by Jordan Rivet
“That was an agricultural region before too,” Simon said. “We drove through there once, though I don’t know if you were old enough to remember, Esther.”
“I vaguely recall a really long drive when I was four or five. It was very flat.”
Simon chuckled. “That about sums it up.”
“Did you ever go to Mexico, where we’re headed?” Luke asked.
“Only once. I went to Cabo San Lucas with my wife shortly after we moved to San Diego from the East Coast.” Simon tossed a chocolate-covered squid onto the pile and folded his hands over his cards. “It was hot and dry and packed with tourists. Brightly colored umbrellas covered the beach as far as you could see. People would weave among the tourists selling handicrafts and cold beverages. I bought my wife a bracelet on that beach that she wore nearly every day afterwards.” Simon smiled at Esther. “It was the carved wooden one. Do you remember it?”
Again, Esther wished her memories were sharper. It had been so long ago. “I remember some of her bracelets. Did the pattern have swirls in it, like breaking waves?”
“That’s the one.”
An image came to her then. Esther sat on her mother’s lap and traced her fingers around the wooden swirls, the smell of apple blossom perfume surrounding her. She saw her mother’s soft-brown eyes, her strong nose. But she couldn’t summon the sound of her voice or anything that she’d said. The image faded.
As the Lucinda’s movement hummed through the soles of her boots, Esther fought down the hope that her mother had survived. Her name hadn’t been on the roster. Naomi had managed to survive over the past sixteen and a half years, but Esther couldn’t allow herself to expect that her mother had too.
“Man, I wouldn’t mind sitting on a hot, dry beach,” Luke said, bringing Esther’s attention back to the table. He fiddled with the pile of items in the center. “I’ve had enough of the cold.”
“That was farther north than we’re going,” Simon said. “I don’t know much about the Santiago River region, but I imagine it used to be pretty hot there.”
“And the lake?”
“It was a fishing destination, I think. One of my colleagues used to go every year. I expect that’s why this group settled there. If the fish survived, it would have been a way to sustain themselves until they could start growing food.”
“What do you think the people will be like?” Cody asked.
“I don’t know.” Simon frowned. “We’ve been able to start afresh to an extent. Because we’ve been at sea, it’s been like living on a different planet. A clean break. We don’t have to walk the streets of derelict cities or face constant reminders of all the people who died. It must have been difficult for them.”
“Standing on solid ground again will be nice, though,” Luke said. “There’s another thing I barely remember.”
“Yes, I’m looking forward to that.” Simon took a peek at his cards and smiled broadly. “I think you’re in trouble, son.”
“Well, I fold,” Esther said. “I’m not going to win a single nut or gear against you guys. We should go back to dice.” She tossed down her cards and headed for the exit. She turned back for a moment when she reached the door. Her father was laughing at something Luke had said, a warm, full sound. It was strange to think that their family could be together soon. Together, and standing on solid ground.
Chapter 8—The Crew
AFTER DINNER THAT NIGHT Esther found herself at the captain’s cabin door once again. Officially, she had her own bunk now. After Toni’s comment about them, Esther and David had agreed it would be best to maintain a more decorous relationship during the voyage. She didn’t think it would hurt to debrief with him about how the journey was going so far, though. They could be discreet.
David paced across the compact cabin, full of energy, and raved about how well the Lucinda had handled the first day.
“She’s so sharp!” he said. “Given everything this ship has been through, it’s amazing how smooth she handles.”
“You’ve done a lot of work on her,” Esther said. She sat cross-legged on his bunk and pulled his threadbare blanket over her knees.
“So have you. Have I told you how brilliant your system is lately, Esther?”
“I don’t mind hearing it again.”
David grinned and sat beside her, nudging her to make room.
“We can go anywhere if she continues to sail this well,” he said.
“What happened to settling on land?”
“Maybe sea travel will still make the most sense for a while. After Aguamilpa we could head down to Panama, or even Tierra del Fuego! I’d hate to say good-bye to the Lucinda so soon.”
“I like the sound of that,” Esther said.
“We’ll make it work, Esther.” David stretched out on the bunk, put his arm around her waist, and tugged her down beside him. “We always do. We’re a good team . . . and if the crew gets along well . . . have to see how the next few days go . . .” He trailed off.
“Um, David?” Esther tapped his shoulder. “You were saying?” He had fallen asleep.
Esther removed David’s cracked glasses and curled up beside him, just to enjoy being wrapped up in the warmth of his blankets and his body for a moment. She’d return to her own bunk in a minute. They had to be decorous after all.
David’s breathing slowed, his chest rising and falling beneath her arm. His heartbeat was loud and steady in her ear.
She closed her eyes, listening to David’s breath, his heart, the slow, steady rhythm of his body. She couldn’t bring herself to leave to return to her own bunk. She thought of the extra speedboat, sitting atop the rear portside deck. If she had to separate from the group and go after her sister alone, she wanted to make the most of every second they had together right now.
She had often heard older folks talk about the things they wished they had done before it was too late, before the old world ended. They regretted missed time with their loved ones, the moments just appreciating what they had before it was gone forever. Esther’s seabound life was about to change, and she didn’t want to waste this time with the most precious thing she had. Esther drifted to sleep, holding on to David like it was the end of the world.
