by Ellie Pond
A large group milled about in front of the stage, they took their seats and the whole auditorium stared back silently. A human sneezed in the back, and all eyes landed on the poor kid. Captain Matthias reached for the microphone, but Rebecca gave him side eye and grabbed it first.
“Thank you all for coming this morning. We are taping this so that the crew that is already on duty can see it later. There are few excused from being here do to night duty. Pass it around if someone’s not here, please tell them to watch it later. Thanks everyone for signing in. If you missed it, make sure you do before you go. A few quick announcements.” Rebecca motioned to the broad-shouldered bear shifter standing between her and the captain. “This is Ming Salter. He will join us for a few cruises. He’s with Dark Wing Corp public relations. I will pass the mic to Ming.” Rebecca passed it to him while the captain scrutinized the crew. The alpha waves vibrated off of him. Naomi glanced around for Rama but didn’t see her. Hopefully she had duty this morning. The poor thing had a real issue with Alphas, and this kind of thing made her sick for days.
Ming stood almost as tall as the captain, his shoulders squared. His dark scruff covered a set of dimples.
“You are ogling his dimples, aren’t you?” Collette whispered.
“Like you’re not.”
“As we will get to in a moment, we are here today…well, the captain will get to the matter. And we have good news that we will announce during a true all hands on the next changeover day…”
“Just tell us now. Who’s in trouble?” came from the back.
Matthias motioned for the mic and then put his hands down, and in a booming voice said, “Sit down, Kurt.” Captain pointed his finger at the huge wild bear shifter in the back. “Now let’s get on with why we are here today.”
Ming brought the mic up to his face, but the captain cut him off with a glare and took the mic from his hand but didn’t use it. From inside his jacket he brought out two papers. Naomi held her breath. She grabbed Collette’s and Billy’s hands. Those were her sketches.
The captain held them up. “Who drew these? And who put them on my door?” His voice boomed in the hall.
Naomi turned and glanced at Daniel. “I didn’t,” he mouthed. It was the truth.
Her heart pounded in her chest. Moments felt like hours.
Collette muttered. “Don’t.”
Naomi let go of her friends and raised her hand. She drew them she wouldn’t let the entire crew be at fault. She stood. Her vision blurred as the alpha waves were almost visible in the air. Sweat formed on her temples. She kept her eyes focused on the floor of the stage in front of Captain Matthias.
“You,” he stated.
“Yes, I drew them. But I didn’t put them on your door.”
“Who, who put them on my door?” His finger pointed around the room. “I will find out.” His voiced echoed off the back of the stage.
He pointed at Naomi. “You, you are talented. Thank you for taking responsibility for your actions. I want the coward who placed these on my door to come forward,” he growled, and it vibrated through the hollow stage floor. He passed the mic to Ming.
Rebecca elbowed Ming. “Right.” Ming lifted the mic. “The young woman’s artistry will help with our special project. We will need to see you…”
“Naomi Earland,” the captain said. He remembered everyone on board. At least that was the rumor.
Her heart beat in her ears.
“Dismissed.” The captain marched out the backstage door.
The crew slowly rose and filed out. Naomi didn’t move. What the hell had just happened?
“Sweetie, are you okay?” Collette rubbed Naomi’s shoulders.
“Um, I’m not sure?” She tried to catch her breath. Everyone in the auditorium stared at her.
“That’s an understatement. I almost crapped my pants, and I was only sitting next to you.”
Naomi puttered down the aisle. “Are you coming to breakfast, Billy?”
“I’ve got rehearsal here in fifteen minutes. I’m gonna stay.” Already there were other cast members on the stage moving the sound equipment and setting out props for rehearsal.
“Right, I don’t have time for breakfast either.” Naomi looked at Collette. “Should I go see the captain now?”
“I’d give him a minute to cool down, but not too long.” Collette rubbed her arm. “You will be okay. The captain said you’re talented. That’s good?”
