Chapter 11

We still hadn't appointed a leader for our group. Informally, it had been made clear that Emily and her father were voting members, and that the oldest of the two boys, Edward, would become a voting member of the group on attaining age 15.

Sometime before he reached 15, I imagined, Edward might be thinking he ought to be entitled to more respect. But today, at only 12, he seemed quite satisfied just to have the group's protection and apparent good will.

We hadn't encountered any internal dissension. That was gratifying.

I wondered how long it could last.

"One thing," Ingmar said to us, when we were all aboard ship together for the first time. "Please understand that I am not appointing myself leader of this group, but, for matters occurring aboard ship, I am appointing myself captain, and Roald my first mate. I think this is justified by our far greater knowledge and experience with seagoing vessels. Does anyone object?"

"Not me," I said. "It just makes sense." There was assent all around.

"I will strive to keep in mind," Ingmar said, "that I am captain only of the ship, and not of this entire expedition."

"Well said, Nephew!" Uncle Harry said.

"I have inspected this ship and have made cabin assignments, based on our respective needs," Ingmar continued. "Martin will be in the first cabin, simply because it is the most accessible, for his wheelchair. Emily will be next door to him in the second cabin. These are on the starboard side -- there.

"On the port side, cabin 3 will be yours, Bridgett, and the boys, Edward and Shawn, will share cabin 4. Edward, your main, continuing responsibility on board ship will be to care for your brother. I expect you to make certain that he is safe, and that he learns how to behave properly aboard ship. Come to me, or to Bridgett or Emily, for help anytime you may need it, but don't forget, Shawn is in your care, primarily.

"The cabins below deck are for the rest of us. Cabin 5 will be yours, Roald, and I will be in 6, just aft of yours. On the opposite side, you'll be in 7, Carter, and you, Uncle Harry, in 8."

I would learn, later, when I knew more about the ship, that Ingmar's cabin assignments had been both fair and unselfish. The above-deck cabins were somewhat larger, better ventilated, and nominally better-equipped. Those had gone to our two women, to our disabled man, and to the two boys who had to share space.

Below decks, we were comfortable enough, but the rooms were more Spartan, and two men on either side would be sharing the bathrooms -- the "heads". The "captain's quarters" that Ingmar had assigned to himself were far from the best we had available. Ingmar's cabin wasn't even particularly convenient to the ship's control room. There were three additional cabins, small, like ours, below decks and near the stern, so we had a small amount of room for our numbers to grow.

I questioned Ingmar about his unselfish room assignment, but he just smiled. "Don't worry about it, m' boy. There's a bunk in the wheelhouse, up-top, and I can sack out there as well as in my own cabin, whenever we're at sea. I'll be fine, and so will Roald."

"Are we going to be... at sea?" I asked him.

"I suppose it depends," Ingmar said. There's no particular reason to go out, if we've no place to go, except perhaps occasionally for a little cruise to blow the carbon out of the engines. On the other hand, perhaps your radio broadcasts will produce some results?"

"What about the ship's power?" I asked. "Is it efficient, to run the engines, in port, just to power the utilities?"

"Well, lad, it's reasonably efficient. These big passenger yachts have excellent generators aboard, and it's normal enough to use them, in port, for pretty good periods. In normal times, with our power needs, we might prefer to be hooked up to power from ashore, just as that RV of yours would normally be housed at a park that furnished electric power to you on demand. But we'll be able to run the ship off its generators indefinitely. Heavy maintenance could be a problem for us. Me and Roald, we're only good for the minor repairs. Keep in mind, we won't be able to stay aboard this ship forever, Carter. Sooner or later, we'll have to have a land base."

"Put the boat -- it's still more convenient than living in the RVs, isn't it?" I said.

"I think it is, Carter, yes. I definitely think it is. And if we hear from someone over in Galveston -- say -- or in Florida, perhaps, we'll have the option of sailing to them, instead of driving one or more RVs to a rendezvous."

"Should I move the radio transmitter into the ship?"

"Yes, I think you should. The ship's radio isn't entirely appropriate for long-distance transmissions of the sort you've been attempting. Your military radio likely has far greater range, and a better selection of appropriate frequencies for land-based communications. Ask Roald for help in re-rigging it. You'll need to re-calibrate it, too. Roald may be of some help, with that, but you should re-study your manual. And you need to learn about the ship's radio, too, in case we're at sea and find it's more appropriate, for communicating at sea. You're still our radioman, Carter!"

We spent four more days in the ship, resting, re-rigging, and foraging in local stores for supplies. We all agreed that maintaining a generous, and imaginative, stowage of extra foodstuffs and supplies at all times was essential. Maintaining adequate stores was much easier, living in the ship, than it had been in the RVs. I wasn't alone in spending some time worrying about the possibility of our running into hostile company. We had loaded weapons stored at strategic places throughout the ship.

There had been no new responses to my evening radio broadcasts. We had described our position with some exactitude. Anyone who heard the broadcast and wanted to find us certainly could do so. After four days, it was somewhat disappointing that no one else had shown up in Mobile, or had responded to our radio transmissions.

"Ingmar," I said, standing beside him in the wheelhouse. "What about security? If we were to move the ship away from the dock and out into the bay, we'd be better protected against a sneak attack."

"It would complicate our lives. We'd need to use a small boat to bring in supplies, get us back and forth to shore for foraging." But Ingmar was thinking about it.