The Whiteness of the Whale: A Novel by David Poyer

Author:David Poyer [Poyer, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781250020574
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2013-04-02T07:00:00+00:00

12

Second Encounter

They zigzagged through fog and snow through a long nightless evening. In the morning Perrault called a meeting and rejuggled the berthing. Madsen, Bodine, Tehiyah, and Eddi stayed put, but Hideyashi got his own bunk. To Sara’s surprise, the captain wanted her to move aft. “Take Jamie’s cabin,” he said. “A little more room for your computer, no?”

She moved with some reluctance. Her once-loathed curtained alcove had become a snug home. But Eddi helped and they pitched in with spray bottles and sponges to clean up the mess in the mate’s cabin. More tattered, much-handled porn magazines went into the trash. They turned up their noses and made jokes as they disposed of dozens of beef jerky wrappers and even less-savory remnants of the mate’s bachelor existence. They cleaned so hard Sara actually began to feel warm, and Eddi took off her jacket and worked in her German army tee with the black eagle on the front. But finally the cabin was habitable and when she plugged in her laptop on a fold-down desk and hung her clothes in the louvered teak vertical locker instead of stuffing them into a bag to mildew she felt as if she’d moved into the Trump Towers. “I’ll miss smelling Georgita’s pee,” she told Eddi.

“Yeah, same here.” They both snickered.

“If you want to do laundry, guess I get washing machine privileges now.”

“Yeah, you’ve risen in the world.” The videographer looked up. “Hey. Is it getting calmer?”

“Seems to be pitching less. Maybe we’re behind an iceberg or something.” Sara sat on the bunk and lowered her voice, not sure how much would get through the walls. The captain’s and the master suites were next door. “I was surprised she stayed.”

“I was hoping she wouldn’t. Then at the last minute—bam.” Auer shrugged and the octopus draped across her shoulder writhed. She cocked a biceps and smiled down at an open-mawed green moray as if they shared a secret. “So. Well, what the fuck.”

“Maybe she’s not like we thought. Or at least, not totally.”

“Maybe.” Auer’s lips twitched. She straightened and heaved a sigh. “I got to take the wheel for a while. Can you do it after that?”

Sara said she would, and Eddi left. She looked around the bunk again. Then slowly, slowly, lay down. Eased her eyes shut. And drifted away.

* * *

Back in the bubble she steered for hours through scattered chunks of ice varied by larger bergs that oozed past on the horizon, when there was a horizon the snow and fog didn’t shut down. The knotmeter read between eight and ten, not terrific, but the wind was barely ruffling the waves and there didn’t seem to be any reason to go any faster. All that time the sun glowed remotely, coldly, never quite visible, a mere pretense of illumination. Then Dorée squeezed her ankle and said she’d take a turn. Sara could eat; Madsen had made spaghetti.

“Fresh peppers, Lars?” she said, finding a seat at the salon table.

“From the corvette. Hold your plate up.

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