Islands - The Epidemic: An Airborne Ebola Disaster

by Smith, Patricia

  “That’s fine.” Judith looked around when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye, to find a man and woman walking up the jetty towards her. They were obviously here to be transported down to the Domes as they, like her, looked completely out of place in the predominantly military complex.

  A boy, approximately ten years old, and a girl, slightly younger, were trailing a little way behind. Their heads swivelled as though in perpetual motion as they tried to take in all that was happening at the port.

  The HMS Sentinel, an amphibious assault ship, was being modified to incorporate aircraft storage and deck space landing for helicopters. This had been scheduled for over a year and it was unfortunate the improvements were taking place at the same time as the move into the Domes. The rest of the vessels were in the harbour for the project. One Upholder-class submarine was being used to move the residents’ belongings and the last of the equipment needed for the hospital down to the domes; three mini passenger subs would be transporting the remaining residents on the final trip down today. The port was filled to legal capacity and all available personnel were on hand to ensure the busiest day the naval base had ever seen ran smoothly.

  The approaching adults stopped beside the scientist and she held out a hand to shake. “Hi. Judith Somerville.”

  “John Young,” the man said. He took Judith’s hand and shook it enthusiastically. “This is my wife Isabelle and our children, Harry and Sasha,” he added as the youngsters sauntered up.

  Isabelle, distracted by the water, looked around when she heard her name. “Hello,” she said. Her mouth twitched as though she wanted to smile, but could barely muster the strength, before returning her attention to the loch where, some distance away, a mini sub was moving towards them. Isabelle watched its every move intently, unwilling to focus on anything else.

  “My wife is reluctantly taking up residency,” John said lowering his voice just enough so that his spouse would not hear.

  “Oh?” Judith moved her head closer when the noise levels rose as a crane started lifting a landing pad onto The Sentinel. “Why?”

  “She’s frightened of water and a little claustrophobic, although we have been told that once you’re inside, the domes are very roomy.”

  Judith raised her eyebrows. “Do you think she’ll be all right? She’s not exactly an ideal candidate for a two year underwater project.”

  John turned his back to his wife, so she was less liable to overhear them, and to talk to Judith more comfortably. “When I was offered a place because of my work on organic farming, involving the children in the initial discussions Isabelle and I had about whether I should take up the position probably wasn’t the best plan. It was just an outright ‘no’, from her, but the children thought it was a wonderful idea. I couldn’t leave my family for two years of course, but Harry and Sasha were so upset when I said I wasn’t going to accept the post that Isabelle started to come around.” He glanced over his shoulder. “You all right?” he called.

  There came no response; her attention firmly fixed on the amphibious vehicle slowing on its approach to the dock.

  “Isabelle!”

  She looked around.

  “How’re you doing?”

  She gave a tight smile and nodded rapidly as though her head was on a spring. “Okay.” She glanced sideways towards the water, her interest obviously elsewhere.

  John returned his attention to Judith. He opened his eyes wide and turned his mouth downward. “Not good,” he said.

  A loud whirling interlaced with a gurgle peaked over the noise in the port when the mini sub finally reached the dock and reversed its engines to stop as it touched the harbour wall.

  The cream coloured vessel was specifically designed for passenger travel and had been chosen for this venture so that the residents could have a view of their home from above, before spending the next couple of years living inside the bubble at the bottom of the sea and looking up towards the surface instead. Five metres in length, it was big enough to carry six people along with the two pilots who would navigate the craft. The large bulbous glass at the front of the vehicle and two small circular windows on either side indicated the vessel was not designed for deep-sea ventures but would easily withstand the one hundred and forty five pounds per square inch on the seabed near the Domes. The engine went silent; then, as the sub gently bobbed off the buffers lining the harbour wall, two stevedores retrieved the mooring and secured it to the dock.

  Isabelle suddenly snapped from her solitary contemplation when the children hurried to the edge of the jetty to view the sub more closely. “Be careful,” she called, her voice sharp with fear, “stay away from the water!”

  Obediently, they stopped and moved to stand beside their mother, acutely aware she was not quite at her best that day.

  A brief grinding noise of metal on metal preceded the opening of the hatch, which swung up and over the turret to reveal a man Isabelle deemed far too young to be piloting anything. As quickly as he appeared, he disappeared back inside the tower before returning with a clipboard.

  “I’m Kevin Hudson. I’ll be captaining your craft on the way to your new home, along with my co-pilot, Liam George, who you’ll meet when you board the sub. Now, can I just check I have the correct passengers?” He called out the names on the list and made a small mark on the sheet next to each as it was confirmed. “We’ll be leaving in twenty minutes,” he informed, “you can come on board now or wait until we’re ready to depart.” He pushed himself from the turret, stepped onto the bridge then across to the dock, passing the children on the way, who could barely be restrained as they raced to be first inside the vessel.

  “Well,” Judith gave a slight smile. “I might as well get on board. You two take your time. I’ll watch the kids.”

  John touched his wife’s arm as the scientist disappeared into the sub. “You ready?” he asked softly.

