CHAPTER 25: Interception

Maik Kehn leads a motorboat team to intercept the MV Amaric Pride in international waters, boarding under drizzle and rough swells. He clashes with two armed barukan, using Deflection, Steel, and Strength to disarm one and hurl the other overboard. Kehn’s Fists and Fingers sweep the vessel, subdue the crew, and secure the bridge and officers.

In the dining room, Captain Bamivu eya Kijdiva nervously complies as Kehn, with Lott translating, reviews the ship’s registration and manifest bound for Ygutan. The paperwork lists only consumer goods, offering no clear lead on contraband. Kehn avoids confirming the guards’ fate and presses for information about what they were protecting.

On deck, Kehn interrogates a surviving barukan with a broken leg, threatening permanent maiming but offering protection from Zapunyo and Espenian-backed enforcement. With Lott’s measured persuasion and Iyn’s menace, the smuggler capitulates and identifies a specific container. Kehn summons the ship’s doctor to set the man’s leg while arranging crane access to the indicated box.

Opening the container reveals cartons of apparel, some with extra bar codes. Inside are false garments with jade buttons and nonfunctional fronts—an ingenious scheme to move large quantities of jade disguised as trim. Recognizing the tactic as part of Zapunyo’s network, Kehn orders the MV Amaric Pride to change course and dock in Janloon’s Summer Harbor, turning the capture into a strategic blow against the smuggling pipeline.