Seabound (Seabound Chronicles Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

For all we know, there could be decent harvests on land
already, if there’s anyone left to grow anything. Can you imagine eating corn
every day?”
    “I’ve thought
about it,” Neal said. “Leaving. But not to land.”
    “You want to join
the Amsterdam or something?” Esther
asked. The Amsterdam Coalition was a
group of cargo ships that floated together around an old oil platform and
refinery. It served as a trading hub for all the people who still survived at
sea. Once a year, the Catalina docked with the Amsterdam Coalition to trade salvage and replenish their fuel
supply. It would be a decent place to start over.
    Neal shook his
head. “Not the Amsterdam . The Galaxy .”
His face was flushed, and he stared intently at the radio control panel.
    “What’s that?”
    “It’s another
cruise ship . . . or actually a group of cruise ships,” Neal answered. “They
maintain a regular position north of Hawaii.”
    Esther cocked her
head at this. Most of the ships they knew about were like the Catalina ,
floating aimlessly to conserve as much energy as possible.
    “A regular
position? How’d you hear about them?”
    “We’ve been
talking.”
    “You and the group
of cruise ships?”
    “Me and their
communications officer. Marianna.” He said the name slowly, like it was a final
coffee ration that he wanted to make last for as long as possible, sipping
until the dregs were cold.
    Esther grinned. “I
take it she’s nice?”
    “She’s more than
nice, Esther. She’s brilliant, and beautiful. She speaks four languages, and
she’s teaching me Spanish. The words are like butter in her mouth.”
    Esther stared at
her friend. She’d seen Neal go gooey over girls before, but he’d never talked
like this. He certainly didn’t look the part of a hopeless romantic.
    “How do you know
she’s beautiful? You have a picture?”
    “I don’t need a
picture,” Neal said. “Her voice is the most beautiful sound in the world. I
could live and die just listening to her voice.”
    “How long has this
been going on?”
    Neal twisted the
cord from his headphones between his fingers, eyes distant. “We started talking
over a year ago, around when I took over the radio full-time. At first we just
exchanged weather information, like I do with the comm officers all over the
place. But I got curious about her, and we started talking more
often—whenever we’re in range.”
    “What do you have
to talk about?” Esther asked.
    She was surprised
Neal hadn’t told her about this sooner. It wasn’t like him to keep secrets from
her.
    “Everything. She
told me about life on the Galaxy , about her childhood in Mexico City,
about words . . . It’s nice to know someone outside this tower, you know, and
we have a lot in common.”
    It stung Esther a
little that Neal didn’t feel her friendship was enough, but then she had Cally,
Frank, and the crew to keep her company while she worked, and there was always
her father. Neal was usually alone up here, just him and the best sea view on
the ship. He had been an original paid-up passenger on the Catalina , but
his mother had succumbed to pneumonia in the early years. The community had
looked after him, but it wasn’t the same as having family on board. He must
feel just as tied to the people he chatted with on the radio every day.
    “Are you thinking
of trying to meet Marianna on this Galaxy ?”
    “How would I get
there?” Neal sighed. “Judith only ever wants to meet up with the Amsterdam because she trusts them,
sorta. She’d never sail to a group of stranger ships on purpose, even if we had
enough fuel.”
    “So next time we
dock with the Amsterdam , join them,”
Esther said. “You’d have a better chance of hopping another ship there than you
do here.”
    “I might not find
a ship there that’d meet up with the Galaxy .”
    “So what are you
gonna do? Just sit here pining after her in this tower for the rest of your
life?” Esther punched him in the shoulder,