The Navigator, page 16
Mackerel skipped over to Jack. "She came here looking for you. Flounder said she doesn't look so tough. She told him she's killed a lot of people."
"Really?" Jack laughed. He walked over to Damsel and picked her up. He began to caress her back, holding her like a baby. "It's okay. Tell me what's the matter."
Damsel quivered against his chest. She spoke into his ear, just loud enough for Petal to hear. "She's just like us. Find someone else. Don't use her. . ."
Jack kissed her forehead. "What did you do to scare her, Petal?"
"Nothing." Petal shrugged, peering past Flounder. He had his arms crossed and was blocking her from entering the little hideaway. "I need your help. You said to come here if I needed something."
Jack put Damsel down and motioned for Flounder to move out of her way. "What is it you need then?"
"I need silver."
"Yeah, silver's all she wants," Flounder scoffed. "She doesn't want to be part of our family. And I don't want another sister anyway. Damsel's such a sissy. She just cries all the time about her dead mum. She hasn't stolen a single scrap. She's useless."
Jack smacked Flounder with an open palm. The little boy reeled from the blow, falling onto the splintery wood and steel. He clutched his face.
"Don't talk that way about your sister."
Petal's eyes widened.
Jack turned his attention back to Petal. The anger left his face in an instant.
"You need silver, huh? I have a few pieces I could spare. What can I do you for?"
"I need a lot. I need three hundred sesterces."
"Three hundred? Hehe. So do I! Can you give me three hundred too, Jack?" Mackerel sniggered.
"Huh." Jack scratched his head. "We haven't come across that much in a long time. Since we snuck aboard that Hesperian schooner."
"A man knows about the ship that took my sister. He won't tell me about it until I pay him. You're the only person I know here. Everyone else - everyone else is a stranger."
"Who do you have to pay? Maybe I can talk him into lowering his price."
"His name is Dahmlam."
"Oh. . .Well maybe I can think of a way to get you that much."
"How?" Flounder stood up. He now had a large red welt on his cheek
"I have an idea that I've been planning for a while. We haven't had enough people. It'll take all of us; you two, Angler, Shrimp, Petal - even Damsel."
"Cool." Mackerel hoisted Damsel onto his shoulders.
Damsel looked away from the scheming boys. She stared up at the sky through the steel grating.
"What's the plan then?" Flounder rubbed his grubby hands together in excitement.
"Say Petal, have you ever stolen a boat before?"
- 31 -
Quill rolled over in bed. She was only half awake. She felt a tingle, like something heavy was pressing on her bladder. She slowly opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. She was in a dark hotel room. The hotel bed was giant, king-sized. The windows were covered by a flowing blackout curtain that let in almost no light. Everything inside the room was tinged an electric green from a little digital alarm clock by her bedside. She began to sit up. Her breasts felt heavier than usual, swollen and painfully tender. She cupped them and lowered her legs over the edge of the bed. Her belly bulged out almost half a foot.
She was eight months pregnant.
Quill rubbed her swollen belly, smiling when she felt a gentle kick. She struggled to stand, feeling extra top heavy. She walked over to the curtains and pulled them aside, staring out at a cityscape.
Outside it was nighttime. A row of swaying palm trees sat on either side of an empty freeway. Quill could see lights flashing across Kai Shen - a beautiful skyline of meandering highways and geometrically-shaped skyscrapers. She soaked it all in for a moment.
Suddenly, her mind began to spin. The air felt cold. Her eyes darted around the dark hotel room, now illuminated by moonlight.
Quill realized that she had no idea where she was, and she had no idea why she was pregnant.
"Quill? Quill Almeada?"
Quill opened her eyes. She was back in Hlac's Hostel. She heard knocking at the door and shot up from bed. Before opening it, she looked down at her belly and was elated to see she wasn't pregnant.
"Hello?" She cracked the door open.
"Goddamn. You look like hell." An old man was leaning against the doorframe. He had scraggly white hair and a raven's eyes. "You're Quill?"
"What?" Quill rubbed her greasy face, trying to fully wake up. She'd passed out from the khat without realizing. "Yeah, I'm Quill."
"Dahmlam said you're looking for work. He said you're a good navigator."
"Yes – yeah, I'm a navigator. Do you want to come in?"
Quill flung the door fully open. Her room was a mess. Both beds were disheveled.
"No. My name's Kole. I run a salvage vessel off the Raft. The Deep Star. I've decided to take a navigator with me into the Sea of Sighs. We're going to go salvage the Yard. The job is yours. If you can do it. "
"Wow. Yeah. Sure." Quill's mind was fried. She struggled to process what Kole had just told her. "I know how to get there. I'll do it - no problem. This is great. Except I guess I have to thank Dahmlam for the referral."
