To Ocean's End (44 page)

“It made world news. Everyone has. Monsters razed the town and a tsunami wiped it away, and two great mythical beasts battled on the horizon.” He set a few newspaper clippings in front of me on the counter. All of them were pictures of the devastation left in the wake of everything that happened. My ship was in a couple of the shots. Oh, boy.

“That was not a fun day.”

“But you survived to tell the tale. I’ll hold your burger until you start talking if I have to,” he said with a smile.

“Fine.” I recanted the day in maybe a minute, leaving out everything curse-related. Milud was fascinated by it all, but looked like he didn’t know what to believe by the end of my telling. That was fine with me. He soon set my meal on the counter so it looked like my burger was smiling back at me.

“Now let’s see if you can make it through this meal without interruptions.” He put his fists on his hips.

I inhaled the lovely bouquet of scents. “Despite the Newport stuff, I believe my luck has changed. I think I finally will.” I picked up the carefully-assembled meal of juicy goodness and admired the layers of meat, cheese, vegetables, and condiments looking so fresh and tasty. “But if I get interrupted, I just might cry.”

“I’ll find you some tissues if it happens.”

I took my first bite and savored every last morsel going down. If my luck proved to have changed for real, I might start having Mido make me cheeseburgers for dinner every night, until I got sick of them--if such a thing was possible. I opened my mouth for the next bite of heaven...

“Why if it isn’t Captain Dyne Lavere,” a sensual female voice said.

... and stopped with my mouth still open. A woman with lovely red curls appeared beside me, her breasts ready to fall out of her dress. “Delilah!”

“Hello, Captain.”

“Have the day off?” As far as interruptions went, this wasn’t bad so far. I took another bite while keeping my gaze on Delilah.

“Not a chance, which is why I came looking for you. That handsome bronze man in your crew showed up, which meant you had to be nearby. I’ve been looking forward to seeing you again. The bronze one is great with us, but not as great as you.”

“Need me to teach him a few things?”

She stepped inside my personal space, her mesmerizing breasts, brushing against my shoulder. “I have something better in mind.” She ran a hand through my hair, then stood behind me and took the burger from my grip. She pushed her breasts agains the back of my head, which she tilted back, then brought the burger to my mouth and let me take a bite. Somehow the best meal on earth suddenly tasted even better.

“Milud...”

He held out a to-go bag with my steak fries already in it. He gave me a friendly wink. “Bring the mug back when you’re done. I trust you.”

I stuck my burger on top of the fries, then carried my beer and meal in one hand, and escorted Delilah to our favorite hotel with my free arm. Burger, beer, and boobs. Great combination. Best interruption of my life.

*     *     *

One the morning of the second and final day of my vacation with Delilah, we lay together in bed, just enjoying each other’s warmth and company. Being with her had distracted my thinking mode, but this morning I was deep in thought.

“What’s on your mind, Captain?”

“Lots of things,” I said offhandedly. I couldn’t go into detail with her. The truth behind my longevity and everything that went with it would hopefully die with me and my current crew.

“Like...?”

“Any new rumors about me and this curse thing?”

“Actually there is.” She started stroking my bare chest. “Now we both know you were in Newport, Rhode Island that day. Some say you were the one who called forth the sea monsters and the tidal wave. Others say you transformed into a mythical monster and dueled another, then you spirited some locals to your ship so there’d be survivors to tell the tale.” She paused in her stroking and looked me in the eyes. “I’ve seen the pictures and I see your scars. This is a very strange tale.”

“It was a very strange and rough day.”

“What? Not gonna tell me what really happened?”

“I don’t think you’d believe me if I told you the truth.”

“Well what is the truth?” She settled her head back on my shoulder and resumed stroking my chest, tracing one of my many scars now and then.

“Besides what you can see in those pictures and glean from all my lovely scars, the truth is I can’t turn into some giant monster and summon tidal waves, but I think you already knew that. We’ve covered what my curse really is.” Her gentle, skilled hands were turning me back on.

