Becalmed Read online

  He waits. Dammit, he has the patience now.

  He waits.

  He has made his point.

  My shoulders slump. We know each other well enough that he understands my capitulation without my verbal acknowledgement.

  “I need you to master street Quurzid,” he says.

  “I don’t know enough of it,” I say.

  “Then do your best,” he says. “You need to become the expert in Quurzid. Then you need to figure out how to teach our people the language.”

  “Not just those on the Ivoire,” I say.

  “I want a plan of instruction, something recorded, so that all of the ships in the Fleet can learn it,” he says. “I want us to be ready as soon as someone hears our distress call. I want to be able to end the fighting around Ukhanda immediately.”

  His hands are still around mine. He shakes, just a little, as he says that.

  “You think we’ll get out of this, then?” I ask.

  “Are you asking if we’ll be becalmed forever?”

  I nod.

  “No,” he says.

  “But you put us on rations,” I say.

  “It might be a week,” he says. “It might be a year. I want to be prepared.”

  “The Quurzod damaged the anacapa drive, didn’t they?”

  “While we were engaging it,” he says. “It’ll take some time to figure out what exactly went wrong. That’s why I need you.”

  “Me?”

  He nods, and his hands tighten around mine. “I need you to figure out what’s wrong with the communications array. I’m convinced our distress signals aren’t getting through.

  I flush, then let out a small breath. “You trust me to get back to work?”

  His gaze meets mine. “Mae.” he says, “I’ve trusted you all along.”

  He has. He’s been the only one. I didn’t even trust myself.

  I bow my head, stunned at his faith in me. Stunned that I still have a future.

  He stands, puts his hands on my shoulder, and kisses the top of my head.

  “Welcome back,” he whispers.

  I lean into him for just a moment.

  “It’s good to be back,” I say, with more relief than I expected, and resist the urge to add, You have no idea how good it is.

  Because I have a hunch he does know, and that’s why he didn’t leave me behind.

  Because I am still part of the ship. A necessary part of the ship.

  And you never abandon the necessities. No matter how difficult it is to retrieve them.