After expecting a loyal naval officer as a manager, Huntress was sorely disappointed by this man before her.
Since he'd arrived, he was more concerned with talking himself up than asking questions about them being health inspectors. Well, except for their love lives and personal interests. Both Huntress and Cassie were revolted but had to play along.
His name was Henry Boson. He was the son of a rich man who'd inherited an empire and worked for nothing in his life. Fed with a silver spoon as Cassie whispered in her ear. Interesting phrase, though Huntress was confused by it.
'So, what exactly needs inspecting in a place like this by you lovely ladies? Surely you can tell that everything is in clear order around the yard' Boson asks as he finally takes his seat at his desk.
Oh finally! The right question! But his still punch-worthy by a long way thought Huntress as she hid a heavy sigh of relief. Even Cassie's attention darted back to the arrogant businessman when the word inspecting came up in conversation.
With a spark lit within her, Huntress stood from her chair and slowly walked over to Boson's desk.
'I'm not disputing that, Mr Boson. However, it seems that there are some old warehouses around this yard which haven't been touched in decades. Not to mention the fact that some strange things have been happening with certain ships which were originally built here. Ringing any bells?'
Listening, Boson had leant back in his desk chair and nodded with a smile the whole time. It was extremely annoying. No concern, no troubles and no guilt. Not what the Huntress was expecting at all.
'I see. Well, I haven't seen anything strange happening amongst my warehouses or my staff. As for the old warehouses, those ships are now considered antique. Think of how much those rust-buckets will be worth in another twenty or thirty years. So, I really don't see what the problem here is, Ms Jones'
Cassie had to turn away as her teeth grinded involuntarily. The people that she, in a way, worked for turned out to have such scumbags running their operations. If anything pushed her to anger, this was certainly one of those things.
Huntress meanwhile was starting to get slightly aggravated herself. She always knew that pigheaded and selfish humans were around, but her first encounter with one was getting to be too much. If this were the kind of person who represented the human race in a dire time of need, it was all too clear that earth would be doomed. No wonder earth needed help all the time. There were only so many people who had clear sight and true hearts. Sad, really.
'If that's what you believe, sir. In any case, Ms Devonport and I will be checking with your staff and your documentation system for irregularities. I'm sure there are no objections to this. I mean, there's nothing to hide. Is there?' she responded. Her plain facial expression took a lot of concentration. Her cheeks even hurt from faking a grin.
Boson gave an approving chuckle and rose from his chair. He dusted off the front of his jacket and walked around to the Huntress at the front of the desk. 'Nothing at all, ma'am. It was a pleasure meeting you.'
He held out his hand. Huntress had no choice but to shake it and act satisfied. As she tried to let go, he pulled her closer to him until his mouth was near her right ear. She was beyond uncomfortable but didn't want to be suspicious. One more wrong move from him and her old self would surely kick in and knock him senseless.
'Come back anytime. I'll be waiting' he whispered in her ear in a fake honey-smooth voice. With his peace said, he backs away from the Huntress and casually walks around her and out of the door without looking back.
Silence falls upon the office. The Huntress stands still with her hand still held out, yet loose. Cassie studies her, wondering what to do to snap her out of her statue state.
Cassie slowly walks up to Huntress and is just about to tap her shoulder when she speaks out of the blue, making Cassie jump in fright.
'Cassie. You have a concept here of your conscience being a little angel and little devil on each shoulder, right? Two sides of the mind telling you what to do in a situation?' she asked.
Cassie couldn't help but turn and look around at the whole room before looking back at the Huntress and answering her. 'Um, sure. Why?'
'Because my past self was the devil just before and she was telling me to step on his foot, twist his right arm, use my right leg to drop him and to knock him out with a single punch to the face. And you know what?'
'What?'
'I'm wishing I listened to her. If I ever see that pompous monkey again, his gonna wish he didn't exist, cause after seeing me again he might not!'
* * *
With no other option, Will and Gray began exploring the Salvation in hopes of finding either clues or an escape. However, the latter seemed quite grim and near impossible at this point.
As the boys walked along the corridors, they would place their ears against the doors and hope that it would be safe to enter. To their disappointment, each door presented the sound of water sloshing around inside at a high level.
Eventually they found an open stairwell at the corridors end, but again to their misfortune it only went downwards to the crew quarters, not up.
'Maybe there's some kind of memento left by a crewmember in one of the quarters. This ship was evacuated in a hurry so anything they couldn't hold onto would have been left behind. Anything to give this ship some kind of real timestamp' Will thought aloud as they slowly descended the winding metal stairs. Both tried really hard not to touch the railing since it was wet with some kind of sticky liquid which had a discomforting odour to it.
'Oh my god, its all work for you isn't it? We are stuck on a wrecked ship which is somehow flooding above the water line and all you can think about are sailor's letters!' Gray shouted back behind him.
Will looked down at him with a straight face and locked eyes. 'You don't have to be rude about it. I'm trying to find something more positive to think about down here. Besides, we can't get to the bridge, so we may as well stick to the original plan. Find something out of the ordinary and report it.'
