Now Hesperus hesitated. It would be difficult to deny he’d done more than fail to hold them if he handed over charts of the Rock Isle canals. But a battle inside the breaker islands would be decidedly worse. It had taken decades for Cloudbreak to build its reputation as a safe port, but it would take only minutes to destroy it.
Kae pressed her hand to Hesperus’s arm and revealed a small tattoo nestled in the flesh between her thumb and forefinger. If Caledonia had to guess, she’d say it was a match for the one on Hesperus’s own hand and that Mino had one as well. He wasn’t lying when he said he was in the business of protecting his family.
Hesperus bared his teeth at his sister. “Yes, dammit, I’ll give them to you, but you must go. Fast.”
“I have crew in town. I won’t leave them.” Caledonia knew she was pushing the limits of Hesperus’s goodwill. But she sensed that they could be pushed just a bit further. He might not be an enemy of Aric, but he wasn’t a friend either.
“Mino.” Kae turned to her sister.
“Where?” Mino asked, releasing Amina.
“At the lifts,” Amina said. “Two girls.”
“That’s it?” Mino asked, and when both Amina and Caledonia nodded, she vanished down the stairs.
“She’ll find them and get them on the lifts. But you must follow me,” Kae said, hurrying them down a single flight of stairs. Instead of continuing down the endless stairs they’d climbed to reach the observatory, she took an immediate turn, leading them through a corridor they’d passed on their way up. Hesperus followed at first but soon broke away, hollering to Kae to hold them until he returned.
The hallway was broad enough to walk two abreast until Kae turned sharply and they passed through a wooden doorway into a narrow tunnel. The air was even colder here and smelled more richly of earth and rock. Instead of descending the side of the mountain, they were cutting through it.
Panic pressed against the focus of Caledonia’s mind, eating away at her thoughts until for a moment all she could think of was Pisces, her sister, the person who kept her heart from turning to stone. She would not leave her behind again.
Kae came to a stop before a latticed metal door and pushed it aside to reveal another lift. This one was crafted of metal, with railings wrapped around each side. It looked decidedly sturdier than the horror they’d ridden this morning.
“Get in. It will take you directly to the docks.” Kae opened a panel in the wall and began flipping levers. Lights flared muddy green and burnt orange. Distantly, Caledonia wondered if Clag operated controls like these.
“I can’t go without Pisces and Red.” Caledonia knew she wasn’t thinking clearly, that she was prioritizing her heart over her crew. Amina knew it, too. She stepped in front of her captain, pinning her with an uncompromising expression.
“On the lift, Captain.” Her hands came down on Caledonia’s shoulders, and she applied firm pressure but did not shove. “Or I’ll put you there myself.” Moving in closer, she lowered her voice. “Staying here only puts your crew at more risk. You need to trust Pisces and Red to move quickly and get to the ship. And you need to have everything ready when they get there. That’s what we trust you to do.”
She was right. Of course she was right, but Caledonia’s feet felt leaden as she boarded the lift.
The sound of footsteps rang through the tunnel. For the briefest second, Caledonia hoped it might be her girls returning with Mino, but it was only one set of footsteps. Not three.
Hesperus. He returned with a metal cylinder clutched in his hand. Sweat gleamed on his brow. He didn’t offer the cylinder immediately but held it across his body like a weapon.
“No map of the canals is completely true.” All his earlier resistance was gone. This was a different Hesperus, earnest and concerned. It was a Hesperus Caledonia instinctively trusted. “Each contains a purposeful flaw—a mistake meant to mislead those unfamiliar with the channels. It’s one of the things that keeps them impassible. On this one, it’s the northern corridors; their depth, width, length, everything is off. Sometimes by a few feet, sometimes by a lot more. Don’t trust them. Find another way and you’ll be fine.”
“You said the flaw is one of the things that keeps them impassible.” Amina was far sharper than Caledonia in this moment. “What are the others?”
Hesperus’s smile was grim as he handed over the metal cylinder. “Most of the Rock Isles are unstable. They fracture and cave daily. No map can help you with that.”
