As one, her crew paused to acknowledge her. They’d been working around the clock and exhaustion showed in their eyes, but there was also a new kind of energy, a vibrance and sense of wonder at having defeated the sprawling beast that had hunted them for so long. What did that mean for tomorrow? None of them knew.

“As you were,” Caledonia said, releasing them back to their duties and turning her own steps toward the lookout atop the bridge.

It was well past dawn as Caledonia began to climb. She moved slowly at first, trying to find the movements that didn’t pull at her stitches, then she rushed upward. Hand over hand, she pulled herself up and up, relishing the moment sweat kissed her skin and the burn of the sun at her back. When she reached the high platform, she planted her feet wide and turned to survey the fleet.

There were more ships than she could count, stitching the Luminous Wake into the center of a glittering tapestry that pooled against the Net. Later, it would be dismantled, carefully and systematically, but for now, it was enough to contain it.

At first glance, the press of ships was overwhelming, but the longer she let her eyes play over their shapes, the more evidence she found of order. Her own fleet was organized in long rows extending out from the Net like blades of grass. In between those blades were Bullet ships in various states of disrepair. Crowning the whole system were the slender ships of the Hands of the River, and beyond those were the bale barges Lir had managed to slip out of the Holster.

They’d been harnessed together into a kind of island and were covered in thousands of baleflowers. Their orange petals thrived in the sun, each one burning against the sea like a tiny spark of fire. The sight of them left Caledonia uneasy. They were lovely and dangerous and the urge to eradicate them was a constant thrumming in her blood, but destroying them wasn’t the answer. In that way, they were a little like Bullets. The next part of this fight wasn’t going to be about blood and guns, it was going to be about hearts and minds. She had to let both exist if she wanted them to change.

These were the new Bullet Seas. They would need a new name. One that promised something other than violence and fear. Sledge had taught her the power of names. The sooner they stopped calling people Bullets, the sooner they’d stop acting like them.