Compass Rose

by Anna Burke

Polaris station didn’t just fill the helm, it eclipsed it. The curved outer walls of the station stretched on in every direction as the trawler approached the docking bay, and even Orca looked impressed.

  The bright lights and portholes were achingly familiar. From an outward approach, the station resembled a toy top, with a spindly point at both ends, and like a top, it spun ever so slightly, powered by massive wave turbines, solar panels, and simple physics.

  It was the internal workings of power that frightened me.

  “Are you sure your mother is here?” I asked Harper.

  The look she gave me was a little less frosty. Harper’s temper flared hot and cooled quickly.

  “It’s the most likely place, given what’s happened, and if not, they’ll know where North Star is. You and I should get to the hatch.”

  I left Orca to navigate the docking and followed Harper to the exit. We didn’t know what kind of reception Polaris would give a mercenary crew, and I didn’t want any accidents. To be safe, Harper would go first, and I would follow.

  “Harp,” I said into the tight space in the hatch. “I’m sorry.”

  “I know,” she said, letting out a sigh. “Miranda Stillwater? Really?”

  I shrugged and looked away.

  “You have terrible taste.” She shook her head.

  “You haven’t met her yet.”

  “I don’t need to.” Her face was serious. “Why do you always have to go getting yourself hurt?”

  “It’s not like I choose it. How is it so goddamn easy for you? Orca? Really?”

  “Why not?” Harper grinned.

  “You don’t even like women!”

  “I never said that.”

  “Well you never said you did, either,” I pointed out.

  “You overthink things.”

  The trawler rode up against the dock. I heard the distant sounds of machinery grumbling, clamping us in place.

  “Did Orca tell you that she regularly beats the shit out of me?”

  “So do I.”

  My lips twitched in a traitorous smile.

  “I’m sorry about John,” I said.

  “Me too.”

  The tension between us dissipated as the hatch sprang open, and the commanding voice of a fleet sailor shouted down.

  “Send up the Admiral’s daughter.”

  “Catch you on the other side,” Harper said, swinging up the ladder.

  Kraken appeared at my shoulder as Harper vanished.

  “Keep your head out there,” he said. “Remember who they are, and who we are.”

  Who we are.

  Where did I belong?

  Harper was busy explaining the situation to the waiting sailors.

  “Who are you?” one of them asked me.

  “Compass Rose, quartermaster for Admiral Comita.”

  “What are you doing off-ship?”

  This was Polaris, but Comita had sworn me to secrecy.

  “I have to make that report to the Admiral, sir,” I said, hoping that would suffice.

  He didn’t look satisfied, but he nodded. I wondered what would have happened had we arrived without Harper, and shuddered.

  “The crew of that trawler saved my life,” Harper was saying. “They deserve sanctuary.”

  “That’s not for you to decide.”

  “You’re right. It’s the Admiral’s decision. Is she here?”

  I held my breath. The sailor, who had the universal bad temper of most docking masters, nodded in curt assent.

  “I’ll let her know you’ve arrived. Until then, the rest of the crew stays onboard. Do you understand?”

  I relayed the information down the hatch. Kraken did not look surprised, but I heard Orca mutter something from behind him.

  The docking master himself escorted us to the Admiral. After weeks spent with mercenaries and a longer deployment than usual on North Star prior, the luxury of Polaris overwhelmed me.

  Wide hallways lined with artwork and living walls of greenery gave way to open courtyards. Trees towered up through tiered lobbies, and pools sparkled in the distance, part of a living biosphere that only the biologists seemed to fully understand. Massive tubes of bio-light lined the ceilings, and I watched the water circulating through them as we followed the docking master. I didn’t see any jellyfish.

  We were in the command level, but we passed a group of schoolchildren with sufficiently awed expressions on a tour. Several of them stared at me, with my strange haircut and ragged clothes. Harper, at least, still wore her uniform, even if it was looking the worse for wear. The scrutiny hurt.

