Chapter Six: Operation High Tail — Part 8
Jynx has heard this before, from Daria, from Joe, jealous hints at it from George, and a subtle respect of mention by Jude, and despite this, Jynx doesn’t understand it. “I didn’t step up and take charge, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“There is almost always one voice that rings strongest, even in a democratic household.” Kia says. “I’m trusting yours is that voice, the one that sees and hears and makes decisions when nobody else is able to. I can’t help but notice that Blake and Heath are wearing the same rings on the left hand. Are they married, then?”
“I reckon they are married, after a fashion.” Jynx says.
“I was worried that he might be taking advantage, given her age.” Kia’s no nonsense method of communication would be unnerving to anybody but Jynx, who could tell by Kia’s tone that the woman is working on a way to hurt Blake.
Jynx snorts unexpectedly, disliking the sound, but unable to stop it from happening. “We’ll ignore the fact that Blake’s got a constant hard-on for Captain Joe, Blake is simply acting as her guardian until a suitable match is found, and the girl is of age. It seemed perfectly logical to nobody but Heath that Blake marry her, but he dotes on that girl.”
“So, no consummation?” Kia asks.
“Consummation?” Jynx counters with a confused stare.
“Copulation, fornication, fucking! He isn’t using her for sex is he?”
“You really know your synonyms for bump and grind.” If Jynx could pull off enough emotion in her tone, she might sound teasing. “Heath is like a daughter to Blake, a daughter whose first father was a very bad man. He loves her, and would never do anything so crass. My biggest concern is more about what’s going to happen when she does set her sites on a man. Blake’s got his father genes totally tuned into overdrive where Heath is concerned.”
“Damn it all.” Kia sounds disappointed.
“What?” Jynx finds that she simply has to know.
“Every time I think I have a chance at castrating that man, somebody up and redeems him.”
Jynx laughs. “I like you.” She says, surprising herself.
“Thank you, very much. I like you too.” Kia gets up, smiling. “I have to get back to the whole sorry lot of them. Terrible as it sounds, they keep getting healthier every day.”
Jynx knows it will be weeks before any of the crew are healthy enough to get back to sailing the Edgewind, despite Kia’s vote of confidence in their rate of recovery. In truth, it isn’t about time being lost: The discovery of high-speed (relatively speaking) travel through the arch has shortened their circuit considerably, so they can take time at the ports that matter, take time to heal, hang out with old friends, and generally try to gain solid relationships where they matter. George and Jude stumble in with plates full of fried eggs and bacon at about the time Jynx is waking up enough to have an actual conversation. George, as always, is thinking about the course, talking about it with Jude.
“My argument isn’t lazy, I’m just saying that we now know that the arches crisscross each other in places, and that there are obviously central hubs from which travel can be integrated. I think that next year, we need to shift our course to work this larger hub clusters.” George sounds like he’s adamant about something that might otherwise prove false.
“And my argument is, that, like always, you’re moving on hunches and jumping to conclusions that could land us in a constant state of backtracking, and given Tokyo and the Glen, we really can’t afford to have one way out. No matter how safe you think it is, only an idiot would drop in on them, in the center of town, and have only one way out.” Jude says. “Who knows if the Major has built his own ship, for one, and on a second count, if he hasn’t, then there’s no telling what he’ll do to try to get his hands on ours.”
George considers, wanting to defend his position. Quick Fox Glen is one of the strangest places still up and moving after the Storm, because the survivors are all ex-government employees, rallied around a former military officer, and at the center of their city is an arch that is probably the most stable arch in the region. Because of its stability, and their findings on the behavior of the arch cluster in Alaska, George is certain it springs from a more distant cluster. Jynx gathers as much information as she can while the two bicker back and forth.
“We know they were hurting when we left them, and I don’t think they’ll be in a position to hurt us even if we do drop in.” George says.
“They tried to put us in prison and work us for cheap labor, George.” Jude says quietly. “I was reticent about putting them on the list to begin with, but Captain Joe felt it necessary to keep them in the loop.”
“Given the current strained relations with Tokyo — ” George begins, but is cut off by Jude, whose hand slams down quickly, making an obvious chopping motion, encouraging immediate silence.
“We do not need the Major to act as military adviser in negotiations with a bunch of scared college students!” Jude yells, and then starts calmly eating his eggs and bacon.
“Major Dominic will not act as an adviser in any interests of this family or crew.” Jynx says quietly to George. “He is a cruel, self serving creature who tried to beat one of mine into submission. That you would choose to forget this fact tells me that you have a blind spot for the residents of your old hometown. We are not going there because Major Dominic is a person in his right mind. We are going to the Glen because they are exchanging working computer technology and aeronautical engineering manuals for medical supplies, so we can further trade for goods with the survivors at the University of Wichita. If there is even a hint of a deception in the behavior of the Major or yourself, I will take the matter personally. Do you think this will become a personal matter, George?”
