Beyond the Endless Sky

Chapter 12

Dinner was a sombre event that passed in silence. Leslie outdid himself again, with something that tasted good enough Clarissa was willing to believe in magic, but all five people at the table passed the time focused on their plates. The only sound anyone made was the gentle rap of a spoon against a bowl. Surprisingly, even without the captain — who was flying the ship — no one was willing to speak. Even Tonya and Anita, who hadn't been on the deck when they had shot down three bandit skimmers, weren't particularly interested in disturbing the moment.

It wasn't until Clarissa's bowl was nearly empty, and she considered breaking the silence by asking for seconds, that anyone spoke. To her surprise Leslie turned to her and asked, "Clarissa, when you took Yannick his lunch, did you actually get to meet him? Or did you have to leave his food at the door?"

Clarissa blinked, startled. Meeting the ship's navigator felt like it happened an age ago, to someone else. But she remembered the curly-haired boy, painfully awkward, terrified of people and their cruelty, and that shy smile that warmed her heart. "The captain wanted to talk to Yannick at the same time. He let us in, even showed me that strange model of his," she admitted.

Four people whistled in near unison at that news. Even Leslie, who had asked, appeared shocked. "I still haven't seen that damn thing," Tonya complained.

"It isn't a model," Anita said. "It's a sky map, built to scale, constantly mapping the journey of the isles. I helped build it, and I didn't understand a third of what I was making. We worked with a couple of clock makers from Olencia."

"Whatever it is, it's worth it. No one navigates like Yannick," Tonya agreed, and she pointed her finger at Clarissa. "There are people who fly like me, work machines like Anita, box like Leslie. Heck, from what I've heard of you so far, kid, you could compete with any of us in a few years. Except in boxing. But Yannick, that's a talent you'll never match. It ain't a talent the Monastery can teach. It ain't a skill the Academies of Vol Ayre will even believe is possible."

"He's that good?"

"We challenged him to find us a route from Ardene to Salencia without using the propellers once. It took him fifteen minutes to plot the course, and he only lost the bet because we had a couple of Corsairs who thought we were smugglers," Tonya explained.

"We are smugglers," Mercy said.

"They couldn't prove it," Tonya said.

"But Tonya is right, Clarissa," Mercy said, leaning forward and staring at Clarissa long enough to make her uncomfortable. "It says a lot about you that Yannick was willing to let you into his cabin."

Mercy grinned then, spun around in her seat, and stood up. She leaned over the kitchen bar and poured a bowl. She set a spoon into it and set the bowl in front of Clarissa. "Would you take that to Yannick? I think he'll want to work on the deck in a little while, and could use the food."

Clarissa nodded and shoved the rest of her food into her mouth. "Aye ma'am," she managed to mumble with a full mouth.

"Much obliged, Clarissa," Mercy said. On her way back to her seat, she stopped behind Leslie, and put her hand on his shoulder. "Let me know if you need to talk. Or just play cards for a while."

Leslie put his hand over hers. He didn't look up, but the gentle smile returned to his face and he looked more like the absurdly gentle giant Clarissa remembered. "Thanks LT."

"LT?" Clarissa asked.

"Short for lieutenant. I've been calling Mercy that for so long I forget at times she has a name," Leslie said with a wry grin, which earned him a gentle flick from Mercy before she went back to her own food. Clarissa stood up and was about to take her dishes to the kitchen when Leslie stopped her. "We'll get that. Yannick actually interacting with another human being is gift enough."