Caledonia’s throat squeezed. She blinked fiercely and nodded, reflecting her friend’s gentle strength. “I want to fight.”

Pisces’s eyes narrowed. “Yes,” she said suspiciously. “You have always wanted to fight. Why are you saying it like it’s something new?”

“Hesperus has a fleet of deepships,” she admitted. “He wants me to command them.”

This time, Pisces’s mouth opened in soft surprise. “What does that mean? A fleet?”

“He has eleven deepships,” Caledonia continued in excitement. “Do you know what we could do with eleven deepships Aric doesn’t know exist?! We could change things, Pi. We could destroy the Net, take Slipmark, defend the colonies!” Hot water sloshed over her hands as her excitement grew.

“We could take a stand,” Pisces said in wonder.

“Yes! We could do so much more than we’ve ever done, but . . .”

“But what?” Pisces pressed, an echo of Caledonia’s passion lighting her eyes.

“But I made a promise to Sledge and the rest of the Blades. That I would get them through the Net if they helped me free you.” She paused, uncomfortable with what she was going to say next. “And you—I left you once. How can I ask you and the girls to fight for me again?”

Pisces studied Caledonia with a puzzled expression, as though she couldn’t believe her friend didn’t know the answer to that particular question. “Caledonia, we’ve never asked you to be perfect. We’ve only ever asked you to be ours. To fight with us and for us. And that’s what you do. Even when you stumble, you come back to us. That’s what matters most.”

“I don’t like making mistakes,” Caledonia grumbled, linking her arm through Pisces’s as the two turned slow steps toward camp. “And I wouldn’t blame them if this kind of fight was too much.”

Their boots crunched softly over fallen pine needles, and the strains of a lively camp called them forward.

“You know the crew will fight for you,” Pisces said after a moment. “What is this really about?”

She should have known Pisces would see straight into her heart. And she should have known that it would help her clarify her own thoughts. Pisces was right. She wasn’t afraid that her crew wouldn’t follow her. Not anymore. She was afraid of something else entirely.

“What if I can’t command a fleet?” she asked. “What if I make a mistake and it gets us all killed?”

Pisces nodded as though that was the answer she’d been expecting. “Nothing about this is going to be easy. Just remember that we’re fighting to change the world that forces us to make choices like this. And we’re choosing you because you keep showing us that you can do this. We trust you to keep us safe, but more than that, we trust you to help us fight well.”