The Complete Seabound Trilogy Box Set

by Jordan Rivet

  Chapter 19—The Galaxy Mist

  WHEN THE WAVES FINALLY calmed, it looked like twilight, though it must have been after ten in the morning. They were utterly alone. After more than a week spent amidst the towering ships of the Flotilla and the buzzing of the water taxis, it was strange to be on a solitary sea again. It seemed an eternity before the clouds broke at the horizon and the sun started forcing its way through.

  Esther tortured herself with thoughts of everything that could have gone wrong on the Catalina, of the danger her people were in. Her father. The friends who had become their family over the last sixteen years. Even Judith. They must be low on fuel after running from the Flotilla in the storm. What if something went wrong with the engines? She feared the temporary engine crew wouldn’t be able to fix them as well as she could. She knew Cally couldn’t handle any major breaks.

  She prayed Cally was safe, that she hadn’t made the same mistake Esther had the night before.

  The rocking of the ship had slowed.

  “Esther?” David put a hand on her arm. She shrugged off his touch. “Esther, there’s nothing we can do from here. I think you should get someone to look at your foot.”

  “I need to talk to them as soon as we make radio contact,” Esther said. “I’ve got to check on the engines . . . and find out the condition of our water supply.”

  The Emerald’s hospitality team had been sharing water with the Catalina, but she doubted they’d stored enough to survive for long. She wished she’d taken inventory of the tanks before leaving the day before. Everyone had been distracted by the Flotilla. They’d become careless. Now she could imagine what was happening there. Rationing would kick in immediately. Growing thirst would lead to thin tempers. People would argue. Tension would descend on the ship like a power outage. Judith wasn’t very good at calming tension. Esther’s father was the one with that gift. She hoped he was safe.

  David tried again. “There’s nothing coming from the Catalina. Let’s give them some time to sort out their communications. I have to get to work. We’ll need to get the residents together to reassure them about the situation.”

  “I’ll stay here.”

  Esther hugged her legs tighter. Half her body was numb from sitting on the floor, but her heel still throbbed.

  David frowned, the tic visible in his jaw again. “You can’t do anything from here. And you won’t help anyone if your foot gets infected.”

  Reuben leaned back in his chair and smiled sadly at her. “When we hear from the Catalina, you’ll be the first to know.”

  She looked between him and David. She felt chilled and stiff. “Okay, fine. Thank you. Um, David? I need you to help me down.”

  Esther refused to make eye contact as David half carried her from the bridge.

  At the bottom, Esther allowed David to support her as they made their way down to the emergency medical clinic taking shape in the dinner theater. His arm was warm and solid around her, and once again she pushed away the memory of what they’d done the previous night.

  The fanciful mood of the previous evening had been replaced with pragmatism. Volunteers jumped at the orders of nurses, who were busy treating scrapes, twisted ankles, and a few nasty gashes. The room was alive with conversation as people tried to account for their friends and family and sort out what had happened. The storm had caught everyone completely off guard. It wasn’t unheard of for freak storms to rise without warning, but they’d grown complacent as their weather-monitoring technology improved. Some said it was like “the bad old days.” Still, there was a definite sense of purpose to everyone’s actions, a marked change from the indolent theater audience of the night before.

  Esther’s injury was mild compared to the ones some of the others had. A heavyset nurse with translucent blue eyes threaded five stitches through her heel, tying them off with practiced hands. Esther gritted her teeth against each pierce and pull of the needle. The nurse discarded David’s bloodied T-shirt in a growing pile of ruined clothing.

  “You won’t throw that away, will you?” Esther asked the nurse.

  “Course not, honey. We don’t waste anything around here.” She patted her on the arm. “You’re a brave one. Not a single squeal out of you.”

  She bustled off to help her colleague set a broken wrist.

