A/N: Sorry for the delay, but I am busier than expected and currently doing too many things at once.

In the Name of the Father

Chapter IX

By the time Ata walked down the stairs and made his way into the kitchen, Eleanor was already all packed up and ready to go.

She was sitting at the dining table with a pair of decent-fitting jeans, boots, and a green long-sleeve blouse. Her dark hair was tied up into a ponytail that trailed down to her back. As he walked in she greeted him a good morning, and he returned her greeting with a small smile and a nod.

Eleanor was eating a sandwich she had found in the refrigerator, something that she did not think Ata would mind, but she had also not thought that he would be awake to see her off and therefore would not know she had eaten it until she was long gone.

"S-Sorry! I hope you don't mind that I helped myself to a sandwich," she said a little embarrassed. "I was kinda hungry and I didn't want to wake you."

Ata smiled, though the smile did not quite reach his eyes. "Of course. Help yourself."

They ate in silence until the light outside began to brighten considerably, at which point Ata stood and looked down at the young woman.

"It is time," he said simply.

Gathering her things, Eleanor followed Ata out of his small home and they navigated the mostly empty streets of the town towards the docks, a collection of wooden walkways jutting out from the rocky shore next to the town. A little more than a dozen boats were tied up there, some already with men on board prepping for a long day's work out at sea. A few that Eleanor had recalled seeing last night were already gone out to sea, their berths empty.

Ata told her they were almost all fishermen, save for Nauja and two others who worked as merchants and made most of their business trading up and down the coast.

Nauja's boat was bigger than the other merchant ships that were moored next to her. Almost double in size, in fact. With the extra space he was able to squeeze in a lot more goods and therefore was making a lot more money than anyone else in the village. She knew that Nauja was not just a trader, but a hunter as well, but she found it hard to believe that he could possibly fill the cargo hold with only his hunts. There had to be other things from other people and other businesses. What else he traded in, Eleanor did not know and Ata did not say.

She and Ata stopped on the wooden dock right by the boat.

Nauja was already there, readying the ship with his brother and son, the trio scurrying about the main deck. Nauja, seeing them, walked down the plank and onto the dock, standing in front of them.

He was several inches shorter than Eleanor, but stockier, with large muscles from all the work he has done lifting heavy crates and other things for however many years. His black eyes studied her as he had walked towards them from the end of the boarding plank.

Inwardly, Eleanor felt that she could not trust this man. Something about him was off-putting but she could not quite place it, and then she quickly passed it off as her old habits kicking in. This was not Rapture anymore. She should be able to trust people, especially if Ata trusted them. The old man had been so nice and helpful to her, and as far as she could tell he seemed genuinely concerned that she find Jack. Her gut instinct was usually right in such instances, but she decided to ignore it and give Nauja a chance.

Nauja stepped forward and embraced Ata.

"Elder Ata, good to see you," greeted Nauja warmly with a smile that showed straight but slightly colored teeth, "And you must be. . .?"

"Eleanor. Good to meet you, Nauja, and thank you so much for helping me," said Eleanor quickly and with a smile of her own, her pearly white teeth flashing for a brief moment before they were hidden away.

Nauja gave her a nod, "Good to meet you as well, Eleanor. And you are most welcome. We are traveling south anyways so there is no trouble at all." He scratched his balding head. He and Ata exchanged a look that Eleanor did not catch as she looked at the boat she was about to travel on.

"All ready, brother!" a man yelled from the boat, breaking the somewhat awkward silence that had fallen between them. He was leaning against the side railing, a tall, wiry man with close-cropped dark brown hair and a thick dark beard of his own. If it were not for the fact they shared similar facial features she would not have known they were brothers because of their differences in build. She wondered which of them was the older.

Nauja called out a thanks to his brother and then turned to them, "Well, it is time for us to go now. We wish to get there as soon as possible. Please, Eleanor, come aboard." He bade Ata a goodbye and then walked back up the plank, leaving the two standing on the dock.

Eleanor turned to old man and gave him a hug, surprising him. "Thank you again, Ata. You have no idea how much this means to me.""

Ata slowly returned the hug, his eyes looking far out into the distance. "It was the least I could do. Stay safe, Eleanor, and good luck."

She was soon across the plank and on the ship, taking one last look at the sleepy little town and Ata who watched as they cast off and sailed away.

-oooo-

The wind was at behind them, stretching out the full sails. The boat cut through the relatively calm waters of the ocean as they hugged the coastline on their way south.

Eleanor found herself standing by the starboard side of the ship, leaning against the side rail and watching the mostly uninhabited coast of Greenland move by slowly. Ever so often she would turn away from her gazing and look around to see what the others were doing. Usually they were working on the boat in some manner, and of course there was always someone steering up at the helm, but for the most part once the sails were out in full the others relaxed on the deck for a bit and chatted, or went belowdecks to do something.

A seagull cried overhead, interrupting her thoughts and making her look up as the bird soared right over the boat.

She could not help but wonder what it was like to fly, to feel the wind rushing towards you as you sailed across the open sky, watching as the world moved and lived beneath you. The amount of freedom that a bird had was enviable to her, and she wished she could fly away at that very moment up into the clouds, leaving not only Rapture deep underwater but even the very world that lived on the surface.

