Characters
Kai Sörensen
FS Nordmark captain, eight years without a word to Lena
Kai Sörensen is captain of the FS Nordmark, a 78-meter research vessel with sixteen people on board. He is forty-nine, gray at the temples, with a face like wood that has been left outdoors for a long time. He stands with his feet slightly apart, like someone who has learned that floors move. Twice he tried working on land: once he quit after eleven months, and once he turned around outside the building. He says little, names things rather than pointing them out, and calls Lena by her last name, the way he used to over the radio. Eight years ago he was captain of the FS Vindel. Since the night Lukas died, he and Lena haven’t exchanged a single word. Now he is supposed to take her research cruise into the North Atlantic.
First encounter
- First noticed: he takes the heaviest bag from Lena before she can react, without checking which one it is
- Speaks: tersely, listing things “like the items on a cargo manifest”; about life on board: “I can find every single person in four minutes.”
Connected to
- Lena VossOceanographer at the ICRU in Hamburg, following a falling line
- Lukas AhrensOceanographer at Lena’s side, died at sea eight years ago
- Mats ReimersFS Nordmark systems technician who knows the old OCEANUS probe
- FS NordmarkLena’s research vessel in Book 1, captained by Kai Sörensen
- FS VindelThe research vessel of the night Lukas died
Spoiler-free. This describes the starting point of the book named, without its major twists or resolutions.