Son paused, then said: “I grew up, and I forgot about the Shadow of Hon Ba. But I was thinking—we kept thinking of the Con Dao Sea Monster as something that had just appeared. As if it were connected to us—come to punish us. But I think it has always been there. My great-grandfather’s grandfather told of it. Where would he have learned of it? Probably from his own grandfather. Who learned of it from his grandfather. Who learned of it from his. On and on, back to the Khmer, who were the first men on Con Dao. And I wonder—what did the shadow of Hon Ba think when we left the archipelago? Did it notice? Does it miss us? Do they miss us? Or are they happy we are gone?”

In front of the wheelhouse door that evening Eiko said, “Please. If we are going to make a profit, we all need to cooperate. I understand we were wrong to do what we did. I wasn’t the leader. I didn’t want it. And I promise you: We won’t try to damage your systems anymore. We won’t try to escape. We will work hard. We just want to live. We need food, and water, and medicine. And in return, we will be a faithful crew. If they disobey, you will not have to kill them. I will kill them myself.”

At dinner, double rations were distributed. When Eiko retrieved his meal from the slot, there was also a packet of fever reducer next to the compressed protein cakes on his tray.

Chapter 41

We are, and have always been, a part of the world. We do not stand above it. We are “involved” with the world. This word has a sense not just of participating, not just of complication, but also of a curling inward, a coiling we call “involution.” We are coiled into the world, nestled inside its processes, wound into its forms.

—Dr. Ha Nguyen, How Oceans Think

41

THE PIECE OF CORAL was small enough to fit easily into the palm of Ha’s hand.

It was a fork that joined into a single trunk for a few centimeters and then branched off in three directions. It was shaped like a human figure: a standing person with legs apart wider than its shoulders, a slim waist, arms and head upraised. Just its natural shape was striking enough that, if a person saw it washed up on the beach, they would have kept it, thinking, Weird. That looks like a human.