Star Cruise - Outbreak (17 page)

“We’ve had the military injects,” he said calmly, pointing at her and then to himself. “So far those mystery concoctions are protecting us and the other veterans just fine.”

Taking a swallow of cold synth coffee, she choked a bit. “I wish I felt as confident as you do.”

He laid his hand over her right hand for a moment. “You’re a worst-case person, and I’m trying to stay optimistic, so between us, we’ve got balance. Not everyone is sick, not everyone got the stomach bug. How many cases were there?”

She turned her hand under his and squeezed his fingers gently. The warm clasp of his hand was comforting. Her pulse stuttered and slowed a bit. He was making sense. “About a thousand. Maybe one-third of the people on board.”

 
“So two thousand are healthy. And maybe only a small percentage of those who were sick progress to what Arln and Groskin had.” True to his word, Jake seemed determined to be optimistic tonight.

“I hope you’re right. And there’s a remote possibility the norovirus is not related to the purple splotches.” Jake drew in a breath as if he might argue with her, so she removed her hand from his to shake her index finger at him. “We’re in territory unknown to me right now, and I can’t allow myself to jump to any conclusions. I’m going to recommend quarantining anyone who has reported nosebleeds. I’m going to recommend a mandatory exam of every person on board this ship for the purple bruising, and anyone who has the distinctive coloration goes into quarantine as well.”

“Going to get a lot of pushback from the passengers, if the captain agrees with your recommendations.”

“I’m trying to save lives here, contain the outbreak.” Disbelief making her blood pressure rise again, she massaged her temples in an attempt to stop the pounding pain. “Why would anyone object?”

“Doc, you’ve met our passengers. The entitled don’t believe rules apply to them. Fleming may want to wait.”

“We have to stop the spread of this virus.” Dumbfounded, she sank against the back of her chair and stared at him. “That’s our top priority.”

Jake shifted in his seat but kept his eyes focused on her. “I agree that saving lives is the top priority. But Fleming and the rest of us have to consider the life of the ship, the viability of the CLC Line itself. We’ve got a lot invested in this venture. No one’s going to want to travel on a plague ship. If this incident isn’t handled right, we could go bankrupt.”

“You can worry about the business ramifications. I don’t care—people’s lives are more important than future considerations of going broke.”

“I’m trying to tell you Fleming will be under a lot of pressure from management. He’ll do the right thing—he’s a standup guy, but he may want to move more slowly than you’re recommending. You said yourself Arln could be a unique case.”

“Yes, Groskin didn’t exhibit the massive hemorrhage. Bruising indicates bleeding under the skin but is less dire than the blood loss Arln suffered at the end. Without doing an autopsy, my informed guess is Groskin died from a heart attack. But don’t draw too much comfort from the ordinary manner of his death. He may have died from a previous, unrelated condition before the disease progressed to the final stage. On the other hand, both he and Arln could have been more affected by the mystery disease than a person in good health would be.” She made a face. “That’s my problem right now. Too many possibilities and unknowns.”

“I’m just saying present the facts and your recommendations to the captain, but be ready for him to hold off on implementing the drastic ones. In the meantime, we can gather intel, do analysis, as you wanted.”

Next day Emily had to admit Jake’s assessment of how Captain Fleming was going to react had been accurate. He refused to authorize a ship-wide message, nor did he agree to quarantining passengers who’d had a nosebleed in the last few days.
 

“Try to see it from my point of view,” he said as Emily left her seat to pace in his office. “We’ve had two cases you can only tell me
might
be related. We don’t even know for sure as yet. Two men have died. While regrettable, two deaths don’t justify upsetting the entire passenger population and ruining their cruise experience. We’ll stay vigilant, you’ll keep me posted of any change in the situation, and we’ll continue on our course. I think the best thing we can do, frankly, is get to Sector Hub, where there are resources established for handling this kind of thing better than we can. I’ve ordered the chief engineer to increase speed so we arrive sooner. If we luck out and can hand off the entire problem to the Sectors authorities, the Line and the ship emerge in the clear. And our passengers receive the best possible care more quickly.” Fleming was reasonable and stubborn, unconvinced of the desperate urgency Emily herself was feeling about the situation.

