Walk the Plank Read Free Page A

long. Aurel, Magda?

     
    [Door opens, closes.]

     
    EL-MASRI: Why did you bring that recorder out here?
    GANAS: Malik isn’t going to say anything unless you’re there.
    EL-MASRI: Is it turned off right now?
    GANAS: Yes.
    EL-MASRI: Where did Malik come from? What direction, I mean?
    SPURLEA: The couple who found him said they saw him come out of the forest to the east of the colony.
    EL-MASRI: Do we have any people looking for the containers in that direction?
    SPURLEA: Magda?
    GANAS: We sent out five teams, and they all headed in different directions, so at least one of them is headed in an easterly direction.
    EL-MASRI: Recall the other teams and have them go east as well. There’s a chance our supplies are in that direction.
    SPURLEA: You think pirates are going to eject cargo, Chen?
    EL-MASRI: I think whoever took over the Erie Morningstar was interested in the ship, not the cargo. That’s why they kept the captain and the helmsman and made everyone else walk the plank. It’s entirely possible they tossed out the cargo with the crew. If they did, then we need to find it. We need those supplies.
    GANAS: What about the survivors?
    EL-MASRI: What survivors?
    GANAS: Malik said that at least some of the crew in his container survived the landing. Do you want our people to go looking for them, too?
    EL-MASRI: I think our first priority is looking for those supplies, Magda.
    GANAS: That’s pretty harsh, Chen. These people literally fall out of the sky and crash-land here, and you’re not in the least concerned about them.
    EL-MASRI: Look. I’m not going to apologize for the fact that when push comes to shove, I’m going to put the people of this colony before everyone else. This is why you all hired me as your colony leader, remember? You wanted someone with frontier experience, who was familiar with the tough decisions you have to make on the bleeding edge of human civilization. This is one of those decisions, Magda. Do we prioritize finding supplies for our people, who are healthy but won’t be very soon if we don’t get the soil treatments and seed stock and emergency rations that were in the cargo shipment the Erie Morningstar had in her, or do we prioritize a bunch of people we don’t know, the majority of whom it would seem are injured or dying, who would be nothing but a drain on our almost nonexistent resources? I’m the colony leader. I have to make a choice, and I choose us . Now, maybe you find that inhumane, but at the moment, ask me if I give a shit. This soil here kills everything we plant in it. Almost everything that grows or lives here we can’t eat or is trying to kill us or both. We’re down to the last three weeks of stores, and that’s if we stretch. I have two hundred fifty people relying on me to save their lives. That’s my job. I’m doing it by telling our people to look for those cargo containers first. End of story.
    SPURLEA: At the very least, you should ask him to try to describe where he landed so that we can narrow down where we’re searching. Wherever it was, he was able to walk to here from there in only a slightly better condition than he’s in right now. That means it’s not too far away. The more we know, the better we can find the cargo containers, if they exist.
    EL-MASRI: You ask him.
    SPURLEA: If I ask him, all he’s going to do is keep asking for painkillers. That was the deal: He talks to you, and when he’s done I’ll give him something. So you need to do it.
    EL-MASRI: How long until you know about his blood work? Whether he’s got the Rot all through his system.
    SPURLEA: I checked on my PDA while you were talking to him. The cultures are still growing. I’ll know for sure in the next thirty minutes or so.
    EL-MASRI: Fine. Magda, please let the search teams know to focus east, and that we’ll hopefully give them more detailed information on where to look soon. Tell Drew Talford to send it wideband. It’ll be faster than you trying to raise every party one