She reread the letter for the fifth time to make sure she had it right.

Meet me at Yellowtide. 9:00 AM sharp, Tuesday. We have some important things to discuss.

I'll be wearing blue.

-A. V.

Barking strange, Deryn thought, especially since it was typed not handwritten. The paper was cheap and thin but whoever had wrote the note had bothered to type it out. She had deduced that they didn't want their handwriting recognized. Whoever A.V. was, they wanted to remain secret until she met with them.

At first she had assumed that A.V. was Alek, but that didn't make sense. Why would Alek type a note? And what would 'V' stand for? Von? Plus he wouldn't have to tell her he was wearing blue, she would recognize him. It was way too weird and clever to be written by Alek anyways.

The note had been folded into a perfect square and slipped under her door while she was sleeping. When she found it in the morning there was no sign of who might have left it. It had to be from someone onboard the Leviathan, because no one else was permitted on the ship while they were stopped in Istanbul. Very barking strange.

She realized she should probably turn the letter in to the Captain, but after revealing that she was a girl to Volger and the reporter, she was too scared to talk to any of the officers. So far no one was treating her any differently, so she figured Volger had kept his mouth shut. Who knows how long he had been doing so anyways. Eddie Malone had sworn to her he wouldn't tell a soul until he was back in New York, but that didn't mean Deryn trusted him.

No, she had kept the note to herself and decided to meet this A.V. on Tuesday morning. Now that Tuesday morning had arrived she was wondering if she had made the best choice. This person could be anyone; a German spy, an anarchist, another reporter. None of which would be safe for her to meet with. But one thing kept tugging at her mind. This person had important information to tell her, meaning they could know things about Alek.

Currently she was standing on the docks of Istanbul wondering which way was best to get to Yellowtide. She had found out from several of the crewmembers that Yellowtide was a bar and restaurant only a block away from where the Leviathan was docked. She just had to make her way through the odd crowds around the airship and not get lost.

Istanbul was packed with the most bizarre looking people she had ever seen. The Turks wore bright colorful scarves, hats and suits. Women wore scarves on their heads for religious purposes, so she had heard, even if it was nearly eighty degrees outside. On top of that she was mesmerized by the Clanker contraptions that marched through the streets. Large walkers designed to look like animals paraded past the buildings. The people didn't even seem to notice the gigantic metal creatures as they went about their daily ventures.

Various children from different ethnic backgrounds would swarm anyone who stopped long enough, begging for money. Three different boys had stopped her in the last five minutes either begging or trying to sell her some odd form of food. Deryn didn't have any money, but she did get one of the kids to point her in the direction of the Yellowtide and apologized that she didn't have any coins to tip him. She walked down a narrow street and past an elaborate fountain before finding the small restaurant next to a bookstore.

It was a dark and tiny establishment that reeked of tobacco smoke, but it was also very cozy. The wooden tables were packed with sailors and travelers all chattering in an assortment of different languages. Deryn scanned the crowd, looking for anyone in blue. Toward the back of the room was a single man in a faded blue military jacket. He seemed average enough besides that he was the only one in the restaurant sitting by himself. She made her way over to him.

When she was standing next to his table he gave her a confused look and then said something to her in a language she didn't recognize. She replied to him in English.

"Sorry to bother you, but would you happen to be A.V.?"

He raised his eyebrows and motioned for her to sit down. Deryn pulled in to the bench across from him and sat silently for a second, taking in this new stranger.

He was a scruffy looking fellow who looked like he hadn't bathed in weeks. He had a shaggy beard that almost covered his entire face and bushy eyebrows that matched his rumpled auburn hair on top of his head. Surprisingly his beard was a bright red/orange, completely different from his eyebrows and scalp. The military jacket was worn and tattered and he was smoking a long wooden pipe. But when he smiled the grin was handsome with rows of perfect white teeth.

"Adalrich Volger." The man said, holding out his hand for her to shake. She took it.

"Um…Midshipman Dylan Sharp." She said, wondering if it was safe to give this man her name. "Hang on squick, did you say Volger?"

"I did." He said plainly, then leaned back and put both feet up on the table. He took a long pull from his pipe before speaking again. "You are not the person I was expecting to meet with, Mr. Sharp." He had a strong Clanker accent but his English was very good.

