Chapter 19 · Boil the Steam

"Get off the boiler!" Brant roared. "Unless you want your boots welded to it."

Cassian hit the deck on one knee as the ironclad lurched hard to starboard. A sheet of boiling oil slapped across the engine room floor and spun around his boots. The heat punched through his coat at once.

Lyra caught the rail with both hands. Her blindfold had slipped sideways, leaving one pale eye exposed. Steam rolled around her face. She didn't blink.

"How long?" Cassian shouted.

"You want the honest answer?" Brant yelled from behind the pressure manifold. "Thirty seconds. Maybe twenty."

"That wasn't the question."

"Then ask a better one!"

Another blast shook the hull. The boiler screamed. Gauges jumped past the red line, their needles twitching like trapped insects.

Cassian shoved himself upright. "Brant, kill the feed pumps."

"Already did."

"Vent the chamber."

"The vent is jammed."

"Unjam it."

Brant looked over his shoulder, his beard dripping with sweat. "You want me to reach through scalding oil and twist a valve that hasn't moved in ten years?"

"Yes."

"I hate when you make it sound simple."

Lyra stepped away from the rail.