Ship's Boy by Phil Geusz Read Free Book Online Page B

he answered, turning away. “It seems that I deliberately stepped out of an airlock a few days back, causing an unnecessary delay and thereby endangering the entire vessel.” Then he smiled at me and scratched an ear. “Cost me a month’s extra duty and two stripes. But don’t you worry, David! I don’t regret it for a second. And I’ll have my rank back in no time—you can bet the farm on that!”
     

12
    I took Percy’s advice after that and stayed in the cabin all of the time, even though sometimes the walls pressed in so hard that I thought they were going to smother me. I kept a backup file of my schoolwork in the suit’s computer, so at least I had plenty of math problems to keep me busy. And James read history from the ship’s library—he liked social studies almost as much as I liked math. Dad had never had much use for “timewaster” classes like psychology and history; he told me once that it was a good thing that milord had chosen ship’s engineering as his career, because he’d never taken enough humanities even to earn the lowest-level literacy certification. Finally James out-and-out made me read a textbook entitled “Humanity’s Heritage—The English-Speaking Peoples”. It was one of a series and, well… it explained all sorts of stuff I’d never even thought to wonder about, like where my culture’s sense of right and wrong came from and why too much democracy always fails in the end. It also discussed the history and economics of slavery in British-derived cultures, though not nearly in as much depth as I’d have liked. And, it sorta just stopped dealing with the subject at all once we anthro-slaves arrived on the scene. I knew that Dad would’ve killed me if he’d ever known, but after that I spent as much time reading James’s books as I did my own. It was like I’d discovered a raging thirst I never even knew I had.
    Captain Blaine eventually visited us again one evening. This time he made a genuine effort to be nice to me. “My Lord,” he explained to James once he’d dealt with the pleasantries. “It’s occurred to me that I’ve been neglecting my duties somewhat.” He smiled slightly. “Though of course I’m in command of a king’s ship currently surrounded by enemies, so I suppose it might be excused.”
    We both nodded, even though I’d pointed out to James long since that almost all of the ship’s business that should’ve been dealt with by Sir Leslie originated with First Officer von Selkim instead.
    His smile widened. “I’ve only now come to realize that I’m essentially in loco parentis to a Lordling. And that this involves a whole new set of responsibilities.” His face hardened. “Are you in the sixth grade, milord?”
    James shook his head. “I had tutors. They let me study pretty much whatever I wanted to.”
    Captain Blaine blinked. “How… Indulgent.” Then he forced another smile and nodded down at James’s datapad. “May I see what you’re reading now?”
    My friend beamed, offering his most childish grin and turning the pad around to face the captain. “Sure!  It’s a story!”
    “What about?” he asked, in a very adult-to-child manner.
    “It’s called ‘The Aeneid’,” James gushed. “By a guy named Virgil. Dad loved it, so I read it sometimes too.”
    Blaine scowled, examining the pad. “That’s gibberish!”
    “No it’s not,” James answered, his grin fading. “It’s Latin.”
    Blaine’s scowl deepened, then he sighed. “Well… James, I fear that I must ask that you return to a normal school curriculum henceforth—I’ll set up the computer accordingly, and you’ll be tested every week.” His face went hard. “You’re a very important young man, and I’ll have no one claim that I allowed any of your best learning years to go to waste. I’ll be monitoring your progress personally.”
    My friend’s jaw dropped for a moment, then he simply nodded. “Yes, sir.”
    “Good!” Blaine declared, his voice