"Why do they want to conquer, though? I mean, I've dealt with enough maniacal conquerors in my own world, what kind are we dealing with here? What does the Empire want? Power? Land? People? Extermination of anything that isn't them?" He gestures towards the Marshal. "No idea what to dangle in front of them as bait, if we don't know what they want."

"If we're narrowing things down to this Lady Kalki, she's the one we have to deal with and simultaneously fool if we're rescuing the prisoners out from under her. Would the diary be enough? She'll have to know that we've copied the information down, so what does she gain by getting it back?" Or is there a piece of this Jack has misunderstood?