Gregory could still feel a hint of winter's coldness blowing in from the Atlantic ocean as he watched the first beams of sunlight crest the horizon from the deck of the Newfoundland ferry.
While he had faced many a cold day and night as he stood watch on the Beaumont during his time in the navy, he always felt himself a bit soft for enjoying the more comfortable temperatures of a mid-summer's day.
Technically it wasn't summer yet, as June 21st was still about a week away, but he did look forward to not having to bundle himself up from the cold.
He pulled his pipe from the right pocket of his pea-coat, and bit down on the stem as he fished about his pockets for his steadily dwindling stock of pipe tobacco. He frowned has he had felt how small the bundle had become. Resupplying would be one of the first orders of business once they made landfall - still about four hours away.
The ferry left the shores of Nova Scotia at about midnight last night. He, as well as his new colleague, Dr. Marshall had said goodbye to Aunt Maggie's Boarding house after a late supper and one... or maybe two shots of whiskey, which they were told would keep the chill away during the cold crossing.
Then they spent an hour or so at the ferry terminal, checking in themselves and their luggage, before a small bus picked them up and brought them onboard the ship.
The ship was one of the larger ones that Gregory had been on. Nothing at all like the slick Beaumont which was mainly tasked with patrolling around the periphery edges of Transatlantic convoys, doing their best to scare away deadly submarine wolfpacks.
No, the ferry was large and bulky, used for transporting the large amount of supplies that the island Dominion relied on to feed and service her people.
As the light gained purchase, he could barely make out the shores of the dominion in the far distance. The ferry had done the bulk of its lonely seatime at night, and would now follow the coast of the island nation until it hit Argenta on the eastern h-shaped peninsula of the island.
There was a second ferry that took passengers and goods to Port Aux Basques on the most south-western tip of the Dominion, but it would have added another day's travel by train moving across the width of the island. No, better to do the majority by boat.
Gregory, having smoked his fill, was just about to turn around and head to the galley for breakfast when he felt something suddenly poke him in the lower back.
"Don't move," a soft, but still menacing voice said. "Don't shout either. It would only take me a couple of seconds for me to jab your kidneys and toss you into the Atlantic. Oh... and the ship's watch have been compensated to be watching this area of the ship should that happen. I just want to talk, that's all."
"Why the dramatics then?" Gregory asked. The voice had a peculiar speech pattern and a light accent that he just couldn't place. He believed it to be a woman, doing her best to disguise and deepen her voice for this exchange.
"I just want you to know the type of person you are dealing with. And the fact that I am very serious about what I want to talk to you about."
Gregory nodded and he felt the sharp edge relax a little from the skin of his back.
"You are going to the Tabby enclave yes?"
Gregory stiffened at this. Aside from his sister, really nobody should know of his destination. It wasn't really a secret of where he was going, he just hadn't told anyone else, All the same, it would have been easy for an eavesdropper to listen in on his conversations with Dr, Marshall while at Aunt Maggies.
He felt something being thrust into his pocket.
"Hide this," the voice said. "Let no-one see it aside from your eyes and the eyes of the recipient. Show it to anyone else.... and believe me we will know if you do, and your sister's life is forfeit."
Anger welled up inside Gregory. He put himself in harms way several times during the war, but to threaten his sister was crossing the line.
The owner of the voice seemed to feel the shift in Gregory's mood. The point of the knife on his back began to push forward.
"It's a simple task," the voice said. "One that nobody should lose their life over."
Gregory felt his hands shake in anger. He closed his eyes and sucked in the cool air through is nose trying to calm himself.
"Why me," he asked, his voice showing his agitation,
"As far as we can tell, you have no agenda aside from wanting to help."
"And Dr. Marshall does?"
"Oh..." the voice paused a moment. "If you only knew."
He felt the knife suddenly pull away. After a moment he spun around, hoping to catch sight of the assailant. Aside from himself, the deck was empty.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the mysterious item that had been thrust into his pocket.
The small jade cat sparkled in the early morning light.