Voyage of the Dead - Book One Sovereign Spirit Saga (20 page)

Billy posted his message and turned to look at his friends.  Mitch and Justin were busy surfing the web.  Beth looked like she was taking a nap on the couch next to the espresso bar.  Jake Argus, Mark’s teenage son, had entered the room quietly.  He was leafing through a book he had brought with him.

            “Hi Jake,” said Billy.  “What’s up?”

            “Not much,” the teenager replied.  “I’m just looking at this book my dad gave me.  It’s the
Zombie Survival Guide
.  He says it has a lot of stuff that we might need to know now.”

            “Great book,” exclaimed Justin.  “I didn’t know we had a copy aboard.  We should make that mandatory reading.  Right, Billy?”

            “Yeah, I guess so,” Billy replied.  “You learning anything from it, Jake?”

            “Sure, man,” said Jake.  “But the zombies they talk about are a little different than the ones on the news now.”

            “What do you mean?” asked Mitch, who had turned to join the conversation.

            “Well,” Jake replied.  “The ones in the book are slow and stupid.  I don’t know if the real ones are stupid, or not, but they sure aren’t slow.  I’ve seen them on TV and my dad was on the helicopter that went to Cabo.  He says they move fast.  I sure wish I had my Tommy gun.”

            “Your what?” asked Justin.

            “My Thompson,” replied Jake seriously.  “My dad gave it to me a few years ago.  It’s a 45 caliber sub machine gun like they carried in World War Two.  There’s even a video of me shooting it on You Tube.  I could blow a bunch of zombies away with that baby.”

            “Sure, buddy,” smiled Justin.  “And I wish I had a flame thrower too.”

            “I’m not sure how well that would work,” Jake said seriously.  “If they don’t feel pain they could just keep coming at you through the flames.  But we might have one of those aboard, and a Thompson too, you know?”

            “What?” Billy asked in surprise.  “No, I don’t know.  What are you talking about?”

            “Oh…” Jake paused.  “Your dad didn’t tell you?  Well, my dad brought a bunch of weapons aboard when your dad picked us up in Honduras last year.  Your dad has them hidden somewhere in this ship.  They were supposed to be used to defend us from pirates on our voyage around the world.  But now we can use them against the zombies.  Right?”

            “Yeah, I guess so,” Billy agreed as he exchanged glances with Mitch and Justin.  Billy didn’t know about the arms caches.  He had been at Cal Tech when the ship stopped in Honduras last year to pick up Jake and his father, Mark.    Billy only got to spend vacations on the ship, until he and Mitch had taken a quarter off to meet the
Sovereign Spirit
in Australia and cruise back across the Pacific.  In fact, he was supposed to have flown back from Cabo to start the Spring Quarter today.   But he wasn’t surprised that his dad hadn’t told him about the weapons.  He was a little surprised that Jake knew about them, until he remembered that Jake had already gone through paratrooper jump training before graduating high school.  Mark raised his son a little differently than Billy’s dad had.

            “What kind of weapons?” Justin asked suspiciously.

            “Oh, all kinds,” Jake answered smoothly.  “Assault rifles, machine guns, sniper rifles, grenades and grenade launchers, a few LAW rocket launchers, plastic explosives, you name it.  Maybe even a flame thrower.  I don’t know exactly.  You can buy anything for a price in Honduras, and I guess your dad forked out quite a bit for that stuff.  It filled up the whole truck that we brought aboard in San Pedro Sula.  I never saw where it went after that.”

            “Cool,” said Billy.  “That could come in handy.  And so will that book.  Keep reading it and let us take a look at it when you’re finished, okay?”

            “Sure,” Jake said agreeably and went back to skimming the pages in front of him.

            Billy turned to Mitch and said, “I think it’s time that I had a talk with my dad.”  

*****

            Scott was staring out over the open sea as the moon rose above the other side of the ship.  The
Sovereign Spirit
cast a long moon shadow over the dark sea, but there were glimmers of light flickering on the waves near the horizon and the whitewater of the ship’s wake added blue-green phosphorescence to the foreground of his view.  It reminded Scott of an ominous scene in a horror movie, but perhaps that was because he was actually living one.   It was almost a relief when Captain Fisher handed him the telephone.

“Doctor Frost?” Scott said into the sat-phone. “This is Scott Allen aboard the
Sovereign Spirit. 
We’re all hoping that the CDC can find a cure or solution to this horrible plague, and I understand that you have a mission for us that might help you accomplish that.”

            “Yes, Mr. Allen, or is it Commodore?”

            “That’s debatable,” said Scott.  “I’m leading a flotilla of survivors north towards San Diego from Cabo San Lucas, but nobody has officially made me a commodore, sir.  I just want to get everyone on this ship, and the boats following us, to someplace safe, but we’re all willing to do whatever we can to help you find a cure.”

            “Well, Commodore,” responded Dr. Frost. “I don’t expect you to find a cure, but I would ask you to find a scientist that could help point us in that direction.  His last known position was in Malibu and I understand that you have a home there.  Is that correct?”

            “Yes, sir,” replied Scott.  “And we are planning to take this ship there eventually.”

            “Eventually might not be soon enough, Commodore,” said Dr. Frost crisply.  “We have reason to believe that there are some important researchers trapped inside of a lab in Malibu Canyon.  The local authorities seem to have lost all control of the area and are not responding to our requests for priority extraction.  Unfortunately, the military commands that we are still in contact with also seem to have their own priorities and limited assets.  Your ship might be the best chance we have to conduct a rescue.” 

