Chapter 8
The recorder began clacking away at his machine and as no one was speaking Elena assumed he was recording the filing information that stated date time and location. He clattered to a stop and looked up at the Council.
“Please state your name for the record,” Peter said.
“Elena Bastianne Calabrese,” she responded.
“Our records show that you have been absent from the Guild for five years. Is this correct?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“Let the record show the Council has been satisfied that the reasons Elena Calabrese chose to leave the Guild have no bearing upon the current matter. The Council is satisfied with her account.” Peter shot a look at Alex who frowned at Elena, the grooves on either side of his mouth deepening into canyons but he remained silent.
“And during this time did you receive any form of financial support from members of your family still associated with the Guild?”
“No,” Elena replied wondering where this was actually going. All she wanted to do was pass the problems Ian and the military represented and go home. Riko smiled encouragingly at her and her grandfather refused to meet her eyes. It was clear he was here for the Council but would not interfere. She was on her own.
“And did you return to the Guild for reasons of monetary gain or reward?” Peter asked, interrupting her thoughts. She focused solely on him allowing everything else to slip away.
“No,” she replied. Peter nodded.
“Then let the record show that Elena Bastianne Calabrese has stood as an independent two years past the required three and proven she is a Friend to the Guild and has chosen to return without the promise of monetary gain nor under duress. She is therefore under Council law regarded as the head of her own family.” Peter finished and the recorder click clacked the words into council record. Elena swallowed hard.
Essentially she was now only bound by official Council law and allowed to run her own affairs as she saw fit while operating with the Guild instead of being bound to her grandfather’s will. Normally such an honor and responsibility would not be placed on the shoulders until they had much more age on them than she had.
Elena also realized that she had also effectively been brought back into the Guild with one easy step. She fought back a snap of temper at the assumption that she would want to return. After all they had not asked her. However, a sly thought whispered in the back of her mind, there might be some benefits to being a head of house in the eyes of the council.
The only benefit she knew of was that Therese could not hold her choices against her in public or she would risk the direct censor of the Council. Therese would no doubt find some way around it but it would annoy her to no end. No doubt there were other benefits besides discomfiting her cousin and at some point she would have to find out what they actually were.
“On the fifteenth of this month, Elena Calabrese contacted her family’s council member advocate and mentioned that the military had taken an interest in both herself and Ian Jensen, a former Guild member under the House of Barton. Given the relatively public way in which this information was conveyed details were few. The Council would like to hear a fuller account from Ms. Calabrese.” Peter inclined his head towards Elena, indicating she now had the floor.
Elena took a deep breath and related her Sunday morning adventure to the council. She noticed her grandfather’s knuckles go white when she mentioned her street corner abduction and caught the look of surprise on both Riko and Siobhan’s faces when she reached the USS Navigator.
“They passed to me a map showing the stretch of water where the Marta Channel is located although McMillan did point to a location on the map that was at least three leagues off.”
“Had you been in the vicinity of the Marta Channel recently?” Peter asked.
“No,” Elena replied.
“Yet you know he was off in his estimation of the channel’s location?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I am a pilot,” Elena responded with a frown. “I don’t have to actually see the channels to know where they are.” Riko leaned forward and raised an eyebrow at Peter.
“Let the record show, Inoue Riko wishes to raise a question.” The reporter clacked away recording Riko’s name. She didn’t spare him a glance but transferred her gaze from Peter directly to Elena. The weight of those eyes made Elena want to squirm. She tried to resist.
“How far can you stand from a channel and tell its location?”
“I have never had a problem locating them anywhere I have gone on this side of the channels. On the other side, a day’s journey can tell me where each Earth-bound channel rests. I have a harder time with those leading to channels on other worlds but if I have been there once, I can usually tell within two hours before entering the channel where on that world the channel is located and make the necessary adjustments for the ship.”
Riko’s eyebrow once again rose in surprise and she began calling out the names of Earth’s channels; the Marta, the Felecia, The Gerta, the Yolanda, the Mei Ling, each named for the first woman known to pilot a ship through their waters. Elena closed her eyes and pictured her mental map of the Earth’s oceans, each Channel clearly marked in her mind as if etched in fire.
As each name was spoken, Elena called out the latitude and longitude of the channel. As she spoke Siobhan pulled a blackberry from her coat pocket and began scrolling through. Elena opened her eyes. Riko ceased listing channels well before the list was exhausted and turned towards Siobhan. Her fellow council member nodded in confirmation and Elena guessed the blackberry to contain an e-mail or something with the current known locations of the channels on it.
“Can you also tell the current depths in the same manner?” Riko asked.
“Yes,” Elena prepared to list the current figures but Riko waved her to a halt.
“Incredible,” Riko said. Elena frowned.
“Just because I no longer actively pilot doesn’t mean my skills faded completely away.” She said, realizing that her pride had been pricked. She had been a damn good pilot, one of the best if truth were stated. Having her skills dismissed so easily simply because she fell pry to the Calling hurt more than she imagined it would.
“Of course not,” Peter said soothingly. “No one here meant to imply otherwise.”
