Thomas Thompson watched the sky as he sailed across the strange ocean. He found a few places that looked like small islands, but he didn't land. He felt like he should get closer to the Fount before he considered stopping to explore somewhere. He had enough food for ten more days if he took it easy on how much he ate.

He figured he would run out of water first. If he ran out before he got to another shore, he would turn back to one of those islands to look for a supply to take with him.

If he made it to shore, he would have to think about what he could take with him. Anything he couldn't carry would have to stay on the boat. He was not sure if he should scuttle it, or leave it anchored wherever he landed.

He decided to leave that for when he made it to the shore, if there was one. The Fount could be floating in the middle of the ocean with no other way to reach it for all he knew.

“There you are,” said a voice out of the air. “I have been looking everywhere for you.”

“Hello again,” said Thompson. “How are things ahead?”

“The princess hid from her captors,” said the voice. “They are looking for her.”

“That gives me some time then,” said Thompson. “How long do you think I will have to sail before I can reach the Fount?”

“You won't be able to reach it from the water,” said the voice. “You're going to have to travel overland at some point. The Fount is in a mountainous area. That far up is extremely cold too.”

“All right,” said Thompson. “Any idea about land fall?”

“About five days maybe,” said the voice. “It depends on your speed. You will be able to see two rock spires sticking out of the ocean soon. That will let you know that you're close. After that, you will have to find some way to get to the mountains and start climbing up to the Fount.”

“Sounds easy enough,” said Thompson. He wondered how complicated things were actually going to be when he reached the shore.

“How did you get a boat?,” asked the voice. “I was going to suggest that when I saw you again.”

“I found it,” said Thompson. He smiled at the empty air.

“You found this?,” asked the voice. Thompson didn't have to see the speaker to hear the tone of disbelief a face would help convey.

“Yep,” said Thompson. “Will I need money to pay for things? All I have is this boat and whatever is aboard.”

“You might have to trade for supplies to get to the road to the mountains,” said the voice. “After that, there won't be a place to trade until you get to the Fount.”

“Sounds like a long walk to me,” said Thompson. He looked at the horizon approaching the bow of the boat. “Will your princess be able to hold out for the amount of time this will take?”

“I have no idea,” said the voice. “This has been an exceptional situation so far. Nothing like this has ever happened. I admit I would be happier if you could get there faster than the wind is pushing.”

“I'm sure it is pushing as fast as it can,” said Thompson. “This is a heavy boat. It's just luck I can sail it on my own at all.”

“I'm going to head back to keep an eye on things,” said the voice. “If anything changes, I will return, or look for you on the trail to the Fount.”

“Hopefully I will be sailing through those two spires by the time you need to talk to me again,” said Thompson. “I'll probably sell the boat for supplies if I can. It seems to be a good tub for the ocean.”

“Do whatever you can,” said the voice. “The princess is counting on you.”

“I'll do my best, but I haven't done anything like this,” said Thompson. “A local might be better.”

“A local would never approach the Fount,” said the voice. “Good luck.”

A streak of light appeared in the night sky. It vanished toward where the light from the Fount jumped into the sky according to Thompson's sightings earlier in the night.

He wondered why no one would approach the Fount. How much trouble was he getting into helping a mysterious voice and the mysterious voice's princess?

He shrugged off the worry as best he could. He didn't have much choice. The princess had helped him when he crashed. That said she knew about his crash. Maybe she knew what the door had been. He needed to find out what she knew so he could get home.

And it appealed to him to save the damsel in distress. He put that down to the old planetary romance stories and video games from his youth. He even wore green like his favorite hero from those stories.

All he needed was a little fairy sidekick and a giant sword.

Thompson supposed his phantom advisor could be the same as a fairy. Now all he needed was a giant sword.

He would have to find one on the way up to the Fount. How many loose weapons were in the world for him to grab one for his own use?

Thompson sailed through the night. He checked his bearing against the rising sun. He could sail for a few more hours before he needed to get some sleep. He could drop the anchor when he was ready to rack out.

The thought he might getting himself into trouble weighed on his mind, but he was in trouble no matter what he did at this point. If he decided not to try to get to the Fount, he would be stuck in his exile with no allies at all. Finding her gave him a chance to get home if he could move just a bit faster.

He wondered what the pirates were doing back where he had been recovering. They might have gotten a ship from somewhere and started after him. Would he see them again as he made his way up to the Fount?

He doubted the reunion would be friendly in any way.

And he would definitely need a sword in that case.

Thompson spotted something in the distance. It looked like two smudges on the horizon. Was that the spires he expected to see after his talk? How far away were they? Did he want to try to sail around them at night when he couldn't see them as well as the day time?

He decided to sail as far as he could in the daytime and then take the night to rest. If he reached the spires before the sun went down, he would sail past them. If he couldn't, he would wait out the night and try the next day. The anchor would keep him in place in all but the roughest seas.

His only worry was meeting another boat on the ocean, and the crew turning out to be another set of pirates.

There was nothing he could do about that. He had to keep his mind on the job ahead instead of what-could-bes.