"Maybe not. You get three hundred sesterces for the job. However, you'll be paid nothing by me. I'm paying Dahmlam the three hundred. That's what he said you owe him."
"You aren't paying me?" Quill balked. "I don't owe Dahmlam anything. Not until he gets me what I asked for."
"That's between you and him. I'm not part of whatever happened between you. I'm telling you my offer."
Quill scowled at Kole for several seconds.
Kole didn't react. "You know, I really didn't want to hire a navigator to begin with. I've sailed that sea hundreds of times. But word's been spreading of pirate raids a little south of the Yard. I want a navigator in case I have to go off course. I was skeptical, but Dahmlam said you'd be fine doing the job for just room and board. He told me you'd take that as payment."
"Fine. I'll work for free. That's apparently what I'm worth now. Whatever. I can't wait to get out of here."
"Good." Kole took a step back and began to walk away. "I'll tell Dahmlam you've accepted."
Quill watched him shrink down the hall. Before he was gone, she called out to him.
"Wait!"
"Yeah?"
"I'm here with a girl. I mean I came here with her. She. . .uh. . .she doesn't have anyone to look after her on the Raft. No family. I'd need to bring her along."
"How old is she? My boat is no place for a child."
"Don't worry. She'll be fine. She's really mature and tough as steel. She'll be useful to you."
"I don't really need a cabin boy, but it's fine as long as I don't have to pay her either. The Deep Star is moored at Dock 9. Get there by ten. Not a second later."
- 32-
Petal clung to the thick wooden pylon, slowly bobbing up and down in the sea. She heard heavy, plodding footsteps click on the dock a few feet above her head. She was floating in the water, submerged all the way up to her neck. On either side of her were the rest of the Barnacles. The scruffy children were waiting for the sun to set so they could get started.
Jack was right next to Petal, clinging to the same wooden beam. The other boys were floating in front of him, clasping the pier. The little girl, Damsel, was at the very rear of the pack, nearly back under the Raft. She looked pale and frightened.
The dockworkers on the pier above the children had just begun their shift change. The sweaty day laborers were leaving. They would soon be replaced by a heavily armed night crew tasked with guarding the docks from pirate attacks, boat thieves, and other intruders.
"You okay with this?" Jack began to tread freely in the ocean. "You and Damsel just have to follow us out to sea. We'll meet up east of here, on Syrno's ship."
The night air was freezing. Goose bumps rose up all over Petal's body, making her shudder. She dunked herself underwater for a second to warm up and then bobbed back to the surface.
"Uh-huh. But why is Syrno going to help us? How do you know you can trust him?"
Jack's whole body was obscured by the dark water. He was just a head floating in the waves.
"Syrno's a local tough. I use him as a fence. He'll take us aboard and smuggle us back here."
Petal's teeth chattered from the cold. She started treading to keep warm.
"What?"
"Ha. Syrno's a pirate. He buys what we steal, if we have no use for it. His ship is waiting over the horizon. Just follow Flounder and Mackerel. Once we get aboard Syrno's ship, he'll pay us in silver for the boats. You'll get your share then. All three hundred."
Petal watched two dockworkers walk down toward the edge of the pier she was hiding under. Torches stood on either side of the men. Their flames gave the whole dock an eerie glow.
"This is too dangerous. There are too many guards and they're too close to us," Petal whispered, peeking between the pylons, up at the armed men.
The pier had been gated off for the evening, and was now closed to visitors. If the guards saw anyone climbing on it, they would open fire for trespassing.
"This wouldn't pay well if it was easy," Flounder quipped.
"Shhh!" Jack shushed him.
There were footsteps right overhead. This time they came to a sudden stop.
All of the Barnacles darted underwater.
Their instinctive reaction caught Petal by surprise. She looked around dumbly, and then took a deep breath. She dove down, disappearing under the inky water.
After a minute, she and Flounder bobbed up to the surface.
The pier above them was deserted.
The Barnacles were assembled at the very edge of the maintenance docks, one of the most deserted locations on the Raft. On either side of them were two lines of motor boats. They were of varying sizes, but all were small, two-person vessels. The boats were mostly white and red, but were rapidly fading to gray shadows in the dimming light. They were moored one in front of another at the end of the pier, in two single file lines, slowly tugging against their mooring lines from the pull of the restless ocean.
The boat's high, white hulls towered over the floating children. They looked like angry whales that could crush them without warning.
Petal had agreed to help Jack and his band steal the four boats at the very end of the pier. Once they delivered them to Syrno's ship, she would get her silver. Although she'd been hesitant to go along with Jack's murky plan, she couldn't wait to renew her search for Junk.
She was willing to do anything to find her.
A pair of children was assigned to each boat. Jack would steal his boat by himself since he was leaving last, and he was the only one who knew how to hotwire the vessels.