Staring above his head at the vidscreen displaying a holo of a star cluster, Emily took a deep breath and forced herself to remain calm.
 

Jake spoke up when she said nothing further. “I’ll have to notify the Hereditary Princess’s people about Arln’s death.”

“Please convey my condolences to Her Highness.” Fleming studied Emily for a moment. Straightening her spine, she regretted making her frustration plain to see. “Doctor, I give you my word, if there are additional cases, I’ll revisit your recommendations and take all necessary steps to contain the outbreak.”

“Can I at least set up a quarantine area? If and when we need such a space, there may not be time to do it right.” Emily made a last-ditch effort to plead for what she considered necessary.
 

Fleming rubbed his chin. “Where do you recommend we establish this facility?”

At something of a loss and not as familiar with the ship as her companions were, Emily deferred to Jake, casting a pleading glance at him, hoping for his support. “We could have as many as a thousand extremely ill patients. Is there a suitable space on board?”

“I don’t think we’d need that much capacity,” Jake said. “Let’s start small and be prepared to ramp up. There’s the big conference room slash banquet hall on Level C, sir. No one booked it for this cruise, and we’re using it for storage at the moment. Passengers don’t normally go to Level C unless we’re hosting a convention, which thankfully isn’t the case this cruise, so our preparations would be fairly inconspicuous.”

“All right, go with Level C,” Fleming agreed. “Maeve, provide the doctor with whatever she needs.”

“Yes, Captain.” The AI’s voice had the warm undertone that was invariably present when the ship addressed Fleming.

“I should see the space,” Emily said.
 

“You and Jake work it out.” Fleming rose. “Is there anything else, Doctor?”

“A crew bulletin maybe? It would help if staff could be on the lookout for sick passengers, and of course, if any member of the crew has symptoms, the issue needs to be reported to sickbay without delay.”

The captain considered for a moment. “How many cases of the stomach bug were there among the crew?”

“A proportionately low number, actually. Maybe one hundred at most.” Emily was grateful for small favors. The more healthy crew members, the better for managing the situation.

“Gotta appreciate the military’s over-enthusiasm for giving injects,” Jake said with a grin. “All us veterans are protected from the nasty Groskin bug. I bet there isn’t a single veteran among the hundred.”

 
“Write a bulletin, Doc, run it by Jake, and then I’ll issue it,” Fleming said. “Keep me posted. Unless there’s anything else we need to discuss right now, you’re both dismissed.”

“I wish we could get our hands on some of the military’s vaccines,” Jake said as he rose and stepped toward the door.

“Might as well wish for a hospital ship to dock with us and off-load all the sick.” Emily hastened after him. “Time’s wasting. Show me this conference room.”

The portal to the captain’s office closed behind them. Jake headed to the gravlift. “I’ll take you there, and then I’ve got to go notify Her Highness about Arln, which I’m compelled to do in person.” Drawing a deep breath, Jake stopped in midstride.

“What?” Surprised, Emily, who had moved ahead of him in her haste, pivoted.
 

“Falyn’s pet, the green whatchamacallit. Could the pet be the source of this virus? Animals carry bugs that affect humans, right?”

“Yes, hence the ICC rules about not carrying undocumented creatures.” Emily resumed her rapid walk toward the gravlift. “But Groskin never met Falyn’s pet, as far as we know. He was dead before the princess even came aboard, remember? And the darn thing sneezed all over both you and me, and we’re not sick.”

“Injects,” he reminded her, tapping his bicep as they stepped into the stream and descended side by side.

“All right, if we can get a blood sample from the animal, we can run tests. Obtaining samples will be your job, since you’re going to see Falyn anyway.” She punched his shoulder playfully as she stepped into the corridor. “Good luck with persuading her to cooperate.”

