Apocalyptic pirates 4, p.12
Apocalyptic Pirates 4, page 12
Would she soon be forced to put away her science books and pour all her energy into simply trying to survive? Would her natural curiosity and warm heart be enough to keep her safe?
I thought of my daughter’s huge blue eyes, of her soft hair, of her sweet, sparkling smile that showed the enormous heart and mind that were always ticking away behind her innocent face.
I might not be able to predict the events of the next few hours or days with any certainty, but if there was one thing I knew for damn certain, it was that Sammy had too much spirit to go down without a fight. I would be there to help her and protect her, and so would my parents, and so would every woman on this yacht.
I couldn’t wait for my daughter to meet all of the incredible women I’d found on this journey. My mind turned to the stories that they’d all told of sleepovers as kids, and I wondered if I could ask them to do something similar for Sam when we reached Hawaii. Unless she thought she was too old for sleepovers. She would certainly insist that she was too old to do them with me, that was for sure.
But I couldn’t stop the soft smile spreading over my face as I pictured all of them together. Letty could bake cookies and make hot chocolate. Ally would know the best face masks to buy. Shannon would definitely have some fun activities in mind, and I knew Dia would be a natural with the nail polish. And if things ever lagged, maybe I would let Dia show Sam how to hotwire a car.
Life skills, and all that.
Hope for the future kept me warm all the way through my watch. I stayed on deck for three hours, and in all that time there were still no more updates about the government broadcast.
Just before it was time for me to wake Shannon for her watch, I set up an alert on my phone so it would give me a notification if there were any more updates on the story.
Then I went below into the lounge and quietly shook Shannon awake. As she yawned and climbed up the ladder onto the deck, I laid down in the warm nest of blankets and cushions that she’d left behind and closed my eyes as sleep instantly took hold of me.
I woke with the sun on my face and the sounds of Letty moving quietly around the kitchen.
I yawned, stretched, and then sniffed the air as the delicious scent of freshly brewed coffee hit my nostrils.
“Something smells good,” I called.
“Oh, you’re awake!” Letty came over to the bed and put her hands on her hips as she smiled down at me.
I smiled back and beckoned her down to me for a morning kiss.
“Mm,” I sighed. “Why do you taste so good? Does morning breath just not exist for you?”
“I’ve been up a little while,” Letty giggled. “There’s fresh coffee and hot buttered toast for everyone.”
“Morning, Drew!” Ray climbed down the ladder from the deck with Valerie right behind him.
“It’s a glorious morning,” Valerie smiled. “We spotted a pod of dolphins a little while ago.”
“Wait, is everyone up early except me?” I pushed back the blankets and sat up.
“Nnnn,” came a moan from a lump further down the makeshift bed, and then Dia’s wild curls popped out from underneath the blankets. “What time is it?”
“It’s just after eight,” Letty sang out.
“Oh, my god,” Dia grumbled. “That’s practically the middle of the night.”
Ray and Valerie chuckled as they took their seats at the table.
“Always the way with the young ones,” Valerie said fondly.
“How come you’re up so early?” I asked them as I poured cups of coffee for everyone.
“Oh, we’re always up with the sun,” Ray explained. “We don’t need much sleep these days.”
“Besides, when you get older, you realize there are more exciting things going on out of the bed than in it,” Valerie added.
“Well, I don’t know about that,” Ray drawled, and he slipped his arm around Valerie’s shoulders.
Valerie threw him a saucy look even as her cheeks flushed pale pink.
“Now, Raymond,” she declared. “Not at the breakfast table, and not in front of the young ones.”
“What?” Ray laughed. “They might like knowing that life doesn’t end after fifty.”
Dia emerged from her cocoon of bedsheets and sat down at the table with her eyes still half-closed.
“Coffee,” she mumbled. “I need it in an IV, stat.”
“Here you go,” I said with a chuckle and pushed a steaming mug over to her. “Do you want any milk or–”
Dia raised the mug to her lips and chugged down the whole thing before I’d even finished my sentence.
“Whoa,” I said.
“Puts hair on your chest,” Dia croaked.
This was so ridiculous that I couldn’t help snorting with laughter.
“Who’s got hair on their chest?” Shannon inquired.
She and Ally jumped down the ladder from the deck, and came to take their places at the table.
“Dia, apparently,” I informed them.
“Oh, we already knew that,” Shannon deadpanned, and she laughed when Dia swatted her lightly on the arm.
Letty placed a dish piled high with slices of fresh hot toast on the table, and we all snatched as many slices as we could manage.
Maybe it was being out on the water, maybe it was the thrill of having recently survived such a dramatic dragon encounter, or maybe it was just enjoying good, simple food with some of my favorite people, but everything on that table tasted like it was being served in a Michelin-star restaurant.
I waited until everyone had finished eating and we were on our second and third cups of coffee before I pulled out my phone.
“I got a YouTube notification last night,” I began. “The government is planning an emergency broadcast.”
There was an immediate commotion as everyone started talking at once.
“Jeez,” I protested and held up my hands. “Let me explain, alright?”
“How come you didn’t tell us about this before?” Ally wrinkled her brow.
