Across the Sea, Somewhere

Once she’d unpacked, Adelaide was struck by how little she had.

She’d left the hammock strung where it was, and it still dominated the room. Her clothes - she’d packed only underwear, socks, t-shirts, hiking pants, bathing suits, and sweaters - were still in their suitcase, as buying and packing a set of drawers seemed like a waste. The only thing she’d left out were her new shoes and coat, each purchased from the Top Drawer. They were each sold to her as waterproof and appropriate for all weathers; she normally wouldn’t believe that, but Ray had recommended them. Outside of clothing, she had a few books and her IRAC, hooked up to the unnervingly-nuclear battery pack, and a small medical kit that had just seemed like a good idea. Even a small room couldn’t be filled up by that little.

But she supposed that a sparse room now just meant more room for whatever spoils she managed to pick up. She was still adjusting to the idea of this as a profit-seeking venture. She still had over a Year left, even after all of these expenses, but Ray was right: if she wanted to keep going for twelve months, she’d need to start making a profit, especially in order to get the long voyages that would let them visit large numbers of Nodes. And, while the media depicted the Triangle as a money machine, she knew it was no such thing. Even when people came back at all, plenty brought back nothing but junk and nightmares.

She might have spent the day in melancholic contemplation had the sounds of Trish’s frantic unpacking not begun to annoy her. Adelaide had managed to stay out of sight as Trish tried to fit a dozen suitcases into her Chest, as any attempt to commiserate would wind up with Adelaide storing Trish’s nonsense in her own Chest. In the interest of continuing to avoid that outcome, Adelaide walked up to the deck. The Foam Strider’s crew — to whom she had still not been introduced, she would have to fix that soon — was bustling, getting ready for the imminent departure. She didn’t want to stop them from battening down whatever passed for hatches here, and was glad to see Ray staring out to sea. He gave her a small smile as she approached.

“You’re early — my speech isn’t for a few minutes. You unpack already, Professor?”

“Yeah. It didn’t take as long as I expected.”

“A good sign. I’m glad you packed lighter than your friend, anyway. Who is that and what in the world were you thinking bringing her with us?”

“She’s Trish Winfield. We were roommates for a while in college.”

“Wait, do you mean Winfield like Winfield Pharmaceuticals?”

“That’s her dad, yeah. So she’s not exactly used to roughing it. She’s actually sweet once you get to know her. Mostly.”

“So the mysterious financier…”

Adelaide sighed. “Yeah, that’s him.”

“You mean, I’m not actually Guiding someone who secured VC funding or something based on the strength of her research plan? I’m actually just taking someone who convinced her roommate’s billionaire father to spend a few million dollars to keep his daughter out of his hair for a while?”

“I don’t think that characterization is entirely fair. But, well, yes, it’s also not untrue.”

Ray looked out at the Triangle on the horizon and then chuckled to himself. “Ok, well, I guess it doesn’t make a difference. Let me assemble everyone for my big speech.”

Ray spoke to a crewmember, and the ship’s horn blew three times a few moments later. The passengers all assembled on the deck, and Ray stood beside the gangplank.

“For anyone who doesn’t know, I’m Ray. I’m the Guide here. What that means is that I get to make decisions once we are on the Triangle. I leave the actual operation of the Strider to the Captain, but it’s my ultimate decision where to go and when to stop. That’s what we call my Prerogative: at any time, I can tell the Captain to send us home and he’ll do it. And if anyone objects, the crew will support me and someone can take up their complaints once we get back. My job is to make sure you get back, and I take it seriously.

“My first act as part of that job is to explain what we are about to go through. I know many of you think you know how the Triangle works. Some of you might even be right. But you’re all going to listen to me. I’m not a physicist - I don’t understand that stuff, although several of the passengers here seem to.

“All I know about is what actually happens. In a few minutes, we are going to approach those big pieces of metal known as the Triangle. As soon as we pass through, we will be in a new Sea. What I mean by “new” is that we will be somewhere no one has ever been before. There will be no Bermuda, no Florida, nothing like that. There are likely to be other landmasses, but we won’t know where they are. And there will likely be new plants and animals. Again, we won’t know what those are either. We will spend two weeks exploring, and then we will return.

