She knew what had to be done. She looked up, seeing the mast and spars swinging dizzyingly against the storm-tossed sky, knowing what it must be like up there. Kira glanced down again, seeing the sailors starting to stare at the hatch belowdecks once more. With the first mate unconscious, and the captain tied to the helm, unable to see what had happened through the murk of the storm, they lacked a voice to tell them what to do, to focus them on something other than their fear. If something wasn't done, they'd panic and flee, and the sail would stay taut and the mast would break and they'd all be at the mercy of a sea which had no mercy this day.

I had a job to do, her mother had said.

"Listen!" Kira screamed again. "We need to go up there and bring in the mainsail!"

"It's death to go up there in this!" a sailor roared back.

"It's death not to go!" Kira yelled. There was no helping it, she knew, even as fear froze her insides. "I'm going up!" Rain pummeled her face, momentarily clouding her vision. When it cleared, she could see everyone watching her. "I'm going up!" she repeated. "Come on, all of you! Follow me! We're bringing in the mainsail!"

She never knew where she found the strength to let go of the mast and throw herself at the shrouds leading upward. Her hands grasped the rough rope and Kira swung herself up onto the ratlines, trying not to look around or think about what she was doing. Another wave swept across the deck, snatching hungrily at her lower body as it passed, then Kira began pulling herself up, step by step on the ratlines, her eyes locked on the sections of rope just before her eyes.

The ship heeled far over and her feet slipped, leaving Kira dangling over the water with only her grip on the rigging between her and the voracious sea. Then the ship swung back and Kira was thrown against the shrouds and ratlines with painful force.

She kept moving, trying not to think, just focusing on the next handhold and then the next after that.

Kira realized that Jason was climbing beside her, then spotted other figures in the shrouds on the other side of the mast. They were following her up.