Elemental Origins: The Complete Series

by A. L. Knorr

  "The Novak family was thrown into turmoil. The young Michal found himself without mother, father, or brother. And, further to the tragedy, the company was at great risk. Mattis' father Emun Sr had long been retired and was advanced in years. Two sisters of Emun's and their husbands, who were also elderly, stepped in. They abandoned their own lives to keep the shipping company from going under. The family shared the responsibility of running the company until Michal was old enough to finally take the wheel. Four heads in charge and none of them schooled in business, it was a very volatile time, and until Michal was in his twenties and able to run things, the company was always on the brink of collapse."

  "I can imagine," said Micah. "My father can't make toast without my mother telling him he's doing it wrong, running a company with family must be a nightmare." Everyone laughed.

  "Exactly, when everyone is in charge, no one is in charge," Martinius nodded. "The experience of the disaster pushed my ancestors to set an agreement. From then on, as soon as children were old enough to walk they were being groomed to take over. Executives were brought in to share the burden and learn the company's ways so that should someone ever find themselves in Michal's shoes, they would have the support they needed until they were ready to lead. They vowed never to be caught unprepared for the loss of their President again. There was too much at stake."

  "By the time Michal was married and his wife Saffi had given birth to my grandfather Jan, the company exceeded its prior growth. It has since been recognized by many of the Scandinavian and European governments for its contributions over the last 168 years. Its story is one of the phoenix rising from the ashes.

  "Not a single Novak ancestor has forgotten about the loss of The Sybellen. Since then, the company has set a budget aside every year to be spent on her search. With our success, the budget has grown too. We notified all of the port countries and their naval forces, in case anything was ever found by a third party."

  "Why was it so important to find her?" I asked. Normally I wouldn't have said anything in a room full of my mother's colleagues, but curiosity got the best of me.

  "Well, aside from having a cargo full of valuable and imperishable goods which would only be more valuable today, the ship has become a sort of holy grail for the Novaks. Finding her became an obsession, starting with Michal and passed down. In a way, I think finding her would mean putting the ghosts of Mattis, Sybellen, and Emun Jr to rest, along with all the sailors who were lost. It is a relief that the search ends with me," Martinius added, emotion wavered in his voice.

  "Why is that?" Simon asked.

  Martinius paused, as though he wasn't sure if he wanted to answer. Then he took a breath and said, "Because I no longer have an heir to carry on the search."

  Looks were shared around the table. I glanced at my mom and even she had a look of surprise on her face. So, Martinius had had an heir at one point. I wondered what had happened to him or her.

  "Novak has always been a family business," he continued. “My own father, Ludwik, passed when I was only fifteen. I've been controlling the company for most of my life. Thankfully, I had a wonderful relationship with my grandfather. Jan loved to regale me with stories of the early days when the company was young and always seemed to be on the edge of oblivion. But he also taught me everything I know about the shipping business.

  "In the middle of the twentieth century, the search for The Sybellen captured the public's imagination. Her story was published in every newspaper and nautical journal that covered the Baltic and the North Sea. Donations poured in from our contemporaries. Everyone wanted to see her found and got caught up in the mania."

  "Like The Titanic," added Tyler.

  Martinius nodded, "Yes precisely, and just as happened with The Titanic, time passed and the attention faded away. The Sybellen was forgotten. We remained faithful, whether the public cared or not. And every year we've exhausted the budget without success. Until last year.

  "We received a tip from the British Navy who, while searching for a wreck of their own, stumbled across a mysterious vessel sitting upright on the ocean floor. It was a three-masted barkentine of the same era as The Sybellen. The most incredible thing was that it's less than 30 miles off-shore.

  "We spent the remainder of our budget scouting the wreck, taking as many sonar readings and photographs with underwater robots as we could. I wanted to be sure it really was our Sybellen before we poured money into salvage activities."

