Both men stared at the oil-painting above, each lost in their own thoughts.
Throughout time, mankind has faced its future by learning from the past. Now, for the first time in evolution, the future had been inextricably linked to the past, forming a loop in time that would not and could not be broken. Derek's future did not lie in the years ahead, but those that had already passed.
No matter how improbable it seemed, Derek knew that it would happen,...because it already had.
Derek looked into the eyes of Kate, and smiled.
For all these years he had believed that they were destined to be together, and now he had been proven right.
“Wait for me, Kate.” He said silently, “It won’t be long…I’m coming to join you!”
Chapter 46
Three Months Later
The Main Restaurant
The Blue Emerald Bay Resort
Puerto Rico
3 p.m.
Captain Rob McGregor stood on the podium that Miss Sally had ordered to be erected at the back of the main restaurant of the Blue Emerald Bay Resort.
Standing by his side, Miss Sally Davis, General Manager of the Blue Emerald Bay Resort, surveyed the faces of all those who were today assembled in the room before them.
These were the survivors.
The ones who, after three months of isolation and quarantine, had today, for the first time, been allowed to leave their rooms and gather together publicly.
The restaurant had been cleared of the dining tables, and rows of chairs had been set up, allowing everyone to find a seat.
It had taken an hour to get everyone seated.
As the survivors had filed into the room, many had broken down in tears, and had spontaneously hugged and comforted others: people they didn't know, but with whom a common bond had been formed as a result of the experience they had been through together.
Most however, were simply happy to see another human being. To reach out and touch someone else, to comfort and be comforted.
Sally had stood at the entrance to the hall, personally greeting everyone as they arrived: a hug for many, and a handshake for others.
Some were still wary of coming too close to others, and needed reassurance, but the majority were simply relieved, happy and grateful to be alive.
Watching the reunions and human interactions as the survivors had mingled with each other had been an experience that Sally would never forget - as would she not forget anything else that had happened during the past ninety days.
The final death toll among the residents of the hotel had been very small: only eleven people had died. Of these deaths, two were due to natural causes unrelated to the plague, and three were due to underlying health conditions, that had combined with the physical stress of the plague to overwhelm the victim. Only three deaths had been directly attributed to the pneumonic plague itself. The remaining three deaths were as a result of Sandy Weiss, the President's nephew, attempting to escape with two of the other residents.
Amongst the one hundred and fifty workers at the hotel, there was a similar survival rate. Only two deaths. One employee, a middle-aged security guard, had died of the plague, and the other was the victim of Sandy Weiss's accomplice Jake, murdered as Sandy, Jake and his wife had tried to escape.
Of the one hundred and sixty additional soldiers, doctors and W.H.O. personnel who had been flown into the resort, not a single person had died: twelve had become ill due to heat, stress and other illnesses unrelated to the plague, but the biological protection suits and their decontamination procedures had protected them all from infection.
Amongst the pirates, however, it had been a very different story.
Of the original one hundred and twenty crew, only thirty-five survived. Eighty five had died.
The plague had ravaged their numbers, cutting them down like flies.
It was too early to tell exactly why the plague had proved so deadly amongst the pirates, but had so little effect on those from the twenty-first century.
Over the past week this has been the topic of great debate amongst Sally and the doctors from the field hospital - which was now empty of patients and bodies.
What had happened in the Blue Emerald Bay would become the focus of much study and research over the coming months and years, but the popular theory amongst the doctors in the resort was, that although the pathogen that caused the plague was unique and had not been seen before over the centuries since 1699, the human body had adapted itself against it, and become resistant to its potential potency. Whereas the scientists had expected it to be more lethal, clearly there was something more going on that they had not realised. There was something in the blood of all those living in the twenty-first century that was missing in those from those who came from 1699, an immunity that had been built up over the centuries. As one doctor had put it to Sally, "Everyone alive today is the descendant of those who survived the plagues that ravaged the world for thousands of years. We are alive today, because of them."
Praise had also been given to Sally by some of the doctors, who were convinced that another reason so few had died and become infected, was down to the swift action that she took in separating everyone and isolating them in quarantine in their own rooms.
Whatever the reasons were for the survival rate being so high, there would be a lot to learn from this outbreak. Procedures would be refined and amended, and treatments enhanced.
But for now, this would be a time of celebration.
In total there were six hundred and eighty-two people seated in front of them, a mixture of doctors, soldiers, hotel employees, and pirates.
As Sally surveyed those gathered, her heart went out to those who looked the least happy of all of them: the pirates.
Dressed in the cotton suits that that they had all been given, they were easily discernible by their attire, and the look of confusion, sadness and fear that they still carried around with them.
