by J. P. Larson
“Well then, you can get nearly two hours of sleep first.”
* * *
“There they go.”
“Think he’ll play his tricks this time?”
“Who can tell? He thinks he’s awfully clever.”
* * *
“Status?”
“Helm…” Mary pointed to the boards, Gina watching. “Helm green, Captain.” Mary nodded.
“Navigation green.”
“Communications shut down.”
“Security green.”
“Systems green,” Alicia said.
“Janice?”
“Melt down, Captain?”
“Call it, Janice.”
Ten minutes later, and the crew had collected in the galley. “Welcome to melt down, people!” Pamela told them. “We had a fine trip to StarInc Station. We made some money, we had a nice party, and no one tried to blow us up, in spite of the fears of certain individuals on this ship.” There were scattered chuckles.
“Linda, can you tell us any traditions about melt down we haven’t already discussed?”
“Well, um. Everyone gets a chance to lead one.”
“Thank you for volunteering, Linda. Do you remember what we’re all to have done?”
“We were supposed to learn something about two people we didn’t know before this trip, Captain.” Pamela nodded. “I get to run it however I want?” Pamela nodded again. “Okay, we’ll go around and everyone will get a chance to say something about someone else. Then we’ll go around a second time. Captain, would you start?”
“Okay, Linda. I learned that Jimbo has a butterfly collection. He started collecting them when he was very young. Now he has drawers and drawers of butterflies from three different planets.”
The Random Walkers all turned to stare at Jimbo.
“Don’t pick on him about this! This is something he and his father used to do together.”
Jimbo looked at everyone. “I stopped for several years, but then Dad died. We cleaned out the house, and I found all my old things. I remembered how he and I used to get into it together. So now whenever I catch a new specimen, I think of him.”
Pamela spoke again. “Jimbo, I know you’re kind of quiet, unless you’re talking about weapons. But your crew members deserve to see the other side of you from time to time. Okay?”
“Okay, Captain.” Everyone turned back to Linda.
“Well, Jimbo, I guess you should go next, then.”
“I learned about Janice’s guns. She invited me to go shooting with her back on Dawson’s Star.”
“I’m not surprised you would learn something about that,” Linda told him. “Can you offer any details?”
“Sure. She’s got a whole boatload. She has a flintlock, a couple of percussion caps, a Colt Peacemaker, a Tommy gun, a Springfield, and several semi-automatic pistols. Plus a bunch of others. You want more?”
“No, Jimbo. I think that’s enough. Janice, we seem to be concentrating on bridge crew. Any chance you can get us off the bridge?”
“Well, I was going to tell you about Jimbo’s knife, and I have a few things I’ve learned about Alex.”
Linda looked at Pamela, who seemed to be distracted in counting ceiling tiles.
“Did anyone from the bridge learn anything about someone not on the bridge?”
“I did,” said Gina. “Sue, Spades, Alicia and I played that game together, so I talked with all of them a little. But mostly I talked to Sue, because we do security together. She told me about her home and the pets she had as a kid.”
“Sue?”
She looked at Gina. “You told me something. I’m not sure I should share.”
Gina looked horrified.
Pamela took notice, but didn’t say anything yet.
“Gina,” Linda said, “does Sue know something about you that you really would rather she didn’t share?” Gina nodded.
“That counts for two, then,” Linda declared. “You’re off the hook, Sue, unless you want to tell something else. Anyone who has intimate secrets is obviously making an effort to meet people,” she declared.
Pamela smiled and returned to counting ceiling tiles.
“I can tell you about Jimbo’s knife,” Sue declared. Janice groaned. “I can tell you something about Alex, too,” she said. Alex perked up. “It’s the same story,” Sue said with a smile. Alex groaned.
“Oh, I think we all want to know about Jimbo’s knife, especially if it can annoy two of the bridge crew at the same time,” Linda said.
“Jimbo got it from Alex’s father, who is the Admiral. The Admiral gave it to Jimbo because Jimbo broke his old one while rescuing Alex and his mother from a terrorist group.” She paused. “He got wounded, too. Jimbo did, not Alex. If I’m not mistaken, I think that also means I know one of those four people Alex says saved his life.”
“Jimbo already went,” said Linda. “And Alex is bridge crew. Alex, can you get us back off the bridge.”
“I can, Linda. I talked to Alicia about what she wants to do with her career. She says she likes maintenance, but she’s trying to learn enough math and science to be useful on the bridge. I told her she should talk to Janice, but that I would be happy to teach her everything I knew and gave her some tips on learning the math.”
Everyone turned to Alicia to see her hanging her head. Pamela spoke up. “Alicia, you didn’t learn anything about anyone?”
“I did!” she said. “But they’ve already been used. I played spades with Spades and Gina, so I know that Gina knows how to play spades. But she already told us that. And Alex told me who his father was. He also told me he would trust Jimbo with his life, but didn’t explain why. And I’ve talked to Jeff, but he just makes me laugh and never tells me anything about himself.”
