“We never want to take the ships any deeper than this in the canals.” Hesperus walked from one end of the cabin to the other, craning over their shoulders to check various gauges. “The canals run a little deeper than this, but not by much. Thirty feet keeps us low enough to avoid any keelers and high enough to avoid gouging our own belly on the bottom. It’s a little easier in the open ocean, of course. Better light all around, for one thing; more space, for another.”

“How far are we going today?” Caledonia asked, doing everything in her power to keep the tension in her voice invisible.

Hesperus paused before answering, “Not too far.” And even though Caledonia strongly suspected he’d adjusted his plans based on her, she didn’t challenge him.

He guided them down the winding channel until they entered an area he called the pool. Even without having a full view of the space, Caledonia sensed the change around them. The walls opened wide, pulling away on either side and letting more light filter through.

“Now we have room to play.” Hesperus was brimming with a new energy Caledonia almost didn’t recognize in the man. He was excited. “Let’s give her some power, and I’ll show you exactly how she moves.”

Within moments, they’d gone from their serene, almost dreamy pace to barreling through the water like a shark. Their engines hummed so loudly through the cabin they had to shout to be heard.

Caledonia slid her palms over her thighs one at a time, then gripped the wheel tightly. Ahead, the water was clear for a mere thirty or forty feet, and they rushed forward with incredible speed. There was no way to read the water down here. There was only the sweep of the ground beneath and the flat blue ahead—right up until the moment there was something else in their path, of course. She kept her gaze alert, pinned to the spaces where rocks might suddenly appear or fish, anything that could crash against their hull and cause trouble. Or drowning. Which seemed the more likely outcome of any encounter.

“Getting the feel for it?” Hesperus asked. Without waiting for an answer from anyone, he continued, “We’re going to back off propulsion and get ready to reverse control. Nettle, take the wheel. Pine, jump on thrusters. Fiveson, don’t touch anything.”

The ship eased out of speed and for a moment, they cruised smoothly forward. Then Hesperus gave the order to reverse control. There was a loud groan as gears complied with the request; the propellers at the rear folded into the base of the ship while the propellers at the fore unfolded. The light indicating Caledonia had control blipped out, and her wheel locked into position. There was no way she might accidentally resume control and compromise the ship’s course from here.

“All right, let’s spin her back up.”