Page 147 of The Space Between Stars

This—Calver here and mentally competent—was the moment she’d been waiting for. For six years. And it wasn’t perfect, but she still had it.

Sometime in the night, she fell asleep without realizing and woke up to Calver rapping his knuckles on the table. He held out the lamp.

“Finished?” she asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

He nodded.

“We can float it?”

Calver nodded again.

As they made their way to the main deck, Fankalo wondered whether she had wasted a night of necessary sleep. She had been so excited about her brother’s responsiveness that she’d listened to a madman. It was more likely Mitek would kiss her on the mouth before that lamp did anything but shine.

The rays of firstlight had pierced the horizon when they passed through the hatch.

Without prompt, Calver vaulted over from the starboard rail and into the ocean, lamp in hand. Fankalo pulled the lid from one of the cargo crates and tossed it after him.

Her Luck suddenly spun in a way that was neither positive nor negative. The feelings it impressed on her were sometimes akin to emotions. She’d begun to recognize them more intimately. This one was amusement, and the distinguished familiarity of—

She glanced sideways in time to see Mitek slide in from wherever he’d been lurking to kick her in the ass. He didn’t run away, though.

“Fuck you,” she said, first rubbing her backside, then punching him in the shoulder. She never understood why he got up so early.

“Morning, Captain.” He settled beside her, usual smug grin on his stupid face. “Ah, good. Looks like your boy finally decided to take a bath.”

She beat her hip into his. They were the same height, according to Drogus, after they’d placed their most recent bets on it. At twelve, Fankalo neared the height of most grown men. Calver being an exception.

“Calver’s coming around. He’s been tinkering with an Aetech lamp all night. Thinks he can weaponize it.”

Mitek tilted his head. “Ah… that’s on the abstract.”

“Let’s just watch him, shall we?”

Calver had swum twice the ship’s length away, looking back continually as though gauging his distance. Finally, he set the lamp on the lid and turned to see that she was watching.

“Go!” she cried.

Calver pressed the lamp’s activator and dove beneath the surface like a bird seeking a fish. He disappeared entirely from view. Fankalo leaned against the rail, clenching with white knuckles. It could have been a ruse. A way for him to try to escape again.

The lamp lit up, like lamps did—or sure as hell had better, for a thousand silver notes—but grew steadily brighter. Within seconds, it became painful to keep her eyes on it. She looked away. A heart’s beat later, a sound like the cracking of thunder roared across the water.

“Fuck me!” Mitek shouted, cringing to the deck, clutching his hat. She turned to see a crimson cloud billowing over the waves. Spray from the patch of ocean where the lamp had been launched six stories into the air, like the blowholes in the rocky craigs along Thaligan. A warm gust rippled across the water, tossing her hat from her head. It smelled of burning aether. Mitek burst out laughing.

Fankalo’s heart hammered. Her eyes ran over the water, searching for Calver as the bodies of dozens of fish rose to the surface. She didn’t realize how tense she was until Calver’s head popped above the surface, a full ship-length from the explosion.

“One hell of a swimmer,” Mitek said. “Why am I not surprised? Bit of a showoff.”

Fankalo elbowed him in the ribs before leaning over the rail. “Are you hurt?” she called.

Calver shook his head, water flinging away from his hair in every direction. He swam back, a silhouette against the rising sun. They lowered rigging and hauled him back onto the deck.

Mitek muttered something about studying the ledgers and strode away. Fankalo joined Calver at a crouch.

“That was… incredible. How did you do it?”

He shook his waterlogged hair again. Something in his eyes brightened. That exhilarated her more than the explosion itself.