  Isabelle closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly through pursed lips.

  “I can’t let them down at this stage,” John warned.

  Her eyes shot open, “I know,” she snapped.

  The pair looked around as the young man returned to the dockside.

  “How long does the journey take to the Domes?” Isabelle asked as he stepped onto the bridge.

  “Three hours,” he informed.

  “And when are we leaving?” she continued, huskily.

  “Five minutes.”

  “We can stay here until we have to get on board if you want,” John assured, giving her time to pull it together.

  Isabelle paused, then, “No,” she said. “We’ll get on now. It’ll give me time to get used to the inside before they shut the hatch.”

  John took her hand and helped her to step onto the deck. He waited for her to climb the ladder and enter the tower before following her into the sub.

  The interior was no worse than he expected. He knew it would be cramped and in fact he was pleasantly surprised. He thought there would be very little room to move around, but instead found he could easily pass through the middle of the craft between the seats lining the aisle.

  It was very bright inside. To some extent this was due to the vivid white interior, but was to a greater degree down to the two small round windows dispensing light on either side of the sub and the large bulbous glass section which illuminated the compartment from the front.

  The children had taken up position on opposite sides of the vehicle and Isabelle immediately busied herself by checking they were both buckled in.

  The two pilots could be heard running through some checks and, by the time the captain turned to face the passengers, Isabelle had positioned herself behind Judith, opposite her husband.

  John cringed when Kevin started talking them through what they should do in an emergency, but was surprised when Isabelle never flinched. By the time it came to closing the hatch the children could scarcely be controlled. Their excitement burst forth in the form of constant fidgeting and chatter, which wen
t up another level as the seal was tightened.

  John glanced nervously at Isabelle, who kept her eyes fixed firmly on the back of Judith’s seat as they pulled away from the harbour, but when they began to submerge a few minutes later she closed her eyelids tightly shut.

  Adrenaline heightened hearing, identified the precise moment the submersible became submerged, when the gentle lapping of water against the skin of the ship ceased and was replaced by an enveloping silence. A tear escaped the corner of Isabelle’s eye and trickled gently down the edge of her nose. Quickly she raised her hand and wiped it away before it could be seen. At first the descent was steep but, as the sub levelled out, she risked a peek.

  There was some light beyond the glass as the vessel was still in shallow waters; as they passed beyond the mouth of the inlet and moved into the Irish Sea suddenly the downward slide began again and the world outside slipped into darkness. For a few minutes the sub continued its descent before once again levelling out.

  “We should arrive in the North Sea in about twenty minutes and start to draw near to the Domes not long after,” Kevin called over his shoulder. “In the meantime, you can unbuckle your belts and move around the cabin if you wish.”

  Instantly, Sasha released her seatbelt and moved to sit on her mother’s knee whilst Harry stayed put, cupping his hands against the glass in an attempt to peer through the gloom outside the sub.

  “Are you all right mum?” Sasha asked, her face awash with worry.

  Isabelle gathered her courage. “Yes I am sweetheart,” she said, forcing her best smile. She did not want to transfer her fear to the child, but as Sasha wrapped comforting arms around her mother’s neck, Isabelle found the smile became real.

  Kevin glanced over his shoulder, “You can come up front if you want,” he called. “There’s not much to see at this point, but sometimes you get a glimpse of some marine life as they move passed the beam.”

  This was the cue everyone but Isabelle had been waiting for.

  Sasha’s comforting concern forgotten, she pushed herself down from her mother’s lap and hurried to the front to stand alongside her brother.

  As Judith moved forward, John leaned across to talk to his wife. He nudged his head to the front of the craft. “Do you want to come and see?”

  Isabelle shook her head in short, tight movements. “No, but you go.”

  He was pleased to see she at least now had a bit more colour. “If you get worried, just give me a call.”

  She nodded then returned her attention to the blackness beyond the glass: at least that way she could pretend she was on a plane in the dark.

  Isabelle had known that, once the experiment was under way, there would be no going back and now regretted insisting they were amongst the last to travel down. Once the construction crew set off for the surface tomorrow, there would be no more passenger carrying submersibles available and, therefore, no opportunities to back out. She looked at her watch; it was half past ten. Their expected time of arrival was eleven. “Half an hour to go,” she muttered quietly. A calming acceptance had begun to descend on her by the time Harry rushed up and insisted she follow.

  Reluctantly, she stood and submitted to being led to the front of the sub. As they approached, the boy called out to his father, who stepped aside and allowed her to pass through.

  A gasp escaped Isabelle’s throat as her body tightened. It was only now that she appreciated the cause of the growing chatter coming from the front of the ship. She unconsciously stepped back, away from the transparent nose cone, moving forward again when she felt something soft beneath her heel.

  “You’re all right,” John assured, when she stepped on his foot. “It’s perfectly safe.”

  Grasping her arm gently, he guided her fingers to the glass.

  The moment she touched it Isabelle pulled her hand sharply away, “It’s cold,” she laughed nervously.

  John pointed down into the depths and she followed the line of his finger.

