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    The Island
    The Island
    The Island
    Ebook143 pages1 hour

    The Island

    By James Loscombe

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Her only hope is death and death has little interest in the living

    Samantha works for an agency so secret that it doesn't even have a name. She is deep undercover and in well over her head. She was sent to sea in order to to infiltrate the hidden island of the Grigori. She arrives to find a world unlike anything she could have expected and it isn't just her that is in danger. Friends, enemies, even the island itself seems to be intent on stopping her getting to the truth.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJames Loscombe
    Release dateFeb 25, 2019
    ISBN9781386886228
    The Island
    Author

    James Loscombe

    James Loscombe has been publishing under various pen names for the last five years. He lives in England with his wife Tamzin and their sons Jude and Oscar.

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      Book preview

      The Island - James Loscombe

      If you would like to read more by James then check out http://jloscombe.com/books/ where you will find a complete list of releases.

      If you would like to be the first to know when new titles are available (and receive copies of all James’ short stories for free, then click here http://jloscombe.com/subscribe/ to register.

      Samantha shifted the tray of drinks to one hand and leaned against the wall as the deck moved beneath her feet. The sea was rougher than she would have liked but she still had a job to do and the passengers wouldn’t be happy if their twenty pound cocktails arrived half full. She waited until the floor levelled out and set off again. Above the thudding sound of the engine she could hear the clash of pots and pans and the clamour of voices as dinner was prepared.

      The staff areas of the ship were quite different to anything paying passengers got to see. The paint on the walls was peeling and safety notices and bulletins had been plastered over the numerous cracks, in contrast, the passenger area was painted every year before the season began. In the staff area the ceilings were low and the corridors narrow, in the passenger area everything was wide and open. Samantha shared a room with five other girls and kept most of her belongings in the common area behind the kitchen. The passengers slept in small rooms as well but they only had to share with their family and there was plenty of room to store all of their belongings.

      She reached the end of the corridor and shifted the tray into one hand again so she could use the handrail to pull herself up the stairs. She emerged in one of the kitchen / bar’s where passengers could buy coffee and sandwiches. The food prep area was visible from the front so it was much better looked after than the kitchen down below. She smiled at Billy and Rachel as she passed them.

      The dining room was quiet. It was only five o-clock so most of the faces were old or already drunk. A five piece band played classical renditions of popular songs listlessly in the corner. A few people looked at her as she passed, wondering if she had brought their order, some sighed and tutted when they realised she hadn’t.

      She stopped at the table of six men and started placing their drinks in front of them. They were all in their forties or fifties with pot-bellies and sun burned scalps because they hadn’t listened to their wives when they’d said to wear hats. They hadn’t known each other before the cruise began but had quickly discovered they would rather shoot pool and drink expensive cocktails than lay on the deck sunbathing with their wives. They continued their conversation about classic cars and ignored her. When she was done one of them tried to give her a crumpled note.

      Sorry sir, we aren’t allowed to accept tips.

      He looked a little red faced, or that could have been the sun again, and the five pound note disappeared back into his pocket.

      She asked if there was anything else she could get them but there wasn’t. She left them with another smile and told them to enjoy their drinks. Then she returned to the front house kitchen.

      Billy was sweating over the coffee machine and Rachel was toasting a bagel. They didn’t look up as the door swung closed behind her.

      How’s it going? said Billy.

      Not bad, she said. There was a gentle breeze in the small kitchen. You?

      He shrugged and stepped back from the machine as it barked and spat out a handful of unground coffee beans. Fucking thing.

      Here, she said and gently pushed him aside. She had worked in Starbucks for a few months before joining the cruise. She pressed a couple of buttons, slid a stained espresso glass under the funnel and a few moments later thick coffee poured out. It smelled strong and good.

      Careful, said Rachel. You’ll give him a complex.

      Fucking machine hates me, said Billy.

      You on late tonight? she said to Rachel, stepping back so Billy could have another go at the coffee machine. Rachel was one of the five girls that Samantha shared a room with. She had short dark hair with a blue streak in it. When she wasn’t working on the cruise she had a tongue stud and tattoos.

