“It’s my fault… I was too late… too late…” he says to Dalia and tears roll down his eyes sinking into his brown beard. Dalia doesn’t say anything. She wants to take him in her arms but knows too well not to touch a celibate third tier disciple in front of the guard and the men who are embarking fuel tanks, water and food buckles on the boat deck. Tirad repeats the names of the two people he has lost… Hurmaz and Lealy… He doesn’t know which one to mourn for and he blames himself for both their deaths. He hadn’t seen their passing and hadn’t said goodbye. How did they die? Did Lealy suffocate in the smoke or burnt in flames? Did she fall into the water? Perhaps she was trapped under water or hit by some sharp burning object thrown out of the torn apart slums. What about Hurmaz? They wouldn’t spill blood. They probably poisoned him or choked him in his sleep making it look like a normal death not an assassination. But who could do such a thing? Who else was involved except for Mart? Who was the other older voice that Dalia had heard? How could they disobey the Saviour Rules on the Saviour Ship? He has to go back and find Hurmaz’s killer and take his revenge, whatever the cost.

Narivan escorts the guard and the men who have finished their work and are about to leave the boat. He wants Tirad to come and say goodbye. Tirad gets up and walks towards them; he can hardly feel his legs. The guard and the two men are still on the boat deck and they whisper something to each other. Tirad hears Mart’s name between their words. He focuses on their murmurs. One of them says to the other in a lowered voice, “If he had come from Mart, he would say so himself.”

The other man replies to him, “Maybe he is afraid to ask…or not sure…but Mart said he would come today.” Tirad is curious but doesn’t know how to play along and find out about Mart and his arrangement. Yet he wants to find out what’s going on and see what business Mart has with these men. He is so tired of figuring out Mart’s agendas. The three men finally decide to speak up.

“Are you an acquaintance of Master Mart?” one of them asks.

“Yes, I am,” Tirad replies. The guard whispers in the men’s ears, as if he doesn’t want them to continue.

But one of them says to him, “If he is the one and we don’t cooperate, you know what Mart would do to us… Mart said he will come in disguise and will try to keep his appearances.” Tirad feels threatened. What if Mart had given them his descriptions before the fire and told them to arrest him whenever he got there? But they didn’t even ask his name. Mart would not give any hints about his plans specially the Oxan fire.