“We’ll go directly to the crew deck,” Ms. Agnews pressed the button for deck four. “You will receive a tour of the appropriate sections and an orientation briefing at 19:00 hours today.”
Paul glanced at the number of the buttons and whistled. “Twelve floors? That’s more than the apartment building I live in!”
Ms. Agnews smiled at him. “They’re called decks. It’s James, isn’t it?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He cringed. “It’s safe to call you ‘ma’am,’ right?”
Ms. Agnews laughed. “Yes, James, you may call me ma’am.”
“Whew,” Paul said, mock-wiping his brow.
How does he do that? Alyssa stared at him, both envious and vexed at Paul’s innocent charisma. Her mind wandered to their first meeting.
“Whatcha grinning at?”
She started at Dan’s voice. “Just some memories,” she replied.
“Cool. I have those, too, sometimes. Uh, I mean…” He grimaced at his own words and tugged at his collar, his face turning crimson.
Alyssa stared at him, trying not to laugh. “That’s… great.”
Mercifully, the elevator came to a stop. The trio followed Ms. Agnews into the hallway.
“Deck four, crew living quarters. They’re aft—” she glanced to Paul—“that’s the rear of the ship, James. Your mess hall, workout area, and the commons, which is our gathering area, are here as well.” She motioned them to keep up, and they arrived at an intersection. “There is a small movie theater and lounge for your use.” She pointed to the left. “The female sleeping quarters are on the port side—left as the ship is moving forward—and the male sleeping quarters are on the starboard side.” She looked sternly from Alyssa to the two young men. “We have a strict policy against fraternization among our crew members.” She gave a small smile. “But we also understand that we have a hundred young men and women aboard, so whatever you do, keep it to yourselves.” Her face grew stern once again. “However, if it even appears to affect your work performance or cause any distress to your fellow crew, there will be consequences.”
She pointed starboard. “Gentlemen, you’re assigned cabin forty-eight. Just follow the numbers down the passageway.”
Dan punched Paul playfully in the shoulder. “Awesome, roomy!”
“Oh, yay.” Paul stifled a grimace as Dan took off for the cabin.
“Dibs on top bunk!” the Aussie yelled.
Paul shook his head and trotted after him.
“Don’t forget, 19:00 hours, commons!” Ms. Agnews called after them. She turned to Alyssa. “Nice young men,” she said. “I think they’ll get along just fine.”
They moved portside and arrived at cabin twenty-one.
“You were assigned to share your cabin with Lisa, but since she won’t be staying, enjoy your temporary upgrade to a solo suite. You will find your crew manual on your desk and uniforms in the closet. Do you have any questions?”
“No, ma’am,” Alyssa replied.
“Very well. In that case, I shall see you at 19:00 in the commons.”
Alyssa entered the cabin and locked the door behind her. She leaned against it and exhaled deeply, studying the small compartment. A bunkbed occupied the wall on her left, and a narrow desk butted against the opposite wall, a chair shoved tightly underneath. Facing her was a door to the bathroom—head—she reminded herself.
At least I’ll have it to myself. They needed all the breaks they could get. I do hope Lisa is all right, she thought with a twinge of guilt.
She peeled off the adhesive bandage from her forearm and gently rubbed her finger over the skin, pressing on the tiny bump. She needed to check in with Clay and Renley as soon as possible, so they could start devising an alternate plan.
She entered the bathroom and turned on the shower. She wouldn’t put it past the Society to bug the crew cabins. The splatter from the water should drown out any words whispered into the headset.
Alyssa reached into her purse and pulled out the comm unit. Her fingers brushed a small plastic pill bottle. She lifted it out. Mixed among the anti-inflammatories and motion sickness meds hid their ticket off this ship. One of the capsules contained a partially inactivated strain of Norovirus, a nasty and highly contagious GI bug, and scourge of cruise ships. Ingesting this strain would give her symptoms that are manageable, but that mimic the full-fledged disease sufficiently to get them rushed off the ship. The plan was for Alyssa and Paul to take these as soon as they established the remote connection to the server, ensuring that they both were on the first available helicopter flight off the boat.
