“Because I’ve been dealing with this a lot longer than you.” His words came out sympathetic, but firm. “There is a very good reason not to stay here, though. The people from Project Eden will be back soon. It’s a pattern my people have seen elsewhere. They’re going to want to make sure the disease they dumped on the resort took hold. They’ll expect to see a quiet island with perhaps a few bodies spread around. If they don’t, they’ll very likely send in a squad of armed personnel to see what happened. From our observations, this can take place anytime from now through the next few days. So, no, it’s not safe. And, yes, we are in a hurry.”
Several people shouted at once.
“Listen to me,” Pax said loudly enough to cut through the clatter. “I would love to stand around and answer all of your questions, but every minute Robert and I delay our departure is another minute closer to their return. You can argue all you want with each other, but we’re leaving now.”
He started toward the buffer room. Robert stood there a moment longer, feeling the need to reassure everyone.
“Are you coming?” Pax asked, looking back from halfway across the room.
Robert turned to the group of residents. “We’ll be back as quickly as we can,” he said, then headed after Pax.
Two steps into the crowd he felt a hand on his arm.
“Be careful,” Estella whispered. She kissed him on the cheek before letting go.
“Make sure everyone’s ready,” he said.
“I will.”
He doubled his pace and met Pax at the plastic flap that served as the buffer’s door.
“They’ll be fine,” Pax said, giving him a reassuring smile.
“I know.”
The older man pulled the flap back enough to duck through. As soon as the way was clear, Robert followed.
Renee was waiting for them as they stepped outside. “What the hell is going on? I could hear people shouting, but I couldn’t hear what anyone was saying.”
Robert quickly explained the plan.
“You’re taking me with you, right?” she said.
“One of us has to stay here,” he said. As she opened her mouth to argue, he added, “If we don’t come back, you need to use what we have here and get everyone off, no matter how many trips it takes.”
She frowned as she closed her mouth, but didn’t fight him.
“Keep an eye out for us,” Robert said. “If you see us coming before we get into the bay, you can get the others started.”
She shook her head. “I make the sacrifice, you get the glory. Typical.”
He winked at her. “I’ll make sure they put an asterisk by your name in the history books.”
“Get out of here before I throw you off the deck.”
Heading down the stairs, Robert couldn’t miss the spots of residue along the railings and on the steps. He wanted to pull away from them but the gunk was everywhere.
When they reached the sand, he moved in front of Pax and led them down the path to the dock. One speedboat was tied to a buoy in the bay, while the other — Robert’s preferred boat — was at the dock.
While he started the engine, Pax untied the mooring ropes, and within moments they were moving across the bay toward the channel that led to the sea.
“How long is it going to take?” Pax asked.
“In this, not more than an hour, less if the sea’s calm.”
He slowed as they turned into the channel, and slowed again as they exited the other side. The sea was choppy but not too bad. He didn’t open the engine all they way up, though, until they circled around to the side of the island that faced Costa Rica.
“You might want to hang on,” he said, and then pushed the throttle forward.
The town of Limón was located on a little bump of land along the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. With the exception of a few scattered villages, it was the only real civilization on the country’s entire eastern seaboard, and the only place able to accommodate the ferry that had shuttled guests to and from Isabella Island.
The first indication that Robert and Pax were getting close was the sight of red and white antenna towers peeking above the horizon. Soon after, the buildings that crowded the coast came into view. From the sea, the town looked to Robert like it always did. It wasn’t until he and Pax were closer that he could see the roads were empty and there were no people about.
Robert tried not to think about it as he guided the boat around the southern end of the land bump to where the main port was located. As soon as it came into view, he stared in surprise.
Limón had always been a stop for cruise ships touring the Caribbean. In the past, Robert had never seen more than one docked at the pier at a time, each ship usually staying only a few hours before heading back to sea. Now, however, three giant vessels were in the harbor — two on either side of the main pier, and the third tied to the ship on the east side.
Robert wondered if the flu had broken out on board the ships first, or if the vessels had rushed to shore upon hearing news of the outbreak. As the speedboat neared the docks, he was able to get a better look at the third ship. It appeared it hadn’t pulled up next to the other one, but had crashed against it, buckling metal and scraping off long streaks of paint. He could see hastily rigged gangways between the two vessels, apparently so that passengers could cross onto the ship at the pier and then to shore.
Jesus. They must have been in full-on panic.
“Where’s the ferry?” Pax asked.
The haphazardly docked third ship was blocking their view of the dock where the Albino Mer was normally tied up.
“Should be on the other side,” Robert said, hoping the bigger vessel hadn’t clipped the ferry, too. If so, the Albino Mer wouldn’t have suffered a few dents and some lost paint. It would be on the harbor floor.
He exhaled a deep, long sigh of relief as they came around and saw the Albino Mer tied to the next dock, pretty as a picture.
He maneuvered alongside it, and after their boat was tied to the ferry, they climbed on board. First stop was the engine, accessed through floor panels near the rear of the boat, where Robert checked the tank.
“Almost empty,” he said. “It don’t think there’s enough to make it back.”
“Where do we fill up?” Pax asked.
Robert stood up and scanned the port. “I’m not sure. I never even thought about it before.”
“I don’t see any pumping stations.”
“Me, neither. But they had to fill up all the time so there’s got to be a way.”
They hurried down the dock to shore and took another look around.
Robert’s gaze stopped on a pickup truck with a large tank permanently affixed to its bed. It was parked in the shadows, next to one of the buildings fronting the piers. He pointed and said, “Maybe that.”
As they jogged over, they were enveloped by the strong smell of fuel before they reached the truck. A quick peek into the top of the tank showed it was nearly full.
They found the vehicle’s keys under the front seat. Its engine wasn’t happy about being started again, but after a few sputters, it rumbled to life.
“How long’s the trip back going to take us?” Pax asked as they drove toward the ferry
“About twice as long as the speedboat took, give or take.”
Pax frowned. “By the time we get to the island, get everyone on board, and head back, it’s going to be close to sundown. I had hoped to locate a few buses before we returned so they’d be here waiting, but that’ll waste even more time.”
Robert slowed as he turned onto the pier. When they were as close as they could get to the boat’s engine, he engaged the parking brake and turned off the truck.