The Wine Dark Passage: An Apocalyptic Coming of Age Story

The Silent ProtagonistMeet Pang "The Mouse" In-Su, a 13-year-old Korean deafmute girl, whose silence speaks louder than words. Pang grapples with the weight of a disordered world, haunted by memories of loss and the relentless pursuit of survival. The Enigmatic Captain and His CompanionsCaptain O'Neil guides the USS Sarpedon through the wine-dark waters. Alongside him, Enge Puckett, a steadfast companion, adds a touch of humanity to the stark reality of survival.
Together, they navigate through the remnants of a world that has succumbed to the whims of time, where primitive people and dinosaurs roam in the shadows. The Elon Musk-like EnigmaEnter Steve Dannon, an Elon Musk-like figure, whose private compound, Chryse Planitia, beckons like a forbidden sanctuary on Vashon Island. Dannon, reminiscent of Conrad's Kurtz, hides secrets that echo in the whispers of those who dare to challenge his fractured reality.
As the crew embarks on this odyssey, Dannon's enigma looms large-a force that can reshape destinies or plunge them into deeper darkness. A Heart of Darkness in the Pacific NorthwestIn this Pacific Northwest dystopia, the crew must confront the perils of a distorted time, facing not only the remnants of a lost world but the shadows of their own morality ... From The Wine Dark Passage:We watched as he gestured to what appeared to be a large hand crank near the edge of the lock.
Do it, O'Neil seemed to indicate. And he moved toward it-even as something moved with him through the shadows; something sleek and dark and stealthy as a panther. Something which was joined by three other somethings as Jarnel took up the big, iron handle and began to crank it-pausing to take off his coat and roll up his sleeves, completely oblivious to the fact that he was being watched. That he was being stalked.
What happened next happened fast; so fast that I was still shaking Puckett's shoulder, telling him to fire, fire!-when one of the things leapt onto Jarnel's back and just held on tight: curling its talons so that they dug into his thin, wet shoulders, seeming to rake his back with its sickle-clawed hindlimbs, closing its jaws about his neck and jugular. Nor did it stop there but only got worse, as the other velociraptors, the other murder birds, descended on him like flies, like jackals-knocking him to the ground, burying him as if in quicksand, making it impossible for anyone to even shoot at them for fear of hitting Jarnel himself.
Not that there would have been any point-he was clearly dead already-as Captain O'Neil spoke into his mic and the sub moved on through the now-open gates. As the raptors snarled and fought over Jarnel's corpse and I looked toward the sky at the fat, bloody moon (which was partially obscured by the semi-luminescent clouds; the so-called Flashback Borealis, which shown red as Abaddon); noting that the world hadn't remarked on his death in the least but only continued to look on in perfect silence: impenetrable, inscrutable, having nothing whatsoever to say-nothing to add or take away-like we ourselves, I supposed.
And then it was time to get ready-as we were more than halfway there. Time to go over the plan once more and to steel ourselves, steel our shivering stomachs, for what was yet to come. To get square with our gods and Buddhas so we could go ashore at Camp Burton-where there was a small port tucked into a heavily forested cul-de-sac-and do at last what needed to be done.