Chapter 13

October 1 / 2

“Diphtheria ..?” Rachel had sat back, shaking her head slightly.

“Don’t we get shots against that?” Jack had wondered cautiously.

Rachel had nodded. “Yeah, as children. It’s rare.”

“These days,” Alex had pointed out.

“That ship’s a hundred years in the past,” Merlin had added.

“Right. Not so rare for them,” Rachel had conceded.

“So .. what is it?” Jack had asked, leaning forward.

“The word diphtheria means .. a membrane,” Rachel had begun. “It’s difficult to explain in simple terms. It usually occurs in the throat and sometimes in the nose or larynx, and the exudate from the inflammation creates what looks like a leathery membrane .. which is how it got its name. It’s caused by a bacterium and this secretes a highly poisonous exotoxin which is absorbed into the blood and then carried around the whole body. This exotoxin affects the heart muscle an’ the nervous system causing paralysis. Incubation is .. two to eight days. Treatment is by diphtheria antitoxin an’ penicillin. Of course, penicillin was discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming in nineteen twenty eight. So they don’t have the treatment on board. It hasn’t been found yet. I guess the Santa Theresa really is a plague ship.”

“How is it communicated?” Merlin had inquired.

“Coughing. It’s predominantly an airborne disease. Acutely infectious. And, without treatment, it’s invariably deadly,” Rachel had answered. “It isn’t the damage to the throat, it’s the exotoxin.”

“Are Derek an’ Nick at risk?” Alex had asked.

“They could be. Even though they’ve had shots, it depends how virulent this strain is. Even if it’s normal, there’s the time factor to take into account. Did their immunization go back in time with them? They should avoid contact with the victims, just to be on the safe side of cautious.”

Merlin had nodded. “Okay. I’ll pass that on to Nick. Well,” she’d sighed, “it won’t get any calmer for a few days and it’s gonna get worse so my advice is to go get some sleep. I’ll stay here.”

“You want some coffee?” Alex had asked, rising from the table.

“That’d be good. Thanks.”

“Sure you don’t want company?”

Merlin had smiled wryly. “I’m never alone, Alex. Say, Jack, you wanna hang around an’ talk?”

Jack had paused. “It’s none of my business, Peri,” he’d responded in a stiffly formal voice.

“It’s never stopped you before,” she had remarked. “I’m here if it becomes too much for you to bear.”

Jack had looked wounded but there was a sly twinkle in his eye as he’d gone below.

*****

During the night, Merlin had checked the charts and the displays and had realized she would have to make a course change. Just north of San Simeon, the coast pushed out into the ocean. If the Shamrock had continued on its original heading, it would have become just another statistic. Merlin was now plunging the Shamrock deeper into the storm, even though it was still shadowing the coast.

By dawn, or the slow lightening of the surroundings, she had called Nick and left the message he’d requested, passing on what information she could. Now they would have to wait until the Santa Theresa appeared again so that Nick’s voicemail could connect to his cell phone.

Jack came up, yawning and scratching at his chin and he brought two cups of coffee with him.

“You want me to take over for an hour or so?” he offered.

“The auto-pilot’s on. I can doze right here. If the alarm sounds, it’ll wake me up.”

“Did you doze during the night?” Jack inquired in a deliberately light voice.

“No. I was awake all night, Jack. Fully justifying that deep, sound sleep you had.”

“You don’t need much sleep, do you?” He handed a mug to her and leaned against the bulkhead, his feet braced, warming his hands on the second mug. He’d adapted to the conditions, as they’d all had to adapt. “One of those .. hyperactive types, I guess.”

“Under normal circumstances, that’s true. This isn’t normal. I am feeling it, Jack. I just can’t give in to it.”

He nodded. “So .. who’s Aquila?”

“Aquila’s part of me. The tough part. The one who fights. You’ve heard of astral projection?” He nodded. “Kinda like living ghosts.”

“Yeah,” Jack agreed.

“That’s Aquila. A projection.”

He nodded again. “Okay, but the .. shell, if you like, is asleep when the projection occurs. They don’t .. they can’t hold conversations an’ steer a boat an’ be a regular person while it’s going on.”

