by Zoha Kazemi
Mart goes down with the guards and the prisoners to the lowest floor. His own cabin is next to the paper storage cabin. They have separated the forbidden library into two parts. One half is used for the storage of guns and ammunition and because of the heavy rain, they were forced to move the recycled papers back to the ship, stored in the other half of the library. The previous common library cabin is now Mart’s. He makes sure Tirad and Dalia are locked inside the cabin and a guard stands before the door, making sure they won’t get away. The dinner party has already started but he needs to go to his room first and see what’s inside Tirad’s bag. He sits behind his large desk and takes everything out. It’s mostly paper: Tirad’s drawings from Lealy, Dalia and the Oxan fire and another man that Mart guesses is the one who had helped him get away. The man is sketched in a laying position and seems wounded in the picture. He has some peculiar drawings as well. A woman like Dalia is giving birth in the water and there are dolphins surrounding her and a semi-human, semi-fish baby is swimming among the dolphins… Mart looks at the pictures quickly and puts them aside. But he stops as he sees Armina’s portrait. This proves Tirad had been in Parsana and they had helped him get away, but it’s no use anymore, he has already taken care of Parsana. There are other strange drawings from the drowned cities! He always thought Tirad couldn’t swim, but to dive? It is very strange to him. These detailed drawings are not just from Tirad’s imagination, he must have seen it first-hand. He looks in the bag again. There are no coins; he must have hid them in his boat somewhere. He just hopes the guards don’t be too greedy not to return the coins to him.
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.
He is sure now that his return has been useless. They just need to get out of there somehow and save their own lives. The war that Mart had started was not based on reason and won’t be stopped by Tirad’s surrender. His reasons for starting this war is beyond the excuses he had given to the people and the rumours he had spread on the ships and islands. Tirad will go away from here for good! But he needs to take his revenge for the deaths of Hurmaz, Lealy, the Oxan refugees and the Parsana healers. He is sure now that all this has been done by Mart and it is his right and responsibility to avenge him.
“Are you sure you said the name Farnab correctly to the courier?” Tirad asks Dalia. She confirms. He is still not sure what Farnab could do with the letter and the original documents he has sent him? He hopes when Farnab reads about the parallel Narratives and his account of last year’s calamities, he and the other third tier disciples would spare his life. As long as they all believe he is guilty, he has no way out. But even the smallest doubts could make them listen and see things differently. He has written to Farnab explaining everything and asking him to judge for himself and decide who has gained power and wealth after the Oxan fire and who has lost all he had? Tirad hopes after he gets his revenge and escapes the Saviour Ship, Farnab would be able to clear his name. But it depends on Mart’s influence on the third and fourth tier disciples and whether or not Mart has already bought them. Farnab was the only person Tirad hoped to have stayed away from Mart’s agendas. It might be a false hope but it’s the only hope he has. He needs to wait and see what will happen. There is nothing useful in the cabin to help them escape. If the Ship didn’t have electricity, he could easily burn the piled up papers with an oil lamp and get out. He seems to be thinking aloud and Dalia has heard him.
“We can connect the wires and make the Ship power go down…and then escape…” Dalia says pointing to the wires on the ceiling. Tirad looks up at the lamp and the wire stretched all the way on the roof to the top of the cabin door. He doesn’t say anything. But he knows they will need more than darkness to get away. How will they get rid of the guards? Dalia must have known her words were not practical enough. She tries again.
“We can wait until midnight. They will turn off the electrical power then…” Dalia suggests.
“There has to be another way…” Tirad replies, brooding. He needs a knife or a dagger. He could take down one of the guards with the chains but what will he do with the second and the third and so on. The guards must be armed, having a dagger at least. He needs to do something to get rid of them at once and make them clear the floor. He says this to Dalia and points at the paper piles.
“We could get a spark from connecting the wires…” Dalia suggests doubtfully. Tirad still doesn’t think its practical enough. How can they cut the wires? With their teeth? And even if they do, as soon as the wires connect, the power will shut down and they will have no spark. Such sparks are not enough to set these moist papers on fire. They have only one way: to fight their way out.
“Mart doesn’t want me killed yet… We can fight. We should start from the guard behind the door…” Tirad explains, and Dalia agrees saying she will do whatever is needed. They hear a noise from behind the door. They both become silent. The door opens and Akhgar and Mart enter with two guards. Akhgar looks at Tirad but doesn’t seem to see Dalia at all. Mart has something in his hands, papers that he waves in Tirad’s face. The guard becomes aware
of the unlocked chains lying by the door, he picks them up. He wants to chain them again but Mart has a more exciting show to perform. The guard stands by the door with the chains in his hands.
