Fergus interrupted. ‘It gets worse. He’s not a member of the crew at all. He’s a prisoner, a Chatfield, another one of our relatives. They lock him in the brig every night.’
‘And you expect us to try to rescue him from a locked brig!’
‘Of course she expects you to try to rescue him,’ Jane said. ‘Would you leave without Mum — or Allison?’
‘We’re going to have to try and snatch him,’ Fergus agreed.
‘Or we’re going to have to leave Julie behind,’ Mark retorted angrily.
‘We’re not leaving her or any other Chatfields behind,’ Jessica said defiantly. A chorus of agreement swept through the cabin. The tables had turned. Now Mark wanted to get out of San Diego and the others were insisting on staying.
He turned to Julie. ‘How the hell do you expect us to get him out of the brig?’
‘I know my way around the Midway. And I know how to get aboard without being seen. Brad takes me in to see the captain every Sunday night. He takes me a secret way, so the rest of the crew don’t know I’m there.’
‘Why?’
‘The hypocritical bastard captain’s a so-called Christian,’ she spat. ‘Holier than thou as far as his crew is concerned. Truth is, he’s worse than they are.’
‘So how does Brad get you aboard without the crew knowing?’
‘We go up the old visitor exit gantry rather than through the visitor entrance the rest of the crew uses. There’s a padlock at the top of the gantry which Brad has a key to.’
‘And I suppose the brig is locked too?’ Mark said, stroking his chin as he grappled with the problem.
She bowed her head. ‘Yes, Brad has a key to the padlock to the cell. He lets me have a few minutes alone with Rick in return for special favours later.’
Fergus ducked into the forepeak. ‘These will do the trick,’ he said as he returned, holding up the bolt cutters. ‘I’m sure I’ll be able to get the padlocks off.’
‘I’ll be getting the padlocks off myself,’ Mark said grumpily. ‘The policy is the same. I’m prepared to risk myself — and Julie will have to take her chances with me — but if anything goes wrong the rest of you have to get the hell out of here. The more I hear, and the more I see, the less happy I am with the children being at risk. I want AWOL away from San Diego tonight, with or without Julie, me and Rick.’ There was finality in his voice. He turned his attention to Julie. ‘What time will it be safe to go aboard Midway?’
‘There’s some form of sporting event on the hangar deck most nights. Then there’s the bar. But there’s never anyone about when Brad takes me aboard at one in the morning.’
‘What about security?’
‘There’s an armed guard at the top of the crew gangway and security cameras on the wharf but I know how to get to the exit gantry without being seen.’
Mark pondered the situation for a few seconds.
‘Right, Julie and I will make our way towards the Midway at midnight and get in position. Fergus, I want AWOL out of here by three a.m. at the latest, whether we’re back or not. Brad’s probably found the tags by now. Come tomorrow this place will be on high alert. We can’t risk the women and children. Do you understand?’
Fergus nodded.
Confident AWOL’s crew accepted the gravity of the situation, Mark turned to face Julie, Anne and Louise. ‘Now, while we all have something to eat, you can tell me what the hell’s been going on in San Diego since the pandemic broke.’
15
Over the meal, Julie, Louise and Anne recounted their story.
The course of the pandemic on the western coast of America had followed a similar pattern to that experienced elsewhere. But the Americans’ right to bear arms led to the wholesale slaughter of its citizens as the population fought over precious supplies of food and medicine. Julie lost her husband and two teenage sons in the violence and Anne’s husband was shot in cold blood for a tin of meatballs. Louise alone lost her partner to super-SARS itself. As the remainder of the population died, the Chatfield relatives drifted together.
‘It was some time before we realised we had a common ancestor in William Chatfield,’ Anne explained.
Julie added, ‘Rick came to the conclusion that our family alone had something in its genes that gave us immunity to the disease. You can imagine our surprise when, almost a year later, we saw a nuclear submarine coming up the harbour.’
Louise stopped eating and looked up. ‘In the end we wished it hadn’t.’
‘How come they came to San Diego?’ Fergus asked.
‘It was their home base.’
