The demise of the secret weapon had released the whales from the pirates' control, but the chaos of the battle they had awoken to had spooked the creatures, which were now attacking both sides indiscriminately. As far as Amelia could see, this was not a substantial improvement. The Imperial fleet was still hard-pressed on every front. The fires on the RLS Defender had forced the surviving crew to abandon ship. The RLS Imperious and Audacity were drifting out of control, the latter almost breaking in half as her broken hull went into a lateral spin. Monarch and Fortitude had emerged victorious against the big galleon which had attacked Benson's flagship, but a heavy price had been paid and the Admiral's ship was limping along at half-speed. Not a single ship was undamaged and several looked to be in the sort of condition that would justify disengagement under any other circumstances.
"Five degrees port rudder, Mr Bryce," she said curtly, returning her attention to the Academic Venture's bridge. "We're drifting off course."
"Aye, ma'am." Bryce looked at his instruments. "I can't explain it. According to this, we're running straight and level. The rudder must be out of alignment and the reporter must be out of order to boot."
"This ship has seen better days," Amelia winced and touched her side. "And that was before we boarded her."
"It looks like you have, too, ma'am, with all due respect," said Bryce. "Do you need some assistance?"
"I'm right rain, Mr Bryce," said Amelia, trying to sound it. "Right as rain. Mr Stuart, how is my systems check?"
Stuart looked up from the flickering holographic displays. "Fire control is fully operational, Ms Amelia. All guns report loaded and ready."
Amelia looked surprised. "Well, well. I suppose that means we have control of the gun decks now."
"Looks like it, ma'am."
"Excellent. Increase speed, Mr Bryce. All ahead three-quarters."
"Aye, ma'am!"
There was movement on the deck as a couple of armed spacers emerged from the hatchway. A group of worried-looking pirates, arms and other appendages held behind their heads,was marched out under the watchful eye of Harburn's troops.
"Sergeant Ko? Secure the prisoners to the mainmast and gag them," Harburn nodded to her. "Captain Arrow? Acting Lieutenant? Attend me, if you please."
"Yes, sir!" Amelia nodded to Stuart. "You have the bridge, Midshipman. Steady as she goes."
She left them and went down towards the bows, where Harburn and Arrow were already waiting. At first Amelia thought that they were interrogating one of the prisoners, until she got closer. They were conversing with a blue-skinned woman in a threadbare coat whose hair would have been pure white were it not grey and ragged with dirt.
"Reporting as ordered, Mr Harburn," Amelia saluted.
"Ah, Ms Amelia. I thought you might be interested to meet our guest here." Harburn nodded to the woman, who fixed Amelia with a set of intelligent, penetrating eyes.
"I believe I have you to thank as well for our liberation," the woman said. "We have been a long time waiting for this day. Those that are left of us, at least."
"I don't believe we've met, ma'am," Amelia shook her hand.
"No, but you've heard of her," said Harburn. "Acting Lieutenant Amelia, meet Professor Avartia Periskova, University of Kingshome-on-the-Cusp."
"Periskova?" Amelia frowned for a moment until the realisation came to her. "The Periskova Expedition! This is your ship?"
"It was," Periskova nodded. "Until we were attacked."
"In that case, ma'am," said Arrow, pointing to the wreckage of the horn, "We may owe you our apologies. I assume that this device was part of your scientific project?"
Periskova nodded. "It was. A multifocal acoustic resonator. We were recording whalesong and breaking it down to the constituent frequencies in the hope of understanding their communications. The pirates had...other ideas of how to use it, though."
"How did they do it?" asked Arrow.
"They gave us...certain incentives to cooperate." Periskova winced pointedly. "But not necessary are any apologies, Captain. None of our data had survived. And considering the purpose to which was put our research, I shed no tears to see its end."
Arrow touched his hat. "I am glad to hear it, ma'am. It is an honour to meet you."
"And you, too," Periskova gave a small, stiff bow. "All of you."
"The privilege is ours, ma'am," said Amelia. "I know...I...I knew...someone who would have been even more honoured to see you."
Arrow glanced at her, a concerned look in his eyes. Amelia coughed and looked down at the deck.