“Yes we have.” She reached under the sheets and I went hard. She began stroking me anew, then paused. “What’s wrong? You still look so serious.”

I took her in my arms and rolled on top of her, but didn’t enter her. Instead I cradled her in my arms and ran my fingers through her amazing hair. “Do you ever fall in love with any of your clients?”

She raised an eyebrow. “I have favorites like you, but do you really want to hear about all the other men I sleep with?”

“Probably not. Have you ever wanted to settle with any of them?”

She wrapped her legs around me and began massaging my neck and shoulders. “You poor thing. You’re not trying to get me to marry you, are you?”

“No.” The thought had rolled around in my mind, but it didn’t feel right to settle with anyone anymore, not after hunting down Rhode lookalikes for over two hundred years.

She laughed, running her fingers over my graying sideburns. “How old are you?”

“Probably ten times your age,” I said offhandedly. “What if I told you there really was truth to some of the curse rumors, but only now I’m no longer cursed?”

“I’d say you’ve been listening to the stories so much that you’re starting to believe them.” She grabbed both my glutes and squeezed as she pulled my body to hers and started kissing me. My body responded but for once my heart wasn’t in it. Bearing my sexual reputation in mind, I forced myself to get back into it, pretending I hadn’t asked her to settle with me. Making Delilah happy was more important than my own unobtainable wants at the moment.

*     *     *

Sauna netted us a huge shipment to Newport the day we left. Ports all over the world were sending in supplies to help the recovery. Sauna asked me if I was okay with returning home so soon. I didn’t mind at all. Anything to help repair the damage my stupidity had caused.

We pushed off with the huge payday in the evening, and with the thoughts of Rhode weighing heavily on my mind. Mido and Jessie whipped us up a hearty steak dinner with mashed potatoes and steamed veggies, and some fantastic butter rolls with a honey glaze. I ate slowly while most of the crew devoured theirs. Jessie and Mido ate with us on the stools positioned at the edge of the table, and O’Toole hovered near me, totally quiet and eating his mashed potatoes with a finger. Jacobi exchanged pockets of small talk with Jessie. Both of them were comically awkward, but he clearly respected her now, and she clearly didn’t know what to do with his new behavior.

The crew laughed, talked, and teased each other. It was a perfectly normal dinner with the crew going on as normal, as if all the crap my curse had put them through was nothing. It was a wonderful sight. I quietly listened to their stories and banter, and joined in when it was prudent, including a need to come to my defense that my scars hadn’t scared away the ladies. In fact, she’d been intrigued by them.

In all, I couldn’t have asked for a better last meal with them as their captain.

The crew sat and talked long after the meal was gone. Jessie and Mido washed dishes and served us all some coffee and chocolate chip cookies made from scratch. Once everyone had their fill and the techies headed to the engine room, the cargo pushers headed to their cabins to wind down and get some rest. I gave Rammus a meaningful glance, then headed to the wheelhouse.

The stars shined away overhead, with the waxing moon making the ocean sparkle like there were millions of sprites dancing on the rolling surface. The wind was light and the atmosphere peaceful. I slid a few windows open and left the door wide, then check my compass and our course. We were still on track.

Rammus’s heavy footsteps slowly clunked up the stairs, then he appeared in the doorway and stopped, his gaze serious. I gestured for him to take a seat in the chair. He wordlessly obeyed. I leaned against a window frame and stuck my hands in my coat pockets.

“I think I know why you called me up here, Captain.”

“Are you ready for me to step down?”

“Are you?”

“I’ve lived on the sea since I was fifteen,” I said calmly. I was more than happy to step down and let Rammus take over. I felt at peace with myself and the world. It was the right thing to hand the crew over now. “I became a skipper at age twenty five, bought my first boat at age thirty, and lost my first crew at age forty five, along with got cursed. Since then, I’ve watched the world fall and rise, dozens of people I’ve cared about die, helped keep cargo shipping alive and well enough, and provided so many people with lifelong careers under me. I’ve been around for almost two hundred and seventy eight years. I’m ready to retire.”

