| abstract
| - Amadeus Arkham has taken to an opium den while he waits for his hosts Nighthawk and Cinnamon rough up local gangs in search of those responsible for supplying a terrorist group known as the August 7 with explosives. His companion Jonah Hex, meanwhile, is investigating an illegal pugilism ring using a barge in the harbour as its venue. In fact, Jonah's search has got him hired as a gladiator, fighting against the current champion - a woman named Z.C. Branke. Despite the woman's superior fighting skills, Hex can hold his own, and as they fight, Branke comments that she like's him, and she stops his retort with a kiss. This weird turn of events causes the spectators to start throwing junk at the pair, and Branke's financier, a Mr. Hiram Coy gives her a whistle, and delivers a clandestine message via a playing card showing the 7 of Diamonds. Arkham, meanwhile, finds himself under arrest, as a raid by Captain A. Monton Eider of the Opium Squad infringes upon his attempts to flirt with the bevvy of young oriental women. Feebly, Arkham tries to explain that he is merely doing criminal research on the effects of opiates. As he is thrown in jail, he muses that Hex will not be pleased with him. Later, Branke bathes Hex in a tub, commenting that she finds his many scars attractive. She and her employers have fallen for his claims to share their views on the plague of immigrants in the United States, and they want to offer him a job. As a test of his trustworthiness, they want him to find a ship called the Sea Queen in the harbour, and sink it and everyone on board. She suggests that if he refuses, someone from their organization will kill him. There are even some law officials involved. She explains that the sinking ship is merely the start of a movement; the first step in solidifying a hold over other port cities in the country. She warns that the mission will have to happen tonight. Jonah states that he will need some explosives, and with his apparent assent to the initiation, Branke removes her robe, and joins him in the tub. After returning to Hawkes and Manser's home, Jonah wonders grumpily where Doctor Arkham has gone. He shares his information with his companions, revealing his mission to murder the immigrant passengers of the Sea Queen. His intention is to go through with the plan, regardless of the loss of life, because the only way to get closer to the August 7 is to be accepted into their ranks. This does not sit well with Nighthawk or Cinnamon. They try to stop him, but he warns that they shouldn't have called him if they hadn't wanted him to follow his instincts, training his weapon on Cinnamon's head, and yanking Nighthawk's enchanted talisman from 'round his neck. In jail, Arkham manages to use psychology to convince a criminal to try to get a legitimate job on the docks. He is interrupted by Captain Eider, who has since checked with the Gotham City Police Department to determine whether Arkham's story checks out. Eider demands a description of the bounty hunter whom Arkham had accompanied to New Orleans, and Arkham cannot fail to miss the Captain's suspicious tone. Turning, he finds a gun to his head, once again. That night, Hex attends his rendezvous with the man meant to give him the explosives for the job. However, the man reveals that he has captured Amadeus Arkham in a crate, and comments that he dislikes deceptions. A well-off looking man named David S. Winter introduces himself and explains that Arkham was quite talkative about Hex's plans to infiltrate the August 7. Now, Davis points to the ship in the harbour and announces that Hex will drown with the other 'rats' on the ship, and Arkham shall go with him. Not long after, Hex and Arkham find themselves bound and on a rowboat headed for the Sea Queen, alongside the explosives that will sink it and its inhabitants.
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