It sounded wonderful. Alex had fired off an application and was thrilled when he was invited to join the crew. It had taken him the whole of a long Northumbrian winter to raise enough money to pay for his place on the Phoenix. He had spent his evenings writing to local businesses, asking for sponsorship. His weekends had been taken up with whatever casual work he could find. He had cleaned holiday cottages and cleared snow from driveways in sub-zero temperatures. For two gruelling weeks in December, he had felled Christmas trees non-stop until there were blisters the size of saucers on his palms.
Now, Alex grimaced again, remembering how hard he had worked to get here. At the start of the voyage, when the crew all came together, he had been full of excitement. It was a truly international crew. There were twenty of them, from all over the world. Alex had particularly liked a friendly Nigerian boy called Samuel and Kathe, a German girl with a beautiful smile, but, when the four Watches were chosen, they had all been put into different Watches. He had been assigned to A-Watch and his trip of a lifetime had turned into a nightmare.
Amber seemed intent on making things worse. She was looking down her nose at Heather as though their Watch-leader was a piece of chewing-gum stuck to the deck.
'Trip of a lifetime?' Amber sneered. 'I didn't ask to be here. I wanted to stay in Boston for the summer.'
Heather raised an eyebrow. 'All alone in an empty boarding school?'
'Yeah, well, I'd rather be on my own in Boston than here with him,' said Amber, throwing a sideways glance at Hex. 'Which reminds me, has my uncle arranged my flights home yet?'
'Unfortunately not,' said Heather, grimly. 'He spoke to the skipper this morning. Your request is denied.'
'What!'
'You're on board for the whole voyage. Your uncle thinks it'll do you good, mixing with people from all walks of life.'
'People I can handle,' retorted Amber. She jerked her head at Hex. 'It's street-rats like him I have a problem with.'
Silently, smoothly, Hex moved out of the line and headed for Amber. Paulo and Alex were standing on either side of her and they both stepped out to block Hex's way. Hex only stopped when he ran up against them. His green eyes were flat and his face was expressionless as he stared at Amber, but Paulo and Alex between them were struggling to hold him back.
'See what I mean?' said Amber, smugly. 'Straight to the violence. No discussion. Typical London street-rat reaction.'
'That's enough, Amber,' said Heather. 'And, Hex, there will be no fighting aboard the Phoenix. Understood?'
'My palmtop is in the sea,' grated Hex.
'Gone phishing,' smirked Amber, using the hacker's term for searching out information. 'Or, maybe, gone surfing?'
Hex surged forward again, nearly managing to power his way past Alex and Paulo.
'Amber! Hex!' snapped Heather. 'Stop it, now!'
'What's the problem?' sighed Amber. 'I'll buy him a new one.'
'You think money fixes everything,' said Hex, pushing Alex and Paulo away and returning to his place in the line.
'Yeah, right,' said Amber. 'What would you know about that, street-rat?'
'Speaking of street-rats,' said Hex, 'I read about your father on the Net.'
Amber blinked with shock at the mention of her father and her hand went up to the chain she always wore at her neck. An oddly-shaped twist of beaten gold hung from the chain. It had been roughly hammered into a coin-sized circle, broken at the base with the two ends bent back on themselves.
'He might've died a software billionaire,' continued Hex, 'but he was born and dragged up in the Bronx. A ghetto boy. A street-rat.'
Amber ducked her head and, for once, said nothing. There was an awkward silence, then Heather stepped closer to Amber and laid a hand on her arm. 'I can see you loved your parents very much, Amber,' she said, gently.
'Don't bring my mom and dad into this,' said Amber, clutching the broken circle protectively and glaring at Heather.
'But that's why I can't understand your behaviour on this voyage,' continued Heather. 'The Phoenix was built in their memory-'
'I don't need a stupid sailing ship to remember them, OK?' snapped Amber. 'That was my uncle's stupid idea.'
Heather sighed and tried again. 'You know what a phoenix is, don't you?'
'Yeah, yeah,' drawled Amber. 'The bird that rose again from the ashes. A new beginning. A rebirth. Well, I don't want any new beginning. My parents, they died. The e-end.' Amber stopped as her drawl developed a wobble. She swallowed, then lifted her chin and tried again. 'The end!'
'Omega,' said Hex, gazing thoughtfully at the twist of beaten gold in Amber's fist. His voice was quiet, but Amber jumped as though he had shouted the word in her ear. She stared at Hex in shock, but he did not seem to notice. He just kept looking at the twist of gold.
What's that about? thought Alex, watching them both.
'Gee, Heather, you really brightened up her day,' said Li, seeing the tears in Amber's eyes. 'Always Keep a Happy Watch, that must be your motto, right?'
Paulo snorted with laughter and Li rewarded him with a smile. She did not seem to notice the way Heather's face was darkening but Alex groaned inwardly and took a step away from the others. He stared straight ahead and tried to pretend he was nothing to do with A-Watch.
'That, Li, is just the smart-ass kind of remark I've come to expect from you,' snapped Heather.
'Only joking,' muttered Li.
'This is no joke! Amber could've died back there! And do you know the scary part? It could happen again tomorrow. Because A-Watch is not a team, it is a total disorganized mess! The other Watches, they've made friends-'
'I have made friends,' objected Paulo.
'No, Paulo. You have tried to make it with every girl on board. That is not the same as making friends. You lot don't know the first thing about the people standing right next to you! Well, I'm going to tell you a few truths! Amber and Hex, you are two of the most selfish people I have ever met.'
Hex and Amber started to protest, but Heather cut them short. 'Neither of you wants to be here, so what do you do? You both go into a permanent sulk! And Li, you think that because you're our animal expert, you don't need to do any of the work on-board ship. Wrong! Paulo, what can I say? You seem to think you're too good-looking to work!'
Alex lowered his head to hide a smile. Heather had captured them all perfectly.
'And you, Alex,' continued Heather, moving to stand in front of him. 'First, I have to say thank you. I think Amber probably owes you her life.'
Alex shrugged and started to say something modest, but Heather hadn't finished.
'But I also have a question for you, Alex. Do you think you're too good for us?'
Alex's grey eyes widened with surprise. 'What?'
'I saw you step away from us just now. That's how you always are. One step away from us. Observing. And you don't seem to like what you see.'
'I-' Alex could feel a flush spreading up his neck and across his cheeks. He glanced sideways at the others, then straightened his back, squared his shoulders and stared over Heather's head into the middle distance.