“Great!” Lucya exclaimed. “So let’s get some of your mega-virus in there and paralyse the bastards!”

“Hold your horses. First, I’d need to defrost a sample of the modified virus. There are two in a secure freezer in the medical suite. It has to be done carefully; it can’t just be bunged in the microwave like a frozen pizza. Then it would have to be introduced into that classroom, and only that classroom, without — obviously — the occupants noticing. And even then, it might not cause enough paralysis within forty-seven minutes to be of any use.”

“How long?” Jake asked.

“I’d want it there for an hour to be sure. But that’s even assuming you could get it in there.”

“You let us worry about that, Russell. This is the best chance we have of getting every one of those kids out alive. Do it. Get your virus ready the quickest way you can. Sit on it, use a hairdryer, shove it down your pants for all I care, but get it warmed up and ready to go. Lucya, find Martin and work out a way of getting the virus into the room undetected. There has to be a pipe or a vent or something that goes through there. He knows this ship better than anyone. He’ll know a way.”

“Wait,” Vardy said. “That’s not the only problem.”

“Okay. Enlighten me.”

“If this works, and that’s a big if, the children will be carrying the modified virus. Anyone who goes in there, guns blazing, to get them out, will risk becoming infected. At least until the kids are no longer contagious.”

“How long do they remain contagious?”

“With the new strain? No idea. We’d have to quarantine them in a sterile and airtight room. But that’s not all.”

Jake rolled his head back. “What else?”

“The virus acts so quickly we won’t be able to get rid of it using the method we used before. The immunosuppresives that saved us will slow it down — maybe — but they won’t stop it. The Koreans will all die. Anyone who goes in there to get the kids out and contracts the virus will also die.”

Max stood and stretched. “You said you had an antidote? So my guys go in wearing gas masks. And while they do that, you can be preparing this room to quarantine them. It can’t be that hard. If they show signs, give them the antidote. The Koreans can die for all I care.”

“And therein lies the problem,” Vardy said. “The gas masks are all on the Ambush. And so is the antidote. I had to store it there as there was no more room in the secure freezer in the medical suite. Until the submarine comes back, your plan is a mass suicide mission.”

Jake got to his feet. He looked at Lucya. “Go. Find Martin.” He turned to Max. “Keep this area secured. Can you spare a couple of men?”

Max nodded. “I suppose. Why?”

Jake ignored him, looking instead at Vardy. “Get your virus ready. Take two of Max’s men with you and brief them on exactly what they must do to prepare this room for the children.”

“Okay,” he said slowly. “And you?”

“I’m going to buy us some more time with the bad guys, and then I’m going to find HMS Ambush.”

• • •

While the others went to work on their rescue plan, Max Mooting returned to the classroom, where most of his team were keeping the area secure. “Have any of you lot seen Grace Garet?” His voice boomed through the corridor. He looked from one face to the next, but was met with blank expressions and shaking heads.

“Haven’t seen her at all today,” one man said.

“Me either,” Bembridge added, looking bashful.

Max groaned. He had a bad feeling about Grace. “Okay. Has anyone seen the gun she signed out this morning, before her shift started?”

More blank stares.

“None of you? Jesus. Why don’t we just start handing out weapons to everyone. It’s not like we’re short. Oh, wait, yes we are. A handful of anti-pirate weapons and a few guns donated by the Ambush. Bembridge has kindly given one to the Koreans, and now Garet’s gone missing with another one.”

A stocky security man nearer the classroom called him over. “Erm, there’s something else you need to know, Mr Mooting.”

“Yes?”

“It’s Zhang, sir.”

“What about him? You locked him up, right? With the others? Before coming down here?”

“No, sir. He’s gone missing.”

Max said nothing, didn’t take his eyes off his officer, waiting for an explanation.

“It was when the explosion happened. Made a hell of a noise, caused panic in the Farm Plaza. People running in all directions. I tried to grab onto Zhang, but he ran. I lost him in the crowd.”

“Jesus. Are you lot completely incompetent? How any of you ever got jobs in the real world I’ll never understand. Why didn’t you bring this to my attention earlier?”

“I tried to, sir. But with the Koreans and everything, there hasn’t been a chance.”

Max looked at his watch again. “Right. Get your useless butt upstairs to medical and find Doctor Vardy. He’ll tell you what you’re to do next. Take Evans with you. Everyone who’s supposed to be on restaurant duty can bugger off too. Those Koreans aren’t going anywhere. You four, stay there. Keep that door covered. The rest of you, duty as normal.”

“What about Zhang, sir?”

“What about him? He can’t go far, can he? It’s not like he’s going to skip the country. He’ll turn up, probably when he’s hungry.”

The officer nodded.

“Go on, get out of my sight. Imbecile.”

• • •

The negotiations did not start well. Jake made his case to the expressionless leader of the Korean sailors. The Lance, he said, was drifting away from them. They were trying to recover it, but with only inflatable life rafts at their disposal, the task was proving tougher than they had imagined.

“Your problem not my problem,” the man said, his voice muffled by the door. He was now sitting on a table. Erica had been allowed to rejoin the other children on the floor. One of the men surrounding them had taken the gun, and kept it levelled at the youngsters. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that the slightest provocation would lead to bloodshed.

“Well, it kind of is your problem,” Jake said. He felt the hairs on his neck stand on end and his ears burn as he pushed the hostage taker. He knew he was playing a dangerous game, but he was betting the Korean understood that if he acted rashly, if he harmed a child, he would feel the full force of the armed security team. “You need the ship, and we’re doing all we can to get it to you, but it’s taking longer than you are allowing us.”

“Forty-one minutes. Then, child dead.”

“No, you’re not listening to me. It isn’t physically possible to get the Lance back that quickly. It’s not our fault someone torpedoed us. I suspect you might know who did that, no?” The Korean gave nothing away. “Look, if you kill a child, or hurt anyone else in that room, it’s over for you, you understand? These men here? They’re itching for an excuse to come in there and finish you off. You have one gun. You can shoot one person at a time. Think about the odds. You won’t survive. Give me more time, and I promise you we will get the Lance back.”

“No need raft. This is ship. Sail!”

“If only we could. That torpedo? Ripped our propeller to shreds. If we try and move we’ll just go round in circles. My engineers could try and fix it, but they’re busy trying to get the Lance back.”

The man hesitated. He exchanged more words with the others. As the clipped conversation flipped back and forth, the children looked more and more terrified.

“Show me.”

“What?”

“Show me Lance. Prove words.”

“You want me to prove we’re trying to get the Lance back?”

He nodded.

“Okay. Leave it with me. I’ll prove it to you.”

“Thirty-nine minutes.”

Twenty-Five