***
Thecaptain’scomfortingembraceenabled me to drift off, and I woke to an ordinary morning.Had the possession been a dream?
I gazed at my hand that was lashed to Dinesh’s wrist.I made a small movement and he jerked awake, his eyes wide.He sat up, reaching for me.
“Rooster.”
“Good morning?”
“Oh, thank God,” he said, wiping a hand over his face.He appeared to have aged ten years in one night.
“Are you all right, Dinesh?”
He gazed at me, his expression sad and bleak.“Not particularly.”
“I’m so sorry.I’ve completely fucked your life.”
“Rooster, please.”
“Whatever this creature is, it’s compelled toward me.”
“Seems that way, yes.I can’t argue.However, we all saw the ghost ship.Every man on this ship was a part of that.”
“Aye.And now I’ve fucked their lives too.”
“Oh, for God’s sake, shut up!”
His vehemence startled me, but he pushed the hair back from my forehead with the utmost care.
He continued.“You know nothing more than any of us.We have no idea what we’re dealing with or how to fight the thing,” he said, in a strangely calm manner.“Do you suppose the answer is to lay blame and draw apart?”
I blinked at him.“I should take responsibility.”
“Why?What good will that do?”
I shrugged.“I don’t know.”
“Rooster.We are a crew.We, all of us on this ship, are responsible for what happens on board.We are stewards of theArrowand we all must keep her afloat, keep her moving, and keep her safe.That includes protecting each other.”He cupped my chin in his hand.“You are one of us, Rooster.Never forget that.”
I gazed at him, absorbing this welcome perspective, and gave a slow nod.“Thank you.”
He nodded.“On top of that, you are simply the most precious cargo we’ve ever carried, at least to me and perhaps to the others.Your powers have saved us numerous times.Maybe they have also drawn the attention of less helpful forces.But we fight this together.Understand?”
“But how?How do we fight?”
“Fuck if I know,” he said.“But I suppose we have to figure that out.All of us.”
***
Wekeptquietaboutthe occurrences in the night.The crew didn’t need to know what had happened.They were aware that we were dealing with supernatural forces already.
Squid agreed and vowed to keep silent.
I was a shell of my former self.I felt like I hadn’t gotten any sleep, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to be left on my own.After two hours of sitting on the bed, ruminating about our situation, Dinesh took me down to the galley and left me with Domingo and Guthrie.
“For God’s sake, try and get him to eat something, will you?”he said before he left.
I sat down on the bench and rested my head in my hands.
