UnAlaska

22. Bunks

Brian and Danilo returned to the security office. Danilo tossed the bundle of Amulets on a desk. He walked away to a cabinet, and returned with a tablet attached to a scanner. He sat down at the desk chair, and pulled a yellow spiral-topped steno pad toward him. He clicked a pen open. Brian pulled a second chair over and sat down. The security office felt small and dark.

Danilo shuffled his seat forward. "Let's see which crew members we're dealing with."

"It's solid evidence of which children are with them, too. You knew the list of missing, but now we have their IDs confirmed."

Danilo nodded, solemnly.

One by one, they scanned the Amulets. With each scan, a small picture of a smiling child appeared, along with their passenger manifest. Danilo called out each name, and noted them with a quick scribbled note. The two men leaned closely over the tablet. The room was quiet and tense.

They scanned Juni's Amulet, and Brian felt his breath catch. Her tiny, smiling photo appeared. He remembered them standing together on the breezy dock. Juni had been taken with excitement for the cruise. She wanted to see whales, bears, and glaciers. Driving to the ship, she had asked if Alaska was covered in snow year round. She wondered aloud about whether Alaskans had pet bears. The crew member had asked Juni to smile for her photo, but it was redundant. She had been beaming.

Danilo put his hand on Brian's sleeve. "I'm sorry. It's hard to see. Are you OK?"

Brian hung his head forward. He let out a long breath, massaged his temples, and looked back at Danilo. "I have to be. Let's keep going."

When they had all been scanned, there was a scrawled list of ten names. 'Juni Park' was in the middle. Danilo slid the tablet away with a dismissive nudge. He squared the notepad against the edge of the desk and cleared his throat. "So, we have ten children. What we don't have is crew members. There are no adults on this list."

Brian leaned back in his chair. "Ok. But how the hell did the signal drop off from the two kidnappers?"

"Maybe they're shielding them. Hiding them somehow."

"Huh. A faraday cage? I've heard about bags with electronic shielding. It could be."

They sat in silence for a moment. The security office was dark and quiet. The walls and carpets were gray and nondescript. Another security guard walked by the doorway, poked his head in to see the two men, and kept walking.

Brian shook his head. "I think it's simpler than that. Let's think about what we know."

Danilo nodded. "Sure."

Brian leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk. "The ship was supposed to dock tonight. They were expecting to slip away when we docked, before we could find them."

"True."

"They know the amulets can be used to track employees."

Danilo frowned, and he held up a finger in protest. "We don't know that. Employees are not told about the location data."

Brian laughed cynically. "Well, that's a whole can of worms. Ethically, and maybe legally. But, I think they could figure it out. It doesn't take a big leap. Guests can find each other with their amulets. So, it stands to reason."

"Sure."

"And, you need an amulet for access. For rooms, and I'm assuming for other things?"

"The employee canteen, supply closets, uniform pick up, elevators, all kinds of things."

Brian's eyes lit up. "Elevators! That's it. So, consider the facts together: they were expecting to leave the ship tonight, they knew they could be tracked, and they needed the amulets for elevators."