“Excellent,” Shift said, relaxing. “After you get cleaned up and changed—there are clothes that should fit everyone in the living area—we’ll talk some more. There are some rules you need to know . . .”
July 16—The Moon
“Okay, let’s try it again,” Jonas said wearily. They had been trying to get the ship to start for over a week. They weren’t making any progress. The light-hearted mood that had prevailed for the first few days was dissipating quickly.
They needed help, but nobody on Earth seemed able to help. The bunker in Cabo Rojo didn’t have anyone with experience in the type of mechanics or electronics required to start up a space ship. Nobody on the Anthrax E database was responding. And, even though Jonas was an astrophysicist and Jerad was both a pilot and an aeronautical engineer, they were missing something.
“Here it goes,” Jerad said, unable to hide the hopelessness in his voice.
Nothing happened. They had been tinkering with electronic components today. Other days it had been mechanical components, computer link-ups or software applications. Nothing worked.
“Well, Anta told me this morning that they were expecting the group from Boston to arrive soon,” Hasani said. “Let’s hope someone in the group can help. Otherwise, we’ll probably die here.” He smiled, hoping to ease the tension in the huge shuttle bay. It didn’t work.
Misty and Tom Bird walked into the shuttle bay with coffee. Dr. Bird and his wife had stayed away from the work the others were doing. The group had made the decision that the elderly couple should stay apart from the work in case an accident happened, like the type of accident that had happened to Jonas almost two weeks earlier. The others needed a physician to help them heal in the event of another accident, and Dr. Bird was that physician. Thankfully, no other injuries had occurred and the group felt healthy and strong.
“How’s it going?” Tom called down from the large deck above the cargo hold where the ship sat idle.
“Not well,” Hasani called back as he began to descend from the upper deck of the shuttle to the floor of the cargo hold. “We’re just going to have to hope someone on Earth can help us remotely.”
“Well, I think you guys are doing a great job,” Misty called out. “Thank you so much for trying to help us all.” The sincerity in her words caused all three men to realize how much she and her husband meant to them. This was a close group. They had been together for months. They were a family. They were closer than a family. And, they had each other, whether they returned to Earth or not.
July 18, 2093—Cabo Rojo, Mexico
“They’re less than 50 miles from here,” Mike said simply. “South, down the coast near Tamiahua.”
Last evening, Mike Petrovsky had successfully linked the Cabo Rojo bunker to the USCAN system the group had employed in Boston to look for survivors, and Skins. It wasn’t difficult. He had done it before and kept the instructions in his MEHD. While he didn’t have nearly as many screens, and thus, not nearly as many simultaneous views, it was something, and they were all grateful. It was easy enough to switch between views on the four monitors in the electronics bay.
“How close are they to the water?” Dr. Andrew Jones asked.
This was an important consideration. Angel and Andrew, both biologists, had developed a theory more than four months earlier. The idea was that AE, a mutated strain of bacterial anthrax, couldn’t survive high doses of salt. The theory hadn’t been tested yet, but seemed logical enough given that sea creatures, including mammals and fish, were not catching the disease. Plus, it was already known that typical bacteria couldn’t survive high concentrations of salt.
While the inoculation received by the Boston group had worked, and protected the group from AE, the Toronto vaccine was just a little off. It was believed, at least by Andrew, that the minor variation in the Toronto vaccination not only caused those injected with Toronto’s vaccine to physically change, but also that it may not fully protect them from AE. He hoped that meant that the Skins could not handle salt or, even better, that they would eventually succumb to AE and die.
Several days earlier, while still in Boston, Andrew had begun thinking about how, or whether, the Skins would react to salt water, clearly lower in salt concentration than pure salt. Now, much closer to salt water in the Gulf of Mexico, he was anxious to see whether the Skins could handle it.
“A few of them have gone down to the beach,” Mike replied, “but I haven’t seen any go in the water, or even touch the water. Do you want me to go back through the archives and look for any Skins going into the ocean?”
“That could take a lot of time,” Andrew said. “If you have the time, it would be excellent, but if not, I understand. Maybe I could help you. I’ve got some time.”
“Actually, maybe this will help,” Mike said. “I have seen some of the Skins drinking fresh water and once even saw one of them fall into a pond and get back out again. He seemed just fine.”
“But no salt water, right?” Andrew asked. “You haven’t seen any go into salt water?”
“That’s right,” Mike replied.
“Okay, so we know they have no problem with fresh water,” Andrew thought aloud, “but they still may not like the salt. Yeah Mike, I think you better go back through archives and check. I’ll help you.”
“What are the Skins doing right now?” Anta asked. “Are they giving any indication that they know we’re here, or close by?”
“No, they seem to be wandering a little actually,” Mike replied. “It’s like they’re looking for something, but maybe they don’t know what. Maybe there’s a human down there still alive in hiding.”
“Oh, that would be awful,” Marilyn said. Dr. Marilyn Swenson was an obstetrician in her former life, back when people were still having babies. Nowadays, it looked like any chance of performing the work she so dearly loved was gone. It broke her heart every time she learned that another person had died, or turned. She certainly didn’t like the idea of helping the Skins give birth, if they were even able to do so. She was afraid, like they all were, that babies would be very difficult to come by now.
