Alone on deck, Krohn surveyed the wreckage. Fine work. The only thing keeping her above water was the prick of his warship, spitted through the hull. Water flowed freely through the belly of the ship.

The crew were crammed in the lower quarters, ear to ear. The captain was held apart from them, where the Lieutenant prepared him for questioning.

A squad of hell-troopers clambered up the stairs, a thick box between them. One limped. Their sergeant bowed. “No sign of the book, my lord.”

Krohn growled quietly. “Keep looking. And spare no expense. You may tear the ship apart, if that is what it takes. Those are my orders.”

The sergeant bowed again and led his men below deck.

A man appeared at Krohn’s side. The old man almost choked. His knees were jelly. What’s he doing here.

“Admiral Krohn. Your report?”

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“Lord-vizier.” Krohn bowed. “I was not aware you were on board.”

“Well?”

Krohn cleared his throat. “Early this morning, we caught a rebel galleon. Not this ship…” He gestured to the wreckage around them.

“They tried to lose us in the storm, but they failed. We boarded them without casualties, and although we didn’t find the book onboard, I thought it would suffice to sink their ship. If they hadn’t already destroyed those records, we’d do it for them. We executed the entire crew before we sunk the boat.”

The lord-vizier stared hard at Krohn.

Hurrying now, Krohn went on. “But the fog lifted, and we spotted a lifeboat a ways out. Pointless. It’s seventy miles to port. But we chased them anyway, and found a crewmember on board, dead. I thought we were done, but then we saw another ship in the fog. This one…”

Krohn gestured again at the wreckage around them.

“I believe these merchants have taken the book and hidden it on board. This time, we are going to find it.”

Krohn watched the vizier nervously. The man’s blackened leather armor reeked of smoke and herbs, and when he exhaled, the smoke escaped from under his mask. Krohn tried not to breathe. There was a tension about the vizier, a sense of barely-withheld violence.

“And the book?”

Krohn shook his head. “I don’t know, but nobody could’ve passed it off this time. It’s somewhere onboard. If we don’t find it, we’ll send it to the bottom of the sea.”

The wizard-knight inhaled again. “Bring me the captain.”