Storm Chaser: Chapter 6

Sorry for the delay, work took over something fierce. But with luck things will settle down for a little bit. v

Chapter 6

“Are you sure this came from my galley?” Elena asked. Benjamin laughed.

“Are you going to ask that every meal?” he responded. Elena shook her head.

“I still think you smuggled food on in your bag,” Benjamin’s only reply was a wide grin. Elliot began clearing the table.

“I have to agree with the captain,” Elliot said. “I’ve never eaten like this ship board.”

“Where’d you learn to cook like that anyway?” Elena asked.

“I spent some time working with a crazy chef named Consuelo McCracken,” he admitted leaning back in his chair. “She was crazy but she sure could cook. Since I liked the food, I paid attention. I can only do the simpler things though.”

“Consuelo McCracken of Grazos?” Elena asked.

“That would be the one. Except she left Grazos last I heard.”

“True,” Elena said. About two months back. I’ve got a meeting with her this trip earthside.”

“Really,” Benjamin said. A thoughtful look darted across his face before being replaced by the easy grin. During the trip Elena had come to realize the grin was the mask he hid behind. She thought of it as his wizard face. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

“Is she really that crazy?”

“Not really, Just don’t interrupt her when she is cooking and you’ll be fine.”

“Good to know.” Elena stood and walked to the door of the galley. “And sorry to say soon the Storm Chaser will have to be without your cooking. We should hit the channel in an hour or so, then its just a short jaunt to port. Let me know if you want to give up the travel gig and become a full time cook.” Benjamin laughed, the sound following her out the door and into the pilot house.

Elena checked the course heading, and then looked out into the black of space. Inside her head she mentally flipped the switch that turned on the ability to see the channels. She smiled as the outline of the channel mouth. It always amazed her that so few people could see it. Even the men on board would see nothing different about the section of space. Elena adjusted the ship’s course. To her the channel was a ribbon of early dawn colored sky between two pillars of black. She knew the depth like she knew her own name.

As the ship approached the channel, Elena began turning instruments off. Any electronic equipment that was on during the trip through the channel could potentially fry it’s circuits. When she was through only one red light blinked at her. That one showed that the tracery built into the ships hull to keep the bubble of oxygen surrounding the ship was still active.

“Channel entry in five,” She called. As was protocol Freddie and Elliot moved away from the railings and towards the center. Benjamin was still in the galley. The move was one of the safety precautions always taken. There was always a slight bump when entering the channels and those near the railing might get knocked overboard. In addition, should the oxygen fail, a back up system was located inside the main cabin and pilot house.

The Storm Chaser eased into the channel. The sky bled to white then became ribboned with every color in the spectrum, twisting and turning like flags in a high wind. There was a slight bump as the bulk of the ship entered the channel, then the Storm Chaser picked up speed, racing down the slalom of the channel. The prow dipped as it approached the channel mouth then bounced up for final entry. With a splash the Storm Chaser landed in the ocean. Elena flipped the oxygen shield off as water sloshed across the deck. Above them the sky was a deep azure blue and with the exception of the wake of their landing the sea was calm. Elena smiled and shifted her sight back to normal. She adjusted the course for her home port.

“All clear,” she called. Normal activity resumed. Elena stepped from the pilot house and walked over to the railing. The sun was warm on her skin and the salty breeze felt good on her skin. After breathing in what she liked to think of as the canned air of the ships and Docking Facility for so long the fresh air felt divine. Movement to starboard caught her eye and she looked.

“Dolphins,” she said with a smile. For some reason the channel riders always attracted them. She glanced behind her and saw several playing in the ship’s wake.

"Good luck follows where dolphin's dance," She said quietly repeating the old sailor's adage. Given that Nibbles, the store selling off word goods repackaged into earth friendly forms would be opening this week, she was willing to take all the good omens she could find. Elena looked across the desk and saw both Freddie and Elliot enjoying the feel of the sun and wind. Benjamin left the galley and found a place on deck, out of the way to sun himself. Spin followed him and settled herself in a patch of sunlight nearby.

“With skin that unaccustomed to sunlight you better watch out for sunburn,” Elena called. Benjamin flashed a grin her way.

“I put on sun block in the galley.” Elena nodded and went back to her tasks. Skyside inertia kept the ship on course. Earthside was much more demanding.

