1 Shore Excursion (22 page)

I
climbed the steps to Bridge Deck and knocked on the door marked “Authorized Personnel Only
.
”

The first officer opened the door
,
looked out
, and
motioned for me to enter.
“
Good afternoon
, Miss Marsh.
Please come in.
Captain Vargos is expecting you.”

If you’ve never been on the bridge of a modern cruise ship, you may have some romantic notions about the ship’s wheel and compasses and astrolabes and such.
I
f
so
, you’ve seen too many late movies.

I guess they can still work all that stuff, but the reality is that computers and sonar and GPS and other mysterious electronics now rule the waves.

Before 9/11
,
ships used to
all
offer bridge tours on days at sea, and the passengers really enjoyed them, but
in our new age of heightened security,
the bridge is
mostly
off limits
now
to passengers.
Many lines have also stopped galley tours
and skeet shooting
.

Everything about the Rapture’s bridge looked efficient
,
high-tech and complicated. The sight of all those precision instruments and sonar screens and stuff immediately reminded me that the task of piloting this monster safely across a deep and dangerous ocean was
a
difficult and serious business
indeed.

These modern behemoths are so slick and so big that you tend to forget that underneath you is a whole lotta water.
When the wind begins to rise and the whitecaps appear
—
as they had around dawn
—
you start to think about that.
Or at least some of us do.
For others, it takes a full gale before their attention is dra
wn
away
from the meals and the shows
.

The main room of the Rapture’s bridge reminded me of the cockpit of an airplane, only much, much larger.
The front wall was made almost entirely of thick, tinted glass, fronting a room filled with electronic instruments and radar, sonar and computer screens. Other rooms, adjacent to the main
one
, included the captain’s office and private quarters.

First Officer Avranos escorted me to the captain’s office and knocked on the door.

“Enter,” the captain’s deep voice answered.

“Ah, Sidney,” he said, rising from behind a handsome mahogany desk, “
i
t is good to see you again, and it is good of you to come so promptly.
Please have a seat.
May I offer you some refreshment? No?”

He nodded to the officer.
“Then that will be all, Avranos.
Please close the door on your way out and see that we are not interrupted.”

Steady, Sidney
, I
told myself
,
think before you speak this time
.

H
e
sat once again
in his
fine
leather chair behind his
massive
desk, watching me with those d
ark
blue eyes.
He wore a white shirt and pants and a dark pullover sweater with epaulets gleaming on
the
shoulders.

I
sat, too,
squirm
ing
a
bit
under his gaze
as I took in my surroundings
.

The office
was handsome, with highly polished mahogany furniture and paneling, gleaming brass fixtures, and a
midnight
blue carpet.
There were few personal items.
His master’s license, framed, and some nautical engravings were hung on the walls along with stylized charts of the constellations in black ink on thick white paper.
An expensive brass telescope, mounted on a tripod, stood in the corner.
N
o photographs of people, no memorabilia.

Everything was very neat, painfully precise.

He leaned back, elbows on the arms of the chair, fingers tented, staring at me in silence.
His dark hair was beginning to gray at the temples and
,
though he was clean-shaven,
a shadow of beard
darkened the firm line of his jaw.

His stare was intent, unnerving.

“You wanted to see me, Captain Vargos,
” I said finally,
“
and here I am. In your note, you indicated that it was urgent, so I came immediately.”

He
rose
and came around to the front of the desk,
where he
stood
before
me and leaned against the polished wood.
He folded his arms and again
did nothing but
stare.

We got off to a bad start
, I thought, wishing that things had worked out differently between us.

“Yes, indeed, it is extremely urgent,” he said.
“I don’t know
quite
how to approach you
about
this, Sidney.
I
’m not sure
how to proceed.
You are so defensive, so stubborn, so elusive.
I asked you here today to warn you for the last time to stop meddling in matters that do not concern you.
If you do not heed these warnings
,
there may be grave consequences
.
I hope that this time you will accept my advice in the spirit in which it is
offered
.
My only concern is for your safety and that of the other passengers.
”

“Yes, Captain, I appreciate that, and I’m sorry that
.
”

“Please, Sidney, let me finish.”

“But, Captain
...”

He raised his hand, cutting me off.