“I got the notification while I was on watch last night,” I explained. “It doesn’t say when the broadcast is going to happen, so if I’d woken you then, it would have been for nothing.”
“Best to let us sleep.” Valerie nodded. “Better that than lying awake worrying about what this could mean.”
“Exactly.” I tapped the table for emphasis. “Also, the alert literally just says that the broadcast is happening, but there are no more details about it than that. Here, I’ll show you.”
I held up my phone so they could all see the video notification.
ATTENTION. EMERGENCY GOVERNMENT BROADCAST SOON TO COMMENCE.
“That doesn’t sound ominous at all,” Letty said with a shiver.
“And there’s no more information about it online?” Shannon pushed.
“None that I can find,” I replied. “I looked on news websites, other YouTube videos, forums, all over. Of course the connection is patchy as hell, but even so, that seems to be all of the information about it that’s out there. I’ve put an alert for the story on my phone, but I reckon when they want us to know more about it, they’ll make sure that we know.”
“I wonder what it’s all about,” Ally mused.
“Dragons, I’d imagine,” Valerie snorted, and I sent her a grin.
“Nothin’ good,” Letty muttered.
“Maybe they’ll finally say about what they’re doing with all the military forces they’re not using.” Dia leaned forward on her elbows to stare at the phone as though there were more secrets that she could worm out of it with her eyeballs.
“None of you all seem very positive about this,” Ray commented. “What if it’s good news?”
We all hesitated.
“Uh, well, Ray.” I felt a bit awkward. “From what we’ve seen, it doesn’t look like the government has been handling this situation very well. Not in the U.S. at least.”
“It’s a dragon apocalypse, son,” the old man pointed out. “Not sure many folk could have seen this one coming.”
“True.” I didn’t want to be rude to the guy, but at the same time I couldn’t deny the facts of what we’d seen and experienced. “You and Valerie don’t have smartphones, do you?”
“No.” Valerie shook her head. “We ain’t so particular about keeping up with technology.”
“Well, we’ve been able to watch the news a few times, so we’ve been able to get a better picture of things.” I pulled up YouTube on my phone to see if there were any recent news streams that I could use to illustrate my point.
My feed was full of videos from every news outlet speculating on what the alert about the broadcast could mean, and I clicked on the most recent one.
“Here,” I said and pushed the phone into the center of the table so that we could all watch the video.
The news anchor was a dark-skinned woman with a smooth black ponytail that was so neat, it looked like it had been painted on her scalp.
“Good morning,” she said gravely. “I’m Moira Matthews.”
“Modern technology,” Ray murmured in wonder.
“Shhh,” Valerie cautioned him, and she leaned in close to be able to hear everything better.
“A few hours ago, the U.S. government announced a surprise emergency broadcast,” Moira Matthews said. “There has been no more information beyond this fact, and speculation is rife over what this could possibly mean. Many have theorized that this will be the government’s response to criticism over its handling of the aftermath of the meteor storm that recently swept the nation.”
“See, it’s not just us criticizing them,” Letty muttered.
“News of the dragons breeding has recently made headlines,” the news anchor continued. “As has the government’s continued failure to act in the wake of this news. This worrying announcement follows the shocking reveal that at least one of the United States Coast Guard ships has apparently been working with a violent cartel that has taken over the Caribbean Sea. Footage was uploaded to YouTube by the account known as ‘TheGoodPirates’ and shows the horrifying moment captured on camera. Stan, roll the clip.”
“Here it comes,” Ally said in glee.
After a brief pause, the clip taken from our YouTube video showed on screen. I watched with a small smile as the familiar events played out in front of me.
A man stepped out onto the deck of the Coast Guard ship. Another man came to the edge of the cartel boat. Then they leaned across the distance between their two vessels and shook hands.
I must have watched this clip about fifty times by now, and I’d actually seen it happen with my own eyes, but it still gave me chills whenever I saw it.
The video cut back to the news anchor.
“Authorities have confirmed that this was indeed a Coast Guard vessel,” she intoned. “We have also had confirmation that the second boat has been involved in criminal activity in the Caribbean Sea, and it is thought that the symbol shown on the boat’s side is that of a new and violent cartel that has been formed to control this area of water. Despite this damning evidence, the Coast Guard has remained silent in the face of accusations of corruption, and although government representatives have been repeatedly approached for comment, we have yet to receive any conclusive answer from the White House.”
“That never gets old.” Shannon grinned. “Those Coast Guard guys must be shitting themselves every time the news comes on.”
“Wait a moment.” Ray was staring at the phone with wide eyes. “What did they say?”
“The Coast Guard?” Valerie demanded. “Did they say that the Coast Guard was working with criminals?”
“Yep.” Dia nodded.
“I’m sorry we didn’t think to tell you about this earlier,” Ally confessed. “I guess we just assumed you knew. I didn’t think about how you might not have smartphones.”
“We got a few news stories on our radio,” Valerie murmured. “But they don’t talk much about foreign news, so we didn’t hear anything about this.”
“It’s a pretty recent story,” Shannon acknowledged.
