"...Mm. I almost feel like we're panicking over nothing, but I'm not about to go capture and question a Windward Company goon. The papers in New Winchester are going to hear about this - except we haven't got any proof... I've got a small, red, pearly, way to extend fuel a bit if it comes to that. I got it from, uh, somewhere really strange, you know what I'm talking about? It wouldn't be very suspicious, I think. Weird, but there's lots of weird stuff around."

"I know the item. It's better than some options but still not ideal. It's possible we are panicking over nothing, here's the relevant bit of conversation I overheard." She quotes the bit about "As Clockwork" and "rounding up the boys". "Heard that in a patisserie shop in the swanky side of town." 

"Yeah, no, that definitely sounds like a goon squad is going to head to the engine thinking it's mostly empty. Let's speed up. Think you can go faster than me carrying this case?"

She extends a hand. "Let's try it and find out." 

She hands over the case and they run. It's kind of exhilarating despite the situation. The urchins stand aside for Thorn, having let her pass once before.

She can carry the case pretty fast, actually! She keeps up with Lenora at least.

Back at the As Clockwork, people are milling around tensely but there doesn't seem to be an active emergency. They're still not sure where the 3 unaccounted-for crew are - one might be visiting family, but they don't have an address and there's rather a lot of city to check.

Thorn looks around. "I'll stay on guard duty. Lenora, you should probably take a watch of the crew and sleep so we've a fresh set of hands for the dawn when attack is most likely to come. Get DeVries' approval, obviously." 

"Sensible. People forget to sleep in crises."

Ten minutes later she comes back out to find Thorn.

"Do you know what happened to those boxes we got at Leadbeater and Stainrod's Nature Reserve? The ones that had the big 'Windward Company eyes only' labels on? 'Cause they're not in storage anymore. And I can't help but think that's... Relevant."

"I have no idea what happened to them, and them being absent does seem relevant. Presumably Captain DeVries already knows."

"I think those boxes are why the Windward Company is poking their noses here. I think they didn't end up with the Windward Company."

"That would suggest a legal challenge if those boxes were legal cargo, and a more direct challenge if they weren't. It could let us sort more accurately. Which is important, because I don't know how to rabbit-punch a legal challenge."

"And I don't want to - question the captain, you can't have random people doing that and DeVries always seemed like a sensible and cautious guy, but..." Awkward shrug.

"I would say that suggests to me that leaving quickly is a better option than hanging around. If we stay and a legal battle comes, we're in a world of trouble. If we stay and a physical battle comes, we'll probably have an even fight on our hands, and I hate even fights. The option where nothing happens in the morning seems a lot less likely with those crates missing." 

She hums. "I would see about more supplies and fuel as best we can and then depart. Buy supplies from the city grocers, even, they only need to keep a day or three if we use them first. The Captain would know more about coal."

"Yeah, he actually bought coal off another captain at above-market rates and sent out a food-buying party, but that's not quite what I'm saying. If Captain DeVries brought this trouble on himself and is - trying to keep it secret or something... I don't like this. I feel out of the loop and it is uncomfortably reminiscent."

"Ah."

She frowns. "The question is, what do you want to do about it? I don't think we want to start a crisis in the middle of another crisis."

"...Maybe I'm just being a bitch and- I sort of decided DeVries was trustworthy, he's always had good reasons for things before, but trust is- Scary- And I'm a mess now. I'm second guessing things. Even second-guessing you. I don't know enough about the oh tee- Um. And I - am not great at dealing with that? I feel horrible for having doubts at the first sign of suspicious stuff and now if you are deceiving me somehow you know it wasn't good enough and- It's such a bitchy thing to say that to your face and I'd like to be loyal to someone if they're a good person but I can't- Loyalty's what made me a Windward Company goon and it feels unsafe, but doubting people makes me feel guilty, so- I don't even know. I - sorry, I'll shut up now."

"... may I hug you?"

"A hug would be- S'fine."

She doesn't hug her. 

"If you want my advice, go rest. We can sort this all out later when we have privacy and we're not in the middle of a crisis."

That... Kind of hurts? A hug was implied there.

"-'M being stupid, I know. Sorry. I don't think I could sleep. Calm down maybe. Yeah, I'll do that."

She nods and turns around and goes back into the engine.

She sighs, and goes back to watching for trouble. Hopefully Lenora gets her head sorted out again.

They find two of the missing crew and the gossip spreads at the speed of light - they're a couple and both went to the same girl at the same brothel at the same time and they wanted to keep it quiet. Not that there's anything really wrong with that, you know, but it's extremely gossip worthy. And then one of the urchin lookout teams is making a huge racket, shouting and carrying on but not actually stopping a squad of about a dozen men in vaguely police-like uniforms and shotguns. Captain DeVries decides - the last guy was visiting family? He'll be fine. They're just going to leave.

The engine is already warm, and it's taken hot in less than a minute. They're moving quickly. The station signalmaster sends profanities at them via flags and lantern flashes, and apologies and a halfhearted explanation are signaled back. Port Prosper could turn the port guns on the As Clockwork. Two full shifts are tense and standing ready for battle stations... But it's the middle of the night, and anyone with authority to order that is likely asleep. Soon they're away, and DeVries tells people to go back to sleep.

Thorn goes to her cabin and sits up and doesn't sleep. 

She trusted Lenora's recommendation - well, she trusted DeVries. She did. And she got used, even if she was just a temporary crewmember. He used her. 

She hates that feeling. 

She sits down and she journals and she tries to pick out the star madness, but the anger doesn't go away. It's all her own. 

She goes to sleep, and hopes for a swift end to the journey.

The next day, DeVries calls an all-hands meeting. He explains how a delivery for the Windward Company was... Diverted to Titania, and says he did it because the package, a special sort of stimulant-fruit from the Nature Reserve, had a rare but extremely dangerous side-effect of causing bones to turn to ash over the course of a few weeks. Which was lethal, obviously.

He says he discovered that the Windward Company knew that and was covering it up to make a profit on the fruit. He couldn't stand for that. He dumped most of it and gave the rest to someone on Titania who he trusts to analyze and prove the danger, and hoped to be to Port Prosper (per his published schedule) and gone before the Windward Company noticed, but that didn't work out. Last night's trouble was the Windward Company trying to get their boxes of back, or at least take their revenge.

Because nobody signed up for this, everyone gets a bonus. Paid immediately, here and now. Fifteen Sovereigns each. His officers and a few others including Thorn ('for invaluable coordination assistance') get forty. (Lenora looks kind of angry despite the cash infusion.)

It's kind of a staggering sum, all added up. They're heading directly back to New Winchester, and he's letting everyone out of his service if they so wish once they arrive, another week's pay in advance. He doesn't have firm plans for what he's going to do next yet. He calmly asks if anyone has questions for him.