Free Destiny: Book of Light by Paul Allen Page B

Closest took the pot.
    "Looking at the charts, I reckon our best bet would be to take the long way around. Head out west, then south and then back around east. That way we avoid most of the main islands and hopefully most of the trouble. What du think Sean?"
"I think whatever you think is best, you are the captain, cap."
"That's right, I forgot." They glanced at each other and had a little chuckle.
    The horizon became dotted with islands as the ship slowed coming out from Dills Pass. Silence was in the air, with nothing but the soft splashes of the sea against the hull to be heard. The sun was high in the sky, casting its usual blue tinge on the world and blurring the line between the blue sea and the blue sky. Only the islands showed that there was any partition, the majority of which were to the East, indicating the path to the West. The bodies spread out with the seas currents as if they were all heading their own way.
With all the worrying passing in vain, the Denshir islands passed without incident. The stories that scaled the world were of the dread of the islands and not the pass. After what they had been through in the pass, they were expecting all out war here. But the seas were calm and not a soul was to be seen or heard. There was always the smell of death in the air though. The tough, pungent fear being carried on the low breeze and straight through the hearts of those onboard as if the very souls of the dead were trying to claw their way back to life. But their executioners were not to be found.
    Sean was on lookout duty up the crowsnest of the ship, which was purpose built in the center ship because of lack of a radar. In fact nobody had seen a working radar since shortly after the fall of Riona. He was half an hour away from the shift rotation when it started to rain. A few clouds had begun to build over the previous couple of hours and it started out as a slight drizzle from the north, increasing to a torrential downpour. With it, the seas welled up, tossing the ship on the backs of massive waves. The sky went dark in the face of the oncoming storm, and in the distance lightning began to flash and thunder rolled, mimicking the movement of the waves. The ship was not far from land now, but in this weather docking could be risky.
    The seas surrounding Woshell were famous for their dangerous rock clusters. These were relatively easy to navigate with calm seas but were like playing Russian roulette with five shots in rough weather, not to mention the lack of a full crew. Lack of a care in the city meant that the old lighthouses were never reliable, so the captain thought it best to ride out the storm on water rather than risk docking.
    Massive waves crashed over the sides, and everyone stayed off deck. This type of weather was pretty much a constant on this side of the world so there was no telling how long the storm would last. The captain kept close enough to land to be able to make a move should any lull show itself. The storm raged on. Two nights in, and lights from another ship were seen to the East. It appeared with brief sightings between the arches of the waves, that the ship was heading to them. It was now a matter of choosing between two evils. Navigate the rock enigma or hope the ship was friendly. The ship seemed the safest option with the deadly cargo as a safety net. As it approached nobody could be seen aboard.
    The ship itself was a tanker but much more heavily armed then the Angel. Though they were in range, the weapons did not fire and there appeared to be no movement onboard. A light could be seen on the ships bridge, but nobody was sure if what they saw was the outline of a person, or just a shadow. Just outside of what would be boarding attack range the ship stopped coming towards them and all lights shut down. It stayed there for the best part of an hour and all concentration onboard the Angel was watching it. At the same time another ship with no lights whatsoever approached the Angel from