Noah's Ark: Contagion Read Free

hard, everyone understood that. They may well have solved their immediate energy crisis by connecting the ship to HMS Ambush and her powerful nuclear reactor, but there were many problems still to overcome, not least of which was finding enough food.
    The previous day’s test had reignited the hope though, and it was infectious, spreading throughout the ship like a virus, imbuing everyone with smiles and excited conversation. If they could move, there was a chance of finding food, and maybe habitable land. Perhaps even other survivors. The hardships of living in a confined space and under strict rationing were easier to bear when cushioned by hope.
    “Captain?”
    “Yes?” Jake and Coote said simultaneously. Jake looked over towards Lucya. She wore an expression that told him something wasn’t right. Coote continued to stare out to sea, enthralled by the rolling waves.
    “I’m picking something up. It’s quite faint, but it sounds like a distress beacon.”
    That got the submarine captain’s attention. He swung round his chair, bushy eyebrows raised. “Are you sure? Could it be one of your rather clever little pink buoys you sent out there, like the one we found?”
    “It’s not one of mine. I coded a subcarrier signal into my own transmitters so I could be sure not to confuse them with anything else.”
    “She’s a smart one, Jake, you want to keep hold of her.”
    “I intend to,” Jake said, and exchanged a smile with his chief radio officer. He’d been holding her at every opportunity the last couple of weeks, and he was sure that Gibson Coote was as well aware of their blossoming relationship as everyone else seemed to be. “Officer Levin, where’s the signal coming from? Please tell me we’re headed towards it.”
    “You’re not going to like this. It’s behind us. Directly behind us.”
    “And you say it just popped up? Wasn’t there before?” Coote got up from his perch and joined Lucya at her station.
    “No, sir, it definitely wasn’t there until a minute ago. Look,” she pointed to a screen displaying a map of their location, circling an area with her index finger. “I think it’s coming from around here. I’ve got scans running on all channels twenty-four seven. As soon as the scanner finds a signal it locks on. It takes less than sixty seconds to scan the full frequency range, and there’s a second scan running on the emergency frequencies too. If anything starts chirping within range, I know about it within ten seconds.”
    Jake joined the others at the navigation station. “Can you get a better idea of distance?”
    “No, not with this equipment. If it’s a GPS beacon, and if the asteroid hadn’t knocked out half the satellite network, it would probably be transmitting precise coordinates. I’m just getting a basic distress signal.”
    “Captain Coote, unless I’m mistaken you’re rather better equipped for this sort of thing, are you not?”
    “I’ll say! I expect Ralf and the boys are probably already tracing the signal. Can we give them a call?”
    Lucya punched a couple of buttons and summoned up the submarine on her headset. “HMS Ambush , Spirit of Arcadia , receiving?” A short pause, and then she relayed details of the signal.
    “Can you put Ralf on the speaker?” Jake asked. She nodded, and flipped a switch.
    “Ralf? Coote.”
    “Captain, we’re seeing the same signal as Officer Levin. It’s approximately one hundred nautical miles north. We have a good reading, and eighty percent confidence in the location.”
    “Thank you, Ralf, splendid work. Stand by for further instructions.”
    “We have to turn round, no?” Jake looked from Lucya to Coote. “If there’s someone out there, we have a duty to help them out.”
    “The Ambush also has a duty to return to base, Jake. End of the world or not, we have standing orders. We are obliged to get to Scotland.”
    “Of course, but a two-hundred-mile detour won’t hurt, will it? I mean, you came for us. You