TITLE: Quota
SUMMARY: The tragic story of another doomed salvage team that found the Antonia Graza.
PAIRING: sort of a Jack/OC… sort of
POV: first person – main character (Johanna Woods)
TIME PERIOD: 3 weeks before the Arctic Warrior salvage team.
LENGTH: 10-15 chapters
RATING: M… Bad language, gore… things your mother would never approve of.
GENRE: Horror/Suspense/Romance (very mild)
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Ghost Ship or anything even affiliated with it. I wish I did 'cause that would be phenomenal. :)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Like the movie did, I've made the main character in my story a female. Not necessarily because I'm a girl and most certainly not for the reason of self-insertion, but because I think female leads can be a bit stronger (i.e. Ellen Ripley, Sarah Conner, etc.) and also because any woman who is a ship salvager is a complete badass and is worthy of being made a main character.
P.S. I've written other Ghost Ship stories (way before even gave it its own category!) like Ironic and The Greatest Feeling in the World, under a different name. …Gosh, those are old… But anyway, go check them out!! They're awesome!!
…I'm sorry, that was a shameless plug.
CHAPTER 1
I've honestly never been much of a salvager. Never quite fit in or was one of the pack. I was more or less a tag-along, only there because I had no where else to go and no other family to turn to. It's sad, really.
Although 'family' isn't a word I should really be using to describe this brigade of warped chain-smokers. I like to think of us more as a 'fucked up Brady Bunch' that secretly wanted to kill each other, the only one holding us together being my Uncle Robby, the captain.
He makes such an effort, too. But he seems to be oblivious to all the other things like Jones' vulgar behavior towards me and Riley's obsession with pot. It's rare to see that crazy boy straight.
"Jo. Hey, Jo."
I broke out of my daze and looked towards the voice that called my name. "Hm, yeah?"
"Whuddaya want?" I stared at Koorey for a moment. I was confused. "To drink, Jo."
"Oh, um, Bud Light, please." I said as I looked up at the pretty waitress and smiled sheepishly. She nodded her head and smiled back before she trotted away in a skirt that was way too small for her. She needed to wear some pants… her cellulose was showing.
I hated that bar, The White Wolf. It's a god-awful name, but Jones, Koorey, and Stalter all think the waitresses and barmaids are easy; so they liked to hang out there every once in a while. The place was worn-down and filthy. I'm sure I've gotten a disease or two. No, seriously. Especially watch out for the bathroom. I wouldn't touch that toilet seat with a ten-foot pole.
"So, Woods, have you found us another job yet?" Stalter said as she lit her cigarette. She was the only other girl besides me that manned The Esmeralda. And my god was she beautiful. Long black hair, big green eyes, a perfect body. Guys just adored her. Too bad she was a staunch lesbian.
"I think so." My uncle glanced at his watch and then towards the door behind him. He seemed anxious, impatient, almost.
"What're you waitin' for?" Jones said what we all were thinking.
As I peered over my uncle's shoulder to see what he was waiting for, a man walked through the door and glanced around the place. He looked a little grubby, wearing green corduroy pants, a matching shirt, and a blue windbreaker. His eyes swept over the table and landed on my uncle. A ghost of a smile passed over his face and he began walking towards us. My blue eyes widened in anticipation. I was excited.
"I think we have a visitor." I said softly to my crewmates. Just as they looked at me the man approached the table. My uncle grinned.
"Hey there, Jack!" my uncle said as he took Jack's hand with both of his and shook it vigorously. He's always been too cheery for his own good. Jack smiled awkwardly. "Pull up a seat!"
Jack grabbed a chair from an empty table nearby and seated himself next to my uncle.
"Guys, this is Jack Ferriman. And I believe he has a job for us." My uncle patted him on the shoulder. Jack's body flew forward with each whack. It was kind of funny.
