Burnt Sea: A Seabound Prequel (Seabound Chronicles Book 0) by Jordan Rivet

problems. He welcomed the
distraction. He picked up the names of his fellow passengers quickly, like he
always had with his students. He did his best to mediate disputes and connect
people with others who could help them with their problems.
    The nurse’s name is Laura.
She’s in the clinic on Deck 4. Ask for Willow Weathers. She can tell help you
find more blankets. I don’t know about that, but ask for a crewman named
Reggie. I noticed a sign for a chapel. Take a look around Deck 7.
    Simon tried to get to know the ship quickly so he could help out,
Esther tagging along behind him. The Catalina was less than six hundred feet long and had only ten decks. She had space for
everyone, but it was tight. Many of the runners had found places to sleep in
the crew cabins, and a handful camped on the massage tables in the little spa
on the fifth deck. The space was a bit claustrophobic, but Simon preferred the
depths of the ship to the unnatural sky outside. Most people avoided the outer
decks, fearful that the air was poisoned.
    Judith found him midmorning and reported that the captain refused to
become involved with the passengers. He immediately took Judith’s report to Ana Ivanovna , the highest-ranking person remaining from
the original hotel staff. Simon found her in the galley with a clipboard
balanced on one arm, busy taking inventory of a huge freezer. When he reported
the captain’s abdication of responsibility, Ana scowled and chewed at her
maroon-painted lips.
    “I handle the food and rations. You keep the people out of trouble,”
she said.
    “I’m not sure I can do that,” Simon said. It was all well and good for
people to come to him to resolve arguments, but that was different than keeping
the entire ship running. He was a teacher first and foremost, not a leader.
    “Is only for a few days,” she said. “You treat them like it is summer
camp.”
    “But maybe you could—”
    “I am busy up to my eyeball,” Ana said. She waved the clipboard at
Simon and slammed the freezer door. A rush of cold air swept over them. “You
must do this.”
    Simon had no desire whatsoever to become a cruise director. He left Ana
to her work and headed back out to the dining hall. The people at the tables
talked in low voices, staring out at the grim sky. But one group looked up and
waved at Simon. It was little Adi Kapur with his mother and father. Both parents kept reaching over to touch their son
on his head or shoulders, as if to remind themselves that they were still
together. They must be scared too, but it was more important to be strong for
their child.
    Esther waited for Simon at another table, her legs swinging because
they were too short to reach the floor. Simon stood a little straighter. Ana was
right: it was only a few days. He could keep things running smoothly until they
reached Hawaii.
    He started out by asking everyone to clean their own cabins and bathrooms. It didn’t seem right for the remaining cleaning staff
to do it. Some of the passengers objected, but he brooked no argument.
    “These people are survivors just like you,” he told a particularly
combative cruise passenger when she waved her gold frequent-cruiser card under
his nose and demanded room service. “We all have to do our part.”
    The porters did help care for the common areas, though, keeping things
relatively orderly, and some of the passengers pitched in with that too. Simon
sent extra able-bodied men to help Reggie and the crew clear the ash away from
the ship’s outer vents. Eventually they’d get to the decks too. Having chores
would help keep people from sitting and staring endlessly at the sea, letting
their worries overwhelm them.
    As the days passed and they started to run out of areas of the ship to
clean, Simon encouraged the passengers and crew to make use of the books, table
games, cinema, and other kinds of entertainment on the ship. Willow Weathers,
the lounge singer, opened up the cruise director’s storage