3 years later...
Tradewinds 03: Shipwreckedhttp://www.absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=10437&warning=4Summary: Wherein Max gets an unexpected visitor, and word of the outside world, an account of smuggling, harrowing chases and treachery…
Categories: Original Fiction
Characters: None
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Rated: R
Warnings: Death, Graphic Violence, Violence
Series: Tradewinds
Challenges: None
Published: 01/12/11
excerpt, from the Chapter 1:
The dawning of another day in Paradise: the sun shining, birds chirping, the eternal tide washing on the beach, as countless days before it had begun.
Only today there was something new under the sun in Paradise, something new for the waves to break against. Last night’s storm had dragged in what was perhaps not a true first, but was at least a second in the island’s known history. For stranded on the sand was the wreck of a small vessel. It was somewhat larger than the boat that washed up some five years ago, yet was of similar design, sleek and swift-looking. But no more, for the storm had hurled it against some of the rocks that peppered the beach near the cliff line. Now there was a gaping rip in the hull.
Painted above the gash was a symbol that Max had only seen in his elders’ descriptions, a symbol for which he had maintained a great deal of vigilance over the years.
The symbol of the Triangle State Authority.
This particular vessel was no derelict, though; its sole occupant had washed up a short distance away. Already he stood on shaky legs, staggering through the wet sand toward what remained of his ship. He was short and wiry, clothed in the ragged-out remains of light blue coveralls that bore the same insignia as the boat. A steel circlet and a length of chain dangled from each wrist.
His short black hair stood in sand-caked disarray as he scratched his head at the sheer misfortune of his wreck’s location. If it had only washed up farther down the beach, it might still be intact. Beached, no doubt, but almost certainly intact. His green eyes stared intently at the wreck, as if his gaze could somehow undo the damage, betraying ever greater dismay as it dawned on him that the ship that had carried him this far would never sail again.
“Damn…” he croaked…
Chapter 1, in which Max and Bandit receive an unexpected visitor.