Part III New Babel — Chapter Nine

The port endures three frantic days of nonstop traffic. Senlin’s reforms hold under pressure, and no losses occur. He cancels the nightly assembly, reads letters for workers, and quietly authorizes a pay raise to reward loyalty and build goodwill for future risks.

That evening, Adam delivers a crate of White Chrom and shares a drink. Senlin lays out the dire logistics: they need a modest, defensible ship, a tiny reliable crew, supplies, and, to seize both a ship and Voleta from Rodion’s guarded Steam Pipe, two “proxy armies.” The wage increase, he admits, is an investment in worker support.

Adam counters with a different path: ransom themselves to the Commissioner using the stolen painting or information about it. Senlin refuses, arguing that powerless men can’t trust deals with powerful patrons; he cites Adam’s pirate betrayal and asserts Rodion would only take any payoff and resell Voleta. The argument escalates; Adam leaves, and Senlin recognizes he has shaken his follower’s confidence.

In the night, a thud wakes Senlin. The Red Hand, the Commissioner’s executioner, has tracked him down and attacks, pinning and choking him while calmly demanding the painting’s location. Near asphyxiation, Senlin experiences a serene vision of Marya and the Girl with a Paper Boat, then snaps back as the beating continues.

The Red Hand reveals he interrogated Ogier months ago and that Ogier died rather than yield the painting’s location. Realizing he must say something to survive, Senlin claims the painting is in a locked drawer and that he needs the key, buying a sliver of time.