“Are you all right, Hok?” Seh asked. “I sense that you are tense.”
“I'm just a little nervous,” Hok replied. “I haven't seen my father since I was three years old.”
“Your father?” the pirate leader said. “What makes you think he's here?”
Hok's face flushed. “You mean he's not here?”
“No. He's away.”
“But I thought you said—”
“I said that I know someone who would like very much to see you,” the pirate leader interrupted. “I never said that it was your father.”
“This had better not be some kind of cruel joke,” Seh hissed. “Do you even know her father?”
The pirate leader laughed. “Do I know her father? I am his first mate!”
Hok stared at the man. “But that would mean that my father is a …”
“Pirate?” the pirate leader offered.
“Yes,” Hok said. “That can't be true.”
“No?” the pirate leader asked. He pointed toward shore, up the crowded street. “Why don't you ask him? He's the person I was referring to.”
A familiar voice called out to Hok in heavily accented Chinese. She looked over and saw a pale teenager running toward them with something in one hand.
“Is that Charles?” Seh asked.
“Yes,” Hok replied.
The pirate leader cleared his throat. “I can see that the three of you have a lot of catching up to do. I'll be leaving now. Nice meeting you both.” He nodded and walked to shore, heading up the street with two of the dock guards in tow. He nodded to Charles as they passed each other, and Charles nodded back.
Hok put her face in her hands. “I can't believe this, Seh. My father is a pirate captain.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better,” Seh replied, “your father can't be any worse than my mother.”
Hok shook her head. She wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or cry.
“Here comes Charles,” Seh said.
Hok lifted her head and saw Charles approaching. She could feel his heavy footfalls on the dock. Seh had obviously felt them, too.
Charles stopped in front of Hok and stood there, sucking wind. Once he had caught his breath, he said, “I'm so glad you're here.”
Hok frowned. “I'm glad to see you, too, I suppose.”
Charles’ brow wrinkled. “You don't sound very glad. What's wrong?”
“You're a pirate, Charles,” Hok said. “How come you never told me?”
“I … I don't know,” Charles replied. “I guess I thought you knew.”
“Well, I didn't know,” Hok said. “My mother told me that you and Father worked for the Resistance. She said you transport things.”
“We do,” Charles said. “We transport qiangs. You at least knew that much, right?”
“So what if I did?” Hok asked.
“Where do you think the qiangs come from?”
“I have no idea.”
“They come from shipments we intercept along the Yellow River,” Charles said. “Shipments bound for the Emperor's troops. We take qiangs that would normally be used to kill innocent villagers and warrior monks and—”
“What do you use the qiangs for?” Hok interrupted in an icy tone.
“Nothing yet,” Charles replied.
“Nothing?” Hok said. She pointed to the two holes the pirates had shot in the bow of PawPaw's skiff. “You call that nothing?”
Charles looked at the qiang holes and his pale face grew even whiter. “I am so sorry, Hok. I had no idea.”
“Of course you didn't,” Hok said. “Just don't tell me that you and your pirate friends are doing ‘nothing’ with the qiangs you steal. I know better.”
“Hey!” Charles said. “I'm trying to apologize. Sometimes people make mistakes. Our men usually only fire upon people who attack them first.” He glanced again at the bow of PawPaw's skiff. “How did your boat get so banged up in the front?”
“We had an accident,” Seh replied.
“I see,” said Charles. He turned to Hok. “For your information, the bandits use our qiangs, too. I can't understand why you have a problem with pirates but don't seem to have a problem with bandits. We basically do the same thing. Your father can explain it better than I can. He's away on business but should return soon.”
Hok stared hard at Charles, frustrated. She wanted to know more, but she didn't want to ask.
Charles glanced at the armed men on the dock and sighed. He leaned toward Hok and lowered his voice. “We keep a few qiangs for our own uses, obviously, but we give the vast majority of them to Resistance members in several different regions. They are stockpiling them.”