“It is good to see you, Mino,” she called back, surprised at how easily those words came to her. She was glad to see her, if only because it would make getting to Hesperus that much easier.

“Is it?” The woman slid her gaze down the length of the ship where several of Caledonia’s crew had gathered. “You look more like a Bullet than the last time I saw you.”

“Captain.” Amina’s gentle voice was in her ear. “I see gunners on these islands. This could very well be a trap.”

Caledonia nodded once to indicate she’d heard the warning, then she smiled and stepped forward. “Sometimes the best disguise is the uniform of your enemy.”

“Why have you brought Bullets to my port?”

“They aren’t Bullets,” she called, and when Mino raised a skeptical eyebrow, she added, “Not anymore.”

“And your ship?” Mino frowned at the Beacon, dissatisfaction scrawled across her face. “Looks like one of the Father’s.”

There was no point in lying, though Caledonia’s stomach twisted. “It was. It’s mine now. And it needs repair. I’ve come to trade with your brother for that and more, if you’ll let us pass.”

“You have something to trade?”

“I believe I left a collection of very valuable solar scales in your possession last time I was here.” She raised her chin and gestured to the line of her crew. “We’ve come to collect on that debt. But in addition, I have an offer I think he’s going to want to hear.”

Mino’s expression dipped toward suspicion, but instead of pushing back, she nodded. “All right, Captain, but you can’t dock that here. Follow me.”

The woman disappeared into the protected cabin of her bridge, spinning up her engines. She led them through the breaker islands and past the wharf where several ships occupied the docks and figures could be seen loading goods for trade onto the rope lift pallets. Mino bypassed it all and led them straight into the canals.

Like last time, the entry was difficult to detect, but unlike last time they were sailing at a reasonable speed. Making the turn was decidedly easier, and soon the sheer canal walls rose on either side of the Beacon. The purr of their engines filled the air, accompanied by the rush and splash of water against rocks.

“This is not a good situation.” Sledge was on the command deck now. His shoulders were hunched and his eyes bounced nervously from one wall to the other as though he saw something they didn’t. “Not a good situation at all.”

“We’ve sailed these canals before,” Pisces soothed, always so intuitive.

“Yeah but . . .”

“He doesn’t like small spaces,” Pine explained.

“We’ve been living on a ship.” Amina sounded incredulous.