CHAPTER FORTY THE STORM

Hana felt a sharp blow to the back of her head, the world spinning as darkness swallowed her whole. She tried to fight back, to stay conscious, but it was no use. The last thing she saw before everything went black was her detective friend, her face twisted in anguish as she too succumbed to the darkness. When Hana finally regained consciousness, she found herself bound and gagged, her arms and legs secured tightly to a chair. Her head throbbed with pain, her vision blurred and disoriented as she struggled to make sense of her surroundings. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, Hana realized that she was in a small, windowless room, the walls bare and featureless save for a single door in the far corner. The sound of muffled voices reached her ears, the faint echo of conversation mingling with the distant hum of machinery and the rhythmic creaking of the ship's hull. With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, Hana knew that she was in deep trouble. She had stumbled upo