Alex ran through the snow with Li Wen and Scratches beside him. Kali, the reporter, rode on top of Scratches. They had made good time, and the lake rose in the distance. He could also see a few figures looking down the lake''s rim.


    "Your scope good for that distance?" Alex asked Li Wen as they ran.


    "Hah. Don''t underestimate me." Li Wen released a stream of steam as she slowed and pulled up her rifle. "Let me look."


    She sighted down the rifle, and Alex, along with Scratches beside him, came to a stop. Kali had to hold on to the bearcat''s fur to keep it from falling off, and Alex saw it flinch in pain. He put one hand on the animal''s head as they waited.


    "Three, no four people," Li Wen said as she checked down the sights. "Two women, two men. One of them isn''t even wearing a coat."


    "That''s Sayed." Alex nodded, starting up again. "We need to hurry. They''re going to beat us to the ship."


    "There''s a ship?" Li Wen asked as she slung her rifle back over her shoulder and began jogging.


    "Long story, but yeah." Alex let out bursts of steam between breaths. "We found Roald''s old ship, and it''s our ticket out of here."


    Several emotions clouded Li Wen''s face at his words. Confusion, annoyance, acceptance, she ran the gambit of emotions to that news as they ran. Alex simply focused on the path before him, yelling out when he got close enough that he thought the others could hear him.


    "Hey!" he yelled as he ran.


    Sayed turned first, waving one arm and saying something Alex couldn''t hear. Moments later, all the others turned around and waved for him to hurry up. Alex picked up the pace, with Scratches and Li Wen not far behind him.


    "We have done it. The ship is free," Sayed said, grabbing Alex in a massive bear hug when he came within range. "Now, we only need to flee!"


    "Yeah." Alex patted Sayed on the back before Sayed dropped him. "Good to see you too, buddy."


    "There are two captains." Jean pointed back to the keep. "And a slipship has been prowling around the sky for a while. The Military Police caught up with us."


    "Good thing we''ve got a second ship." Alex nodded.


    "What about these two people with you and this mighty beast?" Sayed opened his arms wide as he looked at the bearcat.


    "Scratches!" Mari ran forward, slamming into the side of the massive bearcat matriarch.


    ''Little One!''


    "Woah!"


    Kali tried to grab the bearcat''s fur, but she failed and tumbled into the snow as Scratches rolled onto the ground with her belly exposed. Mari quickly began to rub the massive beast''s belly. Alex had a moment when the entire situation looked cute, but then he remembered what Jean had just said. There were two captains on the island, on top of the whole cavalcade they had already dealt with.


    They needed to run.


    "Li Wen, Kali, everyone else," Alex said, gesturing between all of them with one wave of his arms. "Let''s get out of here."


    "I''m not going to ask." Erin looked over the newcomers. "But we do need to go now."


    Together, they climbed down the lakebed and into the cave. Alex spared one last glance over the lip of the lake before he jumped down, but the keep appeared empty. He did wonder what happened to Runa, Firril, and Gary, but that would have to wait. They had survived on the island long enough without interference, and if there were Military Police soldiers running around, escape was more important.


    Hrrm.


    Roald''s ship loomed at the bottom of the lake bed, floating above them as they approached. The ship was painted a dark blue that looked almost like the ocean''s surface at night and was shaped in a way that reminded Alex of a submarine. It was as long as a modern nuclear submarine. Two pods that ran the ship''s length extended out from it, and it lacked the common light sails on every ship he had seen sail the nightsea. On the back was a single cone-shaped golden protrusion with a spiral pattern across it. The front of the ship had a raised and armored area that he guessed was a cockpit or bridge, and there was a long deck along the back with an entrance that met that armored area.


    "It reminds me of my ship," Erin whispered as she looked up at the ship. "But not exactly the same."


    "Definitely different from most of the things we''ve seen sailing around." Alex nodded. "It''s like something from a completely different era of history."


    "What are we waiting for?" Sayed was practically giddy, a grin cracking his face. "Let us get on board and see what this ship has to offer."


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    "Wait," Alex said, looking down the ship''s length and following the line of cables that ran over to the metal structure at the center of the black pond.


    It was an island core, and a ship was hooked up to it. The wiring was thick and sheathed in black rubber. Two spots on the ship had ports that connected to the island core. Alex wasn''t sure they could leave while the ship was connected.


    There were too many questions about how it would work.


    "Leave them connected," Mari said, her voice hollow as she slid off Scratches''s back. "Until we leave, leave them connected."


    "Can you handle it?" Alex looked at Jean, and Jean nodded.


    "I will make sure we disconnect before we go," Jean said as he examined the connections. "I think I see how they work."


    "Alright." Alex dropped a copper doler on the ground, opened his gate, and pushed against it.


    He vaulted up to the ship''s deck and quickly found a rope ladder that he threw down to the rest of the group. The ladder seemed to have been protected by the energy field from the elements and decay. It looked as sturdy and strong as a newly woven rope.


    "Thank you for seeing me again, Scratches." Mari was the last to climb the rope, rubbing Scratches behind her ears before climbing. "I have to go now."


