Owl Dance by David Lee Summers

Author:David Lee Summers [Summers, David Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Steampunk
Publisher: Sky Warrior Book Publishing, LLC
Published: 2014-05-09T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Oil and the Future

Ramon Morales was in something of a daze as he walked hand-in-hand with Fatemeh Karimi to the pay office at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro. His mind was still filled with visions of the wonders they had seen while under the ocean aboard Onofre Cisneros’s submersible, the Legado. After dealing with Randolph Dalton in Socorro and being turned away from a hotel room in San Francisco, Ramon had worried about a grim future. Now he began to see a glimmer of hope and he wondered what else would be in store for his life with the amazing woman whose hand he held.

They arrived at the pay office and Ramon handed the clerk a note written out by Bryan Burke just before they had left the USS Stockton. The clerk went to the safe and brought out a stack of twenty-dollar bills. He counted out two hundred dollars and passed the stack over to Ramon. Fatemeh handed the clerk her pay voucher while Ramon counted the money himself. His brow furrowed. “This can’t be right,” he said.

The clerk looked up and blinked at Ramon. “I’m sorry?”

“Mr. Burke promised me four hundred dollars for this expedition.”

“That’s not what it says here.” The clerk handed the pay slip back to Ramon.

Ramon gritted his teeth as he read the voucher carefully for the first time. He had been in such a daze since riding on the submarine boat that he really hadn’t paid attention when the railroad man wrote out the voucher. Indeed, it was only written for two hundred dollars. “There must be some mistake.” He turned to Fatemeh, who only received fifty dollars.

She shrugged. “I was only promised fifty dollars as an able seaman.”

“And pretty good wages, too, I might add,” said the clerk, who didn’t bat an eye that he’d just paid able seaman’s wages to a woman.

“Hang on,” said Ramon. “I’ll be right back.” He shoved the money in his pocket and stormed out of the pay office. A few minutes later, he was knocking on the door of the shack the railroad man used for an office.

Bryan Burke fumbled at the door for a moment before opening it. “Ah, Mr. Morales. What can I do for you?” One of Burke’s arms was already in a sleeve of his coat, the other side hung loose. He reached around and slipped the coat fully on.

Ramon held up the pay slip. “There must be some mistake. You promised me four hundred dollars if we stopped the pirate raids. I only received two hundred.”

Burke inclined his head and looked down toward his feet. “No mistake, I’m afraid.” He took two steps back toward his desk. “You see, the contract specified that we had to be certain the pirate raids were stopped for good. To my mind that means we would have had to bring Captain Cisneros to trial. Since that didn’t happen and since he still has his ship, we really have no guarantee he won’t raid us again.

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