Maureen gave the order to launch, and Windrunner lifted from the platform with smooth efficiency, turning toward the bay's interior, where the Skun Islands rose from the water in irregular formations.
The flight took two hours at cruising speed, the ship passing over remarkably clear water, allowing them to see coral formations and schools of fish moving beneath the surface with enough detail that Jake could make out individual creatures at depths that should have been too far to distinguish.
The Skun Islands appeared gradually through the afternoon haze, a scattered archipelago of perhaps twenty separate landmasses ranging from bare rocks jutting from the waves to larger islands covered in vegetation and ringed with white sand beaches.
Maureen brought Windrunner down to a lower altitude, the ship skimming perhaps fifty feet above the water's surface while the crew scanned the area with spyglasses and enhanced vision abilities.
Nothing.
