Page 38 of Ship of Smoke and Steel

“People who climb out there die,” the boy insists.

“It doesn’t matter,” Ahdron says, “because we’re not going near them. Meroe, time to play hammerhead bait.”

“Right,” she says. “My crucial role in this adventure. You’re ready, Berun?”

“I … think so.” Berun shifts awkwardly. “If it comes, I’ll try to hold it.”

“Here.” Ahdron tosses Meroe a small object, which makes a clonk-clonk noise. It turns out to be a bell, bent out of shape. “Just cut yourself a little, and make a racket.”

Meroe nods, and takes a deep breath. She pulls a knife out of her pocket and offers it to me, hilt first.

“Would you mind?” she says.

I take her hand, palm up. It’s shaking a little. “Close your eyes,” I tell her.

She does. I make a quick gash across the meat at the bottom of her thumb, just below the bandage. Blood wells quickly, drops running down her arm.

She holds her hand out to Ahdron. “This enough?”

“Should be,” he says. “You and Isoka go out ahead. Berun and I will keep our distance.”

Convenient for him. Meroe waves her hand around, letting blood drip on the deck, and rings the bell with a clack-clonk. It echoes weirdly off the metal.

“I guess we just … walk,” she says. “Come on. I want to see if there are more of the little ships.”

“Does it matter?” I say, falling into step beside her.

“You’re not curious?” she says.

“About what?”

“About this!” She waves a hand. “Who built this thing? How? What was it for?”

I think of the voices in the pillar, and the angels. “I’m not sure I want to know.”

“Really? I certainly do.” She rings the bell again. “I mean, have you even heard of anything like it?”

I shake my head. “Whoever built it, though, I think they’re long gone.” I gesture at the small ship as we walk past it. “Otherwise they’d have kept things in better shape.”

“Does the Captain know, do you think?”

There’s a thought I hadn’t considered. I’ve been assuming the Captain can steer Soliton—that’s what it means to be a Captain, isn’t it? But I wonder if he understands any more about how the ship works than the rest of us.

“I’d love to talk to him,” Meroe says.

“You like figuring things out, don’t you.”

She nods. “My father always told me I shouldn’t be so interested in everything. It wasn’t … seemly, for a princess. But I suppose I can’t help it.” She rings the bell, and waves her wounded hand back and forth. “There was a eunuch at our court who studied the stars. I used to sneak in and play with his telescope.”

“What’s a telescope?” The word is Imperial, but I’ve never heard it before.

“It’s … you know what a spyglass is? For looking at ships?”

I nod cautiously. I’ve seen those on the docks.

“A telescope is like that, but stronger. You use it to look at the stars, or the moon.”

“Why?”