Chapter 25
„Alvi, hi. Good to see you back on your feet. How're you feeling?" Valerie joined her old friend at the railing.
"Thanks Val. Bit wobbly still, but getting there. Any news?"
"Not yet. But Tex is there, at the college, and in contact with the ground crew. Helo is on the way."
"Yeah, that I heard." The dark haired young woman pulled the braid over her shoulder and threw the red haired one an amused glance. "Still feels strange, to have the skyscrapers so near…"
"You were below decks the whole time we crawled up the Mississippi."
Alviarin grinned, trying to downplay the tension. "Look at you, genius nut-head programmer all savvy on the navy vocabulary!"
Valerie grunted with surprised laughter. "Evil. Can't all of us have an uncle in the navy."
"You just won't admit that it's been a good ride."
They grinned at each other companionably.
"Feels good being on the right side." Valerie admitted somewhat sheepishly.
Alviarin knew not to press the issue, though she took a breath of satisfaction.
"Do you think Memphis will be a bust, too?"
Valerie shrugged. "I sure hope it won't. You?"
"Nah, I trust your network, and the common sense of the people. Even those who saw Ramsey's videos must know that the Nathan James would never come up the River and not go to Pensacola or Key West or any of the Florida Naval bases to dry-dock. She's badly damaged, even the messages coming in commented on that. No way any sane commander would take her anywhere else." Alviarin bit her lip. Her nervousness over the ongoing mission expressed itself in the heated words.
Pulling a strand of coloured hair out of her face the other woman stared silently for a moment. "I never thought that far. Course you're right – there'd be no reason for the ship to come up the Mississippi and not deliver the cure."
"That's a conclusion I would not have expected from you, Miss Rykers," a new voice threw in from behind them.
"XO! Any news?"
"It's over. Cure's delivered. Tex, his daughter, Green, Mills, Wolfman and the rest kept the people in place until the helo came. They'll give us details as soon as they're back. On to St. Louis."
Both young women had turned fully toward the tall man.
"Nice." Valerie punched the air in a gesture of victory.
The Elf gave the first officer a brilliant smile. "They're all ok?"
"Yeah. They even got McDowell."
Alviarin reached out to grasp the first officer's hand for a short moment.
"Alvi, is that a tear?" the computer scientist sneered good-naturedly.
"Oh shut up. Not everyone's as cold-hearted as you!"
The XO could not help his own grin in the face of the two women's exuberance. But then he took a closer look at them. "Elf, you sit down now, and enjoy the scenery. That's an order. You're pale."
Chuckling, the girl sat down on the deck-chair friendly hands had supplied her with when she came on deck for the first time in long days of convalescence. Her arm still rested in a sling, but at least the bandages were small enough now to hide under regular clothes.
Sharing a glance made companionable by the shared concern for the injured young woman, Slattery and Valerie Raymond watched Alviarin lean back, closing her eyes with a deep breath.
"Gods, I feel all tingly."
Slattery's lips twitched. "Sure that's not from the low blood pressure?"
That made the subject of his sneering chuckle again, pressing the good hand against her collarbone with a pained grimace. "Laughing hurts, but it feels so nice. There's hope at last."
Valerie Raymond slowly glanced back over her shoulder, over the skyline and the Desoto Bridge. She had turned serious at the other woman's words.
"Wonder what they went through…"
That made her two companions turn thoughtful, too. She continued almost as if to herself: "Sometimes I wonder who was worst off…"
A long moment passed with nobody uttering a word, then the deep voice from the chair commented in a neutral tone: "We both think of what we went through. But wasn't… I mean… Wasn't that the hardest? Coming back from a leisure cruise in the arctic to find the world had collapsed? We had warning, some earlier than others, had at least some opportunity to deal with what was going on. You had no warning, no journey, just a sudden slap in the face - facts. The hardest decisions to make. Face the responsibilities… of your coming – not late, but unblemished. Pure in a way." She opened her eyes then, glance falling on the tall man staring at her with an unreadable expression. As if realising she had spoken out loud, the young woman sat up. "Gods, XO… I apologize."
"Aren't you full of surprises today?" The first officer had lost the light tone.
