Greysham, November 25

To Dr. Eliot Crane:

Sir, I am sure you barely remember me, if at all—I was one of the men who was assigned to Captain Lewis Thorpe to head north into Caledonia. Our company parted ways with your company after the awful night with the pulsing stone, and this would have been the last time you and I saw each other. You used to know me by the name Throckmorton, but I am sure that Ben Rackham has told you all about my real name and nationality in his letters.

I know you might well tear this letter up and forget the whole thing, but that makes no difference to me—because when you get this, if you ever get this, I will be dead. I will be dead, that is, if everything goes according to plan. If it does, it means everyone else on this expedition will be dead too—and lying on the bottom of the Eastern Sea. That is a sacrifice you’re just going to have to accept.

I intend to blow up that Saxonian boat so that nobody reaches that cursed island. I don’t expect you to believe me about any of this, but like I said, I don’t care. You ignore me at your own peril, but at any rate this information is yours to do with as you wish. What will be worse than ignoring me is if the Society gets Rexley back, and that will be on your head.

I have to destroy that boat. Thorpe was in the know about who I really was and why I joined the expedition, but somewhere along the line he changed his mind about letting me complete my mission, when he found out that Rexley actually exists and where it is. I can understand him letting Rackham this far into his confidence, but the doctor—that fool will lead the Society right to the device.

When I shipped out under Tollard, we knew that we did not have much time. It was only about making sure no one else got control. We had seen time and time again how the Society infiltrated governments, stole secrets, broke promises, and amassed influence across the globe. Who do you think really started the Blood War? Or do you believe everything in those history books you read?

There was no way we were going to trust them with something like Rexley, if the stories we heard about it were halfway true. Segismund had to convince the NCHC to commit the ship somehow, so he told them we were going to get there first. But we knew that no one should have a power like this.

I am sorry that you will be losing your friend in all of this—if I could avoid any death, I truly would. You will just have to believe that this was for the greater good. And if you have any scruples yourself, sir, you will do what you can to complete the task we set out to do. Destroy that island before the world gets worse.

Lieut. 1st. Class William Thompson, New Columbian Expeditionary Forces