"Enemy ship sighted, ma'am! I mean, sir!" Stuart was waving from the bridge with two of his arms and pointing with one of the others.
"Ah. Duty calls." Harburn nodded. "If you will excuse me, Professor."
"Of course, officer."
Amelia went to the side and looked. A Confederate frigate had broken away from the main engagement and was heading towards them with hostile intent, having spotted the Royal Navy ensign that now graced the galleon's masts. The spike-hulled ship was moving swiftly despite the battle damage that scored its blood-red timbers and its long bowsprit was clad in sharp steel plates to turn it into a brutal ram.
"Ms Amelia!"
Amelia hurried aft when her name was called and took her place on the bridge.
"Twenty degrees to port, Petty Officer," Harburn was saying. "Ms Amelia? Take charge of fire control."
"Yes, sir." Amelia moved to the console next to Stuart. "Bearing and range on the target, Midshipman."
"Feeding data now, ma'am," said Stuart.
Amelia looked at the numbers as they came up on her screen and made some mental calculations before picking up a speaking tube.
"Bridge to starboard guns. Elevate to one-zero degrees, bearing straight."
"They're coming up fast, ma'am!" said Stuart.
"I can see that, Midshipman," said Amelia, patiently. "One-zero degrees."
"Keep her steady as she goes, helm," said Harburn.
Amelia, eyes narrowed with concentration, counted down the distance and then hit the control key. The starboard guns fired as one, sending a pattern of shells blazing across space towards the oncoming frigate. Its attempt to turn out of the line of fire only succeeded in exposing its flank, and explosions blossomed across it.
"Good shooting, Ms Amelia!" Harburn called.
"Maintain fire, Mr Stuart," Amelia said, with satisfaction. "Adjust to zero-nine degrees."
"Yes, ma'am!" Stuart nodded. "But it'll be at least a minute before we can fire again."
"A minute? What's wrong?"
"The guns have to be manually readied," said Arrow, looking over Stuart's shoulder. "They do not appear to have retrofitted autoloaders and we don't have enough crew to serve them at full efficiency."
"We could turn to bring the port guns to bear, sir," said Stuart.
"With the rudder malfunctioning?" Bryce shook his head. "Sorry, sir, that'd take even longer."
"Damn it!" Harburn stepped forwards. The frigate was already coming about, trailing smoke and all its gunports opened. "They'll be on us by then! Mr Arrow, prepare for close combat."
"Aye, sir!" Arrow left the bridge and began marshalling the spacers and soldiers on deck.
"Come on, come on..." Amelia's fingers drummed on the console. The row of lights indicating the gun status was still showing all red.
"New contact!" Spacer Jackson, in the far port corner of the bridge shouted. "Coming in fast!"
"Blast! Just what we needed." Harburn bent over the console. "Check it out, Acting Lieutenant."
"Sir." Amelia went to see, raising a telescope to her eye. She followed Jackson's pointing finger and focused the instrument on what he had seen. Then she laughed.
"Well? What do you see?" shouted Harburn.
"It's a whale, sir!" Amelia replied.
Harburn groaned. "That's all we need right now..."
Amelia laughed again. "I think we might indeed need this one, sir!"
The young whale had looked alone, but as the telescope's optics had focused, Amelia had seen that it had company. A single figure, tiny by comparison, was riding on its back. Amelia's laugh continued as it drew close enough for her to be sure. Tears suddenly rose to her eyes as she realised what was happening.
"It's Jane!" she said. "She's alive, sir! She's here!"
The whale cruised past the Academic Venture's bow, heading for the pirate frigate, which was suddenly applying frantic reverse thrust in an attempt to avoid the inevitable. The whale snapped its masts in a single pass, its great tail slamming down against the red-painted side of the ship and crushing it in. Amelia heard cheers from the Imperial spacers as they watched. She joined in, tears of joy still on her face, as the whale came about again, performing a barrel roll as it did so. And as it turned, it began to sang. The single sound climbed up and down the registry, running through a dazzling series of key changes. Amelia felt every cell in her body shake with the resonance, but it only led her to cheer still louder.
"The other whales are listening!" shouted Periskova from the foredeck. "Look at what the song is doing to them!"