‘And it took them a year to get here?’
‘Apparently,’ Julie explained. ‘A week before super-SARS broke out the submarine commenced a mission which entailed remaining submerged and maintaining radio silence for four months. When, at the end of their mission, they attempted to enter the port of Gibraltar an underwater explosion — they assume a mine — damaged the propellers. They made it back to their home port at reduced speed, relying on secret caches of stores the US Navy had laid down.’
Mark was perplexed. ‘So having got back to San Diego, why didn’t they berth at the naval base? Why use the Midway?’
‘Apparently,’ explained Louise, ‘according to Roger — the sub’s doctor — there was a minor radioactive leak on another submarine docked at the base.’
‘The Midway made sense anyway,’ Julie added. ‘She’s effectively a self-contained floating city: workshops, sickbay, cafeteria, hotel, water-making plant, all rolled into one. And having been one of San Diego’s top tourist attractions before the pandemic she was in good shape. They simply recommissioned her and hooked up the submarine’s nuclear power supply. Given that none of the crew fell ill, we were obviously no longer carrying the super-SARS virus. It must have died out when the last of San Diego’s population perished.’
Anne had finished eating and described how the crew had then set about establishing gardens, a farm and a fish processing plant.
‘It sounds the perfect set-up,’ Mark speculated.
‘That’s what we thought. It was a lot better than the accommodation we had arranged for ourselves on the old paddle steamer Berkley. We were only too happy when we were invited to live aboard the Midway too. There was only one problem.’
‘And that was?’
‘Us, we were the problem,’ Julie replied ruefully. ‘One hundred and fifty-seven men and three women. Two women in reality — I was already hooked up with Rick.’
‘And I didn’t help matters,’ Louise added. ‘I got involved with a junior officer called Frank. A couple of weeks later he mysteriously disappeared. I’m sure he was murdered.’
Julie nodded. ‘It got really scary. Anne wandered into the crew’s quarters and …’ She noticed Zach and Nicole listening and shrugged her shoulders. ‘You can guess what happened. Next thing I knew a couple of officers were suggesting I ditch Rick for them. They got really nasty and moody when I said no. We all agreed we had to get away. But in the middle of the night, two hours before we planned to escape, our cabins were raided, Rick was tied up and gagged and we were whisked away.’
‘By whom?’ Jessica asked.
‘Eighteen ratings. We were force-marched up the coastal road towards Los Angeles.’
Louise interrupted. ‘We marched when we weren’t being …’ She also saw Zach and Nicole sitting open-mouthed and didn’t complete the sentence.
‘So what happened next?’ Fergus asked.
‘World War Three, that’s what happened,’ Julie breathed.
‘The rest of the crew caught up with us about a hundred miles up the coast,’ Anne explained. ‘There was a huge gun fight. Fifty-nine officers and ratings got killed.’
‘And you ended up back at San Diego?’
Julie’s voice was soft and sad. ‘The captain ordered the sub’s doctor to sterilise us. He refused, but had to agree to ensure we took contraceptives.’
‘So the captain wasn’t interested in the fut
ure of mankind,’ Mark muttered.
‘He was only interested in keeping his crew under control. He put us on a rota to service them. Not all the crew, of course — a few formed gay relationships, and a fair number had strong moral values and left us alone. But there were still a lot to … to service. Being a good Christian, the captain gave us Sundays off — except me.’ Her voice had become bitter. ‘At first we remained on the Midway, but despite the rota, crew fights and the occasional …’ She shrugged her shoulders again. ‘Eventually he ordered us moved to La Pensione Hotel under the protection of Brad.’
‘Some protection,’ Louise scorned. ‘He used to sell extra favours to the crew. That’s why the captain put an armed guard at the top of the gantry.’
‘So what’s the story with the astronauts?’ Mark asked.
‘When the pandemic broke,’ Julie explained, ‘three astronauts were aboard the International Space Station and a Russian Soyuz spacecraft was on the pad ready to deliver three more crew. The crew were placed in isolation and the launch held back. When it was realised the pandemic was unstoppable, the decision was taken to send the Soyuz up and supply the station with every Progress cargo ship they could launch. They also managed to launch and position a second Soyuz close to the station.