“That’s why we’re more pessimistic about the government broadcast,” I explained. “There has been no official response to the news about the Coast Guard, and they still haven’t said anything about any kind of action they’re taking against the dragons.”
“And for weeks the Coast Guard’s actions were just concerning,” Shannon added. “They were seizing boats and beating up civilians. It was really scary, and no one seemed to be doing anything about it.”
“I don’t want to believe it.” Ray shook his head slowly.
“What did the news say about pirates?” Valerie asked with her brow furrowed.
“Oh, that’s us,” Ally said with a proud note in her voice. “We’re The Good Pirates. Drew’s been filming the important things we’ve discovered and posting them online on our YouTube channel. That film that the news just showed, that was a video that Drew took.”
“You mean, you saw that happen right in front of you?” Valerie gasped.
“Yeah.” I nodded.
“Aren’t you worried that the cartel might come after you for posting it?” she persisted. “Hell, if the government has something to hide, they might come after you, too.”
“I’ve thought about it.” I lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “But we all talked about it, and we decided that it was more important that people knew the truth about what was going on. We’ve had so many comments from people who had no idea of the scale of what had happened until they saw our videos.”
“That’s mighty impressive, son.” Ray looked down at his old, weathered hands and sighed. “I wish I was more surprised that the folks in power don’t have their people’s best interests at heart. But I guess I’ve lived too long to be shocked about that.”
He looked so sorrowful that I wished I could comfort him, but I knew he wouldn’t appreciate any empty words I could give him. The most I could offer was a distraction.
I stood up from the table.
“Well,” I said. “I’m sure there’s plenty of wonderful and exciting chores we should all be getting on with now.”
“Ugh,” Dia groaned. “I need another cup of coffee.”
“Do you feel up to giving the engine a once-over?” I asked her as I refilled her cup. “I want to make sure the yacht’s still in good shape after the pummeling she got from that dragon.”
“Sure thing, jefe.” Dia downed half her mug and stood up.
“How’s your arm?” I pressed.
“Oh, fine,” she assured me. “I could turn cartwheels if you asked.”
“No cartwheels,” I told her in a very firm voice. “Just taking a look at the engine will be fine.”
“God, you’re such a spoilsport,” Dia grumbled.
“I’ll go with you,” Ally told her. “You might need an extra pair of hands to help you out while your arm is still healing.”
“I’m fine,” Dia insisted with a roll of her eyes.
“I’m sure you are,” Ally said, and the patient mom tone was back in her voice. “But it doesn’t hurt to be safe. And besides, after we’re done with the engine, I’d like to check the controls in the cockpit, too. I’m sure they’re all fine, since the yacht’s running as smooth as ever, but again, it doesn’t hurt to be safe after those little dragons crawled all over the place.”
“Alright,” Dia sighed.
“Be thankful you’ve got such good people looking out for you,” Valerie told her in a gentle voice. “That’s a rare thing in this world.”
“I know, really.” Dia’s cheeks flushed a little, and she looked down into her mug of coffee. “I appreciate it. I appreciate all of you guys.”
“Aww,” Shannon teased her. “Look at our little Dia blush.”
“I appreciate all of you except Shannon,” Dia retorted.
She downed the rest of her coffee and put the mug back on the table with a defiant clack.
“Come on, Ally,” she announced. “Let’s go and fix some shit.”
Shannon chuckled quietly to herself as the redhead and the Latina left the lounge.
“She’s crazy,” she said in a fond voice. “But she’s the best kind of crazy.”
“That’s for sure,” I agreed with a smile.
“I’m assuming I’m on weapons maintenance?” the Indian woman queried. “I can give your knife a cleaning, too, if you like, Ray?”
“Why, thank you, Shannon,” the old man responded. “I’d prefer to take care of it myself, but if you have a rag and some spare mineral oil, I’d be mighty grateful.”
“I’m not sure about the oil we have off the top of my head,” Shannon replied. “But I’m sure we’ll have something suitable in some of the storage lockers.”
“I’m going to make more biscuits,” Letty announced. “Maybe some bread too, and I want to make a starter of some kind.”
“A starter of what?” I asked in puzzlement.
“Sourdough bread,” Letty said with a smile. “If you mix flour and water, it creates a culture that you can use to make sourdough, and it’ll last for years. My aunty has a starter that her grandmama began over a hundred years ago.”
“And you can still eat from it?” I raised my eyebrows in disbelief.
“Sure can!” Letty nodded.
“Some of the best sourdough I’ve ever had was made in the Appalachian Mountains,” Valerie remembered. “There was a family there that had been baking bread with the same culture since their great-great-great-great-grandmother had come over to America from Holland.”
“Wow.” I shook my head. “I had no idea. So you mean if you made one of these starters now, I could give it to Sammy, and her great-grandkids could still be making bread a hundred years from now with the same stuff?”
“That’s it.” Letty nodded with a smile. “Some sourdough starters get real famous because of how old they are or because of who made ’em. Maybe our culture will become famous. The Good Pirates Bread, brewed on the high seas in the heart of the apocalypse.”
“I like the sound of that,” I said with a chuckle. “It certainly knocks Wonder Bread out of the park.”