“Sure, you’re right. Under normal circumstances, I would be spark out on my back. This isn’t normal. That’s why I’m feeling it. It’s been days now, Jack. When Aquila and I are together, she’s the driving force, she’s my main source of stamina and endurance. Together, we can go .. days without sleep. Apart .. she doesn’t need sleep but I do. And we need Aquila on lookout so I have to put up an’ shut up.”

“Why couldn’t you tell me that before?”

“Well,” Merlin answered, “it comes down to trust, I guess. Damage limitation. I’m not unique, Jack, but I can do unique things. If this got out . . what kinda life would I have? None. It’s important that you keep the secret an’ tell no one. D’you understand that?”

“Sure,” Jack said.

“I mean it. I have certain skills for defense an’ offense. Personal security is critical. If I find you’ve told someone, Aquila will come pay you a visit. You don’t want that to happen. Trust me. She will do things to your memory so you never tell anyone again. It’s easier for everyone if you just keep quiet.”

“I promise,” Jack said. “I’ll never tell another soul, living, dead, or undecided.”

Merlin nodded. He’d told her the truth. “Okay.”

“She never needs sleep .. or food? How about water?”

“She’s a projection, Jack. Part of me. I .. I’m the physical. She’s the metaphysical. This shell will age, die, rot away. She’s eternal. She’s up there right now, not even wet. Best guard any of us can have. She never quits.”

“Wow .. she sounds fantastic. I’d like to meet her.”

“No. No, you really don’t,” Merlin sighed. “People .. well, they see what we can do an’ then, for some reason, they either want to be like me or they think I’m some kinda monster. Kat, I think, has finally gotten to a good place with her hopes an’ ambitions. That’s gonna get Rachel off my back. Alex likes me as a person but can’t relate to Aquila because she’s so hard. Alex helps people in trouble. Aquila either won’t or she kills them, depending on how much trouble they’re in. Clash of personalities. Rachel is neutral, except where Kat’s concerned. Derek can cope with both but he’s had experience and he’s Precept. Nick … ”

Jack smirked. “Nick Boyle just had to want to be like you.”

“He did until he got up close an’ personal with what’s involved. He backed off, an’ that was exactly the right decision.”

Merlin slid her gaze over the control panel and sipped her coffee. “I’m in a service industry, Jack. I’m here to be used. Not taken advantage of but used for worthwhile reasons, meaningful purposes. I don’t resent that, being told what to do. It’s my job an’ I’ll do it. What I do resent is people telling me what a wonderful life I have an’ how much they wish they could be just like me. We all have something special in each of us. Let me help by being myself and leave it at that. I don’t need you to be like me. Be content with your own .. something special.”

Jack nodded, smiling faintly. “The gift of sight.”

“In your case, yes.”

“Are you .. telepathic?”

“Only with Aquila an’ that’s because we share the same mind. It’s kinda like when you talk to yourself an’ you answer. You ask .. why the hell did I do that? And the answer comes .. because you’re one dumb sonofabitch, that’s why. It’s like that.”

“Jack .. do you want breakfast?” Alex called.

“Please,” he called back. “What about you?” he asked Merlin.

“For sure. I’m starved. Person I feel sorry for right now is Nick. Here we are having bacon strips, eggs, toast an’ coffee. What’s he having for breakfast? Maybe nothing at all, an’ he is one guy who really loves his food.”

“I’ll tell Alex an’ then I’ll keep watch on the controls while you grab a nap. You can do that right here, on the sofa. If something goes bad, I'll wake you.”

“Thanks, Jack. Appreciate it.”

He leaned in closer. “Y’see? There was a reason for me to come along.”

“I guess there was,” she smiled.

*****

“How you doing, Kat?” Rachel inquired. “Sleep okay?”

Kat nodded.

“Storm’s a little scary, huh?” Rachel remarked, sitting down on the narrow bed next to her daughter. “It’s one thing to be safely indoors an’ looking out at it. Even to be outside but on land. That can be exciting. But being out in it and on a boat .. trying to get from A to B, that’s a lot different.”

“Are you scared?” Kat asked.

A particularly violent wave smacked down on the deck above and Rachel gave a nervous laugh.

“If I said no, I’d be lying,” she admitted. “Big ships, the big ocean cruise liners, they have stabilizers to stop the rolling from side to side. Little boats – and, in comparison, this is a little boat – they don’t have things like that. Little boats aren’t meant to be out in weather like this.”