“Sure.” All the other crew members continued to stare at her as she walked out of the room.
A cool blast of air from the lobby hit her as they crossed the threshold. Daniel waited, his arms crossed across his chest.
“You little prick.” Collette poked Daniel in the chest.
“Collette, stop.” Naomi took her roommate’s wrist. “I’ve got this.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes?”
“Okay, I’ll tell Rex that you will be down soon. I spotted him in the back with the other managers. He won’t be surprised if you’re late.”
“I’m not going to be late. This won’t take long.” Naomi glanced around the room. All eyes were on the two of them. “Not here. Walk with me.” The two of them walked down the service stairs and off a small side hallway near the dining room, where she needed to report for breakfast setup, anyway. But nowhere near the front desk that Daniel had to be at. She stopped when she was sure that no one was around them. “Talk.” Her hands were clenched in fists at her side.
“I didn’t do it. I swear. I brought you all of your sketches. They flew all over the hallway. Rama, Hope, Zach and I picked them up. Billy took Chad away. I would have hit him if Billy hadn’t.”
“Chad,” they said together.
“It had to be. He grabbed your bag and made a run with it. He would have gotten away with it if Billy hadn’t tripped him. You were sitting next to Billy. Did he say anything about it?”
“No. But he wouldn’t have out in the open. Not if he thought that someone could hear. He seemed just as surprised as me. If Chad had the sketches, he didn’t know.”
“Believe me.” Daniel peered down at her. When had he gotten that tall?
She studied his face. “I do. But if we can find out who did it before the captain does, it would be a good thing. It might help you.”
“What? Why?”
“If Chad believes that I think you did it, he might slip up. We might find out something. Like why the heck would he do something so stupid.”
“He’s Chad.” Daniel’s eyes glazed. “I am so sorry that this happened. Can I give you a hug?”
She nodded. He pulled her into a hug and she sighed into his chest. “I really am sorry. But I agree with the captain.” She pulled out of his hug. “You’re talented.”
“Earland.” The voice bounced down the hallway.
“That’s Marilyn. I need to go. Let me know what you find out.”
Marilyn’s braids bobbed around her with every step as she shuffled down the hallway towards them. “There’s a tall dimpled bear in my kitchen that is distracting everyone. He wants to talk to you.”
“Right.” Naomi wiped away a tear that perched on the corner of her eye. “Stay away from me,” she added over her shoulder.
“Cool it, Earland, I heard everything you said. Don’t go hurting my Daniel.” Marilyn hmphed as she led Naomi towards the kitchen. Naomi shrugged.
Ming sat on the only clear corner of Marilyn’s desk eating a Granny Smith apple while several of the sous chefs watched him. No one was singing. It was quiet and odd.
“See what I mean?” Marilyn pointed to the sous chef in the kitchen. “Ming, I have another desk in here.” She pointed to the tiny closet that held all of her books. Why don’t the two of you go in there?” She pushed them in and shut the door. “Move along, get back to work.” Marilyn called out to the kitchen behind the closed door.
“Ms. Earland.” Ming motioned for Naomi to sit in Marilyn’s chair, which wasn’t tumbling with books for a
change. She sat, and he leaned against the door.
The thumping in her chest returned. “I didn’t know you wanted to see me right away. I guess I should have stayed in the auditorium.”
“No worries.” He chuckled, and smile lines crinkled at the corners of his blue eyes. “Captain Matthias seems to know where to find any of his crew members.”
“True. How can I help you? I don’t understand what it is you want from me. I drew a caricature of the captain. I guess I’m surprised I’m not off the boat.”
“That’s not what you want, is it?” His brown eyes twinkled at her.
“Goodness, no. I didn’t mean that. I didn’t want anyone to see my sketches.” Her palms sweated. She needed another shower.
“Right. I didn’t think so. We are working on a secret project. But part of it is we are looking to make Captain Matthias more approachable. And I think your drawings are just the thing. Picture them on T-shirts, cups and those memes humans seem to love so much. I want them everywhere.”
