"Well?" "How much water is there?" "Two days..." "if we half the ration." " We halved them yesterday." " And the day before." "We are still miles from Baruk." "And there hasn't been wind in days." "Which means there will be some soon." "Don't worry." "How are we for food?" "Fine, if you like garlic." "We could have it with this." "Whatever it is." "Assuming it doesn't eat us first." "Look, I'm sure Cook can rustle us something up." "You think so?" "I just saw a ship." "There isn't even a breeze." "Where could a ship come from?" "I saw it, a ship." "I'll take a look." "I'll come with you." "He's hallucinating." "None of us have had more than a mouthful of water in the last 24 hours." "I know." "But this freak weather will pass." "I'm sure." "We just need to sit it out, be patient..." "As patient as we can be." "Hm." "You thought there was a ship." "Of course not." "Banishing that woman, that was the right thing." "She was the only one who seemed to truly understand." "Your pain?" "Taryn did not feel your pain." "She only recognized it, fed it, to bind you to her, twist you to her will." "Vengeance, brother, is a thing of destruction." "That is what is in my heart." "What you build, not what you destroy, will stand as testament to your love for your son." "Brother, please, let this thing go." "The brother is buried here." "So, Sinbad, Jamil will help me find you." "Stupid." "Mistakes." "The last three moves." "I need to go back." "No, Cook." "Cook, what are you doing?" "You can't change them." "The heat, freezing nights, doesn't make any sense." "The southerly winds should have pushed us." "Take a look at Cook, will you?" "Cook." "Wise to get out of the sun." "Now?" "Or later?" "Or does it matter?" "Come on." "You'd think after this, cool air would be a relief." "Yes!" "I got one." "Now at least we can eat." "You better be as sweet as a Byzantine dancing girl." "Rotten." "Dead already." "We can't eat that." "Over here!" "Out there, look." " What is it?" " A light." " Your mind is playing tricks." " No, no, no." "There." "A lantern." " Has to be a ship." " Maybe they're trying to attract our attention." "Then they can wait on daylight." "A ship." "But they could have food or water." " We should investigate." " No!" "I'm with Gunnar." "It could be gone by morning." "We go now." "If the big man's scared of the dark, I'll go with you." "It's quieter than a dead man's house." "You'd know." "Easy pickings." "Oh, it's cold." " You okay?" " Yeah, of course." "Here." "Rina." "Ugh..." "It looks like some kind of wedding feast." " Let's get out of here." " Where there's silver..." "You're right, we should go." "There must be supplies somewhere." "Let's check the hold." "Never!" "Not on my ship!" " What are you doing?" " We can't leave him to die." "You know nothing of the ways of the sea!" "Oh, whereas a salty old duck like you" "I was born on these waters!" "If plague killed his shipmates, then he carries it!" "We die a little faster!" "Have you ever seen a plague death, little doctor?" "!" "Nothing?" " No food, no water?" " Take a look yourself." " There must have been something." " Maggots." " Caterpillars." " And a rotting feast." "Maybe you missed something." "We should board her again in daylight." "Who is he?" "Careful." "Maybe he does have the plague." "Those marks on his face." "You don't see them?" "This whole place stinks of death." "His ship, it's gone." "Where is it?" "A mirage." "The ship is still there." " We see an image" " I know what a mirage is, Anwar." "When the light fades, it'll become visible again." "I see... the blood on your soul." "Gunnar?" "What?" "What's happened?" "Gunnar." "Where am I?" "You're safe." " Who are you?" " Anicetus." " Oh." "Greek." " The crew, what happened to them?" "Oh, so many questions." " Who are you?" " I'm Sinbad." " We've met before." " No." "You're mistaken." "He needs rest." "Apart from you, there was a wedding party." " Oh, I know nothing of this." " The others want their wat" "Water..." "This is his doing." "Anicetus hasn't been alone since he came onboard." "You should never have brought him onto my ship." "Look!" "Why did you run... from your people?" "You wouldn't understand." "They believed I had an obligation." "Our city was threatened by a great enemy many years ago." "Our elders struck a deal." "We were saved, but a price had to be paid." "Things like that will eat away at you if you let them." "Best to put it behind you." "Is that ever possible?" "Your brother, is that behind you?" " Let me help you." " Oh, thank you." " You should be resting." " Oh, the fresh air." "Life is such a fragile gift, isn't it?" " Yes." " Said with feeling." "I lost my father... recently." "I'm sorry, child." "Still, some of that which is lost can be found." "This isn't natural." "The old man and the ship are part of it." " Cook knows it." " Cook isn't exactly himself." "Dare you rob all you like!" "I will never revenge thou!" "Here!" "No desert debts, no camels' milk." "I'll get Anwar." "You know the work of Abu al Hashim Alzarab?" "Abur Hashim, of course." "An old man like me makes a point of staying up to date with all attempts to extend the human life." "He truly is the master of all surgeons." "Changed the face of surgery as we know it." "You have read Abur Hashim's own medical treatise?" " No." "You have?" " In Seville." "In the original Latin." "Now, tell me..." "What's a bright young man like you doing in a rundown ship like this?" "What?" "If a rock could drink, it would fly." " Joy!" " Get him back in the shade." "Cook, come on." "Chicken, chicken, chicken!" "He's just a little further down the road than the rest of us, isn't he?" "There must be something we can do." "Stay together, keep each other's minds engaged." "What about you?" "Were you always a trader?" " Always alone?" "Huh?" " May I join you?" " If it's all the same to you, I'd rather