Page 69 of Terminal Voyage

Someone had clearly walked down the hall smoking a cigarette. I knew the guys smoked cigars in the sky lounge for their poker game, but this wasn't cigar smoke. I followed the scent up to the main deck just out of curiosity. It would bug me all night if I didn't.

I climbed to the main foyer, then looked into the salon.

It was empty.

I stepped onto the side deck, made my way aft, and saw Pete at the stern, looking over the gunwale at the ocean. The cherry glowed as he took a drag of his cigarette. But with thewind coming across the deck, there was no way I could have smelled that in my cabin.

I walked down the side deck to join him and leaned against the gunwale.

"Oops. You caught me," he said, taking another drag before tossing the cigarette into the sea. The cherry spiraled its way down, then vanished in the inky abyss.

"You shouldn't litter," I said, trying not to sound like I was scolding him.

"I know. I'm a bad person. Sorry. I'll do better," he said in a meek voice, exaggerating. "It won't happen again.”

"I smelled it in my cabin.”

Pete grew serious. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you.”

"No. It’s just… I'm not sure how I could have smelled it. Did you walk down the corridor with it?”

"No. We're not allowed to smoke in guest areas or aboard the ship, really. I just couldn't sleep and had to sneak one.”

There was an awkward moment between us.

"Did you have fun ashore today?"

I scoffed.

"That doesn't sound good.”

"No. It was great. We had a really good time. I think everyone enjoyed themselves."

"Are you sure about that? Everybody looked pretty strange when they came back. Did something happen?"

"No. Nothing at all," I said in an innocent voice.

Pete's eyes narrowed, knowing better. But he knew not to push it with a guest. He raised his hands innocently. "It's none of my business.”

I paused, then said, "Can I ask you a strange question?”

He looked intrigued. "That sounds interesting.”

"Do you believe in ghosts?”

He sucked his lips and thought about it for a moment. "I don't know. I believe there's something more out there. Something after we die. At least I hope there is. Maybe some of those wayward souls linger around for some reason. Unfinished business, maybe.” Then he muttered aside, “Maybe they didn’t like where they were going.”

"I read this article that said 53% of people believe in ghosts.”

Pete smiled. "That's a lot of people."

"Who knows if it's true?”

Pete shrugged.

"You said you’ve been on this boat for six months now?”

He nodded.