If Ennick was surprised at how quickly Caledonia accepted the news, he didn’t show it.

“None,” he said. “He got on the radio and made the one promise Tassos’s Bullets couldn’t refuse.”

“Silt,” Oran said.

“They let him right in,” Ennick confirmed.

It wasn’t a trick, but it felt like one. Instead of tripling his resources at Slipmark, Lir had gambled on the Net. And he’d won. It didn’t matter that they’d left ships behind. It didn’t matter that everyone knew Tassos had the Silt Rig peppered with bombs and the trigger to blow them. Lir had called that bluff and won.

“We need to move before he has a chance to shore up his defenses. So, I want options and I want them now.” Caledonia cast her gaze around the room.

Why should we move at all? Hime asked. We have the Holster. We can defend it and anyone who comes here seeking refuge. We don’t have to move to resist him.

Unclipping the black box from her own waistband, Caledonia placed it on the table. “We should move because right now, we have an advantage.”

“The trigger,” Pisces said softly as Hime reached for it, turning it over and over before she popped the lid to inspect it.

“The trigger,” she confirmed. “That rig is set to blow, but according to Cepheus, this only works in close proximity.”

“According to Cepheus?” Pine asked. “How do you know that isn’t a trick to get you to return to the Net?”

“Cepheus wouldn’t lie,” Pisces said hurriedly.

“Wouldn’t she?” Pine countered. “You’ve known her for two minutes, Pi.”

“I tried to blow it yesterday morning.” Caledonia turned her attention to Ennick. “Was the rig still there when you arrived?”

“We weren’t close enough to put eyes on it, but we didn’t see anything to suggest it wasn’t,” he said. “The wind was calm enough that we’d have seen smoke.”

“She wasn’t lying.” Pisces gave Pine a hard look.

“Maybe.” He shrugged.

“How close do we need to be?” Sledge asked.

“Cepheus said a mile and a half,” Caledonia answered.

“Can we boost the signal?” Sledge turned to Hime for this one.

Hime paused to consider. Not without rebuilding the trigger. And even then, it’s not a guarantee.

“Then we’ll have to be at the Net,” Caledonia said.

“Well, someone will have to be at the Net.” Sledge leaned forward, forearms crossing the narrow table. “Send us,” he said, tipping his head toward Pine. “We can slip in, get close enough to push the button, and get out of there before they know what’s what.”

“Or just send me,” Pine added quickly. “No reason to put more than one of us at risk. Especially on the word of Tassos’s second.”

Pisces shifted, but didn’t rise to the bait.