  "How did you conclude that it really was her?" asked Simon. "Identification can be a tough thing, even in less salty waters. Did you find the bell?" Heads around the table turned with interest.

  "We haven't found the bell, but everything else about the ship lines up with The Sybellen. It's the right size, it had three masts, and it's the right age. I had the team take images of the ship's wheel, as I knew it to have a unique design unlike others of the same era. It was a match."

  "Remarkable," murmured Micah. "Remember that job in the BVI's?" he asked, looking at Simon and Tyler.

  "Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing," said Simon. "We had to identify a wreck by the wheel once too. It's not common, but it can be done."

  "What age was this wreck?" asked Martinius, curious.

  Tyler squinted, remembering. "She was what... 1890?" he said, looking at Micah for confirmation.

  Micah nodded, "1896."

  "Oh, well done," said Simon. "We've done so many now I can't keep all of the dates straight."

  "Were the spindles of the wheel by any chance-" started Martinius.

  "Designed to look like Celtic knots?" finished Micah.

  Martinius' eyebrows shot up. "How interesting, are you able to share the documents for that wreck?

  Simon nodded, "Yes, that one is public domain."

  "I would love to see them." Martinius continued. "So, I took the decision to bring in a professional dive team, the best I could find. We have many accomplished teams in Poland, of course, but Antoni and I spent many hours personally researching the performance of salvage teams from all over the world. Your team is small, but it's appeared in nautical news continuously for your remarkable work. And that's what led us to call you." He gestured to Simon with this last statement.

  The table was quiet for a time. My mother finally broke the silence with a question that had probably occurred to everyone at the table, but no one was bold enough to ask. “Who will succeed you then?"

  I could have kicked her. Simon closed his eyes in embarrassment and Micah dropped his gaze to his dessert plate. Tyler buried his face in his wineglass.

  Martinius blinked at her question but recovered quickly. "With the passing of my only son..." he began, quietly. "Well, let's just say my legal team and I meet regularly to discuss this issue, and as of yet, it remains unresolved. I have a selection of Novak executives in place should something unexpected happen to me." Martinius steepled his fingers and appeared dissatisfied. That was fair; for the first time ever, the company would pass to those outside of the Novak family.

  My darling mother, not gifted with any social graces whatsoever, took the opportunity to make things even more awkward. "What happened to your boy?" She at least asked this with a modicum of sympathy in her voice.

  "A degenerative blood condition that we'd known about since his birth finally got the better of him, I'm afraid. We did everything we could to increase his chances for a long life, but it seemed God had other ideas. My wife is also no longer with us. The loss of our child proved too much for her to bear." This speech was delivered plainly, although the topic must have been extremely painful for Martinius.

  Another hush descended, which was again broken by my mother. "What about Antoni?"

  I shot my mother a look of horror. I wanted to slap my palm to my forehead but I held back.

  "Mira," Simon said under his breath.

  I was relieved when Martinius laughed. "It's quite all right, Simon. I'll be sure to take him into consideration."

  The tension was broken w
ith his chuckle and some of the men took the opportunity to ask Martinius more details about the wreck. Before long, the men moved into an adjoining room to talk. Mom gave me a kiss on the forehead and went with them.

  I was happy to head back to the suite as I felt very full and wanted to relax. I made my way back through the windowed hallway which was now barely lit with the glow of sundown when I saw Antoni's broad-shouldered shape coming down the main staircase.

  "How was dinner?" he asked, as we met in the foyer. He had a stack of file folders in his arms.

  "It was great. Martinius seems... great," I said, feeling lame.

  "He is. Did he tell you about The Sybellen? How long we've been looking for it?" He had such an open expression. It was difficult not to like him.

  "Yeah, it's a pretty amazing story."

  "We're very excited that you guys are here. So, Martinius told me to show you around, did you want me to take you out to Gdańsk sometime? Or perhaps, show you some of the best beaches?" He held my gaze very directly, an anticipatory smile on his face.