“What will you do?”

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t think retirement suits you, Captain.”

“Neither does remaining skipper.”

“That doesn’t leave you with much else.”

I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “Don’t worry. I’m not abandoning you and the rest of the crew. I’ll figure something out.”

Rammus looked at his lap and swallowed.

“I’ve been around a long time,” I said quietly. “A really long time. If anything, I’ll stick around and just relax and enjoy life. It’s something I’ve forgotten to do all these years.” After Delilah, I felt like I didn’t have it in me to give love any more tries. I’d loved many women over the centuries and that was enough. It wasn’t perfect but it was enough.

He nodded. “When do you want me to take over?”

“Right now, actually.”

“If you’re dead set on it, then consider it done, Ca--uh, sir. Or Dyne.”

“Alan. My name is Alan. Alan Lavere. I’ve changed my name a few times over the centuries to avoid questions about my longevity. You can call me Alan or Dyne. It doesn’t matter.”

“I’ll stick with Dyne. It’s what I’m a little more used to.”

“Fair enough.” I had no preference. I’d forgotten my given name for so long. Watching my home get rebuilt had stirred up the memory banks. I looked around the wheelhouse. “Let’s announce your promotion to the crew so I can get started on the paperwork and get everything put in your name.”

He slid off the chair. “Sure thing, Ca--darn it. This is going to take some getting used to.”

“I apologize in advance for every time I still respond to ‘Captain.’” I said lightly.

*     *     *

The crew took the announcement well. It was bittersweet. They were all happy for Rammus, yet sad to see me step down. I watched Sauna’s reaction carefully. He listened with a serious gaze, his eyes full of sadness at first, but then he began to watch Rammus as he had me. Rammus was in the seat of power now. Sauna would gravitate towards that. Sam looked sad as well, since he was the only one who knew about my selfish wants that were no longer there. I took him aside after the announcement and put his worries to rest. However, I did admit to feeling ready to go, yet was prepared to live out however many more years I had left in me to the fullest, if I had to.

The next night the crew threw a retirement party, complete with cake and cheeseburgers. The crew got me good right after my first bite of the best meal on earth. Scully, who was manning the wheelhouse, called everyone to arms for a pirate sighting. I cursed up a storm as I led the crew’s mad dash onto deck, only to find a bunch of boxes laid out on the bow and no pirates in sight. Scully set off all the fireworks and Mido handed me my cheeseburger. I savored every bite as I enjoyed all the pretty explosions.

Once the last explosive was spent, Jessie and Mido brought up the cake that was decorated to both celebrate my retirement and Rammus’s promotion. He and I cut each other slices from opposite corners and exchanged the slices. Then, right as I put two and two together as Ed and Ted stood behind us, they reached for our paper plates and mashed the slices in our faces. Once our initial shock subsided, it became a two captains versus one crew food fight. Handfuls of cake filled the air like confetti, and Sam took pictures of everyone once we all ran out of ammo.

I thoroughly enjoyed my retirement party.

*     *     *

Newport more or less came and went. We dropped off the huge shipment with the help of the military, had nothing to pick up and no place to stay, except my half-built house, so we pushed off the same day, chartered for Port Chesapeake. My house-in-progress had gained its familiar box shape, the outlines of windows, and a central flight of stairs and such. It was heartening to see. It left me feeling happy, able to let go of all that’d happened. It was time to move on.

I’d thought of settling there but I knew I couldn’t do it once I saw the place. The sea was my home. Had been ever since I’d left the house. But even with knowing I couldn’t settle there, I felt like my stay on the
Pertinacious
was steadily reaching its conclusion. Wasn’t sure how to explain it; just knew both house and ship weren’t my retirement homes. Knew it in my gut. As far as what I should do, I wasn’t sure. I’d developed a habit of spending time after dinner staring out over the stern, watching the sea, as if staring long enough would give me my answer.