Under cover

by popdiggitty

Annabeth knocks in the window of the black SUV. The man from Percy’s funeral, Alexei, and two other men sit in the car. She had noticed it outside her home for several days and she thought it followed her whenever she left the apartment. “Are you following me? What the hell!” The window rolls down about halfway. Alexei sits in the passengers seat and he smiles at her. “We just wa

16. 16

Nico

The freighter sits in the water. She's empty now, except for the crew and several yellow cranes. It had begun snowing and Nico was glad to be warm on the bridge.

Jack steps inside, stomping his boots and shaking his hands. His face has smears if dark grease across it. "Well Cap, we got some good news and bad news."

Nico turns to face him. "What do you mean?"

Jack steps foreword, extending a large cylinder. It's about the size of a big water bottle and its got a hole through the center.

"Well the good news is I cleaned and checked through the engine. Leo and I replaced the piston that you guys cut and It's fine now. Except this," he looks at the cylinder. "You've got a crack in the Gudgeon pin. I'm gonna need a new one, otherwise we ain't going anywhere."

Nico takes the Gudgeon pin and examines it. "Where's the crack?"

Jack points at a spot on the pin. Sure enough, there's a section where the metal looks melted and cracked.

"Shit, can you get a new one?"

He hands it back and wipes black grease on his pants.

Jack nodded. "Yeah, and then we'll be good to go. But that's not the bad news. I asked around and the maintenance shop is out of stock. They said we'd probably have to ship it here or go to St. Petersburg."

"St. Petersburg!?" Nico explodes. "What about Beloye Mor?"

Jack shakes his head.

"Kolvitsa?"

"Nope,"

"Zelenoborsky?"

"Uh-uh, I mean, they have pins but not the .42mm we need."

"Shit! What the hell is wrong with these people?" In his anger he starts shouting Dutch. "Je woont in de buurt van een havenstad! hoe zit je in godsnaam niet op de essentie ?! (You live near a port city! how the hell aren't you stocked on the essentials ?!)"

Jack takes a step back. "Okay, I don't know what that means, but we should get going soon. There's a train leaving soon. We can be on it before noon today. It'll take a full three days at least."

"Well, what about Murmansk?!"

Jack shrugs. "I can check again. But," he shrugs and sticks his arms out in an I don't know gesture.

Jack leaves to make the call.

Nico looks at a map posted on the wall, thoughtfully rubbing the stubble on his chin.

He's right, we'll have to leave today if we want to get back in time to keep schedule... we'll get back Sunday and be able to ship out on Monday.

Begrudgingly, he takes out his cell phone and purchases two train tickets to St. Petersburg.