      Jack wants me on life guard duty.

      Life guard duty was what they called the late shift because it mainly consisted of making sure people didn’t drown in their expensive drinks or decide that a midnight swim was a good way to end the evening.

      That sucks, she said.

      Suddenly everything was quiet. It was one of those strange moments where, looking back, it’s almost like you knew something was about to happen. Samantha was suddenly aware that she couldn’t hear any noise drifting in from the deck and that the radio which had been quietly playing in the galley kitchen had gone off.

      The floor seemed to disappear beneath her. She moved in slow motion as if she was already underwater. She grabbed the work surface as the shot of expresso she had made slid off the side and seemed to hang in the air for a moment. Billy’s mouth and eyes were open wide. Rachel’s closed tight. Everything seemed to stop in a moment.

      The espresso cup hit the floor and smashed, leaking thick coffee over the black and white tiles. The floor returned beneath her feet and her knees buckled. She looked up and saw Billy’s head hit the corner of the coffee machine. She thought that maybe he was right, it did seem to hate him.

      Then everything was back, the deck noise and the radio. Billy held onto the side and rubbed his head. Fucking fuck, he said.

      You alright? said Rachel.

      Samantha looked up. Rachel was wearing more makeup than strictly allowed, still looking somewhat goth despite the rules. I’m fine, she said, accepting her hand and climbing back to her feet. Is that normal?

      Rachel shrugged. Depends whose driving.

      She could hear a lot of noise coming from the deck and thought she probably wasn’t the only one alarmed by what had happened. Right now the deck hands would be fielding questions from worried passengers and giving out vouchers for replacements of spilled drinks.

      I better go, she said.

      You sure you’re alright? said Rachel.

      She nodded. You better see to him.

      Billy’s head was bleeding where it had hit the corner of the coffee machine.

      Rachel tutted. Lucky bastard, he’ll probably get the rest of the night off.

      Samantha smiled. Let me know if you need a hand.

      She walked back down the stairs and into the moist heat of the staff area. The corridors seemed narrower and the smells from the kitchen more suffocating. They were still three days away from land and she wanted desperately to feel something solid beneath her feet.

      Jack hurried along the deck gripping the white railings as the ship rocked from side to side. He was sweating and he could hear his own ragged, choked breath in his ears. Passengers called to him from the deck above, wanting to know what was going on and whether they were going to get a refund. He ignored them. He reached the metal staircase that led up to the bridge. The railing stopped and he looked over the side at the swirling waves hitting the side of the ship. Jack was a big man and not particularly well balanced. He never liked climbing this precarious staircase but, when the sea was as rough as it had been today, it seemed even worse.

      He took a deep breath and firm grip on the steps above. He climbed face down like a ladder and tried not to think about what would happen if the boat took another sudden dive. By the time he reached the top of the stairs his white shirt was drenched in spray from the sea and his heart was pounding. He typed his pass code into the pad by the door and went in.

      There were three junior members of the crew looking out of the large front window. Jack had no idea what they were looking at, all he could see was grey water.

      Where’s Captain Rogers? he said.

      A girl in a blue hat turned around. Her worried look concerned him almost as much as the nine-hundred pounds of refunds he’d had to authorise.

      The doctor is with him, said the girl. She didn’t look older than nineteen.

      Doctor? Why is the doctor with him?

      There was an accident, she said.

      Normally there was a strict divide between the crew who actually managed the ship and the crew who managed passenger experience. They didn’t get on and each freely admitted that they considered the others jobs over valued.

      Is he going to be okay? said Jack. His head was swimming and his left arm felt too heavy.

      The girl, he’d met her before and tried to remember her name now but failed. He had spent too many years surrounded by people with name badges and had lost the habit of remembering. We don’t know.

      Who’s in charge now?

      I am sir. A young man with a deep wooden tan stepped forward and offered Jack his hand. Jack ignored it.

      He still couldn’t catch his breath and could hear himself panting.So you can tell me what’s going on?

      He withdrew his hand and Jack realised it had been a mistake to reject it. "We’ve hit some

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