As Alexy spoke I watched her, and, although I’m not good at reading facial expressions, it seemed obvious she thought that Alexy had left the port without her on purpose. I also noticed that she was unusually pretty, with features that seemed perfect and the color of the forest in her eyes. She looked directly at me as she spoke: “Good morning. I trust we will have the chance to get acquainted as we travel. We’ll be on this boat for a couple of weeks, so plenty of time.”
Dad noticed her staring at me. “Nice to meet you, Miss Perez. My name is John, this is Benji, Mardig, Mihn, and my daughter, Lucinda. Anything you need, please ask me, we’re happy to help.”
Her eyes never left me as she replied, “Thank you, I will.” She smiled briefly, nodded formally, and turned to go. Alexy gave us a slight shrug of his shoulders and followed her back to their table.
Benji covered his mouth with his hand and whispered, “What ya think, John-o?”
“I think it’s likely she has been sent to track us to make it easier to take us into custody when we reach our destination. We’ll need to watch her closely, and if we can determine that she is here for that purpose, we will need to strategize how to deal with her.”
Mr. Harutyunyan’s hands were bundled into fists, and he growled, “Leave to me. I will deal.”
Ms. Houng smacked him on the arm, and hissed, “Settle down, Mr. Tough Guy. You supposed to be smart, use your head, not hands.”
“Ok, let’s wait until we get somewhere private to talk,” dad said with a note of finality.
We ate quickly and left the galley to return to our cabins, and as we went, I imagined the maker bots in my stomach sifting through the couple of bites of food I took, looking for anything useful. When we arrived, all five of us piled into our cabin. “Ok,” dad began, “we need to be careful here, use restraint. It seems obvious that Miss Perez is here for reasons other than produce inspection, but we don’t yet know what her real purpose is.”
As he spoke, it occurred to me that Ava might have some ideas about what to do, so I put my hand over my mouth and whispered an explanation of what happened in the galley, then asked, “Ava, what should we do?”
“Caution is the order of the day. When you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Lay low, let the mountain come to you.”
Oh, boy. I didn’t understand any of that. I told the others what Ava said, and they all chuckled in a knowing way. “Lukey, she basically is agreeing with me. We need to act like everything is normal, not overreact. Patience, everyone.”
Mr. Harutyunyan seemed frustrated, but Benji added, “We’ll have time to think on it later, eh? Now, time for more free labor for Alexy.”
Everyone grunted unhappily, and Ms. Houng said, “So we just keep eye on her for now?”
“That’s right. Just act as if you don’t know anything except you are here to work. We don’t want to raise any undue suspicion.”
“Hey, do you reckon Lukey’s boyfriend will come ‘round today?” asked Benji, on the verge of hysterical laughter.
“Well, hopefully with Miss Perez on board, he will move on to someone more his age,” dad replied.
The rest of the group giggled as I said, “I really don’t see why that’s so funny.”
We went up to the deck at eight a.m., and prepared for more painting, but it was raining like… well, like cats and dogs, whatever that means. “Oi, mates, we’ll have to bail on the painting for today. This weather will slow us down so much, by the time we’re done we’ll have to go back and start at the other end again,” Benji lamented. His skinny body and huge head in the work jumpsuit made him look almost like a puppet, which made me laugh. “Oh, now it’s funny, eh? You’re a little ripper, you are. Well, let’s get ready for some hard yakka, mates. Here comes Alexy.”
He strode across the deck toward us, huddled under the overhang of The Superstructure. He wore a raincoat with a hood over his head, and due to his stature, it bulged out in the middle and hung down to the ground. “So sorry, my friends,” he roared over the thunder of rain pelting off the deck. “I know you are anxious to work, but there is no surface work in these conditions. Please to assist with catching and eliminating any vermin you may find on board. See Mr. Huskey on first deck below, he will show you the way. Quickly, please, it is my wish to get out of this rain.”
