Summary

The migrants load into rowboats to be taken to the Ibis. In the women’s quarters, Deeti meets Paulette, who is in disguise. She claims she’s Nob Kissin’s niece and that she’s traveling to Mareech because he has arranged a marriage for her there. Deeti feels as if she knows Paulette from somewhere, perhaps her dreams. Deeti believes her new self had been gestating in the Ibis all along, which is why she saw the ship in a vision.

Two convicts -- Neel and Aafat -- board the Ibis. Jodu, who is watching from the masts, sees in horror that eight women are boarding the Ibis with the coolies. Additionally, the ship will carry about two hundred men -- the indentured laborers and their guards, the prisoners and their guards, the lascars and the officers. Jodu recognizes Munia, who he had...