When they had the room to themselves, she, Luis, and Jady would whisper their theories about what the hell might happen next. She doubted anyone was recording them, but she couldn’t secure the room, and whispering meant reducing the risk. The rest of the time, she played cards with Luis or watched something from Jady’s collection. Ammanuel had wisely downloaded some entertainment to their internal storage before leaving home. Her near-field comm was compatible with theirs, which meant they could share, but Jady’s taste ran to the latest WAIbrid music. It was going to be a damn long two weeks.

They had to change ships in Hong Kong. The city had launched a temporary local drone network, which gave Welga a chance to catch up with the latest from the news feeds. Machinehood operatives on the ground had sabotaged several major network hubs around the world in addition to taking down the stellas. Security had moved to protect infrastructure rather than funders, but they attacked the Machinehood as soon as they saw the operatives. The dakini would react with deadly force. Welga’s realization about nonviolence must not have reached a worldwide audience before the constellations fell. The American government wasn’t sharing that information, clearly, nor anything from their interrogations of the dakini. No wonder India and China don’t believe us about Eko-Yi. That was the worst part about being cut off from the agency—she no longer had access to expert intelligence. She had no way to find out what was happening with the team in the Maghreb.

They arrived in Chennai on April 11, as the fisherfolk were heading out to sea. Welga stood on the main deck and leaned on the rail. Her muscles twitched and trembled, which they now did nonstop, but only a close observer would notice. The tiny wooden boats looked like toys from her viewpoint. Seagulls squawked and circled overhead. Warm, humid air blew across her skin and sent the loose strands of her hair whipping around her face. When they stopped moving, it wouldn’t feel so pleasant.

Luis approached and leaned on the rail next to her. He shaded his eyes with one hand and pointed to a distant smudge offshore. “That’s the launch platform.”

“How long to get the rocket ready?”

“A cargo launch is easy. We need to get the club together, find the fuel, pack the supplies, and shove you in the middle of it. Maybe two days? We also do a final check of the rocket, even though it’s fully tested after it lands.” He put a hand over hers. “You were right about Nithya.”

“Oh?”