In the early hours of the morning, Esther tiptoed back toward her aft cabin with her boots in hand. As she passed the entrance to the head off the main corridor, someone rushed out of the door, also with boots in hand, and slammed into her.
Esther stumbled back, stunned. A shock of a red hair. A familiar squeal.
It was Cally.
Esther caught her arm before she could dart through the door to the mess.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“Uh . . . Hi, Esther. Surprise!” Cally wore a thick pair of woolen socks and a sheepish smile.
“How did you get here?” For a second Esther wondered if she’d dreamed their departure, but she was definitely in the corridor of the Lucinda on the way to the coast. And so was Cally.
“I hid in the galley,” Cally said. “I didn’t want to miss another adventure.”
“Did Dax help you? I’m going to kill him!”
“He doesn’t think it’s fair I didn’t get to go either. He’s only a little bit older than me. You can’t treat me like a kid forever.”
“I can if you act like a kid,” Esther said. “We are turning this ship around right now.”
“What’s the commotion out here?”
The crew had begun to come out of their cabins at the sound of raised voices in the corridor, many rubbing their eyes. It immediately felt crowded in the narrow passageway.
“Keep it down out there,” someone yelled from a nearby cabin.
“Do you know how early it is?”
Cody emerged wearing only boxer shorts, his dark hair tousled. He yelped and turned bright pink when he saw Cally, then darted back into his cabin.
“Oh, you’re in big trouble, Cally,” Zoe said, grinning as she leaned jauntily against the bulkhead. “Nicely playe
d.”
Dax tumbled into the corridor, skidding to a halt when he saw the crowd with Cally in their midst. His face went scarlet, and he tried to edge away.
“Hold it, Dax,” Esther said. “You’re off the ship too. You should know better than this.”
Dax dropped his head and shuffled forward to join them.
“You can’t turn around,” Cally exclaimed. “What about Naomi?”
“Rust,” Esther swore. Cally was right. It would waste so much time to go back now. They would never be able to get to Naomi and have any hope of completing their trek if they kept sailing back and forth. “It’s the captain’s decision.” She grabbed Cally’s arm and tugged her toward the fore. When had she gotten so tall?
“Don’t be mad, Esther. You’d do it too,” Cally said, walking beside her without resistance. Dax followed them up the corridor.
“I’ll be mad if I damn well please,” Esther said, though she couldn’t work up too much real anger against Cally. She understood why Cally wanted to come along. But now she had one more person to worry about if things went badly.
Esther marched the two young people to David’s door so he could pass judgment on them, but the cabin was empty. David must have already gone up to the pilothouse to relieve Luke at the helm. They continued up the ladder at the forward end of the corridor. The crew followed eagerly.
“Don’t you people have work to do?” Esther snapped.
“I’m not on until next shift and—” Ike Newton said, but he fell silent when Esther gave him a dirty look. He slunk back toward his bunk.
They passed Luke on his way down to bed from the night shift. He didn’t even notice Cally as he shuffled sleepily to his cabin.
When they reached the pilothouse, David was flipping through the charts. He tossed them onto the dash and listened, expressionless, as Cally and Dax explained that she had been hiding in the galley since the night before their departure.
“It was super-cramped,” Cally said, smiling weakly. “I learned my lesson.”
David was not amused.
“She’s only one person,” Dax said, “and she doesn’t eat that much. You’ll barely notice her.”
“So you think you know best, do you?” Esther said. She was well aware that she herself was guilty of stunts like this, but she really was trying to be more responsible.
“This is insubordination,” David said. “Dax, you directly disobeyed orders and disrupted the mission of this crew.”
“But—”
“Do not interrupt me. We carefully planned our supplies for a specific number of people. Having Cally on board throws us off. This is your responsibility, Dax, as a member of the crew.”
“We can make it up to you,” Dax said. “And she doesn’t eat very much.” He tugged at his hair, his face as pink as a conch shell. “Please don’t kick us off the ship.”
David sighed. “You and Cally have officially volunteered yourselves for all the least pleasant jobs on this ship for the duration of the voyage. Starting with cleaning the head, then the bilges. Get to it as soon as the breakfast shift is up. Got it?”
“Yes, sir,” Dax said.
“Sure thing!” Cally chirped. “I knew we’d get caught eventually. I’m ready to work!”
“And you will maintain a professional attitude about it,” David said.
“Aye aye, Captain!”
David tried to scowl, but Esther detected a hint of a smile. It was impossible to stay mad at Cally for long. She should know.
“Oh, and Dax,” David said, “there’s something you can do for me today. It’s extra work, and I hadn’t wanted to trouble you too much, but I’ve changed my mind about that.”
“What is it?” Dax hesitated. “Sir?”
“I want you to arrange a special dinner for the whole crew tonight. Nothing too fancy, but I want everyone to get better acquainted with each other. It would be nice to have a little something extra to eat while we’re at it.”
“I can handle that,” Dax said eagerly. “I have an idea I was hoping to try out on this voyage.”
