"Surely you're not the only one of your people to see the similarity for the injustice that it is?" I exclaimed.
His eyes were sad, "Some days it feels like it. No, there are others, but not enough and not the influential ones at that. I'm not guiltless in this. I was much the same as the majority of my people for my uncaring attitude of the lot in life of a slave, until Mandy came along that is. It's not right and as you've said something has to be done about it. My Mandy deserves the right to look someone in the eye as an equal without being struck for it or to be pulled down and gang raped by some men who have grown tired of what their wives have to offer and see nothing wrong with crushing the life of a slave to suit their own lusts! I do not want that for my granddaughter. She deserves better! They all deserve something better, just as my people did when we were slaves."
I studied him for a few moments. There was no denying his sincere passion on the matter, but how to make it all come about?
"So how do you propose the slaves should escape?" I asked.
His eyes sparkled, "By the same way we go to sea to kill the whales. Escape on the whaling ships and then ditch the ships at sea."
"Won't your people just build new ships?" I asked.
He smiled, "Building a ship requires a lot of work. By the time they've completed one ship I think they'll rethink their strategy and perhaps start doing all the work for themselves instead of attempting to chase down slaves on the open water. In addition to that I'm not sure my people would be very good at building a boat to begin with. They rely on the slaves, who have the passed down knowledge to do all the skilled labor required of shipbuilding."
I leaned back in my chair, "It would seem that you have it all figured out then. Tell me how you propose to distract your people long enough for the slaves to escape to the ships? Not to mention how such an event could be coordinated, as it would need to be in order to be a success."
He smiled broadly, "I was hoping that you could take care of those details for me. I have after all given you the keys." He said, as he tossed a ring of keys across the table at me, which I caught one-handed.
"All the slaves are locked up underground at the end of the work hours on the south side of the island."