Jake opened the portal to the designated conference room, and as Emily stepped inside, Maeve raised the light levels. Emily scanned the space, plans whirling in her mind. “A bit fancy for an isolation ward, but good-sized. I can locate the most serious cases at the far end, have my medical station in the center, the decontamination unit at this portal, a lab in the smaller room down the corridor, my office in the smaller room next door… Can we get the boxes and crates removed right away?” Surprised not to get an answer from Jake, she spun on her heel and observed him putting away his AI. “What?”

 
“I’m getting you an assistant.”

“There’s another doctor on board?”

He shook his head. “Don’t know yet. Maeve is still compiling.”

“Then who?”

“Meg Antille.” Jake ticked off the positive points of his plan on his fingers. “She’s extremely organized, knows the ship better than you do and can get things done. She can also help you interface with the passengers.”

“But she’s already got a job taking care of the Enzell family. You know, the contest winners. Won’t pulling Meg away from them raise suspicions?”

“The family’s been on board long enough to know their way around by now. She doesn’t need to babysit. I’ll clear it with her boss, don’t worry. Do you need me for anything else right now?”

Emily waved her hand absently. “No, I’m fine, thanks. Good luck with the princess and her dragon of a regent.”

“See you later?”

Blinking, she focused her attention on him. “Of course. Sorry we didn’t get to the dancing portion of the evening last night.”

“I suspect upset or delayed plans are an occupational hazard of dating a doctor.” He shrugged. “Works the same way for a ship’s security. If we’re both determined enough, the dancing will happen.”

She had a delicious tingle along her nerves that said he wasn’t merely referring to dancing. “I think we’re both pretty strong-willed, yes?”

“No obstacle’s ever stood for too long in my way, not when there’s something I really want,” he said, blowing her a kiss. “Watch yourself today.”

Meg knocked on the portal, standing aside as Jake left. From her wide-eyed expression and the way she watched Jake leave, Emily gathered the staffer had seen his out-of-character, lighthearted gesture, but wisely chose not to mention it. When she gave her full attention to Emily, her tone was brisk and all business. “You need my help, Dr. Shane?”

CHAPTER TWELVE

After spending half an hour bringing Meg up to speed on the situation and discussing what she needed done to the conference room, Emily felt confident she could hand off the logistics of setting up an isolation ward to the other woman. “I’ve got to get back to sickbay.”

“Wouldn’t your staff have called you if there was a problem?”

“Probably.” Emily checked her AI, but there were no new messages. She rubbed her arm, trying to soothe the goose bumps. “I have an uneasy feeling, you know? I learned the hard way to pay attention to my instincts on Fantalar.”

“I know exactly what you mean.” Meg made a shooing motion. “Go. Maeve and I have this under control, right?”

“Indeed,” Maeve said. “I’m fabricating the requested furniture units now.”
 

“All right then, I’m off. Call me if there are any questions.” Emily barely waited for Meg’s confirmation before she was hastening to the gravlift and on her way to sickbay a few levels above. She remembered Red’s request to give Meg an enhanced vaccination, similar to the military ones.
For all the good it may do, I need to administer that today.
As she approached the entrance, she was relieved not to see any crowd.
Guess my imagination was working overtime.
Maybe Jake’s more optimistic take on things was going to be the correct one. She halted inside the door as one of the ship’s security detail greeted her with his hand outstretched.

“Dr. Shane, we haven’t met yet. I’m Clint Miltan. Jake assigned me to the day shift here, although it’s been quiet so far.”

“I hate to say it, but I hope boredom will be our biggest problem.” She shook his hand. “Thank you.”

His smile remained as enthusiastic as it had been originally. “All part of the job.”

She went to the reception desk, where Relba, the morning nurse, was seated, fidgeting and wide-eyed. “I heard about the patient coding last night,” she said before Emily could utter a word. “I didn’t sign on for this kind of thing.”