Amelia refocused the telescope. The other whales, which had been attacking everything that moved, broke off their furious charges. For a long moment, they simply drifted, listening to the song. Then, as one, they kicked back into motion, diving on the remaining pirate vessels with single-minded focus. Harburn gave a disbelieving laugh.
"Well, I'll be damned!" he said. "It seems we have some new allies!"
Amelia looked back at the young whale and aimed the telescope at the familiar figure on its back.
"No, sir," she said with a smile. "Just some old friends."

The longboats pulled up alongside the Resolute. Spacers reached over the side to help bring it in, cheering and waving and shaking the hands of their colleagues on board. Lines were tossed over, caught and made tight to hold the boats fast to the side of the ship. Lieutenant Harburn stood up and stepped aboard to general applause, removing his hat to the officers on the bridge in salute. Amelia followed, the crew mobbing them as they came home, cheering and calling. Hands reached out to pat them on the shoulder, the protocols of rank temporarily forgotten in the heady joy of victory.
"Well done, sir! Well done, ma'am!"
"Welcome home, ma'am!"
"You showed the buggers, sir!"
Amelia looked up at the bridge and saluted, her eyes quickly running across the line of officers assembled there to count them. Costell's arm was in a sling but Forrest and Buckley were both missing and Amelia felt a pang of sadness return when she thought about what that could mean. A heavy tread behind her heralded Arrow's arrival on the deck, where he and Ko were met with a chorus of cheers from Corporal Bock and the other Marines who had remained on board.
"Mr Harburn!" Forsythe's voice cut across the celebrations. "Report to the bridge, if you please!"
"Aye, aye, sir!" Harburn waved his hat and began pushing his way through the throng. Amelia followed, Arrow close behind her and shouting, "Make way! Make way there!"
Forsythe greeted them with an uncharacteristic smile, though his eyes were still as hard as always. Harburn saluted.
"Reporting as ordered, Captain," he said.
"It's good to see you safe, First Lieutenant." Forsythe shook his hand. "And you, too, Acting Lieutenant."
Amelia, who had been greeting Whiting and Dunn, touched her hat and smiled.
"I will expect a full report later," Forsythe said. "But in the meantime, I believe that we know enough of your party's actions to commend you in the most favourable terms."
"Thank you, sir." Harburn gestured to Amelia. "But it would be remiss of me not to say that much of the credit should go to the Acting Lieutenant. Due to some...unforeseen disruptions to our attack plans, Ms Amelia's detachment was the first to arrive."
"Ah?" Forsythe looked up at Amelia.
"They established a lodgement on the objective and most assuredly had the enemy's complete attention," said Harburn. "Our own assault was made much easier by their actions under her leadership."
"I am indebted to Captain Arrow for his support, sir," said Amelia modestly. "And to Mr Harburn for his timely intervention."
"No doubt there will be many debts made and repaid," said Forsythe. "And...I do see that we have some more civilians on board?"
He nodded down to the deck, where Professor Periskova and the other liberated prisoners were being helped on board.
"Former captives of the enemy, sir," said Arrow. "Freed from captivity aboard the galleon."
"Ah? Well, in that case they are welcome." Forsythe turned to Chad. "Commander? See to them, please, and tell the surgeon to send someone to examine them."
Chad touched his hat and moved off.
"We'll need a passenger licence if this goes on much longer," Forsythe remarked. "Although of course -"
"Where is she? Where is she?"
Forsythe closed his mouth and rolled his eyes as Archimedes burst onto the bridge in a flurry.
"Where is she? My Janey, is she here? I saw her, you see, but then I didn't see her and I wondered if she was all right..."
Amelia fielded the concerned little man and patted him reassuringly on the shoulder. "It's all right, sir. I'm afraid she couldn't come back to the ship with us, but she is quite all right. And we owe her the biggest debt of all."
"Your daughter, sir," said Arrow, "is a hero."
Archimedes blinked in surprise. "A what? My Jane?"
"Yes, sir." Amelia looked up as another longboat came alongside. "In fact, you'll be able to ask her all about it yourself."
She watched the boat be drawn up to the rail and the biggest cheer yet rose from the gathered spacers. A single figure in the bows stood up and began stepping tentatively on board. Bock and Ko went to help. Amelia moved the bridge rail and looked down, a smile already forming on her lips.
