Chapter 124

#Day 40 — 00:15

The sea was black, the sky starless, the only light the dim glow of the bridge instruments. The Blue Oasis had been running dark for hours—no deck lights, no exterior illumination, nothing that could betray their position to whatever might be watching from the shore.

One hundred and seventy kilometers to the military base. Close enough to scout. Far enough to run.

Vivienne stood at the forward windows, her hands on the rail, her eyes fixed on the darkness where the horizon should have been. Behind her, Linh worked the drone controls, her face illuminated by the glow of her screen. The bridge was quiet, the night shift moving in soft footsteps, speaking in whispers.

"Radar's clean," Linh said. "No surface contacts. No air contacts. Nothing."

"Send the drone."

Linh's fingers moved. On the main screen, the drone's camera feed flickered to life—dark water, dark sky, then the gradual outline of the coast. She kept the drone low, skimming the waves, its altitude barely fifty meters. No lights. No active radar. Just passive sensors and hope.

The base appeared as a cluster of darker shapes against the black of the land. Buildings. Docks. A pier reaching out into the water like a broken finger.

"Night vision," Vivienne said.

Linh switched feeds. The world turned green—ghostly, grainy, but visible. The base was intact, mostly. But there were scars—blackened walls, collapsed roofs, the unmistakable evidence of an attack.

"Who attacked whom?" Vivienne murmured.

No one answered.

Linh circled the drone, keeping her distance, scanning. No movement. No heat signatures. No bodies. The base was empty—not abandoned in panic, but cleared. Crates and boxes were stacked near the loading docks, but they were empty, their lids open, their contents gone. Someone had taken everything of value.

"Plundered," Linh said. "Or evacuated. Efficiently."

"Any survivors?"

"Infrared's cold. No heat sources above ground."

Vivienne's jaw tightened. "The hangars. The storage areas."

Linh flew the drone lower, threading between buildings, her camera peering through open doors and shattered windows. Light vehicles—trucks, jeeps—sat in the motor pool, their tires intact, their windshields cracked. Possible fuel salvage. Maybe light weapons. But nothing that would change their situation.

Then she reached the hangar.

The doors were open. Inside, shadows. The infrared showed only cold blues.

Then she saw it—a recessed entrance at the back of the hangar, half-hidden behind stacked pallets. A door. Metal. Leading down.

"Underground facility," Linh said. "Bunkers, maybe."

She hovered the drone at the threshold, hesitating. The infrared showed nothing—just the cold blue of concrete and steel.

She switched to night vision and leaned closer to the screen.

The entrance was dark. Impossibly dark. Not just the absence of light—something else. Something that swallowed the camera's sensitivity.

Then the infrared flickered.

Blue turned to green. Green to yellow. And then—movement.

A shape lunged from the darkness.

The drone lurched as something slammed into its body—claws, teeth, a face that was almost human but not. The camera spun, caught a flash of grey skin, empty eyes, a mouth stretched wide. Linh yanked the controls, sent the drone climbing, and the thing fell away, its claws scraping against the hull.

"Pull it up!" Vivienne snapped.

Linh was already climbing. The drone shot upward, and behind it, the entrance disgorged more shapes—dozens of them, pouring out of the underground like ants from a disturbed nest. They swarmed across the tarmac, their bodies heating as they moved, their infrared signatures flaring orange and red.

Vivienne stared at the screen. "How were they hiding?"

NUWA's voice came through the bridge speakers, calm and clinical. "Analysis suggests the crawlers can reduce their metabolic rate and lower their body temperature to match ambient conditions. In a dormant state, they would be virtually indistinguishable from the surrounding environment on infrared scans. This adaptation was not present in previously observed specimens."

"They're evolving," Linh said. "Adapting to survive here."

Vivienne watched the crawlers scatter across the base, some climbing walls, others disappearing into buildings. "Bring the drone back. I've seen enough."

Linh turned the drone toward the ship, keeping it high, keeping it safe.

Vivienne turned to the bridge crew. "We're not salvaging that base. Too many crawlers. Too much risk." She paused. "But I want to know what happened here. Who fought whom. Later. For now, we proceed to the islands."

The Blue Oasis changed course, engines humming, cutting through the dark water toward the uninhabited islands. Vivienne settled into the captain's chair, her eyes still on the screen, watching the drone's feed until the base faded into the darkness.