Linda turned to Pamela. “Captain, I think that means a story.”
“Sorry, Alicia. Please explain this part of the tradition before you tell us the story.”
“This isn’t fair!” she complained. “I’m just a little kid. I bet if we wait a bit longer, Janice is going to get into trouble, too.”
“I think so, too, Alicia,” Pamela said. “If it makes you feel any better.” Janice groaned again. “You don’t want to earn two stories tonight, though.”
Alicia looked horrified. “No, I wouldn’t,” she said after a moment. “Okay. If you can’t talk at a melt down, then you have to tell an embarrassing story about yourself. It has to be something most people don’t already know. You can’t keep retelling the same story over and over. If you’ve shipped with people for a long time, the stories start to get pretty amusing.” She paused.
“That’s not all, Alicia.”
“And it can’t be about when you were a baby. It has to be pretty current.”
Alicia paused, and Pamela smiled softly at her. “You’re just a kid, Alicia. It doesn’t have to be real embarrassing, just a little. Just enough to make you blush.”
“Okay,” Alicia said. “I’ve never kissed a boy,” she said quickly. “Sarah -- that’s my big sister -- knew all the tricks for getting a boy alone, and she made darn sure I never had a chance.”
“Thank you, Alicia,” Linda said. “A melt down is never complete without a little embarrassment.” She looked around. “Jeff.”
“Okay. I know how to make Alicia laugh.”
“Sorry, Jeff. She already told us that. Besides, that’s not really about her.”
“But it is,” he said. “I like to make people happy. So I people watch. I don’t get to see much of the bridge crew, so mostly I’m bumping into the guys I already know. But Alicia and I do maintenance together, so I’ve been watching her. I can tell you all sorts of stuff about how she works, and I bet that says s
omething about how she thinks.”
Pamela spoke up. “You still have to tell us something about Alicia, Jeff. I think you’re onto something, but you’re not there yet.”
“Well, when she takes something apart, she puts the screws back in their holes instead of putting them in a pocket or setting them aside or something. She never leaves her tools sitting around. And she never walks away from a job with parts sitting around. That tells me she’s very careful and has some excellent experience behind her. And that tells me she must have started doing maintenance work before she was 18.”
“I was 14,” Alicia said. “Mom died. Sarah was on the Ghost, so the Captain let me come stay with her if Sarah promised to keep me out of the way. I’ve been following my sister around for seven years. For the last several, she mostly had me do everything while she watched.”
The melt down continued, and there were several other embarrassing stories. Linda specifically kept her cousin, Mary, and Janice out of the loop as late as she could, and they were both forced to tell something embarrassing.
Janice admitted she had recently met a man she found interesting, but wouldn’t say who. Pamela let her off the hook, but gave her a long look first. Mary admitted to a personal problem she was having lately, and Janice told her to come see her about it.
Then Pamela looked at Linda. “You kept them until last on purpose, Linda. That’s a nasty trick.”
“I haven’t gone yet, Captain,” Linda said. “I’ve been busy listening to everyone, and I can talk about three or four people -- stuff no one has said yet. It’s Janice’s job to be able to do that, so she should be able to beat me. And I happen to know that Mary has turned all shy and has been hiding in the cabin. I bet she couldn’t have said anything if she had gone first. But if you want, I’ll tell something embarrassing. Two something’s, if you’re really upset.”
“Mary and Janice, it was you she was picking on.”
“She’s right,” said Mary. “I tried talking to some of the men, but I just got all nervous. They’re so different than what I’m used to!”
The guys looked at each other, then shrugged.
“Come see me about it, Mary,” Pamela told her. “Janice, I’ll take this one. I have some experience this time. Janice, what about you.”
“If she can really tell us as much as she says she can, then she’s right. I should have done better.”
“Your turn, then, Linda.”
“Okay, I know that both Alex and Gina have Navy ranks that would normally mean they should have been commanding ships of their own, even if they’re only small ones, but that neither of them has. The only ship Alex has captained is the one you rescued him on, Captain, and it’s a merchant ship.” She paused. “I know that I’m not the only person who knows that, and if either Mary or Janice had been on their toes, they would have used it.” Mary looked horrified, then hid her head in her arm. Janice looked amused.
“I know Anthony carries a very unusual weapon. I got him to show it to me. Kevin showed me his garrote and explained how to use it, so now I know what one is. Kevin also told me his father is a cook back home and has a restaurant. That’s where he learned. And I know that Dan’s most recent commanding officer before coming here is a woman. I didn’t think that was anything special, but he pointed out that the Random Walk military has more men than women. I hadn’t thought about that before, but then I looked at the mix we’ve met so far.”
She looked at Pamela. “And I’ve got one more, but I won’t say it out loud. If I whisper it to you, you’ll say it counts. I won’t tell anyone else. I’ll tell ten embarrassing things about myself first.”
Pamela got a faraway look for a moment, as did Linda.
“That counts,” Pamela told her after a moment. “That definitely counts. And I admire your discretion.” She looked at Janice.