  “Look there, this is what we wanted you to see.”

  As her eyes adjusted to the blackness she realised there was something taking form in the murky waters below. They were still some distance away but an array of lights was already starting to shimmer. There was absolute silence in the sub. As the minutes passed, bright points slowly morphed into beams and then gradually structures began to take form. A short while later, the four main sections could be seen glowing softly out of the darkness like welcoming beacons.

  As a wave of awe overwhelmed her fear, Isabelle looked over her shoulder at John and smiled excitedly. She returned her attention to the front and saw one of the other subs also transporting families down to their new home.

  As the crossroad of tunnels that connected each of the complexes slowly came into view, Isabelle began to realise the enormity of the project.

  Liam twisted around to address the group. “We’re docking at that dome ahead.” He pointed. “It’s the second smallest of the islands but it still occupies over seven square miles, so you can imagine there’ll be a lot of room to rattle around in. The largest dome houses the farms. It’s a massive complex which occupies about twenty square miles of sea floor.” He guided their eyes to a huge semi-circle of light, right of their position.

  “It’s a sight to behold,” Kevin said as he gently swung the sub around and drifted over the farms.

  As acre after acre of wheat, corn and vegetables, growing in cultivated fields at the bottom of the North Sea, passed beneath them, the adults pressed forward to imprint on their minds the phenomenal images below. The plastic had a softening effect that removed any definition, but still lemon and lime trees could be seen growing alongside fields awash with emerald green vegetables and hectares of wheat swaying softly, as though dancing with the currents, in an artificial wind.

  Their journey downward continued until they had almost reached the seabed. As they skimmed past the farms, John noticed a division that allowed fruit and vegetables from different regions to be grown in unison through the artificial production of seasonal climates within a particular section.

  “Could you all return to your seats,” Kevin called, “we’re about to begin our final approach.”

  As the passengers buckled in, the sub slipped into a wide tunnel attached to one of the domes. Moments later the light outside the windows became crisp and bright when it lost the softening effect of the water. Then, as the hum of the engines slowed and changing pitch switched into reverse, a glow overhead began to grow. Shadowy shapes took form until, finally, the small windows cleared of water and the vessel surfaced into a docking bay.

  A small party, which included William Cramb, was standing at the port waiting to greet them.

  Kevin opened the hatch and stepped back to allow the passengers to disembark.

  “Welcome to history in the making,” William said, as they gathered on the dock.

  His once shocking red tresses had been chalk white for the past five years now. His struggle to gain acceptance and to see the conclusion of his project had luckily only taken its toll on his hair’s once-vibrant colour. He had learned a bit more than just engineering along the way and now considered himself a master of diplomacy and an expert negotiator of the minefields otherwise known as legislation and government policies.

  “We are honoured be a part of what we hope will become a major aspect of humanity’s future. I would like to have the opportunity to meet each and every one of you individually at some point over the next couple of days. In the meantime though, I’m sure you’re all desperate to see your accommodation and to have a good look around. So, I’ll leave you in the capable hands of your guides.”

  A woman in her early twenties who had been standing off to one side now moved forward and approached the Young family. “Hello, I’m Jane Lowery. If you’ll follow me I’ll take you on a short tour on the way to your accommodation.”

  She guided the family towards a golfing cart, towing a small trailer lined with seats. “These electr
ic trucks allow us to travel around quickly without the disadvantages of toxic by-products,” she explained, as they pulled away, “and, as we have an abundant supply of electricity generated through the sea currents, they’re the perfect mode of transport. In this environment, pollution plus uncontrolled expansion cannot be tolerated. Therefore a source of clean and highly efficient energy is required to power the domes and everything within. In the early stages of the project, various forms of energy were investigated, but it was only when the marine engineers came onboard that the development team realised there was an endless supply of natural power at our disposal. Tests proved that sea currents channelled through turbines can be used to produce the majority of the electricity needed to power the domes, and a nearby geothermal source can be used to generate steam, which is then redirected to provide heating.”

  “Does the sea life not rely on the heat from the geothermal source?” Isabelle asked. Calmer now she had emerged from the sub and her claustrophobic feeling was beginning to subside once she realised how roomy the Domes were. The high ceilings and synthetic walls of the complex created enough of a sense of a shopping mall to allow the little part of her brain, still ticking away reminding her she was under water, to be ignored.

  “We’re constantly monitoring the effects of everything we’re doing here to confirm this isn’t just another ecological disaster in the making,” Jane reassured.

  They pulled out of the port and turned left onto a grey tiled area designated for the carts.

  Isabelle looked around as they gently glided over the smooth stone, passing pillars and huge pots of flowers designed to give the environment a more natural feel.

  There were two floors above them accessed by a steel staircase and, beyond that, a good ten metres up, was the roof of the dome. She had expected to be able to see the sea, but was relieved instead to find only a cream white ceiling and no sign of the external walls in amongst what could easily be mistaken for regular roads and walkways.

  She looked back and saw another electric cart following close behind. Gingerly she leaned out, attempting to see if there were others, but found no one.