The thick mist blanket over the North Sea broke just after three in the morning, revealing a cold, ink-black horizon illuminated only by the rhythmic flash of coastal lighthouses.
High on the promenade bridge of the armored cruiser Vanguard, the sea breeze felt sharp, biting, and heavy with spray. Below deck, four massive steam turbines churned smoothly, sending a steady, low vibration through the iron floorplates as the twelve-ton vessel held her line at eighteen knots.
Behind them, the ports of Western Europe were slipping into darkness. Ahead lay the untamed waters of the Atlantic, leading toward the vast, unmapped expanses of the Pacific Basin.