"Geez, Alvi. Sure your fever's down?" Even the red-head was staring at her friend. With a conscious shrug and wry grimace, she told Slattery: "She's always had a poetic streak whenever you least expected it."
The first officer accepted her effort to lighten the mood and nodded acceptingly, eyes still serious.
"That might be a question for the history books." Captain Chandler and Chief Engineer Garnett had closed in on the three without any of them noticing.
Alviarin blushed deeply, biting her lip. She made to stand up, but the commander's broad hand on her shoulder stopped any effort.
"No, Miss Rykers, no need to get up. Glad to see you back on deck finally." The Captain's words were measured.
The blond Chief Engineer on the other hand gave her part-time-apprentice a full smile and said: "I second that, Alviarin. Good to see you back on your feet."
Colour still high in her cheeks, the young woman tried to answer nonchalantly. "Thanks, Chief Engineer. It's nice to be out in the air again."
A momentary lull overcame the group, too serious had been the mission and the words spoken.
It was the blond woman who broke the silence. "So, am I the only one who has never been to St. Louis? I'm really curious about the gateway arch."
Valerie seconded in her direct way: "With good cause, ma'am. It's a sight. Even more so if you know the mechanics behind it…" catching the bemused expressions all around and the lifted brows of the reclining mathematician, she halted. "Sorry, nerd going overboard again."
Surprisingly, it was Tom Chandler who settled the issue. "Not at all, Miss. It is a feat, and a sight to see."
"Fit for a new capital?" That was Mike Slattery, all dry and short again.
"The president thinks so, and I have to concur. There is some infrastructure left. If things work out tomorrow, rebuilding can spread from there."
Staring out over Memphis, the chief engineer stated somewhat forlornly: "I can hardly believe we made it this far." Pain echoed in her voice. She turned back to the group and asked of the other two women: "What details can you tell me about the arch?"
Valerie and Alviarin shared a glance, understanding passing between them. Valerie started: "It's parabolic, or a cosine curve, however you look at it."
Alviarin shook her head impatiently and with perfect comedic timing pushed imaginary glasses higher onto her nose, rubbed her hands together slowly as if shedding chalk, and declaimed: "It's a catenary curve. Takes into account how the differing strain of weight influences the profile of the cross section. The building carries itself. The height at the vertex is the same as the diameter on the ground. The focus is only about forty feet from the top. At really high winds, the vertex can move up to forty-six centimetres from its quiescent point."
"Nerd." Valerie Raymond commented ever so dryly, calling forth laughter in all surrounding faces. Even the Captain could not help a slight twitch of his mouth.
Alviarin gave the other woman a falsely-annoyed glance, relaying grateful amusement underneath. "We did this at Anchorage until we could recite it in our sleep…"
"Lovely roundup, Elf." Andrea Garnett could sound dry, too.
The sound of the returning helo had the five faces lift to the heavens.
Before the grey chopper had passed over them, the Captain shifted his gaze minutely to glance at the reclining young woman. He could see the moment she felt him looking at her and met his eyes. A look of wary triumph, shy pride and sudden heat passed between them, uplifting with promise.
A sailor's call to the two officers interrupted the group. The RHIBs would return any moment, bringing the prisoner onto the ship. Chandler and Slattery left, faces turned unreadable once more.
"So how is it going with you, chief engineer?" Alvi looked up at the blond woman with a thoughtful expression in the light eyes. Valerie had turned to face the city once more.
"Well enough, I suppose. We're really low on fuel, but we knew that. It's gonna be almost a gamble to reach St. Louis."
"I guess we'll swim if we had to." Val spoke through the side of her mouth.
"The left-overs from the fight with the sub are under control, more can't really be done with the resources we have."
"Is she running a bit lower than before or is that my imagination?"
"No, you're right. Of course we took on some water, the pumps are running full time, and it's no big issue, but only because we are on our way to a dry-dock."
"So we're losing a bit more fuel than we'd usually need?"
A small smile flitted over the pale, narrow face of the engineer. "Look at you. Got a good feel for the old James. Yes, she's working harder at every step. But she's tough. We'll make it."
