Almost on cue, Esmil lowered his spyglass and looked at me quizzically. I whipped my own telescope out from a pocket in my apron, and aimed it in the direction he pointed in. Banon opted to seize a nearby rifle and use the scope instead.

“What do you think?”
“Can’t make out any detail, but it’s a ship all right. Might be two. Looks like a long-ranging skirmisher, like the Boderai or the Yunascatar, but if there’s two of them they could be in close formation to fool us…. they’re turning! Ring the alarm, man!”

Esmil siezed the alarm valve and opened it wide, a sudden flux of steam through the alarm pipe extinguishing our running lights instantly. The whole ship was suddenly filled with the shrill whistling of the alarm, and the decking lurched and tilted as the engine room answered hard-a-port.

By then, the three of us were already inside and heading to the bridge where Firus was already waiting. He showed no sign of having gotten any rest at all.

“Report, Miles?”