The Bright Black Sea Read online

  Chapter 08 Calissant Anchorage

  We took a flier through the night to the glowing patch of fog that marked Yacht Club clubhouse. Attempts at conversation were tentative, bordering on awkward, so we let the silences run on. An observation here or there sufficed.

  The Yacht Club's underground velowalks may be cleaner, faster and warmer than those of the Smallcraft Field but the tarmac was just as cold and damp, the snow banks just as sooty. The puddles were refreezing and I feared Min might have trouble navigating them, but she walked with total confidence and reached her boat without incident. I had a few close calls. Damn that gravity.

  Her elegantly white space boat, Ghost, a fifteen meter StarSprite Elite 7ZX looked comfortably at home on the Yacht Club tarmac. A hybrid atmospheric/space boat, it had stubby wings, a split tail with its rocket engines set in its wings. She keyed the hatch open as we neared and we hurried on board. The main compartment was furnished with half a dozen convertible seats forward with a conversational area and a compact galley aft. As she headed for the cockpit, I hung back, unsure of where I was expected to ride.

  'You can copilot,' she said, climbing into her seat without a backward glance. 'We all have our tickets here,' she added, and indicating that I could sync my com link into the system as well.

  'Thank you,' I said as I settled in the copilot's seat, buckled up and synced my com link to the Ghost. 'I've never had the opportunity to fly in a boat of this caliber.'

  'It's my dearest possession, a gift from Uncle Hawk on my fourteenth birthday. Since his daughter was not interested in space, I was the focus of his enthusiasm for space boats and space boat racing. My parents didn't approve, of course, but Uncle Hawk believed the earlier you fly, the better you fly. He'd take us up for an atmospheric or space flight and hand the controls over to me, saying Fly her. I suspect my enthusiasm reminded him of his youth as well.'

  'It's quite a gift.'

  'He claimed to have won it in a game of Black Empire, but I doubt it. It was one of his ways of encouraging me to follow in his orbit. I owe him for far more than the Ghost,' she continued as she went through the preflight checklist. 'Between his yarns and his tutelage, he gave me the encouragement and opportunity to follow him into space. Only the last time I saw him, when he visited me on Kimsai, was he suddenly more cautious about my spaceer career. No doubt my crash had a lot to do with that. I wish he was here now.'

  'We miss him too. It's hard to imagine a new owner replacing him.'

  'He can't be replaced,' she said simply, and reaching for the radio, pinged port control for clearance. She fired the landing rockets, and after getting our taxi clearance, pulled into the access lane and out to the short runway.

  With our final clearance she opened the main rockets wide. An invisible hand pushed me back against the seat cushions and in an instant we were airborne at forty-five degrees that swung to ninety several seconds later, the heavy hand pressing on my chest never letting up. This is, by the way, how you properly fly rockets.

  I closed my eyes to better follow her course via the com link. The boat calculates the trajectory to rendezvous with the Lost Star based on its real-time position and speed. However, a rocket boat under power is constantly accelerating so the course is constantly being recalculated and lags slightly behind the actual convergence point. You can program a course and just follow it or you can add predictive variables, but those can get rather speculative, small changes getting ignored or magnified. Min simply did it all in her head, following an instinctive course instead of the boat's slightly dated one. She rode the rockets, effortlessly adjusting for patches of turbulence and wind drift. And she didn't let up. She kept the rockets firing to the mid-point where she briefly paused to swing the boat about and begin an equally fierce deceleration, keeping me pressed to the seat. I'll say it again; this is how you fly rockets.

  And before I was ready for it to end, the pressure let up, the boat grew loudly silent, gravity was gone and via the boat's sensors, I could sense my ship hanging a kilometer off to starboard. I sighed, contented, and muttered, 'I think I'm in love.'

  I opened my eyes and turned to express my admiration of her piloting only to see her watching me with an expression that looked, even in the instrument lit cabin, fierce.

  'Captain Litang?'

  'Ah,' I said, gathering my wits. 'My apologies, again. What I meant was I love your piloting. You handle rockets the way they're meant to be handled. Sorry, I seem to be saying things without thinking today.'

  She shrugged, muttering under her breath, 'Tramp spaceers.'

