Ships of My Fathers (5 page)

She remembered changing back into her boring clothes and walking him back out to the
Sophie
’s dock. He had kissed her goodbye and gone over to talk to Michael who was overseeing the refueling team. She had waved to them, but they must not have seen her. That was the last time she had ever seen Malcolm, his hand on Michael’s shoulder, talking to him about the business.

She looked back at Josie sipping on her soda. “It’s pretty bad for Mikey… for Michael,” she forced herself to say. “He and Malcolm were tight, but the truth of it is, Michael’s adopted.”

“Wow... the way you talked about them, I never would have figured.”

She shrugged. “He played the part well, so I guess he deserved my support on it, but yeah, Michael’s folks died when he was a baby.”

“How?”

She shook her head. “Mal never wanted to talk about it, and now Michael is hearing about it from strangers who don’t know anything either.”

“So, Annie, what are you going to do with him?”

She smiled. “Actually Josie, it’s what are you going to do with him?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, he’s not taking the news well, and I think he ran out on whoever is supposed to be looking after him. I want to keep him distracted and out of trouble while I track down his crew and find out what’s going on.”

“How am I supposed to distract him? I’m not a babysitter.”

She smiled at her younger protégé. “He’s not that much of a kid anymore, and young men are still men where it counts.”

“I suppose. Am I breaking him in, or what?”

She chuckled. “I honestly don’t know, but he’s pretty fragile right now. No hard press. Play it sweet and innocent, but do what you can to make him forget his sorrows.”

Josie nodded. “I suppose, but for how long? I need the work.”

“Consider him your rent payment this month, okay?”

She took another sip of her soda. “I do have other expenses, you know.”

Annie sighed. “Look, do this for me, and the next time Captain Joe comes through with his high rollers, I’ll take you with me.”

Josie hopped up. “Deal. Let me get cleaned up, and I’ll go in and crash with him. With luck, I’ll have him in my bed by noon for the duration.”

Annie picked up her crochet again as Josie headed down the hall, but before she could get far into the next row, Josie stuck her head back around the corner.

“Just how sweet and innocent do you want me to be?” she asked with a playful lilt to her voice. “I mean, do you want me to do the whole teddy bear and pig-tails thing or what?”

This time Annie did throw the pillow, but Josie ducked it easily and ran giggling down the hall.

Michael woke disoriented and numb. He did not know where he was. He did not what time it was. The only thing he was sure of was that there was a body pressed against him.

He opened his eyes to see light sneaking past the curtains to illuminate the room. It was a bedroom, cluttered with nick-knacks but otherwise tidy. That detail penetrated his brain enough to tell him he was on a planet. Which one? Where was Dad?

Then it all came rushing back: the accident, the adoption, Annie.

The blond hair spilling over his chest told him that it was not Annie. He could not quite make out her face, but her pale skin was another sure sign. She was not nude, but the pink t-shift clung to a shapely figure. Beneath the sheets, he could feel that he was still in his briefs, but otherwise, her bare legs wrapped around and between his.

The change in his breathing was enough to wake her, and she tilted her head back and opened her eyes. Deep blue, like his mother’s.

“Hmmm, morning,” she said.

He struggled to find his voice. “Good morning.”

She smiled and snuggled her face into his chest. “Still too early.”

“I’m Michael,” he offered.

She lifted her head back up and swept the hair out of her face with a hand. She was beautiful: a clean sleepy face, a hint of pink in her cheeks, bright teeth, long lashes, and a cute nose. “Yeah,” she replied. “Josie. I’m Annie’s roommate.”

“Is this your bed?”

She shook her head. “Annie said you could use some company, but you were sleeping. Simpler this way.”

Simpler? Entangled as they were, Michael did not think so, but he liked her logic. “Where is Annie?”

“Out,” she replied, rubbing at her right eye. She had lavender nails, with a white daisy painted on the thumb. “Stuff to do.”

She shifted again, her thigh running up the inside of his. He suddenly became aware of his own erection and the pressure in his bladder. “I… um, can I…”

“Bathroom’s through there,” she replied with a head bob towards the far wall.

“Thanks.” He extracted himself from her arms and legs as gingerly as he could, but she did nothing to make it easier for him. The bed was pressed against the wall on his side, so he ultimately had to climb over her to get out. She twisted with him and smiled up as she did so. He made his way across the room, almost tripping over his own pants on the floor.

“Cute butt,” she said.

He closed the door behind him and splashed cold water on his face. He was pretty sure they had not had sex. He was certain he would have remembered that. His bladder urged him onward, so he went to the toilet and took a moment to focus. Just as he got started, he heard her calling.

“Hurry, Michael. It’s cold out here by myself.”

Shit. Focus.

He finished and washed up again. He checked his breath and found it atrocious. He glanced around and found some mouthwash. A few swishes later, he headed back out.

Josie had moved back over to his side of the bed and was facing him. She propped herself up on her elbow, and the v-neck of her t-shirt hung suggestively towards her breasts. She stared at him a moment and then looked aside with a blush. “Come on,” she urged. “It really is cold.”

