‘I mean it, Fura. Strambli was foxed by that door, but then so was Mattice when he first ran into somethin’ like that. And Mattice was as good as they come. Surt’s not a bad Integrator. Seen better, but she’s no slouch. Drozna and Tindouf, they ain’t so terrible either.’

‘You feel bad that we used them?’

‘No, just that we had use someone. I’ll be true to you. When Black Shatterday wiped out my quoins, I only had one thought left in me, which was to bury Bosa. If that meant dyin’, or takin’ another crew with me – if that meant takin’ you with me – then I was ready for it. But somethin’ changed when we came out of the Fang.’ Prozor’s mask glanced away from me, as if this was more than she was ready to share. ‘I still want to vent Bosa. But I ain’t dyin’ for it, and I’d sooner none of the rest of us die either.’

‘Then we’ll try very hard not to,’ I said.

Our ears popped again. ‘Secondary lock,’ Prozor said. ‘She’s through. Won’t be long now.’

I nodded. ‘We’d better get ourselves dispersed. I’m going to the bone room. They’ll find it quickly enough.’

We left Trusko and Drozna in the galley, to face Bosa and her boarding squad when they arrived. Tindouf went aft, to the part of the ship he knew the best. Surt hid herself away in the bridge, among the monkey and alien gubbins she’d stitched into functionality. Strambli went midships, near the sleeping area, and Prozor went to the kitchen. We took crossbows, Ghostie blades and the smallest of the pistols, but even those we’d only use as a last resort.

By then I knew my way around the Queenie like I’d been born to it. It only took a minute to get into the bone room. I spun the locking wheel as a matter of routine, stationed myself against a wall, then dimmed the lights. I waited another minute, then two. The bone room was soundproofed, so I wouldn’t have heard any kind of commotion even if the squad were shouting their way right past the door, hammering on walls and bulkheads as they went. Still, after two or three minutes I was surprised when no one had tried to open the door from the other side.

I gave it a little longer, then slipped the Ghostie mask off my face. For a moment I felt as if I’d come up from underwater, rising from the deep end at the Hadramaw public baths. I took a deep breath and set the mask aside. Then I pulled the neural bridge off the wall, settled it over my scalp, and plugged in to the skull.