by S. M. Welles
Sauna and two tall men awaited me at the bottom of the stairs. Both recruits were taller than me, had sculpted bodies, pale skin, and black hair. At first glance, I thought I was looking at twins, but then I noticed that the man on the left was bulkier than the other and had brown eyes. The leaner one had green eyes. Both looked like they could hold their own in a fight. They carried swords on their hips, in addition to duffle bags slung over their shoulders. The presence of their swords was already a step up from the two good men I’d lost. Still, no one could replace Jersey and Mike; only pick up where they left off.
“Captain,” Sauna said, “This is Ed and Ted.”
Both men waved and said hello in voices an octave higher than I’d anticipated. Oh, boy. My crew was growing quirkier as of late. I wondered how Ed and Ted would react once they eventually stumbled in on Sauna entertaining himself. Then again, maybe he’d be more discreet with them around. That would be an improvement.
“Hello. I’m Captain Dyne Lavere.” I shook hands with both of them. “So why do you want to work for the Pertinacious?”
Ed, the leaner one, spoke. “We need work back on the ocean. The land life doesn’t suit us. We tried the mills but it’s just not the same.”
“Yeah,” Ted agreed.
“So what happened to your last job before the mills?”
Ted said, “The captain just ignored us when we told him the prop shaft was cracked and needed replacing. Said it’d hold.”
Grinning, Ed said, “Never said for how long.” They both laughed. “But the boat scraped out a whole two weeks, then bam. The shaft shattered and tore up the engine room. The prop slid off and the boat sank, ass first.”
“We were lucky to get out alive.”
“Yeah,” Ed said.
I said, “Where’d you go down?”
“Two hundred yards from shore. Florida Keys.”
“Such a shame,” Ted said, no remorse in his voice.
“Yeah. Oh, well. He got what he deserved for not listening to us.”
“Well I take much better care of my ship,” I said, fully aware of how ragged, dented, and patched her exterior was. The interior was kept to a far higher standard. If I didn’t, I’d have ended up like Mr. Keys long ago. “She just needs a paint job. I’ll have Sauna show you below deck if we get that far.” She was in dire need of a paint job. I was fond of my dents—the patches not so much—but it all gave her character. “Well, we’ve covered your mechanical experience satisfactorily enough. Tell me about your fighting skills. This is a dangerous job.”
“We know,” the both said.
Ted, the bulkier one, said, “We’ve got some battle scars.” He pulled up his sleeve and showed a chunk missing from his shoulder. Ed lifted his shirt a little, showing a scar right over a kidney. That was a dangerously close one. They straightened out their t-shirts and leather vest jackets.
“So you can survive,” I said. “That’s one half the battle. Care to demonstrate your fighting skills?”
“On each other?” Ed said, looking eager to prove himself.
“Nah. Put your stuff down. Swords too.” I crossed to the weapon box sitting up against my wheelhouse and drew out two wood practice swords. “Sauna, go get Sam and Jessie.”
Sauna ran to the stern and shouted for Sam, then waved Jessie over, who was hovering near Sam.
I held out a sword. “I don’t care who goes first. Sam’s of average skill. If you can put up a good fight against him, then you’ll be competent enough to have a long life on my ship.”
“Fair enough,” Ted said, taking the wooden blade.
“You are one of the most successful captains out there,” Ed said. “You have a lot of people who’d love to see your ship at the bottom of the ocean.”
“Do you share that view?” I asked earnestly. It was a fair question, but it was fun to catch people off guard. It made both men flinch. Their reaction made it obvious it hadn’t crossed their minds to hate me, but I’d let them speak for themselves.
“Course not!” Ed said. “We don’t wish harm on anyone. We fight only when we have to.”
“We’re mechanics; not killers,” Ted said.
“Good to hear.” I believed them both. I’d hire them if they passed the last two tests.
Sauna jogged over with Sam and Jessie right behind him. Sam was somewhere around forty, his sandy hair still free of grey, and his skin was tanned, hardened, and wrinkled from a life of working under the sun.
