It was early morning in the harbor of Victoria. The sun had barely raised over the city behind the port and a calm mist covered everything. It was a striking contrast with the bustling activity being carried out by the sailors and fishermen that were rushing the last preparations before departure.
As the busy seamen went about their business a few groups of travelers walked through the piers, looking for the ships they would board to cross the vast seas. A handful of them, specially the younger children, had the nervous expressions of someone who had never experienced a long voyage, but most showed the nonchalant attitude of people who had been embarked dozens of times. This was the norm in a world where land was sparse and thinly distributed around many island and archipelagos.
Among all these people a lone traveler garnered a few glances as he avoided the seamen carrying supplies and circumvented the bulky trunks of the soon to be passengers. He was a young man in his early twenties. His hair was a vibrant shade of red and his eyes shined with the fiery orange of a raging flame. It was rare sight in the Eastbern Empire, where dull browns and yellows prevailed among the humans.
More than a few ladies turned to watch the young man but then sneered as they witnessed his choice of clothes. He was wearing an old khaki trench coat on top of a grey jacket and light brown jeans. A pair of sturdy maroon boots and a bulky backpack completed his mismatched attire. The clothes were practical, but it wasn’t proper for a gentleman to dress like that in public. All other travelers in the pier were wearing proper suits and dresses accompanied by sparkling shoes. These were the best garments they could afford, and they wouldn’t change out of them until they boarded their ships, out of sight of the scrutinizing gazes of others.
The man was oblivious to all of this and watched the port’s activity with little interest while looking for a particular ship. The fog wasn’t helping him in this endeavor and he could smell the foul smoke of the factories that proliferated near the docks. Covering his nose with a handkerchief the young man kept roaming the port and, after wandering around for a while, he finally spotted the vessel he had been seeking at the end of a concrete pier.
It was called the Polaris, a middle-sized metal vessel. Its dull red hull showed some signs of rust that attested to its long history. It had been a war ship for over two decades before being recently acquired by the Institute, who had only bothered to make some light remodeling to fit it to its new scientific role. They had removed almost all visibly traces of weaponry and taken out the sails and masts. They were redundant now that it had a modern oil engine.
As most other ships in the port this one was also full of activity. A couple dozen sailors were carrying boxes and barrels into the hold while some others operated a crane on the deck to lift the most heavy loads. About half of the them were merfolk, people of the sea. They were a race tightly related to the humans. With two arms, two legs and a head, their general anatomy didn’t differ much from the landfolk, but they had webbed hands and feet and shinny scales covering their bodies.
Both races lived together in the coastal cities and while humans took most jobs at the factories and stores in the city merfolk took care of jobs that needed working inside or under the waters, like fishing, algae farming and submarine mining.
The young man approached one of the sailors closer to him. He was a middle aged man with light blue scales and matching hair that had an almost metallic luster to it. This one together with bronze and silver were the most common colors found amongst their race.
“Good morning. I’m here from the Institute, can you guide me to your Captain?” The red haired youngster asked with a slight smile.
The seaman gave him an uninterested glance and pointed towards a group of people. “There.” He said curtly before resuming his task.
The young man didn’t mind the rude behavior of the sailor, he was accustomed to most of them being like that, and walked in the direction he had been pointed. As he came closer an old man with a hirsute black beard and messy hair noticed him. “Hmm, who are you?” The man questioned the youngster. “If you came asking for passage we aren’t offering it.” He then added in a dismissive way after taking a good look at his attire.
The red haired youngster suppressed a scowl. There was no need to get in bad terms with his travel companions over a petty misunderstanding. “Good morning.” He said with a forced smile. “I’m Ainsley Wilkins, the geologist sent by the Institute of Natural Research.”
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“Oh, I see. So you are the one sent by the Institute.” The man muttered to himself. He eyed Ainsley once again with a concerned look before greeting him in a polite tone. “Welcome, Mr. Wilkins. I’m Atkins Smolger, captain of the Polaris.”
Captain Smolger gave Ainsley an effusive handshake. Then he stood silent for a moment as he hesitated to ask something. “Is someone else from the Institute coming with you? Maybe an assistant?” He probed.
Ainsley understood the concerns of the captain. “Sadly no, Captain Atkins,” He said with an apologetic smile. “When the higher-ups got word of the stain in the ice they thought it would be a nice opportunity to test the capabilities of the Polaris before they do a serious expedition, but they deemed the matter wasn’t important enough to assign a whole team to it.”
