Page 28 of Midnight

‘My colleague needed a hand with some paperwork. It’s always complicated when someone gets ill on board. Insurance claims and all that rubbish. We’ll be out of the rough seas soon enough. You don’t have any signs of concussion so I’ll give you a little something to help with the pain so that you can get some sleep, and some seasickness pills in case the weather stays bad. If you still feel bad in the morning, come and see us again.’ He gestured to the door.

‘Wait, please. I heard you two talking. I heard somethingabout –’ she could barely bring herself to say the word – ‘poison.’

She watched for it and there it was: a moment’s hesitation. ‘You must have misheard. We had someone come in with gastroenteritis – in other words, your garden-variety food poisoning. It’s a pretty typical problem on cruise ships; we were just sorting out how to advise the captain on doubling down on sanitation protocol and possible quarantine for affected passengers.’ He passed her a small cup with pills at the bottom. She took it, and her fingers trembled. ‘I’d better get back to it,’ he said. He helped her to her feet and led her to the door.

She didn’t protest any more. The words swirled in her mind as she swallowed the pills dry and headed back to her cabin – not letting go of the railing for an instant. Food poisoning. She felt like such an idiot.

Back in the cabin, the ship swayed, rocking her like she was in a crib. The motion was much less violent than it had been a few hours ago. Maybe this meant that the storm was abating. Her head still pounded, but the medication began to take hold.

She closed her eyes, and finally managed to drop off to sleep.

13

When she woke, it was still early, her digital watch showing just after six a.m. She blinked, finding it hard to register her surroundings. For one thing, the ship had stopped swaying entirely. It almost felt like they were hardly moving at all. Maybe they’d turned around in the night and gone back to Ushuaia? She half expected to look out of the porthole to see mountains on the horizon once more.

Her head still throbbed, her eyes swollen and sore. She stared up at the ceiling, touching her throat gently. Stefan hadn’t seemed to be worried about the ‘threat’ moving from online to the real world. But what had happened with her life jacket had felt so real. She’d seen someone behind her, hadn’t she?

Then there was the man with the shaved head. Was it possible he was the same man she’d seen in Ushuaia?

She was being paranoid. But was that such a surprise? She was on her own, in an environment she hated. The only thing she had to hold on to was her plan: if there was no word from Aaron today, she would demand the captain radio back to shore and alert the authorities.

She wished she had someone to talk to. Anyone who could make her see sense. Patty had been nice enough, but her loyalty to Pioneer meant Olivia couldn’t be too honest about how she was feeling. Stefan might be on her side when it came to the showcase, but there wassomething about him that put her on edge. She needed a friend.

She sat up in the bed, wincing as the pain in her head intensified. Thankfully, within a couple of seconds of her eyes being closed, it subsided. She pushed her hand into her hair, at the edge of her forehead, and felt the lump there – along with the butterfly stitch. Ouch.

A series of three bells chimed in the cabin. The captain’s voice sounded over the PA. ‘Good morning,Vigilcrew and passengers, this is Captain Enzo. My first words to you all should be congratulations for making it through the Drake Passage. However, I had a few worrying reports from the medical bay overnight. Please remember to always have one hand free to hold the railings around the ship. Try not to walk around looking at your phone or holding your camera – you’re on a moving vessel, and although we’ve made it past the worst of it now, you never know what we may confront.

‘On to some more pleasant news: despite the rough seas, we have made good time through the passage and we may even make our first landfall as early as tomorrow morning. To prepare, I’ve asked our superlative crew to work extra hard on getting us landing-ready, so, after breakfast, expect to be going through the safety drills and selecting your gear a bit earlier than we anticipated.

‘I also invite you to look around our very special art gallery, which opens today from ten a.m. for a preview before the auction. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to purchase a unique piece from one of the most acclaimed artists of his generation – but our gallery specialist, Stefan, can tell you more, so please visit him on deck four. Have a great day at sea, everyone.’

‘Are you feeling better now, pet?’ Patty asked the woman in the bunk beneath Olivia.

‘Still a little fragile,’ said Janine.

‘You look a bit less seasick now. Not so green around the gills.’

‘That’s good. I’ll just get up to brush my teeth.’

‘Oh please, me first,’ said Patty, and without waiting for a reply, dashed towards their shared bathroom.

Olivia could feel the woman shifting on the bed, slowly stretching on her mattress, the tips of her fingers appearing over the edge of the top bunk. Then she stood up and spun around.

The ship lurched as she moved, and the woman stumbled backwards, bashing against the other bed and falling to the floor.

‘Oh my God! Are you OK?’ Olivia scrambled out of the top bunk. She helped the other woman back to standing.

‘Not got my sea legs yet, I guess,’ she muttered, her voice soft. Her copper hair was frizzy from where she’d slept on it. Then she blinked, staring quizzically at Olivia.

‘Goodness, I’m being really rude. We haven’t met yet. I’m Olivia.’ She extended her hand.

Janine shook it, a small crease between her brows. ‘Sorry – between the seasickness and the jet lag, I’ve lost my mind a bit – I thought I was sharing a bunk with someone called Christa?’

‘Yes, you were. But we switched cabins so she could be with her husband.’

‘Oh, I see. That makes sense. I’m Janine. Nice to meet you.’ She smiled.

Patty exited the bathroom, looking flustered and hotin her thermal underwear. ‘Jeez, these things are tight. Oh good, you two have met at last!’ said Patty once she clocked Janine. ‘Cabin twelve is complete!’

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