She put the pill bottle back into her purse and slipped in the earpieces. She waited for the Bluetooth connection to pair up, then tapped a game icon on the phone and typed in the password to start the scrambling software.
I sure hope Clay is as smart as we all think he is…
She chewed her bottom lip as she waited for the software to find the ship’s Wi-Fi signal. She exhaled deeply when the icon turned into a smiley face—Clay’s personal touch. She was online, piggybacking on the carrier signal to the satellite uplink.
“Clay? Clay, come in.” She waited for several long seconds. Nothing. Her chest tightened. “Clay are you—?”
“Alyssa!”
She exhaled with relief.
“Are you and Paul okay?”
“Yes,” she answered, “But we’ve got a problem.”
Clay hesitated. “Uh-oh… What do you mean?”
“Those tracking bracelets Renley told us about… They replaced them with an implant.”
“They what?”
“They tagged us with some tracker. I’ve got a friggin’ chip stuck in my arm. And so does Paul!”
“Oh, not good… not good at all…” Clay muttered.
“You’re not exactly inspiring confidence.”
“Sorry… sorry… it’s just… damn. Okay, okay. We can do this.” She heard him take a deep breath. “Tell me all you can about this doofer.”
“It was deposited with a… hypodermic injector, the woman called it. It looked like a cross between an old-style Star Trek phaser and a needle syringe.” She tried to recall the name printed on the side of the device. “I think it said ‘Biojector’ on it.”
“That’s my girl!” She couldn’t tell whether he was more excited at her recalling the name of the device or her making a Star Trek reference. “Tell me all you can about where they injected it and how big it is. Did they say anything?”
“Not much, only that it was harmless. It’s about the size of a grain of rice. It’s right in the middle of my forearm about a quarter inch deep. And itchy as hell.”
“I’ll see what I can find out about it, put some of Lord Renley’s resources to good use.”
“Thank you, Clay.” She took a deep breath. “I gotta go. I’ll call in as soon as I can.”
“Sounds good. Do be careful.”
“I’ll try,” she answered and removed her earbuds.
Dan was whistling contently, browsing through the kitchen uniforms hanging in his closet.
“Check it out, mate!” he said, turning to Paul with a grin. “How sick are these?” He lifted one up for Paul.
“Fully.” Paul nodded approvingly. “I’m going to jump in the shower.” He wanted to check in with Clay and report on the damn tracker.
“Right on,” Dan replied and turned to the hats.
Paul knelt at his dresser and pulled a towel from a drawer.
“Hey, mate, you think I can go to the meeting in thongs?” Dan asked.
“What?” Paul whirled, mortified.
Dan lifted up a pair of flip-flops. “My feet are killing me.”
Paul exhaled. “Ms. Agnews probably wouldn’t approve,” he said.
Dan’s face sagged. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
Paul shook his head and stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind him, locking it. He started the shower and slipped in the earbuds then tapped on the icon on his phone.
<
br /> The knock on the door interrupted him. “Hey, James, sorry to bug ya.”
Paul took out one of his earbuds. “What is it?”
“Sporting one of those uniforms to the meeting should be cool, right?”
I wish I had his problems. “Better than thongs,” Paul replied.
“Sweet!” Dan whooped.
Paul turned to the phone and lifted the earbud to his ear.
“Or you think it’ll look like I’m trying too hard?”
Paul’s hand froze. He shook his head. “I don’t know, Dan. Why?”
“Well, girls like guys in uniform, right?”
I don’t think that started with kitchen uniforms, but… “They sure do,” he said.
“Cool—thanks, mate! You’re a real pal.”
Paul put the earbud in and turned to the phone.
“So—you and Jane,” Dan’s voice started from the other side of the door.
Oh, for goodness sake… “What?” Paul took out the earbud again.
