“It’s a garnet. Unpolished,” Hesperus explained. “I found that one on my first day in Cloudbreak and have carried it with me ever since. It’s always reminded me of how much more there is to this place than I’ll ever be able to discover, how much there is to protect for myself and others.”

It was a talisman. Several of her girls carried small symbols of the past that helped them look into an otherwise dim future. Even she carried one, though the knife sheathed at her waist was less hopeful than most.

“Hesperus, I—”

He held up a hand, brushing away the protest in her voice. “In a way, it’s always reminded me of you.” He lifted his broad shoulders in a shrug. “Though I am not enough of a poet to say why.”

There was a smooth spot on the top of the stone where Hesperus must have worried his thumb thousands of times. The rest was shrouded in a rough exterior, as though the only way to uncover the truths hidden inside was through the constant pressure of a friendly touch.

Caledonia could think of no better comparison for herself, though she was certain Hesperus didn’t recognize the perfection of his gift. He could not know that she had always imagined her girls as stones.

“Thank you, Hesperus. This is poetry enough for me.” She closed her fist around the gift and added, “Next time we run the drill, I want you with Viridian Fleet.”

CHAPTER NINE

Two weeks after their return to Cloudbreak Caledonia was itching to return to the sea, but every day conspired to keep her bound to land.

Rogue ships continued to arrive, Amina successfully modified a tow with enough explosive to sink a ship, and with Nettle’s clever assistance, Kae was certain they were mere moments away from cracking soiltech. It all pointed to one thing: staying put.

Her days were endless rounds of finding problems and solving them while trusting that time would give them the tows and soiltech they needed to move forward with their plan. All she had to do was keep everyone prepared for the moment it came together.

Still, in the back of her mind, she could not quell the haunting voice that whispered a name over and over again like a slithering ocean breeze: Donnally. She could not subdue the ever-present fear that her brother had become the monster she was destined to kill. Her thoughts dragged her back to that moment on the Titan when he’d refused to go with her, and her dreams cut darker trails through her mind, conjuring memories she could not claim of the violent murders of Fivesons Decker, Venn, and Tassos.

This, at least, she could do something about.

“I’m going to talk to her,” Caledonia told Oran as she slipped a jacket over her arms.