Katrina frowned. “How do you mean?”
“This boat. I hope it’s worth the price we paid back at Red Sphere.” Layla took a step ahead of Les, a bold act in a place where, once, officers had never dared question their superiors.
Katrina wasn’t a military leader, but she couldn’t let her young friend get away with such blatant disrespect in front of her second in command.
“You’re out of line, Layla,” Katrina said, matching Layla’s step with two of her own so that they stood face-to-face. “I don’t expect you to agree with every decision I make. I do, however, expect you to trust me. I know that what happened is tragic, but we needed this destroyer.”
“For what? To take the Metal Islands?” Her tone bordered on incredulous. “We don’t even know they exist. For all we know, it was some made-up bullshit that X thought he heard when the Cazadores captured him. He wasn’t all there when we first found him, you know.”
“The Cazadores are real, and so are the islands they come from. We don’t have an army to take them when the time comes, but we do have something the Cazadores don’t have.”
Les swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He remained silent, stiff, and respectful. For a moment, Katrina saw a naval officer standing in front of her just as one might have done 260 years ago. Layla, on the other hand, still seemed to want to argue.
Katrina cupped her hands behind her back and walked over to the porthole windows to look out over the waves.
“Do you remember the prophecy Jordan tried to cut out like a cancer when he killed Janga? Her prophecy of a man leading us to a new home in the ocean?”
She turned back to the two divers. “I was never one to believe in stuff like that. ‘Fairy tales’ is what I called them. But…” She forced a half smile. “The Sea Wolf made me believe. Finding X made me believe.”
“So now you’re putting all your trust in a prophecy?” Layla asked. “In something based on the words of a woman that we all agree was crazy? I trusted you, Captain, up until the point you sent us to Red Sphere when you knew damn well it wasn’t safe. All so you could get this boat.”
“Captain DaVita risked her live to save ours,” Les said. “I say you give her some credit.”
Letting out a sigh, Katrina walked back over to Layla and Les. She put a hand on Layla’s shoulder and waited for her to meet her gaze.
“I have a plan. You have to trust me. I know that plan may put Michael at risk because of how he feels about X, and I know that’s where some of your angst comes from, but we have to think of the future of humanity.”
Layla’s eyes flitted to the floor, then back up to hers. “I know. I’m… I’m sorry. I do trust you.”
“No need to apologize. Every captain has had a different plan for the souls aboard the Hive. Mine is just as fragile as the others, but it gives us all hope.”
Layla took a deep breath. “Okay.”
“Les, try the radio again,” Katrina said. “Layla, let’s take a walk.”
She guided Layla out of the bridge and up a ladder to the command center.
“They used to call this the ‘island,’” Katrina said. “Best view on the ship.”
“I should really get back to Michael.”
“I thought he was sleeping.”
“He is.”
“Just stay up here for one minute,” Katrina said. “I want you to see something.”
The hatch at the top of the ladder opened to a room no wider than twenty feet. The cracked glass windows provided them a panoramic view of the ship and the ocean around them.
Lightning speared the clouds overhead, firing up the sky for a single moment before letting it shade back into dark.
Katrina walked over to a view of the bow. Although they were more than 150 feet above, she could still see Jaideep down on the weather deck, his battery unit spreading a cool blue glow over the metal surface. A heavy mist hovered over the ocean. They were heading farther and farther away from Red Sphere.
“Quite the view,” Layla said.
“Yes, it is.”
Katrina looked up at the sky, wondering where Deliverance was in this moment.
“Did you want to talk to me about something?” Layla asked, turning slightly to study Katrina in the sporadic flashes of lightning.
“No. I just wanted you to see this view. To understand why I have made the decisions I’ve made.”
Layla nodded as if she understood, but Katrina wasn’t sure anyone could understand what was going on in her mind and heart. Michael was a good man, one of the best left in this apocalyptic world. Her orders had almost killed him on this mission. Of course Layla resented Katrina for it.
On top of that, the events of the past few months continued to fill her with the poison of regret. Losing her child was the worst part. Katrina had never felt so alone in her life. Part of her had wanted to die back at Red Sphere.
“Are you okay, Captain?” Layla said.
“Yes, I’m…” Katrina’s words trailed off when she saw something in the wake of a lightning bolt. “What is that?”
Layla followed her gaze toward the radio towers overhead. Halfway up, a figure clung to one of the metal posts.
“Is that a body?” Katrina asked.
“Sure looks like one, but it’s got to be fifty feet above us.”
Katrina reached for her holstered blaster, but slowly let her hand fall back down when the next lightning flash showed the skeletal corpse—not a threat.
A voice yelled up from the bridge below, and Katrina moved back to the ladder and looked down at Les.
“Commander, I just picked up a scrambled transmission from the Sea Wolf,” he said.
Both women hurried down the ladder to the command center, where they met at the communication station. The worried mask on Les’ face told Katrina something was wrong.
“It’s an SOS,” he said. “Here, listen.”
Magnolia’s voice crackled through the room.
“If anyone picks this up, we’re at the following coordinates and need help. We’re under attack by Cazadores. Several boats. X is overboard. I’m trying to…”
The feed fizzled out.
“Did you get the coordinates?” Katrina asked.
Les nodded. “Hold on… There’s more.”
He twiddled the knob. Static filled the room, then cleared.
“We found the Metal Islands,” Magnolia said. “They’re real. They’re real and there’s sun here.”
“By God, they found it,” Layla whispered.
Les looked up at Katrina, eyes wide with amazement and fear.
Fear for their friends—fear for the future of the airships.
“The boat is being boarded,” Magnolia said. “I don’t have long, but here are the coordinates. If we die, don’t let it be for nothing. Bring Deliverance and the Hive here. This is what we’ve all been dream—”
The feed shut off.
“How long ago was this message sent?” Katrina asked.
“I’m not sure, but I did manage to get the coordinates,” Les said. He took a seat at a station, typed, and said, “Here’s a map.”
Layla leaned over to read. “Pyooerta Ricoo,” she mumbled.
“Virgin Islands, actually,” Les said. “But not quite. The Metal Islands look to be off the coast…”
Katrina took a few seconds to think before giving orders she had never thought she would give. “Set the course, and gather everyone. It’s time to start planning for a war.”
Magnolia stared out at what was supposed to be her future home—the place in Janga’s prophecy, where the population of the Hive was to live. X was supposed to lead them here.