Captain's Away! Chapter Twenty-Seven
"Passengers"
Captain’s Away! is a long form, weekly serial. New chapters come out every week (more or less). Comments and suggestions welcome as we go along.
You can find the master index of all the chapters by clicking the orange Captain’s Away Index button below:
Previously in Captain’s Away!
Yolande and Bertrand Doucette are refugees after escaping the destruction of two space stations in the opening salvos of an interstellar war. Their son, Alain, is missing and presumed dead, and their daughter Marie-Josée is comatose for reasons they don’t understand. Yolande and Bertrand have just been rescued by an Akkadian starship called the Beausoleil.
Unbeknownst to them, the mind of their daughter Marie-Josée has been transferred into the body of the captain of the Beausoleil by means of an ancient technology called the Field. To save herself, and maybe everyone else, Marie-Josée must pose as the captain of the Beausoleil. After delivering the crew of the Beausoleil their new orders, Marie-Josée meets the survivors of the Evangeline and the Northumberland.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Passengers”
“I want to see my parents now,” Marie-Josée demanded of Saito and Javad when everyone else had gone.
She saw the look on Saito’s face, knew what he was thinking. That the captain’s parents were dead.
“Of course,” he said. “Doc, would you mind accompanying the captain?”
“Not at all.”
Javad led Marie-Josée to the gym where the survivors were doing their best to make do. She spied her parents near the rear bulkhead. They must be devastated, their daughter in a coma, and Alain…! Marie-Josée’s heart quailed at the thought of never seeing her younger brother again. Pretty sure Captain Khiboda wouldn’t allow anyone to see her cry, she paused briefly to collect herself before allowing Javad to lead her through the survivors.
After his experiences in the emergency bunker, Javad knew several of them personally. He introduced Marie-Josée as Captain Jane Khiboda. So much easier pretending to be the captain to those who had never known Khiboda. To those who posed questions that she could either easily answer or simply dodge, such as where were they going, what would happen to them, what could be done to make their situation better?
“We’ll get you more blankets,” she told Reverend Arsenault. “Won’t we, Corpsman?”
Javad looked skeptical. “There may not be any more.”
“That won’t be necessary, Captain,” Reverend Arsenault said with dignity. “I don’t wish to be a bother.”
“You’re no bother. If you need something, tell Corpsman Javad. He’ll either deal with it or get the message to me. Won’t you, Javad?”
The look on Javad’s face said: be careful. Don’t make promises you can’t keep. But even though Marie-Josée didn’t know most of the survivors, they were her people. Except for a bizarre twist of fate, she herself would be one of them. Was, in fact, one of them—or at least her body was.
“Captain?”
Marie-Josée’s heart skipped a beat. She turned to find Evelyn Gallant beaming a radiant smile up at her. Had Evelyn seen through the façade? Recognized Marie-Josée for who she really was? No, of course not. This was just Evelyn’s way. Open, friendly, and not at all shy.
Marie-Josée had known this moment would come. Had been dreading it. She had not wanted Evelyn to see her like this. But now that Eveyln had surprised her, Marie-Josée found that she was ready. She had grown increasingly at ease talking to the other survivors. They had conditioned her. By now she was as comfortable as it was possible to be under the circumstances.
Although her crush on Evelyn was new, their friendship wasn’t. They had known one another since kindergarten. Marie-Josée knew Evelyn well enough to know how she must see her now. As the captain. The embodiment of authority on this ship. Marie-Josée found it put her at ease. She leaned into the role, assumed a stern expression. The captain’s visage didn’t let her down. Evelyn’s eyes widened, and she stepped back as though afraid of being struck.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to—I hope I’m not—”
Marie-Josée softened her expression. “Evelyn! It’s okay.”
Evelyn blinked. “You know who I am?”
“The ship is projecting a hover tag in front of you. There should be one in front of me too.”
“Oh. It’s true—there is.”
“I’m so glad you’re here with us, Evelyn.” Marie-Josée meant that with all her heart. “You’ve been through a lot.”
Evelyn nodded with conviction. “Yes.”
“Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?” She remembered Evelyn’s sweet tooth. “How about some crème brulee? I could have the cafetorium whip you up some.”
“Oh no, I wouldn’t want to be a bother.”
“It’s no trouble. Look, if you decide you want some just let Javad here know.”
Evelyn smiled. “Maybe later.”