Even more, they were all afraid that any human babies born might not live due to AE already inside the mother. While the mother may now be immune thanks to the vaccine, the baby could either be immune or catch AE. Because AE was unlike anything they had ever encountered, nobody knew what would happen. And nobody was anxious to try it out.
“Well, keep an eye on them,” Shift said. “If they start wandering this way, we need to be ready to take action.”
“Mike, have you seen any of them try to drive a vehicle—a hover, or motorcycle, or car, or a boat, or even row a boat? Anything?” Andrew asked.
“Actually, no,” Mike replied.
“That’s a good question,” Anta said. “We never saw any of them drive anything, or even attempt to.”
“We didn’t either,” Andrew said. “So, maybe they can’t. Mike, while we’re checking footage for salt water contact, let’s keep an eye out for any hint of whether they can drive or otherwise operate motorized vehicles.”
“Good idea,” Shift said. “What about electronics? Do they use phones, MEHDs, holos, anything like that to communicate? Has anyone seen them use any type of technology?”
Nobody answered aloud, but many of them were shaking their heads back and forth.
“I’ll take that as a collective ‘no’,” Shift said. “How do they communicate?” He wasn’t expecting an answer and no one offered an opinion. “Why don’t you guys look for that too? If they can’t drive, or use communication devices or other technology, we may have a better chance of success against them, I hope.”
Following the death of Dr. Shevchuk, the group was without a leader. John and Steve both appeared and often acted as though they could lead this ragtag group. But John, although probably the most intelligent among the group, was not a leader. He was the party animal—the socialite. And even though Steve knew more about the bunker than anybody else, h
e had always been leery of taking on leadership roles; even though, in the instances in which he had, he had a gift. He was content to follow. Nobody else had ever shown any predisposition to take charge in the few months they had been together. They hadn’t had to. Yurgi was always in charge.
That really only left Shift or Anta. Each was capable of making the big decisions. Each was smart enough and respected enough to do the job—and the group really needed someone to fill Dr. Shevchuk’s shoes. Anta usually deferred to Shift, a habit she had formed in El-Alamein due to Shift’s expertise in communicable diseases; although behind closed doors, Shift wanted, and needed, her advice and assistance. They made decisions together. Thus, when the time came to determine how to handle the Skins if they ever found the bunker, Shift and Anta had formulated a plan.
“So Shift, what are we going to do if they find us?” Mike asked. “Do you have a plan yet?”
“Yes, Anta finally told me what we should do,” Shift replied with a crooked smile. Anta rolled her eyes and shook her head, making Shift chuckle. He still wasn’t comfortable in this role. “Actually, Anta, Steve and I—and Jon—spent a great deal of time down in the tunnel and over on the island the first few days we were here. This is what we’ve come up with, but we need some help filling in the details.”
The group spent the next couple of hours finalizing their plan for escape, in the event it became necessary. The plan hinged on the belief that the Skins wouldn’t, or couldn’t cross the water. If they did, or if they could learn to drive a boat, the plan would only buy time.
Finally, reviewing his chicken scratches on the notebook in front of him, Shift looked up and said, “Okay, this is it then. It’s still a rough outline. If anyone has any thoughts, or if I get something wrong, just say it.
“Our safe house will be the island, obviously. The island will be stocked with provisions to last as long as possible. And, for as many people as possible, since we don’t know yet who will be joining us. All but one ATV will remain on this side of the tunnel so that we have enough of them for each of us to take one in a hurry. That will leave three extra on this side in case there are mechanical problems with any of them. The ATVs don’t move near as fast as the Skins, but if we have enough notice, we should be able to cross the channel in time.
“Street and Jon Porter will coordinate the storage of food and water on the island. The supplies will be kept in the underwater cave to help preserve them. They will ask for, and receive help from others as necessary.
“Carón, Steve and Nelise will figure out how to wire explosives from the storage room to destroy the tunnel after we’ve all safely arrived on the island. There are blast doors that seal at that end of the tunnel. You three will also ensure that those doors will hold fast in the event the tunnel is blown and water flows against those doors. Obviously, the cave has to remain useable, otherwise we lose our provisions and maybe our lives.”
“Maybe we should store the supplies up top in the manmade cave,” Anta suggested.
“I agree,” John said. “The same type of doors sit up there at the top of the staircase. So, the guys can just check them instead and make sure they’ll keep water, and hopefully the Skins, out. Steve, don’t you think its cool enough up there, back in the corner where those storage sheds are, to keep food chilled for a while?”
“I don’t know,” Steve replied. “I’ll check it out. The other option is to haul some of those big fridges and freezers from the kitchen out there. There’s plenty of room and the power supply out there is definitely sufficient. Plus, there are already those massive water tanks out there. Let’s make sure they’re all full and we should have plenty of water for several weeks.”
“Good idea,” Shift said. “Let’s do that. That will make it easier to blow the tunnel without worrying about whether we’ll just die of dehydration three days later. Steve, make sure the explosives won’t damage any power cables. I suspect there are separate lines running from the solar power plates to the island and the mainland. If the island gets its power from the plates via the mainland, rather than through a direct link, we could be in trouble. Who wants to figure out how to get the freezers out there?”
