La Quinta Cove

Plague Ship ————-by Clive Cussler with Jack Du Brul

The ship Oregon is in the Persian Gulf, returning from a secret mission against Iran, when it discovers a cruise ship, adrift, with no signs of life. Upon inspection they find that everyone on the ship, hundreds of people, are dead. No apparent cause can be discovered, but one lone survivor may be the key to the mystery. Before a thorough inspection of the ship can be completed, the ship explodes and sinks.

Investigative efforts reveal that the passengers on the ship had all been part of a mysterious cabal known as Responsivists, who claim to be aiming to save the planet by reducing the birthrate drastically over a short time period. Their followers are committed to voluntary sterilization, but this alone will not solve world population numbers. Their leaders have discovered an ancient secret in a cave in the center of a seven thousand plus archipelago in the south Pacific. This secret will enable them to set loose an easily transmitted, deadly plague that will kill a huge proportion of the world’s population. The idea is to save the planet from destruction. It would be delivered by infecting the passengers and crews of cruise ships, where it would be transmitted through the air vents. The germination period would be about two weeks, so they would not become ill until they returned home and infected many others.

The perpetrators of this scheme were not really interested in saving the planet, but acquiring wealth and power. It was up to Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and his crew to discover the nature of the killing plague and to prevent the Responsivists from decimating the planet.

The plot was interesting and the story held my interest. I recommend it.