“Stay. Don’t listen to him. I’m the one you came to see. I’d be happy to talk with you.”
Part of Jessie wanted to leave so she wouldn’t have to deal with Cancer. But, if she could make Scully happier by staying, then…
Cancer got up with a huff. “Fine.” His towering frame stomped past her. She shied out of his way with a whimper and he stomped off without talking or glancing at her. She’d half-expected him to punch her. That’s what other men had done.
“Make yourself comfortable, miss,” Scully said in his soft-spoken gruff voice. He gestured to the fold-up chair.
Jessie glanced down the cramped hallway. Cancer had disappeared to wherever. She took one step inside the cabin and protectively folded her arms as her heart rate slowed back down. “Please call me Jessie, instead of ‘miss.’”
“Jessie. That’s right. I don’t much remember the conversation in the galley. Just lots o’ vomiting. Where’d you say you were from again?”
“Cyprus.”
“Mediterranean. Sounds like a nice place,” he said with a thoughtful nod.
“It is.”
“The captain will probably veer his route towards Cyprus so you’re not an out-of-the-way stop.”
“You really think so?” Jessie’s hopes rose a little. She still didn’t know if Dyne would keep his word, especially after Cancer’s poisonous words.
“You might be surprised what a gentleman would do for a nice lady. I know you said something about your recent years being full of bad things, but give us a chance. Even Cancer.”
Jessie shuddered at the thought of befriending the doctor. “I’m not a lady and Dyne’s not a gentleman.”
Scully laughed. “You’re quite right.” He’s no gentleman but he is a good man. He’s just the type who’d save your life then go on complaining about having to save you. He cares about others. He just don’t like to show it.”
“I hope so. I really want to get home.”
“I bet you do.”
A moment of silence followed. Waves gently swayed the boat side to side. Jessie looked at the folding chair, feeling it would be more polite to sit. However, she couldn’t bring herself to do such a thing, even in the company of an injured man. Scully said nothing, nor did his gaze look anything but serene and a bit out of it. Hopefully he had enough wits about him to remember this conversation later. “I… wanted to apologize for hurting you earlier.”
“Don’t worry about it, Jessie. I’m made of tough stuff.”
“I still feel bad. I thought I’d killed you. After everything settled down on the deck and you still hadn’t moved, and the blood… I thought I’d killed an innocent person. I’m sorry.”
“Apology accepted. Just please don’t do that again, hehe.”
“I won’t.” Jessie looked at her hands, still feeling ashamed. “So you’re not mad at me?”
“How could I be? It was nothing personal. You were just trying to get away from Tethys. Who’d blame you but the bastard himself?”
“Thanks.”
“Now how’d you get smuggled onto that ship in the first place?”
Jessie remembered it painfully well. Big hopes dashed by an unthinkable nightmare. “He was offering passage to America. I wanted to visit family and help rebuild the coast. Remember hearing about the nasty storm that tore up the east coast two years ago?”
“Hurricane Brutus. Never forget that one.”
“It affected my sister’s town.”
“Is she alright?”
“I never made it to America,” she said emotionlessly. “Never even saw the coast. Tethys dabbles in sex trade. He’s trafficked so many women. He’ll just replace me one day.”
Scully sat up a little straighter, his face serious. “On behalf of all the stupid men that give my gender a bad name, I’d like to apologize. Please never give up on us. There are good ones out there.”
Jessie felt taken aback. What a kind thing to say. She made a mental note that Scully came off genuine as Sam. Dyne could go either way, and same for Mido, the guy who’d cooked for her. Cancer was a danger zone, and the rest of the crew had yet to be judged, except O’Toole. How many guys were on this ship? “I haven’t given up. I’m just not going back to dating any year soon.” If ever.
“Fair enough,” Scully said with a smile. “Now, if you don’t mind, I need to shut my eyes for a bit.” He scooted so he was laying down, then reached for his curtain. “Mind finding Cancer for me so he can wake me up once an hour?”
Jessie’s stomach dropped.
Chapter 7
Port Chesapeake
I was feeling quite grumpy by the time we made it to Port Chesapeake, bright and early. I’d manned the wheel through the night with just a three-hour sleep, thanks to Rammus’s hen-like nagging at me to go rest a bit. Rammus being my second in command, I reluctantly relinquished control, then passed out five seconds after my head hit my pillow. Three hours later, the seas had grown rougher and the sun had started rising.
Red sun in morning, sailor take warning.
Such an old saying that had survived the centuries because it was true. Bad weather followed red sunrises. Said sunrise bled through the steely clouds and receding stars. The roiling sea still looked black as I took the wheel back from a sleepy Rammus. He slipped his leather coat on, gave me a nod, then wandered off without a word. Good ole Rammus. A man of few words and many talents. He was over forty. Don’t remember his exact age, but there were only so many years left in his life at sea.
I pulled my thoughts away from that tangent. Too depressing, and the bay and jetty needed all my focus to navigate with a three hundred-foot ship.
I guided the Pertinacious around the jetty and got my first view of the docks. Port Chesapeake was far more cleaned up than Newport. The streets were all cobblestone, instead of mud and chunks of pavement, and they’d stood the test of one hundred years so far. Minimal warping in the oldest spots and maximum bumpiness in the newest spots that hadn’t been worn smooth yet.
The still-sleeping town was sight for sore eyes. It looked almost like it had from the 2100’s, minus the roads and energy distribution system. Sure, there was plenty of beauty all over the world again but it’d taken a long time to get this far. It would take longer still without the use of fossil fuels, nuclear energy, and anything else the quasi-children deemed bannable. But maybe that wouldn’t be a bad thing. Put some real appreciation in everything humanity built, instead of banging out one structure after another, then demolishing them once they stopped suiting our needs.
Port Chesapeake was dominated by solar panel rooftops, a shoreline full of wind turbines, and the bay was dotted with a mix of functioning and shut down water mills. The functioning ones generated electricity and pushed drinkable water to purifying facilities. Many a home had light shining from within. Yep, this was one of the ritziest places on the planet now. This much technology concentrated in one spot was very rare.
It wasn’t quite 6:00AM. No dock workers manned their posts yet. My crew was full of big boys that could tie up a steam frigate themselves. I putted along the no-wake zone and slid open a window. Cool, salty air filled the wheelhouse. It calmed me, even with the red sunrise on my back. We’d have to make this stop quick. The clock was ticking away with a maniacal grin. I didn’t want to go into lockdown with a hurricane blowing over my head.
I flipped a couple pinky-sized levers and leaned towards the com horn, a piece of brass that looked like the end of a trumpet, which was connected to a sound system that carried my lovely voice all over the ship. The two levers I’d flipped would guide it to the cabins. “Everyone up. We needed to cremate Jersey and Mike before the storm can force us to stay put.” I swiped at the row of levers, cutting my voice from carrying anywhere. Radios existed again, but that’s how old my ship was. I really didn’t want strangers tearing up my ship to install a contemporary one when this one worked just fine.