The captain’s eyes suddenly cut away from Ava, narrowing as something else caught her attention. Ava turned to look as well, at Jules. They had managed to distract the kids with a story about their recent misadventures in the so-called hive. The kids watched, entranced as Jules acted it out with their whole body. They’d drawn a sizable crowd, some of whom surely couldn’t understand the words Jules spoke. But Jules had always been a dynamic storyteller, and the past few hours had given them even more fodder.

“And then, they look at each other and say, let’s take them to Mother. Mother wants to meet you. Mother wants you to answer some questions. And we’re like—” Jules made a comically fearful face, but nobody seemed to laugh. Instead, they all looked nervous.

There was a fierce grip on her arm, and Ava turned back to find Captain Nouresh looking at her intently.

“You came here through a hive?”

Disquiet squirmed in Ava’s chest. “That’s what they called it.”

Nouresh cursed under her breath, then squeezed Ava’s arm in a tighter grip. “Answer me truthfully. Did they see you come through the marejii?”

Ava hesitated, suddenly afraid—not just of the weird LitenVärld murder clones, but selfishly, of angering the woman in front of her. “Yes? I mean, I don’t know. We were running from them, they chased us to a pit, and the maskhål was below us, so Jules threw us both into it.”

Nouresh stood, yanking Ava to her feet as well. She pulled her along toward Jules, and snapped, “You! With me!”

Jules flinched at the shout, but then leapt to their feet, looking to Ava for explanation. Before she could offer it, Captain Nouresh—and Ava realized that she was definitely looking at the captain now, a woman who had run an enormous ship for years, with such efficiency that she’d made herself redundant—pulled Ava along through the market. Jules darted along behind them.

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER SEVEN

“What happened? What’s going on?” Jules asked, trying to keep up with Nouresh’s ruthless pace.

“The hive,” Ava said breathlessly. “I don’t know, she just—”

“Quiet!” Nouresh snapped. She’d led them out of the labyrinthine market, over to one of the round, curved walls, lit with those strips of glowing plankton. She dashed along it, finally letting go of Ava in her haste. Ava chased after her.

Captain Nouresh reached a metal cabinet set into the wall that was painted a bright red, the same color as the captain’s jacket, unlike the calm, muted colors the Anahita had shown them so far. There was writing above it, but of course Ava couldn’t read it. It reminded her of the fancy Arabic calligraphy she’d seen at an exhibit at the Art Institute.