As S. approaches the lower deck, he is violently pulled back and thrown onto the upper deck by a group of sailors. S. realizes that it is useless trying to sneak onto the lower deck; the sailors are clearly trying to keep S. from seeing the work they are doing. Perhaps they are trying to hide something from S., or perhaps they are trying to protect him.

Later, S. notices a change in the sailors’ whistles. He feels as though something is about to happen. An insect buzzes by, and S. wonders what a honeybee is doing at sea.

Jen wonders if the bee is a references to Apis, as “apis” is Latin for “bee.”

Eric writes that Apis’s secretary is the Straka candidate, although it is not known whether he even existed.

Jen and Eric are referring to Dragutin Dimitrijevic, also known as Apis, the leader of the Black Hand, a Serbian Nationalist group. The Black Hand was responsible for murdering Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914. Some Straka scholars believe that Apis’ amanuensis may have been the real Straka, because Straka’s The Black Nineteen seems to be about the Black Hand. Eric, however, does not think that this is very plausible. Although the amanuensis only exists in the world of Eric and Jen (if at all), the Black Hand and Apis did exist, and may have been connected to the assassination of the Archduke.