As soon as "report it" left Will's mouth, Gray turned back to look up at him. In doing so, he blocked the stairwell and left Will stuck where he was. 'Huntress! She's got my bloody mobile, call her already!' Gray shouts. Already, Will is shaking his head in response. This confuses poor Gray further. 'What!? Why not!' he adds.
Will points at the bottom of the stairs at the corridor and doors, 'Because we need more proof that something is wrong here. If we tell her someone locked us in an old ship, do you think that will qualify?'
Gray clearly tries to argue his point, but all he can manage is endless gibberish falling from his mouth. His head turns from Will to the bottom of the stairs many times and his arm points in both directions back and forth. He was clearly not good at coming up with forming debates. In this case, Will was partially grateful. This meant that convincing him would be that much easier.
'If we find nothing in the crew quarters and can't get out or at least reach the bridge, then we will call this in to the Huntress. Agreed?'
Gray turned back to the stairs before him and started walking again whilst shaking his lowered head. He grumbled and mumbled to himself as he walked. 'We'd better find something in this wreck. This be getting on my last flippin' nerve' he muttered.
There was a thin layer of sea water across the floor. It looked discoloured and murky. Clearly it had been there for some time and hadn't dried up. All of the doors seemed rusted shut and quite old in design. This part of the ship looked antique.
Will studied the framework and the rust closely and started memorising everything he saw which could be considered out of place.
Gray on the other hand started walking along the line of doors and placed his ears against each one. Each time he heard the flow of water, he'd move on. He quickened his pace after each door with Will struggling to keep up behind him. It didn't take long for something to change.
Gray placed his ear against another door and started walking away when he stopped dead in his tracks and sped back to that door once more. He pushed his ear hard against the door. Hard enough that his earlobe froze from the cold metal and was so close he'd finally noticed the rotting algae smell.
Focused on the corridor, Will walked right into Gray and was clearly startled.
'Bloody hell! Watch your front, moron! I'm trying to listen' Gray complained whilst his ear stayed connected to the door.
Will shook his head and watched Gray stay positioned at this one, normal door. 'Have you found something or not?' he asked in a huff.
'Nothing. I've found nothing' Gray calmly answers.
Will squints his eyes and looked away in bewilderment. Nothing? What the hell is he babbling on about now? I swear, I'm going to need a manual just to translate him.
Not hearing any other comments from Will, Gray removed his ear from the door and looked around. He felt slightly offended by Will's confused reaction but doesn't argue it. 'Oi, it means that there ain't any water in there. I hear nothing, got it?'
Will's eyes widen and he started nodding in acknowledgement. Put like that, Will had no problem understanding. Still, that slight fraction of irritation stayed in the back of his mind. Gray could have just said "this one is clear" or something direct and to the point.
Both men nodded at each other and started turning the latch on the door. It was wedged tight and took everything ounce of strength they had to pull it open enough to fit their bodies through. Even then, it was a tight squeeze.
Will silently pushed himself through the gap and started studying the desk in the room, with its paper contents somehow dry and untouched by the dampness of the vessel. Gray meanwhile was making a fuss fitting through the gap, even though he was skinnier than Will.
He grunted his way through, then tripped on the corner of the door and fell into the water with a splash. Will sighed and waved his right arm to shake the water off that Gray had inevitably splashed onto him.
'Fancy entering a room without making a mess, Broke' Will continuously sighed as he tried to read one of the parchments he'd found.
'S'not my bloody fault! That door's not only heavy, but solid!' Gray rebutted.
As Gray stood back up onto his feet, his eyes fixated on the wall to the outside of the ship. He'd just found the "massively out of place" in the room, while Will just turned to paperwork without noticing. Typical.
'Um, Will. Do you mind taking a look at that wall there for just a tick?' he asked in a lowered and slightly scared voice. Will acted as if he couldn't hear him and continued reading.
Not knowing what else to do, Gray tapped Will's shoulder while keeping his eyes locked onto the wall. Will twitched his shoulder as if a bug had landed on it, brushing him off.
Unable to control his emotions, Gray looked at Will, then looked at his open palm, then at Will again. In one second, Gray flew his open hand at Will and slapped down on his right cheek. As soon as the deed was done, Gray moved both of his hands and held them up under his neck like a scared schoolgirl.
Oh shoot, oh shoot, oh shoot, I'm gonna die! Gray continuously thought.
Will gave a slight grumble and turned his head around to stare at Gray. If looks could kill, Gray's eyes would have been lasered away by now.
With no words, Gray moved his left hands pointer finger and pointed at the wall. He wasn't game enough to do anything else.
Waiting to exact his revenge on Gray, Will humoured him by turning around to the wall next to him like Gray asked.
In one small flash of colour, Will saw exactly why Gray needed his attention. Maybe not worth a full-force slap, but his attention certainly. Will slowly sloshed his way backwards until he stood side by side with Gray, staring at the wall together.
'Ok. I think we can make that call now. And Gray?'
'Yeah buddy?'
'Never slap me ever again if you want to keep yourself unbruised'
'You got it'
Both men continued to stare at the wall.
In a large, ruptured circular pattern was a section of missing hull. Considering where they were, the compartment should have been flooded. However, the rupture was somehow sealed. It was sealed with glowing red, unmelting ice.