Thulani stared ahead, his eyes unfocused. How long had it been? Half an hour, two hours? Making him wait was undoubtedly a tactic to make him nervous, so he tried to keep his mind empty.

  He shifted, the cuffs on his wrist clinking against the bolt securing them to the table. Sharp shadows cast by white LED seemed to squeeze the room with every flicker. A mirror on the wall —undoubtedly one-way glass—likely concealed observers. Thulani felt their eyes. His heart pounded, but he fought to slow it with even, methodical breaths. The only other object was a voice recorder in the center of the table. A red light indicated it was on.

  The door across from Thulani opened, and he looked up. Let the games begin.

  Expecting Detective Dlamini, Thulani was surprised to see Police Chief Balthazar Verhoef enter. The stocky, deep-chested white man sported a close-cropped fade; the sides shaved down to the skin and the top neatly trimmed, paired with a well-groomed mustache.

  Thulani forced himself to relax, dropping his shoulders, but his core remained tight and apprehensive.

  "Thulani Mabaso," Balthazar said, glancing through a folder. "You hijacked The Joberg Oceanic Bulletin's broadcast to publish fabricated evidence to denigrate the council."

  Balthazar looked up, studying him.

  Thulani combatted himself to keep the expression neutral. What was their play? Charge him for Mandla's crimes, then accuse him of his actual actions? Did they want him to confess to both? Thulani's fists tightened subtly around sweaty palms, but he didn't respond.

  Balthazar reached into his pocket and produced a data stick taped to a repurposed mouse cord—Thulani's hardware from the server room.

  Thulani looked up at his interrogator, eyebrow cocked in forced amusement. Behind the facade, his heart drummed.

  "We're still deciding whether to arrest the Intern who helped you install this. He said you were handling this in the server room. The Bulletin let him go, you know."

  Thulani winced, and Balthazar's lips twitched into a smile, having baited an overt reaction.

  Guilt sunk to the bottom of Thulani's gut like an anchor. Emmanuel had just secured a job at the end of his internship, and now Thulani had stolen his dreams. Thulani hadn't wanted to implicate Emannuel, but what else could he expect?

  "Don't have anything to say?" Balthazar leaned over the table. "Not so tough now that we have enough evidence to lock you so deep even fishes would drown."

  Thulani looked at his hands, a flicker of rage kindling within him. Always a pawn, the first time he tried to take action and make things right, the entire justice system was here to bury him. If there were true justice, the council would be in cuffs, not him.

  Thulani clenched his jaw. Whether it was Mr. Vemeulan or another Council member, he was tired of being a puppet. No doubt the council would turn his arrest into a spectacle that would suit their narrative. He had to stop being predictable. Thulani had to try and play back, even if he didn't know the rules.

  "How did you know?" He rasped.

  "You're sloppy; by my count, you made at least eight blunders. You didn't even change your voice," Balthazar leaned back with a smirk. "And your little alias—Cthulu—Thulani—Thul. You could've gone for something that wasn't practically your name anyway. I have testimonies from three people at the Bulletin who painted a damning picture. Not to mention surveillance footage of you going to Mosa Sello's apartment every day. We found your little studio—"

  "I meant," Thulani cut in, "how did you know I led the resistance team during the Corsair raid?"

  Balzathar frowned slightly, and a piece of Thulani latched onto the microexpression like a shark drawn to blood.

  "Ah," Thulani mused. "You don't believe I actually led that militia. Tell me, how many Corral Corsair bodies did you have to flush? A dozen? Two? So why go through the trouble of charging me with those crimes if you only think I did this?" He motioned at his thumb drive.

  Balzathar opened his mouth to respond, but he stopped short.

  Behind him, the door opened again, revealing an obsidian-skinned man in a black high-collared uniform—Councilman Thabo Mokoena.

  Thulani smiled despite the fear-sweat forming on his neck. Balthazar was a dog. Councilman Mokoena was the true authority behind the police force. According to the Coral Corsair's operation order, the Joberg police had been pulled back to protect the council— A maneuver that would have been improbable unless Councilman Mokoena had been aware of the raid.

  "Step into the light, Thabo!" Thulani used the Councilman's first name deliberately. This traitor wouldn't get any titles from Thulani. "Let's see the blood on your hands."

  Thabo entered like a shadow the harsh LEDs couldn't drive away. "Leave us."

