[Glenn Wright]

Hi, Richard—

I enjoyed puzzling out this story. The first-person N and his buddy have been secretly hired to transport a Shadow that has been frozen in ice to a banker, who apparently plans to use it to murder or at least threaten someone.

The difficult part is the setting. The reference to Buccaneers and triangular trade (Trinity ships) suggests 17th or 18th century England, but the references to extreme cold, (the Frost) diseases, and the Shadow imply an alternate, possibly post-apocalyptic world in which curses and plagues, probably engineered by humans, make life extremely difficult. The Shadow’s time-altering property suggests something like a black hole. I assume that “Cargo” is a euphemism for enslaved people, and that “Crows” are physicians who dress in black academic robes.

The extreme disparity of wealth between the poor (like the N and Bartholomy) and the wealthy bankers seems to be the unstable situation that the Shadow will ultimately remedy. At some level, it reminded me of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery.” It presents a community of people who seem to have made peace with an unspeakable evil.

Fun read! Thanks for posting!

Glenn