Her husky laugh. “Is now. Anyhow, it’s all hands on deck till we’re outa here.”

I thought of the old book, how a storm at sea in those days really did need every hand they could muster to save the ship. To save their lives. Ropes snapping, masts cracking, sails torn away, sailors scaling the ratlines. Breakers was an artist, not a seaman. I doubted she knew the origin of the phrase. But the book . . . where was it? I ducked back into the cabin, racing past half-packed crates to the forward berth. The book lay on the floor beside our rumpled bed. I snatched it up and stuffed it in my gut wallet. Where it belonged.

“What’s the storm’s ETA?” Daniel was asking when I resurfaced.

“Got to be deep in shelter by dusk two days from now.” Breakers adjusted her weapon like it was an extra limb gone to sleep. “So, if you two are done getting it on at last, we need to start loading this boat. Bought you all the time I could.”

Great. I’d been the butt of endless crude jokes for not coupling up. Gonna be the same, now I finally had?

Daniel laughed. “Done for now, at least. But there’s packing left.”

“Do it, then.” Breakers shifted her weapon again. She must have been sitting there a long and painful time. “You’re listed to go out at the end, but they want to bring the plants down while it’s still dark.”

“Why’s that?”

“Draws the least attention.”

“That’s why it’s so quiet.” I gestured across the Lagoon. Surreal, so much work going on with none of the usual trash talk or singing. The raft-building was done. No hammers or saws. Just load it on, make it fast, and keep it down.

“Yeah. Trying to keep the Big Move under the radar. Leaves us so vulnerable. A bunch of boat repair won’t raise interest, not with a storm coming. But loading out your entire roof garden says something special is up.”

The Big Move. Exactly what Rubio would have called it, if he’d had the chance. Rubio! Not that I’d forgotten. I’d just set him aside for the while. I turned away, breathing hard.

“What about the other dens?” Daniel asked. “Empire? The Tommys?”

Breakers held the line like she felt it her duty. “They’ve been invited, but we’re not broadcasting the hurry-up schedule. Rousseau doesn’t want time wasted on procedural disputes and pissing matches.”

I could see his point, with what I’d watched go on between Tall Tommy and Empire Will.

Daniel wasn’t so sure. “Don’t we need their boats? To move all these people?”

“We’ll make more trips.”

Daniel shook his head. “No way this’ll stay secret.”