Starke offered Sisay information about Volrath and the stolen Legacy in exchange for help freeing his daughter. The bargain reached back into Gerrard's childhood and forward toward Rath, making the captain's rescue plans vulnerable to an unreliable guide.
The account moves between that earlier exchange and the consequence awaiting Gerrard. Sisay had been taken, and Tahngarth needed him back. Gerrard's life ashore could not make the missing captain cease to matter.
He returned to the Weatherlight rather than accept distance as an answer. The movement begins another commitment, not the completed recovery of Sisay or the Legacy. Starke's need and his capacity to mislead remain part of the danger travelling with it.