“I don’t remember inviting you,” Sadina replied.

“Ouch,” was her response.

As for Isaac, he was just glad for human voices, a reminder that he wasn’t alone. On they went, trudging along, splish-splash, splish-splash, smart-ass comments in abundance.

Soon the darkness abated and the bright entrance to the north side presented itself, Trish a perfect silhouette within its frame. Relief filled Isaac, and he was already trying to think up an excuse to stay on the cliffs when everyone else explored the other caves. He’d heard stories of soldiers in past wars shooting themselves in the foot to get out of battle. Well, maybe he’d take an accidental tumble and sprain an ankle or two.

Trish hadn’t moved since she’d reached the exit, and the others were grouping around her. All of them stared northward, toward the endless expanse of the ocean. It seemed a little odd that they weren’t spreading out into the warmth of the sunlight. Isaac reached the crowd and felt a sudden desperation to push them out of the way and scramble to fresh air. But something had grabbed their attention, something he couldn’t see yet. No one moved or spoke a word.

“What’s going on?” Sadina asked, making him jump because she was only inches behind. “What’re you guys looking at?”

Without responding, Trish finally exited the cave and stepped onto a wide ledge of rock, her movements slow and unsure, her eyes never leaving the distant spot at which she stared. Everyone else ambled along to follow her, and Isaac was finally able to leave the claustrophobic confines of that awful tunnel. But as he emerged, he finally caught sight of what the others had seen.

Drifting along the surface of the ocean, several hundred meters away, bobbing and dipping with the current and the waves, heading straight toward Isaac and his friends, was something that none of them had ever seen before. And yet they knew exactly what it was.

A boat. A manufactured boat from the old world.

A big boat. Bigger than any single building on the entire island.

A ship.

As soon as Isaac’s brain registered that he was seeing what he thought he was seeing, the ship blasted its horn—the loudest, deepest, scariest sound he’d ever heard.

CHAPTER THREE

Old Names

Mikhail had always told Alexandra that he had visions. She didn’t like it. Mentions of a lost people sailing the seas, returning to the old, destroyed world. Mentions of orphan armies rising up against the Godhead and the Pilgrims of the Maze. Horrors, all. Gift or lunacy?