Iridium

1 / Intro

The rough waters and the ship's aggressive rocking woke him up for a third consecutive time. He opened his eyes, and to his surprise, the cabin was still sunk in darkness. He climbed out of his bed so he could look out the tiny porthole, but quickly regretted as soon as he felt the cold. There was nothing to be seen outside. Not a single star could be spotted above, which made the sky and the ocean seem like they were intertwined to form an impenetrable blackness. 

Wilson took his leather jacket from the hanger near the bed, put on his boots and headed out of his cabin. He felt the need for some fresh air since the room was not ventilated adequately and also his desire to sleep was long gone after waking up so many times. Sensing that the storm was getting worse, he found it wise to head out quicker before he got seasick.

The ship's passageways, lit up only by a few overhead ambient lights, were deserted. Other than the powerful waves hitting the ship, nothing else could be heard. As he was going up the metal staircase, it occurred to him that his steps were echoing loud enough to wake everybody up. He started towards the main deck, hoping that he would run into someone. If not, he could just as well check on Martinez, the ship's captain. However, he knew that the captain wasn't a big fan of small talk, especially at midnight, in the middle of a storm. Once he reached the main deck, he looked out the big central window where the visibility was much better compared to the tiny porthole in his cabin. Although it was still pitch black outside, Wilson felt he could gauge the size of the waves, but only they came into the ship's navigation lights range could he see the dark and intimidating huge mass of water that was heading towards it menacingly, trying to overturn the ship with every opportunity, and when it failed, another powerful blow was waiting to hit again. He didn't know why, but the ship's massive size was comforting him. Probably because he knew it could cope with such a storm.

He moved away from the big window and as he encountered no other crew members, he headed towards the metallic door at the end of the upper floor hallway. He grabbed the handle and twisted it all the way. When opened, a gust of wind blasted in his face, letting the screams of the ocean reverb throughout the hallways. Upon hearing the ocean's aggressive roar, the entire experience seemed much more threatening than before, however, his desire to smoke at that point was greater than his fear of the ocean. Right on the doorstep, Wilson pulled out from his jacket inner pocket a plain silver cigarette case which he got on the Continent back in the day. He took one, then he put the case back, safely inside his jacket. He lit it up using his electric lighter and inhaled deeply as it was his first smoke of the day, then he glanced at it nostalgically, trying to remember his days on the Continent. It seemed such a distant memory, as if he heard of it from stories told by others. But the Continent, the north-western part of it to be precise, was his birthplace. A place he and many others once used to call home, now a wasteland where scavengers like him and the entire crew would go to find parts or resources that cannot be produced on Iridium Island, which ever since the end of the Continent served as their new home.

Once he finished his cigarette, he tossed it over the deck, then he shut the door behind him. His watch displayed 05:37 AM, which meant that there was less than half an hour until the crew would wake up. Enough time to go check on the captain, he thought. Wilson climbed up the staircase to the top floor, knocked on the metallic door and went inside without waiting for the captain's permission. He thought he was going to find Martinez in his seat, struggling to keep the ship from tipping over and fighting the ruthless waters. Instead, he found the captain leaning against his comfy chair at the radio station, eating some nuts and staring at a screen that displayed their current location on a map, as if it were some interesting action film. 

"Morning," Wilson said taking the captain out of his hypnotised state.

"Wilson," he said amazed. "Why aren't you sleeping? You have a big day tomorrow."

"Well, I tried, but the ocean is a bit too noisy for my taste," he justified himself.

"It is, it is indeed. The waters are very deceiving now. They're telling us that we're going somewhere we're not supposed to," the captain laughed. "It'll settle towards dawn anyway."

"I hope so," Wilson said as he glanced forward through the huge reinforced panoramic window. The entire ship was visible from here, and he also had a better view of how big the waves were in the distance.

"Are you nervous?" asked Martinez after a minute of silence.

"Nervous? For what?"

"For the expedition. You guys are going to spend an entire week on the Continent. Who knows what kinda dangers and risks are there? From what I heard, it's not what it used to be. Not the kinda place you want to venture out for too long. Am I right?"

"It's not my first time on the Continent," Wilson said. "And on top that, there was a lot of thought put into this expedition. It wouldn't have taken place if the risk wasn't justified by something so big."

"I don't know, nuclear fuel? Is that worth the risk? I mean, we were doing just fine with all the wind turbines out in the sea, and I think trying to rebuild at the same scale what we once had is going maybe a bit too far. I just hope Erhart knows what he's doing."

Wilson got closer to the panoramic window to better see what was going on outside. He was somehow intimidated by what he was seeing, however, it fascinated him at the same time. Now that the night was almost over, everything was a bit brighter. He could see how the waves were starting to take shape far in the distance, and as they came closer, the bigger they became. The clouds were now scattered all over the sky, in irregular shapes and sizes, and above them a mix of gold and light pink filling the landscape with a beautiful glow.