by L G Rollins
“And did you know,” she prattled on to Rowley, who sat directly beside her, and to anyone else who glanced her way. “Some turn into gases, while others solidify? It doesn’t matter what two chemicals you mix, you always get something completely different.” She paused to take a bite of biscuit, but didn’t stop long enough to swallow before continuing. “Some even explode!” Her eyes widened dramatically.
Elise enjoyed listening to the girl chatter away. It wasn’t often a young girl of only seven years suddenly developed an ardent interest of chemistry. Elise hoped Melissa didn’t stop until she explored her new love thoroughly. In a way, Melissa reminded Elise of herself as a girl, though Elise had never been so open about her unusual hobby. Nonetheless, the two had spent countless moments together since boarding the Gearhound discussing science. Elise cherished those moments.
But as of late, those feelings had been tainted by worry. What if the ghost grew so determined to send the Gearhound away, that he decided to hurt the one person that meant the most to Nathaniel?
As they cleaned up the kitchen the night they had been attacked, Nathaniel had voiced his surprise that no one had heard the ruckus and come. Elise had explained that ghosts not only have the ability to only be seen by those they wish—they could walk into a room full of people and only been visible to the one or two they wished to be seen by—the same was true of sound.
Ghosts had the ability to isolate the sound around them so no others could hear. They could also block the sound beyond them from reaching those close to them. She suspected the ghost had done just that when she first found him in the engineering room; all around her had been so quiet.
Elise kept her gaze on Melissa. If the ghost were to attack her while she was alone, they may never hear her screams. It was a chilling thought.
Nathaniel stepped through the oval doorway, and Elise’s heart sped up. His eyes scanned the long, crowded tables. Though the crew ate each meal in shifts, the dining room was still packed at the moment. Jovial conversations filling the space to bursting, though it was at odds with Elise’s mood.
In just the past couple of days, it seemed the crew and test subjects were finally easing into a comfortable, tentative trust of one another. On that front, things were decidedly looking up. Only now, Elise could not enjoy it.
Nathaniel’s gaze roamed to hers, and he smiled. Elise felt the warmth of his look spread across her chest. Something about him simply being in the same room, made her feel like all would be well. They’d already discussed the possibility of the ghost attacking Melissa and they’d made a plan to be sure the young girl was never alone.
Elise was beginning to believe there was no problem the two of them couldn’t resolve—though she never would have said as much aloud. It would sound terribly silly. Elise looked away from Nathaniel and sat her fork down. She couldn’t have the whole of the crew and her test subjects watching her stare at the captain every time he entered a room.
Since he’d asked leave to call her by her Christian name, they had spoken multiple times. It wasn’t hard to find one another, being confined to the limited space inside the Gearhound. Elise had worried that calling him “Nathaniel” would feel awkward or uncomfortably intimate. She could not remember the last time a gentleman friend had asked her to call him by his first name. However, she found instead it was easy switching from “Captain Hopkins” to “Nathaniel”. Even when she thought of him, he was “Nathaniel” now.
However, that wasn’t the only thing that drew her to him.
Elise was finding Nathaniel to be not only kind-hearted and eager to help when the need arose, but also unusually easy to talk with. Elise could speak to anyone about research and scientific plans. But with Nathaniel she just as easily discuss her worries for the research, her hopes for her scientific plans, or even just her frustration that her hair refused to stay back in its ribbon. The topic didn’t seem to matter, she always found their conversations comfortable.
For her, that was a rarity.
“Good evening,” Nathaniel said to her across the table once he reached Melissa’s side. She replied in kind. She could get used to seeing him smile at her over the supper table. The realization further heated her cheeks.
“How has your day been?” he asked.
Of course, what he actually meant was had any real damage been done by the ghost mixing her chemicals night before last. Elise had been beside herself after awakening yesterday morning and wandering down to her laboratory, to find bottles open and vials spilled.
“I spent the day finishing my reorganization of the items in my cabinet is all. So, yes, it has been a pleasant day.” He would know that meant she’d found nothing dangerous had been mixed and that it was all cleaned up now.
They had decided to keep the ghost business between them. Ghost were notoriously secretive and vain—so much so, they often took it as an insult that the living would discuss them. Based on the the random pieces of information Elise had learned about ghost in her years researching werewolves, she knew there was a real chance if they told anyone about the ghost he would add that individual to his list of those to terrorize.
“I am pleased to hear it.” Nathaniel gave her a sincere nod. He’d had much to see to the past few days as captain, so he hadn’t been able to help her clean up. But she knew it was a relief to him as much as her that nothing toxic had come for that morning’s discovery.
Nathaniel raised his voice and spoke to the whole room. “You will all be pleased to hear that we have reached the Puerto Rico Trench.”
A small cheer rose up around them. All Elise could feel, however, was a pricking unease against her ribs. Happy conversations broke out around her once more, but she ignored the celebratory noise.
She was certainly glad to finally be at the Puerto Rico Trench, but what if the experiment didn’t work? It was based more on guesses and assumptions than previous studies. Moreover, what would the ghost do when it was clear they would not leave the ocean he’d claimed as his own, but instead intended to dive deeper into it?