"So once there, do you have any plans? Anybody to look for…?"
"Val…" the dark haired girl had tried to interrupt her old friend.
Garnett grimaced slightly, and shrugged expressively.
"Ah, shit, me and my big mouth. I'm sorry, Ma'am. Alvi, next time just kick me?"
"You and me both, eejit."
"None of us came out of this unscathed, Miss Raymond. With eighty percent of the world population dead, it would be unfair to expect special treatment."
"Chief…" Alviarin reached out a hand. "Statistics don't make personal losses easier."
A lifeless grin flew over the older woman's face. "True. But being left behind…"
"Oh, Ma'am…" the grey eyes looked up pleadingly. "That just means we have to stick even harder together. It's a responsibility, going forward, and will need energy and strength – but it will be worth it! Look, there come Wolfman and Mills, they can tell us what went down…"
Val watched the Elf with slight bemusement, until she caught a look of such desperate energy, conveying anger and plea and misgiving, that the computer engineer did a double take.
"Husband and daughter," the young woman mouthed at her, as Garnett hailed the two soldiers coming toward them. Val gave an understanding twitch of her chin.
The two men joining them now were exuding exhilaration and triumph. Alviarin grinned at the sight – Miller, the redhead, was the perfect picture of the young sailor who came back from a successful mission, high on adrenalin, padding along on almost too-large feet, proud of himself, not quit managing to imitate the restrained, calm gait of his neighbour. Wolfman, outwardly the opposite of his young 'charge' – because that was what the boy had become – was all dark, well-contained energy, his experience tempering the triumph that shone from the black eyes. Both greeted the Chief Engineer with respectful nods, and the two younger women with very correct ones in Millers' case, and slightly challenging sneer in Wolfman's.
"XO told us you saved the day…" Alviarin smiled at them, willing away the tension left from before.
"Aye, Tex made that happen, and then we had our work cut out for us." Taking turns, interrupting each other laughingly, the two men described what had taken place on the college campus. "I'm particularly proud of red-head here – he had one of them immunes curl himself around his biceps, just standing there cool as ice." Taylor grinned at the predictable blush and proud embarrassment the younger marine tried to downplay.
Even the blond chief engineer could not help a grin, so infectious was their banter.
"I'm glad of your success, Miller, Taylor."
"So you've been sitting here enjoying the scenery?" Taylor asked of the convalescent. "Glad to see you look better, Elf."
"Well, I couldn't stay down there with so much at stake. And the air is nicer up here." They exchanged understanding grins.
"So it's on to St. Louis tomorrow?" Miller turned to the chief engineer.
"Aye."
"You worried about the fuel levels?" That was Taylor again.
"That's gotten around quickly…."
"No, Ma'am, we all know these things. Just nobody worries. We've got the Captain and you looking out for the old James."
Valerie quickly glanced away, hiding a grin at the young sailor's almost natural enthusiasm. Andrea Garnett's smile took on a less forced appearance.
"So we heard St. Louis has quite some infrastructure left. What I wouldn't do for some decent beer…"
"Right, cause down under everything tastes of Marmite. You should be happy with everything cook whips up!"
"You'll pay for that later, red-head. Chief, what will you go look for?"
The blond woman hesitated a moment, but let herself be caught by the jolly atmosphere. "Probably a good book, or two, and some new tools." She turned to the red-headed computer engineer. "And you, Miss Raymond?"
Valerie caught the slightly hostile expression in the Australian's face and exchanged a quick glance with the quiet girl in their middle. "Oh, I'd settle for a red steak and some marshmallows. Alvi?"
"Me?" she blushed, and moved a hand fending off the question.
"Come on, we're doing rounds. Give us something!" Wolfman challenged her amicably. "If you close your eyes, what is it you're most looking forward to?"
"Right now? The gateway arch."
Valerie cut in exhilarated: "Coward! Just because we just talked about it!"
"Well you took the steak, Wolfman the beer, the Chief the book, there's nothing decent left for me! Miller, save me, come on!" The young woman summoned enough energy to turn the laughter toward the young sailor again.
"A hot bath!"
That had them all laughing again.