“I was informed this morning
, Sidney,
that you are
again
asking questions, potentially dangerous questions, of the hotel staff and others about the identities of the missing dancer and the deceased crewm
a
n.
I am not suggesting at this point
—
nor do I
have reason to believe
—
that
either of them
met with foul play, but if they did, then your questions could certainly put you in jeopardy.
I do not know who the woman is, or where she is, and I do not believe that anyone on my staff does either.
As for the crewman, his background is being investigated.
”

“But, Captain
...
” I
said again
.

He shook his head.

“The circumstances surrounding this
man and
woman are not your affair, Sidney, nor are they the business of your group.
As I said, t
hese matters ar
e being thoroughly investigated;
you have my word on that.
You are not a trained investigator, or an officer of the law, and you certainly have no authority to ask such questions.
”

He leaned forward, watching me intently.
“I must insist that you stop your so-called investiga
tion immediately.
I have cautioned
you before, and you have foolishly ignored my warnings.
I am telling you now, I am
ordering
you
,
to cease this activity at once. If you do not, as master of this vessel,
for your own safety,
I will have you confined to quarters.”

“What?
What did you say?
Confined to quarters?”
I glared up at him defiantly.
“I don’t think so, Captain Vargos.
I don’t work for you.
I am not an employee of this ship, or Empress Line, and all I have done is to
pose
a few simple
questions
in hopes of
unravel
ing
a dreadful mystery that has resulted in the murder of two innocent people, people charged to my care
—
murders that you and this line will barely acknowledge, let alone try to solve.”

He reached down and grabbed me by my arms, pulling me out of the chair.
He was furious, and I thought that he was going to shake me.

“Don’t you understand what I am trying to say, you
silly
girl? Don’t you know what you are doing?
You must listen to me.
I am not,
not
, working against you or your group or anyone else. I am on your side.
I am your captain.
Your safety is my responsibility, my prime concern.
I have been protecting you all along, and believe me, protecting you is not easy, with all of your attempts at detective work.”

His tight grip on my arms loosened
, and t
he
hard glare in his eyes softened.
“I care about what happens to you, Sidney Marsh. I care very much, no matter what you think.”
His eyes darkened, studying mine.
“But believe me, I certainly can confine you to quarters, and if you don’t stop this immediately, I will.”

I pulled free of his grasp and took a giant step backward, toward the door.
“O
kay
, Captain Vargos, ok
ay
. I’ve got it.
I hear you. Thank you for your concern. Aye, aye sir. I certainly appreciate your position, and from now on, I will be sure to obey your orders.”

I jerked open the door, stepped through it, and slammed it behind me, ignoring the curious glances of the ship’s officers.

Like hell I will
, I said to myself as I bolted down the stairs.

When I opened the door to my cabin, there was Jay, sprawled out on his old bed, propped up on his pillow and mine, reading the passenger/crew manifest that I had bought from Vinny.

“How in the world did you get this?” he said. “This is the real deal, isn’t it?”

“Yes it is,” I said, snatching it out of his hands, “and never mind how I got it. What are you doing here?”

I looked at the bags piled in the corner.

“Is that your stuff? I thought you moved out.
I thought you were living in the Neptune Suite
.
”

He
smiled
.
“I
guess I do have a conscience after all, Sidney, because it was
bothering
me. We’ve been pals for a long time,
lady
, and you mean more to me than the Neptune Suite. And maybe I
discovered that
somewhere
I
do have a little bit of integrity
after all.
But, hey, I’m back.
Aren’t you glad?”

Jay is impossible, of course, but yes, I was glad.

In the shower, I thought everything out and decided that
now that Jay and I were a team again,
it was time
for us
to
really
step up the action before Vargos clamped down.

Just why he
would
clamp down at this particular time was a
mystery
.
Was he somehow involved in the crime?
Nah.
I didn’t think so, I couldn’t see it
. B
ut you never know.
Was he just a company man, marching to the direct orders of Empress to put a lid on it?
That seemed more likely.
Maybe he really cared about my safety.
That would be nice.
I
savored
th
e
thought
.

Who knew?

Most of the High Steppers go to the early show before dinner, so I decided that would be the perfect time to check out Bostick’s cabin.

I turned off the water, wrapped my hair in a towel and myself in a robe, and stepped out into the cabin to lay out my plan for Jay.

He was gone again.
There was a note on my bed.

You are hogging the bathroom again, piggie.
I can’t wait on you any longer.
Try to
look amazing tonight.
Don’t wear that tired old blue thing
you always wear.