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

Sebastian had no idea how insightful he had been as he disposed of the coffee cup. An ocean and continent away the captain of the Classical Canta Libra sat in the company’s headquarters in Genoa with several board members.

Following a month of leave, Sebastian was flown to Santiago, Chile. He had no sooner landed in the bustling city than he was whisked away from the airport to Valparaiso Harbour to board the Classical Expedition.

This leviathan of a cruise ship had seventeen decks. Decks fourteen and fifteen were comprised of indoor pools and hot tubs mirrored on the outside decks. A huge screen towered over the blue mosaic-tiled swimming pool, showing concerts and movies under the night sky.

Once the moor lines had been cleared, the ship headed south to its first port of call, Puerto Montt, Chile, which was reached through the Canal de Chacao. Then the ship navigated the Chilean fjords.

Following the spectacular views of the fjords, the ship entered the Canal Trinidad to see the Amalia Glacier, originating in the southern Patagonian ice fields and reaching into the sea; aqua-blue ice shimmering in the summer sunshine. Following a further day at sea, the ship moored out in the bay, and the guests tendered in small craft to Punta Arenas in Chile. Most guests went off to see the Magellanic penguins particular to this area.

Next stop was through the historic Beagle Channel, named after the ship, that carried Charles Darwin on his voyage of discovery in 1831–1836. Once in the channel, the Classical Expedition steered towards Ushuaia in Argentina, an ex-convict settlement with around eighty thousand inhabitants. The bustling city is set against a backdrop of snow-capped, densely forested peaks that looked out onto glacier-clad mountains on islands that were the last in the South American continent.

Sebastian had some time off and joined the cruise tour to Tierra del Fuego National Park. During the trek across the peat-sodden landscape interspersed with large beaver dams blocking the rivers and acidifying the surrounding area, he first met Mona Cross. Ascending a slippery incline up the mountain trek she had slipped, losing her footing, landing heavily on the soggy earth.

Mona was caked from ankle to knee in the sodden remnants of a million-year-old peat bog. As with all groups, some found the sight amusing, others had empathy, and some offered wipes to clean herself. The Argentinian guides had seen it all before.

Sebastian told the guides to carry on up the path and pick him up an hour later their return, and he would see that Mona was okay. Being more than happy to oblige, the guides and group took off again up the mountain.

It was clear that Sebastian needed no introduction, as he had seen the plump, plain girl of no more the five feet and aged around twenty-five at his nightly performances in the Piazza piano bar amidships on deck five. She blushed and was apparently pleased to have Sebastian assisting in cleaning her up.

Mona was not used to the attention of men, especially those with the talent that Sebastian had. She would watch him entertain every single night of the cruise; she would sit alone at the back of the bar. She had come on the cruise alone; everyday girls did not attract girlfriends, neither male suitors. While she lacked good looks and height, she had a sweet, innocent personality, and in starkness to her experiences, she was a trusting person.

Mona from Calgary, was a computer games writer for Eldridge Software Company. She had just completed a new game called Attack of the Android, which was massively successful. Her boss, Norah James, was a robust and reliable businessperson, and while not overly generous, she knew she needed Mona more than Mona needed Eldridge.

After the initial launch of the game and the first profit and loss projections had been evaluated, Norah had given Mona a 100,000 US dollar bonus, and had bought her this South American cruise. Mona would come to work in sweaters with penguins on them; she had a fluffy penguin hanging from the mirror of her old Mini Cooper car. It was not hard to figure, nor did it take any particular research to know that Mona would love to see the penguins in their own environment. Following Mona signing a new, extended contract of work, Norah had delighted her with the cruise tickets.

Sebastian was strangely aroused, an experience he had seldom felt unless killing someone. Washing the mud off her right shoulder, his hand had inadvertently brushed her breast. Mona did not flinch; she quite enjoyed it. He had not thought of killing this girl. It never came to mind. He was talking to someone properly. This had not happened since his childhood, as far as he could remember.

After he had helped clean her up, she cupped her hand around his chin and gave him slightly more than a peck on the lips, certainly not a full-blown tongue-down-the-throat kiss, and thanked him for his help.

As the guides and group of walkers came into view, she asked him if they could meet up again sometime. Sebastian explained he would try; he was not allowed to date guests of the cruise ship, but he would try.

Mona attended the piano recitals in the afternoon in the Fellowes Lounge and Sebastian’s musical performances in the Piazza piano bar at night; Mona often putting requests on napkins with her favourite songs to play, which Sebastian did almost every time.

As the ship rounded Cape Horn, the most southerly tip of South America, and the nearest landmass to the Antarctic, Sebastian received a request for him to join the on-board band to do a Beatles tribute. This was to be held that night in the nightclub on the seventeenth deck.

The club was named Stars, and was a circular dome that sat uppermost on the ship at the rear. The nightclub was isolated from the other decks by