Voyage (Powerless Nation #2) (7 page)

“I hear you noticed something out there. Would you like to get a better look?”

Kade nodded and was handed the telescope. He looked for a moment and then gave it to Sena.

Through the telescope, the tiny speck resolved into a small watercraft. It wasn’t big enough to be called a ship, though it looked bigger than a sailboat.

“I think it’s getting closer,” she said, studying it intently.

“That’s correct,” said Captain Brady. “We’ll have company before long. Does it look familiar?”

“Not really, should it?” asked Kade.

A flash of color caught Sena's eye and she gasped.

“What is it?” asked Kade.

“I think Ms. Morgan has recognized the boat.”

Sena handed the telescope to the Kade with a heavy heart.

“Oh no,” said Kade.

“Oh yes,” said the captain. “It would appear the prodigal has returned. Our former captain will be rejoining us shortly.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Y
OU
’
RE
NOT
GOING
TO
let him back on the
Duchess
, are you?” Sena asked. He
deserved
to go straight to the brig, in her opinion.

“I’d rather not,” said Captain Brady. “I don’t think we have a choice though. Attempts to restore power have been unsuccessful, and if we have to use the lifeboats to get us safely ashore we will need their boat as well. I can’t allow myself to harbor a grudge.”

“He took off in our lifeboat and left us to die,” Sena insisted. “I think it’s okay to hold a grudge.”

“The lives of my passengers must come first. Now, if you’ll excuse us, the crew and I have a few things to discuss.”

Kade and Sena found a spot at the railing near the prow of the ship where they could see the lifeboat approach.

“You know,” said Kade, “if I was that scumbag, you couldn’t pay me enough to come back to the
Duchess
. He has to know we all hate him.”

Though she despised him for his cowardice, Sena was surprised to find she didn’t actually hate the captain. She wasn’t sure how she would have reacted in the same situation. If Kade hadn’t been with her when she’d tried to go into the darkened ship to look for her bunkmates, she wasn’t sure she could have done it. Captain Crane was wrong to leave, however, he was still human.

The lifeboat was white with a bright orange cover that made it look like a plastic version of Noah’s ark. Captain Crane’s head and shoulders were visible. He was standing in an opening near the back of the vessel and directing it to the pilot’s ladder at the bottom of the ship just behind where the bow cut through the water.

The captain struggled to maneuver the lifeboat into position in the choppy sea. He took a rope, leaped from the boat, and swam to the ship. He secured the lifeboat to the cruise ship, and then reached the pilot’s ladder and began the long climb to the deck. 

Sena noted that she and Kade had been joined by Captain Brady and the commanding officers of the ship. He nodded to her and then turned his attention to the man climbing over the railing.

“Welcome back,” said Captain Brady. “You can remain in your lifeboat moored to the ship. If you or the other officers wish to come aboard I’ll have to detain you in the brig.”

“Not so fast,” said Crane.

“You abandoned the ship; that’s a major offense. You’re guilty of a crime.”

“You know full well we didn’t abandon the ship. We left on a rescue mission.”

Captain Brady snorted.

“I have proof,” said Crane. “The rescue operation was successful. We have several survivors from the plane in need of medical attention.”

“What? You’re saying someone actually survived that crash?” Captain Brady said, immediately dropping his formal tone.

“Quite a few, actually. We found them on a life raft.”

“Near the crash site?”

“Near enough.”

“How many?”

“There are eleven survivors.”

“And you say some are injured? How badly?”

“Burns, mostly.”

Captain Brady turned to an officer and gave orders to prepare boarding assistance for the wounded, and then addressed the deserter once more.

“In light of these discoveries, I will rethink your sentence.”

“My sentence? Are you kidding? I’m a hero!”

“You’ll be confined to quarters until we reach a decision.”

When Crane opened his mouth to protested, Captain Brady cut him off. “Do you see these people? You’ll stand trial for your crimes against them.” 

Passengers had gathered on many levels to watch the scene unfold. Sena wasn’t sure why she’d been allowed to stay; now she understood that Captain Brady had needed an audience. 

