Chapter 26 · White-Hot Echo

"Turn the wheel left, Cassian! Left, damn you!" Lyra slammed both hands against the navigation cage as the ironclad dropped through the abyss shaft. "The gears are going to fold us in half!"

"I know what the gears are doing." Cassian shoved the control lever forward. It fought him like a living thing, kicking hard enough to wrench his shoulder. "Tell me where the bottom is."

"You want the honest answer?"

"For once."

"It’s coming up fast."

The ship screamed around them.

Iron teeth chewed through the outer hull. Sparks flashed across the command deck, bright enough to stab through Lyra’s useless eyes. She flinched anyway. Her fingers curled around the brass rail until her knuckles went pale.

Cassian saw it. He also saw the depth gauge spin past numbers no sane vessel should survive.

“Brant!” he shouted. “How long on the left thrusters?”

“Long enough to disappoint you!” Brant yelled back from the engine pit. “They’re jammed under the main gear!”

“Unjam them.”

“I was planning to ask the gears nicely.”

“Ask faster.”

Another impact slammed through the ship. Lyra pitched sideways.