“What you may be realizing is that I do not have any more experience with the Sea we are about to enter than you do. All I have is my wits and my instincts. That’s all any of us have. You will need to make use of both, as there is every reason to expect danger.

“I say all of this now because this is the very last chance to leave. Once we pull up this gangplank, that’s it. There are no early exits: we are not turning the Strider around because you realize you made a mistake joining us. And there is no communication with this world until we return. If we do not make it back, no one in this world will ever know what happened to us. So please, take this chance seriously: if you want to leave, I won’t think any less of you.”

The wind stirred, and Adelaide looked at the other passengers. None made a move to leave.

“Alright then. Captain, put us in the queue.”

***

As they approached the Triangle, Adelaide found herself next to Ray. “That was a hell of a pep talk.”

“I’ve had some practice. I’m half surprised I didn’t scare anyone off this time, the rookies you’re dragging along.”

“Maybe they’ll surprise you.”

“Maybe. Probably they won’t.”

“How far back in line are we?”

“Almost there. Just this thing in front of us.” Ray gestured dismissively at a massive cruise liner that dwarfed the StriderTreader. Passengers lined the top deck, holding their drinks while reggae blasted from the speakers. These sorts of cruises had become increasingly popular, although Adelaide didn’t see the point. Insurance issues prevented the passengers from going ashore anywhere, and the ships were so large and loud that they drove off any nearby wildlife, so it wasn’t clear how the passengers even distinguished the trip from a normal journey to sea. It seemed strange to pay a premium to visit a Sea you’d never actually notice. Bragging rights, Adelaide supposed.

“See, that is a pleasure cruise,” Adelaide said. “I told you I knew the difference.”

Ray actually laughed at that. “I’ll give you credit for that one.”

They watched as the cruise ship approached the arms of the Triangle, which towered above even its top deck. The Triangle’s arms glowed and flickered, and the passengers all started to shout with excitement. There was a flash, and then the cruise liner was gone. And now it was the Foam Strider’s turn, and Adelaide felt the engines kick up.

“Any guesses as to what we’ll find?” Ray asked.

“We can’t know, right? Beyond the fact that we’ll be in the sea, I suppose.”

Ray looked at her, “Are you sure about that?”

“What do you mean? Everyone who has described the other side of the Triangle starts on the sea. Same with the Devil’s Sea. And Mount Kenya is always mountain - that’s how they work.”

“Sure, but that’s just the people who return. For all we know, everyone who didn’t return found their ship dropping onto a dry seabed. Or into lava. Or vacuum.”

There was silence for a moment, broken only by the humming engines.

“That’s terrifying.” Adelaide said eventually.

“Think I should work it into the speech?”

They were nearly to the Triangle now, and Adelaide had to crane her neck up to see where the arms met. She looked back at the docks and the Bermuda shore, and tried to take in the skyline that would be the last trace of civilization she would see until she returned. She just had to trust that she’d be back, and hopefully with enough profit to begin another trip.

“I got you something, by the way.,” Ray said. Adelaide looked and saw that he was holding a paper bag with the Top Shelf’s logo on it. She opened it and pulled out a small wooden box with strings across it and panels on each side. As she began to unfold it, Ray explained. “It’s a foldable guitar - they hold up better our here and take up less space.”

Adelaide looked him in the eyes. “That’s - that’s incredibly thoughtful. Thank you.”

Ray gave a small smile. “It gets quiet out here, like I said. And it can be slow. You’ll have a lot of time to practice this year, Professor.”

Before Adelaide could respond, the Triangle began to flicker and flash, and Trish heard a loud hum come from the air all around them. She looked quickly behind her at Percy, who was fiddling with the Deresonance Detector, which he’d attached to her IRAC. She returned her gaze to the Triangle, which was now only meters in front of them.

The hum intensified as the lights on the Triangle’s arms began to flash more and more quickly. The wind picked up, blowing Adelaide’s hair. As she cleared her eyes, she thought she smelled something, and the hum seemed like it was going to make her teeth vibrate out of her skull. She was about to ask Ray if this was normal when there was a bright flash and —