by Jordan Rivet
“You didn’t want the galley job on the Lucinda?” Esther asked.
“I’m damn tired of scaling fish,” Sarita said. “Happy to let someone else handle it for a while.”
“We’re happy too.” Jackson came up beside her with a bowl in hand. “I remember your seaweed pasta too well.”
“Oh, go eat a blowfish,” Sarita snapped.
Jackson chuckled.
“You two gonna fight?” A third former Galaxian joined them. Wade had been an oilman like Jackson. Both big men in their late thirties, the two could have been related. Wade jerked his head in a casual nod to Esther. “This is some party.”
Sarita rolled her eyes. “Doesn’t take much to count as a party these days, does it?”
“Guess not,” Wade said. “I’m saving up my energy for when we get to land. I’m gonna get damn festive. I’ll run around in the dirt. Maybe go camping. What’re the chances I can find myself a truck?”
“Better than they are at sea,” Esther said. David passed them, heading for the hatch to go below. He noticed Esther talking to the former Galaxians and gave her the slightest nod. She turned to the trio. “So, how are your quarters?”
“Wade snores,” Jackson muttered.
“You got the lower bunk,” Wade said, chewing on a hunk of seaweed. “I won’t hear no rustin’ complaints from you.”
“It’s better than the tanker,” Jackson said. He picked a bright-purple sea urchin out of his bowl with his fingers. When he popped it in his mouth, Esther noticed he was missing a few teeth.
“True. True.”
“I’ll sleep like a baby no matter what,” Sarita said. “Lucinda runs easy, but I’m beat.”
“You wanna bunk with Wade then?” Jackson asked. “If it won’t bother you—”
“I’m good actually,” Sarita said quickly.
“We have a long voyage ahead of us,” Esther said. “Guess it’s best for everyone to get comfortable.”
“We’ve been on a near-seventeen-year voyage,” Jackson said. “We can handle five more days.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Wade said.
Esther spotted her father sitting with his back against the starboard railing. She left the group of Galaxians, and they put their heads together to talk more quietly as she walked away. She was sure they’d get to know each other much better as the journey progressed.
Esther joined her father and sat cross-legged beside him on the deck, balancing her bowl on her knee.
“I heard about our little stowaway.”
“Can’t believe she actually did it,” Esther said, shaking her head ruefully.
“I can,” Simon said. His legs were stretched out in front of him, and he set his empty bowl aside to massage his bad knee. “Don’t be mad at Cally, Esther. What’s done is done.”
“I’m not mad,” Esther said. “I just don’t want her to get hurt.”
Simon smiled. “Maybe now you’ll understand what I went through when you went off with the Harvesters a few months back.”
“Yeah. I am sorry about that.” Esther took a large bite of her pasta. She felt a crunch and spit out a piece of boiled prawn shell. “I would have been going crazy.”
David returned from belowdecks then with a tall bottle in his hand.
“Everyone,” he called. “I’ve been saving this for a special occasion. Got enough for a sip or two each. I want to propose a toast to the crew. Thanks for all your hard work so far. May we continue to have smooth sailing.”
“Hear, hear!” Luke shouted.
David twisted open the bottle and handed it to Luke first. He took a swallow and passed it to Zoe. The bottle made the rounds, and each crew member took a swig. Sarita handed it off to Ike Newton, who brought it over to Esther and her father. He plopped down on the deck beside them. Ike had a pale, earnest face, and Esther had always considered him the nicest of his brothers.
“I’ve never tasted alcohol before,” he said. “My mom says it’s from the devil.”
“I won’t tell if you don’t,” Simon said.
Ike grinned nervously, then tipped the bottle back and took a swig. He nearly spit out the drink but managed to choke it down, eyes watering. He handed the bottle off to Esther with a grimace.
Esther looked at the label. It was cola. Her father winked at her. Ike was still making faces and shaking his head. She took a sip of the warm, flat beverage and passed it on.
