But before the command was out of her mouth, the waves slapping at the sleek hulls of Silver Fleet sparked with blue-white electricity.

Nine ships flashed against the deep blue of the water.

Lightning cracked across steel plates. It leapt from the tips of waves, striking out with deadly kisses. The air snapped and even though the Luminous Wake was some distance away, they heard the screams of their crewmates as they tore through the sky.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

It was over in the space of a breath.

“Harwell,” Caledonia said, voice as flat and cool as ice. “Radio Silver Fleet.”

“Yes, Captain.” Harwell’s hushed voice filled the small cabin as he repeated the words, “Silver Fleet, come in,” three times with no response.

The only other time they’d seen this kind of tech had been in the electrified hull of Electra. Not even Amina’s small nets had had the power to turn an entire ship into a live wire. Caledonia tried not to imagine how terrible that shock must have been as fear slowly expanded in her throat.

They could be alive.

They could be dead.

And there were still ten Bullet ships she needed to consider. They held their position on the opposite side of Silver Fleet. Ten noses aimed straight ahead. Threatening her without moving. Behind them, the cannons atop the tall ships of the Net seemed to watch them through hollow unblinking eyes.

Harwell repeated his message to Silver Fleet once more. Then, in the long stretch of static that scratched at their ears, came a pattern of clicks.

“I think it’s them, Captain,” Harwell said, unsure but hopeful. “Maybe . . . maybe the electricity knocked out their receiver.”

The clicks continued, randomly to Caledonia’s ears, but it was enough to give her a sliver of hope.

“We’ve got eyes on!” Tin called from the command deck, a scope pressed to one eye as she pointed toward the stern of Silver Fleet’s flagship. “They’re alive!”

Relief swelled through the bridge. Nettle gave a whoop and Harwell lowered his forehead to the comm station. Pisces reached for Caledonia’s hand and squeezed.

Oran came up behind her. “We’re not in the clear yet.”

All of Silver Fleet was dead in the water. The ten Bullet ships revved their engines once more, daring Caledonia to send more of her fleet into whatever web lay just beneath the waves waiting to stun their systems. If this were any other kind of fight, they might drive around the blockade of stilled ships and engage the Bullets. But they needed more from this encounter than a fight.

“Drive us in closer, Nettle. Just a bit,” Caledonia commanded. “Harwell, tell the others to hang back.”

The water sped by, peeling away from the hull like wings. The closer they came, the more the Bullet ships seemed to shift, as though itching to drive out and meet them. But they held position.