At the sight of the angry faces, some of the wind went out of Crane’s sails. Sena was close enough to hear his quietly spoken words, “Listen, Brady, I know I screwed up. I came back to make it right. If you give me another chance, I’ll prove it to you. That’s all I’m asking for. Just one more chance.”

“We’ll see,” said Captain Brady.

“One last thing,” said Crane in a low voice. “Keep an eye on the survivors. I’m not sure I trust them.”

With that mysterious statement, he allowed himself to be led from sight.

The line for dinner that night was almost two hours long, most likely because word got out there was chocolate pudding. They were also serving canned cocktail shrimp with cocktail sauce, smoked salmon wraps, and salad. Time in line passed quickly, because everyone wanted to talk about the return of Captain Crane. 

Sena was surprised by how many passengers believed he should be reinstated as captain. They said he was a hero for taking immediate action and rescuing the survivors of the plane crash. Could it be possible she wasn’t giving him enough credit?

Sena poked at a wilted lettuce leaf that she supposed might qualify as “salad,” and considered. She thought back to Crane’s flippant dismissal of the plane crash victims as “rotisserie chicken.” At that moment he clearly didn’t have the least intention of attempting a rescue. It wasn’t until he heard about the serious state of his own ship that he’d decided to leave. The man was either a coward or terribly selfish. Maybe both, but definitely not a hero.

What surprised her was that he’d actually gone to the crash site to look for survivors. She would have expected him to make a beeline straight for land. Was there more to his story? And why had he come back?

Though the salad may have been wilted, the chocolate pudding was delicious. Everything had been served on the same plate, and she’d had to eat the pudding with a fork. At least the chefs were still managing to put together two meals each day.

She was putting her plate and fork in the bin when she heard a voice she recognized. 

“Man, am I glad to see you!” Danny’s tone was simultaneously happy and relieved. “They’ve got me taking dessert down to the new arrivals in the medical center. I tried to get someone else to do it, but everyone’s either hiding out or running food for dinner. There was a dishwasher who offered to trade with me but I do have some self-respect.”

“What’s wrong with the new arrivals?” asked Sena.

“Oh, nothing, I’m sure. I’ve got a thing about hospitals and doctors.” He set the tray down so he could untie his apron. “Put this on over your clothes. Things are so crazy around here, no one will notice.” Danny deftly slipped the apron over her head before she could object. 

Angry tears sprang to Sena’s eyes and she flushed. What if she didn’t
want
to go down into the dark below deck area? She would expect a stunt like this from her classmates, not from Danny.

“There now, don’t you look…” Danny trailed off when he saw her face. “Oh man, I really screwed that up, didn’t I?”

Sena blinked rapidly, mortified that she was on the verge of tears over something so stupid. She turned away to swipe at her glasses with the apron.

“I kind of hate myself right now,” said Danny. He whisked the apron away from her like it was a magician’s tablecloth. “Can I start over? I’ll give you my best Bambi eyes.”

Danny’s Bambi impression was as unfortunate as it was adorable and Sena couldn’t stay mad at him.

“What I meant to say is they’re making me take these puddings down to the medical center and I’m terrified of doctors. Would you mind coming along to give me moral support?”

Sena didn’t think anyone had ever bothered to apologize to her when they’d hurt her feelings. She was charmed and decided right there that she’d go with him to the depths of the sea. Well, maybe not the depths. It was pretty dark down there.

“Give me the apron,” she said, holding out a hand and putting it on herself this time. “You’re carrying the tray though.”

There was a brief moment of indecision for Sena when they came to the stairs, but when Danny opened the door she saw the stairwell was lit by glow-sticks. It was enough light for her to manage. The medical center was on the same level as most of the food storage, and Sena was surprised that there weren’t any guards at the crew-only door leading to the large refrigerators.

She realized most of the passengers probably had no idea what was inside, since staff-only elevators and stairways kept them oblivious to the way food was moved through the ship. Sena only knew because she’d taken the ship tour.

