Lin Yu'an added, "But the premise is, we cannot afford any further unplanned delays in our voyage. Every detour, every reduction in speed will be directly deducted from these 20 hours."
"Got it." Riven gripped the wheel tighter; she could almost feel that string representing their fate being twisted another turn tighter.
[Day Two, 6 a.m., the twenty‑fourth hour's alarm bell]
After twenty‑four hours of nonstop high‑speed sailing, the Polaris was like a tireless blue sailfish, cleaving through the waves in the pitch‑black deep water of the Exuma Strait.
The hull was being continuously pushed to the limits of its performance, the engine's ceaseless roar, and the dull, rasping groans it gave each time the solid hull carved through a towering wave.
Along with the high‑ and low‑frequency hum of the autopilot, radar, inverter and various other electronic devices in operation, all weaving together into a noise that made it impossible to truly relax.
