All that the man seems to know is that his name is Darius.  However, it's clear that he's an educated man--probably a manswervant to a wealthy house at some point, as he can read, but he also knows his way around a kitchen.  We've assigned him to the Doctor; Evan will have him cooking for the crew and bandaging wounds in no time at all.  As to where he's been lately, I think there can be no doubt that he was working the mines at Emerald, and someone took a dislike to the man and found us a convenient means of disposal.  I have discussed the matter with Balcon, who confesses to a complete confusion about how the man got on board.  His best guess is that one of the miners must have mixed in with the deck hands and security people when the cannibals attacked, dumped the man into the hold, and dove overboard to escape.  Balcon's a good man, and took full responsibility for the breach, as a security chief should; but I can't imagine it's really his fault--the company authorizes four security officers backed up by five deck hands, plus himself and the chief of deck, to protect the ship in a port where it is not unheard of for two hundred cannibals to attack with little notice.  Were it not for the flintlocks, I doubt we'd even be able to make this critical stop on the loop.

  The man doesn't look much of a miner, though--may have been some kind of supervisor or administrator, but there's something of the weasel about him, mark that, and I can see why his workers might want to be done with him.  Still, I didn't see that I could throw him overboard (although James did mention that I am within my rights to do so), not if he got here in such a way, whatever I feel about the man personally.  Besides, we're well ahead of schedule at this point--we made New Tempest in 50 days, and managed to reach the Rough Passage in 16 more.  Stanis and his piloting crew outdid themselves, getting through the rough passage in a mere 5 days, and then we were 15 days into New Haven.  The winds were with us through the Lesser Syndic; I don't believe 15 days across that sea is a record, but I've never done better than 20 that I remember, and I've seen 50 at least once.  We reached Emerald in a mere 101 days from the start--and I would have counted it good time if we made it in 130.  The journey is half over, roughly, and I can afford to take on an extra man if he pulls his weight.  I've promised him half pay for the trip if he stays with us to Sardic, but not a diktar before that.  I'll not be the fool of some stowaway who gets free food, free passage, and money out of me.  If he finishes the voyage, he'll have earned his keep; and if he can satisfy Evan, I may even offer him a job on the next run.

  Clear skies and calm seas with a following wind--that's good news, at least for today.  I don't know that I can break the record for a loop, but if I have no major setbacks, the company will be quite happy, and I'll pull in a decent bonus for it.