Rowan's Flag

Resolute caught them in the windless afternoon. Its launch approached under a white flag while the flagship's shadow lay across the Lark's stern. Commander Voss stepped aboard as though entering a room already reserved for him.

“Captain Saye,” he said. “Still wearing civilian colors.”

Rowan leaned against the rail. “They flatter me.”

Voss placed a folded document on a barrel. The red company seal had cracked at one edge. “Your outstanding obligation. Deliver the Venn chart and I will cancel it.”

Mira looked from the paper to Rowan. He did not look back.

“The chart is jointly owned,” Bess said.

“Then persuade your partner. The company is commissioning a supply station in the Broken Chain. A reliable harbor will save lives.” Voss turned to Mira. “Your uncle once understood the usefulness of commerce.”

“He understood accurate accounts of it,” she said.

The commander smiled without warmth. “Accuracy includes knowing what a man has done. Ask your captain about North Channel.”

After the launch departed, the quiet aboard became unbearable. Rowan picked up the document, folded it smaller, and put it in his coat.

“I guided company ships,” he said. “Six years ago. They told me they were delivering timber. We reached Ivo's village, and soldiers went ashore to clear the waterfront.”

“You knew before they landed?” Mira asked.

“I suspected. I decided suspicion wasn't knowledge. Convenient distinction.”

Ivo stood by the mast, stripping old rope into fibers. His hands kept moving. “He took my family out afterward. Came back in a boat while the warehouse was burning.”

“That doesn't erase guiding them in,” Rowan said. “I stole the Lark's purchase money from their pay chest. Bess bought half with legitimate savings, which makes the legal situation awkward.”

Mira remembered his wanting enough money to own the vessel outright. It sounded different now.

“Were you going to sell Haven?”

“I was going to sell a discovery. I hadn't asked myself whether people might already live inside it.”

“Start asking.”

He nodded, and for once offered no clever reply. The wind returned at dusk. Bess set their course without consulting him. Mira watched Rowan haul a line beside Ivo, neither speaking, both leaning into the same necessary work until the sail finally filled.