“There’s no more time,” Kae urged. She slid the cage shut between them. “You must go now.”
The lift gave a small hiccup and began to move down.
“Thank you, Lord Hesperus,” Caledonia said, tipping her head to maintain eye contact. “I won’t forget this.”
“Don’t hurt my port, Captain Styx,” Hesperus called, just before they moved out of earshot. “I hope you survive.”
The lift slid downward, picking up speed as it descended the shaft of rock. A damp wind rushed upward, bringing the familiar scents of brine and chalky sands. Though Hesperus’s stronghold was higher than the market level of Cloudbreak, the trip down seemed to take half as long as the trip up.
The lift slowed before it came to a stop, and the girls pushed the lattice door. Caledonia wasted no time. They were across the small antechamber and through the blessedly unlocked door in seconds, only to find themselves standing on the beach, mere paces from the wharf they’d left this morning.
In moments, the two girls were climbing aboard the Mors Navis. From this vantage, the Bullet ships were not yet visible and the crew had no reason to suspect anything was wrong until Caledonia sent up the cry, “Make ready! Bullets on approach!” Her crew sprang into action, readying the ship. Caledonia’s eyes strayed to the cliffs. Three lifts moved downward. If her friends were not on one of them, then it was already too late.
“Masts up!” she shouted. “Amina!”
“Knots to the rigging!” Amina’s voice all but lifted her team up the four masts, now shooting from the deck to pierce the sky.
Tin appeared at her side. “Orders, Captain?”
Caledonia hurriedly uncapped the cylinder from Hesperus and poured its contents into her hand. A map, just as he’d promised, showing the canals in meticulous detail.
“The canals? Captain, no one sails the canals. Not in ships like this. We’ll never make it,” Tin protested.
“We’ll make it. We just need the right path.” Her eyes skated over the maze-like passages. If they picked the wrong way, they’d find themselves trapped. “Lace would have found a course,” she said with a strange and uncomfortable mix of irritation and loss.
If Tin had further protests on the subject, she bit them back and studied the map over Caledonia’s shoulder. “Here, these canals look wide and deep enough.” Tin’s fingers charted a path through the northern canals.
If only it were true. “Those dimensions are likely false, according to Hesperus. Look south of these canals.” Caledonia selected the first channel she felt sure couldn’t be considered northern. “Anything south of that line should be reliable.”
Passing the map into Tin’s hands so she could ready the bridge crew, Caledonia returned her attention to the lifts. One had paused midway down, one was already on the ground, and the third was somewhere between the two.
“Amina!” she cried.
As if reading her mind, Amina’s answer came from high on the mainmast. “It’s not them. I can’t see if they’re on either of the other two.”
“Two ships threading the breakers!” The call came from the stern, where one of the Knots was perched atop the sun sail with eyes trained on the approaching threat. “I see two more just beyond!”
Frustration clawed up Caledonia’s throat. “Engines! Get ready to shove off!”
Hime was there in a flash, standing before her with panic pulling her mouth in
to a shape of distress. Her hands flew. Redtooth? Pisces? Where are they?!
“They’re coming,” Caledonia promised. “They’ll be here.”
The ship rumbled beneath her feet, echoing the growing fury in her heart. They needed to move. She needed to give the order to move.
“Captain!” Amina’s voice. “They’re on the beach!”
Caledonia spun, spotting them right away. Redtooth’s blonde braids flew behind her as she ran, one hand fixed on Pisces’s arm. Even at this distance it was obvious Pisces struggled to keep her pace. Her long legs moved with a sluggish rhythm, and her head was tucked low with the effort.
“Halfway through!” Amina’s Knots called.
The crew stood at the ready, bodies tense. They could have been under way minutes ago, gaining a healthy lead on the Bullet ships. Instead, they were still in port, floating there like easy pickings. But every girl on board looked toward the racing forms of Redtooth and Pisces. If the two girls could have been drawn forward by the combined will of their crew, they’d have been on the ship fifty times over.
“Shove off!” Caledonia cried at last.
Her crew began the work of untethering the large ropes keeping them steady in port, as up on the bridge, the girls ignited the thrusters.
