Some people had wonderful jobs. Ashlyn Granger knew perfectly well that she was among them. Not only did she get to spend her working hours studying some of the most amazing creatures and their environments, but she got to skip out on winter and come to places like this. Nuelo Atoll was peaceful and forgotten, a gem tucked away in the Nereem Strait. It was the perfect place for a study trip, its corals virtually untouched by the intervention of any race but those that lived beneath the sea itself. It was right in the middle of the strait, and as such, no one had ever tried to settle it, so even the atoll itself was untouched. It was a gorgeous bit of peace in the middle of a busy trade route. And she loved it.
The Mauretania was anchored a little way out from the reef itself, ridiculously out of place among all the natural beauty around them, but in the perfect position for the work being done by the two professors and five students she had brought with her. It had taken eight days to get here, and they'd been here a little over two weeks by now. Two more weeks, and they'd be heading back to Rhy'Din and the cold spring. But Ash didn't mind that so much; not only did she have James on board with her, but the power and water lines to their new home would have been laid by the time they got back, and the foundations begun. Everything was coming up roses, and it was all thanks to him. Coming up on deck, she flashed her fiance a warm smile, distracted almost immediately by one of her students who had a burning question about jellyfish.
For some, sharing a ship with their fiancee might prove distracting - and Ashlyn could certainly be that - but for the most part, they were both too busy with their particular jobs to find much time to for each other, during the day anyway. Night was another story, and yet, they were careful to keep their private lives private as much as possible and, so far, they'd been mostly successful. There had been some talk among the crew when they'd first found out that their second mate was engaged with the professor in charge of research, but James had put a stop to the talk soon enough, even if it had taken a few threats to do it.
"Radcliffe!" The captain raised a hand to catch James' attention, jerking his head for his second mate to join him and the first mate where they were studying charts.
Across the deck, Ash was nodding in answer to the query that had been sent her way, sending her student back to the others with the promise that she would fetch out what they needed from the research cabin. A moment later, she was out of sight, all business when it came to her work.
He hardly gave his fiancee a second glance as he answered the captain's summons and crossed the desk to join him and the first mate. "Aye, Captain?" he ventured, assuming the two men were discussing the route home or some such thing or other. The sea was tranquil and their surroundings idyllic. As for James, he'd grown tan from the days spent in the sun and felt better than he had in years. He was obviously enjoying every minute of their time here in more ways than one.
"Dexter here reckons we're due a storm," the captain said, glancing at the immaculately blue sky and complete lack of wind. "You've got better sea sense, what with no reliance on technology. What do you think?"
James looked around at the clear blue sky and the calm seas surrounding them, knowing there were some storms that couldn't be predicted - storms that came up out of nowhere and had nothing to do with the weather. He'd just checked the weather reports a few hours earlier, and they were promising more of the same calm weather, but it wasn't the weather that worried him. "Forecasts predict another mild week of weather, Captain," James replied with a thoughtful frown, knowing that wasn't what he was being asked. He turned his face out to sea, shading his eyes from the sun to search the horizon, trusting to his instincts more than to any sort of modern technology.
"See, I don't think so," Dexter, the first mate, argued. "It's just something in the way the air feels. And what about what the geeks said this morning" All the predators have disappeared. That's not normal for mild, unbroken weather, captain."
The captain sighed, shaking his head. Francis Fry had been sailing these seas all his life, but he'd never really developed the sea senses he needed. He relied too heavily on technology and luck. "There's nothing forecast, Dex," he pointed out. "Nothing showing on any of the instruments. Hell, no one's even reported a Nexus storm in these parts for the last six years!"
"Dexter is right," James pointed out, taking up a spyglass to get a better look. Though he might have been better served by a pair of binoculars, he still preferred and trusted the things he was used to. "Nexus storms can come up without warning, Captain," James reminded him, pausing a long moment to examine the horizon and the surrounding area. There was something strange in the air, but he wasn't quite sure what it was. And then, he noticed something far out to sea that didn't seem to belong there. "Hmm, Dex, take a look at that, will you?" he asked the first mate, handing him the spyglass and pointing in the direction where he'd seen a strange cresting wave where the sea had been calm moments before.
