A Fine Cast of Characters - J. Dane Tyler [16]
Of course, as incompetent as this crew is, I wonder if they had the brains to file the manifest thing right. I don’t want to spend too much time thinking about that. If they didn’t, then I guess we’re boned, because if nobody knows we’re missing…
Kelly shut the journal with a somber touch, trying to push the last thought from her mind. She felt skittish, nervous, and edgy. Something about the fog, impenetrable and endless, bothered her but she couldn’t figure out what. She sat at the galley table wringing her hands in her lap, hunched over the faux wood surface, staring out at the boundless white-gray void beyond the cabin door.
In the corner, Sam and Edward bickered in hushed, muted tones. Every once in a while, Sam’s voice would rise above a whisper in her vehemence, and Edward would grovel and suck up and she’d ease back. Kelly felt confident when the trip was over they would be too.
Charles slogged beer after beer down his gullet until he fell asleep, and now snored and drooled in a chair behind Kelly. She didn’t turn around to see him; she didn’t want to know.
Kelly mounted the ladder to the main bridge, and noticed the two crewmen hunched over something to the left of the wheel. She came all the way up, not trying to be sneaky but still unnoticed, and took a couple of halting steps forward.
“I know, Willy, but hell! We can’t just sit here! There’s nothing wrong with the engine, can’t fix the radio, and none of the other ‘lectronics are workin’ either? What the hell’s going …” Flanagan caught sight of Kelly from the corner of his eye. “Oh shit,” he muttered, but she still heard it.
Jurgen whipped his head around, and his eyes bulged for a split second before he plastered his used-car-salesman, yellow-toothed grin on again. “Need somethin’, Kelly?” He tried to sound suave, but only sounded smarmy and slimy.
“The truth about what’s going on here would be a good start,” she said. She didn’t want to seem rude, but fear was edging her manners aside as time slipped by. “We’ve been listening to you guys cuss and bang around for a couple hours and you haven’t told us squat. We’re a little concerned, y’know? What’s happening?”
“Nothing, everything’s just fine,” Flanagan said. “Like I told you, it might be a while ‘fore we get it all figgered out and—”
“Look, I don’t want to be bitchy here, but you guys haven’t shown any expertise in anything since this whole trip started.” She kept her voice low, but shot her words through gritted teeth. “You’ve lied about knowing where and how to fish, and that’s fine, no big deal, you get your money whether we catch anything or not and right now, no one cares. But dammit, we have a right to know if we’re in trouble here, and the two of you don’t seem to have a clue between you what the hell’s going on!” She blushed, folded her arms across her chest, and caught her breath. “I’m … I’m sorry, I don’t mean to … be nasty. But …”
“No,” Flanagan sighed, “no. It’s okay. I understand. We … well, we’re all under some pressure here.”
Jurgen dropped his gaze and contemplated his worn shoes with intense interest.
“See,” Flanagan said, “I was sure the storm flooded the engine with all that hard rain. Then I found out it did something to the radio too, but I don’t know what. Now we found out it’s everything. GPS, fish finder, impeller, radio … hell, even the stereo’s not working. All the ‘lectronics are out for some reason. Battery’s okay, we tested that, but nothing’s working.” Exasperation leaked into his tone.
“Same deal with the motor? You don’t know what’s wrong there either, do you?” Kelly’s face softened, fear