Jake Morrison's Arc

Chapter 41 of 54

Six months passed. The garden domes Darrell built stood finished on the small island. Green glass caught the morning sun. Darrell invited Jake's group to the opening. Marisol wore a black dress with lace. Sofia wore a soft blue one. Jake and Marcus put on clean shirts. The twins and Sofia's baby slept in strollers on the dock. Inside the domes, rows of young plants climbed toward the light. Settlers clapped as Darrell cut a ribbon strung across the door. After the ceremony, one of Darrell's newer settlers found Jake by the water. He was a thin man with a scab on his lip. He had come with the last boat from the enclave. He kept his voice low but not low enough. "Somebody on the mainland told me the vaccine comes from a person," he said. "A donor. Right here, on your islands." He watched Jake's face. "Who is it?" Jake kept his hands loose. "You heard wrong," he said. "The blood comes from mainland donors. Lots of them." The man smiled. "That's not what the medics say." He looked past Jake at the settlers unloading crates. "A man like that is worth more than land. People would trade a lot to keep him close." He said it like a joke. It was not a joke. Jake found Darrell by the domes. He pulled him aside, away from the crowd. "Your settler is asking about the donor," Jake said. "He's telling people the source is here." Darrell's jaw tightened. "I heard him too. He talks in the boats." He crossed his arms. "Is it true, Jake? Is the donor one of yours?" Jake looked at Marisol across the dock, the twins asleep in her care. He thought about the doctor's warning. He thought about fifty-five people who trusted him. "It has to stay a secret," Jake said. "For all of us. If people learn there's one man behind the cure, they'll stop seeing a person. They'll see a prize. They'll fight over him. Your enclave and my islands would go to war within a month." Darrell was quiet. He watched his settler laughing near the boats. "You're right," he said. "I've seen men kill over less than water." He set his hand on Jake's shoulder. "I'll handle him. He rides back with me tonight. I'll put him on the far garden island, no radio, no boats. He won't spread it there." That evening Darrell's boats pulled away. The thin man sat in the stern, watching the islands shrink behind him. He would not be back. Marisol came to Jake's side and took his hand. "It's buried again," she said quietly. Jake watched the boats vanish into the dark water. The secret held tonight. But now Darrell knew for certain the donor was real, and Darrell was a man who traded in what people needed most.