Mart finally finds the documents he has been looking for. It’s a copy of a letter and a list of all their transactions, purchases and selling. Every detail is precisely given with the names involved, the amounts and prices. Even delivery times and places are written down. Hurmaz had written to Armina telling her all about Mart and the Circle and their illegal commercial activities. Hurmaz hadn’t lied. He really did have this list and had sent it to someone he trusted, away from the stranded Ship. And Mart had been looking for it the whole time, interrogating everyone on the Ship and searching every cabin and house on the Island, while it was Tirad who had them all this time. Now that he has found the list, he is not sure whether his mind is at peace or worst? Tirad can’t do anything with these documents. If he could, he would have already used them. Whom can he reveal the list to? Unless he wants to fight against everyone involved, the Circle, the disciples, the Oxan chiefs and the chiefs from many ships. But these documents are titled ‘COPY’. There must be at least another set of these documents and there might be more copies. He has to interrogate him after dinner and find out who has the original copy. He wants to burn the papers but he needs to show them to Akhgar first and get the credit for finding them. He puts all the papers back in Tirad’s bag for now to hand them in to Akhgar after the party.

Chapter 37

Tirad bends his head and takes off the turban with his chained hands and unties the cloth covering his mouth. He goes to Dalia and takes off the stinking sack from her head and unties her mouth. Dalia tries to pick the lock on the chains with her metal nails but it is no use. The metal plates are wider than the lock hole and won’t even get in. Tirad looks around the cabin that used to be the forbidden library. There are no signs of the bookshelves or books or the dusty large table that was in the middle. There is a large pile of recycled papers from the floor to the roof, covering one side of the cabin. The whole Ship has electrical lights now; even the lowest floor has electricity! It must have been Mart’s doing. The cabin is lit by a lamp dangling from the ceiling. Tirad looks around for a sharp object to unchain his hands.

He remembers looking for such a thing the last time he was in this cabin when he wanted to unlock the silver box. He had found a nail but the nail had slid down from his hand and got stuck between the planks. He couldn’t take it out then with his short nails and in the dim light of the cabin. He sits on his knees and looks carefully between the planks and sees the nail’s head. He asks Dalia to untie and give him one of her metal nails. Tirad lies down to get the nail out from the narrow gap between the planks. He puts the small plate under the nail’s head and tries to pull it out. After a few tries, the crooked nail is in his hands. Dalia sits next to him. Unlike the lock on the silver box, the nail easily gets into the chain’s lock. Tirad plays around with the nail until he unlocks the chains. He does the same for Dalia’s chains and they both sit with their backs against the paper pile, waiting. Even though Tirad has no idea what or whom he is waiting for.