  Esther looked around for David, but he had disappeared. She felt a twinge of disappointment, then stamped it down immediately. She hated feeling that she should rely on him, but she was in unfamiliar territory. The Galaxy residents drifted around her, talking over her head, exclaiming, crying. She didn’t know a single one. Eyes slid over her as soon as people registered she wasn’t a friend or even an acquaintance. She felt like a ghost, a remnant of the Catalina. A bone-deep weariness pulled at her, almost overwhelming her worry. She curled up on a plush red couch and succumbed to the fatigue.

  When Esther awoke, the atmosphere in the theater had calmed. She felt as stiff as a salt-washed pair of jeans, and her foot still throbbed. She looked around. Many of the other patients had made nests on the low red couches. Some talked quietly over tables that had been emptied of the dinnerware from the night before. A soft moan drifted from a patient laid out near the stage.

  Esther was surprised to see Paris Morgan carrying a bag filled with water bottles around the room. He still wore his glittering gold vest, hanging open now, and his gray curls were bedraggled. She sat up when he reached her.

  “And here’s some water for you. Food’ll be around soon,” he said, his voice almost as energetic as the night before.

  “Thank you, um, Paris?”

  He turned back. “Oh, it’s you! You were with Norman at the performance last night. Ella, is it?”

  “Esther.”

  “That’s right. Lovely name. What are you still doing on the Mist? Bit of sour luck?” He leaned against the table and set his bag down heavily.

  “More of a rotten decision last night.” She rubbed her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair a few times to smooth it down.

  “We’ve all been there, darling.” Paris surveyed the theater turned emergency clinic.

  “Do you know where Marianna is?” Esther asked. “I need to get in touch with the Catalina as soon as possible.”

  “She’ll be back home on the Crystal, I expect. I was caught unawares on the Mist myself last night. I figured I’d lend a hand.”

  “When will we meet up with the Crystal?”

  “Probably not till morning,” Paris answered. “It’s a bit of a hike to the rendezvous point. Do you have somewhere to stay?”

  Esther looked down at the red couch and thought of David’s stateroom the night before, of the feeling of his warm head resting on her chest. “I—”

  A voice rang across the theater, interrupting her: “Everyone, could I have your attention please?”

  David had taken the stage. He’d had time to dress properly and comb his hair. He looked sleek and distant again, like a stranger. Still, she wanted him to look at her, to meet her eyes. He scanned the crowd and said, “I’ve just made an announcement on deck, but I wanted to make sure you are all informed down here. I know everyone has had a terrible night, but let me reassure you that everything is under control. We are speeding toward the rendezvous point, and you will be reunited with your friends and family soon. I’m happy to report that all of the Galaxy cruise ships made it through the storm.”

  “What about the smaller ships and the crews on the cargo vessels?” a man shouted from the other side of the room.

  David handled the interruption smoothly.

  “All members of the Galaxy Flotilla will be doing their very best to return to the fold. I’ve been in touch with the captains and can personally assure you that they have acted in the interest of the entire Galaxy community throughout the crisis. Soon, we will repair the damage, learn from this experience, and in a short time our community will thrive again.”

  “That young man is too eloquent for his own good,” Paris mumbled.


  David leapt lightly from the stage and came straight toward them. Whispers followed in his wake.

  “Esther, glad to see you’re looking better,” David said. “Paris.” He nodded to the older man.

  “I see you know our young Catalinan. I was just inquiring as to whether she had a place to stay.” Paris turned to look at Esther. “We have space to rest behind the stage. It’s more private than these theater seats, if you’d like.”

  “I thought Esther could stay in my cabin for the time being,” David said. “It’ll be more comfortable than the powder room, I’m sure.”

  Paris raised a shapely eyebrow and opened his mouth.

  Esther broke in. “I don’t need to stay anywhere.” She was not going to let him decide where she stayed. It didn’t matter how nice he was about it. She’d let her guard down once. She wouldn’t do it again. “You talked to the other ships. What news of the Catalina?”

