To Ocean's End (4 page)

Chapter 4

No Touchie

Only Scully and Mido were in the galley when I returned, along with my cheeseburger on the table. It had to be cold by now, meaning it wouldn’t be as enjoyable to eat as it would have ten minutes ago. Darn woman! She really was bad luck. What am I doing?

I tried to put on a friendly face to cover my glare, and placed a hand on the small of Jessie’s back. She gasped and shied away. I put my hand down. “Scully, I believe I have apprehended your assailant.”

Bag of ice still on the back of his head, Scully looked at Jessie, then at me. “Don’t look much apprehended. You sure you have the right person? That’s a woman.”

“By the looks of those welts on his face, I think he does,” Mido said, smirking. “She do that to you, Captain?”

I opened my mouth as Jessie said, “You bet I did. I’ll do the same to you if you try to touch me.”

My three men guffawed. Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. “If you’re so tough, you go ahead and take her on.” And right on cue, just because I consciously registered my injuries, they started hurting.

Mido snickered behind a fist. “I don’t fight women.”

“She’s not any woman.”

Jessie got into her street fighting stance, fists up and knees slightly bent, ready to cripple another crotch. “I can take you on. Try me.”

Mido smiled broadly as he got to his feet. “Alright, miss, if you wish.” He cracked his knuckles and his neck, then drew closer to Jessie. She went for the crotch first. Mido twisted his body and took the blow in his thigh. His eyes widened and he reached for his leg.

“You got lucky,” Jessie said, and swung for Mido’s face.

Mido shrugged off the blow and put his smile back on. He caught Jessie’s right hook with his left hand, then blocked her other swing with his right forearm, a combination of moves that felt strongly of deja vu. “If you say so.” Mido twisted his arm and seized Jessie’s left wrist, then slid his grip on Jessie’s right so he was holding her fingers. He twisted his body again when Jessie tried to knee him, it glancing off his glute. She tried to free her hands, but Mido’s chick-magnet arms were easily twice as thick as hers. He effortlessly brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “What’s your name, miss?”

Jessie stood still as the tension eased out her limbs, unable to take her eyes off of Mido’s, who was gazing at her over her knuckles. She and my cook looked like tango partners waiting for the music to start.

“My name is Amphi--”

“Jessie! Her name is Jessie.” I reached to cover her mouth but retracted my hand as soon as I neared her shoulder.

Mido let go of Jessie and gave me a puzzled look.

“Doesn’t sound like they were trying to say the same thing,” Scully said.

“I--” Jessie began.

“You will go by your nickname,” I said firmly.

Jessie wheeled on me and the fire returned to her dark eyes. “No! You’re not my captain.”

“You wanna stay in the cargo hold until I get you home? It’s pretty dark and musty in there.” Musty, yes, but not entirely dark. O’Toole didn’t mind it in there, but she might.

“No.”

“Then you will obey my orders while you’re on my ship.” I held her smoldering gaze as we glared at each other like two dogs ready to rip each other apart. Whoever looked away first lost the contest of wills. I was tempted to glance at my three men to see what they were making of this. They knew better than to challenge my orders. They had to be getting a real kick out of this, but at least they had the brains not to laugh right then.

Jessie’s glare lowered to where my gun was concealed. Her eyes dropped to the floor. “Aye, aye, Captain.”

My men guffawed again.

“Sailors don’t say ‘aye, aye’ anymore, Jessie,” Mido said. “It’s ‘yes, sir’ or ‘yes, Captain’. Been that way for centuries now.”

“It’s Amphi--”

“
Hey!
” I yelled. That was enough syllables to give them a heavy clue. However, my curse didn’t weigh on their thoughts as much as it did mine. Hopefully they wouldn’t put two and two together for three more days. I didn’t need them being afraid of my gun
and
her at the same time. “That’s it. Mido, take her to the cargo hold.”