They were a people without an identity. No longer pirates, what were they actually? What would become of them in this new world? With the treasure they had hidden on their ship, it was obvious that they would never lack for money in this new world of theirs, but Sally knew that riches did not bring happiness.
To realise that you only had to look at the stream of wealthy guests that flooded into the Blue Emerald, month after month. All rich. All wealthy. Most on anti-depressants, drinking too much, and unable to sustain proper relationships with others. It seemed to Sally that as soon as a person lost their reason to work and their desire to fight to better themselves or their situation, they lost the sense of who they were. And without an identity, people lost themselves.
Sally stepped forward and tapped the microphone. Everyone looked up. She had their attention.
"Ladies, Gentlemen...Survivors! I cannot tell you how happy I am to see you all here today. So many of you. Alive. Well, I congratulate you all for successfully enduring the harsh conditions that were imposed upon you, and I applaud your self-discipline and determination for staying the course, following our instructions, and cooperating with us."
"Because you cooperated with us as we asked, very few of you were infected, and very few died. We survived because we worked together. Your presence here today, is a testament to yourselves, and your individual characters. At the Blue Emerald Bay Resort we are always proud of our guests, but never before have I been as proud of my guests as I am of you today! I applaud you, and I welcome you back to the world. And with that said, I would like to announce that you are all now free to leave!"
Sally raised her hands, smiled and applauded those in front of her.
A young woman in the fourth row stood up, looked around herself at her fellow guests and started clapping.
A few rows away, an old man stood and started to clap. He was joined by a man behind him. One by one, they rose to their feet, clapping and laughing. Someone cheered, and another joined in, and soon the hall was filled with happiness.
The only pe
ople who were not smiling were the pirates.
After the applause had begun to die down, Captain McGregor stepped forward and addressed the audience.
"My name, as I think you all know by now, is Captain Robert McGregor. I am the Captain of the Sea Dancer, and the leader of the pirate crew who came ashore one morning, so many months ago, and turned all your worlds upside down. This is the first time I have spoken to you all, and it will be the last. But I wanted to take this opportunity to apologize to you all for the torment and despair that has arisen from our actions. Yet, at the same time, I wish to seek your understanding for that which we did."
"I think you all know by now that this is not our world. We are strangers here. We did not ask to be here, and none of us know or understand how it is that we arrived at this place in time. Much of what we did was because of fear. Fear induced in all of us by the things we saw, and the lack of understanding we had for everything that was happening around us. One morning we woke up in a world in the year 1699, and by the time the sun had set that evening, it was the year 2014."
The Captain paused, looking around the faces of those who were listening to him. Everyone was. They were hanging on his every word.
"Pirates. Yes, we are pirates. Or should I say, we were pirates. Most of our crew are now dead, killed by the plague, perhaps as a punishment for our sins, and the wrong doings of our past, or perhaps simply because we were victims of a disease that strikes everyone, regardless of wealth or title. As I stand before you today, I apologize to you. All of my men do. But I also wish to ask for your understanding, and for you not to judge us. In the world we grew up in, few were ever given a choice as to the life they led. We all simply did what we were told to do, or found a way to survive from day to day. We were pirates because that is what we became, or were forced to become. Not from choice. But from necessity."
"To the men of the Sea Dancer, I would say this. Our pirate days are over. Whereas no one ever gave the likes of us a choice as to the life we should lead in 1699, God has delivered us to this world today, into a country which is part of the United States of America, a land where our new friend Sally Davis promises me, that everything is possible. Everything. The world, she assures me, is our oyster."
"Today, however, we also mourn the passing of our shipmates, with whom we sailed the high seas and lived a life of adventure... and dare I say, wine, women and song. True, that adventure is now behind us. But today, another adventure is just beginning. Once I was your Captain, and I guided you through storms and heavy seas, and I always brought you back to port. Safely. What the future holds for us all now I cannot tell. But I can say that I have been proud to be your Captain, and in this new world of ours, I pray that we will all find the peace and happiness that we so desperately sought in the last. To all my crew, I offer you the hand of friendship in this world. Wherever you sail, and in whichever port you drop your anchor, know this: I will think often of our times together, and should ever you need my help in this new world, I do still remain your friend and Captain."
Suddenly the restaurant was alive once again with the sound of clapping and cheering, as the surviving thirty-five members of his crew rose to their feet.
This was the first time that the Captain had been able to see all his men together in one place, since the quarantine restrictions had been lifted three hours earlier. As the Captain scanned the faces of his crew, his concern was confirmed: James Silver, the quartermaster of the Sea Dancer, was not amongst them.
Either he had escaped from the resort after all, or he had died, and his body was now no more than dust, blowing somewhere quietly on the wind.
Either way, James Silver's wish had come true: he had broken free from the confines of the resort.