Crashing into one of the rocky points sticking out of the water would put an end to his trip unless land was close enough to swim to so he could continue on foot. After that, he had a long walk ahead of him.

He wondered how big the planet was. Was it even a planet? As far as he knew, the place could be flat as a pancake. He had no way of knowing.

He wondered if they had some way to fly.

Thompson thought they might not have been able, but knew he had no idea. The only technology he had seen was the boat he was on. There might be all kinds of surprises for him before this was done.

He wondered if he would have to contend with anything more advanced than a flintlock. It would be a good force multiplier for him, but he didn't relish the thought of people shooting at him as he tried to get home.

He wondered what was really going on. He felt like he didn't have a complete picture of the situation. And he didn't have a way to collect information before he reached land, and dealt with the natives.

He tried put his thoughts back in order as he watched the twin spires draw closer. Once he was through there, he could look for a place to land and leave the boat. He wasn't sure if he should drop anchor and leave it sitting abandoned, or try to sail it into a harbor and turn it in for some money.

He didn't have experience selling boats, or much of anything. His natural inclination was to just leave it anchored in case he needed to come back and sail away to some other shore.

How long would it sit in place before someone found it and sailed away with it? That unknown could wreck any plan depending on coming back for the boat.

He wished he knew more about what was going on. That would make things so much easier for him.

He aimed the boat for a spot in the center of the spires. It was along the heading toward the Fount. He could expect landfall days after that, but he had enough supplies to reach the shore if the voice was right.

He could throw a line over and fish if he got hungry enough. The water was a bigger concern. If he rationed, he might be able to make his supply last until he found a spring.

The only thing that didn't bother him was he didn't really know how much trouble he was in. If he did know, would he keep trying, or give up? He couldn't answer that question to his satisfaction.

Thompson sailed between the giant obelisks sticking out of the water. They reminded him of something. He couldn't remember. Maybe the scale was playing with his recollection.

The two spires started closing. He looked at the stones coming together. He couldn't put on more sail by himself. He went to the side of the boat. The realization of what the two towers resembled didn't help his piece of mind.

The two spires came together behind the boat. The sound of their crashing washed over him. A wave picked the wooden craft up and propelled forward after the near miss.

Thompson leaned against the rail. The two spires resembled the pincers of a crab. He rubbed his face with both hands.

On this side of the twins, he spotted tiny outcrops just under the waves behind the boat. If he had tried to sail around the towers, the rocks would have ripped his hull apart and sent him into the water.

He also spotted fins cutting the water. He didn't know what the species would be here on this strange planet, but they resembled exotic shark fins. He wondered how much trouble he was in.

Did sharks get big enough to wreck his boat? Did he want to find out? What did he do if the answer was yes.

He couldn't fall in the water. If he did, he would be dead in a second.

Did the Princess know how much of a coward her hero was? He doubted it because she wouldn't have saved his life if she did.

He decided to keep moving to the shore. Staying out on the water seemed like a big mistake. He wasn't interested in being trapped while his boat suffered problems from the sharks.

He watched the water from the stern as the boat carried him forward. It was the highest place on the boat, and it gave him a view of the approaching shore, and the fins surrounding his boat and circling as if waiting for an opening.

Thompson figured the natives would avoid the little cove. They would know about the exotic sharks and how to avoid them. He doubted he would see any boat smaller than his stupid enough to sail where he was.

He wondered if he should have asked his advisor more questions, but knew they had only discussed the shortest way to somewhere instead of the safest.

That was something he should have been thinking about since he didn't know the fastest, safest way to get where he wanted to go.

He made a note to talk to his advisor about it the next time he showed up. There had to be a better way of doing things.

He hated to think this was the best way to do anything. That didn't speak well of his chances of getting the Princess back from wherever she was. He at least wanted a gun before he talked to the kidnappers.

Thompson doubted there was anything like a firearm on his new home. He hoped he wasn't wrong about that. He didn't want any surprises when he started his rescue attempt.

If the medicine matched up with the rest of what he saw, even a graze would be bad for him.

Thompson smiled. He doubted he would run into anybody who wanted to get rid of him. Only the princess and her helper knew he was on the way to try to rescue her. He could use that as surprise if he could get in wherever she was being held, and then out again.

He hoped it would be that easy. This all might be a dream powered by his ship exploding as it headed for Mars and beyond.

He realized he couldn't consider that possibility at all. If he was dying, this quest was pointless. If it was pointless, he might as well do anything but try to save the princess.

If he did save the princess, and he was returned to his former life, it validated his search.

And if he was dying, there was nothing he could do from where he was now. If he got to the end fo the dream, there was a small chance of waking up and saving himself before he ran out of air.

It was a really small chance considering how things had come apart around him.

He spotted the shore in the distance. He looked up at the sky. Night was coming on. He decided to drop anchor and get dinner. After that, he would get some sleep to get ready to land in the morning.

He hoped he could get a horse, or some other form of transportation. Walking would take too long. He needed to get to the Princess and get out as soon as possible.

Then once he had a reliable source, he could think about trying to figure out what was wrong with the Fount.