Chapter 19
Elena leaned against the closed door and stared at the packet of papers in her hand. It was covered with oiled leather to protect against the wet of the sea. She could hardly believe that she had just been given her own ship. Elena was still torn about the Calling and whether or not she would be able to once again pilot, despite Peter's confidence. Elena traced a finger over the leather in thought.
"Most ships are designed so only one person could theoretically sail them," she mused. It was considered a safety feature not a design requirement. Most pilots did not sail alone. During an attack by raiders, the pilot was always the most protected crewmember. With the pilot alive and conscious there was always the possibility of escape. Without the pilot a ship was dead. If the entire crew was incapacitated a pilot could still sail the ship to a safe port. Elena tapped the packet.
"It might be wise to sail alone a few times," she said. "I'd have to do that the first time out anyway." Eventually if she went back to piloting she would need to hire a crew. She would have to stay in the safe lanes and travel them alone to get to the Docking Facility. A person could not hire a crew landside. The crew was usually advertised for at the port. It was safer that way. Anyone at port would obviously already know about the channels. "Of course Ian already let that cat out of the bag."
Elena shrugged off the thought and opened the packet while she was still leaning up against the door and looked at her ship. Her hands were shaking and she knew that once she saw all of the particulars she was going to want that ship. Already being involved in the world of the pilots and channels she wanted to be back on the sea. She grew up on deck and when she was piloting there was nothing else. It was as if she were meant to be a pilot. The ship may sail under a captain's command, but when she was at the helm the ship was a part of her. That was the way it had always been. To leave had been almost like cutting off her own hand.
The first thing she saw when the leather parted was a set of pictures that had been tucked inside of the packet. It was her ship. The Storm Chaser was beautiful. Elena flipped through the pictures slowly. She could see the loving craftsmanship that went into her design. The wood gleamed in the sunlight. Elena felt the ship take hold of her. The figurehead was an angel with full spread wings that folded back along the prow making her look as though she were in full flight.
"You know just how beautiful you are don't you?" She said to the angel, her fingers tracing the lines of the ship. Just looking at the ship made Elena ache for the sea. She tore her eyes away from the set of pictures to glance over the particulars. It was being held in the same port as her grandfather's ship and at the moment that was fine. She would have to find a harbor closer to where she lived obviously and she began running through the list of possibilities.
The problems with safe harbor of course were the relatively few American ports that were considered safe by the Families. At the back of the ship's particulars was a list of possible ports for her consideration. Choosing one would require some thought.
The ship could berth six. That would normally be the captain, pilot and four crewmen. She could save some of the weight by being both captain and pilot and the style of the ship was the sort that she could manage on her own. She would realistically need to hire about three folks though for the season.
A four-man list would lighten the load and enable more merchandise to be brought in while still being of poundage suitable for riding the channels. That was one of the things that made the dual role of captain and pilot so appealing. The elimination of one person from the necessary crew not only eliminated that person's weight, along with their personal gear, but it eliminated the supplies needed to feed that person for the duration of the trip. As any captain could tell you, food, freshwater and other supplies were heavy commodities.
The papers dealt with all of the ships particulars and she was delighted to find that the ship had been somewhat tricked out. It had all of the latest equipment. Elena read through the list of equipment with a little bit of awe.
Her grandfather's ship was old and while the Wind Dancer had been upgraded, the systems were not totally integrated. They were retrofitted onto older models and its systems had a bit of a cobbled together feel to them. She was looking forward to the thought of using a system that was put together at one time and all functioned as a unit. At the same time she could see why Peter and the rest of the council did not want the military on such a ship as this and why an older model would be used.
Much of the equipment would be startling to many of the military. The military rarely steered by the stars anymore; their navigational systems were somewhat different. They would be more familiar with equipment like radar or sonar, which was a part of this system, but only used before entering the channels. And while the ship did contain a GPS system, it was not as big an assistance as the star charts.
"Of course, many of the star charts were not of this solar system," Elena said thoughtfully. In fact, many of the charts came from places that NASA had not even seen with their unmanned spacecraft. Another factor was that some of the technology was not originally designed on Earth, but had been picked up from other sources and adapted for human use. Earth was not exactly considered the cutting edge of technology in the places their ships went.
"We are more like the backwoods yokels," she said with a smile. "Luckily we are good at adapting other people's technology to our needs." Earth had always been considered pretty much a backwater world. After all humans had a hard enough time getting along with each other. Throw in some alien species and bad things would occur. She would hate to see what some of the religious extremists would do.
"Exporting televangelists through out the known universes would not be beneficial for the human race," She said with mock gravity, shaking her head. "We would be really unpopular then." The images that formed in her head were more disturbing than amusing so she brushed them away.
"I have the feeling the military would love to get their hands on the technology from the Storm Chaser," she said, reining her thoughts away from intergalactic televangelists.