‘As a result, five men and one woman were marooned in space for almost a year. Somehow the engineers aboard managed to keep the station functioning and to prepare the two Soyuz for the return to earth.’
‘That would have been some feat,’ Fergus mused.
‘It was. So was the two pilots both managing to land their craft close to Edwards Air Force Base, without any ground-support systems.’
‘Why Edwards, why not Russia — given the Soyuz?’ Mark quizzed.
Julie shrugged. ‘It wasn’t called the International Space Station for nothing. Only the two pilots were Russian. The six took a vote and chose America.’
‘So why didn’t the astronauts simply link up with the submarine crew?’
Julie shrugged. ‘Neither group knew of the other’s existence. Hank and Brad stumbled across one another on the airwaves, and kept the fact that two groups had survived to themselves.’
‘But why?’
‘Hank discovered Brad was running a brothel. There were five men at Edwards Air Force Base and only one woman — and she had paired up with the commander, and …’
‘And Hank had drugs?’ Mark interrupted, recalling the intercepted radio transmissions.
‘Exactly. It ended up as a profitable black-market business for the two of them. The commander at Edwards Air Force Base and the captain of the sub never found out. Only a few ratings in San Diego and the four single men at Edwards were in the know — and they had the sense to keep their mouths shut. They knew if they let on, they’d lose either their drugs or their women.’
Anne attempted to complete the story. ‘Every so often Hank would collect one of us from Date Street and take us to Los Angeles for a few days to …’ The memory brought her close to tears and her words petered out.
‘And Brad warned us that if we ever let the astronauts know where we lived, Rick would be killed,’ Julie concluded.
16
It was almost midnight by the time Julie, Anne and Louise had finished telling their harrowing story. Sadness and silence pervaded AWOL’s cabin.
‘Do the sub’s crew use powerboats when they go fishing?’ Mark asked eventually.
Julie shook her head. ‘They’ve got no fuel. They use row boats.’
Mark stuffed a small torch in his trouser pocket, handed his rifle to Julie and picked up the heavy bolt cutters. ‘We’re off,’ he announced, turning to Fergus. ‘I want AWOL ready to sail by three o’clock. If we’re not back, leave without us.’
‘We won’t be doing that.’
‘You’re to leave,’ Mark said sharply. ‘If we get captured we could be tortured, given truth drugs, heaven knows what. Your first responsibility is to the women and children. You’ve just heard what’s been going on here.’
Fergus turned off the cabin lights and removed the washboards.
‘I’m coming to the Midway too,’ Louise announced, as Mark began to climb the companionway ladder.
He turned and shook his head. ‘You’d just be adding to the risk.’
‘I’ll stay on the quayside while Julie and you go aboard. If I hear any trouble, I’ll come back and tell Fergus.’
‘I want you to remain on AWOL.’
‘I’m coming to the Midway.’ Her tone was defiant.
Mark poked his head out of the companionway and stood for a moment, thinking about Louise’s ultimatum while searching for signs of movement ashore. He doubted he could stop her.
When he was satisfied all was clear, he climbed into the cockpit, the two women following him. He handed Louise the bolt cutters, pulled AWOL alongside the harbour wall and clambered onto the walkway. Then he helped the two women up and took back the cutters. A whispered chorus of ‘Good luck’ and ‘Take care’ followed as they headed along the waterfront.
A few hundred yards away the dim outline of the masts of the nineteenth-century square rigger Star of India, moored against the quayside, loomed into view. They hurried past.
‘The main lights on the hangar deck are out,’ Louise observed as they approached the carrier. The wharf was bathed in light from high on her island superstructure. They could also see a guard pacing back and forwards at the top of the visitor entry gantry.
Julie pointed to the exit gantry, the one closest to their hiding place, indicating that this was what Brad used to gain entry to the hangar deck. ‘We’d better wait a little longer,’ she whispered, ‘just to be sure the crew’s turned in.’
