Day Five Hundred Forty Four #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Our hosts had much to explain. They made it a condition before our entry.

We sent G back to the ship with word that we would be spending the night ashore, and with the additional message to the Captain that Elijah and I would ship out with him come the end of the week.

The long and short of it is, the hospital has few patients left, all of them Hamashiachites, brave souls who tended the sick. Their entire community is tolerated only if they remain secluded for they are blamed for the coming of the plague.

First thing this morning Elijah entered the wards and raised the ill from their sickbeds.

We then gathered together to discuss the future.

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Day Five Hundred Thirty Six #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

In the end it was G’s team that uncovered what we were looking for. We had emptied the container completely, discovering only a poster depicting a triumphant Stan pasted on the back wall.

G’s team had been charged today with putting everything back into place. They brought their discovery to Tomas who identified it as a transponder carried on naval vessels. (We assume that Tomas was absent when it first was taken out of the container).

Tomas said the device is in contact with a warship that is also on course to the same port to which we are headed.

We are all certain – the Captain, Elijah and myself – that the second container holds a weapon resupply for that vessel.

Day Five Hundred Thirty Four #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Timing is everything. Especially it seems from our limited perspective. Our desire or expectation for something can run ahead of perfection. It can be a hard lesson to learn for anyone, and harder still for one who needs it the most.

So it has proven for G in his problems with the crew members in his charge. Elijah saw right through his complaint. G thought his success in the shipyard would translate without effort into a similar success in his department aboard ship.  Elijah has advised him to seek out his men, make amends and ask to start over.

I already know from conversations with a few of the men that they would indeed be open to such an overture.

Day Five Hundred Thirty Three #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Our time of departure was a busy one. It was another long wait in line.

We were riding a little higher than before, due to offloading a full third of the containers we had been carrying. What we took on from this port was not even half that difference.

Tomas is pleased with the progress P is making in the Purser’s position. He didn’t even have to recommend that the two containers destined for our next port be placed on deck. P made that decision without anyone’s tutelage.

However, his brother G is having a struggle in his position. He has not been accepted by the men assigned to serve under him.

Elijah and I will meet with him tomorrow.

Day Five Hundred Thirty One #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

There were no overt signs, no indication on any level that this place was given over to the enemy. Not even any posters of Stan’s image staring down from the walls.

But a brooding sense of malignancy made its presence felt at the edge of our senses.

Elijah and I remained in the ship. One look over the ship’s railing was enough for us.

Tomas took P ashore to school him in the purser’s responsibilities with the dispatcher. The other Raj twin G wanted to accompany them, but was told his charge was to remain with the ship.

Tomas brought back surprising news – we will be allowed to load several containers whose owners don’t bear the mark either.

Astonishing indeed.

Day Five Hundred Twenty Six #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

The Raj twins are fascinated with the workings of the ship. They followed me about everywhere, from the depths to the heights.

The one, whom we call G, was particularly enamoured of those things that are done routinely for the maintenance of the ship, as a result, most likely, from his experiences in the shipyard.

His brother P expressed more interest in what Tomas does when functioning as Purser.

This would be fine by me, for I have not felt right about taking it on this time around. As long as the other parties involved agree – Tomas, the Captain, but especially Elijah.

For now, Elijah feels we are beyond the reach of the global government. And hopes to stay ahead.