Atlanta approached the captain. She was still not sure what to make of this strange woman. She knew who she was, of course—everyone knew of the disaster at Rourke’s Leap, and the moment that had taken the newly promoted Admiral Larsen and turned her back into a captain. The “Ten-Hour Admiral” was the subject of comic skits and songs among those who hated the Holy Hive Mind and anything linked with it—and there were plenty who’d suffered at their hands.

Atlanta had never wondered at the personality behind the legend or what kind of woman it was who could step aside and let herself be cast down like that in the name of peace. Some Paxians made fun of that choice, and Atlanta had always thought that ungrateful of them. Of course a soldier would be willing to sacrifice not just their body but their future, too, if it was in the name of a cause they served.

Now she thought perhaps Captain Larsen was much more complicated than any of the stories about her. The strange way her people addressed her, for one, that odd mixture of respect and familiarity. The way Dabry had raised an eyebrow at the bet with the Plerium but gone along with it, trusting her. The closeness between them at all.

Atlanta had not been raised with people of her own age, had not been allowed to let anyone close. Close meant they could manipulate you, and that was not something an heir to an empire could indulge in. And now, while she’d always told herself she didn’t miss it, she ached at the way Niko’s crew acted toward one another, and sometimes, when they spoke to her that way, stretched out to her, it threatened to bring tears to her eyes.

“Captain,” she said, letting none of this enter her tone, “Dabry said the IAPH was a worse place than Scourse. Why?”

Niko unfolded her arms, turning away from the window’s cloudy light to face Atlanta fully. “That is an excellent question, and the truth of it lies in the fact that this will not be the first time I have visited that place.”

“You’ve been there before?”

Niko nodded.

Atlanta thought. “But then surely you will already know the place and its customs, perhaps even have made a few friends…” Her voice trailed away at Niko’s headshake before resuming. “… Or enemies.”

“There you have it,” Niko said. “Enemies.”