The Ship by M K Alexander

Author:M K Alexander [Alexander, M K]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: KMACK
Published: 2020-02-28T22:00:00+00:00

***

The three of us returned to the pantry and sat upon several crates. No matter where we perched, the Steward loomed above us. He handed out a few caramel treats and I gladly accepted.

“Any news from above?” I asked between bites.

“Not a word.”

“And no one’s come down?”

“No one but your furtive stowaway, and it’s likely he came from below.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, you two did…”

“And how do you communicate with the Chef?”

“The Chef?” he spat the word. “He’s no more a chef than I’m a helmsman.”

“You two don’t get along then…” Jenny said more than asked.

“You’re right about that, Yeomen Jenkins. Ha, he’s an incompetent, a cook second class. The man doesn’t know a flambé for a soufflé.”

“I’m not sure I’ve seen either of those on the menu.”

“Nor will you ever…” He laughed. “If you must know, it’s because of him, I was recently demoted to Chief Steward.”

“I’d hardly call that a demotion.”

“That’s kind of you to say, Jenny Jenkins. Used to be a time when I was First Chef aboard the Endeavour...” The Steward fell into brooding.

“We were hoping to make it to the next deck up,” I said in the lull.

“Sorry to say, this deck is sealed off from the rest.”

“Why is that?”

“Health and safety reasons, I suppose. Even the lifts don’t stop here— well, they may— but there’d be no doors, no entrances to open.”

“The passenger lifts, you mean?”

“Aye.”

I looked over and could see crates and sacks were indeed piled up against the Central Station, even where the doors would be. “And the service lifts?”

“They’d be working on a regular day, so long as you have the key.” He jingled his chain.

“The key?”

“Aye, they’re locked up most of the time.”

“Why is that?”

“Too great a temptation for the crew to pilfer from the pantry.”

“How are you supplied?”

“Only when we’re docked. There be cargo hatches, port and starboard.” He pointed to the far walls on either side, but I could see no sign of them in the shadows.

“And how do you distribute your provisions?”

“The galley crew comes down to gather whatever they need. It all gets noted in the ledger.”

“What about the Auto-Mail?”

“The what?”

“The Ship’s Carousel.”

“Oh, that… Don’t have occasion to use it much… I suppose some things, small things, are sent through to the upper decks.” He grimaced as if the very idea was painful to him. “Not working now as you can plainly see, but it does on a regular day.”

“No other access?”

“Oh, there’s access to the Galley of course.”

“Where?”

“The dumbwaiters.” He pointed. “There, on the other side of the compost compartment.”

“Is it working?”

“There’s an electric winch of course, but that doesn’t seem to be operating.”

I looked over. Two giant dumbwaiters they were, large enough to load with pallets of cargo, rolling bins, and several passengers.

“You could pull yourself up manually, I suppose.”

“What’s that?”

“Give the strap a good tug and off you go.” The Steward grinned.

“I only see one open door.”

“Aye. Someone’s already gone up.”

“How do you know?”

“The other door’s closed.”

“Who was it? One of your

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.