“Any ideas?” said Falconi. He looked toward Itari. “How about you, squid? Got anything that can help us?”

Kira translated the question, and the Jelly replied. [[Itari here: If we can swim inside, and if I can find a node to access the Reticulum of the Battered Hierophant, then I will be able to locate the exact location of Ctein.]]

Hwa-jung seemed to perk up. “Reticulum? What is—”

“Ask later,” said Falconi. “What do these nodes look like?”

[[Itari here: Like squares of stars. They are located at junctions throughout every ship, for ease of communication.]]

“I might have seen one before,” Kira said, remembering the first Jelly ship she’d been on.

[[Itari here: Once we know where Ctein is, there are drop tubes that grant passage throughout the decks. We can use them to travel quickly.]]

Nielsen said, “Are you going to be able to help us, Itari? Or will your genetic programming get in the way?”

[[Itari here: As long as you do not mention why we are there … yes, I should be able to help.]] A red band of unease crept across its tentacles.

“Should be able to help,” said Falconi. “Bah.”

Sparrow looked worried. “The second the Jellies get a fix on us, they’re going to swarm us.”

“No,” said Falconi. “They’re going to swarm her.” He motioned at Kira. “You keep them off our backs, Kira, and we’ll keep them off yours.”

She mentally prepared herself for the challenge, determined. “I’ll do it.”

Falconi grunted. “We just have to find one of these nodes. That’s our first objective. After that, we go kill ourselves a Jelly. Hey—” He turned toward Jorrus and Veera, who were crouched in one corner, gripping each other’s forearms while they whispered back and forth. “What about you, Questants? Sure you’re up for this?”

The Entropists picked up their weapons and stood. They were still garbed in their gradient robes, faces exposed. Kira wondered how they intended to survive vacuum, much less a laser blast.

“Yes, thank you, Prisoner,” said Veera.

“We would not wish to be anywhere but here,” said Jorrus. Still, both of the Entropists looked queasy.

A bark of cynical laughter escaped Sparrow. “That’s more than I can say, I’ll tell you what.”

Falconi cleared his throat. “Don’t think I’m going all soft, but uh, a man couldn’t ask for a better crew than you lot. Just thought I’d say that.”

“Well, you make a pretty good captain, Captain,” said Nielsen.

“Most of the time,” said Hwa-jung.

“Most of the time,” Sparrow agreed.

The intercom flicked on, and Gregorovich said, “Contact in sixty seconds. Please secure yourselves, my delicate little meatbags. We’re in for a bumpy ride.”

Vishal shook his head. “Ah. That is not comforting. Not at all.” Nielsen touched her forehead and murmured something in an undertone.

Kira switched to her overlays. Ahead of them, she saw the Battered Hierophant on swift approach. Up close, the Jelly ship appeared even more massive: round and white, with spindles and antennas protruding along its bulky midsection. The hole blasted by the Casaba-Howitzer had exposed a long stack of decks within the ship: dozens upon dozens of chambers of unknown function now exposed to the cold of space. Floating within, she spotted several Jellies, some still alive, most dead and surrounded with icicles of frozen ichor.