  Will I ever learn to stop caring? I thought as the curious brown eyes of the children followed me.

  Comita was in her office. The docking master ushered us into the waiting room, which was more refined than the quarters Comita kept on North Star. A side table offered refreshments, and there were even carpets on the floor, arranged around several low couches.

  We didn’t have to wait long. Comita opened the door and pulled her daughter into a tight embrace. I watched, fascinated, as Comita stroked Harper’s hair and her gray eyes squeezed tightly shut over the tears flowing down her lined cheeks. Harper’s shoulders shook, too, and I felt a pang of homesickness for Cassiopeia and my own mother.

  Comita eventually regained enough composure to greet me.

  “Compass Rose,” she said, her voice grave. I could hear the unasked questions.

  “Admiral.” I gave her a salute. “Four crew members are with us.”

  “They will be treated with every courtesy.” She turned toward the perplexed docking master. “Prepare a private reception for our guests. I will address them when I can. In the meantime, it would be best if we treat this delicately. Are any of the crew ranking officers, Rose?”

  “Only the first mate. Her name is Orca.”

  Comita nodded, and while she showed no outward sign of relief, I knew that I had answered her unspoken question. Miranda Stillwater was not with me.

  She dismissed our escort with a nod, shutting the doors to her office with shaking hands.

  Harper gave her report first. I listened again to the story of her capture, and reached out to squeeze her hand when she explained what had happened to John.

  “We will deal with that later,” Comita said. “You are alive, and that is what matters to me.”

  It was the only time I had ever heard her say anything motherly in my presence.

  When she turned to me, I hesitated.

  “Admiral,” I began, “on North Star you forbade me to speak of my mission with Harper. I have not been able to keep that promise.”

  “I hardly foresaw these circumstances when I gave you those instructions. You may continue. Harper, your absolute secrecy will be expected until I say otherwise.”

  Harper nodded.

  I started from the beginning, leaving out the personal details of my journey and focusing on the relevant events. I explained how I had gotten us into the Gulf, and I gave a detailed analysis of all the encounters I had had with the pirates since then. When I got to the discovery of the channel, Comita’s eyes lit up.

  “You have exceeded my wildest hopes,” she said, rising to her feet. I stood, too, and she clasped me by the shoulders. “The Archipelago thanks you for your service, Rose.”

  My cheeks burned and, despite the tangled mess around me, I allowed myself a small measure of pride.

  “What now?” Harper asked.

  “Now the rest of us risk our lives. Can you plot out those coordinates for us?” Comita asked me.

  I nodded.

  “Good. I’ll need you to testify before the Council. I don’t want to move without their support, although I will if necessary. We don’t have time for their deliberations.” She paused, clearly strategizing.

  “What about the rest of my crew?” I asked. I noticed my slip-up too late, but Comita didn’t seem to catch it.

  “They will be given safe passage back to their captain, after we’ve secured the Gulf.�
��

  “What about Rose?” Harper gave her mother a curious glance.

  “You will of course be promoted, Compass Rose. I will see that you are made second mate. Any ship in my fleet would be lucky to have you.”

  “I need you on this ship. I could use a second mate.” Miranda’s words haunted me.

  Comita turned towards the door, her usual efficiency taking over as she girded herself to face the Council and rouse the fleets.

  Everything I had ever wanted had just been handed to me. A new ship would mean new crew members, people who didn’t know me or my history. It would be a chance to start over fresh, away from Maddox, away from my memories of Miranda. As second mate, I would command respect even from those who resented me.

  North. My inner compass trembled, aligning with the poles.

  I didn’t want it.

  Harper was watching my face. I looked at her, years of late night conversations and sweaty training sessions offering us the luxury of transparency.

  Do what you need to do, her eyes said. I’m here for you.

  “Admiral.” My voice held firm.

  “Yes?” Comita’s eyebrows rose a fraction of an inch.

