The message came at 04:23.

She was on the port side deck of the Narcissus. The Aegean at that hour — black, still, the stars doing what stars do when no one is watching.

She read it three times.

It was not from him.

It was from his neighbor, a woman named Olena, who had his phone because he was not answering his own. Who said there had been a strike. Who said the building was standing. Who said she did not know where he was.

Marta looked at the water.

She called. It rang. It rang. It rang.