Secunda had sensed what was happening down at the docks "and a good thing too," she now exclaimed to herself. Orpheos and his foolish pirates were off to move their kidnap victims to Chios. Fortunately, the Nomarch had been informed by faithful Darius about the goings on, and the Margarita was quickly martialed into service to stop the Bas in its tracks.

When the "sensing" had reached her at the Duo Gales, she had removed her apron, instructed Kleopatra to go and connect with Darius at the port, and herself had rushed to meet the Nomarch, who was preparing the Margarita for a quick chase to Psaran waters.

(The Nomarch knew Secunda's great secret and had been a steadfast friend for many years. She would not leave him to face Orpheos and his band without her own special gifts.)

She looked at her comrade now and used part of her mind to fill the sails of the Margarita so it could quickly intersect the course of the returning Bas. "This will be a nasty puzzler for that rascal!" she smiled thinking of Orpheos' likely consternation at a ship countering the prevailing winds!

Edwinus asked, "You don't think that menace has harmed the girsl in any way, do you?" Secunda's contralto laugh turned every sailor's eyes to her. "No, indeed! I fear the poor pirate has more than his hands full with that bunch!" She looked across the several miles that separated the ships and clearly saw every detail and heard every word that had passed between Orph and Pluvius. She knew rather than supposed that Orpheos days of freedom were numbered!

Edwinus for his part had to assume there would be a fight. He had prepared the Margarita's able crew and provided the weapons they would need. He thought of naval battles he had been a part of in the distant past and would have favored having experienced sailors of the Imperial Navy along, but there had been no time to obtain such aid. He hoped the pirates lacked real fighting experience. And he prayed that St. Nicholas would keep his men safe from the sea this day. His eyes returned to Secunda and he gathered she was using her own special means to ensure that the Admiral's daughters would be safely out of the clutches of Captain Orpheos and on their way back to the Capital after a brief respite on Chios. But, actually, Secunda's ideas were along a different line entirely.