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Holden’s fingers slowly hit the letters on the screen one at a time: R. O. C. I. N. A. N. T. E. With the new name entered, he hesitated and looked at Naomi. She was the one who had reformatted the transponder, so he was going to let her be the one to stand by her work.
She gulped and nodded, her lips moving in a silent prayer. Then, she clicked “Initiate.”
All four of them held their breath as the computer processed the command. After a few tense seconds, they were not engulfed in a nuclear explosion and, instead, the screen simply displayed the ship’s new name: Rocinante. All four let out a deep sigh of relief.
“Taki Persi,” Naomi muttered.
Alex paused in the middle of giving Naomi a literal pat on the back. “Persi? Who the fuck is Persi?”
Amos snorted. “You never heard of Percy Jackson?”
Alex glanced at Holden, who merely shrugged in response.
“It’s an old Belter story.” Naomi waved her hand dismissively. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Not just Belter,” Amos said.
“Okay,” said Alex, “now I gotta know.”
Naomi looked at Amos briefly, who simply said, “All you, boss.”
“Okay, you know how so many places in the system are named after old myths?” She looked back and forth at Alex and Holden.
“Yeah,” said Alex. “Mars was the name of an old god back in the day.”
Naomi nodded. “Right. Well, in those old myths, a lot of the gods had kids. Demigods, who were the heroes of a bunch of different stories.”
“Yeah,” said Alex, “but I never heard of Percy.”
“It’s short for Perseus,” Amos said. “Like the constellation.”
Alex snorted. “So…what? You were praying to the stars?”
Naomi shook her head. “No. The way the story goes, after the myths about the gods stopped, the gods didn’t. They just became hidden. They kept having children: demigods who became great heroes. One of those was Percy; he was just named after the same ancient hero the constellation was named after.”
“Okay…” said Alex. “So what was his deal?”
“He was the son of Neptune,” said Naomi.
“Poseidon,” interrupted Amos.
“Technically Poseidon,” Naomi agreed, “but the same god the planet is named after: The God of the Sea. He was born in the early years of spaceflight, back when everyone was still Earthers. Supposedly, he became the greatest demigod hero ever. He saved the gods from the Earth itself when it tried to destroy them. His power was so great that he became a god himself.”
Alex snorted. “Sounds pretty cool, beating the entire Earth and shit.”
Naomi laughed. “Yeah, that’s part of the fun. But, more importantly, when he became a god, he had two main domains: ships, because of being the Son of the Sea God, and forsaken children, because he was apparently pissed at how poorly the gods treated their kids. When humanity started to really explore space, he became the God of Spaceships. Early on, he was the patron of all spacers equally, but when the Belters became their own people, forsaken by Earth and Mars, he became our god.”
“There’s a small shrine to him in Baltimore,” Amos added. “Belters aren’t the only forsaken children.”
“I’ve heard weirder stories,” said Alex. “You think he blessed the ship to not kill us or something?”
Naomi shrugged. “Maybe. It’s hard to tell for sure, but I like to think he’s looking out for me.”
“You think the other gods are still a thing?” asked Alex. “Because I might call myself a ‘Son of Mars’ sometimes, but I don’t mean that literally.”
“Yeah,” said Amos, “but maybe someone out there does mean it literally. I’ve heard a few people saying that one day, Percy will make a demigod himself who will lead the Belters to a new era of independent glory.”
“Let’s deal with getting to Tycho safely instead of waiting for some mythical savior,” said Holden. “We know Fred Johnson is real and a problem.”
“You got it, Hoss,” said Alex as he started walking towards the pilot seat. “Setting in a course to Tycho.”
The rest of them split up and settled into the ship. Later that night, Holden found himself alone on the bridge. He slowly ran his hands across the helm of the Rocinante as he appreciated the strong elegance of the gunship.
“She likes you,” said a voice from behind him.
Holden turned and saw a man with dark curly hair and brilliant green eyes sitting casually in one of the crash couches. His father: Percy Jackson himself.
“Naomi?” Holden asked.
Percy snorted. “The Rocinante. Did she suggest the name?”
Holden shrugged. “She wasn’t happy with Screaming Firehawk or any of Alex’s other suggestions. We agreed that Rocinante seemed more fitting.” He paused for a moment before he asked, “Did you bless us? When we reprogrammed the transponder?”
Percy eyed him for a moment. “What answer are you hoping to hear?”
Holden shrugged.
“I was prepared to step in if I needed to, but I didn’t need to.” Percy sighed. “I know I’m not always the best at it, but I do try to walk the fine line between being smothering and being absent.”
“You’ve felt absent,” Holden said. “The Canterbury. The Donnager. You couldn’t save them?”
Percy sighed and stood. He slowly walked over and gently laid a hand on Holden’s shoulder. “James, if it was up to me, not a single ship would ever be lost. But that’s not in my power.”
Holden nodded. “About what Amos said…”
“James.”
“It’s a serious question,” Holden said. “Is that the reason you had me? To save the Belters or something?”
“I had you because your mother is a wonderful woman,” Percy said. “A woman who I knew would never abandon a child and make sure that, no matter what life would set before them, would make sure that her child was loved and cared for.”
“I’m already a…a figurehead,” Holden said. He choked on a sob. “The Belters…they’re chanting ‘Remember the Cant’ with my face on their signs.”
“If you want to disappear and be forgotten,” Percy said, “you can do that. But is that what you want?”
Holden thought about it briefly. “I don’t know.”
“Then you don’t know,” said Percy. “Just know that, whatever you choose, you have me by your side.” He gave a meaningful glance down at the rest of the ship. “That includes if you want your crew to know the real you. You stayed silent, earlier.”
“I had to,” Holden said.
Percy shook his head. “You didn’t have to do anything. You chose to stay silent.”
“Is it a choice?”
“Of course! It’s important that you know that,” Percy said. “Everything you do is a choice. And, in this regard, you can always make the opposite choice.”
“But once I make that choice,” Holden said, “I can never take it back.”
“You cannot,” agreed Percy. “But you may find that more freeing than limiting.”
The clank of boots coming up the ladder interrupted them.
“Good luck, James,” Percy said before he disappeared in a flash of light.
Moments later, Naomi’s head appeared as she made her way onto the bridge. “Were you talking to someone?”
“Just the ship,” Holden said. He gently patted the console next to him. “I think I like her.”
Naomi snorted. “She’s annoyingly perfect. There’s nothing to fix!”
“Just get to know her,” he said. “I’m sure she’ll let you know when something breaks. Something tells me that the Roci likes us as much as we like her.”
Naomi laughed. “You hear the story of Percy once, and you start turning superstitious.”
Holden shrugged. “What can I say? The story spoke to me.”