Ships of My Fathers (8 page)

Hans did his best to keep his reaction cool. “I would certainly consider it. What are your qualifications?”

Isaac seemed to sit a little straighter. “Twenty-three years in service, Captain, the last four as Captain Fletcher’s first officer.”

“Ratings and license?”

“I have a systems-1 and navigation-2, sir.”

Hans took it in. It made for a decent personnel jacket, but hardly worthy of a twenty-three year veteran. “And your officer’s license?”

“Still provisional, sir, but only because I haven’t had the chance to take my drives exam. I do have the hours on it, though, from my last posting.”

Hans smiled knowingly. Drive experience going stale for four years, and he still had not had a chance to take the exam? Far more likely he did not know the material and could not pass the practice exams. Still, he had Michael squirreled away somewhere, and the last thing Hans wanted to do was waste time getting the authorities involved.

“Well, unfortunately the
Heinrich
’s only open slot is on the engineering deck, and company policy requires a drives-1 rating. Still, if you get your jacket down to our offices here, I’ll be sure to flag it for expedited consideration. There might be another posting on another of our ships, and I’m sure we could ferry you to that assignment.”

Isaac gave a curt nod. “I understand, sir, and any help you can offer me would be most appreciated, but my main concern is Michael.”

“But of course, and when might I see Michael?”

“Well, I’d like to let him know you’re coming, first.”

Hans smiled through gritted teeth. “You haven’t told him yet? Is he not staying with you?”

“Well, I’m letting him visit with an old friend, actually an old girlfriend of Captain Fletcher’s.”

Hans did his best not to roll his eyes. Men like Malcolm Fletcher did not have girlfriends. They had whores. “I’m dying to meet her.”

Michael draped his uniform jacket over Josie’s shoulders and sat down next to her.

“Thanks,” she said.

The breeze blowing in off the ocean was colder than he expected. They had gone down to the barrier island east of the port. In the cooler weather of the local autumn, it was empty of tourists, though they saw a few people fishing off the longer docks. Their meandering had wound down on an empty stretch of beach, and they sat to watch the tide roll in alone.

“Malcolm and I never came down here before,” he said. He poked a finger into the sand and fished out a rounded stone.

“That’s a shame. It’s so much nicer in the summer. You can swim or surf or simply lay out in the sun. The nude section is past that ridge, but the waves are better here.”

He thought about it while brushing the sand away from the stone. He had seen enough vids to know what that kind of life was supposed to look like, relaxing in the sun, swimming in the water, spending the day with no agenda. It was both appealing and terrifying. In space, solar radiation was dangerous, pools could become lethal hazards if the gravity went out, and the idea of not having a daily shipboard routine was almost alien. “Do you come down here often?”

“In the afternoons. I sleep pretty late in the summer. The best parties don’t start until twenty-four or twenty-five.”

He picked a target down by the waterline, a lump of sand that looked out of place. With an overhand toss, he dropped the stone down onto it from above. “You go to a lot of parties?”

She shrugged and then pulled the jacket tight again. “It’s fun.”

He nodded and dug out another stone. “But you and I haven’t been going.”

The wind caught her hair and she swept it back out her face with her hand. The lavender polish had been replaced by a deep cobalt blue. “You didn’t seem the type.”

He nodded. He doubted he would have been in the mood had she asked. He had been enjoying the time in his little cocoon with her, but he had come to suspect it was as artificial as it was temporary. “Maybe when I’m older.”

“Maybe,” she replied. “You’d be surprised.”

“Surprised, yeah. Like you being twenty-six?”

She looked back at him through briefly slitted eyes. “So you know?”

He aimed for the same lump of sand and hit it with a low-angle sidearm throw. “I looked at your I.D. a few days back.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not like twenty-six is all that old.”

He chuckled and dug for another stone. “Is that what you thought at seventeen?”

She smiled at him. “Fair enough. Does it matter that much?”

“I guess not.”

They watched the waves roll in for a few moments of silence. The lump of sand seemed to be moving, eventually revealing a small armored crab. It sidestepped across the beach faster than Michael would have expected and started digging a new hole further down the waterline.

He turned to face her. “You and Annie are professionals, right?”

She did not look back at him. “Of a sort. I don’t know how things were with Annie and your dad, but she said you could use a friend.”

“A friend… yeah. And you?”

This time she did look back at him. The wind whipped her hair, but it did nothing to hide her beauty. “Sometimes I need a friend, too.”

He nodded. “Thanks.”

She looked back out at the ocean and giggled. “Besides, you’re actually becoming a halfway decent lay.”

He laughed. “Halfway decent? Is that all?”

“What? You want another chance to prove yourself?”

He sighed, thinking about it. “Yeah, but my uncle comes for me tomorrow.”

“Then you’d better make this one count.”

He reached for her but she wiggled away. “Ick! Not here in the sand, Michael,” she said, skipping away. “Let’s go home and do it right.”

He chased her down the beach. One last night with a friend was all he had, but he was going to savor it.

They met at the same coffee shop Annie and Isaac had used weeks earlier. It was cool but sunny. Annie had run Michael’s uniform out to an overnight cleaner, so it looked and felt quite fresh. “You’ll want to make a good impression on your uncle,” she had said.

