He pulled the door open and stormed out.

“Reeve, follow him, I don’t trust him.”

“Sure thing, Captain.”

Jake staggered over to the captain’s chair and slumped down. Lucya followed.

“You guys should go and get some rest,” she said to Pedro and Dave.

“I don’t mind staying,” Dave said. “I was scanning the radio’s, you never know.”

“No it’s fine, I can do that. You go on, take the opportunity to catch up on some sleep.”

Dave nodded. Pedro followed him off the bridge, leaving Jake, Lucya and Martin alone.

“What do we do now?” Jake said. “I mean, I really thought, hoped, there would be something or someone. That it wasn’t as bad as on the television. But it’s all gone Lucya. All of it. There’s nothing, just ash. Toxic ash.”

“We don’t give up!” Lucya sounded defiant. “So there’s nothing here, it doesn’t mean that it is the same everywhere. We go further south. Norway. Scotland. We keep going until we find somewhere that escaped, like we escaped.”

“No,” Martin said. He walked over to join them. “You saw that broadcast. That asteroid destroyed everything. We escaped because we were so far north. The further south we go, the worse it will be.”

“What about the south pole?” Lucya wasn’t about to give up. “We escaped at the north pole, maybe the south pole did too?”

“Lucya, there’s nothing at the south pole. It’s ice, snow. It’s the harshest conditions on the planet. Even if it wasn’t touched, what do you think is there for us?”

“I don’t know! But surely it’s worth a try?”

“We don’t have the fuel. We have maybe enough to reach Scotland, if we turn off the generator and one engine, just run the other engine. And then what? When we arrive there and find exactly the same thing as here? Then we’ll have no fuel left, no power.”

“We can’t just stay here!” Lucya was starting to panic.

“Lucya, we have no choice,” Jake said. “That asteroid has killed us like it killed everyone else in the world. It’s just that it’s going to take longer for us to die. We thought we were lucky, that we’d escaped. But they were the lucky ones. The people who never saw it coming. The people who were wiped out in the blink of an eye. Most of them probably never knew what hit them. Even those who did, they only had a few hours warning. Time to panic a little, to pray a little, to say goodbye to those they loved.” An image of Jane blinked before his eyes again. “We don’t have that luxury. We’re going to die slowly. Painfully. Of cold, of dehydration, of starvation.”

“We don’t all have to die,” Martin said coldly.

“What do you mean?” Jake looked at him.

“This boat can’t sustain three thousand people, not with the little fuel we have left. But it could keep a few hundred alive. Long enough to find a way to survive.”

“You can’t be serious?” Lucya stared open mouthed.

“Why not? It makes sense to me. Decimate the population on board. No, not decimate, more than that. Sacrifice, say, nine out of every ten people on board. The resources on the ship can keep three hundred people alive for ten times as long as they can keep three thousand alive.”

“Martin, quite apart from the fact that what you are suggesting is completely and utterly morally repugnant and out of the question, it would only prolong the inevitable. The ten percent you let live, will just live a bit longer!” Jake couldn’t believe he was having this conversation. He couldn’t look at Martin, got up and walked to the window, stared out at the fjord.

“On the contrary,” Martin was getting into the flow of his thinking. “That extra time would make all the difference. We could create a farm in the Palm Plaza. Rip out the plants, grow food. It wouldn’t be enough to feed three thousand. But three hundred? Maybe, if we were clever about it. And we can fish, too. Heck, we could even freeze those we sacrificed and eat them. Like those guys whose plane crashed in the Andes years ago. There are other ways of generating power as well, given enough time. This ship could be made self sufficient. If the population was reduced.”

“You’re disgusting. I can’t believe you would even say something like that!” Lucya slapped Martin in the face and stormed out, slamming the bridge door behind her.

“And then there were two,” Martin said.

Forty

EILEEN BAKEMAN STOOD outside her cabin, the tips of her fingers on the door handle. She had been about to enter, but a sound from inside made her stop. It was her husband’s voice. She found this strange, because he insisted on never letting anyone else into the cabin. Eileen had made some friends on board, before the asteroid, but Flynn had made it very clear that they were not welcome in their private space. So Eileen was curious; who was he talking to?

Slowly, quietly, she put her ear to the door. Apart from the distant hum of the engines still idling far below, there was no other sound. She could make out his words quiet clearly.

“…so I beg you Lord, give me the strength to carry out your work. The first of many sacrifices is soon upon me. The end draws near, the beautiful day approaches. I am the instrument of your will on earth, your humble and faithful servant. Amen.”

Eileen gasped, took a step back and turned to leave. The door opened and Flynn filled the frame.

“Hello my love. It is time for you to come inside.”

“Oh, Flynn, hi honey. I was just going to see if the dinner service had started.” She took another step away from the cabin.

He reached out, grabbed her arm, pulled her towards the door.

“Flynn! You’re hurting me!”

“I said, it is time to come inside now.”

He yanked her arm sharply, and in one movement pulled her through the door and flung her onto the bed.

“Flynn, I don’t understand? What did I do wrong? Tell me what I did Flynn, I’ll put it right, I promise!” Tears began to streak down her face.

“Me me me, it’s always about you isn’t it? You think you did something wrong? You did nothing. Nothing! You are a waste of space, and a waste of resources. This ship doesn’t need people like you. People like you are what caused the problem. You consume relentlessly. You take without giving back. You suck the world dry. He gave us a beautiful, abundant world. A world of balance and harmony. And now that balance will be restored.”

“Flynn, you’re scaring me!”

She dug the heels of her shoes into the bed, pushing herself away from him, but in vain. He was far stronger than she, and he simply tugged her back towards him. He reached over her head, picked up a large white pillow. It was embroidered with the name Spirit of Arcadia, and the logo of Pelagios Line.

“Hush now, my love. It’s alright, I forgive you. And He forgives you too. He loves all of his children, you will find peace in Heaven.”

“Flynn, no!”

But her words went unheard, as the pillow covered her face. He held it down, a hand on each side. She writhed and kicked, and nearly broke free. But he sat astride her, pinning her down. It didn’t take long, her struggling quickly abated, and then she lay motionless.

Forty-One

THE SILENCE THAT had engulfed the bridge since Lucya had left was broken by a knock at the door. Neither Martin or Jake responded. Then a second knock, more insistent.

“Who is it?” Jake asked wearily.

“Melvin.”

He got to his feet with great effort, still feeling somewhat groggy from having fainted earlier. The subsequent events had taken any energy that might have been left, right out of him. He shuffled to the door, pulled it open.