“Men, this is Sam,” I said, gesturing to my cargo pusher. “Sam, this is Ed and Ted, our prospective techies.” The men greeted each other. I held out a sword to Sam, who took it and marched over to some open space on the deck. Ted joined him and they formally crossed swords. Jessie stood in my peripheral, looking quite confused.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Job interview.”
Ted went on the attack, testing Sam’s defenses for weak spots. Sam had solid defense, but was a bit stronger guarding his left. After thirty seconds of Ted going purely on the attack, he seemed to have figured that out, too. He kept circling Sam, but my cargo pusher used well-practiced footwork to keep Ted where he wanted him. Ted began frowning as he concentrated, trying to get inside Sam’s defenses. They tangled up a couple of times, but they both pushed each other away each time.
After the third tangle and push, Ted ran back in with an overhead flourish. Sam raised his sword, opening himself for the kick that followed. He reflexively doubled over. Ted pretended to decapitate him, then patted him on the shoulder. “You alright, Sam?”
Sam straightened up and nodded. “Yeah. Lemme catch my breath real quick.”
Ted handed his sword off to Ed. Great start so far. Both men had made each other work. This would be interesting to see how much faster Ed could move with less muscle to throw around.
Ed stood with his sword ready and his free hand behind his back, his feet defensively close but ready to spring to action. “Let me know when you’re ready.”
Sam popped him a glare to cover his injured pride. He lunged, sword leading the way.
I thought Sam had him, but Ed sidestepped the frontal assault, spun in place, and horizontally mock-slashed Sam across his back. A real blow would’ve severed anyone’s spine.
Sam heaved a sigh. “Well that was embarrassingly quick.” He turned around, switched sword hands, and exchanged a handshake with both interviewees. “Will that be all, Captain?”
“Yes. Go finish helping load the boat.”
Sam collected Ed’s sword and stowed both weapons in the crate, then walked off while rubbing his stomach.
I looked at Ed and Ted, who both wore confident smiles. “I have one last question for both of you. Do you have reservations against being on a ship with a woman on board?”
They both gave me looks that said they thought I was an idiot for asking that, then they faced Jessie and bowed.
“Not at all,” Ted said.
Ed drew closer and held out a hand. Jessie hesitated. Fear played across her face, wiping Ed’s smile away. “What’s wrong, hun?”
She studied him a moment, then realization played across her face. She visibly relaxed. “Nothing. I’m Jessie.” She offered her hand.
“Ed.” He took her hand in both of his and kissed it.
“And I’m Ted.” He took a turn kissing her hand as well. She didn’t flinch or start flailing. Good. Maybe they’d straighten out Sauna and make Jessie feel safer and more welcome.
“I think we’ll get along like peas in a pod,” Ed said merrily. “So will you take us, Captain?”
I pretended to consider the question, just a subtle reminder of who was in control of the situation. Things had to happen at my pace; not anyone else’s. It was a trick I learned back in my youth while training to become a skipper. “Yes you are. We’ll take care of the paperwork on land. Do you have any questions before I take care of other business?”
A loud metallic crash and snapping of wood shot through the salty air,
followed by men crying out. I looked for the decrepit crane, which was nowhere in sight. My stomach dropped. The five of us rushed to starboard side. Rammus and Mido were pulling up shards of planks that used to be the dock. Jacobi’s screams came from beneath the mess. I clenched my teeth at the amount of pain carried in his cries for help.
Heedless of my safety, along with who was watching, I vaulted over the side of my ship and hit the broken deck at a roll and popped to my feet. The landing hurt, but all my injuries would be erased in a few days. Now, if only my curse gave me super strength, I’d be all set.
I ran to the mess of wood and metal and helped clear debris. “Jacobi, where are you?” My right ankle felt sprained but whatever. The pain was nothing compared to my cargo pusher’s plight. How the heck was he even alive and yelling?
“I’m right here! Get the damn crane off me!”
“Sauna, go find Cancer and bring him here!” The Dominican disappeared.
