The Captain’s Bargain
Elara stood in her mother’s room, the words echoing in her mind.
You become the captain.
She looked at the door. At the captain. At the darkness beyond.
“I don’t want to be captain. I want to go home.”
Her mother’s silver eyes were wet.
“Home is gone, Elara. Port Morning is not your home anymore. This ship is your home. These people are your family. The voyage is your life.”
“No.”
“Yes. The sooner you accept it, the easier it will be.”
Elara pulled her hands away.
“There has to be another way.”
Her mother was silent for a long moment.
“There is always another way. But it requires a sacrifice you are not ready to make.”
“What sacrifice?”
Her mother looked at the door.
At the captain.
At the darkness.
“Your father.”
Elara’s blood went cold.
“My father?”
“The captain will release him. In exchange for you. One life for another. A father for a daughter.”
“That’s not a sacrifice. That’s a trade.”
Her mother nodded.
“Yes. A trade. A trade that will cost you everything.”
Elara walked to the door.
The captain was waiting.
“Is it true?” she asked. “Will you release my father if I take his place?”
The captain nodded.
“I will release him. I will release anyone you ask. In exchange for you.”
“Why me?”
The captain tilted his head.
“Because you are the key. The last key. The one who can end the voyage.”
“How?”
The captain smiled.
It was not a kind smile.
“By becoming me.”
Elara stepped back.
“I don’t want to be you.”
“No one does. That’s what makes the choice so hard.”
“What choice?”
The captain looked at the corridor.
At the doors.
At the names.
“You can become the captain. You can end the voyage. You can set us all free.”
“Or?”
“Or you can refuse. You can live your life. You can grow old. You can have children. You can be happy.”
“And the passengers?”
The captain looked at her.
“The passengers will remain trapped. Forever.”
Elara looked at her mother’s door.
At her father’s door.
At the thousands of doors beyond.
“I need time to think.”
The captain nodded.
“Take all the time you need. The voyage is endless. It can wait a little longer.”