Free Noah's Ark: Survivors by Harry Dayle Page A

around with that on your shoulder is just going to alienate us from the passengers. Martin, can you find whoever is in charge of maintenance and get them to organise a crew to go over this ship top to bottom and check for serious damage? Someone needs to fix the windows in here before we freeze to death, and no doubt the bridge isn’t the hardest hit area. Anything that can be fixed without using power should be fixed, within reason. Windows, the deck thirteen roof, that kind of thing. Get the place weathertight.”
    “Okay, shouldn’t be a problem,” Martin said.
    “Great, then I think that’s all for now.” Jake felt relief that this was almost over. “Let’s arrange to meet back here at,” he checked his watch, “twenty-two hundred. That gives us six hours. I want everyone to try and get some sleep before then, too. It could be a long night. Any problems, I want to know. Are the internal comms working?”
    Martin nodded. “Yeah. I mean, I’ll get them back online from the battery.”
    “Okay then, let’s get to it. And by the way, I want all of you in uniform. Until we know otherwise, we are all still employees of Pelagios Line, and we need to show that the crew are still running the show.”
    Max, Silvia, and Martin filed out of the door, leaving Lucya and Jake stood at the table. Neither said a word until the door was closed.
    “You did really well, Jake, you’re going to be fine at this, really.”
    “I’m winging it. Martin can tell. He’s going along with it for now, but he won’t take orders from me forever.”
    “What is it with you two anyway?” Lucya tilted her head, looking at Jake with huge, wide eyes.  
    “Surely you don’t need to ask that?” He felt suddenly very uncomfortable.
    “Yes, I do. You two used to be such good friends.”
    “Oh, hey, I’m taking up your table. You need to get to the maps to plot your course.”
    “Don’t change the subject! And I don’t need the maps, I’ll just use the navigation computer.”
    “I don’t think any of the computers have power yet. Looks like you’re going to have to work the old-fashioned way. What do you think, can you remember how?” He grinned at her.
    “Cheeky. You are a cheeky man. I will show you just what I can do with a map. But first I am going to get washed and changed before Martin switches off the water. I might even have a little rest, captain’s orders you know.” With that, she rounded the table, and slipped through the door.  
    Jake stared at his scrawled notes across the steel surface. He opened a drawer and took out a pad of paper and a pen. He began to plan out just what he was going to say to everyone on board.

Eighteen

    “L ADIES AND GENTLEMEN can I have your attention, please? Your attention, please. This is Acting Captain Jake Noah. Earlier today, Staff Captain Hollen addressed this ship and promised that we would update you with news of how the asteroid we witnessed has affected the rest of the world. Surely everyone aboard has someone back home they are desperate to hear from. The news I bring is not what you will want to hear, but I am not going to lie to you. So far, we have not been able to make contact with anyone back on land. It is important we do not draw any hasty conclusions from this fact. It is possible, likely even, that the asteroid damaged radio equipment, or even that the dust and ash cloud which trailed it is causing interference. The only way we can know for sure if there are other survivors on land is to go and see. We are, however, limited by our fuel supply. The same fuel that drives this ship also drives all the services, including power and light. Tempting though it may be, we cannot just sail off and start our search, we must plan ahead carefully to make the most of our resources.
    “Although this ship is large, it does carry only a finite quantity of fuel and food. If we wish to survive much further into the future, we must be smart about how we consume both. For this