Starcutter - 3. Chapter 3

Gabe shut the door behind him. Ryle. He knew that this slave he would never claim he owned was going to be a huge change in his life. He'd never had to take care of someone. He was barely an adult himself! And to take care of someone older than himself...it felt so weird. Shaking his head, he locked the door behind him. Only he and the Captain could open his private quarters and if anyone else tried he would be able to see who, thanks to the log entry.

He took some of the cloth over to the uniform supply and walked up to the counter. “Gabey! So what is this I hear about you having your own pet?”

“Meg, with all due respect, Ryle is not a pet. If you hear anyone, including the Captain, call him that, tell them to come to me for a lesson in manners and a very close shave.” He grinned, but she could see he did not like that term applied to Ryle.

“Okay. I wondered what was wrong. Never figured you to get one.” She knew his stance on slaves. Everyone did. He voiced his opinion...loudly...in a shouting match with the Captain. He didn't give in one inch, not even when the famed temper the Captain had snapped and he back handed his son.

When Gabe stood and dusted off his bottom and glared right back, the Captain just laughed. “Let it be said that Gabe has fortitude few others have. Yes, we have slaves, but they are treated well unless they get out of line. Like all members of this crew. Talk to a few and see for yourself. Just don't interfere with their work.”

“I shall. Never put me in charge of them. I will never take a whip to another person unless I am defending myself.” Gabe tossed the weapon at his feet and walked away. The first mate went to grab him to discipline Gabe himself, but he got kneed in the balls. “And don't touch me. Ever. I may be young, I may be weak compared to you, but you will have to sleep sometime and my mother did not raise a victim.” He stalked from the mess hall.

Gabe smiled at Meg, putting the memory away. “He's actually part of the reason I am here. He needs clothing. I have the cloth back in my room and I'd like you to come over to fit him later, if you could.”

“Sure. He's small, I hear.”

“'Bout four feet or so. But that's for later. I need something else than what the Captain wants me to wear.”

She pursed her lips. “Has he authorized this? You are in ship uniform.”

“He didn't say no after commenting that it looks silly on me.” She laughed and Gabe grinned right back. Meg was one of the few he might call friend. She cared nothing for rank. Once you have seen a person in their underclothes and know every inch of their body, you kind of lose all sense of awe or fear of them.

“You're too much like him.”

“I know. Mom said even without him around I got a few traits from him. Here's what I got.” He dropped the black, red, and cream cloth on the counter. “And here is what I want.” He handed her the databook.

When she looked at it she grinned. “This is still in uniform too. I'm impressed, Gabey.” It was a vest that would be reversible. Black on one side, red on the other, and worn over the cream colored shirt. It was more fancy than anything they had in stock here and even the Captain might not have anything in this style. “And it will look good with your build.”

“Mom made sure I knew what looked good.”

“Not to speak ill of your mother, but many would be surprised what people who shared her former life know.” Gabe nodded. Mom had given him lessons of the harsh realities she went through and told him how to stay away from them. It included etiquette, clothing, flirting, cooking, fighting, and how to keep your thoughts off your face.

“Mom would agree. When can I get those? I'd like to get out of this damn coat.” He liked the coat, just not the cut of it. It was modeled after the one the Captain wore, but he didn't have his father's shoulders, at least not yet.

“Let me get your measurements. You've grown since your last fitting.” He had too. He was close to six feet tall by his estimate, and he weighed close to one hundred-seventy pounds with little fat on him. “Shuck the coat and get up on the stool, you know the drill.”

“Small clothes or else?” She grinned even as he did. Gabe stripped down to his small clothes and held his arms out.

She was jotting down the measurements and chuckling. “Well. This must be what being a boy is about. How tall do you thing you are?” He told her. “Nope. Almost six feet and three inches.” Gabe's eye went wide. How had he grown that much? “Scale,” she said and he stepped off the stool onto the scale in her work area. “One-ninety-one.”

“Wow. Growth spurt much.”

“Boys do that. I'm going to make a few sets of these so you can grow into them. Just got some leather in. Want a new coat more fitting your build and style?” Her smile knew he would say yes.

“God yes. You have no idea what it's like to wear this thing. I'm not some miniature copy of the Captain.” Her eye roll said she thought otherwise. “Meg...what was that?”

“Gabe, you're just like him. Only you have enough of your mother in you to keep his flaws from being the dominant parts.”

The thundering of footfalls came into the room. “Whose flaws?” asked the Captain.

“Yours, you big oaf. Loud, obnoxious, stomping everywhere, too smooth for your own good.” He laughed and gave her a gentle shove. “Always shoving people around.” It was no secret that they were sleeping together. In fact they had known each other since Meg was a lass of sixteen and the Captain was a man of forty. He took her on the Starcutter and when she showed she was not intimidated by him, he let his guard down. Now, fourteen years later, no one else could say the things she could about him. They were too scared to. “Your son is hitting his growth and I'm fitting him for new clothes. Sit or get out.”

