by Jordan Rivet
“Good luck.”
“Should be pretty straightforward. The Amsterdam will be a key reference point for the new satellite network. The more stable points we have, the more we can use the data we’re getting. Marian— They found another functioning satellite last week. We’re really filling in the blanks.”
“Nice,” Esther said. “But how are you doing? I take it you’re talking to her?”
A shadow crossed Neal’s face. Esther instantly regretted asking about the beautiful—and married—Marianna. She had elected not to come with Neal when he fled the Catalina. Her husband, Paris, had been killed in the escape from the Galaxy, but somehow Esther didn’t think that made Marianna and Neal’s relationship any more likely to progress.
“All business,” Neal said.
“And?” Esther prodded.
“And it sucks. I’m never going to meet another woman like her.” Neal blew a tuft of hair out of his eyes.
“Sure you will,” Esther said. “You can talk to all kinds of people when the network is complete, right? And it’ll be easier to visit other ships soon too, unless Dirk and Judith manage to isolate us again.”
“Oh yeah. How’d the meeting go?”
“It was okay. They left it up to me to decide.”
“The tides sure have turned,” Neal said.
“I’ll say.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know,” Esther said slowly. “I don’t agree with Judith and Dirk about keeping the tech to ourselves. That just seems wrong. But the whole idea of holding an auction or whatever David wants to do makes me nervous.”
“Maybe he’s going to take the idea and run,” Neal said. He had never been a big fan of David Hawthorne.
“I don’t think so. I mean, he doesn’t actually have the designs. He needs me to be a part of whatever transaction he arranges.”
“Do you trust him to make a good deal?”
“I guess so,” Esther said. “We do need more resources.”
“What happened to you guys working so well together?” Neal said. “I thought you’d—ya know—date or something.”
Esther sighed and slumped back on the floor. She stared up at the ceiling where the mobile had been.
“He was pretty straight about what he wanted before,” she said. “Now I’m not sure if he still feels . . . something. I’m not even sure what I feel for him.”
She thought about David’s hands on her shoulders, the way he had looked so proud. The way he brushed her cheek with his fingers.
“You guys did hook up, right?” Neal said.
“Yeah, but nothing’s happened since.”
She had thought it would. She had thought he’d invite her back to his cabin, like he had months ago on the Galaxy Flotilla, or that he’d at least clarify where they stood. They had made a connection, and she didn’t believe it would just be for that one night.
“Men are scum,” Neal said.
Esther laughed and sat up to kick the toe of Neal’s bowling shoe.
“Think so?”
“Yeah, women too,” Neal said, sighing heavily. “Romance sucks.”
“You’ll find someone else,” Esther said. “How about Anita? She actually talks sometimes now.”
“I don’t know.” Neal blushed a little. “Isn’t she leaving with Toni and Zoe when we get to the Amsterdam?”
“Yeah,” Esther said. “They want to join a more exciting crew. If Hawthorne goes too, things will be almost back to normal. Just you and me again.”
“I don’t know, Es,” Neal said. “It wouldn’t shock me if you end up going off on another adventure after all.”
“He asked me to go with him on the Lucinda to search for land,” Esther said after a pause. “Offered me the mechanic job or first mate. Actually, that’s the last time he really showed interest in me—apart from my technology, I mean.”
“Well, that’s something. Maybe he’s waiting for you to come to him this time,” Neal said. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you haven’t exactly been encouraging him by hiding out in the bowling alley.”
Esther scrubbed a hand through her hair. Neal could be right. David had just mentioned dinner, and she’d told him how much work she had to do instead of suggesting that they eat together. Or walk on the deck together. Or something. She didn’t think she’d imagined the way he was leaning toward her a few minutes ago. When they first returned to the Catalina, she’d been confused about what had happened between them, then busy with her work. Now she was nervous about how to proceed, and the uncertainty was agonizing. What if he wasn’t interested? He was also planning to leave, to take the Lucinda on an expedition to the coast. She couldn’t forget that.
She pushed the feelings away. She didn’t need this kind of drama right now. She had to focus on the task at hand: doing what was best for the Catalina.
“He’s right about the trading,” she said, feeling suddenly clearheaded. “The Catalina needs more than fuel. I’m going to tell him he can try to sell my technology.”
“Whatever you think, Es,” Neal said, swiveling back to his console. “Just be careful.”
“I always am.” Esther stood and began climbing down through the hatch.
“Oh, and Neal, you’ve got to shave,” she said, popping her head back into the tower. “That beard makes you look like a sea cucumber.”
Chapter 5—Games
There was a game being played in the plaza when Esther arrived. It was a cavernous space in the center of the ship surrounded by three levels of shops. Some were used for storage, while others had become workspaces. Light filtered down through the skylight onto a group of children sitting in a circle on the threadbare carpet. To Esther’s surprise, David sat in their midst.
They were tossing a limp rubber ball between them. Whenever one of the kids caught the ball, they called out the name of a sea creature. A girl wearing a “Catalina: Your Island at Sea” T-shirt that came to her knees had the ball when Esther stopped on the staircase to watch them.