A hand clapped against her shoulder shook Elise from her thoughts.
“You must be beside yourself with anticipation,” Rowley’s wide smile beamed at her.
Even with all the upheaval of the past several days, Elise had not forgotten Lord Chauncey’s advice to her nor her commitment to be more open. She tried to lift the edges of her lips, but the action felt stiff and unnatural. She let them drop again.
“I am, thank you,” was all she could say. Addie would probably declare that she ought not try to force it so, but instead relax and allow the joy she felt to shine out naturally, of it’s own accord. Elise turned away from Rowley as he began speaking with his other neighbor. Then again, allowing a smile to come out naturally would probably be much easier if she truly felt like smiling.
Just now, all she felt was apprehension. She didn’t believe such an emotion lent itself to smiles all that often.
“But, Papa, I’m not tired,” Melissa protested. Elise lifted her gaze to where the girl pouted.
“I know Poppet, but it’s time for bed,” Nathaniel was holding her hand, pulling her gently away from the table.
Around them the various conversations had seemed to swell with anticipation. All around men and women, test subjects and crew members, were smiling and enjoying their meal. It was nice to see them eating together, working together, even playing cards together. It was a small conquest that not been easily won.
Would that change if the experiment was a failure? How would the crew look on her test subjects if they were to shift in their cells during the full moon? Was there any possibility of this comfortable familiarity continuing between the two groups?
Finally, Nathaniel convinced Melissa to bid Rowley and all a good evening. The young girl curtsied prettily, notwithstanding her breeches, then looked up at her father. “See how grown up I am?”
Nathaniel chuckled as he angled her toward the door. Glancing back, he met Elise’s gaze, and dro
pped his voice low. “Walk with me for a bit?” he asked.
She couldn’t ignore the small zip of excitement at his request, though she had no idea why he had asked. Elise stood and followed Nathaniel and Melissa out the dining room door.
Nathaniel spoke to Melissa first. “Mary is in our room, waiting for you. Run along and I’ll be there in a minute, I need to speak with Elise first.”
She liked the sound of him using her Christian name. She was, by in large, Doctor Sterling to nearly every acquaintance she had. Aboard the submarine, she was “doctor” in every conversation. Until Nathaniel had started calling her “Elise”, she hadn’t realized how much she’d missed hearing her own name.
“But you’ll come up and tuck me in?” Melissa looked up at Nathaniel with doe-eyes.
“Yes, sweetheart,” he replied.
“And tell me a story?”
“If you are good and go right away.”
“And sing me a song?”
His smile quirked to the side. “I do not have time for—”
“How about a little story?” Melissa pressed. “And a little song? If they’re both little you’ll have time, right? And if that takes too long, you can skip the itchy belts. I’m big enough to not roll out of my bed like a baby.”
“The straps keep you safe in case the submarine pitches.” His voice held a hint of censure, though it wasn’t overly stern. Elise had been impressed more than once to see Nathaniel’s patient manner. “There’s always time to see to your safety.”
“Then you’ll have time for a story and song, too.”
“We begin our dive in under an hour’s time and I have to be present for that. I am the captain, remember.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “I need you to head up to your bed, now, dear.”
Finally relenting, Melissa moved down the hallway toward the bedchambers, her feet clapping against the metal floor a bit louder than usual. No doubt, she still saw herself as being sent to bed at an unjustly early hour.
Elise turned to find Nathaniel running a hand down his face.
“You look as though you wish you could turn in, yourself,” she said.
He chuckled lightly. “Do you ever wonder what it would be like to be a child again? To be free to turn in just because one felt like doing so?”
She shook her head. “I think I was more like Melissa, always eager to be older so I had good reason not to turn in. My older brothers used to gloat relentlessly about how they were permitted to stay up later than I was.”
“Are they many years older than you?”
“Only a couple. I do not believe they ever stayed up more than an hour later than I was permitted, but it was enough that they held it over my head.” Goodness, how they jeered at her. Not that they had been purposely mean-spirited, but they had been boys and she their younger sister. Did any brother not mercilessly tease his sister? Would Nathaniel have if he had not been an only child? She somehow couldn’t see him teasing anyone as her brothers had done to her.
“And you wanted nothing more than to be just as grown-up and mature as they were.”
She half-smiled at the memories. “Ridiculous, but true.” Why she brought up her brothers, she wasn’t sure. Perhaps it was the small tendrils of homesickness she was feeling, or trying hard not to feel. Either way, it was yet another comfortable conversation that would have been awkward had she discussed it with anyone other than Nathaniel.
He leaned in close. “And all is well with your chemicals?”
“Thankfully yes.” Elise shot a brief glance over her shoulder toward the dining hall, but no one was close enough to the door to listen in. “I am not sure if the ghost is only trying to frighten us without actually hurting anyone, or if he simply has no understanding of what chemicals are dangerous to mix and we were simply lucky. As it stands, some of my copper hydroxide mixed with a glucose solution, one of my BLUE vials was dumped into a jar of silver nitrate, and some iron flakes fell into a pool of acetic anhydride spilled across the table.”
