They’d arrived at the very far end of the wharf where the small collection of volunteer ships nestled together. There were seven ships in all; some large, some small. They were outmatched against Aric’s fleet, but it was better than nothing.

The captains stood on deck, eyes tracking Caledonia as she approached her own small boat. They were an odd assortment of men and women in all stages of life, though none was as young as she. Given the time, she’d have liked to speak with each of them, to know what it was that compelled them to agree to this plan. To know for herself that they would follow her. But she didn’t have the luxury of time. Instead, she nodded to each in turn, hoping at least a portion of her gratitude came through in the small gesture.

“They’re with you, Captain,” Pine assured her softly. “Trust me.”

Pine guided her down the dock to where Mino’s boat waited to take her to the Luminous Wake. The tender’s engine was already growling when she stepped aboard.

“Pine,” she said, catching his eyes. “Stay steely.”

“Keep to your tides, Captain,” he said, as he turned and jogged toward his deepship.

The second Caledonia took her seat, the boat rushed forward, zipping quickly out of the harbor and through the channels of the breaker islands. In their wake, the seven volunteer vessels made ready and followed while the deepships snapped their hatches shut and sank beneath the surface of the ocean. For a few precious moments, Caledonia could read their trails in the water as clearly as if they sailed atop it, but as they descended, they grew harder and harder to track until they were gone altogether. She smothered the pinch of panic in her lungs with a reminder that this was exactly what would give them an edge over Aric.

The Luminous Wake now carried a crew of only twenty, and the deck felt nearly empty with so few bodies. After spending weeks with a crew of seventy-five, it felt almost lonely. But there was Nettle at the helm, and there were Amina and her Knots perched on all the highest points of the ship, and there was Hime standing ready with the deck crew.

“Nettle!” Caledonia called as she came aboard. “Take us out at half speed! Make sure we give those deepships time to get between us and them.”

“Yes, Captain!”

Nettle had them moving in an instant. The engines purred and the propellers churned, and they pulled away from the breaker islands at a moderate pace with the seven volunteer ships fanned out on either side of them like wings. The power of that promise was bolstering. This was what it felt like to go into battle with more than a single gun at her hip, a single ship at her call.