  David frowned. “I’m sorry. No one has heard from them yet.”

  “Well, what are you doing about it? Can we send a search party for them? They can’t have gone too far.”

  “The captains aren’t likely to agree to that,” David answered. He lowered his voice. “We’ve lost a number of the smaller vessels already, and the Luxe is in bad shape. She may not make it.”

  Esther raised an eyebrow. “You just said everything was fine.”

  David looked around, frustrated. “I don’t want people to panic, okay? Things are bad enough with all the injuries.”

  “You just stood up there and lied to everyone!” Esther said.

  “I didn’t lie exactly. I need to keep people calm. It’s my job.”

  “Did you even talk to the captains?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “Then I want to talk to them too,” Esther said. “I need you to get me a meeting with them so I can make sure someone is going after the Catalina.”

  She stood, and pain sliced through her foot, catching and intensifying around the stitches. She balanced on one leg.

  “It won’t work,” Paris put in, studying his fingernails. “They’re a bunch of heartless bastards.”

  “Hawthorne?” Esther said.

  David sighed. There was a tightness around his eyes that hadn’t been there the night before. “Paris is right, after a fashion. They’re unlikely to do anything to jeopardize any member of the Flotilla to help a stranger ship.”

  Blood rushed into Esther’s face. “But you’ve all been entertaining us for weeks! What about all this hospitality and ‘we’ll give you anything you need’ business? The Catalina sure as hell needs help now.”

  Even if they got a message through, the Catalina might not have enough fuel left to get back to the Galaxy. They were worse off now than after the desal system blew.

  “It’s not that simple,” David said.

  “Make it simple. I want to talk to the captains.”

  “I can’t do that, Esther.”

  “You spread their lies for them. You won’t at least let me see them?”

  She couldn’t believe him. He should be taking her side.

  “It won’t work.”

  “I’ll risk it,” Esther snapped.

  “They’ll say no.” David finally looked her in the eye, all emotion gone from his voice. “I know what they’re like. I’m their spokesman, remember?”

  Esther’s hands were shaking. She wanted to scream at him. “Are you going to help me or not?”

  “I can’t—”

  “Then we’re done talking. I won’t let my friends die of dehydration when I’m surrounded by more food, fuel, and water than you need here.”

  Esther pushed past him and started hobbling down the aisle of the theater. She clenched her jaw against the pain shooting through her foot.

  “Darling, I’m not saying Hawthorne’s right,” Paris said, easily keeping pace with her, “but you’ll at least need to wait until we reach the rendezvous. I happen to know that the Mist’s Captain Philippe was on the Crown last night. He stays in his rooms there whenever we have a performance because he doesn’t like the crowds.”

  She stopped, balanced on one foot, and studied him for a moment. Even if she couldn’t talk to the captains now, there were other things she could do. And she didn’t need David Hawthorne.

  “Paris, can you help me get some food and then get me down to your supply hold? I need to look for something.”

  At least she could establish whether the extra RO filters actually existed.

  Paris smiled. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Esther.” David had caught up with them and tried to speak again, but she cut him off.

  “Oh, and if you could show me where that powder room is too, I’d appreciate it.”

  Retrieving the filters from the storage hold did not prove as simple as Esther had hoped. Paris led her back down below the decks after a much-needed meal of a dense brown seaweed she wasn’t familiar with and grilled rockfish. Even in the midst of the crisis, she tasted a hint of butter on the fish. She hoped the goats had survived the storm.

  The passageway was dimmer than it had been the night before because only the emergency lights were on. Esther felt more at home as she hobbled, trailing her fingers along the rough patterns of the walls just as she did when she walked the passageways of the Catalina.

  The hatch to the supply hold wouldn’t budge. Esther slammed her good foot down onto it, trying to force it open. With each stomp, pain sliced into her injured foot. It felt like barnacles scraping against her heel.

  “You’ll hurt yourself that way,” Paris said, hovering nearby.