At that moment, the sea vanished under the Shamrock as the waves towered either side and created a trough. There was a split second of weightlessness, and mother and daughter clutched each other’s hand, then the launch dropped with a sickening thump which forced hearts to turn over.

“Everyone okay?” Merlin called.

“Fine down here,” Alex replied. “We nearly lost the coffee but Jack saved it.”

“Burned my hand a little,” Jack added, “but I’ll live.”

Kat gave a small giggle. “He’s funny.”

“Yeah, he is. Jack is doing a great job of keeping us grounded. He can be a royal pain but he does have valid input an’ he has never been afraid to share,” Rachel commented.

Kat looked round, her face anxious as she hugged her knees to her chest. “Mom .. we are going to get them back .. aren’t we?”

Rachel smoothed back a lock of her hair. “I believe we are, yes. And now, Katherine Corrigan, you are going to ask me how and I have to tell you .. I don’t know. We are running out of time. It’s October 1. If you’re right an’ the Santa Theresa took them on purpose .. there isn’t much we can do to bring them home. It may go right to the wire an’ the ship sinks. If that happens, we have to be there to pick ’em out of the sea.”

“Will we be able to do that in this storm?”

“It won’t be easy but we will do it, if we have to. Remember, Peri can heal an’ I’m a doctor. Even if they’re unconscious an’ half drowned, we can fix them.” It’ll very likely come to that, Rachel added silently.

Kat nodded. “I don’t want Derek to die.” She shrugged. “I don’t want Nick to die either.”

“But Derek’s more important to you,” Rachel ventured, angling her head.

“Only in a different kinda way.”

Rachel put her arm around Kat’s shoulders. “I know exactly what you mean,” she whispered. Rachel hugged her. “How about we go get some breakfast, huh?”

“Army marches on its stomach,” Kat agreed stoutly.

“A good breakfast will help us get to grips on the problem of .. how to get them back before October 4.”

“Are they gonna catch that bug?” Kat asked as she stood.

“I don’t know. Maybe. But I got antibiotics in the med kit.”

“Is that why the ship becomes a ghost? Because it’s got plague on board?”

“Who can say?” Rachel shrugged. “The Legacy’s on the case. We’ve got two members on site. What more can we do? C’mon, let’s go eat.”

“Okay.” Kat staggered awkwardly toward the door. “Mom ..?”

“Yes, honey?”

“You do know I’m supposed to be back at school tomorrow.”

Rachel closed her eyes. “I guess I forgot. Don’t worry,” she winked, “I’ll write you a note.”

*****

When Merlin woke after her nap, Alex decided to brave the elements to go discuss things with Aquila. She carefully attached her lifeline then slowly climbed the steps to the sundeck. It was hard to recall that, only two days ago, they’d sat up here on loungers, almost too hot to move and using the deck as it had been intended. Now it was a bare patch of space with four metal poles marking its corners.

“Aquila?” Alex shouted, clinging desperately to the waist high rail. Watching the storm from inside the main cabin, it was bad. Out here, seeing the waves rise almost as high as she was, it was terrifying.

“I’m here,” the air said and a shape almost appeared. “I’m conserving energy, Alex.”

“Are you getting tired?”

“Peri is.”

Alex nodded. “Have you seen anything of the Santa Theresa?”

“Not so far today, nor did it appear again during the night.”

“It has to come back. How else will Nick get the message?”

Aquila was silent, her gaze never resting as it swept the area of ocean about a hundred feet in front of her.

“Do you have any ideas?” Alex inquired.

“None. But you will think of something. Alex, this is no place for you. Go below. I can easily listen in to your debates. Please. For your own welfare, go below.”

Alex didn’t believe she’d ever heard Aquila say please before so she must be genuinely concerned. Slowly, she retreated to the steps and began to descend them. Jack was waiting below to catch her if she stumbled or slipped on the wet stairs.

“What are you doing out here?” Alex asked, blinking rain from her eyes. Five minutes, less, she’d been outside and she was drenched to her skin.

He shrugged. “Five of us in that cabin .. gets a little claustrophobic after a while, and .. while it isn’t unpleasant, the air’s a little stale.”