"Is that...that..." Archimedes clapped his hands. "Janey Jane! Oh, she's all right!"
He scurried off, disappearing into the mass of spacers who were crowding around her.
"Three cheers for Miss Jane Porter!"
Amelia looked around in surprise at Forsythe's shout. Jane looked equally surprised, and stood there blushing as the cheers went up around her and Forsythe took off his ornate hat and bowed to her in his immaculate white wig. Archimedes finally pushed his was through the press and flung his arms around her as best he could. Jane laughed and hugged him back, and Amelia couldn't help a small laugh at the way she had to bend down to do so. Archimedes broke off eventually, dabbing at his eyes with a polka-dotted handkerchief and allowing the crew to crowd in with their congratulations again.
"You must have had quite an adventure over there," said Whiting, joining Amelia at the rail. "I'm afraid I didn't have much of a view from the forecastle battery."
"You must have had other things on your mind," said Amelia. "I'm afraid I lost track of this ship, too."
"You didn't miss much," Whiting shrugged. "At least, nothing I wouldn't have minded missing myself."
Amelia chuckled. "Well, I'm glad of that, at least. But can I ask...our esteemed colleague..."
"Of course." Dunn looked down. "Well, the good news is that Mr Buckley will recover. He's unconscious, but the surgeon says he'll recover. Mr Forrest...died on the gun deck."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Amelia looked down as well.
"At least he didn't die for nothing. None of them did." Dunn smiled. "And of course, it means we have another Acting Lieutenant on board..."
"Hmm?" Amelia raised an eyebrow. Dunn grinned and nudged Whiting in the ribs. He gave an embarrassed laugh.
"For some reason, the Captain saw fit to bestow that honour on me," he said.
Amelia laughed. "The Captain moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform. As do you, I suppose. Congratulations, Mr Whiting."
"I'll be glad of any advice you can give me, ma'am," said Whiting.
"Well, for one thing, you don't have to call me that any more," Amelia smiled and shook his hand.
Whiting smiled back. "Good point."
Amelia touched her hat to him and headed down to the main deck, where Bock and a group of spacers had been racing Jane around at shoulder-height, cheering madly. They were pursued by a dancing Archimedes until a few marines had lifted him as well and carried him around the deck at high speed. The procession came to a halt in front of Amelia and Bock coughed apologetically.
"Um. Sorry, ma'am. High spirits."
"I say! I say, could we slow down a bit!" Archimedes was borne past on the shoulders of the shouting soldiers. Amelia chuckled to herself.
"No apology needed, corporal. But if you could put our saviour down?"
"Yes, ma'am. Of course." Bock helped Jane down and went off to shout at the men carrying her father. Jane and Amelia were left standing face to face on the suddenly-vacant deck. Amelia gazed fondly into her face, enjoying the light in her blue eyes. Jane looked back, holding her hands together in front of her nervously. Amelia folded hers behind her back, not trusting them not to do what every instinct in her body was urging her to do.
"Well, now," she said instead.
"Yes, indeed." Jane smiled shyly.
There was a long moment of silence as they looked at each other again.
"It's good to see you safe, Miss Porter," said Amelia.
Jane grinned at the formality of the statement. "It's good to see you safe, too, Acting Lieutenant."
It took all of Amelia's discipline not to throw her arms around her on the spot – among other things. She rocked on her heels instead.
"It was...an unorthodox method of transport," she went on, trying not to smile too broadly. "But, it must be said, ludicrously effective."
"I'm glad you approve," Jane smiled.
The marines deposited Archimedes back on the deck and disappeared. He stumbled back over to his daughter, trying to pat down his hair.
"Oh, goodness, goodness me. Well, wasn't that an adventure of its own!" He blinked and shook his head briskly. "Yes. Quite enervating. Are you all right, Janey Although after what you've been through I'm sure you could survive anything by now."
"I'm fine, daddy, thank you." Jane showed him the laslock burn on her wrist, which had already faded to a light pink, looked up at Amelia, and smiled knowingly. "More than fine."