Mido looked at Jessie and huffed a disappointed sigh. “This way,” he said, reaching an arm around Jessie’s waist. She shoved Mido and almost backed into me. My cook grabbed one of Jessie’s wrists and forcibly spun her around and pinned her arms to her chest with one of his. She lifted her legs and tried to drop out of Mido’s grip. When that failed and he began carrying her off, Jessie began hysterically shouting apologies and pleading to me to not lock her up. Mido stopped and looked to me for a change in orders.

Having visions of being just like Tethys if I stuffed her in the cargo hold, I said, “Put her down.” Mido gently set Jessie back on her feet and she pressed her back to the wall. “But you listen to me, lady,” I said as Mido sat down. Good god, Jessie’s face was all red with fresh tears already. What the heck did that bastard do to her?

“It’s Jessie. Please.” She sniffed.

I glared and pointed a finger at her. She cowed and mumbled another apology.

“Now you listen to me, Jessie. That’s two strikes. One more and no amount of apologizing will get you out of the cargo hold until it’s time to drop you off. Got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now, you look like you’ve been underfed. Do you want some food?” She looked at me. then at my burger. She shuffled around Mido, even though he wasn’t in the way, and reached for it. “That’s mine.” I slid the plate out of her reach. “Mido, put some food in her.” I got a hint of a glare out of her. Good. She needed her fiery side to stay sane on my ship. I really didn’t feel like assigning bodyguard duty to her bunk.

Mido put on a broad grin and he heaved himself upright. “Alright, Jessie. My name is Mido and I’m the ship’s cook.”

“Okay.”

Mido grabbed Jessie’s rear as he crossed to the griddle.

Jessie punched Mido in the back of his head, then pushed him. He fell to his hands and knees, then scrambled to his feet and backed towards the oven, his arms up. Jessie chased him with her fists leading the way.

“Jessie, stop!” I lunged the few steps to the oven and yelled her name again. Jessie backed off, panting hard and her fists still in the air. She stared at us both with wild eyes. Mido gave me a look of utter bafflement. “Okay. Just... no one touch her. No boobs, no ass, no nothing. Got it?” My men said “yes, sir” in unison, the two words coming out fast and full of shock. “Jessie. Sit down. Get fed. No more beating up my crew.”

Sanity slowly crept over her expression. Her breathing slowed and the whites around her irises disappeared behind eyelids. She took a deep breath and returned to the table but didn’t sit. Scully scooted a little farther into the semicircle seat and readjusted his cold pack.

Scully’s fearful gesture gave me an idea. Jessie would make an excellent bodyguard. A woman protecting men seemed odd but she’d already done a number on me, Scully and Mido, along with caught all of us off guard in the process. Now, if I could just make her indispensable in my crew’s eyes before they figured out she wasn’t disembarking anytime soon,
and
the real reason behind it, it’d make things smoother in the long run.

“Mido, you feeling whole enough to cook?”

“Yes, sir,” he said, eyeing Jessie with one hand cupping his jaw. “Man, she hits hard.” He turned to the ice box.

The ice box looked like a typical refrigerator before the Purge, but now it ran without electricity, meaning it was caked in ice to keep food fresh, and had a big tray underneath to catch the melt off. The thing would stay frozen for about two months at a time. Humanity had re-figured out insulation rather quick. We’d needed it...

“What do you like to eat?” Mido asked.

“Chicken, if you have it.” Jessie tucked her dark hair behind her ears.

“That we do.”

I took a seat on the edge of the table, near Scully, who was looking a bit pale, and pulled my brunch over. Sauna finally returned to his plate at the other side of the table. The bun felt room temperature in my hands, the meat itself lukewarm in my mouth. Bah. The window of burger bliss had gone cold. I ate it anyway, half enjoying it, half wishing microwaves still existed.

“By the way,” I said to Jessie, “blondie over here, the one you oared in the head is Scully. He’s a cargo pusher and our best shot with the Harpy. He isn’t real smooth with the ladies, but since you’re not a lady, you’ll be safe.”

“Hey! I got me two women back in England. You saw ‘em.”