you" " No, of course." " Please, sit." " Thank you." "Stories?" "Keep our minds at work." " Tell us of your travels." " No offense, the older a man gets, the longer his stories grow." "Rina." "No, she speaks the truth." "Anyway, I've told you my story." "You've been everywhere, but you're from nowhere." "What about you, child?" "I'm nobody's child." "As kids we used to go to the old square in Basra." "We'd flick dog muck on the slippers of wealthy bargain hunters and then send them in the direction of our own shoeshine store." "Nice." " One day, we went" " You said "we"." "You and who?" "My..." "My, um..." "You saw something in the flames." "No." "Enough of stories." "Well, maybe we could sing." "I prefer a good drinking game." "I should go and check on the charts." " We're not moving, Anwar." " Still, it's good to check, make sure we know where we are." "Who was it in the flames?" "You saw him?" "Oh, a trick of your mind." "Whoever he is, you miss him." "He's dead." "Guilt... a natural emotion." "The death of a loved one." "It was your brother you saw in the flames, wasn't it?" " I'm sorry, I understand." " You understand nothing." "What's done is done." "Besides, your father's death was a tragedy but no more." "No more?" "It's you who knows nothing." "I know self pity when I see it." "Go, cry yourself to sleep, princess." "You don't know anything about who I really am." "You think tears come easily to me, that all I care for is myself?" "If he believes so, he's mistaken." "Sinbad has not made peace with his loss either." " You can't make peace with ghosts." " If you could, you would?" "Sometimes what's lost can be found." "Someone help me!" "Hallucinations induced by thirst." "I dreamt I was walking between the stacks of the library of Alexandria, as they burned." "But that's what it was, a dream." "You alright?" "I smelled metal and blood." "I heard the screaming." "These visions seem more real than what is real." "You sound like you speak from experience." "It's probably nothing more than us working through our fears." " I fear nothing." " Except a harmless old man." " Well, have you seen" " Me?" "No, no, not a thing." "You'd best go check on Cook." "Master." "I said I would take your life if you ever return." "I have disobeyed your command because without your love and patronage my life is worthless." "Only before you do, let me do you one last service." "I have my brother's love and no need of your twisted services." "Can your brother give you Sinbad?" " Where is he?" " He sails for Baruk." "The dark arts have shown me." "Let me see." "Please." "You're thirsty." "Drink." "You know why I'm here?" "Good." "You can undo what is done, bring my father back?" "Hundreds of years ago, your people suffered at the hands of a terrible enemy." "They enslaved our men, took our women." "But then a great sickness swept through their ranks." "I sent that sickness into their camps because your elders came to me and begged for help." "And in return, the hand of one of our noble daughters" " to be given to you in marriage." " My own stipulation." "I never asked be chosen." "When the time came, I couldn't." "I was selfish." "I wanted to live." "Unburden your soul, child." "My father, he saw my fear, helped me flee, at the cost of everything... the love of his people, his position..." "His life." "And what did you give him in return?" "Nothing." "I gave him nothing." "Let him live again and I will be yours... willingly." "But this business is between us." "You will not harm Sinbad and the others." "Unless they interfere." "Now is not their time." "It's yours." "Gunnar's nonsense, Cook's stench of death, it doesn't make any sense." "All his talk, medicine and science, he won me over." "Everything about him goes against what should be." "How can old man be the only survivor on a ship that must've been crewed by able-bodied men?" "The dead fish?" "Weather that transgresses the laws of nature." " And there's his name." " Anicetus?" " Does it mean something?" " Unconquerable." "So?" "His parents were optimists." "And this." "In some cultures, the butterfly symbolizes the unconquerable" "Just say what it is you want to say." "Speaking as a scientist..." " How could he be?" " Be who?" " Death." " Death?" "In person?" "Friend, you are further gone than I thought you were." "Now who's close-minded?" " At least I haven't lost my mind altogether." " Let him speak." "For God's sake, if I'd lost my mind," "I'd hardly have a problem with the idea, would I?" "Okay, yeah, fine, fine." "For a moment, let's go with it." "What is death doing on our ship?" "Shh." "Ask Nala." "If anyone knows his business here, it's her." " I've seen her with him." " She's just lost her father." "You didn't see her face when she heard about the wedding feast." "Where is Nala?" " She's on deck." " And the old man?" " Nala!" " Nala!" "Death." "It was Death that her people made a deal with." "She was the price that they had to pay." "Anyone would be scared of Death." "I wasn't scared." "Concerned." "What fool wouldn't be?" "I'll show him who's scared." "To give your father back his life, you must be my bride in the union of death." "Nala!" "Stop!" "You don't have to do this!" "Protect your master." " Come with me." " Nala!" "No!" "If I go, my father will live again!" "No one can return from the land of the dead!" "You know that!" "Whatever lies he's spun you, accept your father's gift!" "Live!" "Nala!" "Sinbad!" "Your father waits." "See?" "Nala." "Nala." "He's pleased with your gift... has seen your tears." "Nala!" "It's a trick!" "My tears?" "The tears I could not cry?" "Your people promised me your life." "You don't have a choice!" "It's a bargain that must be honoured." "I didn't strike any bargain." "Show me your true face." "Gunnar!" "Over here!" "Cook?" "You can't leave us, old friend." "Do you hear that?" "It can't be." "Ah..."