Captain McGregor had just stepped down from the podium, when armed soldiers began to stream through the doors at the front and backs of the hall. Wearing face masks and brandishing automatic weapons, they quickly filled the hall, lining up against the walls and windows and pointing their guns at those seated or still standing in the hall.
One of the soldiers climbed up onto the podium and shouted into the microphone: "Sit!"
Everyone complied.
Now the room had been secured, two officers came striding into the hall from the back, marching quickly down to the front and stepping up onto the podium.
One wore the uniform of the Superintendent of Police for Puerto Rico. The other was a General in the Puerto Rican Army. The Superintendent spoke.
"Ladies and Gentlemen and esteemed guests of the Blue Emerald Bay Resort. Please do not be alarmed. We are here to protect you. I am the Superintendent of the Puerto Rico Police. Would all guests, employees, and medical support staff please now leave the hall. You are free to go! Everyone wearing the new grey cotton overalls given earlier today to the pirate crew, please remain seated where you are."
Immediately the hall was alive with activity as people streamed to the exits, striving to be the first out of the doors, hurrying out fearing that they were about to be taken hostage for a second time by another band of thugs.
Within minutes the hall was empty, save for the Captain, his crew, and Miss Sally Davis.
"Captain Robert McGregor, will you please step forward and identify yourself?" the man on the stage demanded.
The Captain walked towards the podium.
"I am the Captain. Please tell me what is going on here?"
"You and are your men are all under arrest. Anyone who resists arrest will be shot. You have been warned. "
"Arrested? That cannot be! We made a deal with the Governor of the island, as Miss Sally will attest to!"
"The Governor of Puerto Rico, and the United States Administration do not make deals with terrorists. You are all under arrest, and your ship and all your property is now confiscated by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico!"
"What? But you cannot do this! The Governor gave us his word!"
Before he could protest further, four men marched towards the Captain. Two men grabbed and held him forcibly on his side of his body, whilst a fifth man approached from behind and injected him in the neck with a needle.
A second later, the world went black, and Captain Rob McGregor fell unconscious into the arms of the soldiers. Moments later he and his men were being bundled into trucks waiting outside in the parking lot.
All Sally Davis could do was stand and watch.
It happened fast. Within ten minutes of the army entering the hall, the last of the pirates had been removed, and the Blue Emerald Bay Resort was once again free to entertain their guests.
Strangely though, in spite of the luxury the five star resort afforded, the guests could not leave fast enough.
By 7 p.m. that evening, the very last guest and hotel employee had left the resort. Only Miss Sally-Anne Davis remained: a resort manager with nothing to manage.
Chapter 47
Eight months later
AD 2015
Supreme Court Building
1 First Street, NE
Washington D.C.
4 p.m.
In spite of the rain, the crowd that had gathered outside the Supreme Court was larger than the police had anticipated. They had all come here today, the press, the public, and the fans, to await the decision of the Supreme Court in the collective case of the United States versus the 'Pirates of Puerto Rico'.
It had been a long and drawn out affair.
Since their arrest almost eight months previously in Puerto Rico, the case had been heard in numerous courts in Puerto Rico and America.
The story of the 'time travelling pirates, who took over a holiday resort and threatened the world with pneumonic plague, had captured the attention of the media and the public, from the moment the details had started to emerge from the residents who had survived and been released from their imposed quarantine.
In fact, it had dominated the news for the past eight months. There were so many facets to it, that the media were able to play the story out for month afte
r month, milking it for all it was worth.
Firstly, this was the first time in history that a case of time travel had been verified. Previously, people had claimed to have experienced it, or had written stories about it, but never before had it been documented and proven, and attested to by respected scientists and government advisers.
The news that time travel had occurred was the equivalent of announcing that aliens had been invited to dinner at the White House. At first no one could believe it. But then, surprisingly fast, people came to terms with it.
Everyone wanted a slice of the pirate action. Fan clubs were set up, media appearances were requested, PR agencies flocked to be appointed to represent them.
Unfortunately, however, the pirates had all been incarcerated. Locked up. They were, after all, 'evil terrorists who had left one world and invaded another', as one source so clumsily belittled them.
Thankfully, while Congress deliberately delayed their trials and hastily drafted new laws that provided legislation to help protect America against the threats which the new reality of time travel brought with it, public pressure and some very clever lawyers on 'no-win-no-fee' 'pirate chasing' contracts were able to have the pirates reassigned to a top-class open prison, where living conditions were not too dissimilar to the Blue Emerald Bay Resort.
Numerous charges were brought against the pirates, ranging from terrorism, kidnapping, attempted murder, grievous bodily harm, theft, and various public order offences.
TIME SHIP (Book Two) - A Time Travel Romantic Adventure Page 22