‘So, Captain Hunt, what is so special about you?’ Kassandra said, breaking a long silence that had grown in the room. A slight frown furrowed her brow as she looked him over intently.

‘I think you have the wrong person; I’m really not special,’ Rhys said, cold sweat running down his spine as he faced the intimidating woman.

‘I doubt that. I could find the physical description we were given if needs be, but I’m confident that Giannis is right. You are also the captain of the Endeavour, which is one of the ships we were informed to watch for. So, the point stands, why are you special?’ Kassandra replied evenly, her watchful gaze making Rhys feel like all his secrets were on display.

‘I told you, I’m really…..’

‘Silence!’ Kassandra interrupted him as she straightened from her lean and took a few measured steps forward. ‘Stop lying to me. Someone found you interesting enough to put a bounty on you, and then I received a message today saying that it had been increased. So, tell me, why are you worth one hundred sovereigns?’

‘One hundred sovereigns?’ Rhys repeated dumbly, at a loss for how to reply.

‘Indeed, a high sum for an uninteresting ship’s captain. Do you understand now why I don’t believe you?’ Kassandra asked, pacing around him as she spoke.

‘I do, but truly, there is nothing special about me,’ Rhys said honestly, not daring to move but trying to keep Kassandra within view as she circled him with measured steps.

‘Then, you leave me at a difficult decision, Captain. I can either turn you over to the anonymous party who placed the bounty on you,’ Kassandra trailed off and paused, smiling slightly at Rhys’s pale expression. ‘Or, I can keep you here while we determine just who wants you so badly. Yesterday, you were worth twenty sovereigns and today; you are worth one hundred. I wonder just how much we could get for you with the right information. Of course, that depends on your cooperation so we can work out who wants you. Will you cooperate?’ Kassandra turned and looked Rhys in the eyes, fixing him in place.

‘I will,’ Rhys said, nodding quickly as he spoke. Anything that didn’t involve getting handed off to some anonymous group was good in his books. The longer they were here, the more chance he had of somehow escaping.

‘A wise choice,’ Kassandra said, her lips quirking as she walked back to the table. ‘Giannis!’

‘Yes, Archon?’ Giannis opened the door to the room and stepped inside at Kassandra’s call.

‘Take Rhys down to a holding cell. He’s going to cooperate with us so we can identify our hidden friend,’ Kassandra turned the last two words into something close to a curse, Giannis grimacing in distaste at the same time. ‘You’re in charge of his interrogation while he’s here.’

‘Yes, most powerful Archon,’ Giannis said, sweeping Kassandra a formal bow.

‘You’re lucky you’re so annoyingly competent,’ Kassandra muttered, waving for them to be on their way. ‘Send the rest in as you leave.’

‘Your every will is my command,’ Giannis said with a tone so overtly reverent that even the terrified Rhys thought it was over the top. ‘This way, dear Captain.’

Rhys hurried to follow Giannis out of the meeting room, eager to leave Kassandra’s presence.

Giannis led Rhys down the stairs and passed on Kassandra’s orders to the pirates waiting downstairs. The assembled group eyed Rhys with interest as they filed back upstairs, leaving Giannis to escort him from the building.

‘This way, if you would,’ Giannis said, taking Rhys by the arm and turning him to the right as they stepped back out into the misty cavern.

Rhys kept silent as he followed Giannis past half-a-dozen other buildings, eventually coming to a small building on the exterior of the built-up area. The building was made of the same strange material as the rest and was sized about right for a small house with a single floor.

‘This will be your home while you’re here with us, for as long as you cooperate, anyway. Actus will be along shortly to watch the entrance, so let’s head straight inside.’ Giannis reached out to grab a handle on the door and slid it open, revealing the mist-free interior.

Stepping inside, Rhys saw that almost the whole interior was open-plan, and it did seem to be some form of living quarters. There was everything from a bed to what seemed to be some form of kitchen. Seeing what was missing, Rhys guessed that the door in the corner led to the bathroom. A bright light shone in the centre of the room, providing illumination, but it was the same shade of crimson as the lights outside.

‘Please, take a seat,’ Giannis said, walking over to a table in the centre of the room. There were two chairs present, so Rhys took the one on the other side of the table. He noticed immediately that the chair and table were made of a strange material that was neither wood nor metal. It was different from what the buildings were made of, but Rhys found his curiosity quickly suppressed with everything else going on.

‘So, dear Captain. We come to the main event of all this. Tell me what Kassandra told you,’ Giannis ordered, resting one elbow on the table and his chin on his fist as he spoke.

Rhys gave Giannis a hesitant summary of his conversation with Kassandra. He was still unsure of how much to actually cooperate with the pirates. For now, Rhys was going to answer honestly and see where that took him. When he had some time to himself, he’d work out what he was going to do.

‘I see, how interesting,’ Giannis said, leaning back in his chair with a thoughtful expression. ‘I can see why Kassandra is intrigued. The sudden rise in the bounty hints that you’re worth a considerable amount more to them. We may even be able to trade you for some more favours from them.’

Rhys mentally perked up at the mention of favours, remembering that Kassandra had called whoever it was their “hidden friend” with distaste. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of all this, but there was something more going on here.