"Okay." Dex took the spyglass, raising it to his eye to squint through in the hope of seeing what had caught James' eye. He seemed to hold that position for a long time, and quite suddenly, he swore. No one needed enhanced vision to know why. Where there had been a calm sea to the horizon, suddenly there was a broiling swathe of dark clouds, purple lightning flashing back and forth between them, driving the sea before it in a speeding rush of high cresting waves.
Captain Fry jumped as though he'd been slapped. "Get those civilians on board and below decks!" he roared, louder than was entirely necessary.
James didn't waste time echoing the captain's orders, shouting to the crew to get the civilians on board and start securing the ship. He didn't need the spyglass now to know a storm of some kind was coming - he'd experienced one of these once before. He only hoped they weren't going to wind up in Neverland again. He whispered a prayer to the sea, hoping the goddess who'd brought him here would hear his plea and look kindly on her servant.
Thankfully, everyone had been drilled on what to do in this situation. The deck became a sudden bustle of activity, everyone racing to beat the storm that was accelerating toward them at a terrifying rate. With Ash still below, the remaining professor wrangled the students, encouraging them to grab what they could carry and ignore the rest, just so long as they got below in time. Equipment could be replaced; people could not. The waves beneath them were already rising, making it difficult to keep their footing as crew and researchers ran for cover. Across the deck, a hatch opened and Ash came into view, possibly the only person board who didn't know that the rushing wind was their first real sign of danger.
On deck, the crew was rushing around in a hurry to secure the ship as best they could against the oncoming storm, while others were hurrying their passengers below deck. "What in bloody hell do you think you're doing?" James shouted, as Ash came into view. "There's a storm rolling in. A bad one!" he said, taking her by the arm and pulling her back toward the hatch she had just escaped from.
"What?" Despite her confusion, it didn't take much for Ash to realize what was happening. Unfortunately, the timing was not perfect. With a blast of sound and sensation, the storm hit them, throwing the Mauretania up into the air to crash down onto the waves with bone-jarring force. Ash's arm was ripped out of James' grasp as she fell back against the steel-clad bulkhead behind her, dazed by the shocking impact.
The Mauretania was anchored a little way out from the reef itself, ridiculously out of place among all the natural beauty around them, but in the perfect position for the work being done by the two professors and five students she had brought with her. It had taken eight days to get here, and they'd been here a little over two weeks by now. Two more weeks, and they'd be heading back to Rhy'Din and the cold spring. But Ash didn't mind that so much; not only did she have James on board with her, but the power and water lines to their new home would have been laid by the time they got back, and the foundations begun. Everything was coming up roses, and it was all thanks to him. Coming up on deck, she flashed her fiance a warm smile, distracted almost immediately by one of her students who had a burning question about jellyfish.
For some, sharing a ship with their fiancee might prove distracting - and Ashlyn could certainly be that - but for the most part, they were both too busy with their particular jobs to find much time to for each other, during the day anyway. Night was another story, and yet, they were careful to keep their private lives private as much as possible and, so far, they'd been mostly successful. There had been some talk among the crew when they'd first found out that their second mate was engaged with the professor in charge of research, but James had put a stop to the talk soon enough, even if it had taken a few threats to do it.
"Radcliffe!" The captain raised a hand to catch James' attention, jerking his head for his second mate to join him and the first mate where they were studying charts.
Across the deck, Ash was nodding in answer to the query that had been sent her way, sending her student back to the others with the promise that she would fetch out what they needed from the research cabin. A moment later, she was out of sight, all business when it came to her work.
He hardly gave his fiancee a second glance as he answered the captain's summons and crossed the desk to join him and the first mate. "Aye, Captain?" he ventured, assuming the two men were discussing the route home or some such thing or other. The sea was tranquil and their surroundings idyllic. As for James, he'd grown tan from the days spent in the sun and felt better than he had in years. He was obviously enjoying every minute of their time here in more ways than one.