Then her thoughts were grounded again, turning back to her goal: finding Jack. And she felt that she was so very close to doing so. His trail was far warmer than she had been expecting, and she hoped her luck would hold in that regard. Perhaps he was still in the city that they were heading to, some name she could not quite pronounce. Once she found him, would he be willing to help her?

"Why are you going to Kuluusiiq?" asked a man who was suddenly beside her.

Startled, she turned and saw that it was Nauja's brother, Maniitok. Mentally chastising herself for letting someone sneak up on her like that, she responded, "I am. . . looking for someone."

"Who?" He leaned his tall frame against the railing, gloved hands clasped together in front of him.

"A. . . relative of mine. My uncle. Didn't. . . didn't Nauja tell you?" She looked at him curiously.

He shook his head and scoffed at the question, "Nauja never tells me anything." He turned away and gazed out at the passing coast.

"Why not?" asked Eleanor, still studying the unreadable expression on his face. She found it odd that two brothers who worked together did not talk about such things.

He looked back at Eleanor, seemingly hearing her thoughts. "We may be brothers, young girl, but when we work he is the boss of this operation and I am his employee. Anything about the operations of the business is on a need-to-know basis, including transporting you it seems."

"Doesn't that bother you?" she asked, because a situation like that would definitely bother her. She found the arrangement very strange. Did his brother not trust him? Was there a reason not to trust Maniitok? She eyed him a little warily.

"No," came the quick reply, ". . . it shouldn't." He sighed and shrugged before suddenly walking away.

She watched his retreating form and wondered what the hell that was all about.

-oooo-

On the second night of their journey, Eleanor could not sleep. Her excitement and anxiety about finding Jack was keeping her brain too busy to shut itself off for the night. Unable to stand staying cooped up in her small cabin for too long, she made her way to the deck, wrapping a blanket around herself to protect against the chilling wind. The thick cloth kept her reasonably warm, though the wind seemed to be working intently to get through to her. She figured she would not be able to stay out too long before the cold finally got to her.

She looked to the stern where the bridge was and where Maniitok, whose shift it was to steer the ship at the time, stood at the helm. He waved at her through the wide viewing glass and she returned the wave.

Turning, Eleanor walked all the way to the bow and then lay down, looking up at the clear night sky again and admiring the stars in all their shining splendor. She could not get enough of this view. She lay there for a while, her thoughts churning. She thought about her time in Rapture. About her late Father. And about her own journey, fresh as it was. She felt like she had made bigger strides than she could have ever hoped for, and may that remain the case as she continued to chase after one man she believed could help her.

Finally, after some time, she felt sleep beginning to tug her under, so she stood and wearily retreated to her quarters. Plopping down on her bed, a rather uncomfortably hard mattress with one pillow and a simple fitted sheet, she quickly fell asleep.

Some time later she was woken up by someone shaking her. Gradually, she regained consciousness, and wearily looked about, her mind a mess of cobwebs.

Her eyes found Nauja's son, Koko, standing next to her bed and looking at her nervously. He was not much younger than her, maybe twelve or thirteen, but she was not sure. He had the same almost black eyes as his father and the same dark brown hair. He was almost her height already, thin but muscled from all the labor-intensive work, kind of similar to Maniitok actually.

She had barely spoken to him throughout the journey south because he tended to keep to himself when he was free, which seemed a rarity. Most of the time, Eleanor saw him when he was busy working on whatever it was that needed doing on the boat.

"Father told me. . . he told me to wake you and tell you that we're close to making port at the city," he said meekly and left immediately afterwards, apparently not instructed to wait for a response.

Eleanor got out of bed in a hurry and made sure her pack was in order before she ventured out onto the deck. Nauja had the helm while Maniitok and Koko scurried about, undoubtedly readying for their arrival.

About a half mile away, ahead of the boat, was the city, or at least what was considered to be a city in Greenland. It was about three times bigger than the small village they had come from, which compared to other cities she knew about, was not saying much. Compared to the cities found in other countries, this was likely to be called a simple village, but for Greenlanders this was considered a major city.

At least the small port appeared very well-maintained. It certainly looked the part of a major city port. Vessels of all different sizes were safely tucked away behind the massive breakwater that sheltered the small fleet of gathered ships, many of them bigger than the boat they were on.

Not too long a while later they were safely maneuvered into the port and moored. The trio was already beginning to unload crates of varying sizes from the cargo hold. Eleanor retrieved her pack from her quarters and was back on the deck looking for Nauja, wishing to thank him and then ask him a few things. She found him on the dock, stacking some crates that he had brought down with the trolley he was using to unload them from the boat.

"Welcome to the city of Kuluusiiq, Eleanor," greeted the man with a small smile, sweating from the effort to move the boxes. "Do you happen to have a place to stay for the night?"

Eleanor shook her head, "I was hoping I would find Jack. . . uncle Jack," she corrected herself, "And stay with him once I found him."

