Narwhal looked over in the direction of the biker and Fallen we’d collected. Afflicted by Mama, they were dealing with the worst she could deal with.

“We’re backing off anyway, and they aren’t pressing hard. We’ll figure out another angle,” I added, sounding as confident as I could. It felt strange to try to convince someone of Narwhal’s stature. “Maybe figure out how to help them.”

“We can try some things once we get far enough out, and that’s why I’m mindful of wasted time,” Narwhal said. “I miss having thinkers, but we couldn’t conscience bringing them with us, with the risk. They could crack this and help those people. It’s frustrating.”

“It is,” I said. I glanced at Rain.

And there’s Tattletale, ignoring Kenzie’s calls, doing something out there, I thought. I don’t know if she could crack this, but she doesn’t seem too interested in trying.

Narwhal turned to the Capricorn-Vista pair.

“Right now we need steady and reliable, with no surprises. Please,” Narwhal said, with emphasis on the please. “And no more small talk. Let’s stay focused on the mission. I overheard when I caught up to you two. We should save the… complex inter-cape interactions for later.”

Oh, so she’d noticed too.

“Got it, ma’am,” Capricorn said.

Vista didn’t voice her response, and from the way she held herself, I wondered if it was because she didn’t feel comfortable speaking in the moment. She only nodded.

“Vista,” Narwhal said. “Can you cover our flank?”

“Narwhal, ma’am,” Capricorn said. “She does help me put them up faster and better. I’d like her to keep helping. You don’t need to separate us. We’ll stick to what we know works, and we work well together.”

“Vista,” Narwhal spoke in a lower voice, not taking her eyes off of Capricorn. “From what I know of your power, you don’t need to be close to make it work.”

“No ma’am, but I have to put it between the trees and it helps if I’m not too far away, so I can see instead of only feeling.”

“I’ve been aligning the walls to work with her on that,” Capricorn said.

“No small talk,” Narwhal said. “You can stand further back and keep an eye on more of our flank while you work, Vista.”

“Yes ma’am,” Vista said.

Fluke grabbed Narwhal’s attention, and she reached up and over for a forcefield that appeared over her hand, gliding over to him.

“That sucked,” Capricorn said. He was working on the wall again. “I generally pride myself on being a kickass, professional cape, and I just got told off by someone global in stature.”

“I’m on the exact same page as you, Cap,” Vista said. “Except I was a Ward, not a shill, and that’s my actual boss.”