“Everywhere?” Naomi gulped. Not wanting anyone to see her sketches to having them everywhere was a big step.
“Don’t you want that?”
“I…I’m not sure.”
“Well, I want to pay you. Actually, I want to bring you onto the PR department.”
“What?” The PR department didn’t live on the ship. They worked at headquarters. She had been there exactly three times. For the interview, for paperwork and the new hire orientation. It was nice enough, but it wasn’t the ship.
“I can see you are hesitant. It’s okay. It’s a big jump in pay. We will make it worth it.”
“The PR department. They’re land based?”
“Ah, Yup, normally. Is that an issue for you?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t have an apartment. I stay at a crash pad when I have time off. But I usually sign up for consecutive cruises. I like the ship. And the other crew members. I am not sure how I feel about giving that up.”
“Right.” Ming tapped his chin, his dimples winking at her as he scrunched his face. “We can make this work. Let me puzzle it over.” He took a scrap of paper from Marilyn’s desk. “You’re level three right now?” He pushed the paper across the desk. “If I can figure out how to keep you on board, would this work?”
Stay cool. Don’t gawk. She tried a little smile. The jump in pay was huge. “I’ll think about it.” That was coy, right?
“Okay, and now for the not fun part of the conversation. You want to tell me how you think your sketches got on the captain’s door?”
4
Daniel watched the chandelier. The room audit waited for him. He opened the file again, filled out three lines of the audit and watched the crystal chandelier with the flying dragons more. The sun glared through the large main lobby windows onto the chandelier, casting little prisms of light all around the room. He took a bite of the granola bar when no passengers were looking. He brushed the crumbs into his hand and put them in the garbage.
“Earth to Daniel.” Hope waved her hand in front of his face. “It’s not your fault. She’ll figure that out. She’ll chill. It’ll be fine. Sounds like you did her a favor, really.”
Daniel turned to her, his back to the lobby. “Naomi, isn’t chill. And there is absolutely no way she will take this as a favor. You’re joking, right? She’ll be mad for a long-ass time.”
“Can I help you?” Hope said over his shoulder to the customer waiting at the counter.
“Excuse me. Please forgive me.” Daniel squared his shoulders. Not giving the best service wasn’t like him.
“Woman problems? I get ya.” The bear shifter stared down at him.
Not having shifted yet didn’t bother Daniel most days. At some point his wolf would shift for him. But the way the bear shifter looked at him with pity, it made him want to take the guy's head off. Not that he could, not here and not physically. With a two-year work learning program for hotel management, being away from school and his own family, he had grown. He felt his wolf wanting to shift once. Most children of shifters who didn’t shift, couldn’t feel their animals. His was annoyingly present.
This guy trying to relate to him pissed him off. Daniel didn’t open his mouth.
“Can I help you, sir?” Hope asked again.
“Yes. I seem to have lost my band.”
Daniel nodded and left Hope at the front counter to help the never-ending parade of guests who lost their bands. They would lose them until the captain embedded them into passengers’ foreheads. Lost bands, found bands. It all irritated him right now. He threw himself in a chair at the break room table. His supervisor came out of her office.
“Daniel, are you doing okay?” Eva leaned on the chair next to him.
“Sure.” He rubbed his head.
Eva sat at the table next to him. She sighed. “When I went to get my morning coffee a bridge officer stopped me in the hall.” She paused.
Daniel held Eva’s gaze and nodded.
“He asked me if I thought you put the drawings on the captain’s door.”
“What did you tell him?” Daniel sat up straight.
Eva studied him. “That I didn’t think you were capable of hurting a friend like that. But that you’ve been out of sorts. But that I believed you would have come forward at the all hands meeting if you had done it.”
“Thank you.” Daniel didn’t want to deny doing it. If he did, Hope would hear and that would mess with his plan to get Chad to slip up. “What I don’t get is how do they not know who did it anyway? There’s cameras everywhere.”
