Jack looked down at her. She had pulled her knees up under her chin almost as though she felt the need to protect her stomach. Her eyes were closed tight and he noticed a slight tremor run through her body. She was frightened and he wasn’t helping.
He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
“I’m not doing a very good job, am I?” he asked.
As he had hoped, she opened her eyes to stare at him and his unusual statement.
“I’m not worried about you not contributing…” He glanced at her docs to remember her name. “Larissa.”
Jack watched as a fleeting emotion crossed her face.
“Do you not like being called Larissa?”
“Uh… no one’s ever really called me that before.”
“What do they call you?”
“Bit.”
Jack frowned. “There must be a story behind that.”
She gave him the faintest glimpse of a smile. “My sister… she became an indentured with me. She called me Little Bit. Our first employer picked up on it and eventually it was just Bit. I guess it stuck.”
He gave her his best smile, the one all the men in his family knew how to use but, oddly enough, she tensed.
“All right, Bit it is.” He paused, trying to figure out how to explain the situation without frightening her. “How old are you?”
“Twenty-two.”
She was older than she looked. He had assumed she was fifteen or maybe sixteen. He needed to feed her up. Her last employer hadn’t been taking very good care of her. Sadly, her age meant the men would find her even more enticing.
Jack scratched at his jaw, aware that he never had the chance to shave today. He felt his cheeks heat with a blush as he considered the issue. The worst of it all was that even he found her attractive, especially now that she was clean.
He cleared his throat. “The thing is…um… the thing is, this is a ship full of men. And sometimes we go weeks, even months between ports. There are… complications when we throw in a good-looking girl.”
She blushed prettily and dropped her eyes from his face.
“Other than the officers, our crew all sleep in the same room. Obviously, we can’t add you to that mix. And some of the men are gonna want…ummm.”
“Sex?” she asked, saying the word in a matter-of-fact tone, as though this was a normal situation for her.
Without thinking about her previous expressions of fear, he dropped to the ground in front of her, dipping his head so that he could look her in the eye. She glanced up at him before making a greater effort to hide her face.
“Bit. You listen to me,” he said with a firm voice.
She couldn’t help but look up at him.
“While you are on my ship, no man will touch you without your permission, and if they do, I’ll shove them out the airlock. You understand?”
He watched as her eyes glazed with tears. Her bottom lip trembled briefly before she pressed her lips into a thin line. Finally, she nodded once.
Before Jack could try to further relieve her fears, he heard a knock on his door. He climbed to his feet and put some space between them before calling out.
The door opened to reveal his younger brother. Calen wore a sheepish grin on his face, which Jack didn’t believe for a minute.
“I take it she’s staying since we’ve shoved off.”
Jack glared at him, being certain Bit couldn’t see his expression.
“Yes, Bit is staying.”
“Bit?” asked Calen, smiling down at her.
To Jack’s disgust, he hated his brother’s grin. Whether he liked it or not, he had to admit he’d already taken the girl under his wing. Jack didn’t know what his feelings towards her might become, but for now, they were protective.
“I’ll let her tell you that story. For now, we need to find her a room.”
“If I had my own cabin, I’d give it to her,” Calen said with a fresh grin.
Jack rolled his eyes. It was a long-standing joke between them that Calen, a member of the family who owned the company, didn’t have his own cabin.
“Calen chose to be a pilot. Even after all these years, he complains about not having his own room,” Jack said to Bit.
Calen elbowed his brother in the ribs. “My brother just won’t admit I’ve earned one.”
Jack rolled his eyes again.
“Actually, I have an idea where she can sleep for now. It’s nothing glamorous, but it will be private.”
“I don’t mean to be a problem,” Bit said from her place on the floor; she still hadn’t climbed to her feet.
“Bit,” said Jack in a mock growl. Sadly, she flinched again. Someone had really done a number on her. “You’re not a problem. This is not your fault. If it’s anyone’s fault it’s Calen. Now, where were you thinking?”
“Well, there’s that closet under the stairs on this floor. We could hang a hammock. There’d still be room for a foot locker and maybe we can find an extra desk for her.”
“Good. While Oden’s on duty can you get that arranged?” asked Jack.
Calen scratched the back of his neck. “Kinda already did.”
“Let’s go see it. Bit?” asked Jack as he reached down to help her up.
She looked up at him, her eyes going from his open expression to his hand and back. Slowly, she reached up and slipped her little fingers into his. They were rough from work and cold to the touch. He pulled her to her feet and released her hand.
They followed Calen out of Jack’s cabin. This level consisted of private cabins for the captain, XO, security commander, and the chief engineer, as well as a large room for the crew to share. In the center sat the stairs leading up to the bridge and down to the lower levels. The stairs leading up started as one, reached a landing, and split into two staircases heading in opposite directions. The steps leading downward were a basic switch-back style.
Tucked under the landing of the staircase leading up was a little closet. Jack couldn’t even remember what had been stored in it if anything. Calen opened the door and pulled on the small chain attached to the light fixture. The light flickered on, faintly revealing the interior of the closet.
Whatever had been inside it had been removed. A homemade hammock had been hung on one side of the door, a blanket and pillow tucked into its folds and a dented metal footlocker placed underneath it. Just as Calen had said, there was still space for a desk and chair. To Jack’s surprise, the floor had even been mopped.
“Sorry it’s not very nice,” Calen said.
Bit stared at the little closet as though it were a palace. “This is for me?”
“Yep. And we’ll get some more stuff to make it better. And I’ll get a lock for the door too,” said Jack.
“Th-thank you,” she said, her voice dropping back to a whisper.
“No problem.”
Jack turned back to show her the rest of the ship when he noticed three heads peering around the railing of the staircase, eyeing their new crewmate. They jerked their heads out of sight and raced down the steps to the lower level.
“Calen. Take her down to the kitchen. I’m calling a meeting. We’re getting this all out in the open now before the scuttlebutt even has a chance to begin.”
With that, Jack stomped up the stairs.
Trust and Treachery Page 4