“I found these in your bag…” Mart says to Tirad and then turns to Akhgar, laughing aloud. His face is red and from his shaking legs and his wild laughs; it is clear that he is drunk. Every year or every two year, the Saviour Ship manages to get hold of wine for their dry season festivities. Most disciples drink as much as they can until they pass out. Usually, the next morning after the feasts is spent on hangovers and all the meetings and classes are cancelled. The poor maids spend the whole day cleaning vomit from all over the corridors and cabins. Tirad had drank with them once. But the terrible headache and the nausea had taken away any pleasure the wine was supposed to give him. He always has stomach problems as it is and can’t take more nausea and cramps. Yet Mart seems to have enjoyed himself in tonight’s party, drinking as much as he could.
“What did you think you could achieve with these nonsense pages? Huh?” Mart says sneering. Akhgar approves him. He seems too drunk to be able to keep his eyes open and speak. He whispers something in Mart’s ears and leaves with one of the guards. Mart stands in front of Tirad and takes a lighter out of his yellow robe pocket. He starts torching one of Hurmaz’s document pages. When the paper burns to ashes, he is careful to put out the flame and crush the ashes under his feet. The smell of burning paper fills the air, the stench of fire that Tirad hates so much. But he tries to focus on the lighter.
“Of course, it doesn’t matter to you! Tell me where you’ve hid the original copy!” Mart asks furiously. Tirad says this was all he had and he has no idea where the original documents are. Mart torches another paper, this time a picture of Lealy drawn by Tirad’s hand. Tirad gives a signal to Dalia and she leaps over to Mart biting his arm, right where his Saviour tattoo is. Mart drops the lighter and shouts. Dalia quickly shoots the lighter to the corner of the cabin with his foot before the guard kicks her in her stomach. The blood from Dalia’s bite spills on the papers in Mart’s hand. He walks to the door furiously.
“I will deal with you tomorrow! First this wild animal and then you! You have till tomorrow morning to tell me where you have hid the original documents… Don’t think because I want you alive for now, you can easily get away… I only need you alive, not this wretched creature!” he says pointing at Dalia as he walks out. The guard asks him whether he should chain their hands again. Mart says there is no need, they can’t get out. He orders the guard to take the chains out with him.
“Who knows how this witch has unlocked the chains! If you chain them up, she’ll unlock them again. It’s best not to keep them in the cabin,” Mart says and walks out unsteadily. The guard helps him out and shuts the door on Dalia and Tirad. Dalia picks up the lighter and victoriously hands it to Tirad. He turns the lighter on and off several times, wondering whether this is the same lighter Mart had used to torch down the refugee harbour. Dalia calls him.
“What should we do now?” she asks.
“I’m going to do exactly what Mart believes I’m not capable of doing!” Tirad replies with a spark in his eye. But he needs to be patient. They better wait for the Ship power to be turned off and everyone goes to sleep. Tirad takes Dalia in his arms and whispers his plan in her ears. She then repeats back everything slowly to make sure she has it all right: The Ship’s map, the location of the maids cabins and the children’s cabins and their whole plan. The lights finally go off, sooner than they expected. Tirad thinks it’s probably because they are all too drunk to stay up any longer and they usually want to get rid of the Ship’s guests sooner on such occasions. The cabin goes completely dark. They have to wait a little longer for all the Ship to go to rest, the Ship residents go to their cabins for their night sleep and their comings and goings finally stop. The guard opens the door slowly and tells them to go to sleep. Tirad hears the guard locking the door cabin and sitting down in front of the door. But another sound is also heard: someone walking down the corridor. The guard gets up and unlocks the door and Farnab comes in with a torch in his hand.
“Master Tirad! Is it really you?” he asks excitedly and looks at Tirad’s gaunt and sunburnt face in the torch light. Tirad takes him in his arms. He knows he must have received the documents and his letter and from his warm welcome, he can tell he has believed him.
“I haven’t shown the documents to anyone yet… I don’t know how I’m supposed to prove to them that you are innocent? I don’t even know how to make them listen…” Farnab says in a desperate tone.
“As long as Mart and the Circle stand, nobody feels the need to believe you and me. But I need your help!” Tirad replies.
“There is nothing I can do… If they find out I have come here…” Farnab says shamefully but Tirad interrupts him.
“I don’t need anything from you… Just linger on a bit in front of the door and let Dalia slide out. And tell me this please…” Tirad says and Farnab agrees, waiting for his question.
“Where is Mart’s cabin?” Tirad asks.
