Immediately, Caledonia understood what had happened to them. Pisces had seen their distress and wanted to help because that was the kind of person she was. It made her—and all of them—better, but in this case, it had been their downfall.

“They let us draw so near that we could not maneuver easily around them. Then the Bullet ships were upon us, and that was that.”

She thinks you would have seen it coming. Hime paused, a compassionate frown bowing her lips. She’s right, isn’t she?

Now Caledonia frowned. “I can’t judge without having been there and I shouldn’t. Whatever she did kept the majority of our crew alive. And that makes it the right choice.”

Amina nodded, stifling a yawn with one hand. “You should tell her that.”

“I will,” Caledonia answered softly, knowing that anything she said to Pisces right now would only fuel her resentment. “Maybe.”

Hime rose, pulling Amina after her. You should get some rest, too, Captain.

Caledonia nodded. “I promise.”

She was tired, but she couldn’t sleep. Not while her ship required attention. She needed to hear every sound, to feel every roll and pitch. If something were to happen, she needed to know that she was completely connected to the current state of the Beacon.

As the girls took their leave, her eyes strayed from the eastern horizon to the sun sail. Her stomach tightened around its meager contents as she considered all the possible ways this could go very wrong very quickly.

Venn was almost surely in pursuit, though unlikely to sail at night, especially near the whirl. In spite of having a radio of their own, the Bullets had jumped to a new channel, preventing them from listening in. If Venn had called for assistance, there could be dozens of ships in pursuit already. If the Beacon didn’t make it to Cloudbreak, it would be because they were dead in the water or in Fiveson Venn’s hold.

And if they did make it to Cloudbreak and Hesperus refused them aid, how would she ensure her crew didn’t slowly starve to death in those sparse waters?

All she wanted was to keep them alive. She would find a way. She had to.

She pulled every strand of fear that wove through her gut and her lungs, or coiled in her belly, into a single cord. Taken altogether, her fears would be her strength. She would make sure of it.