Author's notice: This is my first attempt at writing a fan fiction, based off of Deadliest Catch. I cannot claim ownership of actual people, places, and objects such as those featured on Deadliest Catch, nor do I claim them. All other characters are my own. This story is a product of my imagination that is written just for the fun of it…there are no money or services whatsoever being earned for this story. Thoughts are in italics and with no quotation marks. This is a work in progress, so please bear with me. Constructive criticisms are welcome.
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"Hey, wait! You can't do that! You have to-will you just stop a moment?" Ashton scrambled to keep pace with the tall, blonde skipper as he strode impatiently back to his boat docked in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. She was hard on his heels as he started up the gangplank and as she went to step aboard, the crewman operating the hydraulic crane called a superstitious reminder: "Right foot, right foot!" Fighting to resist an exasperated sigh, the young Fish and Game ranger stepped aboard with her right foot before taking up chase once again. Following him up the rung ladder to the small wheelhouse deck and into the wheelhouse, Ashton picked up her protests in earnest.
"Captain Hansen, will you at least look it over? I can't let you leave port unless you sign the paper." Ashton swallowed hard as Sig Hansen's dark gaze fixed on her pale face a brief moment before returning to the charts spread out across the tabletop. A tense few seconds ticked by before Sig sighed and glared at the young woman standing defiantly behind his chair.
"Ms. McNeill, I'm busy. I've got gear to store and charts to plot. I already jumped through your hoops yesterday; I've been cleared to go fishing by the guy that was out here. You guys already did your jobs, let me do mine." Damn, she's a persistent little brat. Got some balls on her for barging on my boat and into my wheelhouse uninvited, he thought with narrowed eyes. Ashton stood her ground despite her pounding heart; the annoyance simmering the captain's dark blue eyes sent chills dancing along her spine.
"This is something that my superiors just brought to my attention first thing this morning. Please, please just sign the paper." Holding out the metallic clipboard with the paper in question secured on top to Sig, the young woman couldn't conceal the trembling in her hands. Grunting in frustration, Sig snatched the clipboard from her hand and, reading the form over quickly, signed the document with a scowl. Thrusting the clipboard back at Ashton, Sig turned back to the charts and barely heard the Fish and Game ranger mutter a soft 'thank you' and retreat back down the ladder. Unable to focus, Sig finally turned to stare out the wheelhouse's large windows and watched Ashton make a hasty departure from the docks.
"She'll be back, you know. They'll find out a way to get her back on board tomorrow." Sig flinched as Edgar's voice broke the silence. Opening his mouth to respond, Sig thought better of it and turned back to the charts. A tense moment of silence stretched between the brothers before Sig slammed his pencil down on the tabletop and turned back to Edgar, who had seated himself on the long bench next to the chest of drawers containing two generations worth of charts.
"It pisses me off, man. We comply with their demands, we keep up to date with their safety requirements without complaint, and then they pull this bullshit on us. We have done nothing wrong. We've followed their rules to a tee but they manage to find a way to delay us." Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he saw Edgar nodding in silent agreement. Edgar caught his elder brother's glance and shrugged a narrow shoulder.
"When she comes back, I'll deal with her. You just worry about figuring out where the crab is this year. With any luck, we can be out of here by early afternoon tomorrow."
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The crew of the fishing vessel Northwestern worked through the night to finish securing the gear and supplies. By dawn all that remained was to make a final grocery store trip to stock the pantry, freezer, and refrigerator to last the six fishermen and two cameramen an entire Opilio Crab season. While he and his middle brother Norman were attending to this final chore, Sig left Edgar in charge of overseeing the final preparations aboard the boat.
Ashton watched the two TV crewmen finish securing their gear to the deck of the 125-foot fishing vessel across the dock. She sat in the passenger seat of the idling pickup truck and thought back to the previous day's events. She fought back a shiver unrelated to the cold as she stared blankly out of the frosting windshield. When she'd returned from getting Captain Hansen's signature for the obviously bogus notice, her supervisor Jasper had interrogated her at length about the man's reaction. She still wasn't sure why she'd lied to Jasper, saying that the skipper had been cooperative with her. Now Jasper was back at the docks looking for another way to keep the Northwestern in the harbor.
