“I’ll go and wake him,” Lucya said, jumping from her chair a bit too enthusiastically. “There’s not much I can do here anyway. I’ve set up a couple of radio scanners to sweep the main channels. If they pick up any signals they’ll lock onto them and you’ll hear it.”

“Silvia, can you go and fetch Martin?” Max said. “We need his input too.”

“Sure. What about Doctor Lister? Anyone else?”

“No, the doctor is busy enough looking after the wounded. They need him more down there than we do up here.”

Max opened the door again, checked that the passageway outside was clear. The two women slipped outside and headed for the stairs. Max remained on guard outside the bridge.

Fifteen

“DID YOU SEE him? Did you see the captain?” Flynn asked.

“No. I got a good look inside when the guy with the gun came out. There were two women in there, I didn’t see anyone else.” Eileen looked pleased with herself. She had carried out her husband’s instructions perfectly He would be pleased with her, and that meant life would be a bit easier. For the time being, at least.

“Something’s going down Eileen. For the captain to leave the bridge at a time like this, something ain’t right I tell you. Only reason he wouldn’t be there is if he was out touring the ship, and we ain’t heard of no tour going on. So that means either he’s injured or he’s dead. This is it Eileen, this is my chance already. I didn’t think it would happen this quickly, but God must believe I’m ready. I need to get me to the bridge. I’ll be ready. The people need a leader, and I’m going to show them a better way to live.”

Sixteen

JAKE HAD DRIFTED in and out of consciousness several times over the last couple of hours. He saw visions of his wife, but every time she appeared she would be blasted to atoms by a giant asteroid. When he slept, he dreamt of a burning planet, a molten ball floating alone in space. After a particularly upsetting dream in which the world exploded, he realised he wasn’t going to get much more sleep. Easing himself out of bed, he wobbled to his feet, stepped into the bathroom and caught sight of himself in the mirror. The light from the small porthole was not bright, but he could see that the side of his face had turned blue, and that his hair was matted with blood

He tried the shower, unsure of whether or not the flow of water relied on electric pumps. Miraculously a jet of water spurted out. It was freezing cold, but Jake didn’t care. Using only his good hand, he wriggled out of his clothes and stepped under the icy flow. The chilled liquid on his skin jolted him awake, and brought with it a new clarity. As he watched the grime of the ash and the blood of his captain wash off his body and mix with the clear water turning it a muddy brown, he resigned himself to his fate. He was in charge now, effectively the captain of this ship. The job he had never wanted. The responsibility he had always feared. He had nearly been killed three times. He should have died, the passengers deserved better. He was no leader, he had no idea what to do. If he hadn’t survived, Lucya would probably be in charge as the next most senior officer on board. Or maybe Max. There was a man who people would respect, look up to. If Max told you to do something, you would do it without question. He inspired confidence. He would make a great captain. He would know how to lead these people to safety.

Could he pass up his duty? Appoint Max captain? Or even Lucya? Did he have the authority? He hadn’t even begun his staff captain training, he didn’t know what he could or couldn’t do. He’d never wanted to go as far as first officer, but he’d gone along with the program, taking courses, exams, moving up the ranks, keeping his family happy whilst all the time wondering what he really should do with his life. He’d made it this far by accident, not by design. And now he’d just been fast tracked to the top, in the worst possible circumstances.

The jet of water slowed to a trickle, and eventually stopped altogether. Jake stepped out of the shower and dried himself on a fluffy white towel embroidered with a tiny image of the ship, and the name Spirit of Arcadia. He didn’t think he could appoint another in his place. He was going to have to try and give this a shot.

“Don’t think about the end of the world stuff,” he said to himself aloud. “Think of this as a temporary assignment. A training exercise, You’re just acting captain, until we reach a safe port. That’s the objective here. Reach a safe port.” A little voice in the back of his mind tried to tell him that there were no safe ports, that the asteroid had destroyed them, that they were alone at sea, destined to slowly starve to death. It tried, but Jake chose to ignore it. He couldn’t think like that. If he accepted that as their fate, they were already dead.

There was a gentle knock at the door.

“Jake? Are you awake? It’s me, Lucya.”

“Give me a moment,” he called back.

He opened his wardrobe and picked out the first clean clothes that came to hand. A pair of jeans, another t-shirt, and a navy blue sweater. He dressed as quickly as he could with the limited use of his hands.

“Come in,” he said as soon as he was decent.

The door opened and Lucya walked in. She looked exhausted. Her long black hair was dishevelled, her clothes partially melted, and her face bore patches of ash like badly applied makeup.

“Hey you, you’re looking much better.” She looked around the room. “I thought I heard you talking to someone?”

“Talking to myself,” Jake said, and blushed a little.

“Hmm, you know what they say about that! So erm, we need you up on the bridge. You know, to need to decide what happens next?” She let the words out carefully, as if they were going to turn around and bite her in the face.

“It’s okay Lucya, I know what I have to do.” He was sitting on the edge of the bed, fumbling with the laces on his shoes. His bandaged hand prevented him from gripping them. “Shit, sorry, oh hell, could you…would you mind…?” he looked up helplessly.

“Yeah! Of course!” Lucya dropped to her knees and proceeded to tie the laces neatly, her own smaller patch less of an impediment to free movement.

“I can’t even put my own shoes on, how am I going to run this ship Lucya?” Jake felt panic well up inside him. He wanted to cry. He wanted to bury himself in his bed and never come out. He fought back the tears, kept his head bowed low, didn’t want her to see.

“Hey! Hey hey, it’s going to be okay you know? You’re going to do fine. No, you’re going to do great! Everyone respects you, and nobody thinks it’s going to be easy. We’re all around to help you, you haven’t got to do this on your own.” She put an arm around him, pulled him close to her. Her hair smelt of fire and smoke. As it touched his face, something stirred within him. He immediately felt a pang of guilt. He pulled away from her, got to his feet. Sniffed. Tried to pull himself together.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Just tired. Thank you. It means a lot to know you have confidence in me.”

Lucya stood as well. She smiled, understood this was hard for him. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s get back upstairs and get to work.”

• • • • •

Acting Captain Jake Noah, and Chief Radio Officer Lucya Levin, left the cabin and set off down the passageway towards the stairs.

“Where did the captain go?” Jake looked around. There was no sign of the body, and the broken glass and blood had been cleared away.