  'Liner poshes,' I muttered undermine. I, however, was attempting to be humorous, which fell short of orbit, so I added, 'You liner pilots don't know what it’s like in tramp service. Once in my early days I flew the ship's gig like you just did and I was immediately summoned by Captain Miccall and told very plainly that's not the way boats are handled in the tramp service. Was I under the illusion that rocket tubes and fuel come free in packets of breakfast cereal? If I wished to wantonly expend rocket tubes and fuel for my own pleasure, I could buy my own, for he had no intention to subsidize my extravagances. And for the last fifteen years, I've piloted boats like they were made of lace. So you see, I was merely expressing my appreciation for the beauty of something done right and sadly, in my experience, rarely.'

  Before she could reply, the radio broke in with Myes Qilan gruffly warning us that we were within the ship's safety zone.

  With a nod from Min, I answered, 'Hi Myes, Wil here with Tallith Min. We'll be boarding the port gangplank.'

  He acknowledged with a short. 'Right, Skipper. Hey, Talley. Port gangplank.' and closed contact.

  'I'm not a liner pilot any more,' she said as she began her approach, adding, 'Never wanted to be one. I always wanted to be in the tramp service. When I was eighteen I presented myself to Uncle Hawk expecting to be given an apprenticeship on one of his ships. He told me to finish my education, so I did. At twenty-one I again presented myself, and instead of one of his tramps, he arranged my apprenticeship with the Zenith Line, insisting that a few years on a regular freight liner would do me good. Never said why.'

  'Well, you now have more experience under power than a tramp pilot with ten or fifteen years tramping. That's worth something,' I ventured. Freight liners like the Z-Line Aurora make their whole voyage under power, accelerating the first half, decelerating the last half while most tramps, are under power only a day or two at the beginning and the end of the passage.

  'Still, except for a brief overview of the other departments, I spent my entire time on the bridge. If I'd been on a tramp I'd know a whole lot more about ships by now.'

  'True, but there's still time. You're young...'

  'My spaceer days are over. I don't know where my Z-Line seniority puts me these days – probably on the beach. But even if I could go back, I wouldn't want to toss some poor pilot on to the beach when I don't need the wages. Plus, I've my family's firm to look after, even though I know next to nothing about being a shipbroker. I owe it to my parents' memory and my brother and sister to learn and earn the dividends the firm pays us each quarter.'

  'It must be hard... Still, having a boat like this should make being a shipbroker a little more tolerable. I'm hoping that by the time my watches in space are over, I'll have found my own space boat. I'll have it out in the barn... A vintage boat, mind you, that I'll slowly restore... And on those restless spring nights of Faelrain, when the sky's so clear and too bright and the wind so reckless that I have to go somewhere, I'll roll it out and take it up to the moon and back. Under power the whole way.'

  She gave me a quick, unreadable glance, but said nothing as she edged Ghost alongside the extended gangplank. It did not move a centimeter when the Ghost contacted the lock. Docking done right.

  We unbuckled and swarmed over to the upper hatch aligned with the dock. 'Perhaps I best go first, Astro and Orbit are undoubtedly waiting and they can be rather enthusiastic.'

  'Astro
and Orbit are still aboard?' she said, with a smile. 'I wonder if they'll remember me?'

  'Doesn't matter, everyone's a long lost pal,' I said and instantly regretted it. Again.

  I swung out first and Min followed. Illynta Tin, keeping Astro and Orbit in check, was waiting on the landing stage and she called out her greeting as Min settled in beside me.

  'Hello Aunt Illy,' Min said as she hurried past me to meet her.

  Astro and Orbit, however had grown quiet, edging back. Min was something new to them. This allowed Illy and Min to exchange a hug and some greetings without dogs floundering about them. They considered the whole proceedings carefully. You could tell this because they tilted their heads, it's what passes for thinking with them. They edged closer and when she knelt to talk to them, they must have recognized her scent or voice or just decided, any old orbit, a new pal! And they were their old barking, licking, bounding selves. This brought up Riv and Lilm from the engine room.

