"The customs inspector who came over declared our papers falsified, then took them away," she replies. "The director came back to question us, and showed us papers that were not the same ones Sands showed the first man." Her avian eyes stare after them. "We've traded this route for years. They know us. But I'd never seen that inspector before."

"Back so soon?" Mei Ling says, in the midst of making a pot of tea.

Mei Ling frowns. "No. No, I did not. Macaw is a valuable trading partner for our port." She stands. "I'll not have this."

Rae returns to find the same scene being enacted with another ship: captain and first mate being chained and led away.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Mei Ling declares, rushing up, and several guards turn crossbow on her. "This is not something you want to do."

"I do not know the ones with crossbows drawn," she says, glaring at them. "And they clearly do not know me."
The leader of the guard, who is not among the ones with weapons raised, looks apologetically at her. "Stand down, men," he says, but no one heads.