Page 91

TheNautilusseems to execute my commands before Lee-Ann and Halimah even touch their controls. We plunge and veer towards Lincoln Base, keeping the enemy skiff between us and theAronnax. On Gem’s LOCUS, our torpedo explodes off theAronnax’s port side in a beautiful purple starburst.

‘They weren’t expecting that!’ Virgil says. ‘I’m getting enemy chatter on the comm.’

He puts it on loudspeaker: Dev shouting orders, six or seven other voices replying all at once. I hear enough to understand that Dev is on the skiff, demanding status reports from theAronnax’s bridge. Then someone on their end cuts the transmission.

I allow myself a grim smile. Dev got overconfident. He figured he would just putter over on his skiff and take command of our dead ship. Now he’s caught between theAronnaxand us, and we’re very much alive.

I love their confusion, but I know it won’t last.

‘Make ready torpedo two.’

‘That’s our last one,’ Gem reminds me.

‘Yes, but they don’t know that. Helm, thirty degrees port, full ahead. Keep that skiff between us and theAronnax.’

‘Trying, Captain,’ Halimah says. ‘They’re taking evasive action.’

‘The skiff is within cannon range,’ Gem offers.

‘No.’ As much as I hate my brother right now, I don’t relish the idea of possibly cooking him alive in a tin can. ‘Stay focused on theAronnax. If we can target their propulsion –’

ACLUNKechoes through the corridors. The bridge lights suddenly dim.

‘Hey, Captain,’ Nelinha breaks in. ‘We’re stressing the old choo-choo engine. Maybe take it easy on the fancy manoeuvres?’

‘Just a little longer,’ I tell her, hoping it’s true.

Our octopus-in-the-hole gamble has not paid off yet. Romeo is nowhere to be seen. I’m disappointed, but not surprised. I knew I was playing with things I didn’t understand.

On Halimah’s LOCUS, the enemy skiff is pulling away from us. TheAronnaxturns her prow in our direction, trying to keep us in her sights. She seems to be moving sluggishly – or maybe that’s just my wishful thinking.

‘Captain, torpedo in the water!’ Gem yells.

‘Fire second tube! Rig for depth charge!’

The floor shudders as our last working missile leaves the tube. This time, out of the bridge windows, I can actually see the white wake line cutting through the blue. I hold my breath. I watch Gem’s LOCUS as two purple blips – our torpedo and theirs – hurtle towards each other. I don’t need the LOCUS to tell me when they collide. The explosion rolls theNautiluson her starboard side, her hull groaning like she’s got intestinaldistress. Only my newfangled seat belt keeps me from flying into the pipe organ.

Gem glances back, his eyes wide. ‘That was a seismic charge. If it had hit us …’

He doesn’t need to spell it out. Somebody on the bridge of theAronnaxis getting angry – or possibly panicked. With or without Dev’s permission, they are shooting to kill.

I make a fist. This time, the military maxim that comes to mind isn’t from Eisenhower – it’s from the Chinese general Sun Tzu:Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.

‘Helm, turn us about,’ I say. ‘Take us directly towards theAronnax.’

Halimah and Lee-Ann both look at me like maybe they misheard.

‘Captain –’ Halimah stops herself, apparently tamping down her misgivings. ‘Aye, Captain. Bringing us about.’

The ship groans louder as we level off and turn.

‘Engine room,’ Nelinha says. ‘Captain, about that stress on the choo-choo –’

‘I know, Nelinha,’ I say. ‘Just keep her together a little longer, please. Weapons, power up the forward Leyden cannon. Stand by for Leidenfrost shielding. Comm, can you open a channel to theAronnaxand its skiff?’

‘Aye, Captain,’ Virgil says. ‘Channel open.’

I press my hand against the armrest’s control sphere, as if it can reassure me that I do in fact have Nemo’s DNA. This is the first time I’ve spoken to Dev since his betrayal. It’s the first time I’ve announced myself to our enemies. I can’t have my voice trembling.