Marie-Josée found she was at risk of babbling. She forced herself to stop talking and move on. She’d figure out how to see more of Evelyn later.
She turned and immediately bumped into her parents.
“Captain,” her mother said.
Marie-Josée’s mouth dropped open. No words came out.
“Captain Jane Khiboda,” Javad said. “I’d like you to meet Mr. and Mrs. Doucette. Mrs. Doucette is single-handedly responsible for getting the emergency bunker working. None of these people would be here if it wasn’t for her. She’s a genuine hero.”
Marie-Josée was not surprised to hear of her mother’s role in everyone’s survival—it was exactly the sort of thing her mother would do. “Well done, Mo… Mrs. Doucette.”
Her mother smiled a patently false smile and looked at the gym surface.
“And Mr. Doucette here is, ah—” Javad paused, then finished gamely, “—Mrs. Doucette’s husband.”
Marie-Josée’s father glared at Javad before smiling at the woman he mistook for the captain.
Marie-Josée did her best to return the smile with a face that resisted doing so. She abandoned the attempt before the smile had a chance to reach her eyes. “It’s nice to meet you.”
She suppressed a wince at these completely inadequate words. What she desperately wanted to say and what she was permitted to say in this ludicrous situation were completely at odds with one another. She found herself nodding instead of speaking. Needing to do something more than that, she forced a few words out. “Is there anything I can do for either of you?”
Find your son? Give you back your daughter?
“Thank you so much for your hospitality,” her mother began. “And thank you for looking after my daughter.”
With all her might Marie-Josée forced herself not to look at Javad. “Your daughter.”
Javad rushed to fill the silence. “Marie-Joseé Doucette fell ill on the Northumberland. She’s unconscious but stable in our medical bay.”
“Tell me about your daughter.” Marie-Josée regretted the words instantly. She braced herself for some sanitized version of herself, some complimentary sucrose that would set her teeth on edge.
“She could be such a pain in the ass,” Mrs. Doucette said.
Oh right. This was her mother talking. “Do tell.”
“Not in the ordinary way you might think teen-aged girls can be difficult. Do you have any children, Captain?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” Marie-Josée said stupidly, pretty sure the captain didn’t have any.
“You would probably know,” her mother pointed out.
“You would think,” Marie-Josée agreed.
“Marie-Josée does all her chores. Does her homework, does everything expected of her. She’s not difficult that way. But she’s smart. Doesn’t accept anything I tell her at face value. Always challenging me. Keeps me on my toes.” Her mother smiled at some private memory. “I need to know what’s wrong with her, Captain. Why she’s sick. Will you help me?”
Marie-Josée took her mother’s hands in her own, not something she would ever have done ordinarily. Right then she would have offered her anything. “Yes—” she almost said, ‘yes mom’ but caught herself in the nick of time — “I’ll do whatever I can.”
“Thank you, Captain.” Her mother looked her straight in the eyes. “I believe you will.”
As with Evelyn, Marie-Josée wondered if her mother could somehow see inside this old, scarred body, could see that it was really Marie-Josée, her daughter, that she was talking to.
But it was just wishful thinking.
Her father broke the spell by holding up his device, his precious L’Akkadie Nouvelle. He hadn’t said a word, Marie-Josée realized.
“You’ll have to forgive my husband, Captain. He’s not talking. We’ve been through so much.”
It was difficult for Marie-Josée to hold it together now. Her father wasn’t talking? Why wasn’t he talking? He was a journalist. Communicating was what he did. But he’d just lost his son. His daughter was in a coma. The two of them had just had two space stations blown out from under them. It was a wonder either of them was even walking let alone talking.
“This may seem petty, Captain, but Bertrand hasn’t been able to access the feed for some time now. He’s in the media and it’s driving him crazy. So we were just wondering…”
Marie-Josée knew it was anything but petty to her father. She looked to Javad.
“Captain,” Javad began. “There are security concerns—”
“Work them out.”
Marie-Josée’s father nodded, gratitude written all over his face.
Her mother said, “Thank you, Captain.”
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This has been an installment of the ongoing serial Captain’s Away! A Strange Dimensions book.
Also by Joe Mahoney: A Time and a Place
An unlikely hero travels to other worlds and times to save a boy who does not want to be saved in this unique and imaginative adventure, by turns comic and tragic.
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