“And still no idea who might have sent that anonymous warning?”

Her forehead creased. A tiny line appeared between her brows. “I have several theories, but no evidence to support them.”

My upper arm hurt where the shotgun pellet had winged it. I wriggled around to get more comfortable, and kicked off my boots. “What would you say if you had to guess?”

“If I had to…” The Dog’s face scrunched.

I reclined the couch and stretched out my toes. I’d had enough punishment for one day, and was seriously considering sealing the bridge doors and spending the night in the chair. “Give me your best guess.”

“I have no proof of my suspicions.”

“Nevertheless.”

I watched her features rearrange themselves. When she next spoke, she looked calm and reasonable—at least, that was the impression she was trying to convey. “I think Fenrir sent the signal.”

I raised my head. “Your sister?”

“As I said, it is only a suspicion, but yes, I think she did. Probably on behalf of her commanding officer, Captain Sergei Parris.”

“And you base this on what?”

“Adalwolf advised me to heed the warning. He would not have done that otherwise. He would not have insulted my courage unless he knew that to allow me to proceed would have brought me into conflict with my sister.”

“You’re sure of that?”

“Maybe eighty per cent.”

Suppressing a yawn, I rubbed the side of my nose with the side of my hand. “And how do you feel about that?”

The face on the screen froze. I watched stars drift across her cheeks and into her hair. When she eventually spoke, her words were slow and measured.

“I have activated my dormant battle-repair packages. We will arrive in the system in fifteen hours. By that time, I will have fashioned and emplaced thirty-eight per cent of my former armaments—the most I can manage without the aid of a military shipyard.”

“Will it be enough?”

Her mouth kinked in a quirky, unreadable smile. Through my chair, I felt the higher dimensional winds buffet the hull. “Against a fully armed Carnivore?”

I had the impression she was laughing at me. I closed my eyes and tried to make myself comfortable.

“Forget I asked.”

Thirty-Four: Nod

THIRTY-FOUR

NOD

Put welding tools away then curled in nest.

Good nest.

Best nest.

Bits of packing case.

Fibre-optic wires.

String.

Best nest I ever made.

Plastic spatulas in bottom like twigs.

Air con unit like breeze in high branches.

Thrum of engines like pulse of World Tree’s heart.

Hound of Difficulty like little World Tree.

Like home.

Will stay with ship until time.

Time to go back to real World Tree.

Time to stop serving and rest.

Until then, fix ship.

Serve ship as would serve Tree.

Keep ship running.

And maybe one day, ship stop being sad.

Stop being broken.

Find missing pieces.

Put self back together.

Until then, I serve.

I work.