He came back, doing his best not to get snagged by his pants again, and slipped under the covers with her. “So, Josie, right?”

“Yep,” she replied, sliding her legs back towards his.

“Annie’s roommate. Did she…”

“Say, Michael, do you like kolaches?”

He tried to remember them from his last time through Taschin. “Yeah, the little sausage things.”

“Annie said she’d toss some in the warmer before she went.”

“Okay.”

She slid her arms around him, her nails grazing across his back. “Do you want to work up an appetite first?”

He was starving, but now food was the last thing on his mind.

Annie sipped coffee at one of the tables outside the café. She had been waiting half an hour, scanning the crowd for Isaac. She waved when she finally spotted him, and he changed course to head her way.

She motioned to a seat, but he remained standing. “I heard you were looking for me, but today’s not a good day.”

“I’ve got Michael,” she said, and nodded to the seat again.

His shoulders sagged and he slumped into the offered chair. “Thank God. I’ve been all over the port looking for him since yesterday. Is he okay?”

“Well enough, but he’s pretty upset.”

“Yeah, he is. You know about Malcolm?”

“I heard it around port yesterday morning. I didn’t believe it until I talked to Captain Wallace.” She shook her head. “I spent most of the day in a haze and finally went out for drinks with a few friends. That’s when I found Michael.”

“You took him home?”

She nodded. “He cried for a while and then fell asleep. My roommate is keeping an eye on him for now.”

“Good.”

Annie reached for her coffee but stopped. She turned to Isaac instead. “Wallace said he’d been to the wake, but he couldn’t tell me much about how it happened.”

“It was a loading accident.”

“That’s all Wallace knew, but you were there. How did it... I mean, did he...?” she trailed off in a sigh.

Isaac looked away for a moment. “If you’re asking me to tell you it was quick and painless... well, it wasn’t.”

She pulled her arms close and held in a sob. “He knew?”

“Yeah, but he still didn’t have much time.” He shook his head. “Too slow to be painless, too short to say goodbye.”

“So he didn’t get to tell Michael about the adoption at all?”

“No, but I think he... wait, you knew?”

She shrugged. “I knew Malcolm for almost twenty-five years, even before he met Sophia.”

“Then what’s the deal?”

“It’s not my story to tell.”

He gave a snort. “Well, there’s not a hell of a lot of people left who actually know it.”

“Not much to tell,” she said. “She broke his heart, got hitched, and got killed in the war. Michael was all he had left of her.”

A waitress passed near, and she signaled for another cup. Isaac held up two fingers to indicate his order as well.

“Too bad,” he said. “But now Michael doesn’t even have that much.”

“I know. So what’s the plan for him? He’s still got Malcolm’s ship, right?”

“It’s complicated.”

The waitress stopped by to fill Annie’s cup and set one out for Isaac as well.

“Is it his age?”

Isaac took a sip and nodded. “It’ll all sort out when he turns eighteen, but until then it’s locked up tight, and then there’s the guardianship thing. I talked to some lawyer about it yesterday, but I don’t understand it. Hell, he’s been working a ship all his life. In my book, that makes him an adult.”

She chuckled. “It takes even less in my line of work. So, are you signing up to be his guardian?”

He sat up. “Oh, no, not for me. I like the kid and all, but he’s never going to accept my authority. I may have been his superior on the books, but he’s been giving me orders for two years now.”

“Then who? I’ve known him most his life, but the courts wouldn’t exactly consider my home to be appropriate.”

Isaac took another few sips of coffee. “Probably not.”

“So, what then?”

“The lawyer says he has an uncle, Hans Schneider.”

She nodded. “That name sounds familiar.”

“I’m not surprised. He’s one of the senior partners in Schneider and Williams Shipping. They’ve got ships all over the sector.”

She nodded. “So little Sophia married into money.”

“I don’t know, maybe. They’ve been around for a while. Hans is still in the Captains’ Guild, and they list him as working the
Heavy Heinrich
.”

Annie giggled. “The
Heavy Heinrich
?”

He shrugged. “I never know where folks get these names, but it makes a regular run through these parts. The lawyer put in a call to the local S&W office. Their next port is supposed to be Ballison. If they get word out on the next mail run, there’s a chance they could divert to here.”

“How long?”

“Hard to say. Maybe three weeks. Longer if they miss the connection, shorter if the uncle sends someone on a fast transport. I’ll stick around until then at least.” He drained his cup. “Shall we go get him?”

“Let’s not,” she said.

“What? I mean, I have to.”

“But you’re not his guardian.”

“No, but the lawyer thinks I’ve got him, and I made promises to Malcolm.”

She nodded. “And so did I. Look, let’s just let this cool down for a while. His uncle will send someone soon enough. I can keep an eye on him for at least a week or two. I owe Malcolm that much.”

“Okay,” he said. “I suppose maybe he could use more of a woman’s touch right now.”

Annie repressed a grin. A woman’s touch, indeed.