Read Online Seabound (Seabound Chronicles Book 1) by Jordan Rivet - Free Book Online Page A

Cally’s regular maintenance work paid off
when the engines sputtered to life with barely a cough. They felt the huge
propellers beneath the ship begin to turn. Together, unbeknownst to the rest of
the crew, they set the Catalina on a beeline toward the Galaxy Flotilla .
    By the time Esther
got to the Atlantis Hall for dinner that night, everyone was consumed with talk
of the storm. Deliberate movements had become increasingly rare. There was
always hope that drifting in a new part of the sea would somehow be different
from their current monotony. Esther looked around, but her father wasn’t in the
hall. It was too bad. Herring was his favorite. She sat down alone and dug in
to her food with a bent fork. It was her first meal since the disaster with the
desal system. She forgot how hungry a near-death experience could make her.
    Esther happened to
glance up from her chipped plate and caught Gracie Cordova looking at her. Gracie
put a hand to her cheek in the same spot where the large cut marred Esther’s
face and tipped her head sideways. Her thick hair hung across her face in an
annoyingly coy curtain. Esther glowered at her. In an effort to curry favor
with Judith back when she had started to gain power, Gracie had talked of
Simon’s arrogance to anyone who would listen. The ensuing gossip binge had
spread like hot oil, hurting Simon deeply. The last thing Esther needed was
Gracie speculating on what she’d been up to that day. She quickly shoveled the
rest of the fish into her mouth, wincing at the pain induced by chewing. But
she was too late. Gracie came over and plopped herself down in the chair
opposite Esther.
    “What have you
been up to today, Esther?”
    “Just doing my communal
duty. You?”
    “I’ve been taking
inventory of Judith’s stores. Just to make sure nothing has gone missing.”
    “Well?” Esther
fixed her eyes on Gracie’s murky brown ones.
    “Everything’s
there,” she muttered, dropping her gaze.
    “How nice for
Judith.”
    “What happened to
your face?” Gracie’s direct look was back.
    “It’s just a
scratch. Got it in the engine room. What happened to yours?”
    Gracie ignored
her. “Strange, isn’t it? This running storm.”
    “Why? We’ve had
storms before,” Esther said.
    “It’s come awfully
soon after the last one, don’t you think?”
    “Has it?”
    “It’s only been
two days. That’s very unusual.”
    Esther shifted in
her seat. “Hadn’t noticed,” she said. “Maybe the weather patterns are changing.
If you can even call them patterns.”
    “I was on deck for
my sun quota earlier,” Gracie pressed, “and it sure doesn’t look like a big
storm is coming. I think something’s up.”
    “Like what?”
Esther kept her tone neutral, concentrating hard on the crumbling slivers
beneath her fork.
    “I don’t know.
It’s strange that Neal is sending out a storm call like this so soon. Don’t you
think?”
    “As far as I
know,” Esther said, “Neal’s not the one who controls the weather.”
    “It just doesn’t
feel like a storm’s coming, that’s all.”
    Esther refused to
meet Gracie’s eyes, but in her peripheral vision she could see Gracie studying
her. She kept her voice casual. “Well, that’s some great detective work there.
You’ve convinced me.”
    “We’ll see,”
Gracie said. “Sometimes there’s more going on on this ship than meets the eye.
You ought to know that by now.”
    “What’s that
supposed to mean?” Esther said sharply.
    “Oh, nothing. Poor
Esther. You’ll figure it out eventually.”
    Esther didn’t want
to get into any of Gracie’s intrigues. She’d have to make sure Gracie didn’t
snoop around too much during the storm call. She’d rather Judith found out
about what she did than have Gracie Cordova telling the whole ship her version
of it. Judith, at least, was honest.
    Esther forced
herself to down her generous ration of water, knowing they should already be conserving
their stores. She stood up from the