Cast Adrift: The Channel Riders Book Eight

By Valerie Gaumont

The Guild is changing. Elena knows that with Riko's death, change is inevitable. With the Guild still feeling abandoned by the council still causing tensions, the long-term plans between her and the elderly councilor come out into the open. Not all will be pleased, in fact she expects when he learns of it, Hashi will probably try to kill her. But before the season opens and she worries over Hashi's retribution, there are trade routes to secure and a planet to run. Mateo and Kiera are expecting the birth of their twins, the first human children born on Haven and while Elena worries about their limited medical facilities, she must ferret out what plans her Aunt Elizabeth has set into motion to regain power from Mateo. Strange dreams start to twist through Elena's nights, and she begins to realize the change is going to be bigger than any of them expected. Can the Guild survive to reach the next season?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Valerie Gaumont
• Release date: Apr 22, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224074099

Valerie Gaumont

Valerie Gaumont is an evil genius whose mission is to take over the world. Her latest efforts were thwarted when her flying monkey army discovered beer. Currently they are in Rehab because no one likes a drunk flying monkey. (Thank you for your cards and letters of support.) When she is taking a break from villainy she can often be found with a pen in her hand. Yes, sometimes she is doodling, other times writing fiction and discovering new and interesting ways to combine reality with the outré. She has had short stories in the Violet Ampersand Anthology, Poetry, Prose and Other Voyages to the Edge, and the online Journal, Gothic Fairytales for Melancholy Children. In 2007 she was listed as a finalist in the William Faulkner International Writing Competition in the Novel-In-Progress category.

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Cast Adrift

The Channel Riders Book 8

Valerie Gaumont

Copyright 2024 by Valerie Gaumont

License Statement

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Chapter 1

All those aboard the Storm Chaser were quiet. Here and there conversations were held, but they were subdued things and from the pilot house, Elena Calabrese, Councilor on the Ruling Council of the Guild of Families, Captain and Pilot of the Storm Chaser, could only make out a low murmur of differing cadences. She knew both English and Japanese were being used, but no actual words reached her ears. It was just a low sound that mimicked the sound of the ocean around them.

Behind her, as she piloted her ship towards the Port of Haven, smoke still stained the sky and a fleet of ships followed her towards the docks. Inuoe Riko, one of the most ruthless councilors the Guild had ever known was dead.

She had been dying for quite some time now. While Elena wasn’t certain of the disease’s specifics, each time she went to speak with the elderly councilor it seemed she was shrinking in on herself. While never a large woman, Riko slowly lost what little body mass she had as the disease progressed. The last time Elena spoke with her, Riko resembled nothing more than a skin covered skeleton someone dressed up for the day.

It reminded her of the mummies that were occasionally reverently dressed and paraded around during festivals in South America. She thought it might have once been an Incan custom that blended with Catholicism, but as it was only part of a long ago seen documentary, Elena wasn’t certain.

It was startling when the Councilor spoke as her voice lost none of its command, none of its power. She was still the mighty councilor, it was only her body that betrayed her, not her spirit or her mind.

‘Of course there are some who might argue that,’ Elena thought as she glanced down at her instruments and made a slight course correction. There was a wind blowing and a possible storm coming in from the sea. It kept the scent of Riko’s funeral pyre with them as they sailed as though even now, the councilor was reluctant to let go.

In her last days, Riko decided that she wanted someone to think well of her after her passing. Elena wasn’t certain if she looked around at her House and saw the damage her style of leadership, a style her expected heir Hashi was intent on repeating, caused. She wasn’t certain if Riko had regrets. She wasn’t sure if it was a final political move, but when she knew the end was coming, she sought Elena out.

Riko’s request was that Elena take any who didn’t want to live under Hashi’s dominion into her house. It would get them safely under the protection of her house before Hashi’s rule began. As Elena’s House was currently rising to become one of the most powerful, a fact that still sometimes made Elena’s bones rattle when she thought of it, Riko knew that those formerly of her house would be safe. Elena was known for taking care of her people, her style of leadership tending towards the protective and her powerbase strongly economic. Elena may have agreed to become a member of the Council, but she did not rule by fear.

Whether Riko wanted that style of leadership for her people or if she hoped for a growth in power for those she once called her own as Elena’s House rose in status, Elena didn’t know. Her grandfather once called Riko utterly ruthless, but unfailingly loyal to those she called her own. Remembering this, Elena suspected it was a combination of elements and motives driving the failing Councilor’s final decisions. Riko lived and breathed politics and even at the end she played them despite her shifting goals.

