
"You mean the treasure."
"You promised you would never mention it to anyone when I showed it to you. Please do not mention it again."
Sally laughed.
"Sadly, although I run this resort, I do not have the power to agree to your terms. We need to give them to the Governor. Only he can agree to them. And if not him, the President of the United States of America. We must go quickly now, time is of the essence!"
She pulled out the cell phone which she had borrowed from the office, and dialed the number of the Superintendent. Nothing happened. She tried again. Still nothing.
It was then that she looked at her phone and saw that there was no signal.
Together they hurried to Sally's office, immediately making a beeline for the desk-phone. She pulled the mask down from her face, picked the handset out, and put it against her ear, only to discover that there was no dial tone.
Swearing loudly, the first time the Captain had seen her so flustered, she switched on the laptop on her desk, furious at the amount of time it took to boot up, and swearing to herself that if she did survive this...when she did survive this ordeal, that she would invest in something faster.
A moment later, it was ready. She hit the browser. Immediately a message filled her screen: 'Unable to connect: Firefox can't establish a connection to the server at www.google.com.'
"Blast!" she said loudly, calling up Internet Explore but then getting a similar message.
She checked the cabling, just in case there was a simple explanation, but could find nothing wrong.
Frustrated, she tried one more thing. She opened Microsoft Lync and looked to see if she could start any form of communication with anyone beyond the walls of the resort.
"Nothing! Nothing works!"
And then it dawned on her why.
The police had shut down all forms of communication in the resort. No one inside could communicate with anyone outside, and no one outside could talk to anyone inside.
The iron walls around the resort had begun to go up.
She suddenly felt strangely isolated, alone, and desperate.
The Blue Emerald Bay Resort had just been shut off from the rest of the world.
They were on their own.
Chapter 30
Bush Center for Geo-Electromagnetic Studies
New York
Tuesday
12: 00 p.m.
Professor Derek Martin sat in the cafe on the third floor of the Bush Center for Geo-Electromagnetic Studies. He had been the first person in the lab that morning. As soon as his head had hit the pillow last night, he had fallen into a deep sleep, without dreams. He had woken just before his alarm had buzzed, set to go off early at 5.30 a.m., and he was at his desk by 6.15 a.m.
There was so much to do. So much data to assimilate and analyze. So much to understand about what had happened on Sunday night.
Scientifically, there was no doubt that the evening had been a complete success. Everything that they had hypothesized could happen, did happen.
And they had captured it all on film.
In glorious Technicolor!
He had spent the morning rerunning the videos that had been recorded from each of the airplanes and satellites, amazed by what he was watching.
Yes, scientifically it had been amazing.
But the human cost of the events that had unfolded had not been expected, and Derek could not stop thinking about the potential loss of life that may have happened because of him. Mostly though, he could not stop thinking about Kate.
All the memories and feelings that he had so successfully bottled up and hidden deep within him for all those years, had now come rushing to the surface, and he saw her picture in his mind everywhere he turned.
He missed her.
Terribly.
Her loss was threatening to consume him.
And yet, the conversations that he had had at the Pentagon with the Colonel, gave him some hope.
Realistically, in the cold light of day, what the Colonel had said somehow now seemed too far-fetched.
But...if it was possible... if there was any hope that it was possible at all, surely it was worth embracing that hope until ultimately they discovered if it could be true or not?
Mick told him to go home.
"Your mind is elsewhere. You worked so hard to gather these results, that it would be a shame for you to start analyzing them when you can't focus on what you are looking at. There's some incredible data here, and surely you want to see it for the first time, when you can appreciate what you are seeing. Don't spoil it. The data's not going anywhere."
He had tried hard to convince him but Derek refused to go home.
The compromise was that he agreed to take an extended lunch break. A short meal, then a long walk in the sunshine outside.
It was as he was sitting in the cafe eating his meal, that he first saw the news that was dominating the television feeds.
There had been a terrorist attack on a hotel resort in Puerto Rico. Several people had been reported dead, and piles of body bags had been seen on the beach. The authorities feared the terrorists were planning a blood bath.
Most of the news consisted of cell phone conversations recorded between guests who were hiding in the resort and relatives and radio stations in America. There were also several video feeds that had been recorded as helicopters had hovered over the complex below.
What captured Derek's attention was the fact that the terrified residents had reported that the terrorists were all dressed as 'pirates'. There were also numerous sightings of these 'pirates' that had been captured on film by the helicopters and were then blown up and magnified, so that everybody could seen them clearly.
True enough: the terrorists looked as if they were all dressed up for Halloween. Like everyone else in America, the idea of pirates in the Caribbean taking over a holiday resort had captured his imagination. Everyone was talking about it.
Incredibly, there was also footage of a large sailing ship which was anchored in the bay. Sadly, it was not flying a pirate flag, but all other aspects of the ship were amazing: the video taken above the ship as the helicopters hovered above it, showed cannons and pirates, on a deck covered with artifacts straight out of sailing history.
There was a flag flying on the mast, but it was not the skull and crossbones: experts quoted on the television programs claimed to have identified it as a form of Flemish flag from Europe that had not been used for hundreds of years.
All in all, the news succeeded in distracting Derek and helped him take his mind off things for a good, solid hour.
When he returned to the lab, he was feeling slightly better.
--------------------
Blue Emerald Bay Resort
Puerto Rico
Tuesday
12:10 p.m.
Sally and Captain McGregor sat on the beach, worrying.
They were drinking cold pineapple juice, served up from the beach bar, to which Sally, naturally, had the key.
Although, since Silver had smashed the door down, a key was no longer necessary.
The past hour had been hectic, and they deserved a well earned rest.
As soon as Sally and the Captain realised that they could not communicate with the outside world, they decided to go back to the main restaurant and arrange for everyone to be sent back to their rooms, with strict orders not to come out unless instruc
ted. Silver had been furious. He had started to argue with the Captain in front of everyone, but the Captain had commanded him to be quiet. He assured Silver that as soon as their hostages had been sent back to their rooms, he would address all the pirates together, and tell them why he was doing what he was. In the meantime, he ordered all the pirates in the restaurant to lay down their arms, and he told Silver to collect them all and put them under lock and key in one of the rooms at the rear of the hall. Ten of the most trusted and senior ranking pirates, men who were fiercely loyal to the Captain, were allowed to keep their weapons. Captain McGregor knew that he could count on them to help enforce whatever orders he gave them to carry out.
Holding a microphone in her hand and standing on a table at the front of the restaurant, Sally had used the hotel Public Address System to address the residents in the hotel, including all those in the hall and those who had already been sent back to their rooms, or who were hiding somewhere else in the resort. Before she started she made it clear that this speech was only for the hotel's residents. Hotel staff and employees would be addressed separately. All hotel staff and employees should report to the open air tennis pitch at 12.30 p.m.
With all communications to the outside world now cut off, she felt that it was safe to tell the residents exactly what was going on. She needed everyone in the resort to do exactly as they were told if they were going to come through this together. The last thing she needed, was a mutiny taking place on her resort, or people complaining about being isolated from everyone else. The message was simple: 'You are being sent back to your rooms for your own health. A deadly illness is spreading across the island and has now penetrated the resort. Some are already ill and dying. Some are dead. No one can leave the complex. Anyone who comes in contact with others will increase their risk of being infected, therefore, the best policy is to stay isolated and keep away from everyone else. Until further notice. At least until the illness passes. Make no mistake, this illness is deadly. Do as you are told, and you will have the best chance of survival.'
TIME SHIP (Book Two) - A Time Travel Romantic Adventure Page 6
