Big Damn Project

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The windows of the ferry were sticky with condensation, and Andrewston passed outside as a silent gray blob, nullifying any of the pleasure Toby could have received from the sight. Still, it was better than nothing. More importantly, it was on the way back home. Toby closed his eyes and listened to the hum of the boat, and thought about the next step in his plan. The ferry terminal would have been hard enough to find in the city of Andrewston, but Standard Lat made everything worse. If it hadn’t been for the little pictorial signs and a few eager-to-help Islanders, he’d never have gotten here.

He transferred at another, larger terminal, set out on its own island. The shock of the humid air hit him hard, and his fur frizzed a little. The terminal was laid out in a big ring, with docks fanning out every 20 feet or so. The larger boats were on one side, the smaller charters on the other. Toby located the departure boards, and tried to decipher the text in front of him. He found a gate that looked like it said “New Haven,” and decided it was close enough. A woman behind the counter announced the boat would be leaving in five minutes, and Toby scrambled to get inside. He sat down in a seat against the window, closed his eyes, and waited for the boat to leave. After a moment, the boat sealed itself, and puttered off to the mouth of the harbor.

Toby did the calculations in his head. At this rate, a nonstop trip like this would take him four days or so to get back to Lat, and then a day train ride across the continent, and then another…

Toby took a moment to look around. He had been so caught up in escaping, he hadn’t realized he was the only one aboard. The cabin was dark, only a few small lights in the ceiling to reveal the inside. There were maybe 20 seats total, arranged in rows across the wide hull. In the back were a few lavatories. There were a few small portals along the side, which meant, more than likely, this was a sub.

But there were no people. Toby clutched the small bag the Captain had given to him a few days before, tracing his eyes around the interior of the cabin.

The intercom crackled. “This is almost mean,” the voice said. Toby recognized it at once. He sank down in his seat, his ears flattening out.

“Toby,” the voice said, “you may as well come up to the helm.”

Toby sat for a moment, his stomach wrapped around itself, and folded his arms across his chest. Outside the boat, Coupland Island passed by. They rounded Dagmar Point, and as the point slid away, Toby could make out the Rose in the distance. He sighed, pulled his legs up to his chest, and hugged them.

Nina opened the door to the helm. She watched him for a moment before she decided to approach. She sat down next to him, but didn’t say anything, not at first. She followed his gaze out the portal, watching the Rose amble across their field of view.

“Aunt Cait knew you were going to run away again,” Nina said, still watching out the portal. “Don’t ask me how she knows all of this. She’s very intuitive about people.” She waited for a response, but didn’t get anything from Toby.

“I know it sounds weird, but we need you to go along with all of this. I know you barely know us, and we barely know you, but we’re trying to help. We actually do care about you. Xiphos, too, but she’d never say so. Well, I suppose she kind of did…”

“I want to go home,” Toby said, each word forced out, just above a whisper.

“I know.” Nina patted his shoulder. “We’re working on it. Everything’s just really complicated right now. And please realise, it’s us or the Firebrand.”

Toby’s eyes widened. “Is that a threat?”

“NO NO NO!” Nina held her hands out in front of her. “You’re safe with us, though. You’re outside their national boundary with us. As soon as you set foot on Lat, they can take you and send you right back.”

Toby narrowed his eyes, and rolled his head back to the portal.

Nina sighed. “I know. Hug?”

Toby didn’t budge. Nina very carefully put her arms around him, pulling her hug tighter. Toby didn’t accept, but didn’t try to push her away, either. She squeezed. “Tacit approval,” she said, a little sunnier than before. “That’s the best I could hope for.”

—-

Cait didn’t seemed fazed by Toby’s begrudged return. She looked at him, and with a hint of a smile said, “welcome back, Mister Shaw. I have a job for you.” Within a span of a moment, Cait handed Toby over to Billy in the kitchen.