  "Yeah, that would be nice. Thank you, Antoni." I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about being assigned a chaperone but he seemed like he'd make good company. I agreed to meet him the next day after breakfast.

  I mused to myself as I made my way back to our suite. I was going to be spending some time with a very handsome twenty-something. True to form, I was more excited about seeing my friends' reactions to a photo of him than actually spending time with him.

  Chapter 11

  Much to my surprise, Antoni and I ended up spending time together every day that week. I barely saw Mom since she was stuck in meetings with the team every day. She fell into bed complaining that men talk too much. I don't know if it was because she was bored with the tedium of analytics or if spending her time in a room full of guys who both desired and detested her sapped her energy.

  Although the temperatures were warm, we had cloudy skies and sprinklings of rain all week so we spent a lot of time in Gdańsk. It was weather for museums and cafes. Antoni knew a lot about the city and it was obvious from the way his face lit up when talking about the architecture that he loved history. On Monday and Tuesday we visited three different museums, and on Wednesday he showed me the shopping district and we walked along the canals. On Thursday, we visited Malbork Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a gorgeous Gothic construct. It was the largest medieval castle in Europe and easily the site that thrilled me the most.

  We took the night tour, one that Antoni had taken at least three times already and said he'd never be sick of. It had been built by Teutonic Knights and crusaders and was filled with art, armour, and courtyards with shadowy corners.

  We strolled the grounds after our tour, not wanting to leave. Antoni stopped to admire a sculpture of a knight and stepped into a circle of light. Under the guise of photographing something beyond him, I zoomed in and snapped a picture. I sent it off to the girls with the caption: Strolling Malbork Castle with my own personal tour guide.

  Right after I hit send, Antoni looked over at me, his expression thoughtful. A dimple appeared in his cheek. Our eyes met and he held my gaze for longer than was polite, but then broke the tension with a grin. I couldn't help but smile back.

  He took me to a place called Kubicki for dinner, and translated everything on the menu. I wasn't picky so I asked him to choose a local dish for me. What arrived was an artfully arranged plate of perogies stuffed with duck. Antoni had wild boar in gingerbread sauce and insisted I try it. The flavour combination was something completely new to me, as was the feeling of being on a date with someone who wasn’t a high school buddy. It’s not a date, I reminded myself, but it sure was hard to tell the difference.

  "I'm the oldest of three,” Antoni was saying. “I have a brother Otto and a half-sister Lydia. I adore both of them but I'm closer with my brother. My mom remarried and had Lydia, who is still in high school, I'm pretty uncool to her right now," he chuckled. "How about you? Any siblings?" He popped a piece of boar into his mouth.

  I shook my head. "Only child. Although I have three girlfriends who pretty much feel like sisters."

  "And your dad? The man who got your mom must be quite a guy," he grinned. "Wish I could meet him."

  "Sorry to say that's not possible," I said. "My dad passed away when I was seven.”

  Antoni's wine glass paused halfway to his lips. "I'm sorry." He took a sip and then put his wineglass down. "My dad passed away, too. I was five. Lung cancer. Vicious smoker."

  "That sucks," I said, making a face. "I'm sorry, dude."

  He looked at me thoughtfully. "Turns out we've both done most of our growing up without fathers."

  I nodded, and my heart gave an old familiar ache. Grief was a deep-sea monster lurking far below, occasionally wrapping a cold tentacle around an ankle to pull me under. The monster used to have me completely tangled up, suffocating me, but as the years went by its grip loosened. It still liked to remind me that it hadn't gone away completely. I changed the subject. "How did you end up working for Martinius?"

  I scraped my plate clean with a piece of bread from the basket and a waiter appeared at my elbow to remove it.

  Antoni spoke to the waiter in Polish before he asked me, "Do you like strawberries? It's what they have for dessert tonight."

  "Of course!"

  The waiter nodded and left.