The boat Jack assigned to Petal and Damsel was a little fishing boat - more of a pleasure craft than a practical, sea person vessel. It looked like it had just returned from a fishing trip. Its deck was cluttered with a tangled mess of fishing line and assorted tackle. Although it was a bit aged, it was in good shape. A new coat of wax made it shine under the torches.
Petal watched the dockworker who'd heard her walk down from the end of the pier. He locked the gate by the entrance, and then disappeared into the darkness.
High above the departing guard, overtop of the cluttered, floating city, the sun had just begun to set. Its last rays dipped below the surface of the sea, giving the sky a reddish hue.
The first stars shone through the twilight.
Mackerel coughed. He and Angler were clinging to the side of the first chosen vessel. Jack was watching them, switching his attention between them and the Raft, trying to make sure they hadn't been spotted. Echoed chatter reverberated down from the floating city. It hung like a fog over the dark water.
After a few moments, he waved his arms at Angler and Mackerel, giving them the signal to storm their prize.
The two boys silently crept up the steep hull of their ship. As Petal tried to see if they'd successfully boarded, they slithered across the deck toward the captain's chair.
Petal was amazed by the boys' agility and silence. They acted like professional thieves, and were able to board and unmoor their boat without so much as a whisper.
Flounder and Shrimp struck next, on the other side of the pier. Their boat was slightly larger, with an enclosed cabin that lay under the water line. They were able to board more easily than the first pair by using their boat's side ladder.
After all the boys were gone, Jack turned to Petal and Damsel.
Damsel kept her distance from Petal, weary of being left alone with her. Neither she nor Petal had wanted to be partners, but all of the boys had quickly paired off with one another.
Petal tried to coax Damsel closer.
Jack whispered for them to begin boarding.
Petal was right next to her boat. Without waiting for Damsel, she reached up and tried to grab its side railing, two feet above the water line. She kicked her way up the boat's side and clung to it. Water streamed off her threadbare clothing and trickled down into the sea. Using all of her strength, she crested the side of her boat and collapsed onto the deck. She then wiggled her way over to the steering wheel. Once she reached it, she turned onto her back and stared up at the stars, waiting for Damsel, and for Jack to get her engine started.
Petal lay still for several minutes. She began to wonder what was taking Damsel so long. She heard the dull whine of one boat starting up toward the edge of the docks. It was quickly followed by another.
The pier began to creak as the water shifted.
Petal remained motionless. She tried to quell her nerves through deep breathing, but the exercise didn't calm her.
After a few minutes, she crept over to the side of her boat and searched the sea for Damsel. She thought the little girl might lack the strength to pull herself aboard, but there was no sign of her in the water.
The other boats were now active; their engines idling. Petal worried that someone on the docks would hear the noise. Her heart thumped madly. She continued to scan the surrounding waves.
Jack surfaced right next to her boat.
"There you are." Petal ducked below the side railing, creeping back to the steering wheel. "Where's the little girl?"
Jack climbed aboard. "Damsel's being a baby. She doesn't want to ride with you. She's afraid of you - for some reason." He knelt down next to Petal, nudging her aside with a bony shoulder. He then ripped off the faceplate that lay between her boat's steering column and the ignition.
Petal watched with interest as he began digging through the underlying compartment.
"So? What does that mean? What do I do now?"
Jack pulled out a switchblade.
"I'm going to take Damsel in my boat so she'll stop her crying. You're going it alone from here. Okay?"
"But-"
"You'll be fine." Jack cut her off. "You're the oldest one of us, remember?"
Jack reached into the little recess he'd uncovered and felt around next to the ignition. He pulled a tangle of red, yellow, and green wires out from behind the steering wheel and cut through them with his knife.
"I'm doing this alone?" Petal mumbled, now scanning the Raft. "Why me? Why did you need to bring Damsel? She could have waited back in your hideout."
"I said don't worry. You'll be fine. This will be over before you know it. Wait for Mackerel and Flounder's boats to take off. If we stick together, the Raft's patrols won't catch us."
Jack stripped the ends of each wire, and twisted their copper tips together. When he pressed the last two ends to one another, the boat's engine came to life with a rumble.
Before Petal could take her place at the wheel, Jack dove over the side of the boat. Petal was slightly annoyed that he didn't say goodbye. She peered over the side rail, trying to make sure he and Damsel had gotten away. Seeing nothing, she returned to the wheel, clutching it with white knuckles.
Petal clenched her teeth and tried not to look back at the Raft. She could feel each heartbeat pound against her chest as she waited for Mackerel and Flounder. The anticipation was making her throat tight; the tension literally choking her.
The roar of an engine pierced through the silence.
Mackerel's boat took off, skimming across the wave tops. It flew out to sea with an ear piercing whine.
