The Deep by Jen Minkman Read Free Book Online Page A

Ben slaved away for – is being devoured by
hungry flames that seem to maliciously mock our ambitions in a
dance of death. The wood of the ship’s hull is turning into a
terrible, black mass.
    “How could this have
happened?” the Bookkeeper cries out in desperation, pointing a
finger at the burning ship. He paces up and down with angry
strides, scanning the spectators. “Who has done this?”
    No one answers, but we all
know who’s responsible for this – Phileas and his religious
zealots. They don’t believe we should leave the island, so nobody is allowed
to leave. For days on end, they’ve organized protest marches near
the harbor, claiming we should stop building new sailing ships like
the Explorer , and finally someone has plucked up the courage to take this
bold step and set fire to the thorn in their side. Maybe Phileas
even did it himself.
    My heart skips a beat when
I suddenly hear a voice, ringing out clear above the din of the
crowd.
    “Annabelle,” the voice
cries out.
    I turn around, but it’s too
late to determine whoever had the audacity to claim our Goddess is
the arsonist guilty of starting the fire. The cry is adopted by
scores of others, resounding down the ranks of Phileans gathered on
the docks. “An-na-belle! An-na-belle!” they chant.
    “You miserable crooks!” one
of the younger shipbuilders shouts. “Why don’t you mind your own
business?”
    It only takes a few seconds
for a full-fledged fight to erupt between the progressives and the
Phileans. I hear people scream and yell. Beside me, a man stumbles
to the ground clutching a bloody nose, and panic seizes me. I’m not
ready for this, even though I am a trainee Peacekeeper. I don’t
know how to call for back-up and I didn’t even bring a club or
other weapon.
    “Alisa!” A strong hand
grabs my arm and pulls me back. Just in time, it turns out, because
a flying fist narrowly misses my head.
    Dazed, I turn around and
stare into Ben’s brown irises. Tears are running down his face.
“Come on,” I say in a shaky voice. “We have to find
Daryl.”
    “No, we don’t. We’re going
to my place,” he says decisively. “Or you’ll be caught in an ugly
brawl. This is no place for a girl.”
    I clench my fists and blink
my tears away. Ben can’t take me away, even though I’m scared. “I
don’t know what to do,” I blurt out, to my own surprise.
    He says nothing. Instead,
he just drags me along toward the narrow street where his cottage
is. I don’t object, because I feel completely drained. Suddenly,
it’s all too much – the ugly, constant tension between people in
town, the naked truth we have to cope with, the destruction of the
first ship in our new fleet.
    “Don’t you want to help
your colleagues?” I finally splutter when we stop in front of his
door. The flickering light of the fire in the distance illuminates
the angular planes of Ben’s face.
    “We can’t save that ship
anyway,” he mumbles quietly. “No amount of fighting will bring it
back. And I’ve seen too many fights in my life as it is. I’m done
with them. I just want to find a place where I can find peace.”
Fresh tears well up in his eyes. “I thought I could find it
here.”
    His words stir a dull pain
inside of me. No, we won’t find peace here yet. Our wounds are
still too fresh. People are afraid of letting go of old, familiar
lies in order to embrace new insecurities.
    “We’ll get there,” I
falter. “You’ll see.”
    Together, we sit down on
the quay in front of his cottage, where a few small fishing boats
are bobbing on the waves. Gradually, the sea of flames in the main
harbor simmers out. Perhaps bystanders have helped to extinguish
the fire, or maybe the ship ran a leak due to the damage and
drowned the fury of the blaze itself by sinking down into the
deep.
    “We can’t keep working
here,” Ben breaks the silence. “If we do, they’ll just botch our
efforts again.”
    “Well, where do you suggest
we build ships,