We hustled down the rusty circular stairs to the first floor below decks. To our left, toward the front of the boat, was the galley, and to the right were several massive compartments filled with produce of various kinds. A few of the crew were already down in that vicinity, carrying burlap sacks and long devices with spring-loaded pincers on the bottom to grab the various forms of vermin they might find. It did not look like a pleasant job; it was shadowy in the wide hall leading down into the compartments, lit by only a single bulb overhead. At the far end, workers were navigating using head-mounted flashlights.
“I meant to acquire more light bulbs when we were ashore, but forgot, so is dark as you can see.
There is Mr. Husker, just ahead, the tall one. Good hunting!”
Although the lighting was poor, Mr. Husker was easy to pick out; he was towering and appeared athletic, and probably would have been considered handsome in a beach bum kind of way, except he was mostly bald on top and had long, greasy blond hair around the sides. In fact, he looked a bit like a character from a scary movie, and the appearance was not helped by the badly stained work coveralls he wore. As we approached him, though, he appeared delighted. “Well, g’day, mates, come join the fun!” he said in a high Australian accent. He had several burlap sacks tucked into his belt and began handing them to us with a smile and a bow. “Sorry, outa grabbers, so you’ll hafta get ‘em by hand.”
“Oi, fella, where you from?” asked Benji, recognizing a fellow countryman by his accent.
“Out west, Esperance, right on the coast. Choc a bloc fulla bloody sharks, ain’t it? Name’s Riles, Riles Husker. What about you, mate?”
Benji clapped and shook hands excitedly with Mr. Husker. “No way, mate! I’m from right near Kalgoorlie, just a bit north of ya. Me white name’s Benji Walker, got a buncha nation names. You know how that goes, eh?”
“Your people still out in the bush, then?”
“Not all of ‘em. Some of us, like me, got educated. I went east, still get back to the bush now and again.”
“Good on ya, mate. Hope you hoons are ready for some hard yakka.”
Benji introduced the rest of our group to Mr. Husker, and he gazed at Mr. Harutyunyan, clearly impressed. “Look at the size ‘a this fella, then. You’ll not want to meet up in a dark alley with ‘im, I reckon. Well, you see our task, get in there and catch the squirmies. Don’t want ‘em eatin’ all the cargo.”
The scent of produce was overwhelming me, and despite the stormy weather outside, it felt like a sauna as we walked down the broad corridor toward the back of the boat. Sweat glistened on the arms and foreheads of the rest of our group, but nano-machines don’t sweat, so I remained dry.
“So, what exactly are we trying to catch?” I asked, having never heard of squirmies before.
“I imagine we will mainly find rats and mice, although there may be a snake or two,” said dad.
Mr. Harutyunyan gulped audibly. “I don’t like these kinds of creatures.”
“Oh, settle down, you big chicken,” Ms. Houng groused.
“Is dark, might not see them coming. We need gloves for protection.”
Ms. Houng rolled her eyes. “Some tough guy. Here, I show you what to do.”
She stomped down the corridor, making as much racket as she could, and a mouse scurried out of one of the compartments. She darted down, grabbed it deftly by the tail and threw it in her sack.
“See? Is easy. Come on, chicken.”
He gulped again and trudged down into the relative darkness.
13
W e spent the next few hours scouring the area for squirmies, and as it turned out, I was excellent at catching them. It was weird;
normally I would have been afraid of them, and probably would have run away, but I had no fear, and my reactions were so fast that they couldn’t get away from me. My bag was half full by the end and included a couple of huge rats and one angry snake. One of the rats tried to bite my hand, but it broke its tooth trying to get through my ‘skin’. I also noticed that, while the rest of the group fumbled around in the near dark, I could see quite well. I knew my vision was enhanced, but do I have some kind of night vision too? This is crazy…
About half way through our activity, which Benji called ‘the squirmy session’, I noticed Ms. Perez watching us from near the galley end of the floor. I could feel her eyes on me, and it was clear that she noticed how quickly and fearlessly I snatched the rodents and tossed them into my sack. She had a tablet and tapped notes into it as she watched. In stark contrast to everyone else on board, she was dressed in a professional-looking dark skirt and jacket, her hair pulled back tightly and the same hard expression she wore the day before.
