The Greater Good

“The Ark is in great peril and we cannot ignore this any further.”

A deafening silence fell across the boardroom. Puzzled, everyone glanced at each other, desperately searching for answers.

“When the Great Tides consumed our homes, the Ark provided us a safe haven.”

“300,” Councilman Price emphasized. “300 of these floating cities were created by our brightest minds, scattered across the globe in the hopes of saving humanity. And today,” Councilman Price paused, as his voice betrayed his pain, “Today, we lost contact with the last two Arks in the region.”

A consuming sense of despair spread across the boardroom. The Councilmen, engineers, scientists, and doctors all stood silent, as the gravity of the situation weighed down their spirits.

“Perhaps, it’s time we consider the Shield.”

The deafening silence was quickly replaced with waves of whispers.

“This is complete madness,” one of the Councilwomen exclaimed.

“Surely, a 10 Km-wide force field cannot be the answer to our problem.”

“This city could be the only surviving testimony of our civilization. We cannot risk its destruction.” Councilman Price explained.

“And what about the seafarers?”, a young doctor across the room asked.

“It’s a sacrifice we must be willing to make. No one comes in, no one goes out.”

The doctor stood in disbelief of his indifference.

“They are trying to escape from the same horrors we faced decades ago. Their homes have been destroyed by the Great Tides, just as yours were.” the doctor shouted, the desperation in her voice growing. “Every ship passing our harbor requested asylum, and we refused to shelter them. Now you want to completely isolate them from the Ark?”

“The Ark is a fragile system, Marina” one of the Councilmen explained. “You know we couldn’t burden it further by letting the seafarers in.”

“We helped them as well as we could without jeopardizing the Ark.”

“That’s the point” another doctor added.

“The survival of the seafarers depends on the rations, equipment, and medical care we provide them.”

“The Shield will cut all communication and access to the Ark. We won't be able to help them anymore. It will kill them.”

“I’m sorry Aisha,” Councilman Price interjected. “The good of the many outweighs the good of the few.”

“So it’s nothing more than a number’s game?” Marina spitefully asked.

“Yes.” Councilman Price shouted. “You may not agree with our decisions, Marina, but these are the decisions that protected the Ark in the past, and these are the decisions that will ensure its survival.”

“We will vote on the matter tomorrow.”.

As the room slowly emptied, Marina walked toward Councilman Price.

“Please Dad,” Marina said looking into her father’s eyes, searching for any remaining glimmer of humanity. “We are their only hope.”

“The Greater Good takes precedence, Marina.”

Standing in an empty room, Marina wondered how many before her father had acted in the name of the Greater Good.

Protectively, Marina reached for the heart-shaped pendant adorning her neck, a gift from her late grandmother. She slowly caressed its engravings, reminiscing about the stories her grandmother would tell her about the times before the Great Tides.

“You know Marina, there were once icebergs floating near these waters,” her grandmother would tell her.

“Really?,” Marina would respond in wonder.

“Absolutely! Tall enough to touch the sky,” she would say with childish glee.

“And whales too! Majestic whales! Every summer, they would come here. If you were lucky, you could see them from those cliffs,” she said, pointing towards where the cliffs once stood before they were consumed by the ocean.

As her grandmother returned to reality, her smile would slowly fade.

“What happened to the world?” Marina had once asked her.

“We broke it, Marina,” she said, her voice shaking with sadness. “We broke it beyond repair.”

A gentle breeze rustled through the Ark’s canals, as Marina and her friends drove their medical boat towards the Eastern Harbor. A small cargo ship had arrived at the harbor at the early hours of the day. As per procedure, the doctors were called upon to examine the travelers and provide any necessary medical care.

“How could they consider the Shield as an option?” Dylan said in disbelief.

“Desperate times, Dylan” responded David. “Councilman Price isn’t wrong about that.”

“We know David, we were there” Aisha interrupted. “Surely there must be another way.”

“To think, with the push of a button, we could be completely isolated. Even radio communications will be cut off by the Shield.”

As the medical boat approached the ship, the doctors looked on in shock. What stood before them was nothing more than a metallic shell, molded by the whips of the waves. An armed guard waved at them from its deck.

“Thank you for coming.” the guard said, as he helped the doctors board the cargo ship.

“Is it true what they are saying about the Shield?” Ralph quickly whispered to Marina.

“Yes, they are voting today,” Marina whispered back.

“That changes everything.” The sense of worry became clearly visible on Ralph’s face.

“It changes nothing,” Marina said determinedly.

“We will do what we have been doing for the past 3 years.”

As the doctors and Ralph reached the entrance of the cargo hold, they were greeted by a group of armed guards.

“Did you make sure no one went inside?” Dylan asked with authority.

“Yes, as per procedure,” one of the guards replied. He eyed the multiple large medical bags the doctors carried with them. “Do you really need this much equipment? You could fit a small army in those bags”, he jokingly added.

“Always good to be prepared,” David quickly replied. “We have no idea what we could be dealing with.”

The doctors entered the ship’s cargo hold, the cramped space overflowing with people from all walks of life. A sense of fatigue and fear lingered in the air.