The sudden blast of icy air against her body jolted Ashton back to reality as her door was yanked open. Jasper had to repeat himself and grab at her arm before she understood what he wanted.
"Get your bag and go down into their engine room. See if there's anything that looks broken. If nothing is, break something. But be subtle and be quick. That smart-mouthed brother and his crew will be watching your every move. You botch this one, McNeill, and it'll be the end of your career." Jasper emphasized this last statement with a jabbing index finger into Ashton's shoulder as she slid from the sage green Ford. Slinging her backpack over a narrow shoulder, the young woman jogged carefully over to the Northwestern. A tall, lean man with brown hair and goatee stood at the rail with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his blue jeans. He stared down at her with intense brown eyes a moment before leaning over to give her a hand.
"Climb up and I'll show you inside." The flat tone in his voice echoed the disapproval in his eyes and as Ashton braced herself with a foot against the side of the boat, the youngest Hansen brother helped pull her aboard. With a mumbled "this way", Edgar led the young ranger inside and into the galley. Motioning to the galley table, he told her to leave her backpack on the bench before descending into the belly of the boat, pausing only long enough to grab protective earmuffs and shoved them on while going down the stairs. Ashton rushed to follow his lead and nearly bumped into him at the foot of the stairs. Shouting above the roaring sounds, Edgar turned his gaze back to Ashton.
"Don't touch anything! And don't go far." Fear shining in her azure eyes, she nodded in understanding and shoved her hands deep into her jean pockets and studied the equipment surrounding her. She could feel the deck boss's eyes on her as she made her way further into the room and a blush rose in her pale cheeks. The feeling was unsettling for her and she turned back to face him, only to bump into him. With quick reflexes born from years of living on a crab boat, Edgar caught her by the arms as she stumbled backwards. Only when he was convinced she was steady again did he release her.
Despite the momentary panic that flashed through his mind when Ashton stumbled, Edgar couldn't help but grin as her blush deepened after bumping into him. He hadn't meant to frighten her, but he grew uneasy watching her study his engine room as intensely as she was. Gently squeezing past her, he shouted for her to head back up to the galley and followed her as she made her hasty retreat. Closing the door behind him, Edgar shoved his hands back into his pants pockets.
"Well, we pass inspection or what? Are your bosses satisfied now that you guys have seen pretty much every square inch of this boat?" Taken aback by the sharp edge in his voice, Ashton winced and took a step backwards before steeling herself with a deep breath.
"Look, I don't want to be here any more than you and your captain want me here. But I'm just the messenger here. Jasper's the jackass here, not me, so his throat's the one you should jump down…not mine!" She stopped herself, as she was about to say something she would regret later and straightened her back with another deep breath. As an afterthought, she added in a gentler voice, "I'm sorry. This is only my second week on this job, and it's not my fault that Jasper's got a stick up his butt about you guys." Edgar snorted at her description of Jasper's attitude and laughed outright when she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Don't be sorry. My brother and I are just very stressed right now and on a deadline. This guy Jasper jumping up our ass about stupid shit is only making it worse. We need to know that this bullshit, sorry, crap is over so we can head out to the grounds as soon as the last of the gear is loaded." Ashton's brows jerked up as Edgar admitted this, and her surprised mind couldn't create a response fast enough. The two shared a moment of awkward silence; Ashton pushed her hands into the pockets of her forest green Fish and Game jacket and stared at the floor while Edgar simply studied her, taking in her uneasy stance and curly red hair tucked underneath a green ball cap. The sound of his crew entering through the ready room broke the silence, much to Ashton's relief.
