‘You are a moralist, Niels. You should learn to judge no actions but your own.’

Mouritzen shrugged. ‘It’s not I who objects to Carling going ashore to listen to the stories the spirits tell him.’

‘But you should! This is a matter of the ship. I condemn no man or woman, however savage and enormous their sins, as long as they do not touch the Kreya. But anything that touches the ship is different. In this small world, I am God. I judge, I punish, and I need not give my reasons.’

Mouritzen grinned. ‘Perhaps you would have been happier on a strictly cargo ship. You cannot play God to passengers.’