Narivan reaches the steering wheel and shouts, “Rope!” Dalia leaps over and cuts the rope. The guard orders them to stop but Narivan doesn’t hesitate. He turns on the engine and sails fast to the east, the opposite direction of the Saviour Island. Tirad stares at the platform. He knows they will follow them and they do. The guard jumps into the courier boat and tells the man to go with him. The man is not sure what to do with the sack of coins. He hesitates for a moment, puts down the sack and steps towards the boat. He turns back again, taking the sack with him. The boat sails fast getting far from the naval and the courier boat follows. They were lucky to have fled in time, or else there would be surrounded by boats instead of being followed by only one courier.

Chapter 23

Tirad measures the length and the distance of the courier boat with his finger joints. The courier boat is faster than theirs and gets closer, and will reach them in a few minutes. He doesn’t know what to do when it gets to them. Narivan is sailing the boat the fastest he can and Dalia is staring at the courier waiting for the inevitable. Tirad doesn’t understand why Narivan still continues sailing, perhaps he wants to get as far away from the naval as possible or hopes that the small, fast boat would run out of fuel, since they have smaller tanks and use more fuel per minute. But the courier doesn’t seem to be running out of fuel. Tirad can clearly see the guard’s face now, even his black teeth that are pressed together from rage. He shouts to Narivan that they are too close, he should slow down the boat or else the courier might crash into their boat, killing all five of them. Narivan slows down and the courier approaches. The guard throws a rope to the boat coupling. Narivan gives a knife to Dalia and the iron rod to Tirad; it’s the rod the Oxan boatman had used trying to kill him. He takes another knife himself, hiding it in his clothes behind his back. He takes the paddle in his hand and moves towards the guard and the naval man that jump into their boat.

“You!” the guard addresses Tirad.

“You think you can set the harbour on fire and get away with it?” he shouts. Tirad wants to defend himself, to say it wasn’t him and they had set him up. But Narivan gives him a gesture to remain silent. The men approach Tirad. Narivan goes to him as well trying to lead Tirad’s steps backward. All four are standing in the middle of the deck. Dalia sneaks from behind the guard and the man and jumps to the courier boat. Tirad watches her, scared of what she is up to. Perhaps she wants to find Tirad’s warrants and get rid of them, but the boatman would have taken them with him in his arm bag, when he climbed the naval ladder. The guard takes a step towards Tirad and tells him to surrender and go back to the naval with him. Narivan tries to change their position; he slowly moves the paddle towards the guard and the man, pushing them back. He doesn’t want to hit them yet, not until they reach the gunwale. He wants them to gradually turn in a way that their backs lean against the gunwale and Tirad and Narivan stay in the middle. The guard is trying to persuade Tirad to give himself in. He is focusing on his choice of words and does not realise he is turning towards the direction that Narivan leads with his paddle. He reaches the gunwale.