Caledonia hoped that wasn’t true. For all that her plan was a good one, she would need a little luck for the pieces to knit together in the right order.

“Meeting you was lucky,” Caledonia countered, then paused. “How did you know? It couldn’t have just been the grease.”

“No, not the grease, though if you’re here for much longer, it’s going to start to look suspicious to more than just me. You might consider staging a fight and using a bandage,” she said with genuine warning. “It was that Ballistic of yours. Dair. He used an outdated code on your manifest form. It made me curious and, well, once I started looking at you I just had a feeling. That, plus your display in the quad last night? I figured it was worth the risk.”

“You have sharp instincts, Gloriana,” Caledonia said, wondering just how remarkable those instincts would be unburdened by the weight of Silt.

“Sharp enough,” the woman answered, continuing down the alley. “Sharp enough.”

Chapter Twenty-three

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Hope took a firm hold in Caledonia’s mind, tumbling quickly toward steely resolve. There were still many details to untangle, but the plan was within reach. All she had to do was pull on the right threads and the remaining knots would unravel.

She followed Gloriana down the alley with a renewed sense of control. And that was key to the success of any plan.

Just before they reached the main street, Nettle raced around the corner. Gloriana squared her shoulders, authority emanating from her in dangerous waves. But before she could reprimand the young girl, Nettle slid to a stop, her wide eyes bouncing between the two of them.

“It’s all right,” Caledonia said to both her companion and the young girl. “We’re all friends. What is it?”

Nettle puffed out her cheeks, clearly still skeptical, but harried enough to move past it. “They’re moving the crew.”

Caledonia nodded. “You told me already.”

“No.” Nettle’s voice was urgent. “They’re moving them now.”

Nettle didn’t wait for a response from her captain. She spun on her heel and raced back the way she’d come. Caledonia followed, her heart already beating rapidly in her chest. Behind her, Gloriana matched her pace. She had just enough clarity to think that if she needed to be stopped, if there were something severely out of place about a Bullet racing toward the site of prisoners on the move, then one of her two companions would stop her.

Nettle led them toward the harbor where the crowd had grown dense and loud. They were all enjoying the sight of the girl crew on parade, all enjoying the thought of what awaited them when they reached the tide cans.