Chapter 5
Pasha viewed the Baltic Sea in shades of melancholy, leaden, and steely. Standing next to the captain, Pasha was grateful to be in the pilothouse and out of the rain. This was only his second time on the Baltic. The first, a short ferry ride across the Baltic, was from Helsinki to Tallin in Estonia. That sailing was in splendid weather, the sun shining bright, the sea like the surface of a glass table.
Today, sailing on The Baltic Majesty was a nightmare in daytime. Darkening sky, clouds purple like a deep bruise. And the rain. The Baltic lived up to its gray reputation.
“Does the wind ever stop blowing?” The captain looked at him and laughed. Pasha felt the boat rise and fall, rolling and pitching. “Is this safe?”
“How many times on a boat, my young comrade?”
Pasha wanted t
