Mathias Sandorf [1] : $b Een verijdelde samenzwering; Dokter Antekirrt

Trieste’s bustling port is split between the orderly, prosperous quarter of Theresienstadt and the tangled, impoverished streets that cling to the Karst hill. Amid the clamor of dockworkers and wandering bohemians, two oddly dressed strangers pause on a sun‑baked quay, their eyes scanning the horizon as if awaiting a hidden signal. One calls himself Sarcany, a slender, dark‑eyed youth of ambiguous origins, while his companion Zirone, a Sicilian‑born wanderer, speaks with a confident, quick‑tongued Italian.

Their seemingly modest appearance masks a purpose that quickly becomes evident: the duo is poised to set in motion a covert plan that could shift fortunes in the bustling Mediterranean trade. As they linger, the narrative hints at a broader network of intrigue that reaches beyond the harbor’s edge, drawing readers into a world of secret alliances and daring ambition. Listeners will be carried along the early currents of a story where mystery and motivation intertwine from the very first tide.