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dramatic story of a poor
merchant from Port Sud on his way to get Mandarin silk, who found
himself together with his ship in the middle of a storm and was
thrown, not knowingly, between enemy vessels blocking the
Smiteverden port. The escape, as much lucky as it was panicky,
forced him to enter the harbour.
    The Karahamian
sailors, listening to his story, nodded their heads solemnly. They
probably guessed that their countryman was shamelessly making it
all up, but they did not let it be known. The commander of the
guard believed in the smuggler’s storytelling only after seeing the
documents of the last customs control of Haaven. The bribe
presented by Hans to the chief of the customs house brought about
completely unexpected benefits. The appeased officer recalled his
soldiers who were slowly coming off the schooner onto the pier.
Luckily no one asked about the woman on board. Apparently they took
her for a crew member. Women were not uncommon on ships. It must be
admitted that they did not usually serve in standard roles and
mostly were contracted as navigators, or nurses, but a view of a
woman on board, or even a woman officer was not surprising to
anyone.
    When everyone
calmed down after a less-than-cordial welcome at the harbour and
the crew just finished mooring the ship to the schooner and
clearing the sails, the harbour commander himself appeared on the
deck of the adjacent vessel and stated that he had found a place
for them in one of the side docks. Sailors began to untie the moors
of the ship with some murmurs of discontent, and the captain
invited the significant figure on-board as a pilot. From the rank
of the official involved, it was obvious that the blockade breakage
caused a considerable stir in the city.
    The harbour
commander escorted the “Thunder Led”, which was still passing as
the “Underwater Goat” to the outsiders, to one of the few free
places on a side, though not the most inferior, dock. In a short,
substantive conversation with the captain he made an appointment
with him for the next day and having said his goodbyes he has left
the deck. It was late at night when the crew finished finally
clearing the ship. The passenger did not participate in the bustle
of seafarers. At the first opportunity she went to her cabin, to
get up at dawn. She slept deeply, which did not hinder her from an
early wake up.
    The morning
came chilly but sunny. The storm had long passed over the city
having purified the air and gutters. Miss von Blitzen stepped onto
the solid ground. The girl was walking along the deserted street
leading from the port to the city centre. It wasn’t far. In
Smiteverden the port was one of the most important places in the
city, so the centre started close beside it. In the warm morning
the sounds of the shots fired from time to time by both shore
forts’ batteries were carried with a rolling thunder over the
city.
    The more she
was moving away from the port, the less she was a noblewoman. She
looked around discreetly more and more to see if anyone was
following her, until finally she turned abruptly into a side street
and broke into a run to the nearest block. She turned again
continuing to run. Around the corner she mingled in a stream of
people going towards the centre and walked briskly to the nearest
gate. She stepped in and watched carefully the exit of the street
from which she ran. There seemed to be no one after her. Then she
finally ceased to be Miss von Blitzen seeking a father. At that
moment she was finally herself. An intelligence officer freshly out
of the academy with a task to perform.
    She headed up
to a trade shop less than half a mile away from the main market
square, in a back alley, but close to one of the main arteries of
the city. The hour was early, but having reached the place, the
girl knocked on the door without hesitation. Thud, pause, thud,
thud, thud, pause, thud, pause, thud, thud, thud. The door opened,
and through the crack she heard a faint whisper.
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