“No.” Her voice cracked. “They’re not dead. They’re aboard . Between waves. Waiting. I saw them. Andrei, Petrov, old Mischa. They’re not breathing, but they’re not gone. He keeps them as hostages. He wants a trade. The name for their souls.” Alexei did not sleep that night. He sat in the dry dock, Lena curled up against a rusted winch, and he cracked the cipher by dawn. It was a double-layered naval code, mixed with an old Bulgarian folk cipher—the kind used by partisans to pass messages inside occupied territory.

But Alexei remembered Andrei, the first mate who taught him to tie knots. Petrov, who shared his last cigarette on a freezing watch. Old Mischa, who had no family except the crew.

That changed at 11:47 PM. His phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number. No name. No picture. Just three words: He stared at it. Spam? A prank? He typed back: Who is this?

“Lena… what happened on the Tamara ?”