A black patch in the northern ice sheet. The news had gotten the interest of some researchers in the Institute, but they weren’t important enough to grant a couple months journey to the site of the discovery. That was, until someone remembered they had recently acquired a new ship for this kind of job, which was still awaiting a trial run.
After that the whole matter had been quite rushed. Ainsley himself had been informed of his new job just two days ago. He had kept his fists clenched as the department head told him the news, and almost exploded when he was told he had only a couple days to prepare. “At least I won’t have to listen to the whims of the older researches for a couple months.” This was the phrase Ainsley had incessantly repeated in his mind since then to keep himself from punching his superior.
“Understood.” Captain Smolger stated curtly. He also didn’t like the way the Institute had handled this matter. He had almost no time to ready the ship and organize his sailors and the planned duration of the expedition was barely enough to make the round trip. But at the end of the day they were the ones paying his wages, so he could only comply with their orders as best as he could.
“Then we will depart as soon as my men are done loading the supplies.” Captain Smolger informed Ainsley. “Later I will inform you of our travel schedule in detail, but I have planned to make only stop. Given our tight time constrains I would prefer to do it all in one sitting, but the journey to the north is very long.”
“Alright, then I will look for you after we depart.” Ainsley wasn’t very worried about the travel itself. His only job was to take a few samples from the stained ice on site and inform the Institute after a preliminary analysis.
“By the way, do you have some experience navigating near the ice cap?” The captain suddenly asked with a concerned expression. “Those aren’t easy waters to cross. The cold alone will make things difficult, but that’s nothing compared to the ice sheet itself. It doesn’t keep a fixed form and will confuse any fool relying on old sea charts. Even worse, as it recedes it continuously uncovers new sandbanks and releases dangerous icebergs.”
Ainsley frowned at Captain Smolger’s rant. On the surface it might look like a warning given in good faith, but the redheaded researcher knew better than to take his words at face value. He had already noticed the old captain’s attitude since he first saw him. He was questioning Ainsley’s capability to complete this task. Not because he had come alone, but because he was young.
This was something Ainsley had experienced multiple times before. The older researchers in the institute were always haughty when dealing with him. They would relegate him to minor jobs and put into question the results of his investigations despite his numerous achievements thorough the years. “I don’t, but I have been to most of the Taisregn Archipelago. The northern waters wont be a problem for me.” He stated in a serious tone. He had been doing on site research for the Institute for what seemed like a very long time now.
Captain Smolger didn’t look convinced by Ainsley words, but he didn’t say anything else. They were behind schedule and still had to load a bunch of supplies before departure. “Well, I’m sure things will work out. We are a bit short on time, so you will have to excuse me, Mr. Wilkins. I will have someone guide you to your cabin.”
The captain called a young sailor, a boy not older than fifteen that took care of Ainsley’s backpack. “Is this all your luggage?” He asked in a polite tone.
“No, there should be a trunk that arrived alongside other things from the Institute.” Ainsley answered the boy.
Hearing that the boy closed his eyes and thought for a moment with a hand on his chin. “Hmm, I think they left those in the lab,” he said forgoing his formal attitude. “Ahem, please follow me. I will guide you to your cabin.” He added, remembering how he was supposed to behave.
Ainsley followed the young sailor and both of them boarded the ship using a worn down algamerate plank. What a pointless contraption, the young researcher thought after noticing the numerous exposed metal bars that reinforced it. They should have made it all from steel.
Algamerate was a cheap substitute for wood made of pressed algae, but it lacked resistance compared to the former. Nowadays the material was used extensively in buildings and to make furniture, but in Ainsley’s opinion people were overusing. This was just one example of the resistance to change from the older generations. They had been born before the factories took hold of the islands and had seen their world completely change as they grew.
Ainsley was part of the younger generations, the ones who only knew about the former state of the world through the continuous rants of the aged folks. At every chance they would be told tales about things like wood and how it had once been ubiquitous. How all the ships in the port and most buildings in the city were made of it. And how people had burnt most of them alongside the trees to feed the hungry contraptions in the factories before the use of mineral oil was spread around.
Nowadays trees and nature were a rare sight on most islands. Cities, farms and factories took up most of the space. Wood had become a luxury good for the rich and the same could be said about most land products. This had forced the masses to turn to the sea in search of new sources of materials.
As Ainsley mused about all this they reached his cabin. The redheaded researched tossed a coin to the young sailor who had guided him and slid into the bed. The last two days of preparations had been frenetic. A quick nap would help him concentrate when he met with the captain later.