Elena knew Riko as one of the few Councilors who remained from her childhood. She thought of her first as a power on the council that needed to be respected and avoided. As business drew her into Riko’s orbit, Elena thought of her more as someone requiring political maneuvering, strategic action and well thought out contracts. It was only at the end that she and the Councilor shared anything that could have been called camaraderie.

Elena still wasn’t certain what to think about it.

The Guild of Families was at heart a merchant organization. Women who possessed the piloting gene could see channel openings that led to passages through space, guiding ships safely from terrestrial waters through them and into the space beyond. Men possessing the gene could only pass it on to their daughters. Therefore, in the Guild women became pilots. Men took on different roles and the Guild as a whole navigated the channels between worlds to conduct interstellar trading. It was something they hid from their fellow humans, those on earth never realizing that there were those who took the old fashioned sailing ships to distant galaxies.

Growing up, Elena shipped out with her grandfather, Alexandro Calabrese. After her training she served as his pilot. Alexandro was never content sailing the safest of waters and often pushed further afield in search of new commodities and new or expanding trading networks. Elena always thought of him as part merchant, part explorer and part pirate. Those who shipped out aboard his ship The Wind Dancer were of much the same ilk.

While many of the Guild thought that the mandatory training with cutlasses an old fashioned part of their training, Elena grew up needing to put those skills to work. Both she and her cousin Mateo were drilled mercilessly in their sword work by Alexandro’s bodyguard Marcus and in the sometimes dangerous waters Alexandro sailed, Elena often used those skills to stay alive. In her world the close calls and narrow escapes were a part of life in the Guild. They were part of the life of a pilot.

On her last trip out with the Storm Chaser, she shipped out with a full crew. The channels they were using were new, opened by the evolution of abilities that was known as the Calling. Formerly, thought of as a debilitating disease, it was now recognized as an evolution, a new phase of the piloting skills. Pilots with the Calling couldn’t just use the existing channels like the other pilots, they could open entirely new channels. The ability came into use when the Guild most needed it, but many were still leery of it and the ability to shape the future of the Guild it gave those who possessed it.

For a few of those who developed the Calling, a second ability was starting to manifest, that of semi predictive dreaming. Elena was one who was developing it and she was secretly working with Evan Greggs, a Senior Librarian, to monitor and chart its progress. According to his calculations, thus far less than one percent of those who developed the Calling developed the predictive dreams. Elena wasn’t entirely sure how accurate his calculations were. She knew that even when she used the dreams to her advantage, she didn’t like them and talked about them as little as possible. She suspected there were others keeping the dreams to themselves entirely.

Elena’s dreams led her to open a channel into Farnac held territory and after extensive negotiations, she was allowed to take her ship and begin preliminary trading. When setting up the trip, Elena didn’t think too much about it being unusual. Even with the newly opened channels, it wasn’t that far different from the travels she went on when she was younger.

It was life in the Guild.

Those shipping out with her crew were young and green, nearly of an age with her apprentice Jennifer, so Elena made sure they had extra cutlass training with Marcus so that in the event they were boarded, they could help defend the ship. She took their nerves for inexperience.

During the trip the Matrovean attacked. One of her new crewmen, John was killed. John was also a member of the House of the Librarians and they would soon be holding his memorial ceremony. She and her remaining crew would be in attendance. Afterwards, Evan would assign another Librarian to take John’s place on her crew.

The life of the Guild would go on.

After the attack, even though Elena mourned John’s loss, she still felt the singing of adrenaline through her veins. The rush of the near escape pushed fear away. During the attack she felt determination rather than fear and when it was over she felt the joy of victory. While she mourned her lost crewman, Elena was forced to admit she might be more like her grandfather than she realized.

It was not a trait her crew shared.

At least not yet, she said to herself. She wondered if they would develop it. Not all did.

Hearing her voice, the ship’s cat, Spin, looked up from her perch above the instrument panel. She favored Elena with her full attention, but when Elena failed to do anything noteworthy; she yawned and closed her eyes, dismissing her.

Elena smiled at Spin, but wondered about the effect of John’s death on her crew. Before they left, the inexperienced crew considered training more of a game than anything else. None of them had seen any real fighting. They grew up and sailed in protected space, often with others armed and ready to defend them. Once Evan designated John’s replacement, the new librarian crewmember would be training with her apprentice and the rest of the crew so that they could learn to work together as well as hone their own individual skills.

Elena wondered what effect it would have on their training and reminded herself to check in with Marcus to see how things were progressing. The reality of sailing outside of the safe, protected routes might make some take it more seriously and it could cause others to freeze. Knowing who was likely to do what would be something she needed to monitor.

‘Not the only thing I need to monitor,’ she thought.

