“Unless you have any other ideas, Lyre,” he says, and she pauses, clearly caught off guard by the question.

“Well… I… that’s, um…”

“Why wouldn’t she come with me?” I ask, dumbfounded. Lyre hates being put on the spot like that—she’s much more the type to follow along with orders. But Corvus’s eyes never leave our younger sister as she stutters and hesitates. I scowl at the dismissal, while Drom feigns an exaggerated yawn at the delay.

“Lyre?” Corvus prompts gently. “We don’t have much time.”

She pauses, takes a deep breath, and says:

“Air ducts.”

I exchange an exasperated look with Drom.

“That’s not a plan,” I blurt out, and Lyre glares at me.

“I can climb through them,” she snaps, as if it was obvious.

“And?”

“And get to the systems room.”

“And?”

“And then… you name it.” She gestures vaguely. “If I get in, I can… I can shut down their communications system, set off the emergency alarms, screw with the gravity drive. Give me a few minutes uninterrupted, and I can create all sorts of chaos.”

By the time she’s finished, a grin is spreading across my face despite my earlier lack of confidence.

“You’re a genius,” I say. But Lyre doesn’t seem to hear me, looking at Corvus for approval.

“They’ll be expecting us to sabotage their systems after you did it last time,” he says. But instead of backing down, Lyre lifts her head, her face determined.

“Not this kind of sabotage. All I need is a distraction,” she says. “Three minutes alone with their systems. That’s it.”

“So Drom and I will have to pull their forces away from that area,” Corvus says.

“And you’re gonna do it all by yourself, Lyre?” As eager as I am to believe this plan will work, my little sister is usually the type to crumble under pressure. She seems to deflate at the mere question, glancing at Corvus as if expecting him to defend her, but he waits along with the rest of us to hear her response.

“Even if we pull off a distraction, some of their security might remain in the room,” he tells her.

“And they won’t see me coming until it’s too late,” she says. “I’m perfectly capable of handling a pirate or two on my own.”

Corvus nods.

“If she says she can, then she can,” he says, and looks pointedly at me and Drom. “Remember, we’re not doing this their way. And we’re not doing it Momma’s way. We each make our own decisions. We know our own strengths and our own limits. That’s why this is going to work.”

Before I can respond, the lights flash green, drawing all of our gazes upward. When I look back at my siblings again, they’re all staring at me. I swallow my nerves.

“Two minutes till we hit,” I say.