Sea Sick: A Horror Novel

“Allegedly,” Jack corrected the man. “Tally has made an allegation. That doesn’t make it true. And, as for Doctor Fortuné, with all due respect he has no idea what he’s up against. No one has ever seen anything like this virus before.”


The captain grinned. “This mysterious pathogen of yours gets better and better. I suppose you’re going to tell me next that it’s more contagious than AIDS and deadlier than cancer.”


“You don’t catch AIDS, Captain. You catch HIV which develops into AIDS. Anyway, the virus onboard this ship makes AIDS seem like a sore throat. You have to take me seriously about this!”

“No,” stated Marangakis. “I do not. This is my ship and you are now my prisoner. You will be taken to the brig and detained until I can hand you over to the French authorities.”

“Okay,” said Jack. “Whatever you need to do, but please just put a call through to the mainland and warn them to take precautions. Tell them I’m a terrorist, for all I care, but take what I’m saying seriously. Please.”

The captain examined Jack, focusing on his face. He let out a sigh and clasped his hands together. “You realise that if I do as you ask, they will add terrorism to your list of offences. If you make empty threats about a virus onboard, you’ll be in a great deal more trouble than you are already in.”

Jack didn’t care what threats were made against him; he just wanted to put a stop to the festering evil once and for all. “I’m telling the truth,” he said. “Just, please, accept the chance that I may be right. Warn the mainland.”

The captain cleared his throat and stood up from his chair. “Fine, but on your head be it.” He left the room without a further word and Jack was taken to the cell that he was beginning to think of as his.

***

The infected attacked the passengers at a little after eight, just as Jack had suspected. He knew there was nothing he could do to prevent all the death onboard, but that wasn’t the point. This was a big-picture problem and all that mattered was preventing that death from spreading into the world. Jack hoped with all his being that, as midnight came and the ship grew quiet, with the last lives onboard being extinguished, morning would come and lead on to dawn. If that happened then the future would be corrected and Joma, having seen it was so, would retire his spell. The ship would reach the coast of France with all the passengers most probably dead – except for Jack locked safely away in his cell – and the authorities would take adequate precautions to contain the virus. This could all be over in a matter of hours.



Day 248

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Jack saw the alarm clock flashing 1400 on the bedside and smashed his fist against it. The unit shattered and Jack’s hand came away bloody. The pain was nothing compared to the frustration he felt. The best chance he’d had to end this thing had been a failure. Whether the captain had simply ignored his pleas to contact the mainland, or if he had and they still hadn’t been sufficiently prepared to contain the virus, the spell was still in place. Only Joma could tell him why. Only Joma could tell him whether or not his actions had meant a damn.

Jack got dressed and left in a hurry. He was in no mood to tussle with the security guards today. Every hour he wasted would kill Joma a little more. Jack sighed. He was getting tired of all the dying.

He still didn’t know where to find Joma during the day, but he didn’t have time to wait around until the evening. He headed for the Voyager’s Lounge and, when he got there, approached the man that was currently on duty behind the bar.

“Hey, there. I was looking for Joma.”

The man was polishing a glass with a stringy rag. His English was nowhere near as good as Joma’s. “He not here till half-seven, my friend.”

“Do you know where I could find him now?”

The man shrugged. “I don’t know. He a quiet man. He keep to himself.”

“Do you know which is his cabin?”

The man gave Jack a suspicious glance and placed the glass down on the bar. “I can no tell you that. You will have to speak to him later, here.”