CHAPTER 38
18:55 PM
Commander Roscoe charged onto the bridge of the USS Thomas Jefferson accompanied by four armed men, and swiftly took control of the room. The officers relinquished their weapons and raised their hands, all apart from the captain who seethed with hatred.
“How dare you come bursting in here!” the captain raged. “What is the meaning of this? I will have you court marshaled and shot for such treachery, you mutinous dog.”
Save your breath Captain, I’m relieving you of your command. I’m taking over as you are no longer fit to captain this vessel,” Commander Roscoe said formally. He turned to the armed guards. “You two; take him to the brig, stay with him.” He turned to the remaining pair of guards. “Cover the room — any funny business. Shoot.”
The officers were marched from the bridge accompanied by an armed escort towards the brig. Roscoe turned to a subordinate. “Assemble the men,” he said. “I’ll be making a speech presently.”
The sailors assembled on deck as if on parade, smartly dressed as they stood at ease, their pant-legs and neck scarves flapping in the breeze. Commander Roscoe approached the microphone and began his speech. Those men that could not attend due to their duties, listened over the tannoy system, some had the benefit of watching on CCTV monitors as the commander broadcasted to the enlisted men. “Attention, attention, this is Commander Roscoe; I have taken control of this vessel and I've placed the captain under arrest. I’m sure by now, that you’ve all heard the gossip that the Bubonic Plague has contaminated the ship. This, I’m afraid I can confirm is true…”
Around the ship the crewmembers reacted in shock to the news, as the commander continued. “I’m sure that you are also aware that there is no antidote…” He let this sink in for a few moments. “I’m going to tell you a story from history that may best illustrate my reasons for the actions I have taken and the tough decisions that I have made on your behalf.”
The crewmen quit their regular chores to listen to the commander. “I’m sure that since the recent Black Death outbreak erupted in Miami that you have been brushing up on the Bubonic Plague, and how it decimated Europe in the 1600s. This time period has a special meaning to me, as will become apparent, if you’ll indulge me for a moment I’ll give you some background…”
“Back in 1665 the plague raged through Europe, indiscriminately killing all in its wake, multi-millions died as the Bubonic Plague marched through mainland Europe finally arriving on the British Isles in early 1665. It carried from village to village by travelers and tradesmen. It took the population, simple peasants and yeoman, a while to understand what had happened to them; putting it down to God’s work and that there was nothing they could do to stop its march, when one brave village, Eyam, in Derbyshire in England made a stand. When the plague arrived there in a flea-infested bundle of cloth from London delivered to the tailor, George Roscoe — yes, my ancestor.”
“Within the week he was dead, and the villagers looked to their Puritan leader, a Thomas Stanley for guidance. He decided bravely, to quarantine the village from the outside world in an attempt to halt the plague’s progress. It was tantamount to mass suicide, yet if it were to work, their selfless act would have saved the rest of the country. The plague raged through the village in the following weeks killing most, but sparing the odd one or two, there was no rhyme or reason to it. Elisabeth Hancock for example had been in close contact with the bacterium, but never succumbed even though she buried six of her children and her husband within an eight day period, and Marshal Howe, the village grave digger also survived despite handling all of the infected bodies.
They invented a system for goods to be delivered from the outside world. Leaving payment of coins, which they dipped in vinegar in the hope of cleansing them, on a boundary stone and the outsider would leave supplies in its place.
One full year after the Black Death had subsided throughout the country, the first outsiders bravely entered the village to find only one survivor for the village that had once counted over eight hundred inhabitants, but their selfless act had subdued the plague in that part of the country and undoubtedly saved countless lives.
That was the survival ratio back then and this new strain of the Bubonic Plague has an even higher mortality rate…” He heard a hubbub reverberate around the ship to this news. “What I’m proposing is that we become that village, we sacrifice ourselves to save the many, we will sit it out, and, when it's over then, the survivors, if any, can make their way to safety.”
As the Commander spoke, one of the sailors fell into a faint, the men nearest to him backed away in fear. “Don’t break rank, you sniveling worms!” The warrant officer yelled at them, he addressed the sailor flat out on the deck. “You; stand up or you will be put on a charge!”
The Commander chose to ignore the collapsed man and became aware of coughing and the odd sneeze amongst the ranks of men, he continued, “I know that this is asking a lot, but in all honesty, as there is no cure for the Black Death, most of us will succumb to this virulent disease.” He paused and felt no shame or guilt that he wore a life-saving hazmat suit. “I’m working on a scheme with the good doctor to mix up a concoction, a suicide pill, that one can take rather than suffer the ravages of the plague. To the religious amongst you this end is not a viable option, but there will be pain-killers to ease the suffering.”
“In time it will be recognized that this great sacrifice that we make today is one of honor and dignity in the face of certain death… and that we can be positive of being revered in the future.” He gazed around the bridge and saw that his words were hitting home, that his fellow officers thrust their chests out with pride, and guessed that the same was happening all over the ship. He knew that his whole life had been leading to this moment, cometh the man, cometh the hour, he thought. He felt his own pride rise to bursting point, as he would go down in history as a hero. He had tears of humility forming at the corners of his eyes while he continued his message. “Medals will be awarded posthumously, and bestowed to our loved ones with all the pomp and ceremony that such acts of bravery deserve, so they can take comfort that our end would not have been in vain. This ship could well become a catchword for all that is noble and worthy because there could not be a more valiant reason than to give one’s life for ones country. We will even be admired for our courage in making this stand, and who knows, it might catch on, but we will be the first and be certain that in centuries from now your names will be spoken of in awe…”
19:00 PM
Luke stared aghast unable to speak, he watched in despair, as another soldier’s body, already dead from drowning bobbed to the surface only to go through the indignity of having chunks bitten out of him by the ‘gator.
“Luke,” Sophie said trying to get his attention. “We have to go.” But he stared at the millpond surface of the canal in silence, still half expecting one of the soldiers to materialize. “Don’t give up on me now. We have to get out of here.”
He shook himself out of his gloomy reflection, and she smiled at him. “So how are we going to get to the President’s compound?”
“Let’s see… in the last forty-eight hours since meeting you, I’ve ridden a jet ski, driven a speedboat, a motorcycle, a furniture truck, I’ve flown an airplane in the sky, also drove another one along the ground, I’m trying to think of another mode of transport to get us north that I haven’t tried.”