She blushed and pulled out the typed note. "Well, someone gave me this letter."

Adalrich gave her another grin which made his deep eyes sparkle a bit. Deryn couldn't help but feel her cheeks flush a tad.

"I know the letter," he said, "I wrote it. But it was meant for my brother, not for you."

She felt her eyes widen in their sockets. "You are the Count's brother?"

The man gave a loud colorful laugh. "I am indeed."

He doesn't look a squick like him. She thought. But when she looked a little harder she noticed a few familiar traits in Adalrich. He had a recognizable smugness and his smile had the same bend to it as the Count's. She could tell he wasn't nearly as tall as the Volger she knew but his shoulders were the same shape and they shared those wiry fencing arms. Even his mustache, although a different color and extremely shaggy had a memorable bowtie form.

"The Count is being held captive." She told him. "He wouldn't be allowed off the ship to meet with you anyways, so be glad the message was delivered to me instead."

Adalrich nodded and puffed out a few smoke rings. "Makes sense." He said.

But something didn't make sense to Deryn. How did Volger's brother know that the Count was on the Leviathan? According to Alek, no one had known of their escape to Switzerland, and no one would have known that they were taken prisoner by the Leviathan.

"Who told you your brother was on the airship?" She asked boldly. The question awarded her another grin as Adalrich pushed something on the table toward her. It was a newspaper. The page it was turned to had several large portraits of Alek's men, all next to large print captions in German. She was happy to see no picture of Alek himself, but recognized the words for 'Hapsburg' and 'Leviathan' next to them.

"My brother and his men are famous now that some of them are escaped prisoners. When I found out about this I came to Istanbul immediately and went to look for him. Apparently the entire German army is looking for him as well. I guess it makes sense then that he would send a midshipman in his place."

So Count Volger had given her the note? Had it originally been sent to him? She wasn't too surprised.

"I need to get my brother and his men off of that ship." Adalrich continued. "You seem to know them well, Mr. Sharp. Were you sent to help me?"

Help him? She couldn't. Assisting prisoners of war off of the ship was mutiny. Then again she really wanted to help him. Getting rid of the Count would definitely be an improvement. Plus, Volger should be off the ship and helping Alek.

"Do you know anything about the Prince?" She asked.

Adalrich narrowed his eyes at her and Deryn realized she probably shouldn't have brought it up.

"What about him?" The man responded.

"Umm, nothing, never mind."

"Why? Do you know anything about him?"

"Of course not!" She lied. Better not tell him that Alek was escaped from the ship. Even if he was Volger's brother.

The man sighed and took another puff from the pipe before removing his feet from the table and standing up.

"Well, this has been a great chat, but I have some more information that I can't talk about here. Would you join me in a ride across town?"

That was something she couldn't do for him. "Umm, I'm sorry sir, but I have to get back to the ship. I have duties and…."

"Sorry, I must have said that wrong. I need you to come with me."

"Huh?"

He grabbed her arm and started pulling her toward the door. "No dawdling, Mr. Sharp. It's time to go." She tried to struggle away from him, but he was much stronger than her. Before long he had her out the door and across the street. He continued to apologize to her politely while still holding her arm.

"I'm terrible sorry to take you hostage like this."

"LET GO OF ME!"

"I would really appreciate it if you didn't make a scene, then I won't have to hurt you."

"OUCH!" He was twisting her arm so hard it felt like it was burning. Deryn saw him pull a knife from his jacket and hold it to the back of her neck.

"Shut your mouth, we're almost there." He shoved her into a Clanker vehicle that looked like a large praying mantis. Inside it was big enough to carry about four people. Adalrich pushed her into a seat before sitting next to her and taking the controls. An instant later the walker was weaving quickly in out of the people on the street. Deryn looked out of the window in time to see the Leviathan at the docks slowly getting smaller in the distance.

"Not to worry, Mr. Sharp, we'll have you back soon." Said Adalrich. Something about his voice made Deryn think otherwise.

And this is why Ma told me never to talk to strangers! She thought as the praying mantis turned off of the main street and the Leviathan was completely lost from view.