The crane had crashed right through a small crate and the dock holding it up. The dock surrounding the impact site formed a hazardous crater. I spied a patch of bloody flesh near the middle and yelled for everyone’s attention and pointed. Seven of us gathered around the top half of the broken crane and wedged our hands under it. Together we heaved the crane up a few inches. An eighth person slid down and grabbed Jacobi, then pulled him out from under everything. He screamed and swore at his rescuer. We let go of the crane, which made the dock sink more on impact. I helped the dock worker carry Jacobi out of the mess and set him on his back on stable dock space.
Jacobi was drenched in bloody seawater and his right thigh was kinked at an unnatural angle. My insides squirmed. Blood I could handle. Unnatural skeletal compositions? Not so much. He was bleeding from his head and shoulder, but everything was attached and his voice sounded devoid of fluid.
Cancer arrived with a medical bag in one hand. I ordered my cargo pushers to salvage what they could from the shattered crate, which had been full of fuel pellets for the engine. They were compacted wood soaked in a chemical that made them burn nice and hot, and not too fast. Rammus and Mido began collecting the dryer pellets in mesh sacks but kept glancing at Jacobi. Sauna, Ed, Ted, and Jessie watched from the railing.
Cancer checked Jacobi’s vitals, then tended to his cuts and assed the other injuries. He relieved us all with new that he had no concussion and had gotten away with just bruised ribs. The cuts weren’t deep enough for sutures. His leg would need to be set and bound.
Jacobi said, “It’s that bitch. Get her off the ship. She’s bad luck! First Jersey and Mike, then Scully, and now me. She doesn’t belong with us!”
I looked up in time to see Jessie run off. Ed and Ted ran off, hopefully to chase after her. Sauna hesitated before chasing after the rest. I knelt over Jacobi. “I would punch you right now if you weren’t terribly injured.” I wanted to tell him the real reason she was on my ship, but the truth would only make matters worse. We were already reeling from the loss of our two techies. They didn’t need my curse thrown in with it. I spoke in a deadly calm voice. “You will show her more respect or I will fire you right now.”
“That would be more of a threat if you’d get rid of a particular weapon you’re carrying.”
He almost had me there. “And your threat would carry more weight if you didn’t have a broken leg.” I rapped his swelling leg with a knuckle. He cried out and reached for his leg. “Right now she’s far more useful than you, which puts you in no position to bargain until you’ve healed. Chances are she’ll be back home before you’re walking again. So shut up and put up.”
His grey eyes watered with hurt. I’d just sucker-punched his pride. “Yes, Captain,” he said submissively.
I turned my glare on Cancer. Right before my three-hour rest, Rammus, who’d been informed by Mido, had warned me about the doc’s dislike of having a woman aboard. Cancer met my gaze, then looked down. I was almost disappointed he didn’t try to put up a verbal fight. I felt in the mood for a fight, even though it would accomplish nothing.
“I heed your wishes, Captain.” He injected local anesthesia into Jacobi’s leg. I stormed off before the sight of watching a bone get reset could make me vomit. I headed for the dock house, a squat wood hut with a huge solar panel on top, and slammed the door open.
A man sitting at a desk looked up from his paperwork.
I paused, taken aback by this mousy man’s obliviousness to the ruckus outside. “Did you not just hear that crash? I need to speak to the person in charge. Your crane almost killed one of my crew.”
Cremation would have to wait until the dust from this mess settled.
Chapter 8
Adopted
Jessie balled herself up as small as she could in the bunk she’d claimed last night. First Cancer, and now that guy who’d nearly been crushed to death. How long before they beat and raped her? She’d seen hungry looks in Sauna, the Dominican. He wouldn’t stay away from her forever.
She didn’t feel like crying; just getting away. But Port Chesapeake was way too rich and far from home to meet her needs. Her best bet was to hide out on Dyne’s ship until Morocco. Bodyguard was definitely out of the question. Why should she guard men who hated and disrespected her? But… if she didn’t do that, then what else did Dyne have in mind to work off her new attire?
