control panel. “The ships are moving. There’s no way for the flugnugstica to stay close unless someone stays inside to pilot it. If we let it drift, we might never find it again. If we can’t escape from Pey Lu’s ship...”
“We’ll be stuck there and Yanko will have to talk to her,” Arayevo said.
“I don’t think you should be rooting for that family reunion. I don’t believe it would go as well as you think.” Yanko spun toward Dak. “We need you up there. There must be a way you can come. Can’t we... clamp onto something? Arayevo and Lakeo are fine fighters, but I think we should all stick together.”
As much as he adored Arayevo and had come to appreciate Lakeo, the two of them put together couldn’t beat down as many pirates as Dak could. Not to mention that Dak had that mage-hunter-like training and might be able to deflect a mental attack or two.
“Clamps?” Dak mused to himself, looking over the controls in front of him. He snapped his fingers, leaped to his feet, and ran to the back of the boat, nearly knocking Arayevo over as he sped through. He disappeared into a cabin Yanko had not yet investigated.
“Should he be getting up just now?” Lakeo pointed to the porthole, where the black hull of the pirate ship loomed so large that nothing else was visible now. “Yanko, when you were napping at his feet, did you learn how to pilot this tub?”
“No.”
“How about how to put on the brakes?”
“Sorry, no.” Yanko might be able to push them backward or hold them stationary by manipulating the waves around them, but the underwater boat was a mystery.
Orange light flared somewhere above them at the same time as Yanko sensed an immense amount of power being used. Numerous cannons fired in the wake of the attack. Whatever was going on out there, Pey Lu was serious about defending her little pirate fleet against the other ships.
The Kyattese ships. He thought back to that first fireball, the one the newcomers had apparently launched. Would the peace-pursuing, education-loving Kyattese hurl fireballs at their enemies? Did they study such destructive magic? Or was it possible...
Yanko swallowed and stared at the bulkhead, as if he could see through it and to the ships exchanging fire with the pirates.
“What is it, Yanko?” Arayevo asked. “You look like you’ve either had a grand insight or you remembered you forgot that you should use the outhouse before going into battle.”
“I think I know whose ships those are.” Yanko shook his head slowly. “Because last time, one ship wasn’t enough. This time he brought three, including an ironclad. I don’t think a kraken can crush an ironclad.”
Dak raced back into the control room, almost skidding as he lurched to a stop and pulled another lever.
“You think Sun Dragon is the one hurling fireballs at your mother?” Lakeo asked.
“It’s just a hunch, but if he also found clues that led him here—or if he was able to follow me—it could be him.”
Yanko kept shaking his head as Dak ran back to the rear of the craft again. They seemed to be drifting now. Had he cut off the engines?
“I hope your mother annihilates him then,” Lakeo said. “That dung-sucker was ready to make that entire volcano erupt in order to get us.”
Yanko wasn’t sure he agreed with the sentiment. He remembered his earlier thought, that Sun Dragon at least wanted to help Nuria. He doubted Pey Lu had Nuria in mind.
A faint clank sounded, followed by a lurch that made Yanko grab for the nearest bulkhead.
“We’re attached,” Arayevo blurted from the hatch leading to the closet—airlock. She had moved back there and was monitoring whatever Dak was doing.
Yanko took a deep breath, wishing he was as excited about this adventure as she was. He hoped they didn’t get caught—and killed.
Dak jogged back to the front, waving Yanko out of his way again. This time, he sat in the seat next to the piloting seat. Thus far, he hadn’t used any of the switches, dials, or levers on this side of the control room, but now his hands flew over the console.
“I’m sawing a hole with a tool meant to slice off coral samples,” Dak said. “Be ready to move soon. Even in the middle of battle, it won’t take them long to realize they’re talking on water.”
When Dak finished, Yanko joined Arayevo and Lakeo at the airlock. “Anyone have a weapon to spare?”
Lakeo’s hand slid possessively over