Part 1
Part 2 - How it spreads
Part 3 - Svalbard
Waterfoul
Far, far away from Svalbard, sitting in the Southern Hemisphere, a tiny, isolated island mused its dark history. From the mutiny on HMS Bounty back in 1789, to sodomy in the church in 2004, the ghosts of Pitcairn’s past forever grew.
It was for this reason that now Legendary Dr. Zhang chose this island to escape. Anticipating the rapid spread of the unknown disease that had since annihilated most life on continental land, he set up specific measures to launch, with a small crew, a ship to the one place that may still be salvageable with the right knowledge.
3,000 miles from New Zealand, with little to no trade routes and no flight path of worth for any birdlife, it would be some time until the disease managed to reach the shores of Pitcairn. 47 citizens are said to still live on this 2 square mile island, all descendants of Fletcher Christian, leader of the mutiny so long ago.
Zhang was of course concerned about genetic bottlenecking and health risks related to incest, but he had no time start considering repopulation of the human race, and simply paid a further 150 crew foolish enough to think money would be of value on the other side. He would have to sedate their outrage at a later date.
After a short stay, welcomed by hosts who were more than happy to finally have new residents, he and his crew got to work.
They were untrained but easy to guide. First he had to replicate the vaccine; the disease came from a manipulated virus, millions of years old. In the meantime, the crew were to set up a number of pesticide sprinklers that would cover a significant percentage of the island.
Once Zhang had enough synthesized about a week later, he instructed his crew to unleash the vaccine and barricade the edges of the area covered. The rest of the island could be done later, whether or not life was affected.
This may be the only safe haven on Earth. Barely a square mile patch. His mind echoed this thought as he stared into the sky, paranoid about the arrival of those blasted ducks that started this whole thing.
Now safe from hell, his crew were quick to placate. A quick view of internet videos sufficed. This colony, now 200 strong, would survive. Zhang later worked out that to maintain healthy levels of genetic diversity, a minimum of 150 people were needed, but 40,000 was preferable. 200 would have to do.
Over the weeks, Zhang and his crew started to pick up on some idiosyncrasies of the Pitcairn’s Polynesian population. Women were oddly silent, men were unusually patriarchal and arrogant. It felt little like a British colony, and more like a miniature authoritarian regime.
Additionally, women seemed to be overly defensive, and the men dismissive. One of the crew men mentioned to Zhang one night over a ration of beers that the island had a history of rape, pedophilia and abuse, controlled by a full half of the male population at the time.
Could this still be going on? Is island life so mundane that the inhabitants’ culture circulated around such heinous acts, or is something more sinister going on?
Next part coming soon!
Great post!
Just realising that from your point of view, Svalbard must seem like the most distant place on Earth!
While for us Norwegians involved in the Space sector, it is a place we visit quite frequently due to its importance as the location for satellite ground stations (see picture below). As a majority of satellites choose an orbit where they spend a significant amount of time above the North-pole, they are able to transfer their data to these ground stations on every orbiting turn (unlike many parts of the globe).
I think you just gave me an idea for a new blogpost I should do down the line! :)
Woah cool, you get to see it all! I learn something every time you type, but still glad I could inspire you =D
Nice post...i'm appreciate your work...wel done..all the best...i'm waiting nex part.. @mobbs thank you so much sharing this post.
I have posted some of my creation in colorchallenge..But no response are Coming..Will u pls see and suggest what is wrong in it.?
Just need Suggestion for improvement
Greater teaser here. I particularly love the setting as I am also fascinated with the small island. There's only one book of that I know of that deals with the more recent history that you allude to. It's from the POV of a reporter sent over to cover the sexual abuse cases in the mid 2000s. Not the best writing but fascinating nonetheless. Figured I would plug it in the event you havent already read it: https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Paradise-Modern-Day-Pitcairn-Revealed/dp/1416597441/
Interesting that you didn't plug your own work! That's good to know though, there's enough media about it but rather biased, to say the least. Thanks for taking the time to read!