For the next hour, we sailed with our new-found escorts keeping pace. By then, Daz had got bored with watching the dolphins and had come back to eat his now cold breakfast, but Sophie remained on the bow, transfixed by the animals playing a few feet below her.
We reached the dolphin’s destination, marked by a flock of several hundred gannets diving into the water from high in the sky and almost instantly, they deserted us. Sophie skipped back to the cockpit. ‘That was amazing!’ She was wearing a grin almost as wide as her face. ‘I always thought you had to go somewhere tropical to see dolphins. I never knew you could see them in Scotland.’
I smiled at her. ‘You get killer whales here, too.’
Daz perked up and started to look around. ‘You get killer whales in Scotland?’
‘Yeah, not often, but they’re around from time to time.’
Daz frowned. ‘How come I never heard about that before?’
Tom laughed. ‘Because it wasn’t featured on the Discovery Channel?’
Right on time, we slipped into a narrow bay on the east side of Rhum. The shoreline ahead was dominated by a large and imposing sandstone building; the one Hamish had referred to as ‘the Big House’. To the north, was another small cluster of buildings, but other than these structures, the bay was uninhabited. On the beach in front of the main building, one of the large black ribs was pulled up beyond the high tide line, its heavy machine gun causing it to lean to one side. We might have dropped by out of the blue, but at least it looked like someone was home.
As we neared, I scanned the shore with the binoculars and I could see that they’d been busy. All the windows on the lower floor of the Big House had been boarded up, and barbed wire had been strung out along the grass in front of it. Between the building and the foreshore, men in military fatigues moved between piles of what looked like machinery and supplies, carrying things back and forth. To the left, three makeshift corrals had been set up and filled with sheep and goats, and several cows were tethered to stakes which had been hammered into the ground.
I lowered the binoculars and handed them to Tom. ‘You know, they seem to be doing pretty well around here.’
Tom took the binoculars and after a few minutes handed them to Daz. ‘Where d’you think they got all that stuff from? D’you think they’ve been going ashore in places where there are infected to get it? If they have, you’ve got to give them credit for having guts.’
‘It helps when you have some pretty heavy duty fire power to back you up.’ Daz had the binoculars raised, but not towards the shore: rather, he had them pointed back out to sea. I turned and saw the second rib had just rounded the headland on the north side of the bay. As it neared, I could see what Daz was talking about. Each marine had a machine gun slung across his body, while one also had a large pack on his back from which hoses protruded, linking it to what looked like a spray gun of some kind. I thought back to what we’d seen as the frigate was overrun and wondered what they’d been up to that needed a flame-thrower. In addition to these weapons, all the marines carried a pistol in a holster strapped to their waist, and I had no doubt there were other weapons stowed in the compartments which lined each side of the rib.
As soon as they saw us, the rib changed course. As it neared, Tom and Sophie dropped the sails while Daz went up front and released the anchor. Once we were at rest, all we could do was wait to be boarded.
The rib bumped hard against the side of the yacht as many hands reached out to hold it in place. The man at the helm was the first to speak. ‘So, you finally decided to take up Bucky’s offer? He’ll be glad to see you.’ His accent was southern English, almost cockney. He leaned forward and reached out his hand. ‘I’m Nick, by the way.’
I shook it. ‘Ben. This is Tom, Daz and Sophie.’ Each waved in turn.
‘That doctor woman not with you? Bucky won’t be pleased. He’s got all his hopes pinned on her putting in a good word for us. Me,’ he shrugged, ‘I’d take a different route, but Bucky’s the one in charge.’
As I wondered exactly what he was talking about, Sophie piped up. ‘She’s over on Canna helping someone give birth. We’re just on our way over to pick her up.’
I scowled at Sophie, feeling she shouldn’t have given away this information after what Nick had just said. I half-expected the rib to go roaring off, but instead Nick put his hand back on the wheel. ‘You lot want a lift ashore?’