The evening was cool. The ship rocked gently. The sun hadn’t set, so Cody got out his dice to get a game going while they still had a bit of light. Cally darted around the deck collecting empty bowls and introducing herself to the few crew members she didn’t already know. Luke jogged over to Esther, her father, and Ike.
“Simon,” he said, “me, Jackson, and Wade are gonna race around the deck. You in?”
“Sorry, son. My knee can’t handle it.”
“What happened to you anyway?” Luke said. “Old age?”
“Careful,” Simon said dryly.
“Yeah, you’ve had a limp for ages,” Ike said. “But I don’t think I’ve ever heard the story.”
“It was about six years after we moved onto the Catalina. Esther was twelve years old at the time, so you would have been around ten—is that right?”
“Yes, sir,” Ike said.
“It happened the day we almost blew up the Catalina.”
“Blew it up?” Luke said. “Sounds like a story.” He waved Zoe over and shouted for Cody to pause his dice game. Jackson and Wade drifted over too. Soon a little knot of people had formed around Simon.
“I was heading up the leadership council on the Catalina at the time,” Simon began. “In those days there was still plenty of salvage floating on the sea. One day we happened upon an abandoned navy ship. I don’t know what happened to its crew, but it was listing badly and most of its munitions were gone. We couldn’t use the ship itself, so we stripped it for materials. While we were at it, we found two crates of explosives in the hold.”
“That never ends well,” Jackson said.
“Tell me about it.” Simon shifted around to ease his knee. A few more crew members had joined the little crowd. “The plan was to lift the explosives up to the deck using our lifeboat winch. It’s not really my area, but the fishing crew was out, and Reggie needed an extra pair of hands. We had some retired navy men on the Catalina who oversaw the operation, but they were a bit too old to help with the manual labor. Well, I probably wasn’t the right choice either. One minute I’m on the other ship attaching the crate to the winch. Next thing I know, the ship sinks right out from underneath me. I jumped up to grab the crate and ended up swinging from the thing. As I tried to get a better grip, my movement made the crate swing harder. Of course, the rest of the crew had the good sense to jump into the water when the navy vessel sank. I realized pretty quickly that I was going to swing this box full of explosives right into our hull.”
“Shit,” Luke said.
“Yeah. I had no choice but to scramble onto the crate and get my legs between it and the Catalina. One collision at the wrong angle and we could have sparked the explosives and blown a hole in our home. I was agile enough at the time that I managed to clamber onto the crate and get my legs between it and the ship. Took the full impact on my right leg, but it kept the thing away from the Catalina. After a few kicks against the hull, I managed to slow the crate enough that Reggie could get control and pull it aboard. By that time my leg was pretty banged up, not to mention the rope-burned hands and pulled shoulder.”
“Ouch,” Ike said.
“Rope burn’s the worst,” Wade growled.
“Have to disagree,” Simon said. “The shattered knee was pretty terrible—and permanent. On land I’d have gotten surgery and probably been right as rain, but at sea . . .” Simon gestured to his leg. He’d lived with the limp for a decade. “I was stuck in the clinic for over two months. Judith took care of things around the ship for me while I was incapacitated.”
“And she used
that time to get people on her team,” Esther muttered.
“That was convenient for her, yes,” Simon said. “She laid the groundwork for her big coup then.”
“And I bet you never even used the explosives,” Cody said.
Simon chuckled. “Not until earlier this year when we encountered the Orchid.”
“That was creepy,” Ike said. “That’s the biggest ship I’ve ever seen sink. It was like watching the Catalina go down.”
Esther glanced at him. She had felt the same way as the Orchid sank beneath the surface. It had been a strange sort of chill, almost like a premonition.
“Wait a minute, the Orchid?” Jackson said, rubbing a hammy hand against his chin. “She a big cruise ship?”
“Yes,” Simon said. “You knew her?”
“I’ll say,” Jackson said. “The Orchid was the talk of the Galaxy for months. She was our quarantine ship.”