Pisces stumbled, and the ship seemed to hold its breath as she recovered her feet. They heard Redtooth shouting, saw Pisces dig fists into the sand, and then they were up again, racing toward the departing ship.
“Be ready, Tin!” Caledonia called.
Slowly at first and then picking up small bits of speed, the ship moved out of berth toward open water and the two hundred yards that stood between them and the canal entry point. Redtooth and Pisces hurtled down the wharf, Redtooth pushing Pisces ahead of her. With one final burst of speed, the girls raced down the dock, leaping onto the deck just before it moved out of reach.
Pisces landed on her hands and knees before collapsing against her good shoulder while Redtooth rolled the landing, coming to rest on her back.
Caledonia waited just long enough to see them safe aboard before she shouted once more to Tin and the ship sped toward the narrow opening of the Rock Isle canals.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Tin pushed the Mors Navis as fast as the shallow waters would allow. Their wake rolled behind them, adding chop to the already dangerous waters between the breakers. It would slow the Bullet ships down but not stop them.
“Amina!” Caledonia called as they raced along the wall of cliffs toward the narrow mouth of the Rock Isle canals. “Masts down! High speeds!”
Amina released a piercing whistle, and all her Knots quickly disentangled themselves from the rigging. Caledonia spared a glance for Pisces, now seated with her back pressed to the mizzenmast block and under Hime’s stern attentions, before darting up the companionway ladder toward the bridge.
“Guns up, girls! Shield’s high!” Redtooth shouted as two ships emerged from the breaker islands and the first shots exploded behind them.
Tin stood at the helm, her grip as steely as her gaze. Behind her the bridge crew monitored the rest of the ship’s systems. Caledonia spotted the map, spread out on a table near the helm, each corner tucked beneath metal clips to keep it in place.
They were fast approaching what appeared to be a solid cliff wall. Though the entry to the canals was clear on the map, it was impossible to see from this distance. On the map, it was narrow, barely wide enough to accommodate the full girth of the Mors Navis. If they’d been moving at a reasonable pace, they’d have plenty of time to plan the tight turn. As it was, they’d have to rely on Caledonia’s sharp eyes and quick instincts.
Taking the wheel from Tin, she felt more connected to her ship, its power vibrating up through her palms. It was reassuring and familiar. Still, Lace should have been at her side, counting down the distance in her steady way. Instead, it was Tin, who was untested in the role. Caledonia couldn’t yet trust her ability to gauge the distance.
Water splashed along the rock wall as the Mors Navis sped past. Two hundred yards ahead, the splashing ceased and the water flowed smooth. “Ready on thrusters. Hard turn to starboard on my go.”
Tin sent out the call: “Hard turn! Hard turn ahead! Strap in!”
Caledonia gave Tin the wheel long enough to wind a strap around her own waist and snap it into place.
“Do you see it?” Caledonia asked.
“I think so.” Tin’s voice was tentative.
“Counting down!” Caledonia called for the entire bridge crew. “Three!” The opening still wasn’t entirely visible. “Two!” Wind whipped through the bridge. “One!” She pulled the wheel sharply to starboard. “Port bow thrusters on full! Starboard stern thrusters on full!”
The ship rotated, biting in and slewing across the top of the water at a steep angle. Caledonia gripped the wheel. The rock wall slid past, and just as the ship righted itself and regained forward momentum, the mouth of the canals revealed itself.
“Ahead full! Thrusters out!” Her commands were executed immediately, and the ship charged straight into the narrow opening with only feet to spare on either side.
On deck, Redtooth called the girls to battle stations, focusing her gunners aft. Knowing they would be attacked from behind was a small advantage, but one they could use. From what Caledonia had seen of the Bullet ships, they were smaller craft, which also meant they’d be faster than the Mors Navis in these twisting canals.
Tin’s voice was strained as she called directions to the bridge crew, adapting to Caledonia’s pace and the narrow canals. It was too fast and they all knew it. Metal sliced against rock more than once, but never enough to harm the hull.