    ''Come back and visit after this adventure is over, Little One,'' Scratches voice reached into Alex''s mind. ''My children will be glad to have an old friend to play with.''


    Alex shook his head, focusing on the door ahead of him. It had a large metal wheel on it, holding it tight against the ship''s hull. More and more, It reminded Alex of a hatch on a submarine. The hatch was even sealed to the hull, unlike most cabin doors on slipships.


    "There''s only one way to find out." He looked back, noticing that Sayed, Erin, Li Wen, Kali, and Mari were all watching him. "I guess I''m leading the way."


    Creak.


    The wheel turned reluctantly, groaning as Alex flexed his arms and spun it. The hatch was rust-free, probably another benefit of the barrier''s protection, but it wasn''t easy to turn either. With a low whine, the door opened, and a flood of stale air rushed past Alex as the ship''s internal atmosphere equalized with the outside.


    A set of spiral stairs lay before him, leading into the ship''s bowels.


    "Come on," Alex said.


    Thump. Thump.


    Alex''s boots shook the stairs a little as he entered the ship. He stepped down onto a long corridor that looked like it ran the ship''s length. Much like the outside, it was all metal, with doors similar to the entrance that lay open. The only difference was that the interior was a stark white that seemed to glow in the shadows of the flickering lights that ran down the floor. Alex suppressed a shudder.


    No one had been on this ship in a long time, and he felt the inherent emptiness of a place long abandoned. He wasn''t a superstitious person by nature, and he had never believed in ghosts or spirits, despite his grandmother''s attempts to convince him otherwise. However, he could imagine the spirits of the long-departed floating through the ship, looking to scare any intruders.


    Thump.


    Mari landed next to him, jumping down the final steps of the stairs before looking around the corridor. Without hesitating, she began to walk toward the front of the ship, grabbing Alex''s hand as she led the way forward.


    "This way," she said.


    Alex let her lead the way, ducking through two doors before they went up a ramp that led to a spacious area. Behind him, the others stopped and took their time, looking around the new ship with gasps before following him.


    "Very sci-fi," Li Wen''s voice echoed what she had said back on Tombstone when they had stepped inside an island core.


    She wasn''t wrong.


    The best way Alex could describe the area was as a bridge. There was a single central chair with two long arms that came off of the seat. Two orbs on the arms looked like controls of some kind. Besides that, there were four seats on either side of the main chair, each one with a set of control panels with glass screens raised in front of them that were partially see-through.


    Mari pulled on Alex''s arm, leading him up a small set of stairs onto a platform that ran the length of the area behind the controls. Alex noticed a rounded hatch set into the floor. A small wheel on the top could open it.


    "I need to go in to start the ship," Mari said. "Can you open it for me?"


    "Sure." Alex spun the wheel to the left, loosening it with ease.


    Creak.


    The hatch opened, and all he could see below was a dark pit. Alex looked over to Mari, but she didn''t seem bothered. With a quick jump, she dropped into the shadows and looked up at Alex. Her blue eyes glowed in the darkness.


    "Close it."


    A weight settled against Alex''s chest, and he gulped down the bad feeling that welled up inside of him. It felt like he was putting a child in a cage, and nothing in it felt right.


    "Are you sure?"


    "Yes." Mari nodded, and Alex closed the hatched.


    Hrrm. Click. Click. Click.


    The hatch spun itself closed as power hummed through the panels all around him. Screens pulsed to life, and the flashing lights of the ship stopped, bathing the white metal all around him in fluorescent light. With a click, a screen flickered along the front of the bridge, and Alex could see several viewpoints from outside the ship. On the center of the curved screen was the cave in front of the ship, while two other screens showed wide-angle shots to the left and right of the ship that looked out over the rest of the cavern. Alex could see Jean on the left screen, and he jumped away from the ship as it shuddered.


    "The Nighthawk is operational," Mari''s voice came out of speakers in the ceiling, and Alex jumped. "Beginning broadcast."


    "Broadcast?" Alex whispered.


    Erin rushed in, Sayed right behind her.


    "I have no idea," Erin whispered.


    "Whatever it is, it can only be the start of something grand," Sayed whispered.


    Alex slapped himself across the face. He couldn''t let himself get distracted from their main problem, regardless of what was happening around them. Whatever the broadcast was, they had to get ready to leave. The moment the Military Police figured out where they were, they were running on limited time.


    "Sayed," Alex said as he jumped into the center chair. "Go to the deck and tell Jean to get ready. Whatever this broadcast is, we need to figure out how to fly this thing if we''re going to use it to escape."


    "Let me see what I can do." Erin nodded, jumped into one of the remaining seats, and examined her controls.


    "I have some experience," Li Wen said, running in and taking another seat. "We can figure this out together."


    Alex nodded and began examining his own controls. As he did so, thoughts began to flood from his subconscious, and he began to touch buttons without even thinking. Like with island cores, he knew how the ship worked. He placed his hands on the two orbs in front of him as a voice came over the speakers.


    "Hello," a man said as a screen flickered to life in the air before Alex. "I am Roald, the famous explorer, and this is my message to all of Erth."