  "I graduated with a degree in Business Admin and was lucky to win a four month internship at Novak as part of my final year. I must have done something right because Lambert Pykelk, the Director of Business Development, offered me a permanent position as his assistant. Before long, he started inviting me to strategic sessions which was how I was able to work more closely with Martinius."

  The waiter returned, cleared away Antoni's empty plate and set a bowl of lumpy pink soup with a dollop of something white and creamy on top. I thanked him in Polish and both men smiled. I had probably butchered the words.

  Antoni watched me inspect the dessert. "It's strawberry soup with white chocolate mousse.”

  I took a spoonful of the soup and closed my eyes as the tart sweetness filled my mouth. I swallowed and smacked my lips. "Wow. Can I have a vat of this?” Antoni laughed, which made me laugh. The sound was goofy and contagious.

  Antoni took a bite and went on. "Martinius asked me if I'd like to take on the role of his P.A. and I jumped at it. I manage his personal schedule and attend meetings with him, but I really took it because I want to learn as much as I can. He's a brilliant businessman."

  "So, what's the long term goal then?" I asked as we finished off the sweet soup.

  "Well, I'd be lying if I didn't say that I hoped to be a contender for Director of Business Development. Novak has a great reputation and low turnover. We tend to promote from within. But I'm young and there are a lot of smart people who have been in the company for a long time. I'll have to put in my time and really prove myself if I want to be taken seriously."

  "Man, you sound so driven," I said, licking the last of the dessert from my spoon and looking sadly into my empty bowl. I looked up at him. "I still have no idea what I want to do with my life."

  "You'll figure it out," he said, smiling. "One day at a time."

  "What are you doing chaperoning a teenager around instead of climbing the company ladder? You must resent me a little bit." I was joking but I must have hit the nail on the head because he paused, his mouth half open.

  "You're far too astute for someone so young," he said, finally.

  "Am I right, then?" My cheeks coloured with embarrassment. I didn't want to spend time with someone who saw me as a waste of time.

  "Let me just say that firstly, when Martinius asks a favour of me, I find it easy to put aside my personal feelings. Serving him is a pleasure. And secondly, even if I had concerns about spending my time this way before I met you, I am happy to admit that I was sorely mistaken. This is just where I need to be right now."

  My mind skipped over his sweet
sentiment, caught by something else he said. "Martinius asked you to host me as a favour? Why would he do that?"

  He shrugged, "Something to do with wanting to keep your mom focused on the salvage, I suspect. She'll do her best work if she knows you're well taken care of. Martinius doesn't do anything without a good reason."

  The waiter came to clean away our dessert. He put two, steaming mugs of in front of us, saying something to Antoni.

  "How kind," Antoni said, peering at the brown liquid. "It's a complimentary digestive tea."

  I sniffed it. It smelled like dirt. I blew on it and took a tentative sip. It tasted better than it smelled, sort of like liquorice.

  "Tell me more about your dad," Antoni said. "What was his name?"

  "Nathan. He used to play guitar and sing to me every night before bed. He'd sing me made up songs and tell funny stories. A lot of times they featured my mom as a princess. He was pretty nuts about her."

  There was a pause and he held my gaze, his eyes lingering on my face. For a moment I forgot what I was saying.

  "I'm sure he was," he said, softly.

  I cleared my throat. "He was a hardworking guy, my dad. A contractor. He never had to advertise a day in his life because everyone knew that he'd get the job done right. He was also a great hockey player and played in a beer league over the winter."

  "Ah yes," laughed Antoni. "The famous Canadian hockey game. You know we Poles aren't so shabby at hockey ourselves."

  "I have heard that. In fact, I'm pretty sure my father played with a few Polish guys."

  "Is that a fact?"

  "Well, no," I laughed. "I was only eight when he passed away so I can't say for sure."

  "What happened?" His brows pushed downward, his pupils roved over my face. I couldn't decide whether his attentiveness meant he was attracted to me or just that he was an active listener. It was impossible to guess what he was thinking. He would make a very good politician.