Plague Ship by Clive Cussler, Jack du Brul Page A

it?” Karin pirouetted.
    “He’ll die for it,” Elsa told her friend.
    “Are you sure he’s coming?” Janni asked, caught up in gossip despite the pain constricting her chest. Michael was one of the passengers who sat at the table they served, a Californian with blond hair, blue eyes, and a body honed from a lifetime of exercise. It was generally agreed by the female staff that he was the best-looking guy on the boat. She also knew that Karin and Michael had made out on more than one occasion.
    Karin smoothed her dress. “He made sure to tell me himself.”
    Passman cut into their conversation, “It doesn’t bother you he’s a Responsivist?”
    She shot the doctor a look. “I grew up with four brothers and three sisters. I don’t think not having children is such a bad idea.”
    “Responsivism is more than not having children,” he pointed out.
    Karin took it as an insult that she didn’t know what the group who had chartered the ship believed in. “Yes, it is also about helping humanity by making family planning an option for millions of third world women and reducing the burden our population places on the earth. When Dr. Lydell Cooper founded the movement in the nineteen seventies, there were three billion people in the world. Today, there are twice that many—six billion— and the rates aren’t slowing. Ten percent of all humans who have ever lived, going back a hundred thousand years, are alive right now.”
    “I saw the same informational placards they have placed around the ship,” Passman said archly. “But don’t you think Responsivism goes beyond social consciousness? For a woman to join, she has to agree to have her fallopian tubes tied. It sounds to me more like, well, a cult.”
    “That’s what Michael said people tell him all the time.” With the stubbornness of youth, Karin felt she had to defend her crush’s convictions. “Just because you don’t know all the facts doesn’t mean you can dismiss what he believes.”
    “Yes, but surely you see . . .” Passman let his voice trail off, knowing that whatever argument was put forth would stand little chance against a twenty-something girl with raging hormones. “Actually, you probably wouldn’t. I think you two should let Jannike rest. You can tell her all about the party later.” He left Janni’s bedside.
    “Are you going to be okay, Schnuckiputzi ?” Elsa asked, touching Janni’s thin shoulder.
    “I’ll be fine. You two have fun and I want lurid details tomorrow.”
    “Good girls don’t kiss and tell,” Karin said, and grinned.
    “In that case, I don’t expect either of you to be good girls.”
    The two Germans left together, but Karin returned a second later. She eased up to the head of the bed. “I want you to know that I think I’m going to do it.”
    Janni knew what she meant. She knew that Michael was more than a passing crush for her friend, and that apart from kissing a few times he had spent hours talking to her about his beliefs.
    “Karin, that is way too big of a step. You don’t know him that well.”
    “I’ve never really wanted kids anyway, so what’s the big deal if I have my tubes tied now or in a few years.”
    “Don’t let him talk you into it,” Janni said as forcefully as her weakened body would let her. Karin was nice, but not the strongest person Jannike had ever met.
    “He didn’t talk me into it,” she dismissed too quickly. “It’s something I’ve thought about for a long time. I don’t want to be worn out at thirty like my mother was. She’s forty-five now and looks seventy. No thanks. Besides,” she said with a bright smile, “nothing will happen until we dock in Greece anyway.”
    Janni took Karin’s hand to emphasize her point. “This is a decision that will affect the rest of your life. Give it some more thought, okay?”
    “Okay,” Karin said, as if to a parent.
    Janni gave her a quick hug. “Good. Now, go have some fun for me.”
    “Count on it.”
    Their