Caledonia’s head snapped up. A Bullet stood next to their table with a broad, eager grin on his face. Next to her she felt Pine coiling like a spring ready to strike.

The Bullet’s smile grew as he said loudly enough for the room to hear, “Is this our limp fish clip? Sailed into port with a broken screw and nothing to show for it?”

Smirks cascaded through the surrounding tables, and Caledonia’s pulse jumped. But a light touch on her thigh told her not to panic. Caledonia nodded just enough that Pine would know she understood.

Sledge sat up taller. “I am no limp fish,” he announced.

The Bullet raised a hand, dangling a dead fish from his fingertips. It was only a few inches long. Whole, unskinned, and certainly uncooked. “Prove it.” He held the fish toward Sledge.

The room was waiting for something. They’d stopped eating and turned to watch the scene unfolding here. Caledonia looked from the Bullet to Sledge, hoping the confusion didn’t show on her face.

After a long moment, Sledge stood and took the dead fish. The Bullets surrounding them began to drum their fingers on tables. Then Sledge tipped his head back and swallowed the fish whole.

The room erupted in cheers. Sledge and the Bullet clasped hands, and everyone returned to their meals. Whatever that was, it had worked. They’d been welcomed into the mess hall as if they belonged there.

“That could have been worse,” Pine whispered.

Caledonia only shook her head, driving her fork into a piece of salty meat and taking a bite. Between the murdered Bullet and the dead fish, her stomach was uninterested in food, but she ate anyway. There were vegetables she couldn’t name, grains she’d only ever had as a dried ingredient in seed cake, and the meat was so tender she could rip it apart almost as easily as bread. This was far more than she’d ever seen growing on Aric’s AgriFleet. More often than not, those ships supported primarily baleflowers, not crops, certainly not animals. There was more to Aric’s farming operation than she’d ever imagined.

She was just distracted enough that she didn’t immediately notice the moment a new tension warmed the hall. Sledge straightened in his seat, seeming to grow by at least a foot as he glowered over the heads of his Blades. In an instant, the chatter in the room shifted from a low, companionable murmur to something more frenzied and excitable.

Panic slicked down Caledonia’s spine like a cold sweat. She dropped her fork and scanned the room, sure that the boy in the alley had been discovered and they would be next. But instead of people entering the mess hall, she saw the opposite. Bullets were quickly clearing their tables and rushing from the room.