by S. M. Welles
“By the way,” I said to Jessie, “blondie over here, the one you oared in the head is Scully. He’s a cargo pusher and our best shot with the Harpy. He isn’t real smooth with the ladies, but since you’re not a lady, you’ll be safe.”
“Hey! I got me two women back in England. You saw ‘em.”
“That’s the only two in how long?” Mido teased as he placed two chicken breasts on the stovetop. They sizzled upon contact.
“I get a girl every time we dock. I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”
The idle banter continued for another minute, until Scully grew quiet. I was halfway through my burger when he tapped me on the shoulder. His face was now white and green. I dropped my food, getting up and out of the way in one swift motion. Scully dived for the garbage bolted against the ice box. The air filled with the sound of gloppy stomach contents splattering against a plastic bag. I lost my appetite.
“Jessie, why did you assault one of my crew members with an oar?”
“He saw me. How was I supposed to know he wouldn’t try and hand me right back over to Tethys?”
“You came from Tethys’s ship?” Sauna said over another bout of Scully’s vomiting. “Que horrible.”
Jessie’s face hardened.
“What’s it like over there? What does he do when he’s not chasing us around?” Sauna scooted closer to the edge, dragging his plate over the lacquered wood, and present the remainder of his potato wedges to Jessie. She gave them a ravenous look before snatching one up. I positioned myself in front of the hall leading to the stern, keeping one eye on Jessie, and the other on Scully. I’d eventually have to hunt down Cancer, our ship’s medic, the only man banned from ship fights. Sutures were your own job when he had dead men to tend to, unless you couldn’t reach the spot.
I backed up two steps and opened up a tall, thin door concealing folding chairs. I took one out, then carried it over to Scully and nudged him with it. He pulled his head out of the garbage, then he stuck his rear in the air as I set he chair under him. I returned to my post across from Jessie. Scully resumed vomiting as Jessie spoke.
“It’s not as nice as it is here. I don’t know what he does. Shipping, I guess. He kept me locked up all the time.”
“How did you escape?” I asked.
“I kicked the door until it broke,” she said, eyes hardening with bad memories.
“An iron door?”
“It took months. The frame was rusty. Eventually Tethys had a hard time shutting and locking the door because I’d bent the frame that bad.”
“No wonder you can kick so hard,” Mido said as he added some diced vegetables to the grill. “You’ve been practicing.”
“A lot.” Jessie snatched another potato wedge and shuffled back out of arm’s reach of the table. Not sure what her deal was. I wanted to tell her to sit down but I’d let her be for now. She’d been through enough already.
“How often did you get fed on Tethys’ ship?” Mido asked.
“Once or twice a day. I used to get more food snuck to me until they all learned I’d give them bruises in place of the sexual favors they wanted.”
“You don’t have to worry about that anymore,” Mido said.
“I hope so. I’m tired of stupid people and I’m tired of starving.”
I said, “However, a few members might need some reminding that you’re not here for their pleasure. It might take a few painful lessons for them to get the picture to leave you alone. But don’t hold it against them. We’re all just men. We can go months at a time without so much as hearing a woman’s sweet voice.”
“I’ll cuss you out with my ‘sweet voice,’” Jessie warned. Mido and Sauna laughed.
“That reminds me,” I said, unfolding my arms. I crossed the galley and headed for the stairs to the main deck. “Sauna, assign Jessie one of the empty bunks once she’s fed, then show her where the showers are and get back to the engine room.”
“Yes, Captain.”
I stopped at the base of the stairs and looked at Scully, whose face was quite green and grey, and the back of his head a bloody mess. I headed for the wheelhouse to make sure we were still on course. The compass read that I was bearing a little too far south by one degree. I un-wedged the wood, turned the stick slightly, then put the ship back on auto pilot and met up with Sam at the bow. The sun was finally out in full force, turning the chill wind hot and humid. I unbuttoned my trench coat.
