I nodded and followed him. He examined each person and then yelled out a letter. I wrote the letter on their foreheads. It took several minutes before I finally had the courage to ask, what the letters stood for.
Mohamed examined a deep laceration on the shoulder of an old man and said, “Mark this one with a D.” He stood up and walked toward the next patient, but paused to say, “The letter D stands for delay. That means the patient can wait. The letter I stands for Immediate. Those patients need to be seen at once. And M stands for Minor. Those people can be taken straight to the pier for transport off the island.”
He bent over the next patient, an unconscious woman in her late twenties. He lifted her eyelid and placed two fingers on her neck to check her pulse. “Mark her with an X.” He got up and walked over to a small girl who was missing a leg. She looked like Taylor, my youngest daughter. I marked her forehead with an X and quickly looked away.
“What does the X mean?” I asked.
He looked up at me and I saw the answer in his eyes.
It was dark before the stream of casualties had finally slowed down. I had no idea what time it was, but it was late… probably early morning.
After the last patient had been stabilized, I walked outside and slumped to the ground against the building. Pulling my knees up to my chest, I encircled them with my arms, closed my eyes, and rested my head on my knees. The smell of death hung in the air.
All night long I looked for Shannon, but she had never come through the triage area. Before I came out here, I had walked through the morgue. I lifted the sheet off of each body and looked at each face. With every sheet I lifted, I prayed that it wouldn’t be her. I guess my prayers were answered, but it didn’t make me feel any better. I was so numb and so tired that I couldn’t feel anything.
“You did well today, my friend,” Mohamed said.
I heard him plop to the ground next to me. I leaned my head back against the wall and looked at him through one opened eye. “It didn’t make much of a difference. I stopped counting the Xs when I reached sixty.”
He patted my arm and said, “It is not about the ones we couldn’t save. It is about the ones we did save. Here… this will help.”
He dangled a small flask in front of my face. “No thanks. Not tonight. That shit gives me bad dreams.”
He opened the flask and took a swig before saying, “I understand. I felt the same way after that first wave of refugees arrived on the islands. Do you remember? I spent weeks on Male helping to treat them. They were all so sick from radiation. I felt helpless because all I could do was make them comfortable before they died. A terrible thing, radiation poisoning.”
He took another drink and then motioned towards the jungle canopy with the flask, “Look, the sky is starting to lighten up. The sun will be up soon. Kamish said that he’d be back for us around sunrise.”
I looked towards the east and saw the first light of dawn filtering through the leaves. “I guess we should head down to the main dock.”
He nodded, but neither of us moved. We just sat there, lost in our own thoughts for a few minutes. Finally, I got up. Then I pulled Mohamed to his feet and we headed toward the main pier.
I counted six boats tied up at the pier. It was a big difference from the day before. Around the pier there looked to be about forty people. Some sat on the beach alone. Others huddled together in small groups. Like us, they were probably waiting for rides.
As we walked past the first group of people, I did a double take. Standing there, smoking a coconut-fiber cigarette. It was Michio. He looked as exhausted as I felt.
“Michio!”
He turned his head and saw me. I heard him apologize to a man who was talking to him and then he walked over to me.
“Aron, I did not realize that you were here.”
“I spent the night in the triage area. Have you been here the whole time?”
He nodded. “We were one of the first boats to arrive.” He shook his head. “It was very bad. I spent most of the night out there,” he nodded towards the water, “We pulled victims out and then kept watch against another attack.”
We stared into each other’s eyes and an awkward silence enveloped us. I knew that he wouldn’t mention it, so I did.
“What happened… with the Council, I mean?”
He bowed his head and said, “I hope that you can forgive me. There was no other way.”
“No other way to do what?”
“To save my son, Kazuki.” He looked up and said, “They took him. They sent me a message and threatened to kill him if I did not vote for the list. I knew that I could not do it, but I also could not risk having my son…” He cleared his throat and said, “So I resigned and he accepted my resignation.”
“Who? Ahmed?”
Michio shook his head. “No, Viyaja.”
“I knew it!” I felt the rage begin to build, but a thought flashed through my mind transforming the rage to excitement. “Wait a minute. You have proof!”
“I do not understand. What proof?”
“The message. It’s proof that Ahmed and Viyaja blackmailed you. They tried the same with me, but Viyaja threatened me face-to-face.”
“I do not understand.”
“Don’t you see? All we have to do is tell the ship’s captain that they coerced a member of the Council. The captain will have no choice but to scrap the list and start from scratch. They’ll be here—”
“No! We cannot tell anyone!” He grabbed my arm and said, “Viyaja said that he would kill my boy if I said anything to anyone. I told you, Aron, because I know that I can trust you.”
I ran my hand through my hair. I felt like grabbing a clump and pulling it out. “Yeah… of course. I won’t tell anyone.” I kicked the sand and said, “Those fucking bastards!”
Mohamed interrupted, “You still have the other messages, Aron. Once you decrypt them, you will have the proof that you need.”
“What messages?” Michio asked.
I’d forgotten that Michio didn’t know about the messages, so I went over the whole story, beginning when Jin came to see me in Male and ending with our breakthrough yesterday.
“That is incredible,” Michio said. “Do you really think that you can decrypt the messages in time?”
I shrugged. “If I remember enough of my quantum programming class, then decrypting it will be the easy part. The hard part is figuring out how to connect to the computer. I’ve never actually operated a satellite before and I have no idea how to make a connection without going through a laser uplink station.”
Mohamed patted me on the back and said, “You will do it.”
Michio nodded, but then said, “Aron, can I speak with you in private?”
Before I could say anything, Mohamed said, “I will go wait for Kamish over there.” He pointed to the pier. “You two talk.”
When Mohamed was far enough away, Michio motioned for me to follow and we walked away from the crowd. He looked from side to side. Then, in a hushed tone, he said, “I was the first to arrive here.”
It took me a few seconds to realize what he was trying to tell me. Then it hit me. He must have found Shannon’s boat. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear what he had to say, but I said, “Was she—”
He shook his head. “She was not on the boat, but I found this.” He pulled out a data mat from his pocket. “It is hers.” He paused as if he wanted to give me time to process what he had just said. Finally, he said, “There is some blood on it, but I did not find her body. I think they took her.”
I reached out, took the data mat, and held it up to my face. The faded scent of jasmine and mangos was still perceptible.