“It was a close thing.”
Kaz limped to the tomb door, staring out into the darkness. “Van Eck won’t have made the choice to involve the city lightly. It’s a risk, and he wouldn’t take that risk if he didn’t intend to capitalize on it to the fullest. He’ll have every harbor and watchtower on the coast on full alert, with orders to question anyone trying to leave Ketterdam. He’ll just claim that he knows Wylan’s captors may plan to take him from Kerch.”
“Trying to get all of the Grisha out will be extremely dangerous,” said Matthias. “The last thing we need is for a group of them to fall into Van Eck’s hands when he may still have a store of parem .”
Jesper tapped his fingers on the grips of his revolvers. “We need a miracle. And possibly a bottle of whiskey. Helps lubricate the brainpan.”
“No,” said Kaz slowly. “We need a ship. A ship that couldn’t possibly be suspect, that Van Eck and the stadwatch would never have cause to stop. We need one of his ships.”
Nina wriggled to the edge of her chair. “Van Eck’s trading company must have plenty of ships heading to Ravka.”
Matthias folded his huge arms, considering. “Get the Grisha refugees out on one of Van Eck’s own vessels?”
“We’d need a forged manifest and papers of transit,” said Inej.
“Why do you think they kicked Specht out of the navy?” Kaz asked. “He was forging leave documents and supply orders.”
Wylan pulled on his lip. “But it’s not just a question of a few documents. Let’s say there are thirty Grisha refugees. A ship’s captain is going to want to know why thirty people—”
“Thirty-one,” Kuwei said.
“Are you actually following all of this?” said Jesper incredulously.
“A ship to Ravka,” said Kuwei. “I understand that very well.”
Kaz shrugged. “If we’re going to steal a boat, we might as well put you on it.”
“Thirty-one it is,” said Nina with a smile, though if the muscle twitching in Matthias’ jaw was any indication, he wasn’t nearly so thrilled.
“Okay,” said Wylan, smoothing a crease in the map. “But a ship’s captain is going to wonder why there are thirty-one people being added to his manifest.”
“Not if the captain thinks he’s in on a secret,” said Kaz. “Van Eck will write a passionately worded letter calling upon the captain to use the utmost discretion in transporting these valuable political refugees and asking him to keep them hidden from anyone susceptible to Shu bribes—including the stadwatch —at all costs. Van Eck will promise the captain a huge reward when he returns, just to make sure he doesn’t get any ideas about selling out the Grisha. We already have a sample of Van Eck’s handwriting. We just need his seal.”
“Where does he keep it?” Jesper asked Wylan.
“In his office. At least that’s where it used to be.”
“We’ll have to get in and out without him noticing,” said Inej. “And we’ll have to move quickly after that. As soon as Van Eck realizes the seal is missing, he’ll be able to guess what we’re up to.”
“We broke into the Ice Court,” said Kaz. “I think we can manage a mercher’s office.”
“Well, we did almost die breaking into the Ice Court,” said Inej.
“Several times, if memory serves,” noted Jesper.
“Inej and I lifted a DeKappel from Van Eck. We already know the layout of the house. We’ll be fine.”
Wylan’s finger was once more tracing the Geldstraat. “You didn’t have to get into my father’s safe.”
“Van Eck keeps the seal in a safe?” said Jesper with a laugh. “It’s almost like he wants us to take it. Kaz is better at making friends with combination locks than with people.”
“You’ve never seen a safe like this,” Wylan said. “He had it installed after the DeKappel was stolen. It has a seven-digit combination that he resets every day, and the locks are built with false tumblers to confuse safecrackers.”
Kaz shrugged. “Then we go around it. I’ll take expediency over finesse.”
Wylan shook his head. “The safe walls are made of a unique alloy reinforced with Grisha steel.”
“An explosion?” suggested Jesper.
Kaz raised a brow. “I suspect Van Eck will notice that.”
“A very small explosion?”
Nina snorted. “You just want to blow something up.”
“Actually …” said Wylan. He cocked his head to one side, as if he were listening to a distant song. “Come morning, there would be no hiding we’d been there, but if we can get the refugees out of the harbor before my father discovers the theft … I’m not exactly sure where I can get the materials, but it just might work… .”
“Inej ,” Jesper whispered.
She leaned forward, peering at Wylan. “Is that scheming face?”
“Possibly.”
Wylan seemed to snap back to reality. “It is not . But … but I do think I have an idea.”
“We’re waiting, merchling,” Kaz said.
“The weevil is basically just a much more stable version of auric acid.”
“Yes,” said Jesper. “Of course. And that is?”
“A corrosive. It gives off a minor amount of heat once it starts to react, but it’s incredibly powerful and incredibly volatile. It can cut through Grisha steel and just about anything else other than balsa glass.”
“Glass?”
“The glass and the sap from the balsa neutralize the corrosion.”
“And where does one come by such a thing?”
“We can find one of the ingredients I need in an ironworks. They use the corrosive to strip oxidation off metals. The other might be tougher to come by. We’d need a quarry with a vein of auris or a similar halide compound.”
“The closest quarry is at Olendaal,” said Kaz.
“That could work. Once we have both compounds, we’ll have to be very careful with the transport,” Wylan continued. “Actually, we’ll have to be more than careful. After the reaction is completed, auric acid is basically harmless, but while it’s active … Well, it’s a good way to lose your hands.”
“So,” said Jesper, “if we get these ingredients, and manage to transport them separately, and activate this auric acid, and don’t lose a limb in the process?”
Wylan tugged at a lock of his hair. “We could burn through the safe door in a matter of minutes.”
“Without damaging the contents inside?” asked Nina.
“Hopefully.”
“Hopefully,” repeated Kaz. “I’ve worked with worse. We’ll need to find out which ships are departing for Ravka tomorrow night and get Specht started on the manifest and papers of transit. Nina, once we’ve got a vessel chosen, can your little band of refugees make it to the docks on their own or will they need their hands held for that too?”
“I’m not sure how well they know the city,” admitted Nina.
Kaz drummed his fingers over the head of his cane. “Wylan and I can tackle the safe. We can send Jesper to escort the Grisha and we can map a route so Matthias can get Kuwei to the docks. But that leaves only Nina to distract the guards and work the net for Inej at the silos. The net needs at least three people on it for it to be worth anything.”
Inej stretched, gently rolled her shoulders. It was good to be among these people again. She’d been gone for only a few days, and they were sitting in a damp mausoleum, but it still felt like a homecoming.
“I told you,” she said. “I don’t work with a net.”
T hey stayed up planning well past midnight. Kaz was wary of the changes to the plan as well as the prospect of managing Nina’s pack of Grisha. But though he gave no indication to the others, there were elements of this new course that appealed to him. It was possible that Van Eck would piece together what the Shu were doing and go after the city’s remaining Grisha himself. They were a weapon Kaz didn’t want to see in the mercher’s arsenal.