I ran to the window and looked out, but the glass was too thick, making peripheral views impossible. Dad was nowhere in sight. Then a dark shadow flashed past, then flew by again. Something sparkled as it went by the second time, and I was almost positive it was my dad's wedding ring. One of the Ka had my dad in its clutches.

My stomach now turning with a sick sense of dread, I ran out of the room and started shouting. Behind me, Rusty was yelling, “They've got Dad! They've got Dad!”

My family loved to accentuate the obvious.

By now, others had appeared, and after a few moments of confusion, we were all gathered inside the Mess Hall. Dad was the only one missing, and Mom was a wreck. Captain Tinkles told us that he had tried to turn the lights on but nothing happened. They must have busted them while going about their strange task out there so everything would remain dark.

Rayna took charge.

“Jimmy, you go out there right now and get your dad. Don't worry about us; we'll figure things out. Go, go!”

Wondering where my newfound courage of recent weeks had gone, I nodded and made for the door. Miyoko ran up to me.

“Jimmy, I'll go with you.”

“What?”

“Come on!” She grabbed my elbow.

I pulled it out of her grip. “Miyoko, are you crazy? Just stay here.”

“Child of the Gifts, take her with you,” Tanaka said.

I looked at him, waiting for his punch line, but none came. His face was set in stone. I turned back to Miyoko. She grabbed my hand this time.

“I have yet to reveal something to you. Let's go.”

She pulled me after her. As we went though the door, I asked her what she meant.

“I am a member of the Alliance, Jimmy.” She stopped long enough to look at me. “We all have our own … talents.”

She turned and ran, pulling me along once again. As we burst out into the open air, she yelled one more thing before the chaos began.

“Just don't you dare let go of me!”

It was still very dark, and the captain had been right. Not a light to be seen. We could see nothing but mist and shadow. But they were out there. We could hear them moving, and hear the echoing rattle of the chains.

“What are we supposed to do? I can't see anything!”

Miyoko did not reply, and I looked down at her face. I could barely make out her features, enough to see that her eyes were closed. She was mumbling something, and panic tickled my innards, remembering how everyone had fainted the last time we were in this situation.

“Miyoko! Wake up!” I squeezed her hand.

“Huh?” She squeezed back, but did not open her eyes. “Oh. No, no. It's not that. Just hold on for a minute.”

The mumbling began again as I wondered what on the planet she was doing.

“Okay,” she said after another few seconds. “Turn your head and close your eyes.”

“Turn my—”

“Just do it!”

I looked the other way, into the darkness, and closed my eyes.

When I was a kid (okay, when I was a little kid), my mom would always wake me up for school in stages. First, she would just open the door and call my name out. She knew that this would never work, but it started the process. Then, after about ten minutes, she would come in and shake me and tell me it was time to get up. Then, after another few minutes, she would turn on the lights. The blast of the lights through my eyelids always did the trick in jerking the sleep out of my brain.

What happened right then was just like that.

Only it was a hundred times worse.

A piercing arrow of light shattered the darkness completely, and despite having my eyes closed, I felt sure that I was blinded forever.

Miyoko was yelling.

“Don't look at me! The light from my eyes will blind you! But now … but now you can see. Let's find your dad. Just DO NOT look into my eyes!”

I opened mine, and for a few seconds, the world seemed to be a winter wonderland, white spots everywhere. Every sense in my body urged me to look at Miyoko, to see what this power of hers could be that lights up the universe, but I resisted. It reminded me of that place under the Pointing Finger, when I had to avoid looking at the rift behind me in order to obtain the Second Gift.

My eyes adjusted, and I took it all in. Brilliant light permeated our surroundings, seeming to drive the mist and darkness away. The ship was loaded with Shadow Ka, their moist, gray, veined skin reflecting the light in distorted insanity. Most had their wings folded, and they waited, and watched. Many shielded their eyes, and some looked afraid, an emotion I had never seen on them before.

I sprang into action, and looked for whichever beast held my dad in its gray clutches. Still holding Miyoko's hand, this time it was me who dragged her along. I could not let go of her, or else she'd lose the protection of the Shield, but I also wanted her behind me so that I would not look into the source of the blinding light. In my head, I imagined oval orbs of light where her eyes should be, blasting forth their luminescence like the spotlights so common at grand openings and car shows.

The Ka did nothing as I ran around, completely indifferent to my search. It was unnerving to see them this way. I wondered what it was they awaited. Each one had a chain still around its neck, the ends dropping down tightly and wrapped around various parts of the ship-railings, beams, and parts of the actual structure.

A thought began to form in my mind. Were they actually intending to …?

My dad's voice broke my line of concentration.

He was screaming my name, the volume increasing steadily, like he was falling from the sky … I looked up. A Shadow Ka was swooping down from above, my dad in its grip, its gray arms and legs holding him firmly. It swooped to within a few feet of me, then headed out to sea. A gale of wind from its passing blew in my face, carrying the reek of body odor and sewage filth. Forty or fifty feet from the yacht, with all the care of a man taking out his garbage, the Ka dumped my dad into the dark waters. The light from Miyoko's eyes revealed the ocean swallowing him whole.

He did not come back up.