“A month?” Jess mulled it over, laying the smoking musket down on the table. “Sounds reasonable.” Keel hauling a man wasn’t properly within a captains purview, such a thing would require a vote from the crew, as did most major decisions aboard a pirate ship, but now wasn’t the time to give a lecture on the customs that governed the Bretheren.
 
“Sail ho!” a shout came from the deck and Jess was on her feet, catlike and headed out the door, black coat training behind her. Warm rain lashed her as she gained the deck, Galt trailing along behind her for lack of any other realistic option.
 
“Where away?!” Jess demanded, cuping her hands around her mouth to be heard in the rigging.

 “Three points off the starboard bow!” came the response. With the ease of long practice Jess scrambled up the ratlines, hooking an elbow through the ropes to hold steady while she pulled a spy glass from her coat and peered through it.
 
“Two sails!” came a cry from the topmen a moment before Jess settled on the white smudge on the darkened sky. The sails seemed to fluoresce slightly and her stomach plunged.
 
“Three point a’larboard! Krycek pipe all hands! Hands aloft to set royals! Hands aloft set staysails!”
 
“Three points a’larboard! Aye Captain!” Sevante the helmsman cried, leaning hard on the wheel and opening the angle between the Witch and the approaching sails.

 “Sail ho! Three sails five points to starboard!” the topman shouted as Jess slid down the ratlines to land on the deck. Krycek’s pipes began to shrill and a moment later crewmen were swarming up the ratlines to shake out fresh canvas.
 
“What is happening?” Galt demanded, aware that something was wrong but without the maritime background to know what.

 “Glimmers,” Jess responded tersely.

 “There is no such thing,” Galt began to scoff but the words died away as he saw the deadly serious expression on Jess’ face. Exactly what Glimmers were was a matter of debate among dockside taverns and gambling dens. They appeared to be ships, partially or completely woven out of moonlight, complete with spectral crews. They seemed to come out of Shimmersea though they had been spotted as far west as the narrows. Wherever they came from they were merciless killers of any that they found.

 “Can we out run them?” Galt demanded, becoming alarmed to see a ghost story being treated with absolute seriousness. Jess glanced at the sky.

 “With the weather, yes,” she responded tersely.

 “You don’t seem happy about it,” Galt observed.

 “We will have to run with the storm into Shimmersea,” she explained, pacing back and forth along the railing.
 
“Isn’t that… a bad idea?” Galt asked. Shimmersea was a strange and alien place. Sometimes one passed through it just like regular ocean, other times you encountered strange and alien places. Jess had even heard tell of ships that emerged from the sea years after entering it, even though only days had passed for the crew.
 
“Better than the glimmers,  if it pleases Yande’s cold heart,” Jess prayed.