Amelia smiled back and returned to the longboat which was still alongside. She reached over and rummaged around below the seats for a moment. Jane went to see.
"Have you lost something, Amelia?"
"On the contrary." Amelia straightened up and turned around to Jane. "I've found something. Something of yours, in fact."
Jane looked down to see Amelia holding her pith helmet in her hands. She laughed and took it.
"Oh, Amelia...I'd quite forgotten. It's awfully nice of you to have kept it."
"I must apologise for its condition," said Amelia, indicating the large dent in it. "I'm afraid I had to put it to some improvised use at one stage."
Jane laughed again. "Well, just so long as it was useful. And in fact, I have something of yours, too."
She opened her satchel and produced the laslock, which she sheepishly handed back. Amelia looked up in surprised and smiled.
"At least you didn't have to use it," she said. She reached out a hand and took it, her fingers brushing Jane's and making her blush. Amelia coughed and looked away as she stowed the pistol in her own belt, glancing up again to catch Jane's eyes again.
"Thank you. But I'm afraid you'll have to excuse me. I need to go below to get out of all this." Amelia indicated her weapons.
"Oh, I'll help if you like," Jane began, before biting her lip and blushing even deeper. Amelia flashed a grin.
"I think I can manage for now, Miss Porter. But thank you again."
"Any...any time." Jane fumbled to close her satchel. "Shall I meet you in the wardroom?"
"Good idea." Amelia nodded and smiled. "I could just do with a cup of tea after today."

Amelia slipped out of the wardroom late that night, grinning and shaking her head. The dinner had finished some time ago, but the celebrations continued. They had toasted the victory, the Queen, the fleet, the Admiral, the Captain, the good ship Resolute, the late Lieutenant Forrest, the success of Harburn and Amelia's boarding party, Mr Whiting's promotion, and Jane Porter, the latter on several occasions at the urging of her ecstatic father who had barely left her side all night. Amelia had seldom seen her so happy. She was normally so restrained and naturally reserved around the other officers that it had been a delight to see her relax her guard. Amelia knew that there was nothing like a near-death experience to give someone a new lease on life, but she had never seen it happen so dramatically. It had been a joy to see her laughing along and joining in the toasts - albeit with a cup of what was probably tea, although since Archimedes had fetched it for her it could have been anything. Amelia had taken the fifteenth toast as an excuse to depart quietly, giving Jane a parting wink as she left, and she made her way back towards her quarters, acknowledging the respectful salutes from passing crew members. She unlocked the door and opened it with a sigh of relief. Closing it behind her, she stretched and immediately wished she hadn't. A hiss of breath escaped her teeth and she touched her side gingerly.
"Blasted thing..."
She unbuttoned her blue coat and cast it aside as she went to the small washbasin in the far corner. It was nominally on her part of the room, as divided by the curtain hanging from the ceiling. The basin was a small thing of cast metal fused onto the pipe it sat on to minimise the amount of shrapnel it could be turned into if a shell burst in the small room. Amelia turned the tap on and waited for the water to warm up. She turned to look out of the window at the view of the fleet. Reduced in number as it was, it was still a fine, proud sight, the battle scars evident on the hulls of the ships a reminder of their heroism. A number of whales were coasting benignly alongside them at a distance, almost as if providing a guard of honour for the battered victors. As she ran her eye over them she worked the buttons on her waistcoat and shrugged it off, noting the dark stain on the left side with a wince.
"The ship's laundry will thank me for that," she murmured, folding it up and dropping it on the empty bed.
The water was running warmly now and she put the plug into the basin to start collecting it. She tugged her white shirt out of the waistband of her trousers and opened the buttons. Her black cravat was still tied around her, though it was now holding an antiseptic pad that one of the ship's busy medics had given her against the wound. She untied the cravat allowing her to peel off the pad. The wound was closed already, an uneven line beneath her fur that she knew was going to leave a scar. Amelia dropped the pad into the bin, wetted her handkerchief and began cleaning the antiseptic gel from her fur.
"Now then..."
She was concentrating on the task and barely heard the door click open behind her. The noise startled her out of her reverie and she accidentally raked her hand across her wound as she turned to see who had entered. Jane, who was closing the door quietly, looked up and raised a hand to her mouth in surprise at the small yelp of pain that Amelia couldn't bite back.