“My questions are complete.” Riko informed Peter. He nodded and turned back to Elena.
“So you believe the military took a ship through the Marta Channel?” Peter asked. Elena frowned at the question.
“No,” she replied.
“Why not?”
“Even if McMillan was lying about the location in order to trick me, by August 25th the Marta Channel would have been too shallow to allow passage for even a regular channel rider. The USS Navigator sounded substantially larger.”
“So you believe they did not take a ship through as they claimed but were trying to gather information?” Peter continued. Elena thought of the pictures of lost personnel and shook her head.
“I have thought about it and I believe the military did manage to take a ship through. I can only guess at the size but I believe it was large. The only Channel it would have been able to pass through would be the Blood Channel and they would have had to go at least a month earlier than the stated date to still allow passage through. Any time after Mid September and even the Blood Channel would be too shallow to allow entry.”
“The Blood Channel has been closed for over 100 years,” Peter said. “How is it that you know if it?”
“The blockade placed on the other side of the channel to prevent completed passage would stop anyone from using it but it is still a Channel and I can sense it like any of the others.” Peter nodded.
“Ian has not been mentioned yet.” Alex said, his desire to hear how his family fit into the scenario overriding council protocol.
“This is true,” Peter, said, annoyance flashing briefly across his face. “Elena would you please state how and when Ian Jensen became involved.”
“As I was being escorted from the building I saw Ian with others from the military.”
“You are sure it was him?” Alex shot out.
“I called out his name and he turned towards me. He recognized me.”
“Was he being coerced?” he shot the question out.
“I do not know,” she responded.
“Could the others have been guards?”
“Possibly.”
“How did the military react?” Peter asked, cutting off Alex’s rapid-fire questions.
“Smith was escorting me and he stepped between me and Ian and tried to hustle me towards the gate. I had the impression he did not want me to see Ian.”
“Is it possible that he did not want Ian to see you?” Peter asked and Alex turned red with suppressed comments. Elena thought about it, running the scene through her mind.
“It is possible.” She said. Peter looked at his fellow council members.
“I believe the matters of earlier this fall need to be brought up at this time. Are there any objections?” Silence met his question and he nodded, turning back to Elena.
“The council routinely sends ships to check on the barrier at the Blood Channel, to make sure it is still holding and that no one from either side has attempted to tamper with it. Earlier this fall, in September,” he said with a smile, “Debris was found floating by the entrance to the Channel. Evidence suggests that it was much larger than a normal Channel rider and it was believed that someone tired of the weight restrictions enforced by the usual commercial channels. It seems logical to assume that it was the remains of the military ship we found.”
“It is logical,” Elena agreed, “But it doesn’t make much sense.”
“Logic does not make much sense?” Peter asked. The laughter in his voice brought a blush to Elena’s cheeks.
“No pilot would attempt the Blood Channel, even for a deeper drought. Within ten miles of the Channel any pilot would sense the blockade and know that it was impassable. The blockade was meant to be as discrete as a blinking neon arrow in a Bugs Bunny Cartoon.”
“This is true.” Riko said. “It was meant as a glaring warning. A pilot would have to be crazy.” She blinked a few times. “Maybe they have a crazy pilot.”
“If that is so then they have no pilot left as the pilot and crew would have been killed when the ship smashed into the barrier and all on board were sent drifting into space.”
“You are correct then,” Peter said. “In this case logic makes no sense. The only ones who would know the truth of this matter would be the military and Ian. In this case I suggest that Ian be brought in for an accounting. All in favor?” Peter raised the motion and in half a breath it passed with Alex abstaining in the face of the yes votes. “Are there any changes to what was decided earlier?” Silence met his question and he nodded.
“Very well, in the morning I will accompany Elena back to the military base and we will settle this matter.” Elena fought not to roll her eyes. Peter could have just come to her apartment in the first place and saved her a trip. But the council had operated as it had for centuries and was not likely to change now.
“I call this meeting officially to a close. Thank you Ms. Calabrese for your assistance.”
“You are welcome,” she answered as the reporter clattered to a halt, stood up and wheeled his machine out of the council chamber, closing the door behind him.
“I believe brunch is being served in the dining area,” Peter said. The council members stood and Elena was momentarily unsure what to do. “Will you join us Ms. Calbrese?” Peter asked.
“I would be delighted,” she said rising to her feet. Now that she had finished her interrogation, Elena’s butterflies had calmed and her stomach was intent on reminding her she had skipped both dinner and breakfast. Her grandfather smiled at her and for a second the stony mask of the Council member crumbled and she could see the relief written large in every line of his face. He offered her his arm and they followed the rest of the council up the stairs. Elena shook her head. The Council was about to go up against the military. ‘It might be fun to watch,’ she thought to herself. ‘Even if it does get me killed.’
3 comments:
Nice dialogue, good pacing. the USS Kid is in the Missip in downtown Baton Rouge. Might be worth a visit for your future shipboard chapters
"be as discrete as" should read "be as discreet as"
“How is it that you know if it?” .. “How is it that you know of it?”??? Richard
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