Page 44 of The Godhead Complex
“What’s that?” Trish asked, finally breaking up the hug.
“The captain’s log!” He was shouting every word and went looking for Minho. “I found Kletter’s captain’s log!”
Chaos. Commotion.
The yelling from Dominic and everyone suddenly flanking the captain’s area caused the Orphan to tense up. He turned from the captain’s wheel and visually identified each crew member: Sadina, Trish, Dominic, Miyoko. Everyone but Roxy and Orange who were untangling a mess of ropes. No one had fallen off the boat, at least.
If Dominic had truly found a captain’s log, it might help him figure out the problem with the ship’s steering. “Here, let me see.” He reached for the small book in Dominic’s hands.
“Good luck reading it.”
“What, she had terrible handwriting?” Trish asked.
“No, it’s written in some kind of secret code,” he replied.
Miyoko punched him in the bicep for some odd reason. “You let Happy look at it before me?”
“Huh?” The Orphan asked, but no one answered.Happy?“Where’d you find this?”
Miyoko actually answered. “Behind the wood panel of the steps. Dominic slipped and crash-landed.” That made sense. Minho had heard a thud a few minutes earlier and figured they were just horsing around. Miyoko continued, “When we looked to make sure the steps were okay—”
“I’m fine by the way, thanks for asking,” Dominic added. Miyoko ignored him. “There was this little book squeezed in between the paneling.”
Minho flipped through the pages and saw the English alphabet, but all mixed up, nothing he could read. He recognized a word here and there, but wasn’t sure.Colección, científico observación, extraordinario, reacción, exploración,and then one word in particular that would be clear to anyone on the planet:infección.“It’s not a code. I think it’s Spanish.”
“Spanish?” Dominic repeated, as if he’d never heard the word.
“Yeah, Spanish. You know, another language? Let me see if Roxy can read this. Somebody watch the wheel for a minute.”
Sadina stepped in and took over. Minho started to walk away but then turned back to Dominic. “Don’t spin it.”
“How did you know I wanted to spin it?”
Minho glanced at Sadina, “Don’t let him spin it.”
On the south side of the boat’s deck, Minho found Roxy and Orange sitting amongst a jungle of knots. Different colors and thicknesses of ropes draped over them, a mess of white nylon, yellow cord, orange twine, and blue anchor rope all tangled together. Fishing lines wrapped around thicker sailing ropes and Orange used her knife where needed. They were so mesmerized by the task at hand that they didn’t even look up when Minho approached. “That Kletter lady who sailed before us, she left a notebook behind,” he said.
“What’d the note say?” Orange asked, still not looking up from her knots.
“Not a note, a notebook. A captain’s log, but it’s in Spanish.” He bent down to their level. “Can you read Spanish, Roxy?”
“A little, yeah.”
Judging from the upkeep of the boat and its poor condition, the Orphan wasn’t sure how helpful any advice from the last captain might be. Still, he was curious. “Can you take a break and see if any words stick out to you?” He handed Roxy the book.
She looked back at him as if he was a knotted mess himself before she flipped through the pages of Kletter’s notes. “I don’t know. I mostly learned Spanish from posted warning signs.”
“Here.” Minho found a page with some of the words he’d recognized. Words about experiments and expeditions. “Even I recognize some of it.” He pointed. “The word infection is repeated on almost every page.Infección.”
That finally perked Orange up. “She documented the Flare?”
“I don’t know. Something.”
“Let me see.” Orange dumped the pile of rope from her lap and leaned over. Roxy pulled it closer to her face and then farther away. “I know this word. Sure as canned beets will stain you, I know this word.” She tapped the handwritten text. “Caducado.”
It wasn’t anything the Orphan had heard before. “What’s it mean?”
She handed the book back to Minho. “It’s on every canned good I’ve ever seen. Tells you when the food will go bad, expire.”