Twenty minutes later the guard on the far gantry settled down, suggesting that he too believed the crew was safely tucked up for the night.
‘If you hear any commotion, or we’re not back in an hour, go back to AWOL,’ Mark whispered to Louise. Then he nodded to Julie and followed her as she darted from shadow to shadow to the foot of the exit gantry.
At the top of the steel staircase Mark used the bolt cutters to cut through the padlock. It sliced through unexpectedly easily and the padlock fell onto the steel decking. Their hearts raced as the clanging sound resonated around. They saw the guard stand and peer down onto the dockside. But after several minutes he returned to his seat and they edged through the open gate and onto the hangar deck.
Mark was taken aback by how large the hangar area was. The dim emergency lighting illuminated the faint outline of museum exhibits, including fighter aircraft that stood around the perimeter. As he followed Julie past what had once been a rack of visitor audio equipment they heard a noise behind them. They both froze. Mark swapped the bolt cutters for his rifle and held it at the ready, searching the shadows for movement. Again no challenge was issued and after several anxious minutes they edged forward again.
Julie halted at what a dimly lit sign indicated was the ladder leading below decks to the brig and engineering section. There was no light below decks.
Mark handed Julie the torch and they descended the ladder carefully. She led the way through a myriad of narrow passages, separated by fire-door hatches. Eventually they reached the grille door of the brig. The torch beam illuminated the primitive toilet and the rows of bunks that had once slept wayward sailors. On the far bunk, Mark made out the outline of a person lying asleep with a blanket pulled high on their shoulders. He held his fingers to his lips, leant his rifle carefully against the bulkhead and motioned to Julie to give him the bolt cutters and hold the padlock so this time it would not fall to the deck. Then he carefully cut off the padlock.
‘Rick,’ Julie whispered as Mark pulled back the heavy iron grille. As the gate slid back, lights illuminated the brig.
The startled figure in the bunk sat bolt upright. ‘Rick!’ Julie called as she rushed forward to embrace him.
Suddenly Mark heard a noise behind him and spun around. Brad was standing in the doorway h
olding his automatic weapon. ‘Who the hell are you?’ he demanded.
Mark looked nervously at his rifle, standing propped up against the bulkhead.
‘Don’t even think about it,’ Brad threatened. Julie started to cry.
‘My name’s Mark.’
‘Where are you from?’
‘New Zealand. I was on holiday in Seattle when the pandemic broke,’ he lied. ‘I’ve been making my way down the coast. I stumbled across Julie yesterday.’
Brad snorted in disbelief. ‘Where are the other women?’
‘What other women?’
‘Stop being a smart ass,’ Brad warned. ‘I found the tags, and now I know how you got them off,’ he continued, gesturing towards the bolt cutters lying beside the rifle.
‘I don’t know where the other women are. We split up in the park.’
‘I’ve warned you before. Stop lying.’
‘How did you know we’d come here?’ Julie sobbed.
‘I’m not stupid. I guessed you wouldn’t leave San Diego without that mongrel,’ Brad sneered, nodding at Rick.
‘So what now?’ Rick asked.
‘Well,’ Brad said, smiling as he took a silencer from his pocket and screwed it to the barrel of his weapon, ‘that depends on Julie.’ He looked at her hard. ‘Where are Louise and Anne?’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t know.’
‘Well, maybe I can help you remember.’
‘What are you going to do?’ Rick asked nervously.
‘Well, first I’m going to shoot this lying Kiwi,’ he said, jabbing the barrel of his weapon towards Mark, ‘just so Julie knows I’m serious. Then, if she still doesn’t tell me where the other women are, I’m going to shoot you.’
He lifted his weapon and pointed it directly at Mark’s head.
There was the dull thud of a bullet being fired through a silencer. Brad slumped forward. As he hit the deck, his weapon discharged, sending bullets ricocheting off the steel walls of the brig. Rick, Julie and Mark ducked and miraculously, none of them were hit.
‘Time to get out of here.’
Blood Roots: Are the roots strong enough to save the pandemic survivors? Page 9