“Good. All right. Get out of here, you two.”
“Yes, sir!” Dax and Cally waltzed from the pilothouse, not looking nearly contrite enough.
When they were gone, Esther grinned ruefully. “At least it wasn’t Gracie.”
David snorted.
“I’m going to do rounds, make sure we’re not in for more surprises,” Esther said.
“Good idea,” David said. “Check on morale while you’re at it.”
“Will do. What’s up with this dinner tonight, by the way?”
“The Galaxy captains held regular dinners on the Crown to reward their favorites. They were important for keeping the most powerful people in line, but I think we can expand on the idea to help the crew bond. We’re mostly dining in shifts, but I’d like us to have a meal all together every once in a while. We should also work on identifying the leaders amongst the crew.”
Esther stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. “I’ll leave the politicking to you. I’m sure Dax would help you with extra-special dinners every night if you wanted, though.”
David laughed and turned back to his charts. “Oh, he’d better after this.”
When Esther left the pilothouse, the sun was rising. It was shaping up to be another beautiful morning. The crisp, clean air filled her with energy, as did the speed of the ship beneath her feet.
Esther made her way along the starboard promenade to the stern, where the spare boat was tied down beside the Lucinda’s main rafts. It was a simple thing, with a sturdy outboard motor and a watertight compartment for supplies. It could prove useful if they ended up encountering surprises more unpleasant than a stowaway. Or if she needed to set out on her own to keep the Lucindans out of danger.
Jackson, the oil tanker man from the Galaxy, was checking the lashings on the boat, and he nodded to her as she passed. A handful of other crew chatted in a circle nearby, former Galaxians who had left the Flotilla along with Zoe, Anita, and the others to start a new life. Esther said a brief hello and headed for the portside promenade. She had leapt across this promenade with a group of oil tanker men the day they hijacked the Lucinda from the Galaxy. Now she climbed back down into the bowels of the ship and inspected the hold, the engine room, and the main corridor.
The ship was compact, with no wasted space, so it didn’t take long to check that everything was in order. She peeked into a few cabins where off-duty crew were resting or talking. Ike Newton was playing cards with Raymond on one of the bunks, and he waved at Esther when she strode past his door.
Luke was sound asleep in his cabin. Zoe sat on the floor beside his bunk, sharpening her pocketknife. She had the same shift as Esther today, so she wasn’t on duty yet. She gestured toward Luke and put a finger to her lips, then stood and joined Esther in the corridor.
“Murdered Cally yet?”
“No, but I want to talk to you about that.” Esther drew her friend further away from the cabin door to avoid disturbing the sleepers.
“I’m not even mad,” Zoe said. “I’d say mildly chuffed about covers it.”
“Can you promise me you’ll look after her?” Esther said. “No matter what happens?”
“I always look after her,” Zoe said. “Seriously. You, me, and Anita will keep her in line.”
“I mean if anything happens to me, or if I have to separate from you guys at some point.”
“Separate? What’s gotten into you?” Zoe twisted her pocketknife between her fingers. It flashed in the cold, artificial light of the corridor.
“Nothing. It’s just . . . I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to her or my dad or David. Or you and the guys of course. I just want to make sure she’ll be okay.”
“She will. Esther”—Zoe put her hands on her shoulder—“we are all going to be fine. You can’t protect everyone all the time. Trust us to look after each other, okay?”
Esther hooked her fingers in her tool belt. She want
ed to protect all her friends, all the people she loved. But her first priority had to be Naomi. If she was going to find her, she might need to let go of the others, at least for a little while.
“Okay. You’re right.”
“I’m always right,” Zoe said. “Now let’s grab some breakfast. I could eat a giant squid.”
Chapter 9—Evening
THE WHOLE CREW COULDN’T fit in the mess at once, so they gathered on the foredeck for dinner that evening. David instructed them to make sure their stations were in order, and then he cut the engine, allowing the ship to drift for a few hours so everyone could eat together.
Despite such short notice and limited supplies, Dax’s efforts were impressive. He had fixed seaweed pasta—one of their staples—and mixed it with a colorful assortment of sea urchins, iridescent fish scales, and prawns still in their shells. The colors alone were enough to make the meal appealing. He had also added a squid-ink sauce and a side of delicately prepared—and strategically saved—canned vegetables.
The crew filed eagerly through the galley to fill their bowls and then climbed through the hatch to eat on deck in the fading light. David took on a hint of his old spokesman’s persona. He made the rounds, stopping to shake hands and talk with each crew member individually. He carried himself differently now that they were under way. He was the captain, and he had to establish his authority at sea.
Esther let him get on with it and looked around for her father. Simon had been on duty in the lookout tower for most of the day, so she hadn’t had much chance to talk with him. As she scanned the deck, a woman with a round face and black hair named Sarita came over to stand beside her.
“Good way to kick off the night shift,” Sarita said, holding up her bowl of pasta.
“Sure is,” Esther said. “Hey, weren’t you a cook on the Galaxy?”
“Guilty.” Sarita had been one of the defectors, a small band of people who had been dissatisfied with the inequalities on the Galaxy. The hijacking of the Lucinda had been their chance to break away.
