An All-Too-Smooth Abduction

Sea Circle Calendar 1522, October.

Calm Belt.

Time here seemed to have lost all meaning of flow, frozen into a deathly still expanse of blue. The sky was a pure azure without a trace of other color, with only the blazing sun hanging in its center, mercilessly scorching everything beneath it.

The clouds, like forgotten tufts of cotton, floated silently high in the sky without stirring. The Herman Revenge hovered among them.

"The location is correct. This is the place."

Dawn lowered his telescope at the bow and turned to look at the female companions scattered across the deck, some sitting and some standing.

"I'll go down and wait."

The women nodded in understanding, their eyes full of trust.

Dawn stepped forward, and his figure vanished from the edge of the deck in an instant, drifting downward as lightly as a feather. He manipulated the gravity around him, turning his rapid descent into an elegant glide. Passing through layers upon layers of clouds, he finally landed soundlessly on the island's beach.

Fine white sand lay beneath his feet. The island was not large, its vegetation sparse, with several bare rocky hills at its center.

Dawn searched the entire island. After confirming that there were no signs of life besides a few small animals, he concluded that the people he was waiting for had not yet arrived.

He walked to the shore, found a rock that blocked the sunlight, sat down with his back against it, and closed his eyes as if dozing.

At noon, the sun hung almost directly overhead, pouring down its light and heat without restraint.

At the far end of the horizon, a black speck accompanied by a low rumbling sound shattered the absolute silence.

It was a two-masted sailing ship, but unlike conventional vessels that relied