by Jordan Rivet
Neal was in the pilothouse already, bending low over the satellite computer, his fingers flying across the keyboard. He didn’t look up when they came in.
David took his place at the helm. Dirk seemed reluctant to relinquish his watch, but he needed sleep too. As he shuffled out of the pilothouse, Esther wondered whether Dirk would try to assert his right to the Lucinda after all. He wanted to run the Catalina, but he might take Lucinda instead unless David was willing to fight for her. He might be willing, Esther thought as he ran a hand gently across the control console.
As if he’d guessed what she was thinking, David looked up.
“I love this ship,” he said.
Esther laughed. “She’s sure running well. I’m going to take a look at the engines in a minute to see how they did with my designs.”
Neal looked up from the computer. “Oh, when did you guys get here? Never mind. You’ll never believe what I’m doing.”
His eyes were bright, and a clump of his mousy hair was pushed backwards beneath the band of his headset.
“What?” Esther asked.
“The satellite signals reach farther than we thought.”
Neal looked like he might boil over with excitement.
“Yeah?”
“Esther, it’s—hang on.”
The computer made a dinging sound, and Neal immediately turned away from them and typed furiously. After he hit the final key, he stared intently at the computer, biting his lower lip.
“Neal?”
“Oh, right. Esther, it’s land.”
“What?”
“Our message reached a colony on land. They’ve also been working on regaining contact with the satellites.”
“You mean you’re talking to . . . ?”
“Someone who lives on land!” Neal repeated. “We don’t have voice contact yet. We’re transmitting written messages.”
The computer dinged again, and he resumed his rapid-fire typing.
“You’re emailing?!” David said.
He turned from his post and stared incredulously at Neal.
“Yeah,” Neal said. “It’s a rudimentary version of that. We’re sending simple text-only messages. It’s all the system can handle right now. I’m going to keep working on it, but when we get back to the Catalina I might actually be able to talk to them.”
There were a thousand questions Esther wanted to ask. Where were they? Did they have food? How many of them were there? What was the weather like on land? But she settled for the question that, although irrational, was most important to her.
“Do they know anyone from San Diego?”
At the same moment, David said, “Do they know anyone from New York?”
Esther saw her mother and sister then, sitting in the living room of their home. Her sister had both hands curled around a thick hardcover book. Her mother was letting her play with the many bracelets she wore on her arm. They clanged and glittered as four-year-old Esther pushed them up and down her mother’s wrist. It was a bright, sunshiny memory, one of the few that she still had. They couldn’t possibly still be alive, could they?
Neal was shaking his head. “We’re doing the basics right now, guys. I’ll try to get more out of them when we get to the Catalina. Here’s what I know: this group is in the Midwest, old Kansas City to be precise. It’s the same one the Galaxy captains had heard about. They live on the Missouri River, and they’ve had a successful harvest for four of the past six years. They said the weather is stabilizing. They’re trying to contact other communities by locating functioning satellites. They were pretty surprised to find out we’ve been living on a ship all this time. That’s as far as we’ve gotten.”
Zoe popped into the cockpit. “Hey, guys!” she said brightly. “What’s our next adventure?”
David met Esther’s eyes. “Want to go to Kansas City? With me?”
Chapter 35—Catalina
A WEEK LATER ZOE spotted the tall shape of the Amsterdam off the starboard bow. She raised the call from the crow’s nest, and everyone who wasn’t on duty crowded onto the deck, watching for their first glimpse of the Catalina. As they drew close, the outline of their home emerged against the darker backdrop of the Amsterdam.
The Coalition was busier than normal. Ships moored at every available dock, and others floated in the waters beyond them, sending their speedboats and lifeboats zipping back and forth to the oil platform. It didn’t look like any of the Harvester or Calderon ships had beaten them back to port, which was just as well, but others had decided to make their Amsterdam trip early. People stirred around the outer edges of the platform, and a call went up as the Lucinda approached.
Over the past week rumors about what had actually happened between the Metal Harvesters and the Calderon Group had swirled through the New Pacific. No one was sure who was at fault or who won the battle or what the Lucinda had to do with things anyway. Neal kept track of what everyone was saying, and Zoe had been enlisted to help him with communications. The other ships were quickly getting used to communicating via satellite. It was amazing how much faster news traveled through the satellite network compared to the radio chain.
The one thing everyone seemed to agree on was that they wanted Esther’s system installed immediately. Neal and Zoe fielded daily and sometimes hourly requests for her expertise. Esther kept busy answering questions and talking to mechanics from all over the sea. At first she tried to take a regular shift in the Lucinda’s engine room, but they called her up to answer questions so often that she finally took up permanent residence in the pilothouse.
She was about to get even busier. Numerous ships had already asked her to come help them install her system when she arrived at the Amsterdam, and she’d made commitments for the first two weeks. They offered all manner of gadgets and tools in exchange for her help. She couldn’t refuse. She had started all this. She wanted to do the right thing this time. She wondered if the Catalina would wait for her at the Amsterdam or if this was the start of the new life she had once wanted so badly.
