Page 137 of Hidden Depths
"We start hunting."
For the first time in decades...
The old captain wasn't keeping a promise.
He was preparing for war.
And somewhere beyond the horizon...
Someone smiled.
Because the game they'd waited twenty years to begin...
Had finally begun.
25
STORM
Grandpa used to say...
"You can learn a great deal about a sailor...
...by the way he steps aboard another man's boat."
I never understood what he meant.
Until Nathan Hale came aboard Sea Whisper.
No one hurried him.
No one reached for him.
The two vessels drifted quietly together, rising and falling with the gentle Pacific swells.
Nathan removed his cap before stepping across.
Not because he had to.
Because he believed he was stepping onto another captain's ship.
One careful step.
Then another.
His weathered boots touched the teak deck.
He stopped.
Closed his eyes.
And drew a slow breath.
For a long moment...
No one spoke.
Ward stood quietly beside Ben.