"But they should be safe enough on the Wind Dancer." Elena folded the leather packet back up, with the pictures tucked inside. She thought about putting the oiled leather packet of papers with the other papers, but decided that she really didn't want to go to all the trouble of prying up floorboards. She had laundry to do.
Elena moved to the back of her apartment. She tossed the packet onto her bed and picked up her laundry basket. While she sorted out her first load of laundry she wondered if she should take anything with her in the morning. She mentally rifled through her maps, but decided against bringing them.
"They can use their own maps," she said, turning the washing machine on. Ultimately she decided to bring an empty notebook and her calendar as the only items extra for the meeting. With a start, Elena realized that once her ship was in port she could easily store her papers aboard the ship and would not really have to worry about them being taken or accidentally viewed by others who should not be privy to their information. The ships the pilots used for riding the channels were very well protected and the docks were not exactly places that were easily accessible to the general public. The council took care of security for a cut, but no one really minded since cheap security put them all at risk.
The types of people guarding them were not exactly inclined to trust government officials. In fact most of the people that the Families worked with were in a similar set of Families as well. The docks they used were always well protected by Union men of the old school. Any military personnel wishing to pay an unauthorized visit would find a very unwelcome reception. As she was pretty sure the military did not wish to open fire on civilian dockworkers and cause a very public incident, she would not need to fear for her papers' security.
"No more prying up floorboards for me," She said as she went about her household chores. With that thought in mind El
ena walked back to the bedroom. She tucked the papers under her pillow kind of like one would a tooth for the tooth fairy. She knew she was being a little silly, but she didn't want to pry up the boards and she really didn't want to leave it out on the table.
"Besides," she said to the empty room. "Who would actually look there anyway?" Elena made sure the clothes she washed included clothes for her morning meeting. The clothes she chose for the meeting were classy as well as comfortable. Her dress slacks were a cotton blend that fell just right and felt butter soft. The sweater she paired it with was also soft and fuzzy. Both were suitable for a meeting and considering she had once been kidnapped by these men, she really did not want to put on one of her power suits she used when talking to bankers and other true business meetings.
After deciding on the important matters of clothing and comfy shoes Elena did some work on business matters. She started off with thinking about the gaps she had seen in her own store and the immediate concerns, things like shifting merchandise around and bringing more back room stock to the front, but as the evening wore on she began thinking about some of the other business.
"The business that might be," she termed it in her head. It really wouldn't be too hard to set up. Several if her business associates, the craftsmen and the people she imported from would be more than willing to act as more or less a front for the goods as long as they knew it was not stolen and not of shoddy workmanship. The food might be a little more difficult to manage but it would still be do-able.
The guild had long ago made up lists of potential allergens so she could be reasonably safe on that account. She didn't know all of them, just some of the more common ones. If a person was allergic to peanuts they shouldn't consume trascot. If they were lactose intolerant they might want to stay away from merdonosol. Procuring a full list would not be that difficult. Elena pulled a notebook close and began making a list of needed things.
"It would be better if the foods were processed," she mused jotting down test kitchen and processed food in her notebook. She tapped her pencil on the notebook and stretched out on the bed instead of sitting on it. Currently, she didn't sell food products.
"Perhaps it could be its own separate store." She thought. The business could also do on-line sales as well and that would help increase sales. Elena realized that it was definitely do-able and she started working figures around on the paper in front of her. There was a building for sale next door to her and she had been thinking of buying it for expansion and had been torn between the cost of expansion and the worth of such a move. She was not sure she had a large enough customer base to branch out quite that far. She really liked the cozy atmosphere of her own place as well and thought expanding it might make it feel more like a warehouse. Keeping it a separate store would help.
In her mind, she began to flesh out the building, using furniture from her own stock or pieces that were not quite kosher on their provenance; she could have a very attractive display area and give promotion to the existing imports store. And since she would be working with both her grandfather and Peter she could give it a name that did not tie it to just her family. It would be an interesting model to create and if the Families could expand it, then it would be beneficial to all. The ringing phone interrupted her thoughts and she rolled off of the bed to answer it.
"A little birdie told me you were seen having a very cozy dinner with a very attractive man in one of the most romantic restaurants in town. Spill." Elena laughed recognizing her friend Tina's voice. She put away her future business concerns, please to have a normal conversation that didn't involve her walking a dangerous tightrope.
"How exactly do you get gossip that fast?" She asked.
"My natural talent. You still haven't explained your date or why I did not know about this date in advance."
"It wasn't a date Tina," Elena said sensing ruffled feathers. With a laugh they settled into a conversation and Elena felt the tension of the last few days ease.
Elena went to bed after her laundry was done and laid out for the morning. She had the feeling that her world was no longer the same as it had been when she woke up. For the second time in her life the cozy and comfortable world she inhabited had been shattered and she was left to recombine elements in new and interesting patterns. As she snuggled into the sheets she thought that at least this time it was good things happening as opposed to her leaving to prevent bad things from happening. That had to count for something.