‘Tell me more about yourself,’ Giannis said abruptly, breaking Rhys from his thoughts.

‘Well, I’m the captain of the Endeavour…’ Rhys started to say before Giannis waved a hand and interrupted.

‘For how long?’

‘A month and a bit, I think?’ Rhys said with little confidence, having not really been tracking the time in any way.

‘Hmm, and before the Endeavour?’ Giannis waited for a beat before seeing the confusion on Rhys’s face and clarifying. ‘Which ship did you captain before the Endeavour?’

‘Oh, I didn’t. The Endeavour is my first ship,’ Rhys said, knowing there was no way to hide that. His crew wouldn’t hide such information as they didn’t realise what secrets Rhys was trying to protect.

‘Interesting, and before you became a ship’s captain?’ Giannis cocked his head to one side, watching Rhys carefully as he responded.

‘I worked as an artificer; I spent my savings on getting the Endeavour,’ Rhys said, clasping his hands under the table as he worried about Giannis’s next few questions.

‘Really, you could afford a ship on the money you earned as an artificer?’ Giannis raised a single brow in surprise, but Rhys had long since prepared an answer for this in case anyone asked him.

‘I’m a good artificer, and the Endeavour was cheap as it needed fixing up. I used some experimental parts to replace the damaged pieces. Without doing that, the ship would have been reclaimed for materials.’

‘Experimental parts?’

‘Yes, I worked on them myself, so they didn’t cost anything,’ Rhys said, twisting the truth heavily to make it fit his answer. He wasn’t technically lying; Zaxx’s core was entirely experimental, and it only worked because of the pact that Rhys had created with him.

‘That would be why your ship was as swift as it was, correct?’ Giannis asked, making the connection that Rhys was hoping he would.

‘Yes, but they only work on the Endeavour, so they’re worthless elsewhere,’ Rhys said, happy to let Giannis think it was to do with the vapour thrusters or something similar.

‘I see,’ Giannis murmured. ‘While interesting, I can’t see that being the source of their interest in you. The Endeavour was fast, but not that fast.’

Rhys kept his face neutral as he relaxed a little internally. The further he could draw Giannis from the upgrades to the Endeavour, the better.

‘Tell me more about your time as an artificer, was there some event you were involved in?’

‘Nothing I can think of,’ Rhys lied with a straight face. The only thing he could think of was when the inquisition had conscripted him to clear out the renegade artificer’s effects and had found Zaxx. That came firmly under the list of things he didn’t want to bring up.

‘Martin Fletch,’ Giannis said abruptly, watching Rhys intently.

Rhys’s started in surprise as he heard the unexpected name come out of Giannis’s mouth, and he saw the glint in Giannis’s eyes that told him the pirate had spotted the movement. Heart sinking, Rhys began to deny knowing the name.

‘No,’ Giannis said as Rhys opened his mouth to reply. ‘Please don’t insult me by lying to my face. I saw the recognition on your face.’

‘Why do you know that name?’

‘Dear Captain, you forget who’s asking the questions here,’ Giannis said, his voice like velvet over a naked blade. ‘How do you know Martin Fletch?’

‘He was my employer and my teacher on Arn Creth, where I was raised.’

‘Thank you,’ Giannis said, smiling once more as he tapped a finger on the table. ‘Now, what about Mark Opran and Jun Park?’

‘Also artificers in Arn Creth, though ones I never worked with,’ Rhys grudgingly explained.

‘Interesting. Those three names were also on the initial bounty list, though only yours was increased. Are you sure you never worked together?’

‘Not that I remember,’ Rhys temporised, caught off-guard by this sudden change.

Giannis leaned in and was about to continue when there was a knock at the door, interrupting him.

‘Well, my other duties call, but if I were you, I would consider what link you might have to these other artificers for when I return.’ Giannis told Rhys as he rose and headed for the door.

The pirate walked out the door without a backward glance, closing it firmly behind him and leaving Rhys alone for the first time since he’d left his cabin on the Endeavour.

‘Damn, what am I going to do,’ Rhys muttered, rubbing his face with shaking hands and letting himself catch up on the day’s events.

Rhys wasn’t sure how long he sat at the table before he was able to get himself together. Things had been happening so fast recently that he’d hardly felt like he had any chance to take stock of it all.

The fact that someone had given the kou-nak a bounty for him was enough to send his mind into a frenzy. However, the inclusion of those other artificers was both a good and a bad thing. The bad was that someone had clearly put together a list of everyone involved in the inventory process for that rogue artificer. The good was that they didn’t know it was Rhys, just that it was one of them.

Then again, Kassandra had said that the bounty had been increased for him, and quite substantially at that. Rhys could only assume that meant that this person, whoever they were, had figured out that Rhys had Zaxx.

A small part of Rhys’s mind worried about what might have happened to Martin or the others, but he couldn’t afford to think about that right now.

Getting up from the table and rubbing his face, Rhys went over to the kitchen area to see if there were some tea leaves he could use. He’d always found that he thought better with a cup of tea in hand, and he needed to be at his best to get out of this.