  Balthazar looked from his master to Thulani before exiting and closing the door.

  Thabo walked around the table, stopping to turn off the voice recorder. He looked up at a security camera in the corner, and a red light blinked off.

  Thulani shifted, inadvertently pulling the cuffs uncomfortably into his skin.

  "Who told you about the council's involvement in the raid? Where did you get the information you put in your broadcast?"

  Thulani's hair stood on end at the cold realization that this was as good a confession as he could get. After this, there was no way he would taste freedom. He swallowed, his mouth dry. The council had made a martyr out of Mosa Sello, and it seemed they would do the same to him.

  "I took a corral corsair tablet from a man I killed. It exposed the truth." Wanting to turn the tables, Thulani jumped back in. "Why implicate me in the resistance force?"

  Thabo stared down at Thulani as if he were some deep-sea worm. "While we managed to perform damage control, your video has caused a manageable amount of outcry. If the same man who hacked the broadcast is the same man who caused the Raiders to go violent, it contradicts your narrative and gives the people someone to blame."

  Thulani snorted. "That's stupid, and what do you think the leader of the real resistance will do to you when he comes back?"

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Thulani's eyes widened as he recognized his slip-up, and Thabo grinned.

  "So, you know who we're looking for? The leader of this little militia?" Thabo purred his deep voice, sending a chill down Thulani's spine. "What's more, he's not in Joberg right now. Thulani, you have been very helpful."

  Thulani cursed. He could pretend to understand subtle manipulation and politics, but the councilmen had been practicing all their lives.

  "I have kept Jobeg safe for decades," Thabo said, crossing the room to stand behind Thulani. “I root crime from the streets and maintain order. I'll drown myself before allowing some upstart to interfere with the peace, so I'll ask once," Thabo leaned in. Who attacked the Raiders?"

  Thulani swallowed hard. "Someone apparently more interested in protecting Joberg's people than the current administration."

  Thando’s fist slammed into Thulani’s face, snapping his head to the side. Pain flared across Thulani's cheek, and his cuffs bit into his skin, keeping him from tumbling from the chair.

  "I don't maintain the peace by asking nicely, Thulani. Peace is impossible without violence. You could have lived peacefully but insisted on pain."

  Thulani gasped, reeling.

  Thabo crossed back to the front, leaning to get eye-to-eye with Thulani. "Who is it?"

  "Flush yourself," Thulani choked.

  His vision flashed red, and blood filled his mouth as his lip split from the second blow. Thulani never considered the possibility of torture, but if he had, he would have assumed he'd quickly give in. But the pain fueled his rage like a breached oxygen canister in a generator fire. Thulani spat a mouthful of blood and glared at Thabo. "You already know who."

  "JJ? Muller? Mandla? Thandiwe?"

  Thulani grinned, blood and saliva streaking orange across his front teeth. "I did it, remember?"

  Thabos' eyes flickered with rage. "I'm not like the others, Thulani. I don't cut deals; I cut throats."

  Thulani’s pain and rage melded, fusing into hot defiance. Torture had been the wrong move. He tipped his chin up, exposing his neck. "You know where I am. I'll be waiting for your knife."

  Thabo stepped back, composing himself and straightening his uniform. "If you give me the true leader of the resistance, there is no reason he can’t take the fall for your broadcast. If not, you’re our only scapegoat. Think on that.”

  “Are you saying you’ll let me go if I tell you?” Thulani asked.

  Thabo’s eye twitched. “Yes.”

  Thulani snorted. Lies.

  I'll give you some time to consider what you're throwing away for virtually nothing," Thabo said.

  "And in that time, you had better confess, step down and turn yourself in," Thulani countered.

  "Or what?" Thabo sneered. “You’re in chains.”

  "Or I'll make you answer for your betrayal," Thulani spat. “Even if it costs me everything.”

  "You think you're saving Joberg, Thulani?" Thabo hissed. "You're not. Right now, one of the raider subs is broadcasting an encrypted message to the city. We have no idea what they want. When they report to their high command, the Coral Corsairs will want heads. Who do you think we'll give them?"

  "You know," Thulani said. "For someone who has secured peace for the people of Joberg. You don't seem well suited to deal with the Corsairs. Besides, who's head do you think will be worth more to them? Mine, a nobody naturally reacting to danger? Or yours, the one who inadvertently lured your partners into a trap?"