“Round two,” Janice said. “But I bet there’s going to be a whole ton of embarrassing stories this time.”
There was.
“Okay, people. It’s two weeks to Random Walk. I want another melt down in three or four nights. I want each of you to have a conversation with three people you don’t know very well. They should last for over an hour, and you only get to ask questions. I don’t care what you talk about, but for an hour, you will listen to the other person and only talk to ask questions. Which means it’ll take two hours if you are both going to use each other. Normally I would just ask for a two-hour conversation, but I want to make sure it’s two-way communications, not one person talking for two hours. If any of you isn’t being given an opportunity to be the speaker, see me or Janice, if you’re from Random Walk, or see either Gina or Alex if you’re from Dawson’s Star.”
* * *
“Captain, would you stop over here,” Alex asked her. Pamela walked over, and Alex showed her the scanner logs.
* * *
“Come in, Mary,” Pamela said. “Sit down and I’ll pour you some tea. I just got a pot from the galley.”
“Thank you, Captain.”
“It’s okay if you want to call me Pamela, Mary.”
Mary sunk into a chair and looked very grim. She stared at the tea cup in front of her, warming her hands around it. Finally she looked up. “Are you disappointed with me?”
“No,” Pamela said gently. “You’re here to see if we can’t make sure you have a good cruise. And if you can’t, to figure out what we might want to do.”
“You’ll kick me off, won’t you, Captain.”
Pamela looked at her. “If you can’t be a member of the crew, Mary? Yes. I would have to. But I would still give you a recommendation based on your ability to do your job, not on your ability to deal with off worlder men.”
“I don’t think I want to leave. You’re a good captain, and I’ve always shipped with Linda. I don’t understand how she’s dealing with this so well. And I don’t know why Alicia isn’t screaming in terror; she sees them a lot more than I do.”
“You’re afraid of these people?”
“Yes! Of course I am. They don’t behave properly, and they’re all over the place. I can’t get a cup of tea without dealing with the cook. He treats me…”
Pamela looked sharply at her. “Is he rude? Does he touch you?”
“What? No. He’s extremely polite. They all are. No one has so much as bumped me in the passages, except sometimes your husband does, but it’s not his fault. He still walks funny.”
“He’ll probably always walk funny. You know he got that way saving my life.”
Mary nodded. “Pamela, when we grew up, we learned there were two types of men in the world. The ones we control, and the ones out of control. I don’t see anyone controlling these men. They’re all armed. They’re all huge. Have you seen them in the gym?! They go, and go, and go, sweating all over the place, and laughing about it.”
“Do you feel any of these people would hurt you?”
“No, Captain. But nothing is stopping them, either.”
“So they could hurt you.”
“If they wanted to. I might be able to blast one of them, but if there were two or three, I would be in trouble. And that Jimbo is big. I bet he could hurt me before I could blast him.”
“You couldn’t get Jimbo to hurt you if you tried. You couldn’t get any of these men to hurt you. Most of them would die to protect you, perhaps all of them. I know Jimbo would die to protect any of his ship mates. So would Alex. Both of them risk their lives all the time for strangers. They’re particularly proud of their rescues.”
Mary looked very glum. “That doesn’t make me feel any better. I’m still afra
id of them.”
“Mary, do you want my help? Or do you want to be excused from melt down and hide in your cabin until we get back home? Are you willing to try what I suggest?”
“I’ll try, Captain.”
“Good. It’s time you learned a new skill. I want you to learn communications. We’re short a communications officer. You are excused from helm duty. Instead, Anthony is going to teach you all that you can absorb. Give it until the next melt down, and let’s see how it goes. I expect you to try very hard.”
“Thank you, Captain.”
“You are not excused from melt down. You’ll get a chance to ask Anthony quite a few questions. Are you afraid of Gina?” Mary shook her head. “And you can talk to Alex. He’s hard to draw out, but he can be very charming. And I think the fact that he’s married to your captain should help.”
“Thank you, Captain.”
“Finish your tea, Mary. You start training with Anthony at his earliest convenience. I will have him find you.”
Mary quietly finished her tea, stifling tears. Before she left, Pamela spoke quietly. “You’re a strong woman, Mary. You can do this. These are good people, maybe the best you could possibly have met. No one on this ship would ever do anything to hurt you. You have more to fear from Linda than you do any of these men.”
“Thank you, Captain,” she said before running out.
Pamela looked at the closed door.
* * *
Melt down came and went. Everyone, including Mary, had talked to their three people. Some of them asked if they could do it again with another three, they’d had so much fun.
“Maybe later,” Pamela said. “I have something else in mind. I want each of you to find three people you haven’t interacted with much yet. You should tell them something personal about yourself, something you want them to keep a secret, just between the two of you. If you find it particularly difficult to find someone you haven’t talked to yet, you can do repeats. Some of you, especially Linda and Jimbo, have been talking to just about everyone. Be prepared any time in the next several days, but we might not have another melt down until leaving Random Walk.”