Tidal Rage by David Evans (best big ereader .TXT) 📗

Ma’am. It’s my tenth wedding anniversary next week, and we are going on a cruise in the Caribbean.”

Chapter Five

 

Sebastian had resorted to wearing wigs, expensive wigs, most people never gave it a second glance. The small fortune Sebastian invested made the wigs look like natural hair. To the more discerning and trained in the art of hairdressing, it was apparent they were artificial. He had no hair around his crotch, under his arms, or on any skin surface. Instead, he had blotches and scars where the hair had once sprouted. Once the compulsion could no longer be satisfied for the lack of body hair, he had moved on to stealing cats, removing their hair as they squirmed, screeched, and spat out in pain. Then once he had satisfied his lust and hunger, he would typically choke the life out of the poor animal, before removing the ligatures and disposing of the carcass in the nearest disposal unit.

In the spring of 1992, Sebastian had an interview and audition with Danish Cruise Liners. He played various tracks from Lennon and McCartney, and sang a ballad from the musical Joseph, and played an outstanding rendition of Ravel’s Bolero. Even before he played American Pie, the panel had made their minds up. The panel consisted of two male entertainment managers and a female management representative. It was clear the interview panel thought the appearance of Sebastian strange. It was a warm, spring day, and nearly all the entertainers the panel had interviewed that day had come in T-shirts or summer dresses. Sebastian came wearing a long-sleeved shirt, and one interviewer remarked how his hair seemed strange. Another commented on the lack of eyebrows. What all the panel members did agree upon was that they thoroughly enjoyed the music and the singing.

The audition went well, as he expected, and within six weeks Sebastian had been offered the position of piano bar musician on the cruise ships the Danish Cruise Liners operated. Less than two weeks after the offer of employment, Sebastian boarded the daily Pan Am transatlantic flight to Heathrow terminal just outside London.

Sebastian had to attend a three-day induction course held at the Hyde Park Hotel. He did not mix with the other seven entertainers who participated at the same induction. One of the female performers was a dancer; an older male was a compere. Also present were five female musicians who had worked with orchestras around the world, and had now formed a group to play classical music in the dining rooms and atriums. Most tried to talk to Sebastian, but his replies were limited and unresponsive; they thought him extremely shy. Sebastian's demeanour was becoming a problem for the training manager. During the appraisal, she was dubious about Sebastian’s people skills, thinking that she would probably not let Sebastian pass through the induction. Inevitably, this would lead to the offer to play with Danish Cruise Liners being retracted. Sebastian realized after his assessor’s intervention that his interaction with the other entertainers might count against him, and he knew he had to do something to ensure he would be accepted.

On the final evening of the stay at the Hyde Park Hotel, and without notice or invitation, Sebastian sat down at the large, shining, white grand piano. He began playing a rendition of Rocket Man, the Elton John crowd-pleaser. At the end of the song, the genuine applause from the other entertainers and guests rang out loudly. Sebastian followed the rock classic by expertly delivering a rousing theme from Wagner’s Gotterdammerung. Finally, in utter contrast, he finished with Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl, before granting the audience an encore of music by John Mills. The reaction from the audience, and Sebastian’s change from introvert to extrovert when he got behind the grand piano, convinced the training manager to rethink her decision, and grant Sebastian an initial contract.

Again, Sebastian had pulled it off. He put it down to his favourite quote by Leo Tolstoy, the Russian author, and philosopher: ‘Music is the shorthand to the emotions.’ In short, music could make a grown man cry, or in this case, change the mind of a doubting Thomas.

The following afternoon, the group of artists, having all been told they had reached an acceptable level to work for Danish Cruise Liners, collected their luggage. The musical group returned to the airport to board a flight to Barcelona to join the ship Aquatic Adventure. Sebastian and the remaining two sped southwards by coach down to the docks at Southampton to meet his new ship, the Majesty of the Waves.

Before applying for a position at sea, Sebastian had thought hard and long about working on a cruise liner. He had considered several different options, but every time, he came back to cruising. Cruise ships would be the perfect platform for his musical skills, as well as offering an opportunity for him to go about his business, with little chance of detection. Cats no longer fulfilled his desires; he wanted more, much more. He wanted an adult experience like Geraldine, with the chance to satisfy his ever-present and demanding urges.

Sebastian knew that the perfect opportunity to indulge his idiosyncrasies and pleasures with minimum risk was across international borders, preferably in countries that lacked the facilities and expertise in the up-and-coming scientific breakthrough call DNA testing. Cruise ships passed through these areas every day.

The liner was undertaking a round-the-world trip from Southampton to Sydney. There would be short stops at Gibraltar, Cyprus, and the Red Sea port of Sharm El Sheikh, before moving on to Dubai. After an overnight stop in Dubai, the ship would be at sea for several days until it reached Phuket. The island was a holiday resort belonging to Thailand. Following an overnight stop, they would take the short hop down to Singapore and then to Sydney, Australia. On the return leg of the cruise, the ship would visit the South Pacific, visiting