Elena’s last conversation with Riko was about her death. Once she knew the Storm Chaser would follow the Sea Dragon on Riko’s final voyage and bring her crew back to land after the ship was set alight, talk turned to Elena’s last voyage.

Here Elena was forced to acknowledge that she and Riko shared some of the same tendencies. They were both pilots who pushed into the unknown and relished the thrill of the chase and the joy of the victories. It was somewhat disconcerting to find she had anything in common with the elderly councilor and wasn’t sure yet how she felt about it.

While she doubted it meant she was about to become a ruthless dictator, Elena knew that with Riko’s death, there would be some hard roads to walk. She suspected she might need to become slightly more ruthless, at least where Hashi and her Aunt Elizabeth were concerned.

Elena wasn’t certain how she felt about that either.

When Riko asked Elena to take people into her house, Elena agreed. The price of her agreement was Riko’s vote when she proposed the law allowing Councilors to resign their seats rather than die in office. Riko agreed and Alexandro retired, ceding his seat to her cousin Mateo. The move, she hoped would provide a measure of safety for her cousin and his growing family.

As their Aunt Elizabeth had been preparing her entire life to take Alexandro’s seat, they all knew she wouldn’t take the news well. At the time Will Thompson had his men watch Elizabeth and as far as Elena knew, when she was in Haven they still watched her. While Elizabeth made the correct congratulations and, after Therese’s death, publicly moved to mend fences, it was a superficial acceptance meant for public show, nothing more.

Elizabeth shipped out at season’s end, looking like she was heading back to Earth for the off season. When forced to take an unexpected detour after the Matrovean attack, Elena found her aunt still skyside and sequestered in a place none in the Guild would look for her. Elena doubted her intentions with such a move were noble and knew that in addition to dealing with Hashi, she was going to have to watch Elizabeth.

‘At least with Aunt Elizabeth I may get some information from the files Evan gave me,’ Elena thought. ‘How Hashi will deal with the situation is just a wait and see game.’

The Senior Librarian passed her copies of all the trade agreements Elizabeth made in the time shortly before Elena’s parents were killed. Elena was almost positive Elizabeth arranged their deaths to clear the path to Alexandro’s seat on the Council for herself. While she did want confirmation about her parents’ deaths, Elena strongly suspected that Elizabeth would use the same tactics when trying to remove Mateo from that same seat. She still wanted the truth, but she wanted to prevent her cousin’s death more than she wanted details about her parents.

She was looking for patterns, not necessarily answers.

A soft knock sounded on the door to the pilot house, startling Elena from her thoughts. She turned to see Edgar, Riko’s former aide standing just outside. She waved him in and the compact man entered the pilot house, making certain the door closed firmly behind himself.

Edgar was dressed as he always was, in a black suit, freshly ironed so that the crease of the pants stood out sharply. Her assistant Victor managed the same crisply pressed feat and Elena still had no idea how either man pulled it off. No matter how crisp the garment Elena put on, the tropical heat of Haven always wilted the starch right out within moments.

Like Riko, Edgar was originally from Tokyo. However his accent, when he spoke English, come out sounding of Oxford and was as crisp and precise as his suit. As Edgar turned to look at her, Elena could see the subtle embroidery of Japanese characters on his shirt. The embroidery was done with white floss only half a shade different than his white dress shirt.

Normally the letters were covered by his tie, but as he moved, the tie shifted and Elena saw them. He shifted his tie into place, a habitual straightening rather than deliberately hiding them, and the characters were gone. She wondered what they said but didn’t feel close enough to Edgar to ask.

Captain, he began, his voice quiet. Elena didn’t think that he was trying to conceal his words as she had only heard him speak using soft tones regardless of the situation. I want to thank you for agreeing to transport the Sea Dragon’s crew back to port and for agreeing to the …timeline the Councilor wished.

I’m not sure if it was her wish or fate’s, Elena said. But I’m glad I could do this much.

I suspect she could have held on for a few more days while you settled yourself after your last journey and took care of the immediate needs of your House. She expected you to do as much, as it is what she would have done. So, she prepared for that. She would have held out those few days, but if she had, then she would no longer be able to pretend that this end was entirely her choice.

Elena wasn’t certain what to say to that even though she could see how Riko would want the illusion of control right up until her end. She knew that once aboard the Sea Dragon and far enough at sea to prevent any damage to the docks and the ships at port, Riko had taken some form of final poison to send herself off to death before the disease could finish its work. Elena hadn’t asked for any details and simply agreed to serve as escort and to ferry the crew back to shore. She didn’t feel it was appropriate to ask for details now. Edgar seemed to be waiting for some response though.

She was at peace with the decision in the end?

Edgar smiled. In the end, she was.