And then there was the expedition to the settlement on land. David wanted to take the Lucinda to the coast as soon as possible. He was already working out the best route. Esther wanted to go with him, but before she made any promises there was someone else she needed to see.
Esther’s father was waiting for her when she crossed the Amsterdam dock from the Lucinda to the Catalina. The rig officials had reserved a space for the Lucinda in anticipation of their arrival. The rig boss himself came out to meet them, but Esther slipped by and headed straight for the Catalina.
Simon looked small beneath the tall slope of the hull. He stood beside the gangway, expression unreadable. Esther walked slowly toward him. David was busy shaking hands with the Amsterdam rig boss. He said something, and the man laughed jovially.
But Esther’s father wasn’t laughing.
“Hi, Dad,” Esther said. “I’m back.”
“I was worried, button,” he said quietly.
“I had to go,” she said. “It was me they should have taken, not David. I didn’t have a choice.”
“I wish you had come to me,” Simon said. “You didn’t have to sneak off like that.”
“I did come to you. It was right after the attack, remember? You and the council said we couldn’t do anything. You didn’t believe me when I said he was in danger.”
“We needed more information,” Simon said, “but you just took off.”
He brushed a hand through his curly gray hair. His eyes seemed to have more lines around them than they did a few weeks ago.
“I’m sorry,” Esther said. “There was no time. And I would’ve gone even if you tried to stop me.”
Simon’s mouth twitched. “I’m glad you’re safe,” he said. “But next time please say good-bye before you run off to save someone again.”
He stepped forward and wrapped her in a hug. She relaxed against him and was treated to the familiar smell of his clothes and the scratch of his green scarf against
her cheek.
“What did Judith say?” she asked, pulling back from his embrace.
Simon laughed. “She pursed her lips, like she does, and didn’t say a word about you for three whole days. Then she demanded that we launch a rescue mission immediately.”
“So she’s pissed?”
“Oh yeah.”
Esther grinned. “Let’s go say hi. I missed her.”
Simon wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “If I were you,” he said, “I’d avoid Cally for a while too. She’s even angrier than Judith.”
Together they turned toward the gangway. Out of the corner of her eye, Esther saw David clap the Amsterdam official on the back and jog over to join them. She stopped to wait for him.
“Simon,” David said formally as he came over, “I want to apologize for putting your daughter in danger by getting myself kidnapped. I’m very grateful she decided to save my life, but I’m sure you must have been very worried.”
Esther looked back and forth between them. David was half a head taller than Simon and was standing very straight, solemn and ceremonious.
Simon appraised him for a moment.
“My daughter is quite capable of getting herself in danger without your help. Welcome back.”
He stretched out his hand, and David shook it.
“Will you guys hurry up?” Esther said.
She led the way up the gangway. Soon they would be heading off again, beginning a journey she had long thought was impossible. But for now she stepped back onto the deck of the Catalina, her home, and smiled.
*****
Seafled
Book Three
And now the STORM-BLAST came, and he
Was tyrannous and strong.
―SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE
Chapter 1—Preparations
ESTHER CARRIED HER STEEL toolbox through the Lucinda’s main corridor. She wiped away the sweat trailing down her face, realizing too late that her palms were covered in grease. She had just finished checking the generator system for the tenth time. The power output still surprised her, even though she’d built and installed dozens of the contraptions over the past few months. The Lucinda’s had been one of the first, and she had to make sure nothing could go wrong on this voyage.
She climbed the ladder to the deck, where the crew was busy with preparations, and headed toward the pilothouse. Luke and Cody, who had once worked on the Metal Harvesters ship Terra Firma, had spread all the Lucinda’s weapons out in the sunlight to take inventory. A small pile of stage guns sat to one side, remnants of the Lucinda’s escape from the Galaxy Flotilla.
Esther set her toolbox by the pilothouse door and opened it to find David Elliot Hawthorne sitting on the floor with a sketchpad across his knees. Charts littered the ground around him. He glanced up at her and smiled.
“You look like you just crawled out of an oil drum,” he said.
“Who says I didn’t?” She nudged the toe of his boot with her foot and sat cross-legged beside him.
“How’s the work going?” David asked.
“The biofuel system is all set for the trip. I made some changes based on suggestions from that engineer on the Sebastian. How about you?”
“Almost finished with the route.” David showed her the map of the western coast of North America on his sketchpad. Intricate doodles filled the corners of the paper.
“So Baja is still our best bet?”
“Yes. There’ll be too many mountains in our way if we go through California. It’s already September, and it’s still pretty cold there.”
“Sounds nice, actually,” Esther said, wiping her forehead again.
David grinned, touching her cheek with his thumb. “You have a smudge on your face the size of a footprint.”
Esther caught his hand between hers and pulled it down to rest on her knee, entwining her fingers with his.
“You shouldn’t make fun of me, or I might accidentally do something to sabotage your precious ship.”
“You wouldn’t dare. You know I love the Lucinda more than anything.”
“Anything?”