“You’re not, like, going steady, are you?”
Going steady? Where are we? Middle school? You want me to pass a note to her? “It’s… a bit complicated,” Paul replied.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, we don’t get to see each other that much, so… it’s just complicated.”
“Gotcha. Okay.”
Paul turned back to the phone and put his earbud in. He started typing the password.
“So, like, would you say you’re more together than you’re not together?”
What does that even mean? “I don’t know, Dan. You realize that’s an odd question, don’t you?”
“Yeah, yeah… I reckon so,” Dan said. “Sorry… it’s just… she’s a fox, you know.”
More like a tiger…
“Sooo, which one is it?”
“I don’t know,” Paul said, exasperated. “I suppose we’re more together than we’re not. Listen, I really have to get in the shower. I don’t want us to be late.”
“Right, right,” Dan said, sounding dejected. “Cheers, mate… good talk.”
Paul shook his head and put in the earbud. He typed in the password and waited for the connection to establish.
“Clay, are you there?”
“Paul!” Clay’s voice rang in the headset. “Alyssa just checked in. She told me about the tracker.” He relayed what Alyssa had told him. “How are you holding up?”
“Let’s just say I didn’t hit the jackpot in the roommate lottery,” he said.
“What?”
“Never mind,” Paul said. “The tracker?”
“I started digging into it. It’s electronic. It’ll have a weak link. We’ll just have to identify it.”
Paul nodded. “Good—”
The knock at the door made him jump.
“What now?” he said.
“Oy, sorry to bug ya, but I really have to take a leak. You gonna be much longer?”
Is this guy for real?
“What’s going on?” Clay asked.
“All good,” Paul whispered. “I gotta go. I’ll check in again as soon as I can.” He disconnected the call and slipped out the earbuds. He stripped off his clothes and jumped into the shower.
“Almost done!” he yelled.
“Much appreciate the swiftness. My eyeballs are floating, mate.”
Paul cut off the water and stepped out. He quickly toweled off and wrapped the towel around his waist. He opened the door and barely made it aside as Dan stormed in and headed for the commode. He lifted the seat and started peeing.
“Crickey, that was a close one…”
Paul closed the door behind him. It’s going to be a long three days…
7 The Valediction
Alyssa perched on the edge of the hard bench, sandwiched between Paul and Dan in the spacious crew community quarters, surrounded by idle chatter from the fifty or so other young men and women. Like Paul and Alyssa, most wore white pants and matching polo shirts as they crowded around five large tables that filled the sparsely decorated room.
The chatter dissolved into a faint murmur when Ms. Agnews paced in, appearing slightly more agitated than when Alyssa last saw her.
“We’ll have to keep the meeting short today,” she began without further ado. “Only senior crew will be required on the main deck this evening. Junior crew are dismissed until tomorrow. The ship’s tour for new arrivals will take place tomorrow morning. You may take time to familiarize yourself with the ship at your leisure tonight. Remember, you are consummate professionals and expected to project it in deed and spirit. Dismissed.”
She exited the room.
“What’s going on?” Alyssa whispered to Paul as surprised mumbles and hushed conversations percolated through the room.
Paul shrugged.
Dan trotted up to them, his face glum.
“You okay?” Alyssa asked.
“I gotta report to the galley, stat.” He sighed. “There goes my evening off.”
“Any clue what this is about?”
Dan moved closer. “They’ve got me on duty in the ship’s pantry. Apparently, some important blokes came in for a meeting on short notice, so everybody’s scrambling.”
Alyssa looked at Paul. Dan caught the exchange. He cast a knowing glance at Alyssa.
“Betcha you’ll be glad to spend some time with your boyfriend.”
Alyssa looked at Dan, surprised.
Dan’s eyes darted to Paul. “I thought you said that you two were going steady.”
“You said what?” Alyssa asked, cocking an eyebrow.
“No, I just meant that we’ve known each other—” Paul started.