“What?” Esther looked around for David. He stood at the back of the group, listening intently to the discussion. She had never mentioned the Orchid to him, the ship they sank so it couldn’t spread disease to them. That encounter had taken place just days before they met. She should have made the connection.
“There was an outbreak of some virus on the Galaxy,” Sarita explained. “It was vicious. Killed ninety percent of the people who got it.”
“They say the Orchid brought it in the first place,” Wade said.
“You buy that?” Jackson said. “That was a captain’s lie I’ll wager.”
“Why don’t we ask him?” Wade said roughly. “Mr. Captain’s Lies himself.”
The group parted as everyone turned to David, united in their accusing glares. This probably wasn’t the kind of bonding he’d had in mind for the crew. Esther had thought the Galaxians were long past their suspicions of David. He had proven himself to be on their side more than once.
“Actually,” David said smoothly, “the Orchid did bring the disease. Did you ever hear of anyone getting it before they arrived?”
“I guess not,” Wade mumbled.
“It was a sad situation, but we had to cut her loose or risk infecting everyone on the Galaxy. The disease was far too contagious. I’m glad you sank her.”
“Judith insisted,” Simon said. “I’d have tried to help the people on board. But sometimes being a leader means making tough choices and understanding when things are out of your hands.” He met Esther’s eyes. “We all do the best we can.”
An awkward silence fell on the crew. The Galaxians still looked at David suspiciously. Ike’s brow was furrowed. Luke seemed to be at a loss for words. Zoe fidgeted with her pocketknife.
That’s when Cally barreled into their midst. “Come to port quick! You guys have to see this!”
The awkwardness snapped like a broken anchor line as everyone followed Cally, drawn by her excitement. She dashed back to the opposite side of the ship. Esther offered her father a hand to help him to his feet, and they followed. The crew gathered around Cally, lining up on either side of her to lean over the railing.
“What is it?”
“What are we looking for?”
“Shh!” Cally said. “You have to watch.”
They stared out at the rippling water. The setting sun cast a muted glow across the sea.
“I don’t see anything,” Cody said.
Cally slapped him on the shoulder to get him to be quiet.
The whole crew waited, holding their breath as one. Then the water rippled about a hundred yards from the Lucinda. It spun like a whirlpool, swirling around and making the sunlight dance across its peaks like fire.
“Are those fish?”
The churn intensified. Silvery creatures began to leap from the boiling water frantically, as if they hoped to take flight and escape the sea.
“I know what this is . . .” Simon began.
Then a massive shape erupted out of the water. A huge mouth closed around the leaping fish. Esther gasped. An instant later a dozen more mouths rose out of the sea, capturing the fish in one huge gulp after another. Their domed shapes glided up, sharp against the sky, before sinking down together. Whales. They had come upon a pod of whales.
“Those are humpbacks,” Sarita said, her voice hushed and reverent.
“I’ve never seen them this far south,” Wade said.
The whales circled around, swimming just beneath the surface and blowing massive spouts of water into the sky. Their bodies glistened in the dying sunlight.
“They’re the biggest ones I’ve ever seen,” Cally said. “Aren’t they beautiful?”
Esther didn’t answer. She didn’t have to. The crew watched, entranced, as the pod swam near the surface for a few minutes, holding them captive. The creatures’ backs were the glistening silvery black of iron. The biggest whale came nearer to the Lucinda and rolled sideways, revealing its pale underside to the watching crew. Its large black eye surveyed them, uncurious and unafraid. Then it flipped downward and dove. Water slid over its hump and down its magnificent length. At the last moment its huge tail rose upward into the sky, waved at them, and sank into the sea.
The other whales followed, arching down into the depths, their tail fins flipping upward in a final farewell. Then as quickly as they had appeared, the whales were gone.
No one moved on the deck of the Lucinda. They waited respectfully as the churning waters calmed, smoothing out to a gentle roll.
The sun had reached the horizon. A cool wind began to blow. The crew drew a little closer together, borrowing each other’s warmth, as they waited for the last threads of daylight to sink into the sea.