That night, on their way to Peck Harbor, the crew, along with the Travelers, gathered around the table in the crew quarters. Xiphos even made her way down from the helm for a little bit to join in. The table was spread with simple dishes: a beautiful pot roast that was falling apart amid a sea of vegetables, a still-hot loaf of bread, and a large bowl of salad. A couple wines had been placed in the center of the table, and two pots of tea steamed away on either side.

Cait sat at the head of the table and, looking entirely pleased, said to Billy, “you’ve outdone yourself this time.” The crew returned an excited, though hungrily distracted agreement.

Billy opened his hands. “I… can’t take the credit for this.”

“Is that right?” Cait said.

“I started to prepare everything, and Tobias just sort of took over.”

The crew at once shifted its attention to Toby, who sank in his seat under the weight of their gaze. He laughed nervously.

“You did all of this, dear?” Cait propped her head up with her hand.

“Yes?” Toby said, squeaking out his answer.

“Huh,” Xiphos said, reaching out to the bread. She tore a hunk off. “I was thinking how entirely edible all of this looked. That would explain it.” She winked at Billy and stuck out her tongue. Billy threw his napkin at her, and she giggled wildly, deflecting it away.

The crew started to pass the food around. They all talked excitedly as they took their fill and, as they started eating, the sound in the room dropped away. Toby tried not to smile as he watched the crew stare in disbelief at their meal, processing the bite they had all just taken.

“…Wow,” Tami said at last, her voice just above a whisper. And then everyone else, all chattering away excitedly. Billy even patted Toby on the back. Cait turned to Toby.

“Tell me,” Cait said, “given what’s in the cooler right now, what would you make for dinner tomorrow night?”

“Roasted duck with a marmalade sauce, steamed vegetables, and potatoes roasted in olive oil.” He answered with no thought, and realized he had blurted all of that out. He added, “if I have time.”

“And if you do not have the time?”

“Grilled salmon with stir fried asparagus on brown rice.” He peeked out of the corner of his eye, watching for approval. The crew stared at him, astonished.

Cait, still looking pleased, said, “I do believe we have found a new chef. Billy, I am afraid you will have to go back to being a professionally trained doctor.”

“Demotion accepted,” Billy said.

“Where does all that come from?” Patel asked.

“My parents own a restaurant in the Red River Valley,” Toby said. “When I didn’t have school, I’d go and they’d teach me how to cook whatever was on the menu. Most of our customers didn’t know I was cooking their meals. After a while, I started coming up with my own dishes, and they usually let me have one or two items on the menu.”

“That’s brilliant,” Nina said.

“It is,” Cait said.

Toby smiled again, dropping his eyes to his plate. He let his headfur fall in front of his face, and hid. “Thanks,” he said.

Toby and Billy cleared the table after dinner wound down, and set about washing the dishes. The Travelers cleaned out the crew area, and then sat down at the shah board. Cait ran through her evening checklist, and when everything had been completed, she joined the rest of the crew. The Travelers, it seemed, had been on a couple of other boats together, through the years, and were telling stories about living in Lingguo.

“It’s such a closed country,” Tami said, “they don’t know anything about the outside world.”

“We lied to them all the time,” Patel said.

“They think all Islanders have Krakken for pets.”

“Seriously?” Nina sat forward, absorbing everything the Travelers said.

Tami grinned wide. “No joke. So we told them we raised tame Krakken and fed them birds and small models of boats.”

Billy and Nina laughed. Tre watched on from a little further back, smiling, but he kept his distance.

Xiphos played with her hands, and then, not looking at any of the other people at the table, said, “When I was in New Archer, Fink and Manni had this habit of-”

“Okay, I’m going to stop you right there,” Patel said, holding up his hand. “There’s a couple of things wrong with this story. Do you actually mean to imply that you were friends with Manni. THE Manni?”

“Yes,” Xiphos said. “So anyway, they would-”

“Okay, but this is what I mean,” Patel continued. “You, sitting there, are trying to tell me you hung out with, on a fairly regular basis, enough that you are comfortable talking about her she was Billy or Tre, Manni, the revolutionary from New Archer.”

Xiphos ears flattened out. Nina slid Xiphos a quick peek, and patted her arm.