"Oh! Goodness! Amelia, are you all...right...er?"
Jane's face coloured as she lowered her hand slowly, unsure of whether to be more surprised by Amelia's cry or the fact that the young felinid was partly undressed.
"I'm fine, Jane, thank you." Amelia smiled nervously, not sure of how to read Jane's reaction. Jane had a sense of propriety as ingrained as Amelia's sense of duty, and Amelia hoped that she wasn't too offended or embarrassed. Jane too hesitated for a moment until she saw the damage to Amelia's side. Her face changed again, adopting a look of genuine concern.
"Oh, you're hurt! I didn't realise! Here, let me help you..."
"I can really manage by myself," said Amelia, amused at her lover's transformation.
"I'm sure you can, but I'd like to do it. You don't have a good view of the spot." Jane took the handkerchief off her. Amelia shook her head and chuckled.
"You doctors," she said. "If I wanted to be patronised like that I could have gone and found Lance-Corporal Flower."
Jane laughed. "Well, I'm not really a doctor. Not of this, anyway, but the principle is much the same. I was just saying I had a better view than you do."
"You like the view?" Amelia grinned. Jane looked up in puzzlement until she remembered Amelia's state of undress.
"Yes, it's...I mean, no, because I wasn't..." she stammered for a moment and then smiled. "Yes, Amelia. I do like the view."
Amelia smiled back. "I'm glad you do."
Jane dabbed at the fur around the wound. "You know, you're very lucky, really. It must be quite a shallow cut to have closed so quickly. It could easily have gone deeper and really hurt you."
"It hurt quite enough as it is," said Amelia. "But thank you. I'll try to feel better about that."
Jane looked at the wound critically. "Of course, to be precise about it, this really should have had some small stitches put in. But it's too late now unless the wound is reopened and that obviously isn't something you'd want. I'm afraid it'll leave a visible scar behind."
Amelia nodded. "I thought so. I can live with that. Mr Whiting would be glad if he only had a visible scar, not to mention Mr Forrest."
"Of course, you're right." Jane agreed. "And it won't be too obvious. You'd have to look closely."
"Well, like you say," said Amelia. "I won't have a very good view."
Jane laughed. "Good point."
Amelia shivered as Jane put a hand on her bare back to hold her as she washed her fur. "And...are you all right, Jane?"
"Oh, yes. Of course." Jane nodded happily. "I'm just remembering the last time I did something like this for you. Do you remember, Amelia? Back on Naztar? The first time we..."
Amelia closed her eyes fondly. "How could I forget. And you were just as gentle with me then."
"You looked like you needed it," said Jane, working carefully. "Just like now. You must have a very hard day today."
"It was a hard day for everyone, but it's what you went through that would have been..." Amelia shook her head. "That was something else. It really was. I've never seen anything like it. Are you sure you're feeling all right?"
Jane looked up at her, her blue eyes bright. "I think I'm better than all right," she said.
Amelia smiled. "Good thing you never lost faith in Sunny. You were right all along about him being nearby."
"Yes, fortunately." Jane smiled back. "I wouldn't have made it without him. They really are very intelligent creatures."
"And you've had a chance to meet Professor Periskova? I'm sure she'd be interested to hear your observations."
"We met for a moment as she was being taken to the Admiral's ship," said Jane. "But she did say she wanted to hear about it. I may have to write her a letter."
"I'm sure you'll have a chance to meet her again before the fleet disperses," said Amelia.
"I hope so." Jane wrung out the handkerchief and soaked it again in the warm water. "So what's going to happen now?"
Amelia shrugged. "We resume our patrol route. Continue the strategy. The war isn't over, although we must have destroyed a significant part of the Confederacy's strength today."
Jane looked down. "We lost a lot, too, though."
Amelia nodded. "Yes...although the losses are understandable given the odds against us. Odds that you turned around. Everyone in the fleet owes their lives to you, Jane. I hope you know that."
Jane looked up at the wound and tried to concentrate on it as she tended it, her eye following the lines of the soft tan fur of Amelia's flank. "I try not to think about that..."
