Nothing distracted from an aching heart like preparing for battle. Caledonia let the work consume every minute of the day and as much of the night as she could bear before collapsing in her bed. The sounds of ship repair in the harbor provided a continuous melody, weaving night into day into night as work teams rotated in overlapping shifts. The entire town stirred and buzzed with an intense kind of focus, never resting.

Oran made himself a shadow at Caledonia’s side, but she saw the rest of her command crew in passing. Sledge and Pine on their way to or from the perimeter where they continued their efforts to reconstruct one of the two destroyed towers; Hime and Ares as they did all they could to ease the suffering of the Bullets coming through their sweats; Tin and the Mary sisters locating every available resource the Holster had to offer and figuring out how to use it; and Pisces only when she came to report on the status of their fleet.

Two days into their work, Pisces rushed to Caledonia’s side, her eyes bright and a hint of pink darkening her sunny brown cheeks. “Cala,” she said, reaching for her hand and pulling her to a stop. Oran stopped, too, stepping back to give them privacy.

The day was warm, and the sky overhead whirled with gulls and puffy white clouds. All around the harbor was a flurry of sound and action, but it all paled in comparison to how good it felt to hear her sister call her Cala.

“What is it?” she asked.

A smile spread on Pisces’s face before she’d even said the word: “Babies.”

Caledonia shook her head, laughing. “What do you mean?”

“Two. There were two babies born today.” She raised a hand and pointed up the hill, toward the part of town where they’d secured all the children and women bearing them. “The first two born in this Holster. Your Holster.”

Babies. There were babies here. That wasn’t a surprise. She’d known there would be, but as Pisces clasped her hands to her chest and continued to smile that beautiful smile, Caledonia understood exactly why this brought her sister so much joy.

If they succeeded in what came next, those children would never know the devastating pull of Silt. These were the first children of the world they were trying so hard to change.

Caledonia laughed. “That is good news,” she said. “Very good news.”

“It’s good to feel happy about something that isn’t a weapon or a fleet or a battle.” She shrugged and her smile faded so quickly it was like a cloud moved across the sun. “I’m not mad, Cala,” she said. “I know why you used the star blossom bombs when you did. You saved the battle. You saved us. I just wish you’d let me help you.”