  A ripple of fear danced across Thabo's eyes.

  Thulani sneered. "Unlike you, I will do everything possible to protect Joberg and my family. I'll let them flush me before I allow them to do to my home as they did to Third New Durban."

  Thabo shifted. "How do you know about Third New Durban?"

  "You think you can isolate us, and we'll fall in line with the only authority in the known world. I know the truth. We're not a bastion of hope; we're a small colony, and I'll do whatever I can to protect it."

  Thabo nodded. "So will I, Thulani." He turned and opened the door. "Take him back to his cell.”

  ********

  Wang Jie sat in the Vortex Rider chow hall, his plate wiped clean. Across from him, Rudolph scarfed fried salmon and pickled kelp. Imani looked from Rudolph to Wang, her dark eyes disapproving.

  "Why are we doing this?" Imani asked, frowning.

  Wang shrugged at his two African counterparts. "It's a good plan and an opportunity."

  Rudolph looked up, swallowing his food. "I don't like it. I don't want to turn on our own."

  "The old crew is fractured," Wang said. "Half are traitors, and the scales wobble. Who even knows what our own is anymore."

  Rudolph grunted. "I'm with you, I guess, but this had better work."

  Wang rose, his comrades following, and they crossed the low-ceilinged hall to another trio who looked up as they approached.

  "Sandile, Bandile, Thando," Wang greeted each one in turn before taking a seat. He turned to Rudolph. "Guard the entrance. Let us know if any of the isolationists come our way."

  "What is this, Wang?" Sandile asked, drumming the table with long, dexterous fingers.

  "I wanted to cue you gentlemen in for an opportunity," Wang said. "Why are we letting these isolationists order us around? We never signed up to follow them. There are more of us than there are of them."

  "Enough!" Bandile, an older man, hissed as he leaned in. "Lekota tried and failed. How many more of us have to die before we just shut up and do our jobs?" He rose. "Plot if you want. Just leave me out of it."

  Bandile excused himself, leaving Wang and Imani with Sandile and Thando.

  "Why?" Thando asked. "So we can return to high command to pay for our failure?" Thando shook his rectangular head as he stroked his pencil mustache.

  "The way that I see it," Wang leaned in and lowered his voice. "We've crewed this ship for years. We should be the ones who call the shots.”

  "You want to return to High Command?" Sandile asked.

  "Forget High Command, let's take up privateering for the Swahili Sultanate; we should be calling the shots, not these outsiders."

  Sandile drummed the table even faster, but Thando frowned. "How? They keep the armory locked. Only Isolationists or Francois loyalists are allowed to be armed. Most of the ones who would work with us are still in bed from hypoxia."

  Wang looked over his shoulder at Rudolph, who guarded the hatchway.

  "I have," Wang leaned back towards his audience. "Three pistols which are unaccounted for in the armory. I know the armory guard's shifts. Half the security cameras are dysfunctional, allowing us to move without triggering alarms. If we get them during the guard shift, we'll have enough firepower to take our ship back. We'll store emergency respirators in case Mandla tries to cut the oxygen again."

  "What about Francois' men?" Sandile asked.

  "The mutineers?" Wang shrugged. "If they don’t see sense when we’re back in control, flush 'em or drop them at a port. It doesn't matter to me. One condition I'll set now is that we get rid of Hugo if we decide to go private. I know he's in the brig, but he’ll insist on returning to high command. Dingane would work with us."

  "When?" Thando asked.

  "Soon," Wang said. High Command has undoubtedly sent scouts to see why we haven't checked in. If that's the case, we'll have the whole Corsair fleet on our asses before we can make it to Swahili waters."

  "Who else have you got?" Thando asked.

  "No names until we move," Wang said. "I've got twelve so far. More than enough, provided we can get into the armory."

  "I assume you'll be our new Captain?" Thando asked, looking from Wang to Imani. "Sometimes I consider you the outsider, Sinasian."

  "I've been a loyal Corsair for years!" Wang hissed. "I'm one of you. I don't care who the Captain is so long as it's not this Jobergian."

  Sandile and Thando glanced at each other. "A vote for captain after we take the boat?" Sandile asked.

  "Anyone who helped retake it gets a say." Thando agreed.

  "I can get behind that," Sandile nodded. "Count me in."

  Thando considered. "Yeah, me too."