Chapter 32: Heartfelt Conclusion — Part 6
It is late, and Joe is walking the ship one last time, trying to check off all his concerns before returning to the house. The ship has been pulled to its preliminary position and aligned with the residual vector, an odd curved plane of partial gravity resultant of the interactions of the arch gravity with Earth standard gravity. He’s a little lighter, and standing face into the force, like a man standing on the hillside, only on flat ground. It looks awkward and silly, but his back is aligned with gravity, and he is really quite relaxed. As time passes, the ground will bend and wear to match the gravity, but as the arches are still young, the shift is long in coming. He hears Daria trudge up to him. He can tell her step by its sound, and he takes it as a good sign that she’s not trying to be quiet. Despite her fierce loyalty and natural leadership skills, something about the girl always puts Joe on edge.
“Hey Captian, you know we checked the lady about a hundred times, she’s fit as a fiddler crab and ready to sail.” Daria says.
“Don’t I know it?” Joe says. “But we’re the first to try to sail into an arch, and we’ve only got George and Jude’s test models to prove our strategy for sail placement is going to work at all. That and the whole parallel parking approach to mounting the arch have me just kind of thinking things through. That’s a lot like trusting a paper airplane as a model for building up a fighter jet, and then sending the prototype straight into war.”
“And yet that is exactly how these thing happen, isn’t it?” Daria says, chuckling at the word ‘mount’ and possibly at some perverse interpretation of ‘parallel parking.’
“You came here to have words, right?” Joe says suddenly, before she can explain her odd humor.
“It’s about Paige and Kevin.” Daria says. “You see, Paige went behind my back in coming to you. She is supposed to ask permission on such matters. I need to determine if she should be punished for this.”
“Let’s set something in the right light, girl.” Joe says, quietly, “On my ship and with my crew, I am Captain, and Blake is my right hand. We issue orders, we decide schedule, and we determine, without question, who sails with us, and what their shift is. Anybody can come to us for counsel, and their voice will be heard. Paige was not on the roster, and initially I failed to fit her into the bigger picture. There will be no punishment for Paige’s decision to approach me. Not from you or anybody else. Not now, or ever. Does one understand the other?”
Daria’s cheeks flush red. “Yes Sir.”
“That being said, Paige made a strong argument for herself and for Kevin, and proper arrangements were made for both of them.” Joe says, his voice having grown quiet.
Joe turns away as a means of dismissal, and because he is trying to visualize how the ship will rise on the funnel, how to turn the sails to force it up and into alignment with the wind pushing through the arch, and most importantly, how to keep his feet should they fail to bring the belly of the ship into center. Daria stands with him for a moment, the stars are starting to show themselves, and the wind is picking up. The ship lurches a bit with it. It is further into the nulled field of gravity, light enough that with careful placement of muscle, the ship can be pushed inward until it’s weight is effectively zero. Joe feels Daria’s strong, roughened hand squeeze his for a moment, and then the sensation and its source are gone, walking away.
Joe sighs, dismissing Daria and her energy with a deep exhale. The ship’s a virgin, the crew is green, and tomorrow, he thinks, will be the big day. He walks the ship, checking all the supplies, making certain everything is battened down, all the netting is locked and tightened, and, close to nine at night, he retires to the house. He would do the same for the house, but Jynx is in charge of this, and quite good at what she does. Every window is sealed with pillows, every shutter is locked tight; the fire is long burned down, and will not be relit. Joe is awake early, showering with Blake, George, and Jude, ignoring the rush of talk in the steaming room as ChoCho, Jynx, Daria, and Kevin file in, Daria dragging Heath in behind her. Heath, who is usually up the earliest, looks groggy, and Joe is thinking she didn’t sleep last night. He’s guessing that the foursome didn’t sleep either, though probably for entirely different reasons.
There is excited talk about the trip as everybody soaks in the bath. Given the nature of the morning, the silk separators are up, but nobody is bothering too much with modesty, showering off together before entering the baths. Heath, Jynx, and Daria are in the back tub, while the men are in the front, soaking heat into their bones, slowly waking up from a long night of fatigue and fear. Once dressed, the crew walks to the arch, pausing only to lock the front door and seal the front gates. In a moment Joe is standing with Blake in front of his crew, and he raises a hand, letting everybody know he is about the speak.
“Today, as the wind picks up, we will be getting up and airborne. We all know the risk, so keep yourself strapped to your station at all times. Also, I won’t sail a ship without a name. So this morning, we need to name her. Any ideas? We each get one option to put onto the table. Jynx goes first.”
“The Gloom.” Jynx says, drawing a slight, short chuckle from those closest top her.