Seeing the deck boss standing alone with the ranger in the galley, a smirk crossed Matt's face and an amused glint shone in his dark brown eyes. Nick snorted at his friend's expression and silently shook his head as he squeezed past Edgar into the kitchen. He rescued his breakfast mug from the sink and poured himself a fresh cup of coffee. Stirring in some creamer, he smiled at Ashton's disgusted look and said, "It adds flavor." All four men laughed as she shuddered at the thought. Turning serious, Edgar turned his attention to his crew.
"What the hell are you guys doing in here anyway? Isn't there something you should be doing?" His dark glare went unnoticed by his two longtime crewmen and friends, but the youngest deckhand shifted nervously in his seat. Matt shook his head as he laughed at Jake.
"Nah, all the gear is secured and all we're waiting on is Sig and Norm to get back with the groceries. Unless you meant getting some bait prepped, but – haha! Jake, sit down! I was just kidding!" The blue eyed twenty-eight year old froze as he half rose from his seat. His eyes shifted between his mentor and crewmate as he mentally sized up the situation. Taking advantage of his uncertainty, Ashton piped up.
"I'm actually kind of curious about how the baiting process works. I'd like to take a look, if you don't mind?" Glancing over to Edgar, she felt another blush rise as he turned his glare on her. After a tense, yet brief moment, his gaze softened and he nodded in agreement.
"That's not a bad idea. Jake, go show her how it's done. That'll be one less thing your jackass boss can use against us." Nick and Matt exchanged a confused glance behind Ashton's back as she followed Jake into the ready room, where he paused long enough to pull on a stained Helly Hansen hoodie. As the two stepped out onto the cold deck, he slid a dirty ball cap on to keep his dishwater brown hair from his eyes. For the next hour, Jake showed Ashton the ins and outs of his very first job aboard the Norwegian family's boat. Both talked as Jake worked, unaware of the cameraman silently standing near the rail with a camera trained on them to capture the moment.
"What the hell? What does he think he's doing?" Jacob flinched at the gruff voice sounding right behind his left ear. Turning, he saw the captain standing behind him.
"Shit, Sig! You scared the piss outta me! The kid's just showing her the bait station. Everything else is done so I guess he figured he could get ahead on the bait." At Sig's dark look, Jacob fell silent but kept the camera rolling. Ashton glanced up when she heard the voices and the amusement and laughter left her voice and face.
"Jake, Captain Hansen's back. He doesn't look very happy…" Jake looked over to where his boss and the cameraman stood, his smile fading as he turned back to the frozen herring. In a matter of moments Jake finished stuffing the bait he'd prepared into the bags and with Ashton's help stored the filled bait sacks. When they were done, Sig was gone and Jacob had returned to his on deck cameras. Edgar paused long enough to pass his armload of groceries to Jake and take Ashton by the elbow.
"Help Norman put this stuff away, Junior. I'll take over babysitting from here. Sig wants a word with you in the wheelhouse." Ashton cast a worried glance at Jake's retreating back as Edgar guided her up the deck stairs leading to the wheelhouse. He smiled to himself as she attempted to hide his elder brother's dark glance aimed at her back as she crossed the wheelhouse. Another tall, lean man busied himself with the final adjustments on the fixed cameras and microphones. Ashton focused her attentions to the wall opposite the windows as she half listened to a one sided conversation being held on the sat-phone. Edgar lounged in the chair across the wheelhouse from his brother and half watched Ashton.
Three bodies flinched as Sig slammed the phone against the cradle in a foul-tempered attempt to hang up, catching it as it fell back and slammed it against the cradle again with a foul Norwegian curse as it finally latched against the cradle. Snatching up his pack of cigarettes, he tapped one out and tossed the pack onto the bare dash. With a slight tremble in his hand, he lit the cigarette and the lighter clattered across the dash to join the carton. Sig closed his eyes and took a few calming drags, smoke streaming out his nostrils. Eyes still closed, his voice came out dangerously low.
"We're stuck with her. We're fucking stuck with her."
Copyright Alissa Franko 2009