Nettle only smiled, devious and delighted, as she produced a small device from a pouch at her waist. A long, slim rectangle that at the touch of a button transformed into a handheld sifter. “Soiltech,” she said proudly.

“Nettle!” Caledonia reached for the contraption.

“I knew you wanted it. And who better to figure this little barnacle out than Hesperus, the Slyest Fish in the Seas?”

Caledonia’s mind reeled with myriad possibilities. If they could crack Aric’s soiltech, find a way to reproduce it even, they could change everything. Nettle was right. She was even right about Hesperus being the one with the resources to do it, but his loyalties were still in question.

“This is precious,” Caledonia said, pressing the device back into Nettle’s hand. “But now isn’t the time for it. Keep it safe.”

“But you can’t go to him empty-handed,” she protested.

“I have something he’ll want even more than goods for trade.” A smiled played on Caledonia’s lips as the rest of her team waited for the answer. “A secret you gave me.”

Nettle couldn’t help but give a knowing smile at that. “That’ll work. But don’t let him put you off. He’s better than he wants people to believe.”

“And how do you know that?” Caledonia called, moving toward the rail.

Nettle’s mouth snapped shut. Her chin tipped up and she smiled.

“More trouble than you’re worth!” Pisces teased.

One by one, they descended the ladder with Amina insisting that she go first and Sledge dropping in last. Mino watched them arrive in silence, sizing them up with unnerving solemnity. Caledonia was sure the woman had accurately marked each gun and blade and had a reasonable idea of what it would take to disarm or overpower them. But Mino gave no indication that she found them at all troubling, and the boat sailed swiftly toward the stone stairs.

“Up” was the only word she offered as she herself disembarked and climbed onto the slick stones.

Amina kept herself at the fore, always ready to place herself between Caledonia and danger. The rest filed in behind, and together they treaded carefully up the slick stairway. They followed Mino to the narrow lip of a dock and from there toward rounded openings in the canal wall.

“I feel like I know what’s waiting for us in there,” Pisces muttered miserably.

Soon, they found themselves in a small chamber with a metal grate at the far end. Pisces’s fears flushed into her cheeks as they boarded the lift and Mino secured the grate behind them. In seconds, the lift was off the ground, zipping up the dark shaft as though unbothered by the eight bodies it carried. Wind rushed past their ears, smelling of rock and cold sky. Far above them, metal gears clicked as they turned, providing their journey with a distant rhythm.