However, at the sight of the doctors, a small glimmer of hope returned in their eyes.

“Ok. Dylan and David talk to the children and their parents first. Aisha and I will examine the remaining passengers,” Marina quickly whispered.

Nodding in agreement, the team began their work.

As Marina examined the first traveler, one question haunted her mind: Do they know? Do they know, Marina wondered, that within the following hours, their asylum request will be refused and the guards will guide the cargo ship back to the open waters, leaving them to face an unknown fate? Marina was overcome by a consuming sense of helplessness. Saddened, marina walked towards the next traveler, a woman draped in a large blanket. As she approached the woman, Marina noticed the woman’s desperate attempt to conceal something under the blanket.

“Please don’t worry,” Marina gently said. “Can I take a look?”

The woman nodded, as she slowly pulled away her blanket, revealing a small infant resting against her chest.

“Thank you,” Marina replied, smiling at the sight of the infant sleeping peacefully. Marina took a deep breath, as the most difficult part of her job was ahead.

“I can help. I can take the baby with me to the Ark,” Marina explained, pointing to the infant and the Ark.

The woman smiled. “Me and baby?”

“No. I can only take your baby”.

“No”, she pleaded, “please”. Clutching her child her arms, she repeated the words like a prayer.

“I’m so sorry.” Marina’s head fell in despair.

As tears rolled down her cheeks, the woman gently kissed the infant’s forehead and placed the baby in Marina’s arms.

“Please”, she whispered, “save.”

“I promise I will take good care of her. I promise.” A promise was all Marina could offer.

As the team completed their tasks, they gathered at the center of the room, along with all the children onboard.

“How many?” Aisha asked.

“With the baby, we have 9,” David replied.

“Let’s prepare the bags for transport.”

One by one, David and Dylan helped the children get into the medical bags. The doctors showed the children how to position themselves inside the cramped space, instructing them to stay as still and quiet as possible. Marina and Aisha then covered the children with blankets and medical equipment, leaving only a small opening for ventilation.

This wasn’t the first time the team had helped seafaring children escape to the Ark. However, no matter how many times they had succeeded, the fear of failure never faded away. One wrong move could jeopardize these children’s chance at life. The cost of failure was too great.

Once ready, Marina tapped on the cargo hold door, signaling the completion of the medical evaluation.

As an armed guard opened the door, Marina swiftly handed him a report of the cargo ship.

“There were several scurvy cases, some also presented early symptoms of typhus. We gave them enough medication to last a few months.”

“Let me help you with those,” Ralph said, as he rushed into the room and grabbed some of the bags.

As Ralph helped the doctors board the bags back into their medical boat, the guard finished flipping through the pages of the report.

“No children onboard?” he asked.

“No children onboard,” Marina confirmed.

As the night settled on the Ark, the team sat around a small table and toasted to their most recent victory. They had reached a safe house on the eastern side of the Ark, where seafaring children would remain hidden during their first days on the Ark. Once they were given new identities and documents, they were transported to an orphanage on the other side of the Ark by volunteers, brave inhabitants of the Ark who risked their lives to save the children from their fate.

“How are the records coming along?” David asked.

“All done,” Marina said gleaming, as she pulled out a series of documents from her bag. “Birth certificates, adoption forms, and orphanage records. As far as the authorities know, these children were born on the Ark.”

“If your father knew…”, Dylan said jokingly.

At the thought of her father, Marina’s smile vanished. The vote could happen at any moment. Marina couldn’t help but fear the worst.

Aisha reached out and held Marina’s hand. “Don’t worry,” she whispered. “There are many Councilmen who don’t support the Shield.”

Before Marina could breathe a sigh of relief, Ralph barged into the room, his face distorted by fear and panic.

“They know”, he managed to let out. “They’re coming.”

For a moment, everyone stood frozen in horror. Then, chaos descended upon the safehouse.

“How did they find the safehouse?” Aisha shouted as she hurriedly collected the documents forged for the children.”

“Someone sold us out,” Ralph said while gathering the children.

Frantically, they all ran through the flights of stairs to reach the deck hidden under the house, where several boats were hidden for such emergencies. The faint sound of sirens was growing louder by the minute. They’re too close, Marina thought.

“Wait,” Marina shouted. “We can’t leave now without getting caught.”

“Split up and hide inside the smaller boats with the children,” Marina ordered, as she boarded one of the bigger boats.

“What are you doing?” Aisha asked in horror.

“I’ll draw them into the open waters,” she said. “When the guards are gone, take the children to the orphanage through the main canals. They won’t think of looking there.”

“There must be another way,” Aisha cried out.

Before anyone could protest further, Marina started the engine, glancing back at her friends as the boat headed towards the open waters. Soon, the sirens of the guard boats followed her. Driving as far into the open waters as possible, Marina turned off the boat’s engine and lights, hoping to take cover under the darkness of the night.

However, as the guards began closing in on Marina’s boat, they suddenly stopped in their tracks. From the distance, Marina heard what seemed to be a radio message. Immediately, the guards turned around, heading back to the Ark. As they disappeared from Marina’s sight, a force field emerged from the water, enveloping the Ark.