In an instant, the birlinn was rising higher and higher. The men looked out the sides, paralysed in progressive fear, as they continued to ride the c...est of the massive surge. With no direction of their own, the water sent them down, losing its strength after hitting landfall. Hitting bow first, the mast snapped off and fell over the prow, the sail covering everyone. The seven men were driven towards the ground in uncontrolled force and oars drove the men back up even faster as the blades made. The sun shining into the conservatory let them see to the bottom, but not much beyond that.“It’s too dark,” Corec said.“I’ll get a lantern,” Toman said. “While I’m doing that, you should go down, and then we’ll follow you with the light.”“Why do I have to go first?”“Because you’re the one who wanted to go down there! I’m only doing this as a favor to you.”Corec had to admit that that made sense, but he still didn’t want to go down without the light. “I’ll wait till you get the lantern.”“Don’t. The sudden clanking of a three hundred year old ship’s bell a minute later caused both Uhura and just about everyone in the tightly packed bar to turn and look to the small platform in the corner that had once served as the bridge of a nineteenth century clipper ship. Standing there, clad in the burgundy uniform of a full Commander was a tall, fiftyish blonde, wearing the accouterments of the Communications Division. In her hand she held a crystal tumbler, filled almost to the rim with Saurian. I had spent the last three years on the hunt for an ancient relic, built by the gods and designed to break through any prison. But whilst I managed to steal the relic, the Assassins were too fast and too strong. I barely made it 20 feet from it’s idol before three arrows pierced my back. My HP falling to zero and the nearest assassin caged my consciousness.Somehow, as I stared into the dark abyss of space and the shock of realising where I was settled down, I realised that this relic. [The Key.