“Only you, my dear.” He sat out of the way. “You have grown quite a bit, Gabriel, since you came here. I'd like to talk to you when you have a moment.”

“Talk. I'm not doing anything right now, Captain.”

“Have I done well by you so far?”

It was the last question he thought to hear coming from his father. Did he truly care enough to find out? “Well. I am fed, clothed, have work to keep me busy and learning several trades. In that you have far exceeded what I expected from a privateer.” The Captain tipped his hat. “As for the rest...you know as well as I do you have no idea what to do with me.”

“True. I am not an easy man to know. I demand respect or take fear as a good substitute. I make no secret of that.” Gabe nodded while Meg took more measurements. “I am glad you came to me this late in life because I would have ruined it had I known about you sooner.” That admission was something all too true. He would have turned him into a pirate like himself and no one would have stopped him.

“Captain...Father. You have done what you can and while I can find many faults in you, you have done your best. You treat me no worse than your crew and you have put up with me when I was insolent but disciplined me when I went too far.” Gabe rarely called him father. “In some ways you have made me mature faster than I would have under a different trade. Thank you for teaching me.”

The Captain smiled. “I am learning more about you every day. Perhaps one of these times, when I am older and grayer, we will look back and you will smile and say I did well by you.”

“Perhaps.” Gabe smiled. “Now, what is the other part you want to talk about?”

The Captain laughed. “There is your mother's influence. She may have been a whore, but she was a strong person. You may be a bastard child, but you are no fool, son. She saw through to the heart of the matter and so do you.” The Captain looked at him closer. Yes, there was enough of his mother in Gabe to soften the hardness in his face. He would be a handsome man, one women would fall in love with. “Your new...friend. I know it was not your desire I get you one, but I do hope you see what I want for you.”

“I do, and I appreciate it. Ryle...well, once I can get him to not look at me like I want to hurt him, poison him, starve him, berate him...mistreat him...maybe we can be more than what we are today. I am telling you now, as your son and crew, if anyone hurts him, including you, I will gut them where they stand and let the corpse rot.”

The Captain's eyes narrowed dangerously, but he saw a reflection of himself looking back out of his son's dark eyes. There was no compromise. He would do as he said or die trying. “Perhaps I have taught you a bad lesson. I know that tone. If he stays in line I shall not hurt him, but I will do as I deem necessary should he cross it.”

“If he does, I will discipline him myself. I have seen your form and you would kill him. The crew will not touch him without his and my consent.”

“And who are you to give me such terms?” The Captain stood and loomed over his son even though the lad was on a stool.

“If nothing else I am his owner. Legally and under contract. My rules are his law and no one will countermand my rules when it comes to him.” He gave no ground, but inside he was quaking. He was openly challenging the Captain over a slave and legality. With the ship underway, the Captain could change it as he was sovereign here.

“I see. Your reasoning has merit and I am impressed you have been able to keep the fear off your face. Do you fear me?” It was no idle question although his tone suggested he didn't care either way.

“I do. I respect you as well, and I hope that the same is returned.”

The Captain laughed loudly. “You are far too honest but I thank you for being that way. I will let it be known that your rules with...Ryle is his name?...are given weight. But should he harm the crew without provocation...”

“I shall deal with it and accept his punishment myself. A commanding officer is responsible for those under him.” That set the Captain back. He never expected a lad of sixteen to understand about command, but he did.

“Another lesson learned, son. You have made me proud today. To take what has been given you and do your best. No matter the obstacles.” The Captain turned on heel and left.

When his thundering could not longer be heard Gabe sat down hard and started shaking. Meg ran over and grabbed a bottle of brandy from behind the counter. “Take a swig and don't ask what it is?” He did as told and coughed a lot, even though it was smoother than he expected. “You have balls. Not even I would have done that.”

“He scares me, but I won't let him win. Can I get dressed now? Not use to women seeing me in this little.” She laughed and nodded. He pulled on his pants but sat there a bit longer.

“No lady friends back home?” she teased.

“Meg, I have never even had my first kiss yet. Between helping with Dad's...David's business and taking care of mom for the past two years, I never had a social life.” He couldn't tell her he had no interest in girls at all. He couldn't tell anyone. It would be used against him. One thing all three parents told him was never give your enemies fodder for leverage. Either keep it secret or yell it loud so everyone knows and no one can use it against you. All secrets or none. This was the one secret he kept.

“Want me to find a nice young lady for you? Someone I don't have to pay?”

“Thanks Meg, but I'll find someone eventually. Probably after I'm off this ship and maybe have one of my own. Maybe I can seduce the supply officer.” Meg laughed as he got dressed.

“You're cute, Gabey, but not that cute.” He took a step up to her, gently took her hand, his thumb running along the back of it tenderly as he gazed into her eyes. The dark depths of his eyes met the calm blue of hers, and her brows raised ever so slightly as he leaned in. When she thought he was going to kiss her, he moved to her ear instead.

He whispered, “I had your pulsed racing for a second.” He turned and spun on heel, his footfalls feather soft and he could hear her behind him chuckling.

“Too much like his father.”