Rammus and Sam were carrying supplies to their appropriate locations around the ship. I informed Cancer via my old-fashioned sound system about his new patient. Hopefully he had the energy for it after preparing two corpses for cremation.
Purposely deciding against using the com a second time, I left the wheelhouse and headed over to Sam in the cargo hold, who stood among several head-high stacks of crates and boxes. “Where’s Rammus?”
“He’ll be coming back from the deck shortly.”
I turned around, headed for the deck, and found Rammus descending the steep steel stairs. I motioned him to stop. He gave me a curious look as I glanced in Sam’s direction before ascending to the hatch. I took hold of his arm. “Anyone else been this way recently?”
“No, sir.”
I glanced up and down the starboard side of my ship. I let go of his arm. Sam and the cargo hold were well out earshot. I spoke in a low voice anyway. “Rammus, we’ve got some special cargo. A woman. She goes by the name of Jessie but her real name is… is Amphitrite.” Once again my stomach did a flop. Rammus’s slate eyes widened.
“That’s—”
“Do not call her anything but Jessie. She doesn’t leave this ship, unless I say so. Got it?”
“Yes, Captain. I hope this portends good.”
“So do I. Now get back to work.”
Chapter 5
Surrounded by Men
Jessie ate her chicken stir fry with her gaze frequently checking each man’s proximity to her, using each raise of her fork as an opportunity to disguise her wariness, even though her inability to take a seat gave away part of how terrified she was. The more complacent these jerks got, the easier it would be to defend herself later, whenever necessary. Men were acceptable to have around, so long as they knew their place.
However, she was safest when she knew her place as well. Right now, she was an intruder who was getting fed.
Back on Tethys’s ship, there had been three other women. Two of them were crybabies that did nothing but feel sorry for themselves, and one was a whore who must’ve been a nympho. Unfortunately, her hormones made her think she was some sort of sex queen or goddess; the whore started pulling dominatrix moves, so the men responded by taking her in twos and threes. Her moans turned into cries as they raped her. Every time they were done, she’d spew a tirade about how they’d just treated her, until the day she was replaced.
Dyne hadn’t bothered threatening bodily harm no matter how much she yelled at or beat up him or the rest of his jerks. What was it with them? Were they just a bunch of pushovers? But Dyne had a gun. It took a lot of gall to carry around something that dangerous.
“Are you alright, Jessie?” Mido asked from across the table. “Did you just find a bit with too much spices on it?”
Without realizing it, Jessie had froze with an empty fork in front of her full mouth. She resumed chewing and shook her head. She swallowed, then snipped, “I’m fine.” She grabbed another forkful of the greatest meal she’d had in who knows how long, and checked her company’s positions once again. They were still out of kicking range. Sauna leaned against the ice box and folded his arms.
Guns were something Jessie never wanted to deal with. She’d seen firsthand what happened to those stupid enough to carry one when she was young. Back in Cyprus, a gang leader named Adrastos had found a gun that had survived the centuries, so he flaunted it to get his way. Rumors spread that the gang leader had found a way to get the quasi-children do to his bidding, but no one had seen them do more than appear or vanish every time.<
br />
One day, Adrastos wanted to take Dad’s orchards. He refused, calling Adrastos’ control over the quasis a bluff. As it turned out, Dad was right. The second Adrastos aimed his gun at Dad, the quasi-children swarmed the gang leader and somehow killed him without drawing blood. Dad bent over and picked up the gun. It looked like he was holding it out for the quasis to take when they touched his arm. They took the gun, then vanished as Dad clutched his chest and went into cardiac arrest.
As soon as Jessie finished her meal, Mido rose and collected the plate and fork, his arms at max reaching distance while she more tossed than handed everything over. At least the cook had learned to stay away. She didn’t much care to beat up the hand that fed her, especially if food was going to taste that good until she got home.
Gentle footsteps pattered down the stairs beyond a bent over Scully, who had stopped vomiting right before Jessie’s food had been ready to eat. A tall, muscled man with a groomed, golden brown beard and long hair stopped by Scully and put a hand on his shoulder.