“You want to see Aquila,” Alex reasoned in a flat voice.

“That too,” he smiled.

“She’ll only tell you what she told me – go below, it isn’t safe. Aquila is never wrong, Jack. Try not to antagonize her, okay?”

Jack gave her a ‘Who? Me?’ look, grinned, winked and started up the stairs. Alex shook her head and returned to the cabin.

“After lunch,” she said as she passed thru to go change her clothes, “we need to debate something.”

“Okay,” Rachel agreed. “C’mon, Kat, let’s go fix lunch.”

Jack arrived on the sundeck and peered around at the obvious emptiness. It was early afternoon by now, it felt more like twilight.

“I know you’re here,” he shouted over the wind and the lashing rain. “Peri’s told me all about you.”

A hand grabbed his shoulder and Jack’s heart shot into his throat. “I doubt that. Where’s your lifeline?”

“I, er, I guess I forgot it,” he squeaked, glancing over his shoulder. Slowly, a shape became etched on the air.

“I will tell you this one time – ”

“Go below, it isn’t safe,” Jack cut in. “There. Saved you the effort.”

“I wasn’t going to say that.”

He twitched, trying to free his shoulder from her grip. “Oh?”

“I was going to say that, if you should be washed or blown overboard, we will not return for you. A lifeline is there for a reason; forgetting it is not a sensible option. It comes with a price tag.”

“You don’t mean that,” he cajoled. “I’m one of the crew.”

“But you are not a member of the Legacy. I don’t have to protect you, save you, or even care what happens to you.”

“Then why are you holding onto me?” Jack frowned.

“Do you want me to let go?”

“No! No, er, I’m good like this. Wow .. it’s pretty wild out here, huh?”

“Jack, go below and have your lunch. Can you negotiate the steps?”

“Sure.”

“Then negotiate them. Now.”

“There’s no need to be hostile,” he protested.

Aquila’s grip tightened. “This is polite. You want to try for hostile, it’s no problem to me.”

Jack carefully backtracked toward the steps. The hand continued to hold onto him until he began to descend.

“Nice meeting you,” he said in farewell.

“Hope you never do again,” she responded.

Alex spread her soaked clothes around to dry and she hunched into a thin sweater. None of them had expected to sail thru a storm of any intensity, let alone one as bad as this. None of them had brought the right clothes and that many changes of them.

“Okay, outside is off limits unless there’s a genuine need,” Alex declared as she returned to the main cabin.

Jack trudged past her, dripping, and went below to change. “Good call,” he muttered.

Merlin grinned. “I did warn him.”

Rachel and Kat served lunch. “We’re gonna have to cut back,” Rachel said. “We’ve brought enough for eight days and five people. If .. when we pick up Derek an’ Nick, we’ll be stretched because we don’t know how long this weather’s gonna last. Five days could be a minimum.”

“Okay, we ration ourselves, including water. No overexertion. That way we won’t work up an appetite.”

“Move around just enough to keep warm,” Rachel agreed. “Sleep as often as you can.”

“What do we have to debate?” Kat asked.

“We have to make sure Nick gets our message,” Alex replied as Jack returned. “He won’t unless the barkentine appears. Aquila says it hasn’t, not during the night, not since the last time we saw it.”

“Is that all?” Jack queried. “Problem solved. To summon a ghost, you hold a séance.”

*****

“He makes it sound real easy,” Rachel muttered as she washed the dishes and handed them to Alex.

“Theoretically .. he’s right,” Alex responded, wiping the dish and putting it away in the locker.

“Sure, theoretically. Alex, this isn’t a person, it’s a ship,” Rachel pointed out, leaning on the edge of the sink. “A damned great ship too. You need .. what, four to summon the spirit of a person, and that’s four believers. If you include skeptics, you need more.”

Alex put the last dish away, closed the locker door and secured it. “Well, we are all believers. There’s five of us. We have a theory, let’s work on it.”

They returned to the main cabin. Jack had cleared the table and was ready to start.

“How can we summon a ship?” Rachel began.

“Well, the usual procedure is to join hands in a circle, or around this table,” he replied.

“I know that, Jack,” Rachel said. “I know how it’s done .. for a person. This is a ship.”

“We plug in a high powered battery,” Jack answered. He jerked a thumb back over his shoulder. “Her.”