“Rumor has it that the captain doesn’t want anyone to know who is coming and going out of his quarters.” Eva pursed her lips; she loved gossip but was trying to give it up. That would never happen. Eva glanced at him. “You don’t look okay. You’re on until dinner, right? Why don’t you take an hour lunch? I’ll cover the counter with Hope.”
“You’re sure?”
“As long as you try to come back in a better mood. You're not your normal self. I get it, it was a rough morning. Take a hike.” She headed out to Hope at the counter.
“Thanks,” he called to her as he headed through the lobby.
The music stopped and Daniel pulled the backdoor to the stage open. He crept around the edge of the stage away from the dancers. The mammoth trap door on the main floor of the stage was open. A pool lay under the stage. Swimmers performed as the music echoed in the empty auditorium.
The director surveyed the stage from the top of the orchestra pit. Her dusky blue leotard stretched over her lithe body. “Reset, do it again,” she yelled, but she peered at Daniel, and he scooted off the stage into the auditorium. A motor started, and a clear panel covered all but the middle of the pool.
The music started. Male dancers swung female partners around on the clear panel until they dove off it into the pool in rhythmic succession. A stunning voice sang, a song from a Broadway show that Daniel almost recognized. But he couldn’t see where she was from the side of the auditorium. A high-pitched whizzing noise pulsed under the song as the singer flew through the auditorium to the stage. She hovered over the pool on a swing and slowly sank into the pool. Two of the male dancers caught her. She danced with them, sort of; she was more thrown from guy to guy.
“Stop, stop, stop. You’re out of sync again. Reset it again.” The director glared at the mechanicals that brought the singer over the auditorium and to the pool. “It’s not working,” she said to herself.
The girls pulled themselves out of the pool; they ran to the far wall to retrieve hanging towels.
“Hannah, have them take lunch, get the mechanical team down here,” she said to her assistant, who nodded and yelled “lunch” to the performers. A large murmur built in the room as the performers sang and jogged out of the auditorium.
Billy came down from the scaffolding he danced on during the number. “Seriously, all the shows I’ve asked you to come to and this piece of shit is the first thing you see?” he sai
d under his breath.
Daniel shrugged. “Sorry?” A lot of the performing crew had been off the ship for the last month learning their parts in the new “spectacular” as they called it.
A petite human came up to Billy. “Are you taking lunch?”
Billy smirked and wrapped his arm around her. “Lucy, this my friend Daniel.”
“Nice to meet you.” Lucy shook his hand.
“You too.”
“Hey, don’t go all doe-eyed over this one, Lucy. He’s taken.”
“Oh, I wasn’t.” She put her hand on her hip. “Billy, are you coming to lunch?” She shook her head and walked away.
“I’ll be right there.”
“I’m taken? Stop messing with my game.” Daniel sat on the top edge of an auditorium chair.
“No, you stop messing with my game.” Billy turned and watched Lucy’s toned ass walk away.
“Got it, but don’t go spreading rumors that aren’t true.”
“Naomi will come around. And speaking of coming around, I am sneaking you in to Little Mermaid tomorrow.”
“Goody.” Daniel made a face.
“All right. What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to talk to you about the…”
Billy cut him off. “Listen, Nancy Drew. I didn’t do it. And neither did Chad. He might be an ass, but he’s not that big of one.”
“You can’t be sure.”
“Sure, I am sure.”
“How?”
“So, I didn’t trust him either, to not grab one. I made him empty his pockets and then I made him strip and I searched his clothes.”
“Do you want to know what happened after that?” Billy smirked.
“No, no I do not.” Billy had lots of stories of lots of people and didn’t like leaving out any details.
“Pity. Nothing. He had nothing. Like nothing. Big waste of time.” He made big circles with his hands over his body.
Daniel laughed.
“Chad is not our guy. Chad’s only guilty of being lacking. Now you know.” Billy laughed.