‘Should be quiet there,’ he says. ‘I reckon the Accord has forgotten the place exists. Far as I know they don’t even drop water anymore.’

‘Sounds wonderful,’ the General mutters.

‘Quiet or not, we shouldn’t leave the ship,’ I tell her.

‘I’ll do as I please.’

I glare at her, but she just glares back. Friendly as Silas seems, I don’t know how far we can trust him.

Rook, the Augur said, Longrider…

‘It’s not only the Seekers I’m worried about.’ I sigh. ‘We had a… run-in with the Rooks a few days ago. We need to stay away from them too.’

‘Moloney’s Rooks?’ Silas whistles. ‘What did you do?’

‘Shot down one of their filthy birds.’ The General smirks. ‘Bastards had it coming.’

Silas looks impressed. ‘I don’t doubt that. Look, don’t worry. Charis might not be faster than a Rook but she’s well equipped. I’ll know if someone is following. And it’s unlikely anyone could have gotten ahead of us.’

When he goes back to the controls, I take the General aside.

‘We have to be careful,’ I tell her sharply.

‘Of that hophead?’ She snorts. ‘I’m amazed he can even fly straight.’

‘Not just him. We don’t know how far the Augur’s influence stretches. And if Moloney finds out we were at the Pit, what we did—’

‘We? I seem to remember you did the lion’s share of the killing. Or have you forgotten?’

‘I didn’t have any choice.’

She lets out a noise of disgust. ‘Typical Limiter.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘There is always a choice, Low. You cowards never had any idea of consequences. You had your theories and romantic notions, but when it came to action you whined and moaned and said we pushed you into things you didn’t want to do. But still, you did them. The Accord taught me to live with my decisions before I was even allowed to pick up a gun.’ She sneers at me. ‘People don’t care about your reasons for killing them when they’re dead.’

With that, she stalks back towards her bunk, leaving me alone.

Numb, I wander onto the flight deck. As I enter, Silas is putting down the transmitter.

‘Just checking in with At Least,’ he says. ‘They’ve got fuel, and the good news is, they haven’t seen anyone else for five days.’

I nod.

‘Gabi alright?’ he asks.

‘Gabi,’ I repeat, unable to hold back the bitterness in my voice. ‘That’s not what she usually goes by.’

‘Maybe,’ he shrugs, ‘but like I said, this is now, not the past.’ He pokes at a loose wire in the transmitter. ‘How did you come to be travelling together, anyway? And from the Pit? Doesn’t seem like there’s much love lost between you.’

‘Things just worked out this way.’