Merlin sat up and hesitated. “I’d have to leave the controls.”

“The way I figure it is this,” Jack said. “You put the boat on auto-pilot, join the circle. Soon as the ship appears, we can break the circle. We don’t need to question it or even hold it here. We just need it to appear just long enough for Nick to receive his messages.”

“And listen to them,” Rachel added.

“Peri, can you do that?” Alex asked hopefully.

Merlin’s eyes narrowed. “I’d need Aquila. She wouldn’t be able to watch.”

“Hate to say this, ladies, but, until we perform this séance, there is nothing to watch,” Jack commented.

“The TK meter!” Kat exclaimed. “You said the needle flickers just as the ship appears. We put the meter here, right in the middle of the table, an’ one of us watches that.”

“As soon as the ship appears .. Aquila can go back up top,” Rachel suggested. She smiled. “That could work.”

“Yeah, sounds good to me,” Merlin nodded.

“Okay, let’s do it,” Alex decided.

Kat went to get the meter and, as it had been her idea, she assigned herself to watching it. Aquila came down from the sundeck and rejoined her shell. Instantly, Merlin’s eyes brightened and her body felt fresher, less tired. She switched the Shamrock to auto-pilot and went to the table. They sat down, joined hands – Alex with Rachel on one side, Merlin on the other. Kat sat next to Rachel, Jack was next to Merlin.

“I don’t have to tell you to believe,” Alex said. “Put your energy into the circle.” She closed her eyes, began to take deep breaths. “We call on the spirit of the Santa Theresa. Cross the veil to this place and time. We call you to appear.”

Kat watched the meter. Nothing. She glanced across at Merlin and shook her head. Merlin straightened her shoulders and opened the floodgates a little more. Alex flinched violently.

“We call on the spirit of the Santa Theresa! Cross the veil to this place and time. We summon you to appear!”

The needle flickered. “It’s coming,” Kat whispered excitedly.

“Don’t break the circle, not yet,” Rachel urged.

The needle shot over to one side and stayed there.

“Go,” Merlin whispered and jerked as Aquila detached again. “I wish she’d learn to be a little more gentle when she does that.”

It isn’t here, Aquila reported from the sundeck.

“What d’you mean, it isn’t here?” Merlin frowned. “The needle’s right over.”

It isn’t where it should be. It must have changed course. I’ll go try find it. You hold it here as long as you can.

“She says don’t break the circle,” Merlin relayed. “She’s gone to find it.”

*****

Aquila soon located the Santa Theresa a lot farther out to sea. The barkentine was making good time and progress. Aquila swooped down to the upper deck and stood there, looking around, wondering if she had time to find Nick and Derek. If the ship vanished, it wouldn’t take her with it, it would just leave her feeling incredibly frustrated.

A man emerged from the hatch and closed it. He looked drawn and anxious, as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. Then he turned and looked up. He blinked at her, his mouth starting to sag open.

The Santa Theresa didn’t seem to be about to vanish so she decided to go in search of the others. Aquila smiled briefly at the man and nodded. And his face became radiant, infused with such joy that she was confused.

Drifting quickly thru the deck, she began looking for two who would be out of place. At the stern on the starboard side, she found a small cabin. Inside …

“How you guys doing?”

Nick spun round. Derek rose to his feet. “What are you doing here?”

“Can you stay?” Nick asked.

“No,” Aquila replied to one and, to the other, said, “I’m here to fix your new position.”

“Quickly, go to the hold, two decks down. Assess the situation,” Derek ordered.

“We’ve left you a message. Check it now, while you can,” Aquila said and vanished again.

Two decks below, the situation was grim. Forty people had begun the voyage in the Santa Theresa’s hold. Less than half that number were still alive, and they were in a pitiful condition. It was dark and it stank of death and illness and human waste. They were starving and delirious with thirst as well as fever.

Aquila rapidly ascended again and told Derek what she’d seen “Rachel says you should avoid contact,” she concluded. “Your immunization may not work here.”

The cabin seemed to flicker very slightly.

“You’re going back,” she warned.

“I think we’ll turn too soon,” Nick hurriedly said. “They’ll think they’re on a straight run to Monterey Bay but – ”

Aquila stood in the air and surrounded by sea. The barkentine had vanished. She swore and retraced her path to the Shamrock which glowed like a diamond amongst all the green.

