“What if she never lifts it?”
Sam paused. “She will one day,” he said with conviction. “I know it in my old bones she will. Maybe not this year or the next, but one day for sure. Trust an old sea dog’s wisdom.”
I wanted to believe him but after all these decades, I couldn’t find it in myself to believe anymore. “Tell everyone to gather in the galley in half an hour. Jacobi and Jessie, too. Hopefully we won’t have to replace too many people in Morocco.”
“I doubt you’ll lose anyone. Ed and Ted are proving to be a loyal, dedicated pair. We’ll see what Jessie does. She’s grown attached to Mido. Dunno if it’s enough. And she also likes beating up the punching bag. Might wanna get her a pair of gloves that fit,” he added with a smile.
Great news, and the gloves would be no problem. Anything to increase my chances of keeping her around. “What about Jacobi?”
“You should ask Cancer or Jacobi himself. I’ve been busy in the cargo hold and such, so I haven’t seen much of him. What I do know is that he’s getting restless. He doesn’t like sitting still this long.”
“I don’t blame him.”
All twelve of us gathered in the galley shortly after I finished my favorite breakfast. The food improved my mood at little, even though I had a feeling the impending conversation would subdue everyone. My techies sat on the right with Cancer. My four cargo pushers sat on the left, Jacobi on the end so he could have his splinted leg elevated on a fold-up chair. Rammus sat on a stool next to Jacobi’s foot, and reclined against the table edge. O’Toole observed everyone from his post near the fridge, and Mido had an arm around Jessie’s waist. They stood on my right. I stood in the middle of the galley, hands in my trench coat pockets.
I looked at all their faces as they waited in expectant silence. I didn’t want to say anything. I just wanted to keep the full extent of my curse to myself, but that wasn’t fair to any of them anymore. I looked at my two newest techies. “Ed. Ted. You two are the farthest out of the loop. What have you heard so far?”
Ed, the leaner one, said, “Not much. We’re both really confused as to why everyone’s so tense today.”
Ted said, “We heard something about Jessie finding you last night, but we don’t get why that’s a big deal. It’s good to see you’re feeling better, though.”
I nodded my thanks, then steeled myself. I was about to lose people or I wasn’t. Either way, revealing the truth about me and my curse took away a shred of my humanity every time. “You remember the water display during the funeral?” They said they did. “I… did that.” They crinkled their brows in confusion. I tried a slightly better explanation. “I’m not entirely human anymore.”
Ed let out a nervous laugh. “I don’t get what you mean.” He turned to the rest of the crew. “Is he serious?” They all nodded. “What do you mean, Captain?”
“I wasn’t sick for the past five days.” God, this never got any easier over the years, even though very few quit their job after learning the basic truth about me. Most never experienced anything beyond my lockdowns, so it had no bearing on their opinion of me as a skipper. “I was in lockdown.” I gave the two a moment to let the news sink in. “Just out of curiosity, how old do you think I am?”
“Forty… ish?” Ted offered.
“Not even close.”
“Fifty?” Ed said.
“Much higher.” I pointed to the ceiling with a thumb.
“Really well aged for sixty?” Ted said doubtfully.
“Two hundred and seventy seven.”
The two looked at me, then at each other, and then back at me. Ted said, “Right…”
“I was born on July twelfth, 2135, thirty years before the Purge. Yeah, I survived all that nuking. But… I should’ve died in 2180 in a hurricane off the northern coast of Australia. My ship sank, my crew drowned, and I was brought face-to-face with Amphitrite—the Amphitrite. That night she bestowed a curse on me because I wasn’t happy she’d saved my life.” My tone grew bitter towards the end. “So here I am today, still alive, and still trying to lift my curse.” As nice as it was to remain relatively young this long, it felt as unnatural as it was. It wasn’t right. Every so often I’d scrutinize my reflection for wrinkles or grey hairs, hoping for a sign that I wasn’t stuck in limbo. Every time my heart sank.
Jessie looked at me like she believed every word. Ed and Ted stared with mouths ajar. Ed recovered first and looked at everyone again. “Is this… is this an elaborate prank?” Several men shook their heads.
“Not to be rude,” Ted said, “but do you have any proof? Anything from the 2100’s?”
My thoughts immediately jumped to the gun I had holstered against my chest. I put a hand over it. “I do.” My gaze darted to Jacobi. “I carry a gun with me at all times.”
The two techies’ eyes widened. “Are you serious?” Ted asked.
I looked at O’Toole, who was watching me, more specifically the hand over my gun. I angled my back to him and quickly flashed the weapon at them. All they could see was a leather holster and the dull metal of the handgun’s grip. I refastened a coat button and smoothed down my front. O’Toole crept closer, never taking his eyes off my gun’s hiding place. “Back away, O’Toole. They’re not coming out to play.” The Irishman obeyed and stuck one of his hood strings in his mouth. I went to the sink and turned on the faucet. “And if you need one last bit of proof…” I willed the streaming fluid to follow my hand into the air. I guided out two feet of water, then shut off the faucet and collected the water into a sphere over my hand. I molded the water into the likeness of a reaching arm, then into a koi fish, and then a replica of my gun. I stood at the edge of the table and let all of them get a good look at my artwork. Many of them leaned forward. I never showed off my talents, except on occasions like this. Using my command over water served as proof that I wasn’t human. I would remain the same with the rest of the world changed, grew, lived, and died in cycles.
Once I felt like they’d had a good enough look, I flung the water into the sink and released it from my will. “Now are you believers?”
Ed said, “How is that a curse? Long life and command over water? That’s pretty darn awesome from my perspective.”
“I can’t die,” I said unhappily. I wasn’t going to bother explaining how painful it got outliving every single person you knew and cared about. “I can get sick and injured, but any fatal injury or sickness will get wiped away once a month. You could shoot me in the head and I wouldn’t die. I’d bleed everywhere and black out, but once my lockdown period comes around, I’d heal right up. Remember my sprained ankle from jumping off the boat?” I lifted my foot and rolled my ankle a few times, unhindered by pain or swelling.
“That’s… amazing,” Ed said. “I don’t get why you don’t like your curse. Your powers are amazing.”
“You’re forgetting my five-day lockdown.” I stuck my hands back in my coat, crossed to the sink, and leaned against it. “I have to hide in total darkness for five days and nights once a month. If any light touches me, I transform into a water demon called a ketos. Jessie got a good look at that, thanks to Amphitrite meddling with her. Despite the lockdown, I can transform into the ketos at will, but I refuse to. It would only give her satisfaction to see me like that.”
“Your curse still sounds cool,” Ted said.
“It comes at a steep price. I’ll trade places with you any day.”
He hesitated. Fear crept into his eyes. “Can you do that?”
“No. Nor would I if I could. Don’t give her more mortal toys to play with. She’ll belittle and humiliate you ruthlessly.”