“That’s the only two in how long?” Mido teased as he placed two chicken breasts on the stovetop. They sizzled upon contact.

“I get a girl every time we dock. I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”

The idle banter continued for another minute, until Scully grew quiet. I was halfway through my burger when he tapped me on the shoulder. His face was now white and green. I dropped my food, getting up and out of the way in one swift motion. Scully dived for the garbage bolted against the ice box. The air filled with the sound of gloppy stomach contents splattering against a plastic bag. I lost my appetite.

“Jessie, why did you assault one of my crew members with an oar?”

“He saw me. How was I supposed to know he wouldn’t try and hand me right back over to Tethys?”

“You came from Tethys’s ship?” Sauna said over another bout of Scully’s vomiting. “Que horrible.”

Jessie’s face hardened.

“What’s it like over there? What does he do when he’s not chasing us around?” Sauna scooted closer to the edge, dragging his plate over the lacquered wood, and present the remainder of his potato wedges to Jessie. She gave them a ravenous look before snatching one up. I positioned myself in front of the hall leading to the stern, keeping one eye on Jessie, and the other on Scully. I’d eventually have to hunt down Cancer, our ship’s medic, the only man banned from ship fights. Sutures were your own job when he had dead men to tend to, unless you couldn’t reach the spot.

I backed up two steps and opened up a tall, thin door concealing folding chairs. I took one out, then carried it over to Scully and nudged him with it. He pulled his head out of the garbage, then he stuck his rear in the air as I set he chair under him. I returned to my post across from Jessie. Scully resumed vomiting as Jessie spoke.

“It’s not as nice as it is here. I don’t know what he does. Shipping, I guess. He kept me locked up all the time.”

“How did you escape?” I asked.

“I kicked the door until it broke,” she said, eyes hardening with bad memories.

“An iron door?”

“It took months. The frame was rusty. Eventually Tethys had a hard time shutting and locking the door because I’d bent the frame that bad.”

“No wonder you can kick so hard,” Mido said as he added some diced vegetables to the grill. “You’ve been practicing.”

“A lot.” Jessie snatched another potato wedge and shuffled back out of arm’s reach of the table. Not sure what her deal was. I wanted to tell her to sit down but I’d let her be for now. She’d been through enough already.

“How often did you get fed on Tethys’ ship?” Mido asked.

“Once or twice a day. I used to get more food snuck to me until they all learned I’d give them bruises in place of the sexual favors they wanted.”

“You don’t have to worry about that anymore,” Mido said.

“I hope so. I’m tired of stupid people and I’m tired of starving.”

I said, “However, a few members might need some reminding that you’re not here for their pleasure. It might take a few painful lessons for them to get the picture to leave you alone. But don’t hold it against them. We’re all just men. We can go months at a time without so much as hearing a woman’s sweet voice.”

“I’ll cuss you out with my ‘sweet voice,’” Jessie warned. Mido and Sauna laughed.

“That reminds me,” I said, unfolding my arms. I crossed the galley and headed for the stairs to the main deck. “Sauna, assign Jessie one of the empty bunks once she’s fed, then show her where the showers are and get back to the engine room.”

“Yes, Captain.”

I stopped at the base of the stairs and looked at Scully, whose face was quite green and grey, and the back of his head a bloody mess. I headed for the wheelhouse to make sure we were still on course. The compass read that I was bearing a little too far south by one degree. I un-wedged the wood, turned the stick slightly, then put the ship back on auto pilot and met up with Sam at the bow. The sun was finally out in full force, turning the chill wind hot and humid. I unbuttoned my trench coat.

Rammus and Sam were carrying supplies to their appropriate locations around the ship. I informed Cancer via my old-fashioned sound system about his new patient. Hopefully he had the energy for it after preparing two corpses for cremation.

Purposely deciding against using the com a second time, I left the wheelhouse and headed over to Sam in the cargo hold, who stood among several head-high stacks of crates and boxes. “Where’s Rammus?”

“He’ll be coming back from the deck shortly.”