Mr. Riles noticed my skill too, and at one point said, “I reckon we’d be better off to clear out and let you at them squirmies all by yourself, eh?” Sasha was also among the crew for the squirmy session, and when he saw me, he waved and gave me a big thumbs-up.
By lunchtime we had gathered up all the critters we could find and tied knots in the tops of the burlap sacks, leaving the writhing packages with Mr. Husker. While the rest of the group was covered in sweat and moaning from aching muscles, I didn’t really feel much of anything as we trudged toward the galley. I trailed the rest of the group by a few meters because it took me a bit longer to transfer my load of critters to Mr. Husker, and just before entering the dining area, Ms. Perez darted in front of me, blocking my way. “Just a moment,” she whispered intensely. “I was watching you catch those animals, I’m sure you noticed. I know who you are. I…” She stopped suddenly as Alexy came down the circular staircase. “I can’t say more now. We will finish this later,” she hissed, as she turned and strode into the galley.
I stood there in shock, my mouth agape, and Alexy said, “Hello, my dear. Is everything ok?”
I snapped my mouth shut and forced a smile. “Hi, Alexy. Yes, everything’s fine, I’m just very hungry,” I said in my sweetest girl voice.
He chuckled heartily. “I heard of your skill at hunting. We are all very impressed, my dear. I believe you have earned a double helping for lunch, yes? Please, after you.” He bowed, which didn’t appear easy due to the size of his belly, and swung his arm in a theatrical motion toward the galley, his long blond ponytail whipping around.
I felt shell-shocked as I entered, and took the chance of covering my mouth and whispering, “Ava, what should I do?”
In my mind, I heard her reply: “We’re in a bit of a pickle here. Just keep it on the down-low until you get back to your humble abode.”
Oh, boy. Once again, I don’t know what any of that means… I guess I should just keep quiet until we get back to our cabin…
Everyone else in the room aside from Alexy and I were already served as I went through the line and got a bowl of stew with some curious looking meat in it and yet another chunk of hard bread from Mr. Kozlov, the ship’s cook. At least, I think that’s his name, because the patch on his green apron read “Leo Kozlov”. Based on the size of his belly, I assume he eats all the leftovers from each meal. I also assume he’s totally bald, due to having no hair on the sides of his head, but it’s hard to tell because of his ever-present, ancient-looking grey beanie. “Hello, Miss Lucinda. I heard about your incredible hunting abilities. I must give you high-five, yes?” He held out his gloved hand, bits of food glistening on the fingers. Gross… ok, don’t be rude, it can’t hurt you… I reached up and smacked his hand, and he flapped it comically, saying, “How did you get so strong for young girl? I must know your secret!”
I must have had a blank look on my face, as he said, “I kid, I kid. Please, eat, eat. Enjoy.”
I remembered to smile as I walked to our table and sat down. Dad had a concerned look on his face, but I gave him a signal he knew meant ‘not now’. I glanced out of the corner of my eye at Ms. Perez, who once again was sitting with Alexy, and she was studiously avoiding looking in my direction.
“Oi, Minh, how many critters you get?” asked Benji, around a mouthful of mystery stew.
“Seven mouse, two rat, not bad.”
“Ya get any bites?”
“One mouse bite me, I hit him on the head, he don’t bite anymore.” She held up her left index finger to show the small wound.
“How ‘bout you, Mard?”
The big man sighed heavily. “Ok, you know I don’t like the little animals. I try, but… they are too quick.”
Ms. Houng rolled her eyes and made chicken noises. “Hey, I tell you I don’t like them, ok?” huffed Mr. Harutyunyan.
“Well I got ten mice, one rat, but our little girl put us all to shame, eh?” said Benji, chuckling.
I don’t know why that’s funny. He knows I’m not really a girl… “I got twenty-seven mice, eight rats, including two giant ones, and one snake. I could hear another snake in the corn, but I couldn’t get it to come out. If we go back, I’ll get it, though.”
As I spoke, I snuck another glance at Ms. Perez, and she was sneaking a peek at me at the same time, while waving her finger and lecturing Alexy as he looked down sheepishly.
