The small orb flashes, prompting Pink to move it closer to her lips.

The words I hear are entirely foreign to me. I am not even sure if it is a different language or just gibberish.

After talking for ten seconds straight, Pink finally breathes some air. Both of us are tense as we await a reply. The silence is stressful. It may have already been a minute, and all we can do is survey the hallway for incoming enemies.

"Da."

A single syllable.

Short as it is, that is the reply we need.

It is not the voice of the Colonel. It is not even a voice of a man from what I can gather from that brief second.

Pink and I look at each other, her nod giving me mixed feelings of relief, surprise, and nervousness, as it means that some people from The Syndicate will be coming. When, where, and how? I do not know, and I do not want to think about it. Otherwise, I cannot focus on what is needed to be accomplished by us at this moment.

I will let the army's higher-ups worry about this instead, about the fact that the kingdom's largest underground organization has access to our brand new, top-secret technology. I wonder what they will think about the suppliers too.

Pink returns the orb to me, and I tuck it again inside my gambeson's inner chest pocket. It looks weird since there's a small bump on my left chest, but there's no other secure place I can hide it. If there's anything good coming out of it, it gives me relief that there's an additional layer of protection for my heart, just in case.

Both of us resume our march, searching for survivors and the two backstabbers.

In the end, the only seafarer we see is Captain Greene. He stands by the foredeck, staring blankly at the empty, dark horizon. The stars above twinkle as if laughing at us weak mortals. Fifty men dead because of some tainted food.

The situation we find ourselves in is indeed humbling.

There is nothing I can say to Captain Greene's sorry form. I do not believe Pink plans to, either.

The only thing that breaks us from our trance is the footsteps of our guests.