As she drew closer to her target, the battle shifted suddenly. It was as if all at once, the Bullets understood her goal and together turned their sights away from her fleet and onto her. They approached from all sides, firing relentlessly. The shield sparked and snapped. Fire flashed across the nose of her ship and for a second the mouth of the tunnel was lost behind a wall of smoke.

When it cleared, what she saw made her stomach drop.

A crusher was aimed right at her. And Caledonia suspected that no matter what kind of tech the Hands of the River had on their small boats, it wouldn’t matter when that prow hit them dead-on.

The slender wheel vibrated against her slick palms. She wasn’t going to make it. Either she changed course now or she would feel the full, punishing effect of that ship’s substantial prow.

But before she could do anything, another ship surged into her peripheral vision. Caledonia recognized it as the Blade. Sledge’s command. And all at once she knew exactly what he was going to do.

The Blade swept in, gaining speed as they arched like an arrow flying through the air. Ice gripped Caledonia’s lungs. The Blade soared ahead of her just in time to slam into the crusher.

The air fractured around the sound of impact. The nose of Sledge’s ship vanished inside the crusher and plumes of angry fire jumped into the sky. Explosions chewed along the hulls of both ships, ripping into steel with ferocious teeth.

Smoke and debris flew across Caledonia’s vision even as the way ahead cleared.

But the Blade burned.

She could not stop now, though for a moment she thought her heart might. The screams were blistering, and the last thing she saw before she ducked her head low, aimed for the tunnel, was Sledge’s crew leaping from the aft deck of the Blade, their bodies bright with flame.

There was nothing she could do. She heard the electric snap as the Hands of the River disengaged their shield and peeled away, and then darkness enveloped her.

She recognized the dank smell, the strange wet coolness of the air as she zipped down the corridor. Within seconds, she’d spotted the bright end of the tunnel, and soon she was through the Net.

The other side of the megaship was strangely quiet. With one hand on the wheel, Caledonia turned to search for signs of pursuit or anyone ready to fire on her from above, but there was no one here. They were all focused on the battle raging on the other side.