She closed her eyes.

Two hours. Maybe less. She would rest now. Tomorrow would be long.

#Day 40 — 04:05

"Captain."

NUWA's voice pulled her from sleep. Vivienne's eyes snapped open, her hand already reaching for the armrest, her body tensing for combat.

"Report."

"New contact detected. Vessel hull identified via drone reconnaissance. Location: near the uninhabited islands, close to shore. The vessel is not moving."

Vivienne was on her feet, crossing to the navigation station. Linh was already there, her fingers flying across the panel, pulling up data.

"A ship? Out here?"

Linh shook her head. "It's not moving. Could be a wreck. Could be—" She paused, zooming in. "It's sizable. Maybe military."

NUWA's voice returned. "Radar return signature matches that of a British Royal Navy Type 23 frigate."

Vivienne's spine straightened. "Red alert. All hands to stations. Linh, evasive maneuver—now."

The ship banked hard, its engines roaring, the deck tilting beneath them. Alarms blared through the corridors, red lights flashing. Vivienne gripped the navigation station, her eyes fixed on the drone feed as Linh launched a new drone toward the contact.

On the internal monitors, she saw crew members stumbling from their bunks, grabbing at walls, running toward their stations.

Zhao was the first through the bridge door, still pulling on his jacket, his eyes scanning the screens. Victoria followed, already armed, her face hard. Maggie limped in behind her, her injured arm in a sling but her good hand on her sidearm.

"What happened?" Zhao asked.

Vivienne pointed at the main screen. "British frigate. One hundred ten kilometers out. Not responding."

Victoria stepped closer, squinting at the silhouette. "Type 23. I know that class."

"Can you identify it?"

"Not yet. Get me closer."

Linh brought the drone in fast, circling the ship at altitude, watching for any response. Nothing. No radar lock. No anti-air fire. No movement on the decks.

She lowered the drone.

The ship was a wreck.

Its bow angled upward, its aft section submerged, wedged against a rocky outcrop near a cliff. The hull was charred, pockmarked with holes—battle damage, not the decay of time. Lifeboat davits hung empty. The ship had been abandoned.

"Cancel red alert," Vivienne said. "Stand down, but keep everyone ready."

The alarms stopped. The red lights died. On the bridge, more crew arrived—Aida, Mei-Lin, Elena, Isabelle. Sophie limped in with Iqbal's help, her shoulder still bandaged, her face pale but determined.

Chen and Nadia were monitoring from their room, their voices coming through the comms.

Victoria pointed at the screen. "I know that ship. HMS Somerset. I knew the captain—served with him on a joint mission years ago."

Zhao looked at the wreck. "Was it a Commission ship?"

No one answered. Even NUWA was silent.

Linh flew the drone closer, its camera peering through shattered bridge windows. Empty. She checked every opening, every hole in the hull. Infrared showed cold blues and blacks. No heat signatures.

"Lifeboats are gone," Linh said. "Some of the crew must have escaped. But crawlers could still be aboard—dormant, like the ones at the base."

Kim pushed forward, her eyes on the mast. "The mast is intact. Look at that array. That's a Type 996 or 997 radar. And the electronic warfare suite—the antennas are still there."

Zhao nodded slowly. "The antenna arrays and electronic receiver modules should be our priority. They could give us detection capability far beyond what we have now. Military-grade radar, powered by the ship's thorium reactor—if we can integrate it."

"And the jammer," Kim added. "If we can get the electronic warfare system working, we could jam enemy radar. Long-term project, but worth it."

Zhao pointed at the close-in weapon system mounted near the hangar. "The Phalanx. CIWS. If we could salvage that—"

"It needs ammunition," Kim said. "And a lot of power. But even without it, the chaff and flare launchers could protect us from missiles."

Chen's voice crackled over the comms. "Priority is the electronic receiver modules and antenna arrays. We need to be invisible. That is more important than the seals."

Vivienne looked at the wreck, then at her crew. "NUWA. Weather forecast."

NUWA replied immediately. "Clear conditions for the next twenty-four hours. Probability of deteriorating weather after that window: sixty-five percent."

Vivienne turned to Kim and Zhao. "How long to salvage the antenna and other systems?"