But then, as if by the drop of a coin, they sobered.
"Don't mean to be the killjoy, but I look forward to find out if my mum's well. Sure, a steak would be nice, a beer too, but the only thing I can think of right now is to find her, and tell her we've made it."
It was Valerie Raymond who agreed quietly: "Yeah, same here. I'm not best friends with my folks, but I'd love to see their faces again."
"Do you know if they are all right?"
"Last I heard they were…"
"Don't Danny and Burke and some of the others have family up there, too, Miller? Guess you guys will stick together after this?"
Wolfman had turned toward the view. "Guess we all will stick together after this. There's no going back on the past months…" He caught the unbelieving and self-derogatory expression with which the other young woman had listened to his words. "Even you, hacker nut."
Valerie and the chief engineer snorted, Alviarin smiled over a silent breath out, and Mills looked from one to the other with a slightly bemused frown.
Andrea Garnett glanced at the dark-haired marine. "Have you heard anything on your family?"
"No, chief. No contact with the continent."
"I'm sorry. I don't know what is worse – to know for certain, or to be able to hold on to hope."
"Ma'am, I'd take the knowing. Deal with whatever comes, move on from it. Find new hope." He turned toward the group again, to find four pairs of eyes fixed on him. He shrugged, scratched his short beard and smiled. "I'm a glass half full kind of guy. Wisdom from down under."
"What do you call a talking kangaroo?" Miller's words were just a tiny bit slow. He had an especially dry expression on his face.
"What?" All other faces turned toward the younger man – three with frowns, one with suppressed hilarity.
"A quantum leap." He grinned widely. "Wisdom from down under – get it?" His enjoyment of having gotten the better of the other man was palpable. Only the slightest seriousness in his eyes betrayed his intent in lightening the subject.
"Ah, Miller, again with the smart mouthing!" Wolfman sputtered with indignation.
Valerie grinned widely at the exchange, appreciative of the camaraderie, and the pains everyone took to keep the mood alive.
"Alvi, will you join the expedition tomorrow?"
Curious glances focused on the reclining figure. The young woman looked tired. "Don't know yet. Doc and Dr Milkowsky keep telling me to take it easy, and I won't get the booster shot, anyway…"
"Cause you're immune?"
"Yeah, something about the cure as a shot possibly carrying side-effects for me."
"And I forgot… don't you have a thing about crowds?"
"Thanks for reminding me, Val." She glanced at the three navy people. "I don't deal well with too many people in one spot."
"How come?" Wolfman frowned alertly. The two young women exchanged a glance.
"An event that turned bad… too many people, too few exits. Resulted in a local panic, people pushing from behind, trampling each other. I was in the middle of it…"
"While I knew nothing of what was happening 'cause we had lost each other in the crowd." Val's dark eyes were haunted, too. "Fifteen dead, two of them friends of ours. She took away a mild case of claustrophobia."
"As can be understood."
"So I'll see how things go tomorrow." Alviarin closed the subject.
"Miller, shouldn't we go debrief or something?"
"Aye, Wolfman. Ladies…" He executed a small bow.
Taylor hesitated for a moment. "Elf, you don't look too good. Maybe returning inside isn't a bad idea?"
Alviarin grimaced, cheeks pale again. "Yes, in a minute. But I'll manage, you don't have to..."
"I'll stay with her…" Valerie met the Australian's glance directly.
"You do that. I'll see you tomorrow, Elf. Chief."
"Actually, he is right. We'd better take you back inside. We'll be under way soon, and you look as if you'll fall asleep any second."
Chief Engineer Garnett and Valerie Raymond chaperoned Alviarin back to her own cot, made sure she had everything she might need in easy distance, and left the young woman already closing her eyes. After Val had left, the blond chief turned back toward the half-asleep patient to find the grey eyes fixed on her with an unreadable expression.
"You don't have to be afraid for me, Alviarin. It's hard, to carry on, but those we lost would want us to stay strong. And we've come too far to give up."
A slight smile. "Glad to hear it, chief."
AN: thanks so much for the reviews, follows and PM's. you make my day. So this one was a bit on the lighter side...