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“How can you be so sure?” They were just finishing breakfast in a secluded corner of the cavernous dining room

“Two reasons Most natural shipboard viral outbreaks are of a gastrointestinal nature This is presenting like a rhinovirus Second, if this was the main attack, we’d all be dead”

“What do you think we should do?” Although her appetite was legendary, Linda only picked at her food

“Don’t shake anyone’s hand, don’t touch any handrails, do not—and this is critical—do not touch your eyes It’s a cold’s favorite way of entering the body We wash our hands every half hour, and immediately if we break any of the other rules And, last, we find out how the hell they are going to release the deadly virus they used to hit the Golden Dawn”

“Did we screw up by staying on this ship?” Linda asked, wiping herher napkin next to her plate

“No, because we are going to find out how they are releasing it before the main attack”

“Be reasonable We’ve checked the water syste plant, hell, even the ice makers If we haven’t found it yet, what are the odds ill?”

“They get better every time we check off another vector source from our list,” Mark replied “Have you ever wondered hen you lose so, you always find it in the last place you look?”

“Why?”

“Because you stop looking when you find it Therefore, it is invariably in the last place you searched”

“What’s your point?”

“We haven’t checked the proverbial last place yet”

Even through the insulation of the dining room’s walls, they heard the distinctive beat of a helicopter’s rotor They got up fro pool at the Golden Sky’s fantail A hard cover had been placed over its aqua waters, and deckhands had cordoned off the area with rope to keep passengers well clear

The chopper was a Bell JetRanger, with POSEIDON TOURS emblazoned on its flank From several decks up, Mark and Linda could see the pilot and three passengers in the cabin

“This can’t be good,” Linda said over the growing din