The Forge: Fire and Ice

LAGOON R L Kerrigan

The island was waking up. Early morning salt and ozone seeped through the open windows of the little three roomed hut. The only human in hundreds of miles also started to stir. He rubbed his face and let out a contented sigh. Walking into the kitchen, he opened the blinds and let the light wash over him. He stared across the expanse of ocean, mottled and fire-flecked by the ascending sun. It felt good to be back home.

He made the very short journey into the work / living space, opening more shutters as he went. Light poured on to solar cells, priming the electronics to begin their work. The window here gave him a different view of the island, one filled with the lush green vegetation of the mangrove swamp and the jetty. An electronic beep broke the quiet. He glanced down at the monitor, and the connection window that had blinked into life on the screen. The tiny timer icon spun round. Waiting for satellite connection. He waited to be reconnected to the world, as he had done every morning for the last 11 months. Every morning, except for the last seven.

He was sole curator of a small island chain in the South Pacific, his own kingdom to monitor and protect. A world heritage site, tourists had long been prevented from getting anywhere near the Islands. Humanity had long been intent on turning the blue waters of its home into landfill. It had only been a matter of time before food webs collapsed in the major oceans; and when they did, the speed at which it happened was terrifying. There was no turning back the clock.

His job now was to catalogue humanity’s stain on the last stable marine ecosystem on the planet. Right now, a change in ocean currents was sending the Pacific Gyre past his island chain. He had spent the last week in a tent, recording and cataloguing the plastic that washed up on the beaches of the tiny North Island.

He thought back, as he often did, to the excruciatingly stressful panel interview: ‘And how will you cope with the solitude?’ one of his interviewers had asked with a grave face. He had answered carefully. He reassured them on this point, whilst not quite revealing that the complete isolation was in fact a major draw for him. He did not enjoy people.

He sat up from the desk and made his way into the kitchen area. Coffee first. He was not looking forward to tackling a week’s worth of admin.

The computer chimed – Connection acquired.

Sitting down, he watched his inbox start to fill up. In another window, his podcast list was also updating. Last Monday’s podcast finally completed and started to play. The BBC World Service ident rang out.

He spun round on his stool and headed to the bathroom for a shave, keeping the door open so he could hear the headlines. More problems with the new East Coast Rail franchisee, a new scandal involving a previously unheard- of back bencher and his aide, and an unusual flu peak testing a ‘breaking-point’ NHS. Slow news day, he thought and turned his attention to his considerable stubble.

Back at his desk, he flicked through his emails. Spam… spam… spam, over 1000. That was a lot. He could see a couple from his sister, a few WHO alerts and some from the Institute. But his eye was drawn to one in particular: a delay notification from the Happlag Shipping Company.

‘Damn it,’ he muttered, opening the email from last Monday. He had been looking forward to this for weeks. He had tea and Marmite in this shipment.

‘Due to crew support issues, this month’s supply delivery will be delayed.’

Shit. He looked for the rescheduled date, but there was none.

He realised the audio had stopped and he pressed play on the next news podcast. He filtered his emails by sender, looking for next message about his shipment.

‘Although hospital admissions continue to rise,’ came the voice of the Health Minister over the PC’s speakers. ‘The Health Service is coping and has received additional funding. This department is working…’

He turned his attention back to his missing Marmite.

A Public Health England spokesman now: ‘This strain has significant mortality rates in the at-risk groups but the complications for otherwise healthy members of the population persist. Unfortunately, the long-term effects of the disinformation campaign against the routine flu vaccination programme are as yet unknown, but the vanishingly small uptake we saw this year may very well prove to be…

He continued scrolling. No sign of a follow up from Happlag about his stuff. This was not good.

He clicked the next podcast and scrubbed past the introduction.

‘There are unconfirmed reports of mortality rates of 95% in some areas,’ the newscaster went on. ‘Turkey, Greece, Italy and many other countries have declared states of emergency. In most countries, the military have…’

He was paying attention now. When the hell was this? The computer chimed, connection lost. He clicked the podcast window. The report was dated last Wednesday and there were only two more.

He skipped to the last. It had not downloaded completely, even though it was only two minutes long. The usual ident was missing from the start.

‘H6N1 Fire Flu Update – CDC testing has identified multiple critical secondary transmission vectors. This virus can be transmitted from animals to humans, with the animal host displaying no symptoms. Household pets are a high infection risk and must be destroyed and incinerated. The virus remains active in tissue but is rendered inert through…

The podcast ended there. Remembering the WHO emails, he started scanning his inbox. He opened the most recent one.

The subject was ‘Global Action Message’

This email contains important information for those who are at this time unaffected by H6N1 Influenza (commonly known as the Fire Flu). Do not attempt to access any public place or seek medical intervention. All major hospitals, clinics and medical centres should be considered compromised. The majority of people declined a related vaccine earlier this year that would have provided a break to infection. However please be advised that any vaccine obtained at this stage will not be effective and the pursuit of such will carry extremely high exposure risk. All citizens are instructed to stay indoors and to remain in isolation until further notice. Do not attempt to travel or to assist others. Do not interact with any other person who has not been with you for the entire duration of the virus’ incubation period (five days). Under no circumstances allow contact from known H6N1 infection site hotspots e.g. major cities, airports, agricultural centres, ports. Further information will be provided.

He minimised the email box and stared at the blue desktop. A few minutes passed. He let out a sudden, involuntary laugh.

Fuck them all.

How fragile they all turned out to be. The speed of their collapse. His islands would be the blueprint for any ill-deserved second chance humanity got. He would continue his work here in his own private paradise with more optimism than before.

More coffee first.

He rose from the chair and almost missed a flicker of light which pricked the horizon. He leant in towards the window, eyes now fixed on the shape which was slowly taking form. Ice formed in the pit of his stomach. The object grew larger and darker. It was a gaping maw bearing down on him. He raised the binoculars to his eyes. Behind the shaking reticle, he saw a Happlag cargo ship making its remorseless approach. Faceless figures swarmed the decks like a writhing mass of flies.

the end