"Well, if you do not find him soon enough, you are welcome to stay with us. We stay in the rooms above the shop we have here whenever we are in town. It is on the main street, a shop called Northern Wares. You can't miss it," he told her.

"Thank you, again, so much for this. If there's anything I can do-"

He waved her off. "You're welcome, Eleanor. There is no need to repay us, we were happy to help."

"So," she said, "Do you happen to know where I might start to look for him?"

Nauja finished the stack he had been working on and then leaned against it, scratching his head, and looked to concentrate for a moment, "Well, it has been a long time since, to be honest, but I last saw him in the market. A man's got to eat, eh? And it's the only major market around for hundreds of miles. Perhaps you can start there." He proceeded to give her directions on how to get there.

She thanked him one last time and headed for the market. Her steps were quick with anticipation and in her mind she hoped that maybe this would be her lucky day. She could picture it already, going into the market looking for him and then eventually finding him as he shopped for food for his family, blending in and pretending to simply be a normal person.

As she neared the market, she began to have some misgivings: what if she could not recognize him anymore? what if he was dead? what if nobody knew who she was talking about? But she shook herself of these doubts and steeled herself like she had done a million times before. She had faced worse things than this and she needed to be as strong as she had been back in Rapture, because if Rapture could not break her, how could the world?

The city streets were fairly busy with plenty of people going about their day. Definitely more populated than the fishing village she had just come from that now seemed to be only half the total size of the city dock area alone. There were lots of familiar and yet slightly different noises, smells, and sights that assaulted her senses.

There was definitely more liveliness to the people here than in the sleepy village, and she kind of liked that. Not that she did not mind the tranquility and beauty of the quiet village where Ata and the others lived, but this. . . this was more her style.

She reached the market, a large rectangular plaza filled with numerous stalls. In the buildings surrounding the plaza were many more stores that sold all manner of goods and services. There were not too many people in the market, since it was still relatively early, and she was thankful that it was not too busy, otherwise she might have had trouble trying to talk to people. She was here to ask about Jack, not to shop or even browse for goods, though she could not help but look around with interest.

There were of course markets and shopping areas back in Rapture, but the vibe and the look was far different here on the surface. Perhaps it was the sky that made it feel so different, vastly different from the ceilings that hung over every space in the sunken city.

She approached the first stall she came across manned by an old guy who looked to be at least a decade older than Ata. He was selling a variety of fish, some of them with their heads chopped off, but most of them still whole. He tried hard to get her to buy it, though his speech was rather slurred so she barely understood anything he said. She caught word of something about the fish being fresh and only brought in moments ago by the early morning fishermen. But when she asked about Jack he simply shook his head and said he did not remember or know anything about such a man.

Eleanor continued on for what seemed like hours until she had asked every single one of the merchants who had stalls in the plaza. None had been the least bit helpful in her search. Not a single one even recognized her description of him or his name. Frustration shook her, but she was not about to give up yet. Not after having gotten this far already.

Someone had to know about Jack, and she was going to find out who. She progressed to asking the shopkeepers for information this time, going from building to building, asking the same questions and getting much of the same answers.

-oooo-

The man watched as the young girl made her way through the plaza. He could see the frustration building up within her in the way she held her body. He had an eye for body language, part of the reason why he was on this assignment in the first place.

He stayed a good distance away, pretending to browse through some of the stalls at the market.

It was bright and warm, the sun beating down on the open plaza. Thankfully, many of the stalls had cover and so there was a lot of shade, not that he did not come prepared for the sunlight. He adjusted his dark sunglasses since they had loosened a bit. Cheap sunglasses, but they did the job well enough.

He walked further down the rows of stalls to try and get a better view of the girl, careful not to lose sight of her for too long.

She entered an open shop that faced the plaza, not more than thirty meters away from him. She spoke to the shopkeeper, who looked confused about something she was asking, though by the way his body was moving he could tell the man was hiding something and he was nervous about it.

He wondered what the girl was looking for in this old market and why he was following her. But that was as far as his thought process went, not bothering to even attempt to answer any of those questions. He did not want to know anything about it, if he was to be perfectly honest. Such things were above his pay-grade. A sizable pay-grade that he wanted to keep. And he knew what happened to people who asked too many questions in this organization.

Suddenly a voice crackled in his ear as his comm system came to life.

"Rover Two, this is Rover One. Status report."

He turned slightly and raised his right arm, where a hidden mic was attached to the end of his sleeve. His eyes made a quick sweep of his immediate vicinity. Nobody was paying attention to him. His voice was low when he spoke. Even though in the middle of the market, even at such a relatively quiet hour, nobody would really hear him. But it still paid to be careful, and he did not want to mess anything up for his bosses.

"Rover One, this is Rover Two. Eyes on target. Moving through the plaza. Looks like target's done going through the stalls and is beginning to go into the shops, over."

There was a moment of silence, followed by, "Okay. Continue shadowing target until further notice. Do not lose visual contact. Got it?"

"Roger that, sir. Rover Two, out." Adjusting his tailored suit jacket, he continued to walk between the stalls and pretend to look through the goods being sold. His eyes, hidden behind the dark sunglasses, never left his target.