  'Talley my dear!' exclaimed Riv as he swung on to the deck from the well, 'My you've grown tall! And what marvelous legs!' he added as he approached and gave her a hug.

  'What did you just say Riv?' exclaimed an outraged Lilm following her partner up. 'Ignore him Talley, he's grown so witless and disreputable in his old age.'

  'I was merely commenting on her legs as an engineer, love. They're a mechanical marvel. And she has grown so tall...'

  Min laughed, 'I did seem to grow ten centimeters when I had these legs made...'

  I saw Myes coming out from the bridge, so I stepped over to Min and said, 'I'll leave you to your old shipmates. See you later.' She nodded and embraced gruff ol'Qilan, 'Uncle Myes...'

  I slipped away to sample the banquet entrees. A captain's job is never done.

  An hour later the Merluns, Anre and Mya, Molaye's parents, docked their boat on the starboard gangplank. Both Anre and Mya had sailed aboard the Lost Star for many years, though long before I signed on – Mya as a pilot and Anre as the electrical engineer aboard. They're regular visitors whenever we're in Calissant orbit so we had invited them to the banquet. Molaye, Kie, Illy and I, as well as the hounds, welcomed them aboard and escorted them up the awning deck.

  'I hope our Molaye hasn't been giving you any trouble,' said Anre as we sampled the appetizers the Drays had set out.

  'Oh, dad!' exclaimed Molaye. ‘Of course I haven't.'

  'Trouble? Of course not,' I replied. 'Why would she?'

  'See,' said Molaye in mock outrage.

  'Oh, we were just curious. We knew Fen could handle her, but we were curious how well you'd be able to manage her,' said Mya, ignoring Molaye.

  'Oh, he's a mean ogre. A regular drift dragon. I wouldn't dare step out of line,' protested Molaye, not expecting anyone to believe that.

  Puzzled, I turned to Illy, 'Illy?'

  She just laughed, 'She's settled right in, Mya. We hope to keep her if we can clear this port.'

  'Good,' said Mya, adding for my benefit, 'Molaye was always a daredevil. Anything fast and dangerous appealed to her. Plus, she has a mind of her own. A sweet girl, but very determined to get her own way. She was a handful to bring up...'

  'Takes after her mother,' added Anre with a laugh.

  'Well, she's been the ideal apprentice. And an amazing pilot. A natural.'

  'Takes after her mother,' muttered Anre again.

  'And all her sweet talking comes from you,' replied Mya.

  'It's been a pleasure to oversee her progress,' I assured them. 'She'll have no problem getting her ticket. And she's been an ideal shipmate as well, always cheerful, cooperative, and willing to pitch in anywhere and eager to learn everything. A valued member of the crew. You can be very proud of her,' I added. I was very proud of her as well – my first apprentice.

  Molaye beamed. 'See.'

  'Nevertheless, Wil, if you avoid the beach and sail with her, keep her on a short leash. I know she has a way with machines that borders on the uncanny, but don't let her run wild.'

  'Well, we're just an old tramp, as you well know. She can't run too wild.'

  'Aye. But there's still plenty of engine in the old girl. I'm just saying don't be too indulgent. She seems to have the same power over people as she has over machines,' said Anre, drawing her close. 'As well we know. I blush to think of all the things she talked us into letting her do. Rocket board racing was the final straw. How she managed to talk us into that I can't say to this day. All I know is that it scared us more than halfway to death...'

  'Oh, it wasn't that dangerous!' protested Molaye. 'No one ever got killed.'

  'It was the rocket board racing that prompted us to ask Fen to sign her on,' added Mya. 'We're glad she's settled in, but don't be fooled, she likely can talk you into anything she wants should she set her mind to it. She sure did with us.'

  'I'll keep that in mind, but I can honestly say the Molaye you're describing doesn't seem to match my apprentice pilot. I've stood watch with her for two years now and she's as solid and safe pilot as I've ever crossed orbit with,' I said. Flashy, yes, but never beyond her skills.

  'See,' she beamed again.

  'Lying in the drifts, Wil. She's just lying in the drifts,' said Anre with a wink.

  'Well, we have Kie her to keep her steady. You won't find a more solid, level headed young man in all the Nebula,' I said.