Before I could say anything, Daz and Sophie were clambering over the side and into the rib. Knowing it would seem impolite to object, I did the same, followed shortly by Tom. As we skimmed over the water towards the shore, I could see Daz eyeing up the weapons and I wondered how long it would be before he asked if he could fire one of them. Sophie, meantime, seemed to be casting a critical eye over the marines themselves, while Tom looked to be enjoying the feeling of the wind rushing through his hair.
Within minutes we were at the beach, and the marines were jumping into the shallow water. Tom, Daz and I followed suit, but Sophie hesitated; Nick noticed this and stepped back towards the boat, holding out his arms. ‘You want a lift ashore, ma’am?’
Sophie giggled. ‘If you’re offering.’ With that, she flung one arm around his shoulder and climbed into his arms. Daz shot Nick a look which said he’d wished he’d thought of that rather than just leaping into the water and leaving Sophie behind.
On reaching the shore, we stood around, not quite sure what to do, while the marines busied themselves unloading gas canisters and other items they’d scavenged from god knows where. These were added to the heaps of similar items on the grass above the beach. After a couple of minutes, the first officer came striding towards us. ‘Sorry about the mess. We’re still getting everything sorted out. If we’d known you were coming, we could have been better prepared.’
I didn’t tell him that this was exactly why we’d turned up unannounced. ‘We were just passing and had a couple of hours to kill.’
‘No matter. The important thing is that you’re here.’ His hand shot forward. ‘We haven't been formally introduced, yet. I’m Commander Buchanan-Smith, but you can call me Gordon.’
I shook it and introduced the others.
‘Hmmm, no doctor then?’ He looked disappointed and I wondered why he was so keen to get Claire here. After a second, he clapped his hands together. ‘No matter. D’you want to take a look around?’
Tom peered at a cluster of what looked like farming equipment. ‘Where’d you get all this stuff?’
Gordon smiled. ‘From all over. We’ve been raiding all the buildings and settlements we can. Mostly we’ve been concentrating on farms, but there are also a few small factories we’ve been able to get to.’
Daz looked at him in amazement. ‘Is that no’ dangerous? I mean, aren’t there infected everywhere?’
‘They’re around, but we’ve been specifically targeting places where there’s not going to be more than we can handle.’ He nodded to where a number of the marines were messing around, two of them throwing a hat back and forth, while a third tried to get it back. The rest watched and laughed. ‘They might not always look it, but they’re a pretty tough and well-disciplined bunch when they need to be. I really couldn’t have ended up with a better group of men.’
All the time he’d been speaking, Sophie had been keeping her eyes trained on Gordon. She crossed her arms. ‘Why are you so interested in my mother?’ Her tone reminded me so much of Claire I almost laughed.
The first officer drew himself up to his full height and started what I soon realised was a well-practiced speech. ‘As far as I see it, I’m still a serving officer in the Queen’s navy and, as far as I know, the country’s still under martial law: that means I have a duty to do everything I can to keep people alive and safe. We’re trying to get in touch with London, or whoever else might still be out there, but until then, we’re on our own, and it’s up to us to do the best we can.’
Gordon glanced at us, trying to read how we were taking this. Daz seemed impres
sed, but both Tom and Sophie looked less convinced, and I had to say I felt the same way. He pressed on. ‘I’m under no illusions. I know this isn’t going to be easy, but with this island, I think we can really achieve something. Think about it: it’s isolated, so there’s little chance of the infection reaching here; it has a very low population for its size and plenty of resources. The Big House there,’ he pointed over his shoulder, ‘is built like a castle already and it’s been quite a simple job to fortify it. So far, we’ve been finding it remarkably easy to pick up the supplies we need, and I think we have a chance of having a pretty good life here, at least in comparison to anywhere else, until all this blows over.’
‘You think this is going to blow over eventually?’ I watched him closely and saw the slightest flutter of his eyelids which suggested that he didn’t, but that he wasn‘t ready to admit it openly.
