Finally the noises of the fight fade away, replaced by the sound of heavy footsteps above, laden with the take from the ship. I roll up the trainer deck doors and dive into the sea behind the Minnow. The sun’s gone down, but the waters are lit with dancing flames. My stomach churns as I take in exactly what Santa Elena has done to the ship we hit.

It’s burning from the inside out.

They fought back viciously, and this is how they paid for it. I shudder, imagining what would have happened to the hundreds of people aboard the Nereid if I’d thrown Durga into battle instead of reining her in.

Bao perks up once he realizes that the water is within his reach again, and this time he needs no signals or encouraging. He kicks and scrabbles against the deck until he topples back into the NeoPacific with a shriek. The water paralyzes him and for a moment he simply floats, catatonic. After all the stress he’s been through today, he’s as at-risk as he was when he first hatched, and I realize with a sinking feeling that I’m going to have to sleep on the trainer deck to keep an eye on him for the next few days.

With the flames from the ship heating it, the water’s unnaturally warm for a night in the middle of the ocean. I let myself hang for a moment, watching as the hull blisters and crackles. We’ll be underway soon. If the ship managed to get out a distress call, there’ll be aircraft inbound to pick up the pieces.

If the wreck wasn’t so … on fire, I could find somewhere to hide. Somewhere the pirates wouldn’t realize I’d slipped away, where I could wait for the searchers to come. Provided they’re coming.

But the ship is on fire. Just a blazing ruin, a star of heat in the middle of the ocean. The closest thing I had to a chance at escaping is now a smoldering heap of metal, waiting for the sea to consume it.

I could probably construct it as a cosmic sign, a flashing neon banner emblazoned with the words YOUR LAST CHANCE AT FREEDOM. I’m not likely to get another.

The trainer deck hatch is still locked, but there are other ways of getting into the Minnow, and now that Bao’s back in the water, there isn’t much more that I can do for him. A righteous anger crackles through me as I swim around the ship’s portside and find a series of handholds built into the hull. My grip is unsteady, and several times I plunge back into the water and have to start all over again, but I’m on a mission. I’m not going to let some slippery ladder be the thing that stops me tonight.