The tape reeled to a halt. I set down the tracker and looked up at Ava. For once in my dozen years serving alongside her, she looked dazed. Her eyes met mine, but blankly.

“We go after her,” I said, mustering up more resolve in my voice than I felt.

Ava said nothing.

“It is a doomed mission,” Sage said. “You know that, Silas.”

“Only if we go alone,” Vedod countered.

I looked over at Vedod. “Say more, V.”

“We call on the Artship Council, they’ve been talking about invasion ever since—”

“That’ll take too long—”

“She’s beyond saving anyway, if we go in, we go for blood—”

“This isn’t a vengeance crusade,” I said.

“A contradiction if I ever heard one.”

“Exactly.” I slammed my hand on the table. “If we go on, we go in to save people. Mary if possible, anyone else we find, if not. Kal’s right, the Council is too slow. We’d be wasting our time with them. If they’d wanted to invade it would have happened years ago. They just stand behind those words to earn the voter block.”

The crew shuffled, grumbling in reluctant assent. All but Ava, who sat motionless, her glazed eyes staring into the middle distance.

“Then what do you suggest we do?” Vedod asked.

I took a deep breath. “It’s time we call in a few favors. If we do this at all, we do it together. If we’re chomping at the bit, I can’t imagine we’re alone.” I turned to Ava.

She looked up at me, a glimmer of resolve in her eyes.

“Ava. Can you make some calls?”

She smiled. “Let’s do this.”