Page 207 of Carousel

Fleeing out of the pod, I slam down the hatch door so hard it rattles. I can hear Cosmer shouting for me on the other side.

I spot the engineer with the keys further along the row. “Lock this one,” I demand. “Now.”

The metal is shaking. Cosmer is trying to lift it with the lever from the other side. I jam my boot down over the wheel of the mechanism.

“Now!” I shriek, to the engineer, holding down the door with everything I have.

The engineer scrambles over within seconds. Fits the large, rusty key into the lock, and turns it. The moment he does, Cosmer seems to realise. He starts banging against the door instead.

“Ara!” he howls in what I can only describe as pure anguish. “Open the door! Open the door!”

The door is shuddering, jangling. Every thud his fists make against it resound through my heart.

In fact, as I walk away from the door, all of me feels metallic. I’m cold. Unyielding. A sheet.

If you punched my skin, you’d hear me clang.

CHAPTER 37

The Final Battle

The first thing I see is the sky. It’s flashing with lights from ships and bursts of flames. Tiny stars surround them, but the sky itself is more blue dye than it is black ink. In fact, if it brightened up anymore, it would be the perfect shade of Rhavnan blue.

Seeing the colour once made me calm. Hopeful.

Now, it fills me with dread.

The lights in The Bridge are low, and it’s quieter.

I quickly see why. I’ve always seen it full of first officers, but there are less than ten of us here, which makes the space feel too big. Exposed. Everyone here but Dezeeves is Rhavnan. He stands at the centre of the control table, flanked by Meg and Drake. Meg is wearing a radio band and transcribing fast onto paper while Drake speaks into his ear. Advising him, I realise.

I don’t belong here.

But I need to make myself belong.

I take a single unsteady step into the room, and Drake snaps his head back to me. He must have sensed me coming through our bond – the bond I would give anything not to have been given.

He stands straighter, practically gaping. I’ve never seen him look at me like that. Like he can’t believe I exist.

“That surprised to see me?” I bite out.

“I thought you left,” he states, that unsettling look I’m trying to ignore still on his face.

“How could I? When I’m one half of the weapon?” I round on Rike, sitting by Meg. “Shouldn’t you be out there?”

“I probably would be,” he replies. Pointing at his knee, he says, “You can blame Cosmer if anything goes wrong.”

Dezeeves raises his arms above his head. “Thank the Sisters and the Maiden. She’s finally come to her senses.” He holds his bony hand out to me. It’s like a claw. “Come, Ara. We still have crew trying to evacuate. Drake has managed to turn back some of the ships. But the next wave is upon us.”

I step up to the control table, just as one of our cannons goes off beneath us.

The scene beyond the window is similar at first glance to the Rhavnan ambush. A few frontline pilots are protecting us, keeping tight to us. But there aren’t many of them – most of our pilots must have realised something was amiss when the attackers turned out to be Hevallan ships, and maybe took their chance to flee instead. Other ships including non-combat damselflies and beetles are hovering just outside of their pods, trying to find gaps in the combat to escape themselves.

A sleek ship, manoeuvring neatly, crosses right by us, shooting at an attacking ship that was getting too close.

My dread deepens.

No.