Storm Chaser: Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Storm Chaser pulled away from the docking facility and slid off into space. A thin ribbon of water separated from the band that floated moat-like around the docking facility. Each ship brought a measure with them when they left Earth’s oceans. When they docked the water merged and when they left a section followed them home. Elena smiled as she adjusted her course. She was certain her cousin Mateo could tell her the exact volume for each transaction. He lived to ferret out facts like that.

The pathway home was an easy run, the space between the channel mouth leading to Earth and the docking facility was well protected from raiders. Elena shook her head in thought. A few months ago she thought she had left this world behind. She had been grounded by the Calling, a mysterious disease that whispered in the pilot’s mind to try to lead them off the established channels and into the black. Rather than risk the crew of her grandfather’s ship she had retired and officially left the guild. The imports store she opened sold only earth-made goods and she liked to think she had done well for herself.

“Until Ian betrayed the guild,” Elena muttered to herself. One of the primary rules among the families of the guild was that no one ever work with any nation’s military. It was an old rule and until Ian always followed. She had no doubts various people suspected things but one of the jobs of the Council was to make sure no one took those thoughts seriously. Any mention of people with pilot like abilities were linked to the more outrageous conspiracy theories. There was even a group the Council had formed to spend their days on the internet ferreting out such rumors. Since Ian’s betrayal they had been especially busy.

Since she was the pilot the military had picked up for questioning, she got to deal with some of the fall out. In a blink the five years she had been gone meant nothing and she was brought back in. She also found out that the calling was less a disease as everyone had thought and more of an evolution of ability. On her first trip out she had found she could actually open up new channels, something no one had ever though possible. Since then she hadn’t had much time to investigate this new ability.

‘That is about to change,’ she thought. Mateo would soon be working with her to devise a safe way to investigate these new channel possibilities. ‘And who knows where that will lead.’ Elena caught movement out of the corner of her eye and looked down at the deck to find Spin meandering back towards the pilothouse. The cat seemed content, which was a good sign. Cats were a tradition aboard channel riders. There were many stories about why. Some Elena found plausible others just superstition. One of the more popular versions tied it to the Goddess Bast. Elena personally wasn’t sure what the connection was, if it even existed but her parents had given her the middle name of Bastienne.

“And I would never leave port without a cat on board,” she said.

“Of course not. That would be courting disaster.” Elena nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of the voice. She turned to find Benjamin standing in the doorway. Spin snaked through his legs and came to rest at Elena’s feet. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“That’s okay,” Elena commented. “Do you ever wonder why people who startle you always claim they didn’t mean to?”

“Not really,” Benjamin said with a half smile.

“Sorry, just in an introspective mood,” Elena said waving off her own comments.

“And thinking about cats?”

“And wondering if thee really is a connection to Egypt.”

“Ah, Bast.” He said following her train of thought.

“Something like that.” She said with a smile.

“I like to think there is a connection.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah,” Benjamin said. “It’s nice to think that you have a Goddess specifically looking out for you?”

“How do you know she would be specifically looking out for us?” Elena asked.

“How many practicing temples to Bast do you think there are? I think by default we would be her favorite of those left.”

“By default huh? I think some Egyptians might argue that.” Elena thought about for a moment. “Do you know much about the connection?”

“Not much,” he said. “Just that the Egyptians made her a solar deity and the Greeks changed her to a moon deity. Since we sail in the stars between the sun and moon we claim her. Or something to that effect. I have to admit I never really looked at it too closely.”

“And are you superstitious?”

“Not really,” he replied with a shrug.


“But I bet you’d never get on a channel rider with out a cat present.”

“Of course not.” Benjamin smiled. “That would be trouble.” Spin wound around Elena’s ankles purring as if the humans in her presence had finally made some sense. Elena bent down and scratched Spin behind the ears. The purring increased.

“But you never bothered to find out why?”

“Wasn’t part of my job description,” he said with a wry smile teasing his lips.

“Really? One would think that a travel agent would pick up lots of local color to pass on.”

“I came to the travel gig late in life.”

“Oh? What did you do before?” Elena asked. Benjamin’s smile widened into an easy going grin.

“I mostly came to ask where the galley was and if you had a preference for dinner.” Elena raised an eyebrow acknowledging the dodge and gestured towards the nearby door.

“Over there,” she said. “Whatever you feel like making, I’m sure we’ll be happy to eat.”

“Then I’ll go and get started.” Benjamin left the pilothouse and opened the door Elena had indicated. She watched him go then looked back down at the cat.

“Should be an interesting run.” Spin mewed in agreement.