Pilot

  Chapter 36

  Elena stood next to Andre and watched her grandfather and Smith square off. Jonathan stood a few feet away from Smith and looked eager to blend into the background. The discussion hadn't moved past words yet and Elena wondered if one of them would actually take a swing at the other.

  "And you get to be stuck on a ship with them," Andre commented. Elena shook her head.

  "Aren't you sorry you are going to miss it?"

  "Well I could take bets on how far out you get before one pitches the other overboard if I were coming," Andre commented. He turned his head slightly. "Looks like the cavalry is about to arrive." Elena followed his gaze and saw Peter walking quickly towards the fracas.

  "I suppose we could have stepped in," Elena commented as Peter began settling things down.

  "Do you actually think either of them would have listened?"

  "No," Elena said. "That's why we stayed out of it."

  "You were told that only 50 lbs of gear would be allowed per person," Peter said calmly. Each of the bags had been weighed. Smith was three pounds over the limit and had been asked to remove items to bring the weight down. Smith had contended that since Elena's bag had been seven pounds under the limit he should be allowed some leeway.

  "I tried to tell him Grandfather didn't bend," Elena said. Her bag had already been stowed as had Jonathan's who came in at exactly 50 lbs. She wondered what would happen if he decided to bring something back with him. That possibility had not really crossed his mind from everything she could tell. The only ship visible from where they stood was the Wind Dancer.

  The crew was already aboard and ready to go. Elena knew they had been down at the docks over an hour before she, Andre, Smith and Jonathan had arrived. By the time the military arrived it looked as though the Wind Dancer had just come into port to pick them up and leave again. Both the Storm Chaser and Gregori's Dream had been docked in the enclosed areas used during the off-season to shelter the ships from winter storms and to make repairs.

  "How soon is Peter leaving?" Elena asked Andre. She kept her voice soft so her question wouldn't carry.

  "About four hours after you," I think he is going to skirt around the coast to the Yolanda and have Anna ride that channel in." Elena nodded. That would put Peter about a day behind them in reaching the port facility. Maria would be a passenger on Gregori's Dream.

  "We are losing the tide," Elena heard her grandfather yell. "Lose the extra weight or stay here." He turned and stalked off towards the Wind Dancer.

  "That would be my cue," Elena said. "Thanks for taking care of Spin while I'm gone."

 

  "No problem," Andre said. "Take notes. Cause I know someone is getting shoved overboard." She smiled and followed her grandfather towards the ship. Jonathan cast a nervous glance her way.

  "Would he really leave without us?" he asked.

  "Yes," she replied. "Mr. Baranov, good to see you again. Safe journey."

  "Elena, please I thought I told you to call me Peter." Elena nodded.

  "Of course, old habits."

  "Safe journey to you as well."

  Elena continued past the men and walked up the gangplank and boarded the ship. She inhaled deeply and smiled. The Wind Dancer would always smell like home.

  "Should be some trip," Anthony said watching Smith tug a few items out of his bag and hand them to Peter. The comment had been made in Italian and Elena remembered to answer in the same language. For this trip Smith and Jonathan would believe only she and her grandfather spoke English.

  "Andre's taking bets that one of them will be shoved overboard before the trip is through." Anthony snorted.

  "That is a sure thing. The trick will be whether they get thrown off into the water or into space."

  "True." Anthony resumed his pre cast off regime. Elena only hoped if Smith ended up a frozen blob in space, she wasn't the one who had to tell the military. Peter re-weighed Smith's bag and approved it for boarding. Smith and Jonathan boarded and Elena went to the pilothouse. Smith and Jonathan followed closely on her heels. She received the go ahead from her grandfather and piloted the Wind Dancer out of port and towards the open water.

  "You know there are three days before we even get to a channel," Elena told them. She pointed towards Smith's bag. "You do have time to go stow that." Smith frowned, but didn't move. They watched as Elena worked and twice Elena bumped into them as they crowed close. Each time they stepped back, only to crowd in once more when it looked like she had done something that might be of interest.

  'This is going to be a long trip,' she thought to herself. As they hit the open water and less attention had to be paid to maneuvering around stationary objects she relaxed a little. This seemed to be the sign that she was ready to answer questions. Jonathan pulled out a notebook and began taking notes as both he and Smith questioned every piece of machinery in the pilothouse.

  The first day of school nervousness faded under the barrage. She answered clearly and concisely and tried not to roll her eyes as Smith pulled a digital camera from one of his many pockets. Elena wondered if she should tell him that if the camera was on when they entered the Marta the memory card would fry. Once again she had to elbow him back out of her way. She decided not to remind him.

  As the questions continued Elena got the impression that neither Smith nor Jonathan had ever spent much time aboard any form of ship, or if they had they had been solely a passenger and not part of the operations. Many of the things they questioned were standard on a ship of any size and more than likely had been since man first took to the seas.

  The weather remained clear and, despite the continuing questions, Elena felt her body ease into the rhythm of the journey. As expected Smith and Jonathan were less than thrilled that the other crewmembers would only speak Italian and since her grandfather tended to ignore them, Elena was the only person they could talk to. When either man wanted to ask something of the crew Elena had to go though the translation routine, at which time she could see the spark of humor dancing in each of the crew's eyes at the charade. She had to admit though that the translating routine did give them plenty of time to think about their answers before sending them out for Smith to hear.

  Jonathan, who had been sick the first day out was looking a little less green and managed to keep a full meal down by the time they approached the Marta. She hoped he managed to stay that way when they entered the channel. Elena signaled the crew that the approach to the Marta was eminent and she began preparations for entering the channel, as expected Smith and Jonathan raced to her side.

  "You'll need to stay back for this. I need some space," she cautioned. This was not the time to be bumping into them. They hung back to watch. Elena went around the pilothouse meticulously following the routine of switching off all of the ships electronics. If any one of them were left on there would be a chance that not only that piece of equipment could fry in the passage, but when the other components were turned back on it could spark a system-wide melt down. That was not something she wanted to contemplate.

  Smith barked out questions and Elena blocked his voice out as she went through her routine. With the electronics off Elena turned her sight towards the water. Clear as a mountain pass the channel rose before her eyes. The depth was right. She smiled tightly and made a few adjustments to their course, aiming the ship to the center of the channel.

  "Brace for entry," Elena called out to the crew.

  "What?" Smith said, waiting for the translation. All of the crew moved away from the railings and towards the center. The entry wasn't always that rough, but it was a safety precaution all ships followed.

  "You are going to want to hold on," Elena told Smith and Jonathan.

  "Why?" Jonathan asked.

  "Cause we are going in," She told him. Elena focused on the channel. With a jarring bump the Wind Dancer slipped from the ocean and into the mouth of the channel. The first minute
of entry felt like the first downward dive of a roller coaster. Light blurred around them in a sickening rainbow that bled to intense white. Smith and Jonathan gasped and grabbed for the wall. A railing had been placed along the inside for just such a reason and both men clung to it. Alexandro stood firm on the deck, his feet planted wide for balance as his ship slipped into the sky.

  The Wind Dancer leveled out and the world around them bled from the dizzying blast of white in the channel entrance to the deep black of space. Stars surrounded them and Elena smiled. God she had missed this. She let out a peel of laughter and steered them through the stars, a blue ribbon of water glistening beneath their hull.