Not long ago, punching the Net had been the dream. The line of ships stretched from the Holster to the tip of this very archipelago a mere ten miles southeast of their current position. Aric had put it in place so long ago, Caledonia didn’t know a world without it. There were stories, of course, of the few daring ships that made it through and found better lives on the other side, but they were only stories. Told by people who needed to believe there was something more to this world than Bullets and Scythes, Ballistics and Fivesons.

But Caledonia had never spoken to anyone who’d seen the other side. Not even Oran knew. The stories were nothing more than dreams repeated so frequently that someone somewhere along the way took them as truth.

Without Aric in the picture, the Net was as much a question as it was a promise. Maybe they could make it through or maybe Tassos was every bit as terrible as Lir himself. None of that changed the fact that no one knew what the world was like on the other side.

And Caledonia had decided to fight for this one.

“I’m sorry, Cala. I know Donnally is here and I—I didn’t mean to suggest that we leave him. I was just looking for solutions,” Pisces said, mistaking Caledonia’s silence for reluctance.

“It’s not that,” Caledonia admitted, though part of her thought it should have been. “It’s that punching the Net feels like giving up. It feels like breaking the promise I’ve made to everyone who’s still with us. They’re ready to fight and push ahead. I just want to make sure I’m giving them the right fight. A smart one. With a group this size, we can only hide for so long.”

The light turned gray and blue as the sun stitched itself down into the horizon. Above, the stars were just starting to push pinpricks of light through the darkening sky and the wind carried a chilly edge.

“We need a bigger army,” Pisces repeated.

She was right. To pursue any of the paths Caledonia could see before them, they needed more people, more ships. But now that they’d been pushed into hiding, no one else would be able to find them, and it didn’t matter anyway because their defeat at Cloudbreak would likely dissuade any Slaggers or colonists or rogue ships from joining her, or any more Bullets from defecting. At least not to her. Maybe they would leave Lir for Tassos. He was the only one who might have the power to stand against Lir.

Frustration built quickly in Caledonia’s chest. “Pi, I just can’t see what to do next. Every possible way forward looks choppy and impassable.”

Pisces gave a humorless laugh. “When have choppy waters held you back?”