• • •

“Looks like the phones are down too.” Lucya replaced the handset, scratching her head, deep in thought.

“Maybe they had to turn the power off to finish connecting up. You know, and they’ll turn it on again when they’ve tightened all the screws or whatever it is they do down there?”

“I wouldn’t let Martin hear you call him a screw tightener, Chuck; he’s touchy about his skills. And they never switched off the battery backup when they first connected us up. Something’s wrong, I’m sure of it. I’m going to go down there and find out what’s happening. Can you guys keep an eye on Erica?”

“Sure, be a pleasure.”

Lucya left the bridge, giving a little wave to the girl, who smiled back. She felt sick to her stomach about hiding the truth from her.

The ship was still mostly deserted. A few people had found the courage to come out of their cabins, mostly spurred on by a need for food that was greater than their fear of contracting the virus. But their bravery, or desperation, went unrewarded as the restaurants remained closed. As she passed the kitchens she found a small crowd had forced open the door, looking for anything they could find to eat and to feed their hungry families. But the shelves were empty, the kitchen deserted. Lucya knew that the last remaining supplies had been moved to another store room following the fire; that the group would never find anything. But she wasn’t about to tell them that. Instead, she passed on by, heading lower into the ship, down to the engine room. By the time she reached deck one, there was no light. Below the waterline the deck lacked windows. With the batteries out, even the emergency lighting was off. Lucya had to feel her way along the corridors to try and work out the correct route from memory.

“Martin? Are you down here? Anyone? Can anyone hear me?” Her voice echoed down the metal passageways, bouncing off bulkheads and ringing through store rooms. It met only silence.

It wasn’t until she reached the door to the temporary morgue that she realised she had been heading in completely the wrong direction. A thought popped into her head, and she banged on the door.

“Janice? Are you in there?”

She heard the sound of footsteps on the other side. The door clanged, and opened a little way. For a second she was blinded by a brilliant white light.

“Gosh, sorry, hang on! There, that’s better. I’m so sorry about that.”

Lucya blinked and rubbed her eyes, trying to see who was speaking. “Are you Janice?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“I’m Lucya, from the bridge. I’m trying to get to the engine room, but without lights it’s not easy. I thought maybe you might have a torch or something. Looks like I was right.”

“Yes! I have a couple. Some of the nurses managed to find them from somewhere. They’ve been very helpful; the light down here is far from ideal. I can get close in on organs with these. Here, take this one. I’ve opened up enough bodies. Doing any more isn’t going to tell me anything new.”

“Thanks. So, have you, you know, discovered anything? Is this cure they’re talking about going to work?”

“Captain Noah briefed me on the idea, and it sounds reasonable. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though. Vaccines usually take years of development. Even if Vardy’s magical machine can manufacture something that tackles the virus, we won’t know if there are any side effects until it’s too late. It’s a big risk.”

“Not a bigger risk than doing nothing though.”

“No, that is true.”

“Are you going to go back to your cabin, if you’ve finished here?”

“You know what? I think I’ll sit it out down here. My cabin is on deck eight, and it sounds like they need all the space they can use up there.”

“Don’t you have someone waiting for you, wondering where you are?”

Janice smiled, but it was a sad smile. “No, I don’t.”

“Oh I’m sorry. You lost your husband to the ash?”

“No! Not at all. I came on this cruise on my own, I didn’t lose anybody.”

Lucya was about to ask a question, but thought better of it. “Right, well thanks for the torch. I’m going to try and find out what’s happening with the power.”

The two women smiled at one another, and Janice pushed the door closed. Lucya walked away slowly, lighting the path with the tiny pocket torch she’d been given. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for the pathologist. Choosing to spend her time in a room full of dead people struck her as very odd indeed, even if the living were hardly in a much better state.

• • •

Ewan extracted four torches from the crate and distributed them among the landing party. He flicked his on and a powerful beam cut through the darkness inside the concrete pillar. Leaving the box outside, and with the L85 rifle in one hand, torch in the other, the submariner stepped into the darkness and began to descend the staircase. The rubber protection on their feet meant that as they followed, none of the men made a sound as they moved underground.

The air was noticeably warmer inside, out of the wind that whipped across the loch. To Jake’s surprise the stairs did not go very deep. They ended in a narrow grey corridor, just wide enough for two men to walk side by side. It sloped away gently, almost imperceptibly. Ewan continued to lead the group, with Eric bringing up the rear. Their torch beams flashed around the featureless concrete walls, but there was nothing to see. After fifty metres they made a sharp turn to the right. Facing them was another door.

“Russell?” Ewan looked at the doctor. “I’ve never used this entrance. How does it work?”

“It’s been a while, but there was a security pass system. You had to hold your badge up to the scanner, there.” With his torch, he picked out a small box mounted on the wall. “But without electricity, that’s clearly not going to work.”

“How thick is the door?”

“Not very, not that I remember. Don’t forget, this whole compound was high security. You needed to go through three checkpoints just to get to that outer door, which was permanently manned too. By the time you got down here the security was less tight. You thinking of blowing this one too?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Ewan was tracing the door frame with his own torch beam. “Best to avoid that sort of thing in this confined space.” He pulled off his gas mask and took a deep breath.

The others did the same. There was no ash underground, and little danger of any making it this deep into the complex. The air was stale. Not like the recycled air on the Ambush though, Jake thought. This air was musty and humid.

Ewan pulled open a pouch that he had tied around his waist. Jake hadn’t noticed it before; it was the same colour as the wetsuit. Inside was a selection of tools, and he selected a tiny electric screwdriver. Eric stepped forward and focussed his light on the door hinges, while Ewan began removing them.

• • •

With her little light to guide her, Lucya found the engine room with ease. She didn’t knock but went straight in.

“Martin? Are you in here? Where are you, Martin?”

The engine room was a huge space. Three massive diesel electric generators dominated the tunnel-like chamber. Lucya found it quite eerie being in the bowels of the ship without the familiar howl of these dirty engines. The stillness and silence gave the place an unreal quality, making it feel almost as if time itself had stopped.

She found Martin where he had fallen, sprawled over the coiled black cable. His head was thrown backwards at a frightening angle and her immediate thought was that his neck had snapped. On closer examination it was clear that wasn’t the case, but it was still a delicate operation to move him into a more suitable position on his side.

With no means of communication, there was no way to call for help. Lucya knew she needed to get him to medical, and the only way to do that was going to be on wheels. Once she was happy that he was in no danger of choking on his own tongue, and that his pulse was stable, she began to search for suitable transport.