He stared at her with half smile and one eyebrow raised. “And that’s suppose to put my mind at ease?”
Elise liked the way he made potentially disastrous situations seem manageable and not too serious after all. “All are quite harmless. The acetic anhydride may even strengthen the table and help prevent it from rotting away. Perhaps we should thank the ghost next time we see him.”
Nathaniel reached forward, his hand lightly taking hold of hers. The touch sent sparks racing up her arm, where they collided with her heart beat. “Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I’m concerned that we haven’t received any new ‘messages’ from him today.”
Elise pursed her lips. Nathaniel was right. Not once since the ghost first showed up had they gone this long without a reminder he wished them to leave. “I would guess his silence doesn’t mean he’s finally conceded that we aren’t leaving.”
“No, I don’t believe so.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Stay alert, alright? Who knows what he might try next.” His gaze held hers. His deep blue eyes, full of concern, only saw her.
Then his mouth twitched up into a half smile once more. “You never did explain how the Incendiary worked.”
That he actually cared to know sent her heart racing every bit as much as his hand touching hers had. “Best researchers can tell, ghosts work on some magnetic plane. They can manipulate any metal that responds to a magnetic pull. The incendiary was full of magnetite, which responds far more forcefully than most metals. When placed close to a ghost, researchers have found that it draws itself up and over the ghost all on it’s own. Short of walking through a wall, ghosts can’t get the stuff off.”
“Clever researchers.”
“I can’t take credit. I only read about it while attending the University.”
“Ah, but you were the one who remembered. I’m just glad he didn’t think to use my firearm against us.”
He had a gun? “I thought you said all weapons were locked in the armory whenever you sailed.”
Nathaniel unbuttoned his jacket and opened it slightly, revealing a small pistol at his side.
“That’s true, but as captain—”
“By which you actually mean as a man who likes to be prepared for any eventualities.”
He rolled his eyes and smiled. “As a man who likes to be prepared, I dub myself an exception to the rule. Rowley, too. But we’re the only two allowed to be armed on my submarine.”
“If the ghost does come back, you may want to rethink being an exception.”
“I just may.” He gave her hand another squeeze and then released it and rocked back. “You should come down to the control room in about an hour. A dive is by far less exciting than it sounds, but I think you may enjoy it.”
Elise could think of nothing but the way his hand had felt against hers. “I shall.”
He gave her a smile—that casual, easy smile she loved since the first time she met him—and then he was walking away, hands behind his back like usual. He disappeared into the bedchamber he and Melissa were sharing.
“He should keep his hands to himself.”
Elise jumped inwardly at the deep, rough voice. Looking behind her, she found William staring down the hallway, the direction Nathaniel had walked. His scowl could have bored a hole through steel.
For the first time in several minutes, Elise heard the clattering commotion still coming from the dining room.
William leaned against the doorway between the hall and those eating. His dark hair framed his face, emphasizing the darkness in his eyes. “Has he been imposing himself on you again?”
“What?” Elise felt her face flush. “Nathaniel has never once imposed himself on me.”
His eyebrow lifted. “’Nathaniel’ is it? I do hope he hasn’t presumed to call you ‘Elise’.”
Frustration at his boorish ownership of her burned against her skin. “You call me ‘Elise’. I don’t see what the problem is.” However, if she was being completely
honest, a small part the heat across her cheeks was pure embarrassment—she should not have been making moon-eyes at the Captain. What was she, a hair-brained ninny fresh out of the nursery? There was nothing professional about falling for the man who was, in essence, working for her.
Not that she would admit as much to William. All he needed to know was that he didn’t own her. “Furthermore, if I give him permission to use my Christian name, I don’t see why it’s anyone’s business but my own.”
“Point taken. It isn’t my business.” His shoulders stooped. Elise’s next retort froze against her tongue. Had William just let her win an argument? Elise took half a step toward him. Was he feverish? William never let her win at anything.
He continued, his voice meek. “Neither of us knows the captain all that well, and I only wanted to be sure he was being a gentleman.”
Elise felt the tension ease. Things had been stress-fueled between her and William lately. Still, he was her dear friend and she shouldn’t have jumped on him when he was only watching out for her.
They stood in silence. A couple crew members walked by, necessitating William move out of the doorway. As the others continued deeper into the submarine, William inched closer to Elise.
“You’ll be proud of me. Harry, one of the crew, nearly bowled me over this morning. The blackguard must have been late to his post or what not. He practically threw me into the wall as he passed by, and I didn’t so much as swear.”
“Not at all?” A touch of awkward tension still hung between them, but Elise would show her friend she still cared. No Captain, no experiment, no argument would stop them from being friends. They always had been. They always would be.
“Well, not to his face. I may have said a couple things to myself about him. But, for me, that’s a marked improvement.” He lifted his chin high, though she couldn’t tell if he actually thought he deserved praise for “only swearing to himself” instead of getting in the crew member’s face. She hardly thought someone brushing by, and possibly bumping into one, was cause for anger at all. She didn’t for a moment believe the crew member had shoved William into the wall as he purported.