*****

Merlin’s eyes drifted open to the sound of rain drumming solidly on the deck above her head. The plunging up and down motion was actually soothing and she briefly felt like closing her eyes again and going back to sleep. But she didn’t. She sat up.

Feeling better?

Yeah … How long was I asleep?

It’s the next day, Aquila reported. You didn’t fall asleep. You fainted.

Merlin snorted in disgust. “I have never fainted in my entire life.”

What’s the last thing you remember?

“Sitting in the circle.”

Keeping the Santa Theresa here. Expending vast amounts of energy. I returned to find you unconscious and Rachel starting to panic because she couldn’t revive you. It was exhaustion, nothing more. We’ve been together ever since.

Who’s watching?

No one. They’re taking it in turns to man the controls and watch the TK meter. You taught them well.

Merlin nodded, acknowledging the fact but not taking huge pleasure in it.

“Did you find the ship?”

Yes. When you’re ready, I’ll show you the position on the chart. They altered course, going a lot farther out to sea.

“I’m ready now,” Merlin decided.

She went up to the main cabin where Rachel immediately stood to check her out.

“You gave me a nasty few minutes yesterday,” she accused. “Don’t push yourself so far again.”

“It’s my fault,” Alex said. “I asked for too much.”

“Alex, you gave me my orders. I tried my best to obey them. I learned something – it isn’t the distance, it’s the time factor. Next time I have to do this, I’ll know.” Merlin straightened slightly. “I’m sorry I let you down.”

“You didn’t,” Alex smiled. “You did more than I ever imagined.”

Aquila eased out and collected the chart, spreading it out on the table. Merlin checked the display over the control panel and turned to the chart.

“Okay, we’re here,” she announced, stabbing a blood red nail down on the map. “Just north of the San Simeon headland, an’ we are going in this direction.”

“The Santa Theresa was here,” Aquila went on, after a scant half second, “and heading in this direction. Out to sea.”

Alex watched over Merlin’s shoulder. “We have to go out there too.”

“I don’t think so,” Merlin responded.

“Why? We have to stay close to them.”

“Alex, I have no idea why that ship was staying so close to land. One thing’s for sure, they were taking a real pounding from the storm. The decision to head out to open sea was the right one. They can ride it out because they’re designed to do that. That ship was built for ocean travel.” Merlin shrugged. “We’re not. We’re designed for pleasure trips up an’ down the coast. Following them out to sea would be a big mistake.”

“Then what do you recommend we do?” Rachel inquired.

“Follow the original plan an’ shadow the coast. Lopez Point isn’t that far away now. It’s October 2.”

“Nick said – ” Aquila began.

“You saw them?” Alex exclaimed. “How are they?”

“As well as can be expected. The beards are coming along well, they are dirty, they smell, and they look a little like wild men. But they are also calm and cooperating.”

“What did Nick say?” Merlin asked.

“He said he thought they’d turn too soon, that they’d think they were on a straight run into Monterey Bay but.”

“But what?” Rachel frowned.

“The Santa Theresa vanished. I don’t know,” Aquila replied. “He never finished the sentence.”

“We’re smart people,” Merlin muttered. “We’ll figure it out. How difficult can it be?”

“For the Brady Bunch?” Jack queried from the controls. “Piece of cake. Hey, no one can accuse any of us of being rank amateurs, not after this.”

Merlin grinned quickly and studied the chart. “They were here. Chances are, they wouldn’t stay on that heading. They’d likely turn north and kinda parallel the coast for a while .. then, around .. here, turn east north east for the Bay. But if they turn too soon … ” Her finger traced a path which hit land at Lopez Point. “An’ guess where our ship goes down.”

“I don’t believe they’ll attempt to leave the Santa Theresa while it’s out at sea. They’ll wait till the last possible moment,” Aquila added. “Nick would understand that we can’t follow them into the Pacific. If they did jump, they’d be committing suicide.”

“They’re not stupid either,” Rachel remarked, folding her arms. “They wouldn’t take that risk.”

“They may not jump deliberately,” Alex commented, her expression evidence of deep concern, “but what if they get washed overboard?” She glanced at the others. “It’s a real possibility and one we have to consider.”

