Prologue

The Red Flu.

Infection rate: highly lethal.

Fatality rate: 100% in those not Immune or Vaccinated.

Incubation Rate: 2-3 days

Symptoms: Cough, fever, vomiting… leading to the blood spots, followed by dementia and death.

Casualties inflicted: Most of the world's human and vehicle populations.

Status: Cured

Notes:

As of ten years ago, the Red Flu has been effectively cured and treated, thanks to the combined efforts of Dr. Rachel Scott-James, the US Navy, and USS Nathan James (DDG-151).

The world is finally recovering from the pandemic, but it will be years before we see a return to pre-Red Flu levels. Families are having large numbers of children to ensure that it takes place, and there have been some surprising results from humans marrying with sentient vehicles, leading to either Shipmen or Immune vehicles being born. My child is one of them.

I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. During the race to find the cure, Captain Tom Chandler's young ship, Nathan James, was a big help in finding out the cause for this disease and trying to develop a cure. The last thing either, or rather any of us, expected was for the two of us to fall in love and have a couple shiplings who were made immune to the virus via the contagion cure.

The fight to get the cure was long and hard, and we lost a good many men and women to do so. We even nearly lost Nathan himself. Seeing that explosion made my heart stop beating and I swore I would die because I was so upset. I… I just wanted to let it go and become one of the dead. But when we got back to Fortress V, when it seemed like I would have to marry using one of his hull plates as a stand in for him, he came back.

Nathan really came back. In spite of his injuries, and the amount of fluids he lost, he somehow managed to limp his way back to base where he was treated for his wounds. But before that, much to our combined surprise, Chandler actually allowed us to get married. He even granted me a position on his ship as a medical officer and a scientist so we could continue to work together. Nathan and I named our shipling in his honor.

We've been together ten years now, and little Chandler is really proving to be a handful, especially since he's like his father in that he's an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. The only difference is that he's got a railgun, it looks like. We did a bit of genetic testing and found him to be a new model, the first of what has been dubbed the Flight III models. A few more have been born, but we won't know how many there are going to be until the baby boom dies down.

Nathan's been a real sweetheart in helping me raise Chandler and his baby brother, who we've named Darien in honor of Captain Chandler's wife. The two are quite a handful! (chuckles)

Regardless, the world is finally recovering and those who still believe in this Chosen One baloney are going to have to deal with the United States and the other nations who have recovered some sense of civility. England and Europe are still a mess, but we have reason to believe that soon they'll start to see sense. A few people that have spoken out have been arrested and taken away, never to be seen again. The length of time one can vanish for in Europe worries me and it worries my husband as well. It all comes down to how long it will take for the public to see sense and start a rebellion or something of that sort.

If not…

Then we'll just have to prepare for another war.

Nathan and I are currently undertaking a study of the Red Flu to fully understand it, and possibly combat it if it mutates once more. We're on our way to the Arctic again to gather more of the primordial sample, and possibly other locations where it has surfaced in the past.

Let's just hope we can prevent another Pandemic.

Dr. Rachel Scott-James, logging off.

USS NATHAN JAMES, LOG 24

TIME: 0200 HOURS

LOCATION: CLASSIFIED

MISSION: DELTA 6

Yeah, it's hard to believe.

Only ten years and now I'm married to the hottest woman I've seen. And with two young shiplings to boot. But the Red Flu still impacted the world in many ways even I can't comprehend. One thing I do know for certain though is that the world is forever changed by this damn Pandemic. Most world powers were wiped out, and while some did recover, others did not and new powers were formed in their place. Out of all the powers that remained, only America retained its Pre-Flu borders and they quickly repopulated to a significant number.

Heh. I'm surprised such a thing was even possible.

Anyway, most of those are now Shipmen and Immune mixed with Vaccinated. The very idea that they were considered Chosen fell apart when Spray made that announcement, and the majority of the cult that Sean and Ned Ramsey set up came under the banner of the United States and the two brothers were killed in subsequent fighting as time passed. The good news is that through the efforts of Spray and the rest of Fortress V, the country rebounded and the labs were rebuilt. The radiation will make working there a hazard for some time, but the good news is that now we're making progress on recovery.

Spray's just finished up his stint as C-in-C of the United States and a new man has taken office. Or, woman I should say. The first female President in history.

And now... well, we're getting some more data to prevent another Pandemic.

But one thing worries me. With Europe still under the control of those damn Chosen, there's no way we can make the world a better place. The United States still has a long way to go before recovery is complete, and even though we retain our ICBMs, we need to use them wisely or solely as a deterrent. Also, there was a more disturbing incident that took place some time ago during the mop-ups of the cult in the United States. Well, more like across the pond as they say in Europe. Until we know for sure, we're in the dark. And no ship or shipling is going over there until we have a better idea of the situation.

What we do know though is that Europe is a real mess. England's ultimate fate is unknown, along with Ireland and Scotland. The rest of Europe we do know about. France is now the new head, and Germany has conquered most of Russian Europe along with Italy. Spain and the rest of Europe are under the control of France as well, forming the French Empire. Germany is in command of a large tract of land to allow for the Chosen to rule and live in prosperity. Apparently some form of Nazism has taken root and France is about to go to war with them over who is more "pureblooded". It's kind of a shame, really. I wanted to see Europe before this whole damn Pandemic broke out a decade earlier. And it didn't help matters that Europe was a hot zone to begin with.

Anyway, Europe is a real mess and England's fate is unknown.

All we can say is that if it's the worst case scenario, then we need to be prepared to take the next steps. And that's gonna be hard to do. Considering the state of things though, it makes sense that people would be fearful of another war.

Regardless, we're still on edge because of it and no one wants to start a war when the population is so low. We'll need to tread carefully. As for where this took place, we're still unsure. Some island someplace and we'll need to be highly alert for it… If it even exists. If this island does exist, well... then we'll need to be prepared. I just hope it doesn't come down to war again.

Nathan James signing off.