“We’re going to be late,” she grumbles again, but helps me nonetheless. I take my time bringing the fish inside and packing it in the fridge, hoping Scorpia will arrive by the time we’re done. But as we head back out to the deck, Drom is practically growling with impatience, and Scorpia still isn’t here. I check the time on my comm. We really are going to be late if she doesn’t get here soon.

“Maybe she forgot,” Drom says.

“Maybe she’s going to meet us there?” Lyre suggests.

I shake my head at both of them and settle down on the deck to wait.

“She’ll show up,” I say. “She always does.”

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

The Underwater Prison

Scorpia

I’ve scrutinized every angle of Ca Sineh, but there is only one way in or out: a single, sturdy elevator, which needs to be activated by prison staff. Two guards accompany me on the descent from the disk-shaped entry building above. We travel down a vertical shaft to the larger disk of the main building, down below the waves. When the elevator stops again, I feel uncomfortably aware of the weight of the ocean above us. One guard steps out and gestures for me to follow. As usual, I have to fight the urge to flee back to the surface as fast as possible, and instead swallow hard and follow her to the visitor’s room.

I’ve never seen any part of the main building aside from that room and this narrow hallway leading there, lined with windows of thick plexiglass that serve as a sobering reminder of the dark water outside. It’s all I’ve been allowed to see, but I’ve researched as much as I can about what lies beyond: the cafeteria, the recreation room, and the one hundred oval-shaped, modular cells that ring the outside of the building, each equipped with its own air lock. Ca Sineh is a small prison, reserved for criminals who are considered especially dangerous, like those who threaten the lives of the entire planet. Had things gone a little differently, my family would have ended up here, too.

For all of its security, the truly ingenious part of Ca Sineh’s design is how it makes attempting escape seem not only impossible, but incredibly dangerous. One wrong move, and you’ll die a slow death by drowning. I can tell that Orion has already given up hope that he’ll ever leave this place, but I haven’t.

My escort leaves me in the visitor’s room, where two others wait to supervise. Early on I considered bribing or overpowering the guards, but it soon became clear that was a foolish plan—there are too many of them, and too many moving parts and handoffs that make sure compromising one or two or even three guards won’t make the whole security system grind to a halt.