“Easy,” Carón said. “I just need the muscle to help.”
“I got you, man,” Street said.
“We can all help when you need us Carón,” John added.
“Okay, what else?” Shift mumbled to himself. “Oh yeah, we need to make sure every one of those boats and wave runners are operational. Street, Jon, you’ve been tinkering with them. What do we know?”
“The sub still don’t work,” Street said, frowning. “But everything else does. One of the boats is just a pansy sail boat. No motor. Not even worth trying to use. The others have motors, and they all work. All the wave runners work too. That huge cargo ship thing works, but it’s too old. It got cracks all along the hull and a water inside at the bottom.”
“Can you guys make sure everything is charged up?” Shift asked. “Hopefully we won’t have to make a getaway from the cave. Hopefully, we’ll just be able to hang out on the island in safety for a while. But if not, we need the boats all powered up, with every available extra charging rod ready on the docks to be thrown into whatever boat is used to get away.”
“I’ll check out the charges, in everything, and get the extra rods charged,” John said. “Even an idiot like me can handle that job.” He smiled as a few of them chuckled. Not a person among them believed that John was an idiot. He, along with Dr. Shevchuk, had saved their lives with the development of E-rase. He had earned their respect, and their pity laughs when his jokes weren’t that funny.
“Good,” Shift continued. “Mike, you’re going to check out the technology over there, right? To make sure we have the same capabilities there as we have here?”
“Did it this morning,” Mike replied. “Everything is set over there.”
“Okay, I think that’s it,” Shift said. “Everybody else will be helping with anything and everything we’re asked to do. Remember that, just because something didn’t get discussed here, doesn’t mean it isn’t a good idea. After we’ve finished these initial jobs, let’s continue to brainstorm and figure out what else needs to be done. There’s no reason any of us should be sitting around while the Skins are outside and other humans are racing this way trying to get to safety.”
“Neirioui,” Jon Porter said, tentatively, “can Suvan help me with the garden and getting food ready?” Jon almost whispered the words. His face turned pink as he waited for Suvan’s mother to answer him. Everyone knew these two children could be the last people alive from their generation. It was fun for the adults to watch the playful flirtations between them. At only 14 and 13 years old, they were both easily embarrassed, especially when any discussion of re-populating the world came up.
“Sure, if she would like to,” Neirioui replied.
“I would love to!” Suvan shrieked. Then she clapped her hand over her mouth as everyone in the group tried to stifle their laughter.
July 18—Holographic Conference
“Boy, it is good to hear from you guys again,” Jonas said. “We are literally at our wit’s end.”
“What’s going on?” Shift asked.
“Well, we have a fully-functional ship sitting right here in front of us,” Jonas said. “And the computers say it’s operational. The computers even tell us its running. But it’s not. There’s something wrong that even the great Jerad Beaudoin can’t figure out.” Jonas smiled as Jerad punched him in the arm.
“Well,” Shift said, “let me get a couple of smart dudes over here and talk this through. Hold on.”
10 minutes later, Dr. Nelise Fabrisio and Mike Petrovsky joined Shift and Anta at the holo. Introductions were made.
“Good to see you again Mike,” Jonas said. “It’s been a while.”
“It has,” Mike agreed. “So, what’s the problem up there?”
Jonas, Jerad and Hasani took turns explaining the different processes t
hey had gone through trying to get the ship to work. There was just nothing left to do. They couldn’t figure it out.
“You guys are gonna die when I tell you what you’ve missed,” Mike said. “Although I only found out about it a few days ago.”
“What is it,” Hasani asked, starting to feel embarrassed, even though he didn’t know whether he should have such feelings yet.
“You need clearance codes,” Mike said. He looked over to Nelise who was nodding.
“You’re joking, right?” Jonas asked rhetorically. “Jerad, you old bugger, why didn’t you know that?”
Embarrassed, Jerad began to back away from the holo, hands held out in front of him to prevent a possible attack from Jonas and Hasani. His red face displayed a grin that stretched from ear to ear. It was obvious these guys liked each other. Nobody was really mad.
“Get over here and take it like a man,” Jonas said, reaching out for Jerad, but missing him as he slipped away.
Shift and Mike were laughing. Anta smiled as she said, “You gentlemen should probably get back to work now. It looks like you’ve wasted a lot of time that you could have spent down here running away from Skins.” That comment killed the mood, even though that hadn’t been Anta’s intent.
“Actually Anta,” Hasani began, “how is that going?”
They spent some time discussing what they knew about the progress of the other humans, and the preparations underway at the bunker in case the Skins found them. It was a somber discussion.
“Is there any reason for us to come home?” Misty asked. “It sounds like a dreadful place now.”
“I don’t know,” Anta said. “Why don’t you guys get that ship working and then let’s talk again.”
“I can tell you how to hack into the system up there to retrieve the codes, if you need me to,” Mike said.
“Actually, I don’t need you too, I know exactly where they are,” Jerad replied. “I’ve never been in charge of clearance codes—that’s the co-pilot’s job. I just forgot.”
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