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sit at the radio for long periods each day, searching the frequencies. His efforts were rewarded only by static.
    Even worse was the growing tension between himself and Allison. He knew she didn’t share his love of the sea, and wondered if, hadthey had a conventional romance, rather than just snatching furtive moments together while imprisoned at Haver, they would have known more about each other’s likes and dislikes. He even began to wonder if the twenty-year difference in their ages was a factor, or whether getting away from Nigel’s cruelty had been more of an attraction for Allison than any real feelings for him. He found it particularly difficult to accept her continual hankering for England. He tried to reassure her that her mother would be fine, but now he realised that Allison was also missing her daughter Charlene and her grandchildren.
    In the cramped quarters of Archangel , living cheek by jowl with so many people, it was impossible for them to have any time to themselves. Their lovemaking, initially so intense and passionate, had become stilted, subdued by their knowledge that the groans and moans which emanated from Steven’s and Fergus’s cabins each night were accompanied by stifled giggles from the two small boys bunked down in the forepeak. He would be pleased when the voyage was over, and he and Allison could rebuild their relationship. He was even beginning to wish he hadn’t suggested stopping off at Brisbane.
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    But Brisbane wasn’t to be the only delay to the voyage. Only four large tuna were caught as Archangel headed south — a welcome supplement to the crew’s diet but making no material impact on their dwindling food stocks.
    â€˜There’s nothing for it,’ Mark confided to Steven, a week out from rounding the Cape of Good Hope. ‘We can’t risk setting off across the Indian Ocean with such a limited supply of food. We’ll have to call at Cape Town. Our water’s running low, too.’
    They didn’t have enough fuel aboard to operate the water makers, and although they had managed to collect rainwater during the regular tropical downpours as they drifted slowly and aimlessly through the doldrums, they hadn’t stored enough.
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    Mark announced the change of plan to the remainder of the crew that evening. It was a beautiful night. As it was too warm to sleep comfortably down below, everyone had gathered in the cockpit. Archangel was sailing well, straining forward, her large sails illuminated by the moon and a silver wake foaming behind.
    â€˜Maybe we’ll find other people alive in Cape Town,’ speculated Robert enthusiastically. For once he wasn’t scowling.
    Like Tommy and Lee, he was also being kept awake by the sounds emanating from Fergus’s cabin. However, unlike the two younger boys, the sounds didn’t fill him with mirth — they filled him with jealousy and teenage sexual frustration.
    â€˜I wouldn’t count on it,’ Mark said. ‘We didn’t see any signs of life on the voyage to England, and we haven’t seen any so far on this trip, either.’
    â€˜We’ve hardly been close to land,’ pointed out Adam. ‘I’d have thought it would have made sense to check out a few places as we went along.’
    â€˜I still can’t believe that in the whole world only members of the Chatfield family have survived the pandemic,’ Penny said.
    â€˜Me neither,’ agreed Jessica, ‘in the same way I’ve never accepted that Earth is the only inhabited planet in the universe.’
    They all looked up at the heavens. The sky was crammed with constellations, many of them, such as the Southern Cross, new to those members of the crew who had not crossed the equator before. There were too many stars to count.
    â€˜That star’s moving,’ Luke said after a few minutes. His finger pointed high above the mainsail.
    â€˜It must be a satellite,’