“The cabin next to this one is the gun storage. Mart’s cabin is the next door…where the common library used to be,” he explains and Tirad thanks him.
“What is in the gun storage?” Tirad asks again.
“It’s empty now. All the guns and ammunition are sent to the Oxan naval where the army is. Some say the Circle’s treasury is kept there. I don’t know. No one is allowed to go there,” he replies.
“How many guards were there in the corridor?” Tirad asks again.
“They were three when I came in but they might send more… I really don’t have any idea,” Farnab answers. The guard opens the door and asks Farnab to leave. Farnab walks to the door but turns to Tirad before going out.
“I will do whatever I can… But I’m not hopeful. You should get out of here… Please… Don’t sacrifice yourself for a lost cause!” he says passionately. Tirad thanks him. Dalia sneaks behind the door and sits on her knees, waiting for the right moment. Farnab shines the torch light on the ceiling, creating a shadow for Dalia to get out behind him. He takes his time walking out so that Dalia can slide out behind him. Tirad watches them both get out of the cabin. He hopes Dalia would sneak her way to the end of the corridor. But the guard sees her. He shouts at Farnab telling him to go away from there, bends down and kicks Dalia back into the cabin. He locks the door cursing at her. Dalia sits next to Tirad and shows him the dagger she had managed to take off the guard while he had bent down to kick her. Tirad kisses her and goes to the paper pile. He takes papers out one by one, torching them and putting the burning paper on the pile. He continues until the pile catches flame.
Tirad covers his mouth with Mart’s purple turban and waits behind the door with the dagger in his hand. Dalia kicks on the door and shouts, “Fire!” The guard opens the door and steps in as he sees the flames. Tirad pushes the dagger in his leg and goes out. The guard falls down, twisting in pain and blood. Tirad locks the door on the guard and the burning paper pile. Two more guards rush towards him. Tirad signals Dalia to go and she runs to the staircase while Tirad faces the guards. One of the guards, a few steps further than the other, turns towards Dalia and watches her escape. Tirad inserts the dagger into the closer guard’s eye and kicks the second one in his knees, pushing the dagger behind his neck. Both guards fall down.
The whole corridor is filled with smoke and it will very soon spread to the entire Ship. Tirad can hear the guards running down the stairs. He opens Hurmaz’s former cabin door. Akhgar is sleeping on his bed, passed out and drunk. Tirad could leave him inside and let him die in the smoke and fire. He lets him be, to die in his sweet sleep. He stands behind Akhgar’s door. The thick smoke has filled the space and he can hear the guards coughing, but he knows they wouldn’t dare to come down and are probably trying to empty the other stories. Tirad walks towards Mart’s cabin. His eyes are soaring and he keeps coughing. He can hardly see ahead and needs to be car
eful not to stumble on the passed out bodies of the guards that he had stabbed.
Mart is sitting on his bed calling for help. He screams but his voice won’t reach anyone through the shouting and running of the scared Ship residents on the upper floors. Even if his cry for help reached them, they wouldn’t risk their lives coming to save him. No one dared to come down in such smoke and flames that are spreading in the corridor, making their way up the stairs. The thick smoke has blinded Mart’s eyes and he can’t see. He coughs and screams. Tirad stands above him. Mart hardly opens his eyes and sees him. He asks Tirad to help him but the smoke has filled his lungs and he suffocates, passing out on his bed. Tirad wanted Mart to be lucid for this confrontation. He wanted to beat Mart to death, to watch him suffer and twist around in pain. But he has no time; he too might pass out from the smoke any moment.
He looks at Mart one more time. He seems to be in a deep sleep. He could just leave him there and get out like he did to Akhgar; let the smoke and the flames take him in. Yet he can’t go. He can’t forget Lealy’s livid body hanging from the Parsana ladder, Lealy’s fearful face in the boat as they were sailing to Oxan and again Lealy’s image as she was burning in the Oxan harbour fire. He hadn’t seen the last one himself but had seen the burn marks on her body and it was enough to let him know how she had suffered. Tirad takes the dagger – still bloodstained from impaling the guards – and stabs it into Mart’s heart. He lets the warm, red blood flow on his fingers. He twists the dagger in Mart’s heart, enjoying the sound of his flesh tearing inside. His eyes are filled with tears from the smoke and he can hardly breathe. He leaves the dagger in Mart’s chest and rushes towards the stairs. The flames have devoured the wooden planks of the corridor and are moving on. They will get to the first steps any minute now. Tirad jumps up to the stairs. His leg is burning, caught on the flames. He looks at it and hurries up hoping that he won’t pass out from the pain like he did before when Dalia torched his arm tattoo.