‘I have to stay positive, otherwise what would be the point of trying to do anything? Anyway, if we all work together, I think we can get a real community going, and even if we end up here in the long term, we’ll still be safe. There’s space to grow things around here, and we’ve been picking up farm animals as and when we come across them.’
I eyed him sceptically. ‘You know how to deal with animals?’
‘Well …’ There was an awkward silence. ‘No. And to be honest, we don’t really know much about growing things either, but this is where the locals come in. If we can get them to move here, we can protect them, provide them with a level of security they can’t get anywhere else, and in return, they can help us by doing the farming and helping to maintain everything. It’s a fair trade, isn’t it?’
I considered this. ‘I can see how it’s beneficial for you, but I can see why you’re struggling to convince anyone else.’
‘Yes, we are rather.’ He let out a sigh. ‘I think we really messed up when we first arrived. Nick slipped back into his old habit of throwing his weight around, and it just annoyed everyone. We lost a lot of goodwill because of it. That’s why I’ve come up with a new plan; something that will really benefit everyone.’
Despite all he’d said, I couldn’t help but notice he still hadn’t answered Sophie’s question about why he was so interested in Claire and this left me feeling uneasy. ‘So what’s your new plan?’
He swept his arm towards the building behind him. ‘Come inside and I can tell you all about it.’
I figured I had nothing to lose by listening to what he had to say. ‘Okay.’
Gordon turned to the others. ‘Nick should be around here somewhere. If you can find him, tell him I said he should show you around. That okay with you?’
Daz grinned. ‘No problem!’
He was clearly looking forward to exploring the marines’ settlement. Tom and Sophie seemed pretty keen, too. I, however, wondered why they’d been dismissed. It had been very subtle, but it was clear that I was the only person Gordon wanted to discuss his plans with.
‘Just make sure you stay together.’ I looked at my watch, ‘and be back here in an hour. We’ll need to be heading off to Canna soon after that if we’re going to get there before it gets dark.’
‘Will do, Cap’n!’ Tom gave a playful salute as he turned and walked off, following Daz and Sophie who were already halfway across the grass, heading for the animal enclosures.
Gordon waggled the now half-empty whisky bottle at me, ‘You want a top-up?’
I stared down at my glass and swirled the dregs of the previous round. ‘I should probably leave it at that. I’ve still got a few hours of sailing to go tonight.’
I might only have known him for less than an hour, but I’d quickly warmed to Commander Buchanan-Smith, or ‘Bucky’ as he was known to those who served with him. His hair was thinning, with a smattering of grey, but he was still well-built. He’d served in the navy for almost twenty years, reaching the rank of commander before all this happened. Since arriving on Rhum, he’d put his time, and his extensive experience, to good use, and they were well on their way to establishing a very reasonable facsimile of a fully functioning settlement capable of supporting a sizable population, complete with electricity, and hot and cold running water. They were still using diesel generators for the time being, but they’d already gathered a large number of solar panels and a couple of wind generators, which Gordon hoped to have up and running before they finally ran out of fuel.
‘Go on. Another little bit won’t do you any harm.’ He leaned forward and poured a splash of whisky into my glass. He did the same to his own, then picked it up and rolled it between his palms for a second before taking a sip. ‘So, you’re no doubt wondering what my new plan is, and why I‘m so interested in your doctor friend.’
I settled back in my chair, feeling the effects of the whisky warming my blood. ‘I most certainly am.’
‘Well, as I see it, there are three things we can offer people.’ He ticked them off on his fingers as he spoke. ‘Security, food production and medical help. From what I’ve seen, the locals don’t feel they need our protection, and they’re probably right about that, at least for the time being, and they can probably handle the food side of things better than we can because they know the area. But there’s one thing they can’t really provide for themselves, and that’s the medical help. If we can set up some sort of medical facility here, with a proper doctor in residence, then we’d have something which would make it attractive for people to come here, wouldn’t we? Something which they can’t really do for themselves, or get elsewhere.’
Definitely.’ I drained the last drops of whisky from my glass. Suddenly everything had become clear. ‘But I should warn you, you’ll struggle to get Claire to agree: she’s a pretty independent person and she’s not exactly big on the military.’
