Intelligence

On one windless day, Vraska watched as he disassembled and reassembled a telescope.

The entire process took about fifteen minutes.

He began by studying the outside of the thing, finding its crevices, then using a borrowed tool to gently dismantle it. He was knolling the pieces as he went, organizing the bits in a meticulous grid on the deck of the ship. Once it was apart, he worked backward, putting each piece back together in the reverse of order he had taken it apart.

A small crowd gathered to watch in fascination. Vraska hung in the back, as impressed as she was perturbed. She whispered in the ear of her transfixed quartermaster, who hastily apologized and snapped at the crew to get back to work.

Jace stood, embarrassed, and handed the reassembled telescope to Vraska.

THE TALENTED CAPTAIN VRASKA