CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX PROVIDENIYA Our cruise director’s office door was slightly ajar. Her cabin was as before, stark, although not as severe as Captain Kessler’s. Benito was at her desk. Her cabin was huge, compared to what I was assigned, but then, after the Captain...
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE Providence My body craved sleep, but my mind wouldn’t slow down. I pulled the Aguiak gold nuggets from my small table drawer. I rolled them around in my hand, like rough-cut dice without numbers. Then I took the Leica out of my pocket and...
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE Chukchi I dressed in my Lindy-provided blue sweater. There was no name on the front of the beautifully knit Canadian wool, just an embroidered representation of the ship over the left breast, and the white stitched letters, “STAFF” on the...
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO Riding the Trough Sheriff Maxwell and I sat on either side of his old, cast-off military desk. He had laughed heartily when I had inquired, nervously, about whether he was related to Agent Maxwell of the Department of Immigration. “You’re supposed...
CHAPTER TWENTY The Eigenfunction We climbed back aboard the World Discoverer (aka ‘Lindy’). Benito was nowhere around, which provided some much-needed relief. I hesitated for a brief instant. The supervisor’s throw had caused me bruises I had only begun to...