When they returned to the front of the shack, tired and sweaty, the first thing they saw was the small dog, lying panting contentedly beside the pots.
'Oh God no . . .!' Jimmy shouted as he dashed across, causing the dog to rear up and scurry out of the way. 'No . . .!'
But the damage had been done. The pot without the lid had been completely licked clean. The other was untouched.
'What'll we do?' Jimmy asked, looking up at Benson in despair. 'What if that was the one, what if . . .?'
Benson lowered his voice. He glanced around at Nick, who was some distance away, securing the shack's front door. 'We'll have to bring the dog.'
' What?'
Nick was walking slowly back towards them.
'Just leave it to me,' Benson whispered.
Nick stopped beside them. 'I'll miss her,' he said quietly.
'I know you will,' said Benson, patting him gently on the shoulder. 'Anyway — you and Barney, you'll be coming back to the ship with us now. Do with a good man like you on board. And dog.'
Nick shook his head. 'Nice offer, man, but no way. Have to get the bar ready, for when the tourists come back.'
Benson glanced at Jimmy, then back to Nick. 'I'm sorry, Nick — but I don't think they will be coming back. It's not just this island got sick, it's the whole world. There aren't any more tourists.'
Nick laughed. 'They'll be back. They always come back. Till then, me and Barney going to sort this place out, that right?' He made a clicking sound with his tongue, and Barney appeared from behind a bush and scampered up to him. Nick knelt down and ruffled the dog's fur.
Benson looked exasperated. 'Nick — to tell you the truth, we really need Barney to help us out. He may have eaten our medicine. We need to analyse what it is, and we can only do that if we take him to the ship.'
Nick looked horrified. 'You mean you'll have to cut him open?'
'No — not . . . necessarily. It will probably . . . come out naturally. But it's really vitally important. If there's any chance at all that this medicine works, then it could save hundreds, thousands, may be millions of lives if we can reproduce it. So we really have to take the dog.'
Nick thought about it for a few moments.
'And you really think the tourists aren't coming back?'
'I know they're not.'
Nick scratched behind the dog's ears before looking up. 'OK then. You can have the pot for free. But you'll have to pay for Barney.'
'What?'
'You'll have to pay.'
'Nick.' Benson's voice became grave and important. 'This is for the good of all mankind.'
Nick nodded. 'I realize that. But if the tourists don't come back, then I don't get any tips. And that's where I make most of my money — I have to make a living. If Barney really can save the world, then that's got to be worth quite a lot. I mean, all these drugs companies, they make huge amounts, don't they?'
Benson shook his head. 'Nick, we can't . . .'
It was time for Jimmy to contribute something. He'd been listening with mounting incredulity as Benson tried to strike a deal with a man who was not only mourning the loss of a loved one, but was also either on the verge of madness or completely barking. Jimmy put a hand on Benson's arm, and at the same time gave him a surreptitious wink. 'Mr Benson,' he said, 'I think Nick has a point. He should be paid.' Benson looked confused. Jimmy nodded at Nick. 'How much were you thinking of?'
Nick did a quick mental calculation. Then another.
'Fourteen million dollars.'
Benson rolled his eyes. Then he patted his pockets. 'I'm afraid I don't have that much on me at the moment,' he said.
Jimmy gave him a hard look. 'Mr Benson — you know what we do in these cases.'
'Do I? . . . I mean, yes, of course, we . . .'
'We write him an IOU.'
Benson's mouth dropped open a fraction. 'An . . .?'
Jimmy nodded. 'An IOU, for fourteen million dollars. That'll be OK with you, won't it, Nick? You just present it at the British Consulate, and they'll make sure you get the fourteen million dollars.'
Nick studied Jimmy for several long moments. But then he nodded. 'Fine with me,' he said. 'Although to tell you the truth, I'd prefer to keep the dog.'
***
They used a folded copy of the Titanic Times Jimmy had in his back pocket to write the IOU on.
Nick examined it happily before folding it into his shirt pocket. He picked Barney up and carried him to the car. He set him down in the back seat and patted his head one last time. 'To think,' he said sadly, 'that the fate of the world might depend on what comes out of your ass.'
***
They left Nick up on the mountain. On the way back down to the beach Benson radioed Jeffers to see how he was getting on at Charlotte Amalie. He grimly reported that the plague seemed to have wiped out the port's entire population. Although this meant that it was therefore safe for the Titanic to dock, they were having difficulty establishing contact with the ship. He asked Benson to try from his side of the mountain, but he couldn't get through either.
'It could be anything,' Benson observed. 'Atmospheric conditions, most likely. Maybe there's a storm coming. Or some kind of breakdown on the ship.'
Jimmy added his opinion. 'The plague may have killed everyone on board who knows how to operate a radio.'
'Thanks for that cheery thought,' said Jeffers. Then he ordered Benson to take the inflatable back to the ship to pass on the message that it was now safe to dock.
***
As they shot out across the water Jimmy cradled the pot in his lap, leaning down on the lid with his elbow while holding tight on to Barney. He was thinking about Claire and Ty and trying not to get his hopes up too far. After all, they were gambling on the word of a madman.
What if Claire was already— No! He wouldn't even think it.
Dead!
He couldn't help himself. He'd been gone for hours.
***
The team responsible for winching them back on board was waiting on the third deck. Benson brought the inflatable expertly alongside, and with the sea so calm was easily able to attach the required cables. Barney began to bark excitedly as the boat was slowly lifted out of the water. Jimmy patted him to try and keep him calm.
Benson waved his radio up at the crew above. 'We tried to call!'
Despite the fact that he got the thumbs-up sign in response Benson muttered darkly: 'How much do you bet I get blamed anyway?'
'Fourteen million dollars,' said Jimmy.
The inflatable finally came level with the deck and was guided in. Barney, sensing dry land, immediately wriggled out of Jimmy's grip, leaped from the rubber craft on to the deck and tried to dash away. Benson shouted at the crew to catch him, and added, 'For goodness' sake don't let him poo anywhere! He may have vital. . .'
But he stopped then, because what he had taken to be a colleague, standing in a crisp white shirt and baseball cap, was not, in fact. It was Pedroza, and he was aiming a gun at them. He wasn't alone. There were at least a dozen others standing watching them, all armed with pistols or knives.
Jimmy didn't have to be told what had happened.
They had seized control of the ship.
29
Mutineers
They had been gone from the ship for four hours. In that time a second row over the feeding of the San Juan refugees had quickly escalated into a riot which led to Captain Smith and the senior officers who had remained on board being overwhelmed. Pedroza and his comrades seized control of the bridge, disarmed the crew and locked the Captain, together with anyone who was not 'with' Pedroza, into the theatre under armed guard. These numbered almost five hundred people. Jimmy, still clutching his pot but minus Barney, was now amongst them.