Mido turned. “Oh, hey, Cancer.”
Scully raised his head and Jessie noticed the dried up blood above his ponytail. A wave of guilt made her grimace. “Oh, thank the sea you’re here,” Scully said in a hollow, nauseated voice. He braced his hands against the ice box and tried to stand. Cancer ducked under one of Scully’s arms and helped him stand. Sauna backed out of the way as Mido rushed over and draped Scully’s other arm over his shoulders. Jessie rose, feeling the need to follow, despite not wanting to be near any of them.
Cancer shot his gaze in Jessie’s direction the second he heard make wood creak. Jessie froze, feeling like she was caught in the glare of a lion about to pounce her, like he already knew she was the one who’d hurt his crew mate. His hair looked like a mane, and his brown eyes trapped her where she stood contemplating how to exact revenge. Jessie found herself unable to feel anything but afraid of this man.
“There’s a woman on board,” he said disapprovingly.
“She’s an escapee from Tethys’s ship,” Scully said. “The captain’s dropping her off back home between shipments.”
“Oh, really?” Cancer pivoted and Mido moved with him. “And where’s home, little lady?”
“C-Cyprus, sir.” Jessie felt her body shrinking into itself. She wanted to find a place to hide but dared not move.
He raised an eyebrow. “And where are we headed right now?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care how long it takes, so long as I get home,” Jessie said. “I can be patient.”
Cancer glared at her, then glanced at Lou. “Your new home will be Port Chesapeake, unless you find another ship to take you home. You were a fool to believe Captain would waste his time on a little lost lady. Let’s go, Mido.”
That was the second time he’d called her a little lady, but Jessie dared not tell Cancer what not to call her. Right now that didn’t matter. She couldn’t bring herself to believe what she’d just been told. She didn’t want to believe it. Tethys had pretended to promise to bring her home years ago. If Dyne had lied as well, she didn’t want to try a third captain. Not another disgusting ship with another disgusting crew, and endless nights of horny, selfish men humping her insides raw. Yet, she didn’t want to make Virginia her new home. It wasn’t home. She had to make Dyne take her home. It had been two years since the last time she’d smelled Cyprus’s warm ocean air and heard Greek on everyone’s tongue.
Jessie silently cursed her weakness as she rubbed her tears away. At least three of the men had their backs to her. She took a deep breath and clenched her jaw, then exhaled and began following on silent feet. The Dominican named Sauna followed her without any apparent disapproval in his neutral expression. He could take her to her bunk later.
It wasn’t until they passed a flight of stairs that they realized she was following them. Mido looked back when they passed all the sleeping cabins. “Sauna, aren’t you supposed to be taking Jessie to her bunk?”
“I don’t want to go yet,” Jessie said, pressing against a wall. She had only one man to barrel through on one side if she needed to go back the way she came.
“I take her when she ready to go,” Sauna said, shrugging. “The sooner she all set, the sooner I work.”
Mido and the others headed for two heavy doors facing each other and Jessie followed.
Sauna tried to fall in stride beside Jessie but she froze in place until he was an arm’s length ahead of her. He turned around, gave her a studious look, then said, “Why you want to follow them?”
“I’m the one who hurt him,” she said, gesturing to Scully. “I want to make sure he’s okay. I’m not a lady, but I’m not heartless.”
“Gracias, señorita.” His tone of voice was sincere. That made her relax a little, but not so much so as to forget she was surrounded by men, potential rapists.
“I take it he’s a doctor?” Jessie asked, pointing at Cancer’s broad back.
“He has temper but he won’t hurt anyone.”
“Why is a doctor named Cancer? It doesn’t make sense.”
“He’s a cancer survivor.” There was admiration in Sauna’s voice.
To survive cancer in this day and age was rare enough to be called a miracle. Jessie shared the Dominican’s admiration.
