end of Volume 1 ( preview of upcoming ends )

But where are [the answers]?" James asked. He could see the nicole rower shooting flares his way, he could feel the Mate's cold cheek as the sharks pulled him under. "Will we ever find them?"

James has recently lied to an interrogator saying that his Second Mate died from a shark attack rather than defected from North Korea. And what's more, the interrogator knows that he's lying, and he doesn't even care. And James is in despair because he wants to believe something can be true, that there is truth. He almost wants to be punished.