  He gave the hatch a delicate shove after looking up and down the passageway to make sure it was empty.

  “Something’s wedged against the door.”

  Esther stomped one more time, more out of frustration than anything else.

  “It’ll be chaos down there after last night.”

  Esther sat beside the hatch, resting her injured foot. “There has to be a loading dock somewhere,” she said, “an opening to the outside. There’s no way they brought everything in through this hatch. And there’s probably at least one other entrance inside the ship for fetching things while under way. It’ll be in the side of the hold. Can you take me down another level?”

  “Into the engine room?”

  For the first time, Esther felt a spark of hope. “Yeah, that’s perfect.”

  “As you wish, but we won’t go unnoticed,” Paris warned.

  He offered her his arm.

  “We’ll think of something,” Esther said as they hobbled back up the passageway.

  She was already getting a sense of the layout. It was easier to keep things in order now than it had been in the haze of last night. She didn’t allow herself to follow that line of thought any further.

  On the next level down, Paris motioned for her to be quiet. The corridor walls were blank, industrial in appearance. This was the working heart of the ship. They passed a row of rooms in the passageway, including one labeled Control Room, and arrived at a heavy steel door. A familiar rumbling came through it.

  Using just the tips of his fingers, Paris pushed open the door. The engine room was pristine. It hummed with thrusting pistons and rotating gears. Esther admired the machinery as they made their way gingerly along the metal catwalk. She imagined working here with a big, professional crew, directing maintenance and efficiency modifications. The crew, wearing matching uniforms, bent diligently over their poststorm maintenance checks.

  Esther scanned the walls for some sign of access to the hold.

  “You two can’t be in here!”

  A man pulled himself up onto their catwalk from the level below and stood in their path. His muscles bulged through his uniform, and his hair was shaved so short Esther couldn’t tell what color it was.

  “There’s dangerous machinery down here. Get lost.”

  “Excuse me, sir,” Paris said with a flourish. “This young lady needs access to the cargo hold. The up
per hatch is blocked. Would you be so kind as to step out of our way? We won’t be but a moment.”

  The big man eyed Esther’s disheveled skirt and scraggly hair. “You got authorization to access the hold?”

  “Not precisely, but you know how much time the bureaucracy takes around here.” Paris smiled ingratiatingly, but the man didn’t react. “I thought I’d let her have a quick look. No need to bother anyone upstairs.”

  “No authorization, no access.”

  “Listen,” Paris tried again. “This young lady is a survivor from the Catalina. She’s been left with nothing. Marooned on our fair ship! It would be harmless to share some of our surplus with her, don’t you think?”

  The big man crossed his arms. “What do you think this is, the Emerald? Get the hell out of my engine room. I have work to do.”

  Esther stepped forward. “Please, sir, I’m a mechanic. Maybe I could do some work around here in exchange—”

  “You think I give a shit? You’re no mechanic.” He leered at her rumpled skirt. “Now I’ll give you three seconds to get the hell out.”

  “We’ll find another way, Esther. Let’s go.”

  Paris tugged at her arm as she tried to stare down the big man. The elbows of his crossed arms were level with her face. Finally, she let Paris help her back along the catwalk.

  “And don’t think I won’t tell the captain you’re helping Catalinans steal from the hold, Morgan!” the big man shouted after them. He turned sharply. “Gordy, you blazing moron. You’re putting that in backwards.”

  He jumped back down to the next level, landing with a crash on the metal floor. Esther looked behind her as they left the engine room. She could have told Gordy he was doing that wrong. The heavy metal door clanged shut behind them.

  Chapter 20—Rendezvous

  AS THEY NEARED THE rendezvous point the next morning, all evidence of the catastrophic storm had vanished from the sky. The sun sparkled, as if to taunt them, and the water was as still as glass. The Galaxy Mist glided through the sea, but it couldn’t move fast enough for Esther.