  “Thank you for your generous offer, but I have to decline.”

  “Decline?”

  “I can’t accept your promotion.”

  “Is there something else you want?”

  Sailors didn’t question their admiral, but I had returned her daughter to her, alive and in one piece. I figured that bought me a little leeway.

  “We should have known about that channel,” I said. “With all due respect, we’ve neglected the coasts for too long. Our maps are no longer accurate, and it opens us up to new threats.”

  Comita leaned against her desk. I took her silence as permission to continue.

  “The Archipelago is losing the surface, but we can’t afford to let that blind us. I think it is time for a new survey.”

  “That’s dangerous work. I am not sure I can spare a ship for that,” she said. Her eyes weighed me.

  “I think I know a captain who might be willing to take the risk.”

  • • •

  “This shit is unreal.”

  Jeanine leaned back on one of the low couches in the courtyard where Comita had arranged for the crew of the Sea Cat, Harper, and myself to dine. What Comita thought of her daughter in such company, I didn’t dare dwell on, but I was happy to have her there.

  “Catch.” Finn plucked a grape from the trellised vines behind him and tossed it toward Jeanine. She caught it in her mouth.

  “Do you ever get used to this?” Orca asked me and Harper. She eyed the garden and the table loaded with food and drink suspiciously.

  “Yes,” Harper said, taking a long swig of some sort of sweet drink.

  “No,” I said simultaneously.

  Orca glanced between the two of us.

  “Stick around and find out.” Harper gave Orca a suggestive wink.

  “Doesn’t look like I have much choice.” Orca swirled her drink experimentally.

  Comita had given me detailed orders to relay to Miranda’s first mate. The Sea Cat was dry docked until Comita had the Council and the other fleets behind her. She could not risk word of the channel getting to Ching, and I didn’t really blame her for not trusting Miranda’s sailors, no matter how much they had sacrificed to get here. You didn’t get appointed Admiral of the Polarian Fleet by being warm and fuzzy.

  Despite the relaxed atmosphere, there was a palpable tension running through our group. The longer it took us to get back to Miranda, the longer she stayed in Ching’s reach.

  “Do you think your admiral has the balls to handle Ching Shih?”

  “That’s my mother you’re talking about,” Harper reminded Orca.

  “If anyone does, it’s Comita.” I picked at the food on my plate.

  “Why the long face, jelly?”

  “What if we’re too late?” I asked. “What if Ching has Miranda killed?”

  “Ching won’t kill her.” Kraken stirred from his seat on the ground. He had his back to a young tree, and I thought it sagged in relief when he moved. “Ching and Miranda go too far back.”

  “Miranda couldn’t kill Ching, either,” Finn said.

  “She didn’t seem to have a problem going behind her back, though.” Harper looked confused.

  “Backstabbing is how pirates show affection,” Finn explained. “Actual stabbing is acceptable, too, as long as it’s not fatal.”

  “What, do you have some sort of code?” Harper asked.

  “Of course we do. We’re not savages.”

  “And we’re not pirates,” Orca said, finally finishing her drink. “We’re mercenaries, thanks to the Caps.”

  “Moving on up in the world, aren’t we?” Finn swept his arm around the room. “Soon we’ll be dining in station restaurants across the Archipelago.”

  “You could, if you wanted to,” I said. Five pairs of eyes latched on to me.

  “The admiral issued you all full pardons. You’ll be allowed entry onto Polaris station anytime you want.”

  In the silence that followed I could hear the water in the fountain tumble over the smooth stones at its base.

  “And the captain?” Kraken asked.

  “Full pardon,” I said. I didn’t tell them the rest of Comita’s offer. I had to see if Miranda was interested first.

  “She’ll be happy to hear that,” Kraken said. “I’ll tell her you made sure we were treated well.”

  “Actually,” I said, hesitating, “I was thinking I might tell her myself.”