Amelia touched her hair. "I understand. It's too big to think about. But you should know it. If only because it means you saved me, too."
Jane bit her lip. "It's a funny feeling to have saved your life...it's normally the other way around..."
"Think of it as repaying the favour," Amelia smiled. "Not that you ever had to, of course."
"I know." Jane stood up, but stayed close to Amelia. "You've never made me feel otherwise."
"I never want to." Amelia looked down and blushed. "Thank you for your help."
"It's quite all right." Jane reached behind Amelia to put the handkerchief away on the basin stand. The gesture brought her even closer to Amelia. There was a gentle sigh that could have come from any of them and when Jane drew back, her arms were already around Amelia's slender body. Amelia smiled and relaxed, threading her arms around Jane's.
"I...I really thought I'd lost you today," Jane whispered.
"Oh, Jane." Amelia stroked her. "I thought I'd lost you, too."
"I tried to stay out of trouble, like you said," Jane sighed. "I'm so sorry. I just hope it didn't put you off doing your job."
Amelia raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You're sorry? I'm the one who promised to protect you. I promised everyone – the Captain, your father...and I promised you, too."
"Amelia?"
"I...let you down. I failed you." Amelia lowered her eyes. "I made you a promise I couldn't keep."
"You did your best," Jane assured her.
"Yes. And it wasn't enough." Amelia held her closer. "It was Sunny who saved you today, not me. All I know how to do is my best. I'm not sure what it means when that isn't good enough."
"Oh, Amelia, my darling." Jane stroked her back comfortingly. "All it means is that you can't control the universe. I know you'd have done everything you could. You did everything you could."
"But-"
"Hush now." Jane touched a finger to her lips. "It wasn't your fault, Amelia. It really wasn't."
Amelia searched her blue eyes for any hint of deception, but saw only honesty shining back at her. She gave a small smile.
"Thank you, Jane. Truly. That means a lot."
"It's only the truth." Jane kissed her lightly.
Amelia looked into her eyes again and remembered looking into them from the longboat, seeing the reflections of explosions and laslock fire in them, seeing the fear in them, and the shock as their grip was lost and she fell away. But none of that was in them now and Amelia leaned forwards into a deep kiss. Jane closed her eyes and luxuriated in the sensations. Amelia felt her hands clasp her back and she nuzzled her lovingly.
"I never want to lose you, Jane Porter," she whispered. "And I never want to fail you."
"And you won't." Jane stroked a lock of her auburn hair. "You won't. I know there's nothing you'd do that would make me go. And I know there's nothing you wouldn't do to defend me." She touched a light hand to Amelia's wounded flank. "No matter the cost to you. Just like you've always said."
"You came closer to paying that price today than I did," said Amelia.
"So now I understand it." Jane smiled. "It's a funny thing, you know. When I was falling. I thought a bit about myself, of course, but more of the time I was thinking about my father. And about you. And I was thinking about how what was happening to me would affect you. I was so sorry for what it would mean. It was an awful thought."
"It was," Amelia said quietly. "The thought of you falling away..."
"Oh, no, not like that." Jane touched her cheek. "I meant that I was sorry for how it would hurt you. I knew what would happen to me, but it was what would happen to you that upset me most."
Amelia smiled. "My dear Jane. You truly are a remarkable individual."
Jane blushed. "Well...I care about you, after all."
"I know." Amelia kissed her again. "You care about everyone. So much care...so much kindness, so much that you give...all truly remarkable."
Jane felt herself blush again as Amelia's lips closed on hers.
"Amelia...oh, I'm just lucky I can give some of it to you."
"You give more than you know," Amelia whispered. "And that was before you saved my life."
Jane smiled. "Yours is one I'd do anything to save. As you've said to me. I feel I can say it back to you now and seem like I mean it."
"I'd never have doubted you," said Amelia. "But you proved it today just the same."
They stayed together, wrapped in each other's warmth and affection, as they gazed out of the window. The etherium was still glowing outside, illuminating the fleet. Ivory hulls and white sails shone like gold. Beyond them were the void whales, darker shapes against the evening light. Amelia watched the ships. Jane watched the whales. Then they turned, met each other's eyes again, smiled, and did not look away.