For a whole second she thought of giving everything back, but that’d leave her naked. So no, really bad idea there. She’d keep everything, even her boots. There was no way she was dumpster diving back the clothes she’d been freed from.
Footsteps thumped down a flight of stairs and drew closer, but more muffled once they hit the thin carpeting.
“Jessie!” Ted’s deeper voice called out.
“Hun, where are you?” Ed yelled.
It was unmistakably them. No one else had their girly-sounding voices.
“She probably went this way,” Sauna’s accented voice said.
Jessie scrunched up further. She should’ve picked a better hiding spot. Her heart began pounding as three sets of boots stopped outside her cabin room. She held her breath and scolded herself for not having at least buried herself under the blankets. That might have made it possible for them to overlook her.
No one moved or said anything. It was dead quiet and the boat dead still. Jessie was almost certain they could hear her heart pounding against her ribcage.
“I’m not going in there, amigos. She hits hard. You saw the captain’s face, no?”
“That was her?” Ed said.
“Yeah.”
“Oh, my. What did he do to deserve that?”
“He just touched her. Mido got beat up too. She don’t like being touched. She was with some real bad men before us. She’s pretty, but I’m leaving her alone like Captain said.”
“We’ll take over from here then,” Ted said.
“Yeah. By the way, where are our bunks?”
Sauna laughed nervously. “This room. Take good care of them. Jersey and Mike were good people and techies.”
Jessie’s heart leapt out of her chest and she began feeling lightheaded. How stupid of her to assume she’d have three bunks to herself all the way home.
“Okay, thanks,” Ed said weakly. “We’ll grab our stuff off the main deck once we get her calmed down.”
“Bueno suerte.” One pair of boots ran off, then all fell dead silent again.
Jessie started sweating all over from anticipation. Even though she knew Ed and Ted were gay, they were still men, still had the same equipment. But…
“So what do we do?” Ed asked.
“There a stick or something anywhere? I don’t wanna get punched.”
“Lemme look.”
Feet shuffled away and objects got moved around. With the silent grace of a cat, Jessie snuck to the foot of the bed and curled up into a ball against the storage cabinet wall blocking the bottom third of each bunk. She wedged her head away from the curtain draped across the other two thirds. She pulled the top blanket o
ver her legs and torso and hoped it’d be enough to keep her in the shadows. The wood framing pressed against her elbow and shoulder, and her legs started cramping.
“This’ll work,” Ed said from one cabin over.
“Oh, nice.”
“You want the honors?”
“No, thanks.”
Ed huffed. Footsteps trudged back into Jessie’s cabin. She heard a loud click, then saw a line of light lance into her hiding place between the cabinet and curtain. A second line of light shined on the unkempt pillow and illuminated the head of the bed. Good thing she’d moved.
“Maybe she’s not even in here,” Ed said. “She could’ve gone anywhere on the ship.”
“Jessie?” Ted called out. “Please let us know where you are. We mean you no harm. We just want to cheer you up.”
“Yeah, don’t listen to that grump and his silly superstition.”
Both fell silent. Jessie held her breath and kept still, every last muscle taught and on the verge of shaking. The arm propping her up on an elbow was afire with strain. She willed them to go away.
Ed calling her name out at the top of his lungs made her jump. She smacked her head and a shoulder on the underside of the bunk above her, let out a yelp, then clamped a hand over her mouth. Both men gasped.
“Which bunk was that?” Ed asked.
“I don’t know. I’m just gonna pick one.” His voice sounded like he didn’t like his own idea.
Feet shuffled closer. Ed let out a fearful whine. The curtain swayed from being poked, Ed let out a strangled whimper, and the curtain fell still. “God, this is so scary.”
They both laughed nervously.
Jessie blinked and let go of the tension in her aching limbs. Them scared of her? And here she was curled up and feeling terrified of them, two big men. Why on Earth would they be frightened of her? She had plenty of reasons to be frightened of them, but them her? She almost laughed aloud.
The curtain swayed from getting poked a second time. Then the rubber tip of a metal rod slipped under the curtain and raised one corner.