The Grey Lady Ch. 03

"Five minutes," was all that Jake had to say before the two temporarily parted company, with Bilge checking on the status of the crew topside and taking compass readings while Jake headed back to his cabin. He opened the door to find all as he had left it. Sam was still curled up asleep on the bunk. He crossed to his desk and pulled out the paperwork, spreading out the chart so he could mark where they were. There was a soft knock on his door and Bilge quickly entered, crossing to give Jake the latest compass readings. They should catch up with the Ramrod right on time and the only problem was figuring out who would take Pete's place in the attack. Once finished, Jake dismissed Bilge. Left alone with Sam, he sat there at his desk, head in his hands playing the day's events over in his head.

"I didn't encourage that man." The small voice came from the bunk and Jake's head snapped up to look at the figure still huddled under the blanket.

"I know that you didn't." Jake slowly rose and crossed to Sam. He quietly asked, "How long have you been awake?" He wondered how much she had actually heard of his and Bilge's conversation.

"Not long." She still didn't turn around as Jake stood beside the bed.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened this morning. I'm sorry about what happened tonight." She rolled over to look at him with dull grey eyes. He could see that she didn't believe him. "I didn't mean for what happened between us to happen when it did. And if I had known that you were a virgin, I would have handled things differently." He ran his fingers through his hair and glanced at her. "You don't have to worry about Pete any more. He is in the brig for the rest of the journey and his punishment will be dealt in the morning. You need to be there for that, but you will be perfectly safe. Toby has been assigned your guardian for the rest of the trip. I hope that you won't mind that."

She gave him a tentative smile. "Thank you. I'd like that. I've grown very fond of him."

"He's a good kid." Jake nodded his agreement and took a deep breath. "We need to talk."

*****

Samantha had lain there in the dim cabin feeling the rocking of the ship. Any other time she might have found that movement soothing, but all it did was stir up memories of the last 24 hours. Low voices woke her up and for an instant she was afraid that nasty little man may be back. As she laid there feigning sleep, she realized that one of the voices was Jake. She didn't know who the other one was, but it wasn't that Pete character.

The second man left and she waited a minute to see what Jake would do. When she spoke she could tell that he was surprised to find her awake. She kept her back turned as she couldn't face him quite yet. The lie came easily when he asked how long she had been awake. There was no sense in letting him know just how much of his conversation she had heard. Her head still hurt and the last thing that she felt like doing was fighting with him. So she just laid there and waited to see what he had to say before finally rolling over to face him. That Toby would continue to help her was a relief.

He continued. "You're still safer sleeping in here than anywhere else on the ship. I can't guarantee that what happened this morning will not happen again. But I can promise you that when it does, you will not feel the pain that you experienced this morning." He stood looking at her and she felt uneasy at the turn of this conversation. She blushed, not knowing what to say but Jake gave her a reassuring smile before he spoke. "Let's get some sleep. Tomorrow will be here soon enough."

He began putting out the lamps in the cabin. She turned her back to him, partially to give him privacy, but mostly to remove herself from Jake and the feelings that were starting to swirl around in her mind. She moved as close to the wall as possible and felt the bunk dip as he climbed under the covers with her. Though she thought that she would never fall asleep, the events of the day caught up with her and soon sleep claimed her body. As her muscles relaxed, she rolled over and snuggled up against Jake's side. Since she was asleep and dreaming, she did feel Jake's arms reach around her and pull her closer to him, nor did she hear his deep sigh.