Seaswept (Seabound Chronicles Book 2) (4 page)

“You are correct,”
David said. “We need to think about the future.”

Esther frowned. David
was walking a thin line. He wasn’t even one of them—not really. He seemed
a little too eager to help the
Catalina
for
someone who was planning to leave it. Still, David’s plan could work, and she
had been trying to improve their quality of life. He was right about one thing:
the
Catalina
was falling apart. Rust
and corrosion were taking an ever more exacting toll. They needed to increase
their access to resources—and not just energy—if they were going to
sustain their way of life.

Simon was studying
David, but Esther couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “If you try to sell it to
only one party, you may gain enemies,” he said after a moment.

“That’s true,”
Esther said. “Wouldn’t we make more friends by giving the technology away?”

“This isn’t a
question of friends,” Dirk said, speaking for the first time. He was definitely
a man who picked his moments. “This is a question of power. We’re talking about
a replacement for crude oil. That’ll change the world. We just became the most
powerful ship at sea. I say we keep it for ourselves.”

Judith stared at
Dirk, apparently surprised that he agreed with her.

“But there’s still
the question of other material,” Mrs. Cordova said. “All the oil in the world
won’t matter if we can’t repair our hull.”

“And weapons!”
said her male companion. He was retired navy and a member of the ship’s
seldom-used explosives crew. “We’ll need to defend ourselves if the
Galaxy
comes calling.”

“Will you at least
allow me to try?” David asked. “When we reach the
Amsterdam
, I can do some market research and see if we can’t get an
auction going.”

“Not so fast,
Hawthorne,” Dirk growled. “Aren’t you taking the
Lucinda
away? You don’t have a stake in helping the
Catalina
. And I haven’t forgotten that
you were best friends with Captain Boris back on the
Galaxy
.”

“Those days are
over, my friend,” David said. “I’ve—”

“You’re no friend
of mine.”

David missed a
beat, his polished demeanor wavering.

“Esther, it’s your
invention,” Simon said, interrupting the two men before they could take the
conversation any farther. “What do you think we should do?”

Judith threw up
her hands. “This is not Esther’s decision.”

“It’s her design,”
Simon said.

“I’d like to give
it to anyone who wants it,” Esther began.

“Mrs. Cordova,”
David said suddenly. “What do you think? Many Catalinans look to you for wisdom
and guidance. I’d love to hear your opinion.”

Judith pursed her
lips. David had shifted to the right as he talked, closer to Dirk. He faced
Mrs. Cordova’s chair, as if offering a supplication to her. David had somehow
managed to change the focal point of the entire room. Despite Dirk’s
provocation, he still wore the smooth salesman’s face that had infuriated
Esther when she first met him on the
Galaxy
Flotilla
. As her friend Paris on the
Galaxy
had put it, David Elliot Hawthorne was too eloquent for his own good.

“I think we need
to look after our children,” Mrs. Cordova said. “I say sell it to the highest
bidder.”

“I’m still in
charge here,” Judith said. “I won’t have you going off with
Catalina
property—”

“We’re on the
council too, remember,” Dirk said, his voice a low growl. “Aren’t we all part
of the
Catalina
community?”

“You’re still
strangers here,” Judith said. “You only represent a small percentage of this
population. Don’t overstep your bounds.”

“Is that right?”
Dirk said. “Reg, do you agree that I only represent a small percentage of the
population?”

Reggie studied the
grease patches on his hands. “As much as I hate to speak against
Judith”—she snorted at that—“I reckon Dirk understands what we’re
about on the work crews.”

“We’re all one
crew on this ship,” Judith said.

“Are we?” Dirk
said. “That’s what you want people to think, but you’ve been calling the shots.
Maybe it’s time for someone else to step up.”

Judith inflated
like a puffer fish.

“Look, it’s my
design,” Esther cut in.

Everyone turned to
look at her. She hadn’t meant to speak so loudly, but she didn’t like the way
the conversation was going.

“It should be up
to me.”

“What do you want
to do?” David asked, turning his full attention to her. It was amazing how he
could suddenly make her feel like the most important person in the room.

“Let me think
about it,” Esther said levelly. “I’ll let you know soon.”

“Fine,” Judith
said. “But I will handle all other negotiations as usual.”

“I’ll come with
you,” Dirk said. “To make sure the whole population is represented.”

“Of course,” David
said. “Esther, I look forward to your decision. We could come out of this with
some real allies. We need them.”

Esther met his
eyes. He didn’t smile this time, his serious face at odds with his earlier
breezy tone.

“We have more to
discuss today, so if the noncouncil members don’t mind?” Judith said, looking
pointedly at the door.

“Sure. See you
later, Dad,” Esther said, relieved that she could go.