Kim rubbed her chin. "I've never worked on military-grade equipment. But assuming it's not too different from civilian systems—maybe two to three days for the antenna array and electronic receiver. The radar would take another two to three days. The chaff and flares? A day, if they're accessible."

"Assuming the weather holds," Zhao added.

"That's a week for the critical salvage," Vivienne said.

Chen's voice came again. "Staying in one place for a week is a significant risk. The Commission's satellites may detect us. Patrol vessels may pass through. We must be fast."

"Then we go fast," Vivienne said. "But we also need food."

Isabelle spoke from the back. "We're running out of grain and carbohydrates. A few days, maybe. The sweet potatoes aren't ready to harvest. The seal hunt was our only hope to replenish."

Zhao stepped forward. "We can do both. Prioritize salvage in the first few days—at least until we retrieve the antenna and receiver. There may be winter clothing aboard the frigate. If we find some, we can increase the salvage crew and still send a hunting party."

He looked at Vivienne.

"The owner's tender is modified for fishing. We can set up the shellfish cages and fish without exposing the crew to the cold for long. That buys us time. Foraging can wait until we have extra clothing."

Vivienne nodded slowly. "And you? What do you propose?"

Zhao met her eyes. "I want to join the salvage crew."

The bridge went quiet.

Aida stepped forward. "No."

Sophie shook her head. "Absolutely not."

Aida's voice cut through the silence. "The wreck is unstable, and these waters are treacherous. Even if the salvage goes perfectly, a sudden storm could strand the team out there—or worse." Her eyes narrowed as she glanced toward the navigation display showing the churning seas around the frigate.

Sophie's voice cut through the debate. "What good is military-grade radar if the dawn virus takes us all?" She fixed Vivienne with a hard stare. "We need leadership that prioritizes our survival, not technological toys that might get our only immune person killed."

Zhao didn't look away from Vivienne. "Kim's leg isn't fully healed. She needs help—someone who understands the systems, who can work alongside her. And I've been building the automated defense system—the turret. I can set it up around the wreck, give the salvage team cover. We can work faster if I'm there."

Zhao turned to face Aida and Sophie, his jaw set. "You think I'm made of glass?" His voice remained level but carried an edge of steel. "I'm not risking everyone's lives for some ego trip. What happens if we pass this up? The Commission finds us eventually, and then what?" He gestured toward the screens showing the wrecked frigate. "That technology gives us a fighting chance instead of just... postponing the inevitable. We might never find another opportunity like this." He leaned forward, palms flat on the console. "Survival isn't hiding until death finds you. It's seizing the moment when it presents itself."

Vivienne's hands tightened on the rail. She looked at Aida, at Sophie, at the faces of her family. Then she looked at Zhao.

She didn't want to let him go. Not because the ship needed him—though it did. Because she needed him. Because she didn't know how she would live if anything happened to her husband.

She took a deep breath.

"You can go. But only after the ship is cleared by security and accompanied by Saanvi. Maggie?"

Maggie stepped forward. "Victoria and I will clear the frigate floor by floor. The rest of the crew don't have enough combat experience—they'd slow us down or get killed. Once we confirm it's safe, the salvage team goes in."

"How long?"

"A half day if we're lucky. A full day if there are crawlers."

Vivienne turned to Zhao. "You wait until we have the all-clear."

He nodded. "I will."

She held his gaze for a moment longer, then turned to the bridge.

"Everyone has their orders. Prepare the salvage gear. Ready the fishing tender. And someone find out what happened to that ship—her hard drives, her logs. Chen wants them. So do I."

The bridge erupted into motion. Crew members filed out, heading to their stations, their voices low and urgent.

Vivienne watched Zhao walk toward the door. Mei-Lin intercepted him, her hand on his chest, her eyes wet. She didn't speak—she just looked at him, her fear and her love written across her face.

He kissed her forehead, whispered something, and she nodded.

Then he was gone.

Vivienne turned back to the screen, to the image of the wrecked frigate wedged against the rocks. Somewhere on that ship, answers waited. Weapons. Technology. The means to fight back.

But also danger.

She touched the pin on her collar—The lioness pin that Chen gave her.

Comeback safe, she thought, we can’t lose anyone.

The ship sailed on, toward the wreck, toward the unknown.

The hunt would wait. For now, survival meant something else.