The Dead Fleet (Juggernaut #3)

Seventy Six

Toma Yoshihiro eased himself carefully into seat opposite his guests. He slowly took the weight from one leg, and laid his cane on the wide arm of the chair. With a nod and one raised finger he instructed the staff to refill cups and plates. There was a movement of crisp uniforms and the low table in front of Toma's guests was replenished. Large soft white napkins were replaced. Crumbs were silently vacuumed or swept away.

Toma's usual guests paid no attention to such things because they were accustomed to it. They expected it. Life should, clearly, consist of one luxurious moment after another.

Today his guests paid no attention to such things because they were hungry. And no wonder. Grace Vasquez's preliminary report indicated that her companies had not eaten for the best part of two days. Their last proper meal had been at the company residence on Parador.

Tea was brought for Mr Yoshihiro. A clear pale yellow in a small crystal glass cup. He savoured the notes that sang with each sip, and watched Ellie and Malachi fill their plates again.

He had questions. Well, that is to say Conway had questions. Toma had been tasked with delivering them, and bringing back the answers. But the questions would have to wait until Grace and Tila joined them and Ellie and Malachi had finished eating.

Toma sipped his tea and with great discretion checked the time. They had been eating for quite some time now.

One of the staff caught his eye with an unspoken question. Toma looked at the table of food, and back at his guests, and nodded.

Plates were refilled. Again.

Ellie and Malachi sat awkwardly in chairs that were too big to be comfortable. Had they been less hungry, they might have noticed. Had they been less hungry they might have noticed many things, but they were blind to the world around them. The only sense they listened to was their stomachs. Food keep coming so they kept eating. Ellie wondered if that was rude or not. She had heard that sometimes it was polite to leave something behind. But she had also heard that in other places it was polite to clear your plate. It occurred to her between mouthfuls, that the most polite thing to do would be to make sure your guest knew which was appropriate.

Still, the food kept coming, so they kept eating. Ellie and Malachi had communicated only twice so far since they sat down. The first was a questioning glance at each other when they were shown their seats. A glace that meant 'what happens now.' But then food arrived and there was no time or thought for anything else. They shared one more glance after their first bites, this one meaning 'food! At last.', but after that they gave their full attention to the endless plates in front of them.

Eventually they slowed, were sated, and stopped. Ellie shuffled back into the deep seat of the armchair until her feet dangled and rested her hands on her belly. Malachi let out a big contented sigh.

'Thank you,' he said to Toma.

Toma finished his third glass cup, and it was whisked away on a silver tray. He bowed his head. 'You are most welcome, Mr Chambers. Consider this one small expression of our gratitude.'

The doors opened, and another member of the waiting staff stepped aside and held out one arm to admit Tila and her mother.

'Tila! Where have you been?' Ellie shuffled forward until she could stand up, then ran to Tila to welcome her with a hug. She could see Tila had been crying. There was something different about her friend. The aura of hostility she carried everywhere was, not exactly gone, but changed. It felt like Tila wasn't angry at everything anymore. Now her anger had purpose. It had focus. It had purpose. It had a target.

But that was something to talk about later. 'Come and eat,' she said.

'We already ate,' said Grace. 'I told Toma we might be delayed so he had food sent to us.'

'Did you have the grapes?' said Ellie. She let go of Tila and pulled her by the hand to the table.

'Yes,' said Tila.

'And look, oranges, like that one we had on the Juggernaut. And strawberries. They're fresh! And this one is green with black seeds. Did you have that?'

'Yes Ellie,' said Tila, laughing her friends eagerness. 'We had it all.'

'We should grow these at home,' said Ellie. 'Mal, how do we do that?'

Malachi blinked. 'How should I know? I'm not a farmer. Why don't you do it.'

'Maybe I will,' said Ellie. She made a face and touched her side.

'Something wrong?' said Grace.

'She ate too much, too quickly,' said Malachi. 'I think I did too.'

'Toma?' said Grace. The word was more accusation than question.

'They were enthusiastic guests, Grace. And you said they were hungry.'

Grace pointed at one of the staff. 'You, bring them something to help. Thank you.'

The staff didn't move.

'You're not in command here, Grace,' Toma reminded her. He nodded at the same person, who left the room.

Grace sat at one end of the table. Tila sat next to Ellie and Malachi, facing Toma. Ellie shuffled awkwardly back into her seat. A tray carrying a pitcher of water with five glasses and some tiny white pills was brought in and offered to Malachi and Ellie.

Malachi swallowed his quickly and told Ellie to do the same. 'It will help your stomach,' he explained.

Ellie swallowed hers too, and waited.

'It still hurts,' she said after a few seconds.

'Give it time,' said Malachi. 'It will help.'

Grace picked up one of the antacid pills and held it on the tip of her finger.

'Do you see, Toma? Even something as simple as this is an unknown luxury to citizens of the Juggernaut.'

'They are not citizens, Grace. Simply by definition of where they choose to live they are not commonwealth citizens. But this is not the time for a debate on the semantics of citizenship, we have other things to discuss.'

'The ship we found on the Juggernaut?' said Tila.

'The agents on Parador?' said Malachi.

'The dead fleet?' said Ellie.

'Many things, it seems,' said Toma.

'My mother,' said Tila.

'Perhaps we should begin there,' agreed Toma.