"Dexter here reckons we're due a storm," the captain said, glancing at the immaculately blue sky and complete lack of wind. "You've got better sea sense, what with no reliance on technology. What do you think?"
James looked around at the clear blue sky and the calm seas surrounding them, knowing there were some storms that couldn't be predicted - storms that came up out of nowhere and had nothing to do with the weather. He'd just checked the weather reports a few hours earlier, and they were promising more of the same calm weather, but it wasn't the weather that worried him. "Forecasts predict another mild week of weather, Captain," James replied with a thoughtful frown, knowing that wasn't what he was being asked. He turned his face out to sea, shading his eyes from the sun to search the horizon, trusting to his instincts more than to any sort of modern technology.
"See, I don't think so," Dexter, the first mate, argued. "It's just something in the way the air feels. And what about what the geeks said this morning" All the predators have disappeared. That's not normal for mild, unbroken weather, captain."
The captain sighed, shaking his head. Francis Fry had been sailing these seas all his life, but he'd never really developed the sea senses he needed. He relied too heavily on technology and luck. "There's nothing forecast, Dex," he pointed out. "Nothing showing on any of the instruments. Hell, no one's even reported a Nexus storm in these parts for the last six years!"
"Dexter is right," James pointed out, taking up a spyglass to get a better look. Though he might have been better served by a pair of binoculars, he still preferred and trusted the things he was used to. "Nexus storms can come up without warning, Captain," James reminded him, pausing a long moment to examine the horizon and the surrounding area. There was something strange in the air, but he wasn't quite sure what it was. And then, he noticed something far out to sea that didn't seem to belong there. "Hmm, Dex, take a look at that, will you?" he asked the first mate, handing him the spyglass and pointing in the direction where he'd seen a strange cresting wave where the sea had been calm moments before.
"Okay." Dex took the spyglass, raising it to his eye to squint through in the hope of seeing what had caught James' eye. He seemed to hold that position for a long time, and quite suddenly, he swore. No one needed enhanced vision to know why. Where there had been a calm sea to the horizon, suddenly there was a broiling swathe of dark clouds, purple lightning flashing back and forth between them, driving the sea before it in a speeding rush of high cresting waves.
Captain Fry jumped as though he'd been slapped. "Get those civilians on board and below decks!" he roared, louder than was entirely necessary.
James didn't waste time echoing the captain's orders, shouting to the crew to get the civilians on board and start securing the ship. He didn't need the spyglass now to know a storm of some kind was coming - he'd experienced one of these once before. He only hoped they weren't going to wind up in Neverland again. He whispered a prayer to the sea, hoping the goddess who'd brought him here would hear his plea and look kindly on her servant.
Thankfully, everyone had been drilled on what to do in this situation. The deck became a sudden bustle of activity, everyone racing to beat the storm that was accelerating toward them at a terrifying rate. With Ash still below, the remaining professor wrangled the students, encouraging them to grab what they could carry and ignore the rest, just so long as they got below in time. Equipment could be replaced; people could not. The waves beneath them were already rising, making it difficult to keep their footing as crew and researchers ran for cover. Across the deck, a hatch opened and Ash came into view, possibly the only person board who didn't know that the rushing wind was their first real sign of danger.
On deck, the crew was rushing around in a hurry to secure the ship as best they could against the oncoming storm, while others were hurrying their passengers below deck. "What in bloody hell do you think you're doing?" James shouted, as Ash came into view. "There's a storm rolling in. A bad one!" he said, taking her by the arm and pulling her back toward the hatch she had just escaped from.
"What?" Despite her confusion, it didn't take much for Ash to realize what was happening. Unfortunately, the timing was not perfect. With a blast of sound and sensation, the storm hit them, throwing the Mauretania up into the air to crash down onto the waves with bone-jarring force. Ash's arm was ripped out of James' grasp as she fell back against the steel-clad bulkhead behind her, dazed by the shocking impact.