‘Yes, that was the impression I got when we ran into you the other day.’ He scratched his chin thoughtfully before looking up. ‘Any ideas how I can go about getting her onside?’
‘I don’t know.’ I mulled this over. ‘Probably by getting her equipment and medical supplies. Providing antibiotics when Tom needed them really helped get you into her good books back at the blockade.’
Gordon put his now empty whisky glass on the table that separated us. ‘I can see I’ll need to put some more thought into this.’ He glanced at his watch and I did likewise. He stood up and pulled on his cap. ‘We should be getting you back to your boat so you can be on your way.’ At the doorway he stopped and held out is hand. ‘Thanks for coming, and for hearing me out. You’ve given me something I can work on, and as far as I’m concerned, that’s a big step forward.’
‘Man, those guys are so cool!’ We were all in the cockpit having left Rhum half an hour before. The winds were fair and we were on time to reach Canna by ten. Daz was at the helm while Tom and Sophie sat opposite me on the lee side of the boat. Daz was filling me in about their time on the island. ‘We ran into them up in the woods behind the house an’ Nick, he’s a lieutenant y’know, he’s second-in-command after Gordon, an’ he’s in charge of all the marines, he showed us how to use his assault rifle.’
‘He even let us fire it!’ Sophie was jubilant, then nervous. ‘Whatever you do, don’t tell Mum. She doesn’t like guns much.’
‘It’s just a pity you couldn’t hit a barn door from two feet away.’ Daz needled her.
‘It’s harder than it looks!’ Sophie punched him playfully on the arm. ‘Anyway, it’s not my fault I’m not a natural, like you.’
I shot Daz a questioning look. He smiled, ‘Nick said I must have a natural instinct for shootin’ an’ that I was really good for someone who’d never even fired a gun before.’
Sophie folded her arms, scowling. ‘It must be all those computer games you played.’
I glanced at Tom. ‘So what about you?’
‘He was too chicken to even give it a go!’
Tom stuck his tongue out at Sophie in response. ‘It wasn’t that; I’m just not that into guns. Anyway, I had other things on my mind.’
>
I raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh yeah, what was that?
‘I’m not really too sure,’ Tom leaned back in his seat, ‘but there was something odd going on there. There’s a path behind the Big House through the trees, and we were walking up it when we saw a bunch of the marines up ahead. They were crowded around what looked like a hole in the ground, all laughing and joking with each other. They were pushing one another towards the edge. I got the impression there was something in there, something alive, but before we could get close enough to see anything, Nick spotted us and shouted at the others to get back to work. That’s when he came over and offered to show us how to fire his gun.’
‘So what d’you think was going on?’ I was curious to hear Tom’s views.
‘I don’t know.’ Tom’s forehead furrowed. ‘Nick said it was just an old septic tank that had collapsed in on itself, but, I don’t know … that didn’t seem right. I could’ve sworn I heard something moving around in it.’
I turned to Daz and Sophie. ‘What about you two? Did you see anything unusual? Anything which seemed odd?’
They looked at each other and then shrugged.
Daz spoke first. ‘I didn’t see anythin’.’
‘Me neither.’ Sophie swiped a stray hair away from her face. ‘And anyway, Nick seems really nice. Why would he lie to us?’
Chapter Sixteen
‘So how did you get on?’ Claire and I were in the cockpit drinking a couple of the beers she’d been given as a thank you for helping out with the birth. Although she hadn’t been keen on us going to Rhum in the first place, she now seemed very eager to hear about what we’d found there.
‘Pretty good, actually. Gordon seems to have his head screwed on the right way, and if they can really achieve half the things he’s planning, it’ll be very impressive. I’m just not too sure he can actually do it though, or even if he can get enough of the people around here to go along with him.’ I sipped my beer. ‘Oh, and I might have dropped you in it .’
For Those In Peril (Book 2): The Outbreak Page 24