14
A fter lunch we shuffled back down the rusty circular stairway to our cabin, and as soon as the door was closed, I told dad and Benji about my contact with Ms. Perez. Benji paced back and forth the three steps from the bedroom to the bathroom, his immense black bush of hair shaking as he walked. “Crikey, here we go, mates. We knew they would have someone watch us, and she’s gone and exposed herself. Why d’ya think she’d do that, eh? Seems both bold and risky, and definitely not necessary.”
“Yes, it does seem that there’s something we’re missing. On the other hand, an intimidation move like that is something the government might do just to try to scare us into inaction, so it’s hard to say. Benji, go get Mard and Minh, they need to be in on this as well. We need to have a well-formed plan for this.”
Benji nodded and bolted out the door. “Dad, she definitely wanted to say more to me, but was interrupted by Alexy. Why do you think she wouldn’t just say whatever she wanted to in front of him?”
Dad rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “That’s a great question, but one we don’t have an answer for right now. I doubt that she would be afraid of him, unless he is even more deeply under cover than she is. That’s possible but it seems unlikely, although his buffoonish ship captain routine would be a good disguise, wouldn’t it? It could just be that she wants to remain undercover for now, and knows that you, we, wouldn’t say anything if she revealed herself to us, because we don’t have any allies on the ship.”
“What about Sasha? I bet he would help us. I bet Mr. Husker would, too.”
“Well, we have to be careful there. They might be on our side, but that doesn’t mean they would help us, especially if they thought their lives were in danger if they did, and the shadow government, the deep state, whatever they are, would definitely do that to achieve their goals. Make no mistake, Lukey, they plan on capturing us, and we are going to have to be very clever in order to escape. We have a plan, and I believe it will work, but it’s going to be difficult.”
“But dad, what’s the plan?”
Dad smiled, but there didn’t seem to be any joy in it. “I can’t tell you the plan, Lukey. You know that. If you were captured, they could make you tell, so it’s better that you don’t know. Only Benji and I know the plan, and we would both sacrifice ourselves rather than reveal it. I know that sounds extreme, but that’s how it is. Sorry to put this pressure on you, but we both believe you are the way forward for the human race, maybe our only option if we are to survive. There may be others eventually, but for now it’s only you who can point the way. I’m sorry, Lukey, I sound like some kind of nu
tty conspiracy theorist, but those are the times we are living in. Oh, here they are.”
In through the metallic door came the rest of the team. Dad, Benji and I filled Mr. Harutyunyan and Ms. Houng in with the current events, and they became more and more agitated as we spoke. “Now, we need to be cautious here. We must be prepared to react, but not act unless necessary. That’s the best course of action at this point,” said dad. Mr. Harutyunyan seemed ready to tear the place apart, and Ms. Houng fidgeted with restless energy.
“Maybe I should get to know her, woman to woman, since we are only ones on ship,” Ms. Houng offered. “If I make friends, she may reveal her true position.”
Mr. Harutyunyan nodded. “Is worth a try, don’t you think?”
The adults discussed and argued for the next few minutes, and it occurred to me that I had someone who might know exactly what to do right in my head, if I could understand her. I put my hand over my mouth and whispered, “Ava, you can hear all of this, can’t you?”
“Clear as a bell.”
Ok, I’m going to guess that means yes… “So, what do you think we should do?”
“You must taste of the fruit of knowledge. To ask is to answer. You are a fortress for which she has no measure.”
Oh, great. Wait, I think she means… I covered my mouth again, and whispered, “Do you mean I should just go up and ask her?”
After a moment, I heard in my mind: “Well, duh.”
For sure that means yes… she can’t really hurt me, I don’t think… it’s more of a risk for everyone else…
I held up my hand, and in a moment they all turned my way. “Umm, guys, how about if I just ask her? Then we’ll know what’s going on, and she can’t really do anything to hurt me, could she? Plus, they don’t want to kill us, they want to use us, so I think just asking her is as good a plan as any. On top of that, Ava says that’s what I should do. She said, ‘you are a fortress for which she has no measure’, and… well, I don’t know what that means but I think it’s good. What do you think?”
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