“Crab!” the little girl squealed, and passed the ball to a boy with overlarge glasses.
“Dolphin!” he said, and threw it to the girl across from him.
“Eel!”
“Fish!”
“Wrong!” yelled the first girl. “Izzy already said that one last round!”
The kids dissolved into giggles. The boy who had said “fish” looked like he might cry. Lip trembling, he stared down at the ball in his hands.
“It’s okay, buddy,” David said, leaning toward the boy. “You get to start the next round.”
“I don’t know any g creatures,” the boy wailed.
David smiled, and Esther was struck by how frank and kind his face looked in that moment. It was rare to see him so relaxed. She wasn’t sure he had made any real friends on the Catalina. The Galaxians remembered his former position all too well, and the Catalinans didn’t trust him. Yet now he was sitting on the floor playing with the kids. It was official: Esther didn’t understand him at all.
“How about gull or gurnard?”
“What’s that?” the little boy asked.
“It’s a fish that walks along the bottom of the sea on its fins.” David walked his fingers along the floor toward the boy. “It’s always looking for some shrimp to eat.” He grabbed the boy’s bare toe, and the child giggled and squealed, his tears forgotten.
“Okay, gurnard!” he said.
Another little boy, wearing a pair of orange bowling shoes, snuck up behind David then and stole his glasses. He ran up the grand staircase with them, cackling wildly. David just laughed and leapt up to chase him. He stumbled toward the stairs, apparently not able to see all that well without his glasses. Several of the kids jumped up and grabbed onto his arms. He swung them forward, making them laugh and shriek.
Esther plucked David’s glasses out of the little boy’s hands as he darted past her and brought them down the stairs.
David stopped when Esther was close eno
ugh for him to recognize her, and for a moment his face was open and vulnerable. He smiled, and it felt like the Catalina had lurched sideways.
David disentangled himself from the kids and retrieved the ball from his young friend. He offered it to Esther.
“Do you want to play? I bet you can name sea creatures like a champ.”
“You can have your way,” Esther blurted out. Smooth, Esther. “You can try to sell my design.”
David blinked. He looked down at the ball he was still holding out and drew it back.
“That was quick,” he said.
“No point in agonizing over it,” Esther said. “I just want to get this over with.”
David straightened, and suddenly he was back to his usual sophisticated self. “This is the right decision, Esther. I knew you’d see things my way.”
Something about his tone bothered her. He didn’t seem surprised that she had agreed to do what he wanted.
“Right,” she said. “Well, I’d better get back to work.”
She handed over the glasses and left him standing in the plaza, the ball still in his hand. She had just given him what he wanted, so why did he look disappointed somehow? He turned and tossed the ball back to the kids.
It was only after Esther was back amongst her diagrams and tools that she remembered what Neal had said: Don’t take this the wrong way, but you haven’t exactly been encouraging him by hiding out in the bowling alley. She had a feeling that she’d somehow missed an opportunity just now.
Chapter 6—The Engine Test
Esther didn’t sleep at all the night before the trip to the Amsterdam Coalition. Ordinarily, the crew would dump the last of the crude oil into the refinery in preparation for the journey. Instead, Esther stayed up all night, preparing to fire up the completed biofuel system for the first time. It had taken a week of double shifts to finish hooking up the big separator and refinery to the main engines. She was still a little worried the biofuel wouldn’t work as well in the big engines as it did in the smaller motors she had tested so far. It was the moment of truth.
Esther had invited David to the engine room to see the system in action so he’d know what he was talking about at the Amsterdam. She couldn’t help thinking about what he had said when she decided to do things his way, how he hadn’t been surprised.
This is the right decision, Esther. I knew you’d see things my way.
He was definitely confident. With the prospect of negotiating a trade, he was back in his element, more so than he had been for a while. She wanted to see something that showed he wasn’t only out for himself. Was he really just manipulating her so that he could do what he wanted with her invention? He had said himself that everyone would want it. Maybe that “everyone” included the Galaxy captains. He could be using her idea to get his old job back. Even Boris would accept that trade.
She still couldn’t bring herself to say anything about whatever was between them, yet she felt nervous knowing he would be coming to the engine room soon. She hadn’t seen much of him lately because she’d been working overtime to get everything ready. It was much simpler than trying to figure out her feelings.
She tightened up one final bolt and crawled out from underneath the machine. It was bigger than a lifeboat, and they’d had to move the other machinery around to make space for it. Esther’s trousers were smudged with oil, and the algae had stained her hands green.
Reggie had rounded up a big group to help her with the final stages of assembly. The crew usually spent most of their time fishing, harvesting seaweed, and maintaining the ship. Now they gathered around the engine room, both on the main floor and the catwalk, to see the final test. It looked like the galley crew was here as well, and a handful of curious Galaxians. Esther spotted Adele from Guest Services and Byron the water taxi driver turned quartermaster. Her father was here too. This had better work.
David arrived in his usual whirl of elegance. The man who had sat on the floor playing ball with a group of kids was nowhere to be seen. He sailed down the steps from the catwalk and joined her on the bottom level.
“All set, Esther?”