“Yes, ma’am,” David said solemnly. He leaned in to kiss her gently. Then he slid his arm around her back, pulling her closer. He brushed a finger across the long, thin scar on her cheek, and his hand came away smudged.
Esther was about to slip her hands under the edge of his sweater when something pelted her in the face.
“Oy! Aren’t you guys supposed to be working?” Zoe had appeared in the doorway to the pilothouse. She carried a handful of prawn crackers, and she threw another one at the couple as Esther pulled away from David.
“I’m done for the day,” Esther said.
“Uh-huh. Sure you are.”
Zoe joined them on the floor, stretching her long legs out in front of her. Her blond hair was covered by a bright-red scarf, a gift from Luke, who had been trying desperately to get Zoe to go out with him ever since he left the Harvesters to join the Catalina. The harder he tried, the more she acted like she didn’t care, but Esther had noticed that Zoe always used, wore, or ate Luke’s gifts, even if she pretended not to be impressed by them.
“So what’s up?” Esther asked.
“Neal wants to talk to you,” Zoe said, popping a prawn cracker in her mouth. “I needed some fresh air, so I volunteered to come over.”
“Why didn’t he just radio us?”
“Lucinda’s gear is all disconnected. We’re tweaking a few of her instruments over on the Catalina to get ready for the trip.”
Zoe had taken over the radio and satellite duties for the Lucinda. She would be the chief communications officer on their voyage.
“I should head over anyway,” Esther said. “I need to see if any more help requests have come in.”
“They’re keeping you busy,” David said.
“It’s crazy how many people are using my system. It’s only been what? Two months?”
Ever since Esther had sent the algae oil separator design out to the satellite network, she had been inundated with requests for help. Crews all over the New Pacific wanted her advice as they adapted her plans to suit their own vessels. Esther’s system was being used on everything from warships to fishing trawlers to gigantic cargo vessels. There had even been a memorable few weeks when she had spent nearly every waking hour on the satellite phone with the head machinist of an aircraft carrier thousands of miles away. It still amazed Esther that the satellite connections were now good enough for them to talk like that.
She felt proud of her work, and she enjoyed walking people through the issues that came up as they built their own versions of her system. It was even better when they reported back on what a difference the system had made in the daily lives of their people, now free from their dependence on crude oil. In fact, it made such a big difference that a difficult decision had been weighing on her.
David was preparing to take the Lucinda on an expedition to land. Neal had been communicating with a farming community in Kansas City, survivors of the eruption of the Yellowstone volcano nearly seventeen years ago. The community had managed to produce a harvest for several years now. They hadn’t ventured very far toward the West Coast, however. The Lucinda would sail to the coast, and then the crew would make an overland trek to Kansas City. David hoped to gain an accurate picture of the conditions on land along the way. He wanted to find out if they could all move back to land one day soon. If life was now better there than at sea, he would find a place for them.
But Esther was thinking about not going with him.
She hadn’t told him she might stay behind. In fact, she hadn’t told anyone except her father, who had been helping her think it through over the past few weeks. Ships came to her from all over the New Pacific asking for help, and she couldn’t justify leaving all that behind for an expedition that could take months. She was needed at sea right now.
“Come in, Esther, do you copy?” Zoe threw another prawn cracker at her.
“Huh?”
>
“I said are you packed?”
“For?”
“The grand land expedition? That journey we’ve been planning for months? Leaving in three days?”
“Oh, um, I don’t have that much stuff,” Esther said.
Zoe rolled her eyes. “You mean as long as you have your tool belt, you’re set, right?”
“Something like that. I’m gonna go see what Neal wants. Are you guys coming back over for dinner?”
“It’s cod night,” David said. “I never miss cod night.”
Esther squeezed his hand and stood, brushing off her trousers. “Why don’t you bring your route map over? My dad would like to see it.”
“Sure. See you later.”
David returned to his sketchpad, and Esther hesitated for a moment. Everything had been good between her and David over the past few months. Very good in fact. He’d helped her save the Catalina, and then she’d saved his life. Things had been pretty clear after that: they were a couple. She hated the idea of being away from him for months, but she finally felt like she was doing something important and useful as she helped other mechanics build her system. The system was already installed in the Lucinda, and maintaining it was the easy part. She didn’t see what she could contribute to the expedition that someone else couldn’t handle just as well.
Esther and Zoe left the pilothouse and crossed the Lucinda’s promenade, heading for the gangway connecting to the lower door of the Catalina. The Lucinda was less than a third as long as the Catalina and not nearly as tall, but she was fast and agile. She’d already proved useful when Esther and Zoe went to rescue David and needed to be picked up. That was when Luke and Cody had joined the crew, risking their lives to get Zoe out of the Harvesters’ clutches. The Lucinda was the perfect ship for the mission to land.
Zoe hummed as she sauntered along beside Esther, pointedly not making eye contact with Luke when they passed. He stood up from the ammunitions pile, grinning, a semiautomatic rifle resting in his arms. Esther waved at him, but Zoe studied a bulbous cloud formation.
