Captain Patel is the [ master] [[Chronology - Volume #|✣ ]] of the operational side of the Castle Wulfenbach. In matters of running the vast airship, Patel would be subordinate only to the Baron and his heir Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, if them. (It is suspected, but not known, that naval etiquette, including the principle that a captain is the absolute master of his ship, is observed in Europan airships in general and Wulfenbach airships in particular. As such, it might be interesting to compare and contrast his position with that of the Heterodyne seneschal, except that almost nothing is known about it.) However, it is the Baron's secretary Boris Dolokhov who undertakes to run the empire at large while the Baron convalesces.