(The beginning of “Brave New World”)
“They say obsession is the cancer of mental illness, but if you ask me, anyone who could ignore his gut was never sane in the first place.
Ten years ago, Captain Nathan Bridger and the crew of seaQuest disappeared off the face of the Earth. And for ten years, I've been trying to find her.
Following the economic summit of 2026, the UEO lifted the ban on colonial deregulation, putting more than a hundred thousand miles of undeveloped basin back on the market. Overnight, hundreds of new colonies sprang from the sea, but without seaQuest, the UEO was unable to control the explosion of commerce, or the fallout of wealth, power and greed. They found themselves outgunned and outmanned.
I could have retired. But they offered me triple pay and any boat I wanted. The problem was the only one I wanted was missing.
McGath hit the roof when I took command of this UEO supply hauler, but I had my reasons. If seaQuest was out there, a slow-moving, long-distance hauler was my best chance of finding her. Besides, the way things were going, I knew they'd get their money's worth out of me.
The Alliance of Macronesia, formerly New Australia.
They engineered this ridge and a dozen more like it. They got rich fast, and it went to their heads. The UEO calls this a trade embargo against a non-aligned nation.
I call it war.
For ten years now, the UEO has sought a diplomatic solution to the rising conflicts beneath the sea. But with hundreds of UEO peacekeepers stationed in the Pacific, they have two choices. Either pull out and leave the colonists to fight for themselves, or commit the world to war.
Somebody's got to break this blockade. If the colony of Nexus falls to the Alliance, Macronesia will own the Pacific, as well as the lives and freedom of millions of people. I'm not going to let that happen.
McGath and the UEO can hold all of the emergency sessions they want to try and block the Alliance. But without seaQuest, it'll take a miracle to stop Alexander Bourne.
I think we just got that miracle.
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