Josie had agreed. “You look sharp, Michael. Quite the dashing officer.”

The three of them waited at the café and talked about inconsequential matters. Michael even tried some of the coffee. It was much smoother than what he had tried on ship, not nearly so bitter.

Isaac and Hans Schneider arrived two minutes before ten. Michael had been hoping they would be late instead, but the moment was inevitable.

They all stood, and Isaac did the introduction. “Michael, this is your uncle, Hans Schneider. Captain, this is your nephew.”

They bowed their heads briefly to each other, and Michael extended his hand. The older man reached for it, but he seemed lost in thought. “You have Peter’s chin,” he said at last.

“And my mother’s eyes.”

“You remember her?”

He shook his head. “I have a picture.”

“You do?” Hans seemed surprised.

“Yeah.” Why would he not have a picture of his own mother?

Hans gave a quick nod and shrugged it off. “Of course you would. Sorry. And your friends?”

Michael turned to Annie. “This is Annie Fowler, a friend of my… adopted father.”

Annie came forward to shake Hans’ hand. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“And this is my friend Josephine Coron.” He took great care to get the accent right.

She stepped forward and took the offered hand. “An honor,” she said.

“A shared one to be sure,” Hans replied. “I understand the two of you have been keeping an eye on my nephew for the last three weeks. Thank you for your attentive care. If there has been any expense or—”

“No,” Annie cut him off. “No, it was the least I could do for Malcolm. He was a good man, and a good father.”

Hans gave a brief, tight-lipped smile. “I’m sure he was.” He turned to Michael. “Are you packed? The
Heinrich
leaves today, and we still have to get a shuttle up to the station.”

Michael pointed to his case and duffel. “It’s all there.”

Hans gave an approving nod. “You travel light. Good.”

“Well, I did leave a few things on board the
Sophie
, but I won’t need any of them until next year.” He expected to get some resistance on this, but he wanted to put it out there at the beginning. This family reunion was temporary at best. “It’s under seal, so there’s no point in worrying about it now.”

Hans gave him another measured look. “Well, you’re right, no point in it now. I don’t know what our schedule will be at that point, but I’m sure we can work something out when the time comes.”

“So Isaac, are you coming with us?”

Isaac shook his head. “Maybe someday, but not right now.” He turned to Hans. “I did apply at your local office, but they said it would be two weeks before they got a current list of postings.”

Hans frowned. “Ah, I should have realized. Taschin isn’t on our main line, so they don’t get all the updates that our central offices get. If you can get out to Ballison or perhaps Arvin, they’ll be a lot better prepared for you. In the meantime, I’ll make sure to forward your jacket to the rest of the fleet.” Hans turned back to Michael. “Shall we?”

Annie gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Write to me, ok? I want to know how you’re doing.”

Isaac shook his hand and finally pulled him close for a back-pounding hug. “Give ’em hell, sir,” he said.

Josie was waiting for him by his bags. He slid into her embrace and kissed her softly on the lips. She held him close and whispered in his ear. “You study hard and pass that exam. I’ve never had a captain before, and I want you to be my first.”

She gave him one last, long kiss and turned away.

With final nods to Isaac and Annie, Michael gathered his bags and started after his uncle. He was leaving behind everything he knew.

But he would be back.

Chapter 7

“Yeah, it’s a big ship, but that doesn’t mean they know shit from sherbet.” — Malcolm Fletcher

T
HE SHUTTLE RIDE UP TO
the orbital was nothing spectacular. Hans had insisted on giving Michael the window seat, apparently hoping to impress him with the excitement. The truth of the matter was that he had seen more lift-offs than he could remember, and most of those had offered an even better view from the
Sophie
’s bridge. He had even piloted four such lift-offs in the last year, but that was strictly off the books.

His uncle sat next to him, listing off the various family members who were waiting for him aboard the
Heavy Heinrich
. His own daughter, Gabrielle, was on board. There were also three more second cousins, four first cousins once-removed, a third cousin, and Harriet who was simply family. “I honestly can’t remember her connection,” Hans explained, “but it goes back a ways.”

“Is the crew all family?”

Hans laughed. “Oh, far from it.
Heinrich
’s full complement is sixty-four. We were down one, but you’ll bring us back to full.”

Sixty-four? Michael tried to imagine it.
Sophie
’s life support topped out at twelve. The only way they could carry that many would be as cargo, but it would not be live cargo. “Exactly how big is the
Heinrich
?”

Hans pointed out the window at the station coming into view. “There she is on the upper right quadrant.”

Michael looked and saw it sticking out, even at this distance. The
Heinrich
was one of the giant container ships, with section after section of radial-loading container racks. It was the largest ship docked at the station by far.

“Four hundred thousand tons,” Hans said. “Impressive?”

“Is that displacement?”

“No, that’s cargo.
Heinrich
displaces almost six hundred thousand.”

Michael pressed his face against the porthole to get a better angle to view it. He realized now that this was why his uncle has insisted he take the window seat. Michael had seen ships of this size only three times before, but never this close. These container ships were strictly station-to-station carriers and incapable of atmospheric maneuvers or even landing on a gravitational mass.
Sophie
almost always went down to the planet. “It’s more direct that way,” Malcolm had always explained.