The roar of engines billowed around them, the sounds growling off the tall walls as four Bullet ships entered the canals in their wake. Caledonia pushed harder, her hands steady on the spokes, her muscles tense, her stance wide. She knew this ship better than anyone.
Shouts rose on deck. The first Bullet ship was near enough to engage, and they opened fire. Caledonia did her best to ignore the dull snap of shots hitting her hull. The canals curled tightly one direction, then the other. Each time they made a turn, they lost the Bullet ships for a span of a few short seconds, but they needed more.
“What’s ahead, Tin?” she demanded.
“Three hundred yards to the first fork!” Tin called from her post by the map.
The ship dodged around another long bend, earning them a small moment of reprieve from the pursuing ships. But what lay ahead made Caledonia’s lungs freeze. Before them, the canal walls tilted away from each other, bowing out like arms opening toward the sky. It left the waters within wide and welcoming. Perfect for several smaller ships to overtake a larger one.
They had room for speed now. And they would need it.
Caledonia ordered engines to full. The Mors Navis darted ahead, and for a brief second it was only them and the water, the steady hum of their engines the only sound in the broad canal.
Then it was over. Behind them, four Bullet ships thundered around the bend and poured into the canal, sun sails glittering fiercely on their tails. They fanned out across the space, ready to attack the Mors Navis from every angle. They were smaller, lighter, faster. Three hundred long yards ahead the canals narrowed and forked. They’d gone from a race to a fight.
Turning the helm over to Tin, Caledonia rushed to the deck. Redtooth was already shouting orders, dismantling the shield wall from the aft deck and reconfiguring her crew for a fight on all sides. Amina’s Knots perched on top of the bridge, bodies low and guns trained on each of the approaching ships. It was exactly what they should all be doing. And as Caledonia studied the ships, now gaining on them, she knew it wouldn’t be enough.
Caledonia whistled, and Amina, Redtooth, Hime, and Pisces circled around her. “Options,” she said.
“Deploy the cable mines we collected fr
om the barge.” Pisces was barely on her feet and her arm was in a sling now, keeping her bad shoulder immobilized. Hime hovered at her side, one hand steadying Pisces’s hip.
“Risky,” Redtooth said, fresh red clay painted in a wide swath across her mouth. Her eyes shone in this pre-light of battle. “Those things are designed for floating, not dragging. Could backfire on us.”
“Then we hold it as a last resort. Other options.”
“Spin the ship.” Amina spoke decisively. “We hit the thrusters hard and break their line before they have time to regroup. If we get behind them, we take the advantage.”
Caledonia played it through in her mind. The ability to spin the ship in a tight circle at top speeds was the benefit of their powerful thrusters and shallow hull. The maneuver would scatter the Bullet ships and give the crew time to pick one or two of them off, but they’d still be left with two and the advantage would be spent.
“Possible. Other options,” she pressed.
Lovely Hime raised her hands, hesitated. She squinted in the sun, her eyes straying to Amina before she resolved to speak. We have quicklime in the hold. Now she turned to survey the four ships in pursuit, and added, And we have the wind.
They’d taken the quicklime off a previous barge and stashed it in the cargo hold, far from the desalination tanks and other sources of water. The caustic powder was useful for scouring pipes clean and dangerous when it came into contact with wet surfaces. Like water or eyes or lungs. Caledonia had nearly forgotten it was in their inventory.
“Vicious,” Redtooth said, lips bending into a smile. “I like it.”
It was vicious, and it was clear by the way Hime braided her fingers together and looked away that she wasn’t proud of having made the suggestion.
“Do it,” Caledonia ordered.
Redtooth gladly complied, calling orders to the crew.
In moments, the quicklime was on the rear deck. Each of the girls handling the canvas sacks wore gloves and covered their mouths and noses with scarves or bandanas. Caledonia ordered everyone else upwind. Tin steered the ship into a slow fishtail, letting the stern of the ship sweep lazily from side to side. Thinking they’d gained some advantage, the Bullet ships moved in close. They didn’t see the smile that sliced across Redtooth’s mouth as she raised her blade.
Seafire Page 13
