Eris read the planet report. “With the soldiers they had guarding Zelus’s cargo, I’m surprised there’s no increase in security,” she murmured.

Clo tapped the screen for a better look. “Maybe they don’t want to risk tipping off the Evoli?”

Eris didn’t look convinced. “Maybe. It doesn’t look like there’s anywhere near the coordinates Ariadne found to land a craft this size. We’ll have to use the shuttle.”

“And contact Sher once we land,” Clo reminded her. “We really need him to send an unmanned craft with supplies.”

“Cato needs more blockers,” Ariadne added brightly. “Keeps him calmer during deprogramming.”

Eris scowled. “You’d think this ship made for one hundred people would have more of the damn things.”

“The Tholosians aren’t in the practice of deprogramming or having regular accidents and surgery,” Ariadne pointed out.

Eris made an irritated noise. “Clo, get the shuttle ready. Everyone, change into your suits.”

The shuttle was a tight squeeze and Ariadne ended up perching on Nyx’s knee. Clo brought the craft down near the Ismara warehouse on the southwest hemisphere. They fell toward the ground, the atmosphere whooshing over the craft.

The shuttle burst through the clouds. Clo’s stomach roiled again. Not as bad as Myndalia but she still swallowed the sharp taste of bile.

Most habitable planets in the Tholosian empire were like Myndalia. Dry or swampy, with habitable sections few and far between, and thus overcrowded. Temperate planets like the Three Sisters, with large continents, were rare and valuable.

On Ismara, the ground was nothing but hard rock covered in shallow water and topped with a thick, unforgiving mist. Large lily pads provided some nutrition and compost for fuel, but nothing larger could take root down below. Ismara was unique in that natural islands floated several hundred feet above ground level. Some flat, some with rolling hills or even small mountains. Clo had no idea how it all worked. Magnetic fields? Magic? All the same to her. The universe kept its mysteries.

“It’s so beautiful,” Rhea said, voice filled with wonder as Clo maneuvered the craft around a small floating forest, even if half of the trees had been burned away to clear space for miners. A few saplings sprouted from the singed soil. The other woman had her hands pressed to the glass as she stared at the sight below.

Clo let her smile show this time. “Told you I’d show you the universe, didn’t I?”

Rhea blushed.

Nyx rolled her eyes. “I hate to interrupt your romantic moment here, but how do we find the warehouse if it’s literally floating over the surface?”

“The coordinates Ariadne got when she hacked the Oracle are pretty precise,” Clo said, glancing at the screen. “These islands don’t seem to move quickly enough to make a difference.”