“What do you know about the Starfish?” he said.

“Why should I know anything?”

“You refused to come to port that day.”

She shrugged. “I felt ill.”

“You looked just fine.”

She crossed her legs, slowly. “How do I look now?”

“Jessryl.”

“It’s ‘Sheridan’ now, I thought.”

“Damn you, just tell me what you know. You’re going into custody—”

“As are you.”

“—and the truth will come out.” He forced himself to take a breath. “Please, Jess ... Sheridan ... the Starfish has destroyed three islands already. Hundreds of thousands must have died.”

“Millions.”

Gods. “Perhaps. So you see—”

“Because you activated the Device.”

“Jess—Sheridan—”

“Even after I told you what would happen if you did.” Anger flashed across her face. “You did this. The Starfish—all of it—you did it. All those millions, you may as well have killed them yourself.”

Though her words only confirmed his own thoughts, for some reason he found himself denying them:

“That’s absurd.”

“Then why else are you here, unless it’s because you feel so guilty about what you’ve done that you would even brave the bedchamber of the notorious Admiral Jessryl Sheridan—”

“That’s not why—”

“Then why?”

They glared at each other, and Avery felt his face grow hot.

“Well?” she demanded, a challenge—though to do what he didn’t know. Did she want him to take her in his arms and ravage her? Slap her? Spank her? What did he want?

“What are you waiting for?” she asked.

“That is an excellent question.”

He left her, having to restrain himself from slamming the hatch closed behind him. He lingered in the hall for a minute, catching his breath, half expecting her to come after him, not because he wanted her to but because he didn’t know where else to go. He’d feel idiotic returning to the bar, but he didn’t know if he could sleep, and he had had enough of the outdoors for one evening. With no other option appealing, he returned to his and Janx’s cabin, readied himself for bed and, finally, slept.

Some hours later, screaming woke him.

Chapter 4

Avery sat up blearily, confused and nauseous with the stink of stale cigarette smoke. Somewhere Janx snored in the dark. A bottle clinked, rolled off the bed and clattered to the floor.

More sounds spilled in from outside. Voices. Running feet.

Blinking, Avery sat up and flipped on the light. Janx didn’t so much as twitch. Avery threw on clothes and stepped outside. Sailors pounded down the hall and around a bend, and he moved after them. Around the corner a group had formed around something, and people were calling for a doctor.

They parted for Avery, and when he saw what it was they’d gathered around his breath caught in his throat. The body of a man lay on the floor, throat slashed, blood pooling around him. His legs still kicked, and his eyes rolled in their sockets, but Avery instantly saw there was nothing that could be done for him. Well, almost nothing.

He knelt beside the man and held his hand. The man squeezed back, but, gradually, as blood pulsed from his wound, the pressure slackened until at last the hand dropped away, and, by the time the paramedics arrived with a cot to take him to the infirmary, he was gone. It wasn’t until the body was almost out of sight that Avery realized something.

“Wait.” He rushed back to the dead man for a closer look.

“What is it?” one of the paramedics asked.

Turning to two nearby officers, Avery explained, and they agreed. Sheridan’s room was searched, yielding the results Avery had expected.

“The captain,” he said. “Take me to him quickly.”

The officers escorted him to the bridge, where Avery breathlessly told Captain Greggory what had happened.

“Are you sure?” Glowing screens blinked in the dark room behind the captain. The sea heaved and crashed through the great windows, and lightning flickered up from the waters to the east.

“I’m sure,” Avery said. “These men will confirm it.”

“It’s true, sir,” one of the officers said. “It was Melvins, the one tasked with watching that—woman.”

“Sheridan,” Avery said. “He was Sheridan’s keeper. He was different from the one on duty a few hours ago—they must have switched shifts—and at first I didn’t recognize him.”

“We searched her room,” the second officer said. “She’s gone.”

A sailor burst in, panting against his face-plate. Water dripped from his environment suit from where he’d just sprayed himself off in the buffer chamber. “Captain, there’s a boat missing. Someone’s abandoned ship.”

Avery swore. But I just saw her hours ago. In fucking panties!

“It’s her,” he said. “She’s slipped the net.”

The captain made a fist of one gloved hand. He wore most of an environment suit, but without the helmet, to enable him to move outside at an instant’s notice. Avery had entered the command deck through interior routes and didn't wear an environment suit, and he admired the captain for being able to tolerate one of the hot, bulky things for hours at a time. Greggory may not keep the neatest ship, but he was dutiful.

“Radar,” the captain said, addressing those tasked with monitoring the radar screens. “Report. There should be a boat making away.”