Half of the bridge crew hit the ground. Caledonia was thrown against the wall, her head smacking against the steel barrier. Pain burst behind her eyes, her vision flashing white as she regained her feet.

“Three degrees starboard, Nettle, NOW!”

Nettle did as she commanded, pulling the ship off the wall and back into the center of the canal.

“Cover!” Oran shouted on the forward deck just before a missile exploded against the hull.

Caledonia felt the sudden flush of warmth at her back and knew without looking that the missile had struck their nose. Judging by the stuttering vibration in the deck, it had struck them hard.

This wasn’t sustainable. But it didn’t have to be. It just had to last a little longer.

“We’re closing in,” she told Nettle, keeping her voice steady. “Just hold on.”

“Three hundred yards, Captain,” Harwell said, having rightly guessed her mind. He stood by the map table tucked in the back corner of the small room, one hand braced against the bulkhead for stability.

She nodded, her mind on the task of getting them safely through those three hundred yards. Though her crew had spent plenty of time training in the canals, including reversal maneuvers, they’d never trained at these speeds. It was hard enough to thread these narrow channels when you were pointed in the right direction.

But she had the finest crew on the seas.

“Engines to full,” she ordered.

There was collective shift in the room, a ratcheting of tension visible only in the sudden press of lips or narrowing of eyes. All except for Nettle. If anything, the order seemed to relax her, as though the final piece of this outrageous plan had fallen into place and there was nothing left to surprise her. In that way, she and Caledonia were exactly alike; they didn’t crack under pressure, they settled beneath it.

Blood slipped down from Caledonia’s temple, but the pain was gone, replaced by the rush of battle. All the uncertainty and sorrow she’d felt as they fled Cloudbreak was muted beneath the demands of the moment. Here, in the midst of battle, her mind was clear and her heart calm.

Another missile exploded against the hull, this time with enough force to send the ship skimming against the wall. Rocks rained down from high above as Caledonia issued instructions to Nettle.

“Two hundred yards, Captain!” Harwell called in a voice pulled taut.

“Be prepared for a full reverse on my mark! We need to be fast, our redirect as tight as we’ve ever done.” Caledonia looked over the familiar faces of her bridge crew, knowing they understood her intentions.