Dragon Pearl(53)

My thoughts churned as I headed toward Lieutenant Ju-Won’s station to report in, however belatedly. Captain Hwan wanted the Dragon Pearl as a weapon of one kind, and his enemies wanted it as a weapon of another. Even worse, getting to the Pearl—and finding my brother—sounded like it would require finessing my way past spirits who’d held a grudge for a couple of centuries. I liked the whole situation less and less. But I couldn’t give up now.


“You got lost again?” the lieutenant demanded when I checked in.

I fidgeted and did my best to look penitent. Instead of using Charm, I’d settled for trying to persuade her that I’d messed up rather than taken an intentional detour. It probably helped that I looked ghastly, which I knew because I’d peered at myself in the shiny expanse of a polished bulkhead. Despite the reflection’s blurriness, I could see that I had dark circles under my eyes.

The lieutenant went easy on me, probably because I was tottering so much she thought I’d keel over. She assigned me to a shift of doing paperwork: helping to compile post-battle damage reports. When I reported to the sergeant in charge, I got the distinct feeling he didn’t need or want my assistance. “Be careful,” he said gruffly. “If I have to fix even one record because you got it wrong, you’re going to have to weld this ship back together by yourself.”

I knew he wouldn’t literally follow through on that threat. Still, I bobbed a nervous nod to show that I got his point.

I didn’t catch up with Sujin and Haneul until mess that evening. By then, even though I’d spent all afternoon sitting at a desk and only occasionally getting up to fetch tea, sweat drenched my uniform and my legs wobbled as I stood in line to get my food. I caught some of the other cadets raising their eyebrows at me, and my cheeks heated. Word must have gotten around about what had happened to me in Engineering.

Sujin had no trace of a burn, but their pallor did look slightly gray. Even their horn had an unhealthy gray tinge. An effect of the healing pod, I assumed. Still, they waved at me cheerily enough.

For once, Haneul didn’t lecture me when she saw me. She’d gotten in line right behind me. I realized why when she reached out to steady my tray just before I would have dropped it.

“Careful there,” Haneul said, quickly and subtly removing her hand so I could save face.

We sat down, and her anxious eyes studied me from across the table. “You almost look worse than Sujin here. Are you sure you don’t need a stint in a healing pod yourself?”

“I don’t want to make excuses,” I said, more bravely than I felt. “I’m eager to get back to work with everyone else.”

Her expression softened. “You have a good spirit,” she said, “even if you can be an idiot sometimes. I heard what you did in Engineering.”

“Makes two of us,” Sujin said, winking at me.

“Yes,” Haneul said, “what is it with you two and Trance?”

“The physician said I was very brave,” Sujin crowed. “I heard you hung in there a long time, Jang, and you didn’t even get burned. That’s really impressive!”

I forced myself to smile despite the tremble in my hands. “Anything to avoid cleaning the bathroom.”

Sujin laughed. “No kidding.”

“You two missed out on the action while you were recovering, obviously,” Haneul said, “but we beat the pirates, just like I knew we would.” She looked as proud as if she had won the battle singlehandedly.

“I’m glad you’re all right,” I said to Sujin.

Sujin fiddled with their spork, then made a small gesture, conjuring up a thin rectangular box. “Thank you,” they said, with an oddly formal half bow. “For looking out for me.” They held the box out with both hands, as though they were honoring me. “I remembered that you like the chocolates best.”

“Thank you,” I said, accepting the gift.

We smiled shyly at each other. Then I opened the box and passed the chocolates around. They were delicious. The three of us devoured them in silence, but it was a friendly silence. For a change, Haneul didn’t chastise Sujin for using magic.

I thought about how much I would miss the two of them when I left the ship. I’d heard from Lieutenant Ju-Won that the Pale Lightning would be putting in for supplies and repairs at Abalone Spire in two days. Repairs would take a couple weeks, maybe longer. I couldn’t wait that long to go looking for Jun. I needed to depart soon, and I had an idea about how to do it.

“Jang!” Sujin was snapping their fingers in front of my face. Back home, my cousins would kick my shin to get my attention, but doing that here would have earned the goblin a demerit. “Mess is ending. Hurry and have more tea. It’ll wake you up.”

“Oh, right,” I said, feigning dizziness. It wasn’t much of a pretense.


Later that night, after the roster of the next day’s duties was announced, I reported to barracks and crept into my bunk. I listened as the others’ breathing changed to the rhythm of sleep, or, in Haneul’s case, snores. It was tempting to close my eyes, but first I had to plan my getaway.

I knew that, once the ship was repaired, the captain intended to head to the Fourth Colony. I had to beat him there. The map I had memorized from his notebook would guide me, but I would need transportation, and I would also have to come up with a way to slow down the Pale Lightning.