Light bounced around behind Edmond's eyelids. Muffled voices could be heard faintly in and out. It was as though he had cotton in his ears. He heard the creaking of the wood again and the soft splash of the waves. Everything was becoming clear finally.

"Captain?" He heard clearly now.

He felt such a weight on his eyelids. He had the cool, damp wood of the deck under his face. He could feel that he was lying down on his stomach. His body felt like a rag doll. As if he could feel his limbs but couldn't find the strength to move them on his own. He let out a long, low groan.

"Captain? Are you okay?" The voice came again.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, giving him a gentle shake.

"Maryann?" He croaked, his throat stinging with the burn of salt.

"Come back to us, Captain." The voice called to him.

Finally. After much strain, Edmond opened his eyes. They stung, too. He had to blink several times to clear the burn and his vision.

He could see now. Willas was the one shaking him and calling out to him. His dirty blonde hair fell in clumps over his forehead. He let out a short laugh when he saw Edmond was coming to.

"There you go!" Willas slowly helped Edmond sit back up and leaned against the side of the ship. "You look pale as a corpse, Captain! Thought you were one there for a second!"

"I feel like one." Edmond coughed. He looked around. He assumed the sun had risen. But he couldn't see it anywhere. The clouds overhead were so thick that the sunlight couldn't penetrate it. While it was bright enough to see, he couldn't point to where the sun might be coming from.

The ship rocked steadily beneath him - for the first time, making him feel nauseous. "Where are we?" The captain used the side of the ship to pull himself up. His legs shook like a baby deer. He looked around at the sea. There was no land in sight. The waves were calm again, lapping at the side of the ship that he was surprised was in one piece still.

Willas looked around himself before answering, "I don't rightly know, sir."

Now, the captain could hear more voices. Men scattered along the deck.

"How is everyone?" The captain asked in hopes of good news.

"We lost Kaufer last night." Willas frowned sadly, "I saw it. The storm swept him right off the deck. He is lost to the ocean."

That hit Edmond hard. He would have to tell Kaufer's family. They would be heartbroken. This was supposed to be a quick and easy job. The freak storm came out of nowhere.

"Piles is wounded." Willas went on. "The bone broke clean through his leg. Halcreek tended to him, but it's clear that he isn't going to be walking anywhere anytime soon." He watched the captain's face darken yet had to continue. "We did a roll call. It seems the storm and the wave managed to take off with four of our men."

"God be good." Edmond dug his fingers so tightly into the wood that they turned bone white. "Who?"

"Kaufer, Ashburn, Mattocks, and Gally." Willas said. "I saw Kaufer go myself. The rest... they either went overboard or they're somewhere lost on board."

Each name was a hit to Edmond's heart. Good men were lost. And there was nothing he could have done to prevent it. It just wasn't fair. Their families didn't deserve to lose them. He was dreading hearing the cries of sorrow when he returned to deliver the news.

"The passengers." He suddenly remembered them. "Are they safe?" It may have seemed shallow, but if those men died, the entire trip was worthless. At this point, he could still give the salary portion to the families of the lost. Without that payment, they died for absolutely nothing.

"Aye." Willas nodded, "They hid out in their quarters the whole time." He snickered, "You should have seen them when they came out. I've never seen men shaking so much before."

"How is the ship? Damages?"

"The sails could use some work." Willas informed him. "We had some leaking in the hull, but repairs are already being made."

"Good." Edmond knew Willas would handle everything. Seemed he already did most of the work while Edmond was busy napping on the deck. How he managed to not be swept away, he couldn't fathom. But he was thankful. He could already hear Maryann's voice in his mind. Nagging and scolding away at him for bothering to take this job. She would be livid when he told her about this incident.

"My head is killing me." Edmond pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You took a bit of a hit." Willas pointed to the deck where the captain had been lying. A smear of blood. Edmond must have knocked his head somewhere during the storm. He rubbed the back of his head now to feel blood crusted in the back of his hair.

Edmond limped his way across the deck. His men, while in low spirits, were all relieved to see their captain back on his feet.

He made it down below deck to do his rounds and check in with everyone before he went to his own captain's quarters. He had to update his logbook.

𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚎 30𝚝𝚑, 1834

𝙰 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚖 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚞𝚜 𝚋𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎. 𝙱𝚢 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚕𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚎. 𝚆𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎. 𝙲𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎. 𝚆𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚗. 𝙺𝚊𝚞𝚏𝚎𝚛, 𝙰𝚜𝚑𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗, 𝙼𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙶𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚖𝚎𝚗.

𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚘 𝚒𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚍. 𝙿𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚎.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚍𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗. 𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚖 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗.

𝚁𝚎𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚕𝚢. 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.

He sat back in his chair and rubbed the back of his throbbing head. He was still in shock. He couldn't believe what they had experienced. That they lost men. In all his years on the sea, he had never seen such a storm. Nor had he lost men to one.

There was a knock on his door.

"Enter." He called out to them.

The door opened, and one of the passengers entered. The same one he had spoken to about his daughter. The man had thicker facial hair now, which was to be expected after their long travel. He still looked shaken. Edmond didn't blame him. If that was his first storm at sea experience, then it would definitely be one he would never forget.

"Captain Conway." The man's voice shook. "I was glad to hear that you were okay."

"As I for you." Edmond affirmed. Although, he didn't mention his concern for the salary.

"Do you know when we will make it to our destination?" The man asked, "Time is sensitive."

The captain felt a bit of anger bubble under his skin now. Four of his men were dead, and all this guy cared about what his work. He had to let that fire inside him simmer down. After all, this entire trip was a business affair for him, nothing more. Edmond knew that the passengers wouldn't care about the losses and damages. They would only care about meeting their deadlines. Men of science always seemed to be more focused on their work than the feelings of others.

Edmond didn't want to chew his head off. He had to keep his cool. He decided just to focus on the topic at hand.

"We are off course." Edmond told him bluntly. He hasn't yet been able to determine their location. "Therefore, I can't give you a real estimated time for arrival."

"I see." He rubbed his arm roughly as if he felt a sudden chill. "When will you know?"

Straight to the point. Typical.

Edmond could be straight to the point as well. "I don't know." He said honestly, "I will need to work with navigation." His head was killing him to the point he didn't even want to think about it right now. He wanted an ice pack, something to take for the pain, and maybe another nap.

"When will you do that?"

This man was getting on his nerves. He didn't want to rip his head off. He really didn't. There were many things he was trying to handle and resolve. "It's being resolved." He said shortly. "I'll need time. There are many things. Please give me time."

"Okay." The man nodded. "Thank you for your time, Captain Conway." He left the room after he dipped his head. Probably going after more fish, knowing him.

Edmond didn't want to move, but he needed to figure out where they were. They needed to get back on course.