Cancer turned the wheel and pushed the door open. Mido led the way inside. As soon as they disappeared, Jessie felt eyes on her back. She turned around. Dyne was headed down the hall, a hand in his trench coat pocket, a scowl etched on his gruff face.
“You are bringing me home, aren’t you?” Jessie yelled over the distant hum of what she assumed was the engine. It sounded big enough to be one.
Dyne said nothing; just walked, his trench coat billowing behind him. Jessie looked through the opened door into what looked like a bathroom. She heard voices but couldn’t make out what they said.
Dyne stopped just out of kicking range. Another smart man. He raised an arm and tossed a heap of material to her. She caught them. Clothes.
“What did you say?”
“You are bringing me home, right? The doc said you were just gonna dump me off at Port Chesapeake.”
“Well he’s wrong about that. Just ignore the old fart. He’s not the one piloting this ship anyway.” He eyed Sauna. “Where you two off to?”
“The wrong place, Captain,” Sauna said, passing a hand over his scalp. “This way, Jessie.” He pointed past the captain.
Jessie stayed put. “What about the guy I hurt?”
“You can apologize to Scully later,” Dyne said. “Let Cancer do his job in peace.” He turned around and trudged towards the nearest flight of stairs.
“Fine.” She took a step away from the bathroom door. “When do you think you’ll take me home?”
The captain stopped mid-stride, then slowly turned to face her. “Eventually. I have a job to do and a crew to pay. If you want off sooner, you can stop being a freeloader and make yourself useful.”
“Doing what?”
“Something useful. Go ask Rammus. He’s my second-in-command.” The captain trudged off.
“What do you think he’ll have me do?” Jessie asked Sauna. Dark thoughts crept into her mind.
“Swab the decks” he said with a smile. “Just kidding. He might have you clean and such. Worry about that later. Time to show you where you sleep.” They began backtracking.
“Will you let me to see that Scully guy after?” They walked down a narrow passage with six pipes of varying widths overhead, and mounted lamps on either side of their head spaced at intervals of ten feet.
“No puedo. I have to get back to the engine room.”
Jessie counted four sets of lamps between the hatch they came down and the door they stopped at. She ended up having a choice of three bunks in this cubby hole of a room. There was just enough space between the bunks and the door to stand or sit cross-legged. There was a hanging lamp she had to be careful not to knock her forehead on, despite being only five-five. It was solar power
ed and hooked up to a battery that held only a couple of hours worth of light. But having a solar powered lamp was like being given a diamond ring that gave off light. People usually went kerosene or naphtha because it was easier than creating solar panels. Obviously using flammable fuel didn’t work on a rocking ship.
Jessie was about to shove her new clothes in a cubby drawer when Sauna said they were off to the showers next. She gave him a suspicious look but he put up his hands and explained that he was too scared to try anything on her. And yes, there was plenty of soap.
It had to have been at least two years since the last time she’d taken a real shower. All Tethys had given her was a bucket and rags, and soap whenever he remembered. The soap stopped feeling like it was doing much good after three months of getting used by men.
The showers were located opposite the bathroom, and good god were they repulsive. The pigs had centerfolds, drawings and paintings of voluptuous women all over the walls. The very thought of what these men did to themselves in this room, besides clean, made her back up. Sauna sidestepped out of her path.
“We’re just hombres, Jessie, but I guess I should’ve warned you.”
“I’ll live. This isn’t some five star hotel anyway. Where are the towels and such?”
Sauna pointed to a row of lockers by the shower room door. “The fresh ones are all the way on the right. You can pick a locker and leave your towel there after you’re done, or you can take it to your bunk.”
“Where do I get a key?”
“To your bunk?”
“To the showers.”
“You have to go to either Rammus or Sam for one.”
“Can’t you?” There was no way she’d wander around another ship alone, surrounded by men.
“I have to go do my job.”
“How do you expect me to shower?” she asked, exasperated.
“We down two men. Trust me, we all busy and hurting inside.” Sauna bid her farewell and shut the metal shower room door behind him with a clang loud enough to almost satisfy Jessie.