“Yes,” Xiphos said, her voice dropping.

Patel tilted his head. “That’s just such a weird claim to make. Next you’ll tell me you ran around at night with Crash.”

Xiphos pushed her chair back and started back towards the bridge, mumbling to herself “…got work to do…” Nina chased after her. Tami elbowed Patel in the ribs, her ears back in the striking position. “Dude…” she said.

“Well,” Cait said. She stood and adjusted her coat. “I think that might be the sound of the end of dinner. Take until the next bell, and then finish your evening chores, please.”

The Travelers left together, taking a mop and a bucket between them. Tami whisper to Patel, her words soft hisses that floated down the stairs. Toby wandered back to the sink to finish the rest of the dishes.

“That’s a shame,” Billy said. “I have this great story from when I was stationed in Beiland, back when it was still a Lat Crown Possession. There were these kids, and they had just pulled this fish out of the bay, and the bay was so polluted that they didn’t want to eat it, so they wanted to trade it for something we had. Well, I remembered the captain was coming in-”

Cait sighed. She patted Billy on the shoulder. “I fear it will have to wait for another time. In the mean time, let’s meditate on how wonderful it is to not have to be a teenager again.”

“Oh gods, yes,” Billy said. He straightened the chairs around the shah board. When Nina came down the steps from the bridge, he watched her, and then said, “I am grateful it was a passing phase.”

“What?” Nina said.

Billy shook his head. “Nothing. Just reminiscing.” He slid his hands into his pockets and strolled back upstairs, to the infirmary.

Nina took a seat at the table, folding her hands in front of her. She stared out past the table, but really to nothing.

“What is bothering you, dear?” Cait asked. She took a seat on the couch.

“It is a weird thing to make up,” Nina said. “Xiphos doesn’t do that.”

“No,” Cait said. “She does not.”

“Then why would she?”

“I do not believe she is, dear.” Cait said.

Nina considered this. She dropped her eyes to her hands.

“Do you not have work to do?” Cait asked, though her tone did not change.

“I do,” Nina said. “May I take a moment? These last few days have been weird.”

The intercom gave a short blip, a signal that the helm wanted the captain in person. “Of course,” Cait said. She squeezed Nina’s shoulder as she passed her on her way to the bridge. “Take all the time you need.”

Xiphos sat in the low light of the bridge. She stared at her screens, her legs pulled up to her chest, ears down.

“Helmsman,” Cait said as she entered the bridge.

“Sir.” Xiphos waved Cait over, and tilted a screen so she could see. It was a map of their surroundings, triangulated from Relay towers, and their sonar display. The Rose was in the center, with little green dots around them. There was a small line of dots behind them, zig-zagging up the map to the Rose. Another boat, a few miles out, followed along, tracing each turn the Rose took.

“I think we’re being followed,” Xiphos said.

“Indeed,” Cait said, leaning over Xiphos for a better look.

“Is it pirates, sir?”

“Pirates would have attacked by now, most of them,” Cait mumbled. “Who ever they are, they are waiting.”

“What for?”

“I could not tell you, helmsman. Hopefully we will not find out. How is our travel time looking?”

“Four and a half days to Peck Harbor.”

Cait frowned at the screen, furrowing her brow. “Reroute to Ghanda. That is two days away.”

Xiphos punched her keyboard, and their directional lines changed. She steered to match the line. A moment later, the other boat on screen did the same.

“Full speed,” Cait said. “Do not worry about fuel.” She sat down in the helm chair next to Xiphos.

“Do we go to alert, sir?”

“No,” Cait said. “We do not need a panic on board. For all we know, someone is just riding our wake.” She thought a moment. She leaned over to the intercom. “Tre, we need you on the bridge, please.” Cait folded her hands in front of her, watching the boat trace their path on the monitor.

That night, in the silence of her quarters, Cait prayed to Nibiru for her protection.

[g]

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Tags: adventure, anthro, billy, boat, Boat Story, Cait, fiction, furry, nina, serial, story, tobias, toby, travelers, tre, web fiction, weblit, xiphos, YA