This was only a passing thought, as a more uncomfortable effect of the power outage was bothering her. Lydia, the cruise director, had explained earlier that without power, the ship’s stabilizers would no longer keep the boat perfectly level so they were likely to notice a tilt, or list. 

Sena sure noticed it now. Walking in a straight line was difficult, and Danny was having trouble balancing the tray. The puddings slid from one side to the other and she was sure they were going to go right over the edge. She reached out to catch one, and then noticed Danny’s enormous grin.

She punched him in the arm not holding the tray. “You’re making them slide on purpose!”

“You’re fun to mess with, you know that?” He tilted the tray again and really did almost lose one of the cups over the edge. “These sure look good,” he said, looking at the little bowls. “There’s a baby photo of me somewhere eating a bowl of chocolate pudding. You should see the mess I made.”

Sena saw a mischievous glint in Danny’s eyes. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“Wouldn’t dare what?” he said with feigned innocence and painted a streak of chocolate pudding on her cheek.

Sena shrieked, “You’re going to get it!”

“Is there a problem out here?” A woman in mint-green scrubs stuck her head out of one of the doors and Sena realized they’d reached the infirmary. Danny deftly stepped behind her at the sight of the nurse, so Sena was left to do the talking.

“We brought some dessert for the new arrivals.” 

“Ah, yes. Follow me. We’ve got so many patients right now we had to put them in a conference room.” 

It was only a few steps down the hall, and she held the door for Sena and Danny to enter.

“You’ve got something on your cheek, by the way.”

Sena felt a blush spread over her face, and scrubbed at the pudding with the apron.

Once her face was clean, Sena looked around the conference room. Electric lights were on. It was the best lit area she’d seen since the power went out. The hum of an emergency generator revealed the source of the power operating the lights and various pieces of medical equipment in the room.

Danny saw Sena gaping and whispered, “They put one in the main galley too. Captain Brady was offered the third, but he turned it down. Said all the equipment on the bridge was burned out anyway. I think they’ve got it in the engine room now.”

Beds lined the entire room, and the new passengers were grouped together in one corner of the room. Most of them wore blue jumpsuits.

“Did we run out of hospital gowns?” asked Danny.

“No,” said the nurse. “That’s what they were wearing when they boarded.”

“Oh,” he said. “Weird.”

It
was
kind of weird, now that he’d mentioned it. Maybe the clothes were part of the emergency supplies on the lifeboat.

“Come on, let’s get this over with,” Danny whispered.

Sena wasn’t in a hurry; she was fascinated by the survivors. They’d survived a plane crash, and then, against all odds, been rescued at sea. Not only that, but they looked Korean. Her grandmother was part Korean and when Sena lived with her she’d spoken Korean at home. Even though she didn’t remember much of it anymore, she could still say a few things. She decided to try hello.

“Annyeong-hasimnikka.”

Several pairs of unfriendly eyes turned her way and a surge of embarrassment washed over her. Was she wrong about them being Korean? Had she just insulted them?

“Did you ask them to walk the plank or something?” Danny asked.

“It seems like it.”

“Here, maybe some pudding will cheer them up.” Danny handed her a cup and Sena tried to give it to one of the men. He refused to take it, or even to make eye contact with her.

“Try the next guy.”

The Korean in the blue jumpsuit didn’t look her straight in the eye. He gazed at a point a little over her shoulder, like he could see someone sneaking up behind her. It gave her the creeps, and she had to will herself not to turn to see what he was looking at.

In the end, none of the men would take the dessert.

“All the more for me,” said Danny brightly in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood.

“I guess,” said Sena, troubled. Maybe they had post-traumatic stress syndrome. They’d certainly been through enough. She turned to leave and then froze when one of the men said something to her in Korean. She told herself she’d heard him wrong, but his whispered words were spoken with such malice, she knew she’d understood.

She took Danny’s hand and walked quickly to the door, the menacing words still ringing in her ears.

“
We will kill you all.
”

CHAPTER EIGHT