"Hi." he said softly. Jack waved and his eyes washed over all of us. It was strange; it was almost like he was sizing each one of us up. When his eyes reached me he paused for a moment and briefly smiled. I blushed, I know I did. How could I not? The man was gorgeous, to say the least. He was no Brad Pitt but he had beautiful, dark blue eyes and messy brown hair. Not to mention his little baby face was completely clean-shaven. He looked so… cuddly and innocent.
I tucked my auburn hair behind my ear and looked away. I felt my ears start to burn. God, I'm a fucking idiot.
Anyway, our waitress finally came back with our drinks. "You want somethin', Jack?" My uncle looked at him and smiled.
"No thanks. I'm fine." He was so soft-spoken, too.
I stared at the full Budweiser in front of me. I just… stared at it, not wanting it anymore. So I began to peel and fudge with the label as I listened to the conversation in front of me. I liked to fidget.
"So what's this about a job, Ferriman?" Jones said nonchalantly as he lit a cigarette of his own.
Jack scooted his chair in closer to the table. "Um, alright. I'm part of the Arctic Weather Patrol that flies out over Mackenzie Bay and a couple of weeks ago I was out in the middle of The Straight and I found this." He dug through a small brown backpack he had with him and pulled out a couple of pictures.
Jones snatched one off the table and looked at it for a second. My uncle and Stalter took the others. "Yeah, it's a big boat, Ferriman. Nice job." Jones said sarcastically as he blew a puff of smoke towards him.
Stalter always hated when he did ignorant shit like that. Actually, Stalter just hated him. The two never got along. She cocked her head and glared at him. He caught her eye and stared back for a moment. "What?" Jones said with a shrug of his shoulders, like he wasn't a jackass.
"Give 'em goddamn chance to say what he's got to say, Jones." She looked to Jack as Koorey and I snickered. "Now, what's so important about this ship, Jack?"
"Well, I tried radio contact and got nothing. I did several fly-bys and it just looked… abandoned."
Stoner Riley, had remained quiet until then. He usually never talked much anyway. That's because he didn't have anything in common with these people. I could relate to it. "A giant ship like that, man? Abandoned? And in the middle of the Bering Straight? Somebody else hasta know about it."
"I haven't told anyone about it, except for you guys. I did tell the Coastguard about it when I first saw the ship but since its international waters there was nothing they could really do. They noted it and that's all. I forgot about it until I saw it again a couple of days ago. I wanted to do something about it and that's how I met your captain yesterday. We got to talking; he seemed interested and wanted to introduce me to you all."
"Well, then let's get that outta the way." Stalter said as she put out the butt of her cigarette. She pointed to herself first. "The name's Kathryn Stalter. This good man to my left here is Richard Koorey and the gal to his left is Johanna Woods. That little shit next to her is Kevin Riley and then there's James Jones. And you know our captain, Robert Woods…"
Jack nodded and smiled.
"So… what are you lookin' to get outta this, Jack. We haven't discussed that yet." My uncle looked to him with slightly furrowed eyebrows.
"Ten percent of what she's worth. And I want to go with you."
Jones snorted. "Uh, I don't think so buddy. You're not a salvager. It's our boat."
"He's got a point there." Stalter agreed.
"Look, I know the location of the ship. You're going to let that potential money slip out of your hands just because you don't want an extra body on board? There are lots of other salvagers around here, even in this bar, that would die for this opportunity."
My uncle was a greedy man. It was his Deadly Sin, if you will. He was a decent guy, but when it came to his shit or shit that could be his… he would sacrifice his first born for it. He sighed and looked down at the table at his unfinished drink. "Fine." He looked back up; his eyebrows still scrunched a little. "But you do what we say when we say it. It's for your safety."
Jack smiled. "Of course."
By the way, during this little conversation Jones saw that I didn't even touch my beer. Without even asking me he snatched it away and chugged it. God I hate that man.
A/N: The next chapters will be a lot longer, I promise. :)