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

compartments to
bring out more games and activities. She even led a yoga class in the middle of
the plaza a few times.
    People were more likely to complain if they had nothing to do, and they
were far more likely to despair. When Simon saw Frank Fordham drifting
aimlessly around the plaza on the third day, still inquiring whether anyone had
seen his son, he asked him to check out the ship’s desalination system and
report back. Frank had walked away with purpose. Simon himself felt that as
long as he kept moving, his own grief wouldn’t catch up to him either. At least not yet.
    Esther kept close to Simon’s heels, and soon she was predicting his
answers to the people who came to him for guidance. When she wasn’t following
her father, she attached herself to Judith, who was proving to be quite
capable. She was clearheaded and organized, and she had no qualms about telling
people what to do. With Judith’s help, Simon got everyone to fall into what was
more or less a routine.
    In a way they were lucky to be such a small group. The final head count
had settled at 1,114. He could only imagine the disorder and panic that must be
rolling through the surviving cities back on land, where the sheer numbers
would overwhelm. Here it was like they were a small town dealing with their
problems together.
    It wasn’t entirely smooth sailing on the Catalina . Each individual was fragile in a different way, whether
angry or distressed or just scared. The lack of information was the worst part.
The days had a grim, gloomy look to them, and the nights were pitch black.
Simon hadn’t seen a single star since they’d been at sea. But by the end of the
third day Simon felt they had managed the crisis fairly well. No one in their little world had died or gotten into any serious
fights. Soon they’d be back on land, and he would find out what had happened to
the rest of his family no matter what it took.

 

Chapter 8— The Storm
    Simon

 
    The evening before they were scheduled to arrive in
Hawaii, Simon and Judith lingered in the Atlantis Dining Hall after dinner.
They’d eaten only vegetables again today. Ana Ivanovna was determined to conserve all the canned and imperishable food and use up anything
that wouldn’t keep. The ship was stocked for a seven-day voyage, and cruise
ships always carried more than enough food for the all-you-can-eat buffets, but
Ana wanted to be extra-careful just in case.
    The sky had grown night dark. The seas were rough, the ship rolling
more than usual. The Catalina was big
enough that the movement didn’t affect them too much, but tonight it felt
different, unsettled. The dining hall was warm, though, and they talked about
what they’d do when they got to Hawaii the next day if the planes were still
grounded.
    “I might get a job to tide me over,” Judith said. “And then see if I
can make my way to the East Coast. Or maybe Europe. I’d like to work in London.”
    “I’m not sure anyone will be hiring,” Simon said.
    “It’s not going to be that bad, is it?” Judith asked. “They always say
things will be worse than they are. Don’t you think everything will have calmed
down by the time we get to Hawaii?”
    Simon’s glass of water slid across the table. He caught it and took a
sip.
    “I don’t know, Judith. There’s no precedent for this.”
    “But the worst is over,” she said. “Now it’s time to rebuild.”
    The ship lurched. Lightning flashed outside the window, still far away.
    “I don’t know if the worst is over,” Simon said.
    “What do you mean?”
    “The darkness. The ash. I think there will be repercussions from the
volcano that stretch beyond the US.”
    No one had managed to access the Internet that day. With the
communication links down, there was no way of knowing what was going on in the
world. They were totally isolated.
    Lightning cracked again, closer this time. It lit the sea with shimmers
of white and blue. Wind howled against the large