The Island of Secrets

Chapter 9) Too Much Of A Coincidence

isobeljones2000

Peso's POV; I prepared the blood tests in silence, only half listening to the talk around me. Kate had Eelean on her lap, and Selene and Barnacles were talking quietly in the doorway. At one point after she had asked me about the blood tests, Kate raised her voice, obviously intending for me to hear. "Don't worry Eelean. I'm sure that none of us caught the virus. And if one of us did, I'm sure that Peso could find a cure."

I couldn't help but blush hard, hating myself and at the same time wanting desperately to kiss Kate in that moment. Kate giggled and Eelean looked on with a smile.

I turned back to the blood samples and found Elena holding Olivia there. I assumed Brendan was still outside the Sick Bay with Kwazii, who he seemed to have taken an instant shine to.

"Hello," I greeted again. "Can I do anything for you?"

Elena smiled slightly, inclining her head. "No. I just wanted to know if I could help out here. I spent two months trying to look after people back on Windfell, so I know a lot about the virus."

"Yet you never caught it yourself," I mused aloud.

Elena looked slightly confused. I shake my head. "Sorry, just thinking aloud. That would be a great help, thank you."

"No problem," Elena agreed.

"You're going to have to take a blood test too," I informed her. "I know you seemed to resist the virus, but it's just to check."

"That's fine. I would expect nothing less."

"We assume your family has some sort of immunity in your blood," I told her.

"That would make sense," Elena murmured. "I mean, I was helping out as much as anyone. I should have been highly susceptible."

"Well it's lucky you didn't get it," I said with a smile. "Neither you or your two beautiful children."

Elena returned my smile with her own dazzling one. "Thank you Peso. I'll just go and check on Brendan now."

"Okay," I agreed. "He should still be with Kwazii."

How I wish I could tell her my real theory, that they aren't magically immune to this virus. If so surely they wouldn't be the only ones on the island to be immune. And it was Christian's family. It was just too much of a coincidence to be true.

If Lupo was behind the engineering of this virus, which I thought he was, why would they spare Christian's family?

I knew the answer straight away, much as I wished I didn't.

Because they have further plans for them.

And they're not going to be good plans.

KateSeleneMelody3OCS

Kwazii's POV: I found myself shaking. I was very nervous about this "virus". I did not like sickness. Not. At. All. Injuries, they were fine, but illness... It kind of creeped me out.

However, if anything good came from my past, it was the ability to hide. Kate and I were very good at hiding how we felt and what we were thinking. It was kind of necessary for survival.

Brendan, the little scallywag, was gaping wide-eyed around the Launch Bay. "Wow! Everything is so complex! So... strange... and shiny! Really shiny!" I heard Tweak chuckle from her room.

I smirked. "Yes, it is really complex and shiny. Tweak, over there, designed the whole ship herself." Tweak was really talented.

Brendan and I walked over to Tweak, who was smirking at me. I wasn't sure why she was, so I simply decided to smirk back.

Brendan looked from me to Tweak and back again. Finally he spoke. "Kwazii, is she your girlfriend?"

I was not expecting that question. Tweak was the one to respond. "Actually, yes. I am his girlfriend." She replied with a kind smile.

Brendan wrinkled his nose. "Gross!" He replied. Tweak and I looked at each other, then we just started laughing hysterically. His reaction was priceless!

The young raccoon ended up looking very confused. I found myself wishing that every single child on the planet could have an innocent life. No child deserved to go through what Brendan and Olivia had gone through at this early age.

And I couldn't help but think that it was the fault of Damien, Fiona, Lupo, and Cera.

isobeljones2000

Lupo's POV: I studied the sketch drawings I had on the table in front of me intently, my analytical mind working out the formulas for the chemicals involved in them instantly. I was working on another new version of the prototype, this one containing paralysing properties. I was enjoying this project, one that Damien had requested to try and target Windfell Island. I had instantly thought of the challenge: making a virus that wipes out a population while knowing where and when to stop. A 'smart' virus, if you would call it that.

I rubbed my forehead, feeling the small red welt already forming there. It had been a mistake to go and gloat in Dani's cell; I hadn't anticipated her being able to cut herself out of her shackles so easily. She had thrown them hard at me then attempted to escape, but luckily Cera had been behind me and had knocked her out before she could get too far. We discovered that it might be a good idea to strip Dani of the two other small knives she had concealed in her shoe and in her shirt near her collarbone, which we hadn't found before. I knew she was still unconscious at the moment, but I still smiled at the possibilities. My dear, innocent cousin was no more. Or at least, wouldn't be when she regained all her false memories. To my reckoning, she still had four years of it to catch up on, but when she remembered everything... there would be no going back.

There was a small beep from my radio and I pressed the button, marvelling at their simple yet elegant design. I had made them of course, but their design was from Tweak's original design, from when I had taken their radios away. She was a talented designer, and had a lot of design flair. How I sometimes wished she could be somehow persuaded to work with me. I thought we would make a good design team. And annoyingly, I couldn't help but admire her work.

"How are you getting on with the prototype?" Damien inquired down the radio.

"Fine. I'm just experimenting with different properties now," I told him cheerfully.

"We have discovered that Christian's family have teamed up with the Octonauts," Damien told me, sounding annoyed.

Oh. "Oh," I voiced."They are proving to be more trouble than they are worth," Damien said.

I remembered how I had altered the virus to specifically reject the three different gene patterns of Christian's wife and children with a fond smile. Again, it had been a challenge, but I loved a challenge.

"Don't worry. If they become too much of a problem working with our enemies, we can just alter the gene rejection of the virus. Maybe one of the children? That would slow them down."

I could almost hear Damien's cruel smile down the radio. "That is a delicious prospect. I will tell you when I would like that done."

"Right," I confirmed. "I'll carry on with this for now."

And I settled back to my work with a satisfied smile.