Max threw his hands in the air. “They hold all the cards here, Jake. We’re not in a position to negotiate. You got a better suggestion? Let’s hear it!”
“I don’t have a better suggestion. We are not risking the lives of those kids though. They’ve already killed Liz Linders. I don’t doubt they’ll carry out their threat if they think we’re trying anything.”
Max let out a long sigh. “Okay, what about this? We hide a small security team on board the Lance. We let the Koreans on, with the kids, then when the kids are safe, the team takes out the bad guys and brings back the boat and the sprogs. That safe enough for you?”
“No! No, Max, it’s not. Do you not think they’ll be expecting a move like that? Those children are in danger until the bad guys are sure they’ve got away.”
“Right. And then, once they are sure, you think they’ll go to the trouble of sending them back? Come off it. They’ll be fish food. Even you must see that.”
Lucya stepped away from the table and began pacing the room. Jake buried his face in his hands. He couldn’t see a way out.
Max wasn’t giving up. “Alright. How about we cut the power and storm the classroom?”
Jake lifted his head. “Really? You’re really suggesting that? You don’t think the first thing he’ll do is kill Erica? Then start firing indiscriminately?”
“Listen, Jake. The sooner you accept that one way or another some of those kids are going to die, the sooner we can get ready with a plan. Face facts: we can’t save them all. We just can’t. I know you have a soft spot for the girl now she lives in your cabin. If you want her safe, the best bet is an ambush in the corridor.”
Lucya took a step towards Max and raised her hand. With a swift swipe she slapped his face, hard.
He raised his hand to his cheek and rubbed. “Touched a nerve?”
“Erica is like our daughter. She doesn’t just live in our cabin. And Jake is right. None of those children can be hurt in any way.”
“So give me some alternatives. We’re wasting time here. In another” — he flicked his wrist again — “fifty-five minutes, he’s going to start killing kids.”
“You’re the security man, you come up with some ideas!”
“What do you think I’ve been doing?” He slapped the table with the palm of his hand.
“Realistic ideas.” Lucya spun round and began pacing again, staring at the floor.
“This may all be moot anyway,” Max said, leaning back in his chair. “Someone tried to torpedo us. Any idea’s on that, Captain? Aren’t we sitting here waiting to die anyway?”
“Actually, I’m not sure we are. That was the North Koreans too. Apparently they have a submarine. If they believe their colleagues are on the Arcadia, I’m guessing we’re safe.”
“Really? You don’t think we could be caught up in some kind of civil war? Perhaps the guys in the classroom are the real target.”
“They haven’t fired another torpedo. They’ve had time to do so.”
“Maybe they don’t want to give away their position while the Ambush is out there. If they try and take us out, the Royal Navy could sink them. So perhaps they’re taking care of our friends in blue before they take care of us.”
“Maybe you’re right, Max.” Jake was shouting now, exasperated. “Maybe we’re all going to die. Maybe the sub will get us. Maybe we should all just crack open the last few bottles of champagne, get completely shit-faced and celebrate the end of days. Or, here’s another idea: maybe we try and save our children, then work out a way we can help the Ambush and save everyone else. Do you think we could do that, Max? Do you think we could try and survive? Like we’ve survived up until now?”
“Captain Noah, I didn’t think you had it in you. I must admit, I’m almost impressed. What do you propose?”
Lucya piped up from the back of the room, where she had just stopped pacing. “We need Vardy. Where’s Vardy?”
“He’s still with McNair. Why?”
“Because I think I have an idea.”
Twenty-Four
SURGEON LIEUTENANT RUSSELL Vardy found himself in demand. He had McNair laid out in the medical suite and was preparing to reset a broken bone, when the telephone rang and Jake asked him to come down to deck two. Naturally he had refused, at first. When the reasons for his presence being required were made clear, he immediately handed his patient over to Carrie, who assured him she was capable of looking after the injured helmsman.
It wasn’t just Lucya who wanted Vardy’s assistance. Jake was also keen to quiz the navy man on just what was likely to be happening with the Ambush since she had disappeared. His questions had to wait though; the situation in the classroom was far more urgent.
“Lucya, I’m so sorry,” Vardy announced as he entered the room, slightly out of breath. “I’m not sure what you think I can do though. Surely this is a situation for security?” He nodded towards Max.
“Thank you!” The security chief raised his eyes to the ceiling. “Someone talking sense at last. Let’s get in there and save the kids.”
Lucya ignored him. “If we do anything they don’t like, the children are at risk. If we try and enter the room, Erica will die. If we try and take them out on the way to the Lance, Erica will die. If we try and ambush them on board the Lance, Erica will die. And if we let them onto the ship and leave them to sail away as they are asking, Erica will probably die.”
“Then it sounds like the choice comes down to which strategy involves the smallest loss of human life,” Vardy said. He looked her right in the eye as he spoke. “In battle, sacrifice is a necessary tool.”
“Hallelujah!”
“Shut up, Max,” Lucya snapped. “This isn’t a battle. And sacrifice is not acceptable. I think there might be another way. A way we can disable the Koreans without harming the children.” Everyone looked at her expectantly. “The virus,” she said, looking around at the three men.
“The virus?” Vardy said at last. “I’m sorry, I don’t really… I don’t follow.”
“The virus! The one that nearly killed us all? Oh come on. It’s obvious! The children were immune to the virus. If we infect the men holding them, they’ll be paralysed and might die, and the children they’re holding hostage won’t be affected at all. At the very least the men will be incapacitated. We send in Max’s guys to take control, and the kids will be saved.”
Max groaned. Jake’s shoulders slumped.
Vardy shook his head, but spoke kindly. “Even if we could somehow release the virus into that room without contaminating any other part of the ship, it would take at least twenty-four hours before those men became paralysed. When Jake called, he said we had less than an hour.”
“Forty-eight minutes,” Max said, looking at his watch.
“I’m sorry, Lucya, really I am, but your plan just isn’t workable.”
“Surgeon Lieutenant.” Lucya wore her sternest expression. “Are you trying to tell me that since you, Janice, Mandy and the others cured everyone, you haven’t been working on that virus?”
“I’m sorry?” Vardy looked taken aback.
“‘Once a bio-warfare engineer, always a bio-warfare engineer.’ That’s what you said to me one evening, when we shared a couple of glasses of vodka from my personal stash. Or have you forgotten that?”
Vardy turned a little pink. “Well, I might have said something like that. I don’t see the relevance though.”
“That’s exactly what you said. It stuck in my mind. You talked at length that night about just how fascinating the virus was; about how it was almost unheard of to discover a new strain like that; of how in your time at Faslane you worked tirelessly to create exactly that sort of thing. Don’t shake your head at me, Vardy. I remember the conversation well. It scared the shit out of me. It was obvious that you intended to keep working on the thing. To test it, develop it, and learn from it. Are you seriously going to try and tell me you haven’t touched it since?”