Chapter 10—Old Friends
ON THE THIRD DAY of the expedition, Zoe’s voice crackled through the intercom while Esther was on duty in the engine room. “There’s a ship on the satellite phone asking for you, Esther.”
“I’m on my way.”
Esther had continued fielding questions about her generator system throughout the voyage, as expected. Another ship must have heard about her. She jogged up to the pilothouse, where Zoe manned the communications. David winked at her from the helm.
Esther picked up the microphone attached to the satellite call system. “Esther Harris here.”
“This is Captain Boris of the Galaxy Flotilla. How is our young mechanic these days?”
“Salt, it’s Boris,” Esther said, putting a hand over the mic. David stiffened. “Where did this call come from, Zoe?”
“They were broadcasting a request for contact with the Lucinda. When we identified ourselves, they asked if you were aboard,” Zoe said. “Sorry, I thought it would be another tech question.”
Esther cleared her throat. “Hello, Boris. It’s been a while.”
“I understand you’re still sailing my stolen ship,” Boris said. Esther didn’t answer. “How are you enjoying the little beauty?”
“What do you want?”
“You, as a matter of fact. I was rather annoyed when you stole my very favorite ship, not to mention my friend David Hawthorne.”
“You killed Paris,” Esther said. The image of her friend dropping over the side of the destroyer HMS Hampton sprung to Esther’s mind. She saw the swing of a lifeboat against the ship’s iron side as Paris fell into it headfirst. Her heart had crumpled at the certainty that he couldn’t have survived. And Paris had done nothing but help them.
“You stole my ship,” Boris said. “Now, as it happens you also recently provided us with an invaluable tool. You may remember escaping from my destroyer with a bit too much ease. The destroyer was operating on inferior fuel under inferior command. Recently, however, we’ve installed a rather ingenious algae biofuel system.”
Shit. Esther should have known it was only a matter of time before her design made it into Boris’s hands. She didn’t know he held such a grudge, though.
“The destroyer runs quite well now,” Boris said, his voice dripping with contempt. “It would give me great pleasure to blow you out of the water, but I do want my sh
ip back.”
“We’re not with the Catalina,” Esther said quickly. “If you hurt her, it won’t get you any closer to your ship.”
“And where, pray tell, are you now?”
“On our way to California,” Esther blurted out. She had to keep the destroyer as far from the Catalina and Lucinda as possible. “You’ll have to look for us there if you want your ship back.”
“You expect me to believe you?”
“Ask anyone. We’ve been planning this voyage for ages—to Los Angeles. Come and get us.”
Esther put the microphone back on the console and turned it off.
“That’s not going to work,” David said.
“As long as they know we’re not with the Catalina, it doesn’t matter.” Esther’s heart raced. She should have known Boris wasn’t finished with them. “Zoe, can you get in touch with Neal and tell him they need to move again? They can’t tell people their location until we get back to protect them. The Catalina is vulnerable without the Lucinda and her weapons.”
“On it.”
“What do you think, David? Is Boris bluffing?” Esther asked.
“You can’t trust anything he says.” David frowned and looked out at the horizon. “The real question is whether he has enough contacts on the satellite network to find out where we really are. Zoe?”
“Only if Marianna helps him,” Zoe said. “I can’t see her doing that.” Marianna had been Paris’s wife.
“Good, but I think he has something else up his sleeve,” David said. “He didn’t accomplish anything with that phone call except to warn us to be on our guard. Boris doesn’t make that kind of mistake.”
“Could he do something with the system while we were on the line?” Esther asked. “Rig it to track our movements somehow?”
“Hmm. You might be onto something,” David said.
“I’ll look into it,” Zoe said. “Neal should know whether that’s possible. We may want to stay off the phone for a while.”
“I shouldn’t have answered,” Esther said.
“Can’t help it now.”
Something else bothered Esther about the exchange. She turned to David. “Why didn’t Boris ask to talk to you?”