  'And I'll bet she twists you around her little finger,' Anre said to Kie.

  Kie just blushed.

  And he seems to like it, I thought, but decided not to say it out loud. Instead I said, 'In any event, I don't think she can get into too much trouble as a pilot of an old tramp freighter. And I assure you, I'll have her on the carpet if she tries to fly one of the ship's boats like I know she can. I still remember Miccall's speech word for word and I'm looking forward to reciting it to some other poor young pilot.'

  'I can remember it too,' laughed Mya. 'Used variations of it all the time bringing up Molaye, for all the good it did. Good luck, Wil.'

  The Drays went all out for the feast. We'd been planning it since Pinelea, so dishes that could not be properly prepared in free fall had been made when we were under power. The rest of them now in orbit. There were four Mycolmtreian and half a dozen other favorite entrees, some of them rather challenging to eat in free fall. (Loose components tended to be rather evasive in free fall, escaping their serving dishes to float about, especially later in the meal. But we had the dogs.) But all was well worth the challenge. I contributed a small case of Mystwine, famous for quickly creating a mellow mood and that carried us through the meal in fairly sedate order. After the dinner proper, the party moved to the awning deck, decorated with an elegantly patterned awning and floating lanterns. Since this was officially a celebration of having survived a voyage under my command, I took a certain amount of slander from my nominal subordinates and gave a short speech and our musically inclined shipmates put on little performances before things became rather jovial.

  I'd decided my best policy was to let Min hang with the old gang, so I spent only as much time with her as I felt politeness required. She didn't seem to mind. I was happy to see her laughing and clearly enjoying herself as the party went on and it took just a little arm twisting by Riv and Illy, to get her to stay in one of our guest cabins and make a night of it. I knew she was attached to the Lost Star of her youth, but it wouldn't hurt to form a bond with the present ship and company as well, a bonding that was well underway when I left the crew to their carouse around the middle of the fifth watch. I may not be very captain like, but I do carry a residue of authority. So to give them the fling they deserved, I made a point of bowing out long before the party drew to a close sometime in the first watch.

  Early in the second watch, the Merluns with Molaye and Kie looking only half dead sailed for Yendora for a few days of leave at home before returning to Port Prime and their board exams. I wished them the best of luck to their grim nods.

  Sometime later Min found me in the ship's office completing my accounts for
paying off the crew. Our conversation was sparse, polite but wary, perhaps due to the lingering effects of the party on her part and my determination not to undo any good will it may have instilled. I sent her off to the Silvery Moon with a large packet of leftovers.

  The rest of Fifthday was spent raising the nearly dead, paying them off and getting them down to Calissant under Illy's watchful eye. She took them down in the longboat directly to the new beach-combing spaceer rendezvous of Port Braque-nela. Only Dyn and I, with Astro, Orbit, Ginger and an unknown number of other cats and bachelor birds remained on board by the end of the day. Dyn never left the ship if he could help it, and I've never spent enough time on Calissant to have any attachments to anybody or anything, so I was content to watch the ship with Dyn.

  We kept busy on Sixthday cleaning Miccall's quarters. It had remained vacant the whole voyage as Dyn slowly cleared it of Miccall's possessions, giving away his treasures to crew members with special requests, packing the rest in boxes that joined all the other remnants of past shipmates in the strong room of no. 4 hold. We sealed the quarters in a closed environmental loop, cranked up its circulating fans as I, in a light space suit power-cleaned the suite, creating a thick mist of detergent droplets as I scrubbed seventy years of gaspeleaf pipe smoke film off the bulkheads, ceiling and deck. This yellow mist and several rinses were sucked out in a little hurricane and air dried before the loop was opened. And with that, the last of Captain Miccall faded to memory.

  With that final task done, Dyn vanished. As our environmental engineer, much of his work lies between the outer and inner hull, and being pretty much a recluse at the best of times, his disappearance was not surprising, though it left only Astro and Orbit to keep me company while Ginger, who had us as her only prey, stalked us at every turn. They were a frail shield against loneliness, worry and the subtle eeriness of the crew-less ship. To keep it all at bay, I kept busy, no project too trivial to escape the attention of Captain Litang.