“It has been a
pleasure,” David said, shaking hands all around again. “I do hope to attend
future council meetings when the opportunity arises.”

Esther caught Judith rolling her eyes as she and David turned for the
door.

Chapter 4—Communications

“
That
went well,
”
David
said as soon as they were in the corridor outside
the bridge.

“They’re all at
each other’s throats.”

“Doesn’t matter.
Didn’t you see how you shut them down? They all agreed to abide by your
decision, whether they realize it or not.”

“Thanks for the
vote of confidence,” Esther said dryly.

“I’m serious,”
David said. He put his hands on Esther’s shoulder. They were heavy and warm.
His eyes burned behind the crack in his glasses. “They’ll do whatever you want.
They know how important this discovery is. Judith and Dirk can fight over the
Catalina
all they want, but you’re the
one with the power here.”

Esther frowned. “I
don’t know about that. You don’t know Judith. Why were you fawning over Mrs.
Cordova anyway?”

“For balance. This
shouldn’t be a two-way fight, and she has more influence than they realize.
Like I said, it doesn’t matter.
You
are going to make the call.”

David removed his
hands from Esther’s shoulders, brushing her cheek with his fingers as he did.
He looked proud, though Esther wasn’t sure whether he was proud of himself or
of her.

“And I suppose you
want me to do things your way,” she said.

“Without any guile
whatsoever, yes.”

“Do you really
think the
Galaxy
will come after us?
That’s what I’m worried about.”

Esther remembered
how Captain Boris had sounded in their final conversation on the radio, right
before he pushed her friend Paris over the side of the destroyer. Cold. Contemptuous.
It had been like talking to a barracuda. David paused before answering, rubbing
the knuckles of his right hand.

“If they have the
same ability to travel that we’re about to have,” he said, “it’s a definite
possibility. Boris isn’t going to forgive me for stealing his ship and running
off with you.”

Esther didn’t really
understand David’s history with Boris. They had been friends, but whatever
their falling-out had been over, it directly preceded his departure from the
Galaxy
. He had abandoned his position
and risked everything when he decided to help her—or when he decided to
get out from under Boris’s rule.

She was still
standing close to him, close enough to feel the warmth coming from his body in
the chilled corridor. She wanted to reach out and touch him, perhaps put her
hand in his, but something held her back. Maybe David was right about not
giving the tech to everyone, but the way he had manipulated the council made
her nervous. She shouldn’t make this decision too quickly.

But he was leaning
toward her. He smelled like soap and sea spray. His eyes locked on hers. Her
pulse quickened. She couldn’t think clearly.
Maybe that’s what he wants. Get a grip, Esther.

“I’ve got work to
do,” she said, stepping back suddenly. “I’ll see you later.”

David pushed his
glasses back up on his nose. “At dinner?”

“Maybe. I still have
a lot to do before we reach the
Amsterdam
.”

“Fine,” David said
briskly. “Well, let me know when you make your decision. Oh, and if you decide
to do things my way, don’t talk to anyone about your design until I seal the
deal. If you go around telling everyone all about it, I won’t have anything to
sell.”

David turned and
strode toward the plaza, head held high. He always walked as if he were on his
way to give a speech.

Instead of
returning to her work, Esther took a detour to the broadcast tower perched atop
the bridge. When she climbed through the hatch, a mousy-haired young man swung
around in his chair and pulled a pair of headphones down off his ears. Neal was
the
Catalina
’s radio operator and
Esther’s oldest friend. He looked tired, and his rumpled T-shirt had a
saltwater stain on it. He was unshaven but his beard was sparse. It wasn’t a
good look.

“Hey, Es,” he
said.

“How’s it going?”

Esther sat
cross-legged on the floor. Neal’s Tower was messier than normal. Neal’s
belongings, which were usually stacked by his cot in the corner, spread across
the consoles lining the windows. His mobile of sports magazine cutouts had been
pulled down from the ceiling and apparently tossed across the room. The
expansive view from the windows showed the sky was still clear blue, but dark
clouds had begun to amass on the far horizon.

“It’s going okay,”
Neal said. “Getting the
Amsterdam
sorted out with their satellite connections.”

“Yeah?”

Neal and a team of
communications officers on various ships had been working to regain contact
with any satellites that were still operational in the earth’s orbit. The ash
from the volcano had compromised most, but now that the air had cleared they’d
found a handful of units in relatively good shape. They’d been bouncing signals
off them to try to reach other survivors and access map and weather data.

“They’ve got a
glitch in their dish’s programming,” Neal said. “I’m going to try to find it
when we get there, if we can’t figure it out by then.”

“Good luck.”