Merlin studied the chart, drawing lines in her mind, calculating the angles. She’d take the Shamrock out there if Alex ordered her to. While she did that, another part of her mind was reflecting on how much Alex had changed over the past days. Alex has been thrown into a tough position and she had grown to fill it. Once, she would have added ‘Derek would do that if it were us who needed rescuing.’ Now there was no need. Alex was confident in her own abilities.

“Yes, it is,” Rachel agreed.

“If it helps to have a guy’s perspective,” Jack called, “I wouldn’t get in the position where I could get washed overboard.”

Aquila turned to raise an eyebrow at him and he had the grace to blush.

“Let’s consider the personalities involved an’ what we know of these guys,” Rachel invited. “Nick is the action man. Derek is the thinker. Of the two, Nick would push for action. But he is also the guy with experience of being in the water. He’d know survival techniques and survival times. With the right gear, he could probably last quite a while, but he hasn’t got any gear with him. Therefore, on balance, I would say Nick would advise caution and Derek will accept the recommendation. They have the advantage of knowing what’s going to happen, where an’ when it’ll happen. If I know them, they’ll lay low until they have no choice not to.”

“That’s providing we’re in full possession of the facts,” Alex murmured. “We may not be.”

“Using patterns of behavior I’ve seen over an’ over again,” Rachel countered, “that’s how I say it will go down.”

“Where were they when you saw them?” Merlin asked quietly.

“The main deck, in a cabin toward the stern,” Aquila replied.

“Under restraint?”

Aquila shook her head. “They were free to move around.”

“So they’re not prisoners. It isn’t likely that someone would force them to jump over the side.”

“What was the atmosphere like?” Alex inquired.

“Between them? It was .. resigned. Pragmatic. I didn’t sense desperation from either of them.”

“What about on the ship in general?” Alex wondered.

Aquila considered, sifting the memories and organizing them. “Anxiety over the storm and reaching land safely. Tiredness, fatigue. A low level of fear in general, yet, from three or four individuals, it was sharp. Likewise with suspicion and doubt, almost paranoia. Below, in the hold – ”

“What’s in the hold?” Rachel asked, frowning.

“The plague victims.”

“In the hold?” she exclaimed in disgust.

“They are .. enclosed down there. The hatches had sandbags around the edges. They can’t get out. Down there .. there was such terrible desolation and hopelessness. They were more resigned than fearful. They have no food, no water. More than half were dead, the bodies laid at one end, covered with tarps.”

“Why is no one helping those people?” Rachel demanded.

“They’re scared, Rachel,” Jack said with a taut shrug. “They don’t wanna catch it too.”

“The deck above was empty. A buffer zone,” Aquila reported.

“My God .. they’ll drown when the ship sinks,” Rachel muttered. “An’ no one gives a damn.”

“You don’t know that,” Aquila challenged. “Derek told me to go down there and assess the situation. He knew. He discovered it somehow. That suggests others know as well. It also explains the sharp feelings of fear I sensed. If no one else will act, Derek will do what must be done.”

“There goes the future,” Jack murmured, rolling his eyes.

“Do we go after them?” Merlin asked Alex, gently steering them back to the subject. “I’ll take us out there if you order it. I’d advise against doing that but it’s your decision.”

Alex turned away. She looked at the waves outside, saw them crashing over the deck. She saw the rain spattered windows and, thru them, the rain being driven horizontally by the ferocious wind. She looked at the Shamrock. It was a good, strongly built launch. But it wasn’t meant for conditions like this. Alex looked at Jack, guiding the boat with the deft touch he’d acquired only recently and, only then, by necessity. She looked at Kat and Rachel, both so determined yet the shadow of fear was in their eyes. She looked at Merlin and Aquila, and couldn’t read any emotion in their faces, not even impatience.

Finally, Alex looked at her own conscience. Would she be able to live with it if she ordered Merlin to temporarily abandon Derek and Nick? Would she then be able to face Merlin, Rachel and Kat if Derek and Nick didn’t make it back? Would she be able to reconcile the choice if they all died in the storm because she decided to take the risk?

Alex drew in a breath, and released it.

“We’ll go on to Lopez Point and wait for them there. In the circumstances, it’s not only the best choice, it’s the right choice too.”

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