Noah's Ark - Survivors by Harry Dayle

everyone who works on this ship. If there was anyone else, I would ask,” Jake pleaded.
    “Okay. But I might have a few drinks first, to help me get through it.”
    “All food and drink is rationed.”
    “Not my personal supply, and I’m not telling where it’s hidden!”
    “Fair enough. But I’ll find out later. Now, one other thing, have you seen Tania Bloom anywhere?”
    “Tania? No, not for days. But if I do, I’ll ask her to go see you.”
    Jake got up to leave, and as he did so there was a jolt, a noise like a huge washing machine spinning up, and a vibration. With a flicker, the lights in the office came on.”
    • • • • •
    The screen popped into life and Lucya let out a sigh of relief. In front of her were a disarray of pages, scribbled notes, folded navigational charts, and a couple of reference books. Finding the nearest and most northerly permanently inhabited settlement had been easy. Calculating the course taking into account currents, the shifting ice, and the maximum fuel efficiency had taken some doing. She was reasonably happy with her results, but seeing a computer resurrect itself filled her with joy. She grabbed the topmost page of scribbles, and the biggest chart, and put them down next to the navigation terminal. There was still a bit of time left before Jake and the others were due back, and she wanted to make absolutely sure her calculations were correct.
    No sooner had her fingers alighted on the keyboard, than there was a bang at the door.
    “Who is it?” she called without looking up.
    “We want to see the captain,” came the response.
    “Who’s ‘we’?”
    “We represent those who have not been given a voice.”
    Lucya stopped what she was doing, stood up slowly, and walked very quietly to the door. It was locked, but there was an extra security bar that was supposed to be used in case of piracy attacks or terrorism. As gently as she could, she slid the bar into place.
    Three more bangs.
    “We demand to speak with the captain now. We aren’t going anywhere until that happens.”
    “The captain isn’t here.”
    “Bullshit.”
    “If he was here, he would probably be telling you to leave. Most likely in stronger terms than that. You’re wasting your time. He’s not here.”
    “Then we’ll wait.”
    “Shit,” Lucya muttered to herself. “Shit, shit shit. Where are you when I need you Max?”
    She briefly considered calling for Jake over the PA, but dismissed the idea quickly. Those outside would hear the call and would be waiting for hm. She didn’t know what they had in mind when they got to see the captain, but from their tone she was sure it wouldn’t be good.
    She looked around the bridge, making sure that she was safe. The broken windows had been covered up with high strength plastic sheeting by a team from engineering. The hatch for the fire escape was bolted shut from the inside. There was no possibility of using it, it couldn’t be locked from the outside, and leaving it open would compromise the bridge. Nobody could get in. The only problem was she couldn’t get out. She picked up the telephone and started calling round the heads of department.
    • • • • •
    As he was already down on deck two, Jake figured he should make the effort to go down one more flight of stairs and congratulate Martin on getting the generator going again. He walked into the engine room to see a group of three engineers high-fiving each other.
    “Captain on deck!” one of them shouted upon spotting him.
    “Yes yes, you can dispense with all that. So, the generator’s going? That’s excellent news, well done.”
    “It was harder than we thought, that ash had fused together in the confined space, and when it cooled it went rock hard. We had to chisel some of it out, and even now there’s some still in there, but we made good time,” a short tubby man in greasy overalls said, beaming. Jake thought that he couldn’t possibly have got into the funnel himself, but