This response stunned Scott more than almost anything else he had experienced that day.  “Is the situation really that desperate already?” he asked.

            “You are not our only hope,” replied Dr. Frost.  “But you seem like a good bet to me.  As I understand it, you and your people have been isolated from the infection.  You have a ship with long endurance, sophisticated lab equipment, and the ability to conduct recovery operations by sea, land, and air.  Is that correct?”

            “Yes, sir,” Scott confirmed.  “We do, but we are still a thousand miles away from Malibu.”

            “I understand that, Commodore Allen,” said Dr. Frost.  “But you are headed there?”

            “Yes, sir, we are,” Scott confirmed again.

            “In that case I can only repeat my request for your assistance as soon as possible.  An extraction operation might not be necessary by the time you arrive, but considering how quickly everything else has disintegrated, I think it prudent to enlist your service.”  Dr. Frost sounded sincere, but his troubled tone set off some of Scott’s mental alarm bells.

            “I don’t have as much information as you do, Dr. Frost,” Scott replied.  “But if you are betting on us to deliver any vital information or people from Malibu, then the situation must be much worse than the TV news is describing.  And, if that’s true, you can rest assured that you have just lit a fire under my butt that will take us to Malibu as soon as possible.” 

*****

            Scott was in deep discussion with Captain Fisher on the bridge when a crewman came to inform him that his son, Billy, was waiting to see him.  He took a moment to calm down.  Upon reflection, Scott realized that he was blessed to have his family safely aboard the
Sovereign Spirit.
  He was glad that he had time to spend with them.  So he excused himself and went down to the library where the crewman said Billy was waiting.

            The library was a beautiful room with mahogany bookcases on every wall and rolling ladders to reach the thousands of books shelved on them.  A conference table with cushioned chairs occupied one end f the room.  A couch, coffee table and two reclining chairs under chandeliers that swayed with the rolling swells, filled out the other end of the room in a casual style of elegance.  Billy was up on a ladder getting a book when Scott came in.   Billy grinned and came down with a book in his hand.

            “Hi dad,” he said shyly.  “I know you’re busy and a lot is happening, but I wanted to talk to you about a few things.”

            “No problem, son,” Scott said with genuine feeling.  “I’ll always make time for you, buddy.  This whole zombie thing is crazy, but it’s real.  I just thank God that you and most of our family are here and safe.  I don’t know what I would do if you were back at Cal Tech in the middle of that nightmare.  By the way, do you have any news from your friends on the internet?”    

            “Well, dad,” Billy replied hesitantly.  “Actually, I do.  I read some messages that make me think that most of my friends at school are already dead.”

            “Oh no!  Thank God you’re here,” said Scott.  “Are you sure they’re gone?”

            “Not absolutely sure,” Billy replied.  “But it doesn’t sound good.”

            “This is a horrible time, son.  And there’s not a lot we can do about it either.  I wish there were.  We can only be thankful that we are safe on this ship.  There are a lot of worse places to be.”

            “Yeah, well,” Billy continued with a slight hesitation.  “That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about; about doing something to help some of my friends who are in a worse place than we are.  And we can help them, if you let us.”  

            “Who do you want to rescue?” Scott asked before Billy could spit it all out.

            “My friends in Malibu – Amanda, Brad, David, Shawn, lots of them!  They’re all holding out at Brad’s house on Sweetwater Mesa.  We’ve got to save them, dad!”  Billy’s voice rose and his anxiety showed through his façade of calm.  “I already told them that we were coming to rescue them with a ship and a helicopter.  Please, dad, can we do that?”

            “Well,” Scott paused for a moment to consider the prospects.  “Yeah, son, we can certainly try.  I’ve been thinking about doing something to help save more lives.  I’d like to start with our friends, if we can.  I’ve already made the same type of promise to rescue some people in Malibu. We certainly have plenty of room here for your friends too.” 

             “Great!” exclaimed Billy.  “And I know about the weapons too.  Mark told Jake and he told us.  So, what have you got?”  Billy was ginning now.

            “Damn,” said Scott.  “So much for secrets on this ship!  Yes, son, we do have quite a few guns and other weapons stashed away.  We’ll probably be pulling some of them out soon.  And you’re certainly old enough to use one.  In fact, considering what’s happening in the world today, you better get used to carrying a gun on a regular basis.  I’ll see that you and your friends here get hand guns and start practicing with them tomorrow.  You can start practicing with rifles too.  I think I’ve got an extra AR-15 with your name on it, as soon as you prove that you can use it responsibly.  As for the rest, let me try to keep a few secrets a little longer, okay?”

            “Sure, dad,” Billy answered with an even bigger smile.  “I knew I could count on you.”

            Scott stepped forward and hugged his son and thanked his lucky stars that they were safe and together on this day of horror.  Then he glanced down and asked, “What book did you choose, son?”

            “World War Z,” replied Billy.  “I know it was one of your favorites, but I never read it.  I guess now is a good time to check it out.”

            “By all means, Billy,” said Scott.  “It’s a good book.  I hope you like it.  I just hope that our zombie war isn’t quite as bad as the one described in that book. Be sure to read all of it though.  You’ll see that there is some hope, even in a world like this.  We can wake up from this nightmare, but only after we fight our way through it.  I know you planned on a nice safe life working on computers or running a company, but life doesn’t always turn out the way you plan it.  The important thing to remember is that we have to make the best of the cards we get dealt.  Just remember that you can win with a bluff as well as a full house, once you learn how to play the game.” 

*****