Good, Elena replied.

There are a few more things I will need to settle. The councilor has made several personal bequests and I feel it is best to deal with them as soon as possible. The Librarians have agreed to send a representative to oversee this matter. Given the …reactions that will no doubt follow news of her passing and the …changes to her house, it was felt having a vouchsafed witness who could assure all who returned when the season opens that there was no question of impropriety in the execution was beneficial.

Elena nodded reading between Edgar’s careful lines. When Hashi learned of Riko’s death he would expect to inherit a powerful house as well. When he learned that the House was greatly diminished, she had no doubt he would be looking for someone to punish and no doubt prevent much of anything else from leaving the house. Elena only met him a few times but he didn’t seem the sort to let anything he thought of as his go to another. Elena could easily see him arguing over the disposition of teaspoons if he thought they should be his.

And if the bequests are to those currently earthside? she asked.

The channels were seasonal and much of the Guild spent the off season on earth, attending to business or relaxing after the rigors of life skyside. About two thirds of the Guild returned to Earth in the off season and of those remaining , half vacationed skyside taking advantage of cruise ships between the stars and alien resort destinations.

Edgar smiled. Those bequests will be packed up and stored under the Librarian’s special care until the season has opened and the new owners can return to claim them. It was felt leaving them in the Councilor’s quarters for her successor to find, might not be the most feasible of plans.

I guess I’m not the only one who thinks Hashi will fight over teaspoons, Elena said before she could stop herself.

Edgar was startled into a short laugh, but he quickly regained his composure. Amusement danced in his eyes. Indeed you are not, Captain. Edgar replied.

Elena took a second to look him over. Despite the crisp suit and words, Edgar looked bone tired. Even though Riko had a full time doctor and care giver, she suspected Riko’s final illness had taken quite a toll on her aide.

She had no doubt Hashi would take possession of Riko’s quarters as soon as he heard of her death, despite the eight months required distance between her death and the filling of her council seat. She suspected that as soon as the declaration of her open seat was proclaimed after the first Council meeting of the season, Hashi would begin settling himself into Riko’s place. It would benefit them all to get the those who transferred settled and established out of his reach before that first Council session.

While she was in charge of those transferred to her House, Elena knew that she would need to rely on Edgar to make certain they had what they needed to settle and to keep them safe from any possible retribution. She didn’t know Edgar well enough to know if he would try to keep too much of the workload or not. Recently when trying to deal with issues between Benjamin and Victor as earthside responsibilities collided with skyside ones, Elena made a few missteps and she knew now was not the time to repeat them.

Is there anything you need to help with to accomplish the settling? she asked.

No, Captain, Edgar said. I thank you for the offer, but the councilor took care of the details when making her final arrangements. There is only the execution to accomplish and it would be best if you have no part of it.

Elena nodded. I can see it would be, she said.

It will take two days to complete the final settling of the councilor’s estate. Once settled, I would like to relocate so that I too am not counted as one of the new councilor’s possessions.

Elena snorted a short laugh. I can see how that would be preferable. We have a room in my household if you would like that, or we can assign you separate quarters in one of the smaller individual buildings in the area my house claims. I’m not certain which you would prefer.

Edgar nodded slowly. I have thought of this when planning began. I believe in the beginning it might be better if I remained within your household, at least initially, even if later adjustments place me elsewhere.

So that there is continuity and the newest members of my House feel they are well represented? Elena guessed.

There is that, Edgar admitted. In addition, not all of your new house members speak English. Knowing they could still bring a matter to your attention and be understood may help to ease the joining of the houses.

And make them comfortable enough to bring small matters to my attention before they become large issues. Elena nodded her understanding.

Edgar blinked in surprise. This may take some time for adjustment. The Councilor was not someone many members of the various houses that made up her House addressed directly. They are accustomed to bringing matters to their separate Heads of House and having their heads of house petition for an audience. There was a definite chain of command.

Petition for an audience, she repeated. Elena had visions of herself in a tiara waving mechanically to the crowd. She shook her head. We maintain a schedule for sanity’s sake, but tend to have a bit more of an open door policy and a bit more fluidity in our command structure.

Yes, I have seen that. Once the transfers began, attention was paid. The Councilor was somewhat surprised by your lack of protocol.

I see, Elena said. The thought of Riko studying her made her a little uncomfortable, but under the circumstances she had to admit she would have done the same thing.

Have your senior staff been apprised of the situation? Edgar asked.

Not yet, Elena admitted. Since secrecy was the safest course, I discussed it with no one but Evan. Edgar sucked in breath and blinked rapidly in shock at Elena’s words. I mean Senior Librarian Greggs, Elena corrected remembering that