In a universe that is cold and fickle to the unrelenting desires of life to survive and flourish, The Ocean's Salt, a pirate starship home to nobodies and rejects, captained by the habitual escapist Captain Never Right, finds itself swept up in the gravities of the Intergalactic Consociation Navy, terrorists, and secret pasts of its crew members.
After an explosion on the planetary port Jevara exposes the most dangerous terrorist the universe has ever seen, wanted for destroying an entire galaxy, newly appointed Commodore John Northam is sent to track her down. John must manage his crew's apprehension and prejudices whilst fending off the incessant obnoxious harassment from The Ocean's Salt and their buffoon of a captain, as they track down this dangerous woman who has evaded capture for the past 30 years.
Meanwhile, the pirate captain Never Right of The Ocean's Salt vows to find this terrorist, Lady Belladonna, before the Navy can. Never Right and his first mate Skylark have done well for the past 10 years adventuring and constantly escaping their unpleasant histories, building for themselves a happy family of nobodies who all desperately needed a fresh start. However, when Lady Belladonna reemerges from hiding and John Northam becomes involved, Never Right is forced to not only confront his past, but also lead his loyal crew into the thick of the madness.
On hiatus
A 2019 Wattys entry deeply into climate change, global warming, and environmental destruction, especially the nuclear kind! A lot of true facts are embedded in this story which has both true and fictional characters. Who is to be believed is for you to decide. The chapters are many but many are short. Still, it is a full-sized novel with promise for future adventures. Plot: An international crew of scientists board a large state-of -the art oceanographic vessel privately funded by an anonymous source. The itinerary is to travel down the west coast of the Americas and travel the South Pacific to Antarctica. The team plans to visit many known sites of hydrothermal vents using a device called the MAPR, searching vents for a bacterium that seems promising in use as a way to fight carbon dioxide emissions. But one of the two junior scientists on the team soon realizes that secrets are being kept, and makes promises to keep some, while learning that some onboard have entirely different agendas. To complicate matters, this junior scientist's desire for a special friendship grows in intensity, just as mysterious murmurings and strange sightings intensify. And then, the ship experiences a sequence of events that will draw world attention and leave all of us with more questions than answers.
"If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water."
"The Immense Journey" by Loren Eiseley
"No other place, always this
Your earthly landfall, and no ship exists
To take you from yourself."
By Lawrence Durrell