“Should be pretty
straightforward. The
Amsterdam
will
be a key reference point for the new satellite network. The more stable points
we have, the more we can use the data we’re getting. Marian—
They
found another functioning satellite
last week. We’re really filling in the blanks.”

“Nice,” Esther
said. “But how are
you
doing? I take
it you’re talking to her?”

A shadow crossed
Neal’s face. Esther instantly regretted asking about the beautiful—and
married—Marianna. She had elected not to come with Neal when he fled the
Catalina
. Her husband, Paris, had been
killed in the escape from the
Galaxy
,
but somehow Esther didn’t think that made Marianna and Neal’s relationship any
more likely to progress.

“All business,”
Neal said.

“And?” Esther
prodded.

“And it sucks. I’m
never going to meet another woman like her.” Neal blew a tuft of hair out of
his eyes.

“Sure you will,”
Esther said. “You can talk to all kinds of people when the network is complete,
right? And it’ll be easier to visit other ships soon too, unless Dirk and
Judith manage to isolate us again.”

“Oh yeah. How’d
the meeting go?”

“It was okay. They
left it up to me to decide.”

“The tides sure
have turned,” Neal said.

“I’ll say.”

“What are you
going to do?”

“I don’t know,”
Esther said slowly. “I don’t agree with Judith and Dirk about keeping the tech
to ourselves. That just seems wrong. But the whole idea of holding an auction
or whatever David wants to do makes me nervous.”

“Maybe he’s going
to take the idea and run,” Neal said. He had never been a big fan of David
Hawthorne.

“I don’t think so.
I mean, he doesn’t actually have the designs. He needs me to be a part of
whatever transaction he arranges.”

“Do you trust him
to make a good deal?”

“I guess so,”
Esther said. “We do need more resources.”

“What happened to
you guys working so well together?” Neal said. “I thought you’d—ya
know—date or something.”

Esther sighed and
slumped back on the floor. She stared up at the ceiling where the mobile had
been.

“He was pretty
straight about what he wanted before,” she said. “Now I’m not sure if he still
feels . . . something. I’m not even sure what
I
feel for him.”

She thought about
David’s hands on her shoulders, the way he had looked so proud. The way he
brushed her cheek with his fingers.

“You guys
did
hook up, right?” Neal said.

“Yeah, but
nothing’s happened since.”

She had thought it
would. She had thought he’d invite her back to his cabin, like he had months
ago on the
Galaxy Flotilla
, or that
he’d at least clarify where they stood. They had made a connection, and she
didn’t believe it would just be for that one night.

“Men are scum,”
Neal said.

Esther laughed and
sat up to kick the toe of Neal’s bowling shoe.

“Think so?”

“Yeah, women too,”
Neal said, sighing heavily. “Romance sucks.”

“You’ll find
someone else,” Esther said. “How about Anita? She actually talks sometimes
now.”

“I don’t know.”
Neal blushed a little. “Isn’t she leaving with Toni and Zoe when we get to the
Amsterdam
?”

“Yeah,” Esther
said. “They want to join a more exciting crew. If Hawthorne goes too, things
will be almost back to normal. Just you and me again.”

“I don’t know,
Es,” Neal said. “It wouldn’t shock me if you end up going off on another
adventure after all.”

“He asked me to go
with him on the
Lucinda
to search for
land,” Esther said after a pause. “Offered me the mechanic job or first mate.
Actually, that’s the last time he really showed interest in me—apart from
my technology, I mean.”

“Well, that’s
something. Maybe he’s waiting for you to come to him this time,” Neal said.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you haven’t exactly been encouraging him by
hiding out in the bowling alley.”

Esther scrubbed a
hand through her hair. Neal could be right. David had just mentioned dinner,
and she’d told him how much work she had to do instead of suggesting that they eat
together. Or walk on the deck together. Or something. She didn’t think she’d
imagined the way he was leaning toward her a few minutes ago. When they first
returned to the
Catalina
, she’d been
confused about what had happened between them, then busy with her work. Now she
was nervous about how to proceed, and the uncertainty was agonizing. What if he
wasn’t
interested? He was also
planning to leave, to take the
Lucinda
on an expedition to the coast. She couldn’t forget that.

She pushed the
feelings away. She didn’t need this kind of drama right now. She had to focus
on the task at hand: doing what was best for the
Catalina
.

“He’s right about
the trading,” she said, feeling suddenly clearheaded. “The
Catalina
needs more than fuel. I’m going to tell him he can try to
sell my technology.”

“Whatever you
think, Es,” Neal said, swiveling back to his console. “Just be careful.”

“I always am.”
Esther stood and began climbing down through the hatch.

“Oh, and Neal, you’ve got to shave,” she said, popping her head back
into the tower. “That beard makes you look like a sea cucumber.”