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You will not risk the captain’s anger, so there’s nothing else you can do. You go down to Ned and Conseil’s cabin and tell them the news. Ned’s temper nearly explodes, but there’s no time for fighting. Four crewmen come to escort the three of you to the cell where you spent your first night on board the Nautilus.

“At least we have breakfast,” grumbles Ned. You see that the table has been filled with the ship’s standard of seafood.

You just finish eating when the cell goes black. You hear Ned, then Conseil, slump to the floor, fast asleep. Your brain struggles to stay alert, but it’s no use. Your eyelids close, and your limbs turn to ice.

The last fuzzy thought you have is one of dread. It isn’t enough that Captain Nemo has confined you to a cell. He has poisoned your food!

***

You wake the next day in your own cabin. You open the door to the hallway. All seems clear. You climb to the platform to find Ned and Conseil waiting for you. They tell you that they woke in their own cabin with no memory of the night before.

The Nautilus floats on the surface, sailing along as if nothing has happened.

Later that afternoon, you’re in the drawing room when Captain Nemo appears. He makes no explanation for the previous night. He looks tired and sad.

“Are you a doctor?” he asks. “I know some of your colleagues have studied medicine.”

You’re so surprised by the question that it takes you a moment to answer. “I was a doctor for several years before signing on with the museum.”

“Will you see one of my men?” asks the captain.

“Is he sick?” you ask.

“Yes.”

You follow Captain Nemo, wondering if this “sick” crewman has something to do with yesterday’s events. The captain leads you to a private cabin near the crew quarters. On the bed lies a man. His head is covered in blood-soaked bandages. This man isn’t sick, he’s seriously hurt. He stares at you as you unwind the bandages to take a closer look at the injury.

It’s horrible. The man’s skull has been shattered. Dark red clots of blood ooze from the bruised and broken wound. You feel his pulse. It’s not steady. His limbs are already cold, and you know that death isn’t far.

You gently wrap his head in fresh bandages then turn to Captain Nemo. “What caused this wound?”

The captain asks his own question. “How bad is it?”

“He will be dead in hours,” you say.

The captain draws in a breath. “Can nothing save him?” he asks.

“Nothing,” you reply.

You’re shocked as tears begin to slide down Captain Nemo’s face. “You can go now,” he says.

You leave the dying man’s cabin and return to your own. For the rest of the day, you can’t get the image of the man and his wound out of your mind.

You sleep badly that night, haunted by nightmares. After the events of the last few days, you no longer think of Captain Nemo as a misunderstood genius. You know now that there is a darker side to him. You suspect that the Nautilus is not only a ship of exploration; it is also a weapon.