  “You’re fucking kidding me.” Orca shook her head, making her braids swing around her face. “I thought we were getting rid of you.”

  “I’m like a barnacle, Orca. Remember?”

  Finn let out a celebratory whoop and began collecting our glasses for refills. Jeanine shook her head, a knowing smile on her lips.

  “I told you that you were in deep, kid,” she said.

  My laughter was cut off by a massive pair of arms, and then I was lifted into the air and crushed in a muscular embrace. Tentacles obscured my view as the sea monster enveloped me.

  “Out here, you want something, you make it work. Anyone who accepts anything less deserves it.”

  “I’m gonna make it work,” I said as he put me down.

  “Good.”

  Harper pulled me aside a little while later, after we had all had too much to eat and drink.

  “I’ll miss you,” I said, gently tugging on one of her curls.

  “You’re not going anywhere yet. You still have to face the Council.”

  “The Council has nothing on Ching Shih,” I said, feeling perhaps a little overconfident.

  “I still can’t believe you’re leaving me for Miranda Stillwater.”

  “Well,” I said darkly, “I haven’t told you everything. There’s a good chance she wants nothing to do with me now.”

  “Then why the hell are you going back?”

  I looked around the courtyard at the motley crew of mercenaries passed out on the couches. She followed my gaze and slung an arm around my shoulder.

  “You really do have terrible taste,” she said. “But I get it.”

  Good, I thought, because I don’t.

  North

  Captain’s Log

  Admiral Josephine Comita

  North Star, Polarian Fleet

  August 16, 2513

  36.9, -62.8°

  Compass Rose’s return could not have occurred at a more fortuitous time. The Council will convene in two days for an emergency session, giving us an opportunity to solidify Archipelago opinion in our favor. We must act.

  As for Captain Stillwater, her fate may yet resolve itself.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The ride to the Council headquarters on Libra Station was the longest of my life. Harper and I fidgeted in the passenger cabin while Comita drilled me on my presentation and Harper on her corroborating evidence. I
was all too aware that every passing moment brought me closer to the Council and farther away from Miranda, and that every minute wasted in inaction was a minute for Ching to act.

  When the scales of Libra Station finally filled the porthole, the sigh of relief that left my body raised Comita’s eyebrows.

  Libra Station was, if anything, more opulent than Polaris. This was where the Archipelago elite ensconced themselves while the fleets patrolled the perimeters, content to bask in the glory of their positions and the luxury that accompanied them. Or at least, that was the general impression most of us had of our government.

  Keeping the Archipelago unified was not easy. Each station functioned as its own city state, and the cultures that had evolved within their walls were unique and inclined to disagreement about tariffs, production, and goods allotments, not to mention which station’s boxing and basketball teams were destined to pound the others into oblivion. The politics surrounding the Council were equally heated.

  As we disembarked into the overly appointed landing bay, I could not shake the irony. The Archipelago had been founded over four hundred years ago to relocate displaced coastal populations too impoverished to move elsewhere; now, here we were, comparatively rich and eager to lord it over anyone less fortunate.

  An obsequious docking master met us with a plastered smile. I was gratified to see that Comita did not return it.

  “Are the other admirals here yet?” she asked him.

  “A few.” He hemmed and hawed for a moment before breaking underneath her stare. “Gemini, Andromeda, Orion, and Aries arrived a few hours ago.”

  “Aries,” Comita said under her breath. “Well, that’s one piece of good news.”

  The stations had been named for their location in the Archipelago, relative to the night sky, but a few defining characteristics of the zodiac had seeped in. The Aries Fleet was always primed for battle.

  Gemini, on the other hand, could pose a problem.

  “Please, let me show you to your quarters,” the docking master said.

  The rooms Harper and I shared could have housed half of Man o’ War. Harper, following Comita’s orders, set about running hot showers for us both. I emerged to find her laying out clean uniforms and a few cosmetics. The garments gleamed on the bedspread.