“James,” Alyssa interrupted, giving Paul a stern look. “I don’t think Ms. Agnews would condone that kind of talk. We are expected to be consummate professionals and project it in deed and spirit.”
“Oh, mate, I’m sorry…” Dan lifted his hands, slowly backing away. “I didn’t mean to get you in hot water with your, uh… I’ll catch ya later in the room.” He spun and skirted away. “Cheers,” he called back over his shoulder.
Alyssa smothered a laugh as she turned to the hallway. Paul dashed after her to her cabin. She closed the door behind them.
“Oh, man, you should have seen your face.” She grinned widely, making her look like a little girl.
“You enjoyed that, didn’t you?”
“Immensely,” she answered, laughing, spurred by the challenge in his voice. “I’m sorry,” she said, coming in for a hug.
He pushed her away playfully. “Get away from me,” he teased. “Why would you want a hug? It’s not like we’re going steady.”
“But we have been through a lot together,” she said, her lighthearted mood darkening. She stepped closer, lowering her voice. “This meeting seems important. We may be able to learn something valuable.”
“I had a feeling you’d say that,” Paul whispered back. “I’m not even going to start telling you how crazy that idea is. Besides, we don’t even know how to deal with these buggers,” he pointed to his arm.
Alyssa moved back and asked, “How about a shower?”
“Wha-what?” Paul drew back before realizing what she meant. “Very funny,” he mouthed.
They moved into the bathroom and locked the door behind them. Paul started the shower while Alyssa connected her headset to the phone and handed one of the earbuds to Paul. A few seconds later the click in her headset confirmed the secure connection to Clay.
“Clay, can you hear me?” Paul asked.
“Loud and clear,” Clay responded. “How are you? How’s Alyssa?”
“I’m fine,” Alyssa said. “We’re in my cabin. Did you get anywhere on the trackers?”
“I got a start. Looks like they’re short-range radio frequency trackers that are activated by body heat.”
“That’s why they kept the cartridges in the cooler!” Alyssa said. “So, can we take them out?”
“It’s not that easy. There’s a f
ailsafe. Once they’re removed, they stop functioning.”
“They stop working right away?” Paul asked.
“Uh… that’s the part I’m still trying to figure out. It probably uses the same temperature sensor as the one activating it. Based on what I’ve read, my best guess is that if its internal temperature falls below thirty-five degrees Celsius, it goes offline.”
“Best guess?” Alyssa said.
“I know, I know,” Clay said. “I’ll keep looking into it. For now, don’t diddle with them.”
“Thank you,” Alyssa said. “We’ll check in when we can.” She ended the connection.
“We need to be at that meeting,” she said.
“And I suppose you already have a plan.”
“Well, not exactly a plan,” she replied. “More of an idea that’s cooking.”
Twenty minutes later, Alyssa peeked through the round window in the stainless steel door of the ship’s pantry. She spotted Dan in the far corner, shoulders slumped, staring at a tablet in his hand and muttering to himself. She knocked on the window.
Dan looked up. His face went through a confused expression, then it brightened. He rushed to the door and unlatched it.
“Jane!” he said, busting out a grin. “Whatcha doing here? Got in a fight with your not-boyfriend?”
She returned the smile. “No, we’re good. Just wanted to drop by and say hi, see what you’re up to.” She glanced past him. The room was the size of a small apartment. What seemed like thousands of boxes of food and drinks filled row after row of shelves. Straight ahead, a pair of thick metal doors led into what she presumed was the refrigerated section.
Looks like there are enough provisions here for a year.
“Wow, this place is massive,” she said.
“Ain’t that the truth.” Dan sighed. “And not a soul to show me around. Everybody and their uncle are chasing their tails about those bigwigs that just arrived.”
“Sounds important.”
“Ya think?” He threw up his hands. “And I’m running late!” He pointed at a cart filled with bottles of alcohol and jugs of juices. “I gotta bring these up so they can stock the bar in the VIP lounge.”
Daughter of Ra Page 8