“I think so,” she said. “These guys are going to be pretty disappointed if I end up having to go back to the drawing board now. Reggie has been talking me up.”
David surveyed the crowd gathering on the catwalk. “I might have had a hand in that too.” He waved at some machinery. “Now this part looks quite intricate. Well done.”
“Actually, that’s the pump. It was here before. This is the separator.” Esther tugged on David’s arm to turn him in the right direction. He met her eyes, and heat swept through her body. She dropped her hand.
“Looks great,” David said. “Can you make one for the Lucinda next?”
“That’s the plan. Next time should be easier. I can make it smaller too, so it won’t weigh her down too much.”
“You’re brilliant, Esther, you know that?” David said.
She looked down at the green stains on her hands. “I—”
“Have you given any thought to joining the Lucinda for our land voyage? I’ve got a crew mostly picked out. We’ll be moving onto her for the journey to the Amsterdam so we can work through any issues. There’s a spot available.”
“I don’t know,” Esther began. So the offer was still open. Could she leave the Catalina for a man she didn’t understand? A man she wasn’t sure she trusted? “My work . . .” She trailed off when she saw disappointment flash across David’s face. And maybe hurt. It was gone in an instant.
“Are you going to turn it on or not?” a voice cut in. Judith stomped down the steps, making the catwalk shudder.
“Sure. Just about ready,” Esther said.
David winked at her, face smooth again, and strode off to join Judith at the bottom of the catwalk stairs. He had asked her to go with him again! He wouldn’t do that if he wanted to return to the Galaxy. Why had she choked? She was so much better with machines than with people. At least, certain people.
Esther made sure the emergency off switch was clear and stepped over to the main control panel she had rigged up for the system. On the catwalk, Reggie shouted at everyone to be quiet. The crowd shuffled forward, making the metal creak. A hundred faces stared down at her. It was time.
Esther turned on the separator. With a grotesque sucking sound, it began pulling in algae and spinning it through the system. The engine room rumbled. So far so good. She had tested this part before. Next, she opened the valve to the refinery. The raw oil cycled through it. Reggie explained what was happening to the assembled crew. Next was the part they hadn’t tried yet: using the refined biofuel to run the engines.
The six marine diesel engines waited. They dwarfed all the other machinery, their tops level with the kneecaps of the people on the catwalk. Esther turned the final valve, allowing the fuel to flow to the injectors. She hit the intercom on the control panel.
“Engine control?”
“This is the ECR.”
Esther crossed her fingers. “Let’s do it.”
“Roger that, Esther.”
The engines grumbled, shaking the floor. From the outside it didn’t look like anything was happening, but the growls echoed around the cavernous room. The engines would be generating energy using Esther’s biofuel. It should be enough to power the propellers.
“ECR?” Esther shouted into the intercom.
She waited. The engines continued to roar. She looked at David. He was watching her, not the machine, a tic in his jaw.
Finally, a voice crackled through the intercom from the engine control room. “We’re at full power!”
“Fire up the propeller.”
The crowd on the catwalk leaned forward, holding their breath. Then the ship shuddered. The propellers were turning. They’d be churning up the seawater, gulping up energy, but this time they weren’t using any of the Catalina’s remaining fuel resources. This time, by way of Esther’s design, the propellers were being powered by the sea itself.
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Then the Catalina moved.
The crowd on the catwalk broke into cheers. Even though they couldn’t see what was going on outside from deep in the engine room, they could tell that the ship was sailing forward.
“And we’re off!” Reggie shouted above the noise of the crowd and the machines. “Hell, we could sail all the way to land!”
Esther released her grip on the control console. Now the navigation officer would set a course for the Amsterdam Coalition. They were sailing toward their usual rendezvous, but this time everything would be different.
The crowd on the catwalk began making their way back to their posts, many calling congratulations down to Esther as they left. The demonstration was complete.
Esther joined David and Judith by the catwalk steps. She was proud of her system and she appreciated the cheers, but it was their approval that mattered most.
“Well?” she said.
“Good work, Esther,” Judith said, giving her a grudging nod. “Now, are you sure about selling this system? I think you should reconsider.”
Esther glanced at David. “No, I think Hawthorne’s right about trading it for a supply stockpile and new alliances. Let him try.”
“Thank you for your confidence, Ms. Harris,” David said.
Why was he so formal suddenly? Had she offended him somehow?
“This is going to change everything,” Judith said.
“I hope so,” Esther said.
David turned away abruptly. “Now that we know it works, Judith, shall we discuss the remaining trade? I think it would be wise to delay any big purchases until after we’ve sold Esther’s technology.”
“You think it would be wise, do you?” Judith said.
David wasn’t fazed by her dry tone. He simply continued his pitch, leaving the engine room at Judith’s side. He didn’t look back at Esther once.
Chapter 7—The Amsterdam Coalition
The sky was in revolt as they closed in on the Amsterdam Coalition. After months of nostalgic blue, the atmosphere had coughed up some of the volcanic ash they thought had dissipated. Purple and vermilion mixed with angry, dark streaks as the Catalina approached the flat iron lines of the Amsterdam.
