The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie Page A

that I think about it, that’s the only place that a crew like this could come from. Those behemoths thrive on piracy, unregulated by any state as they drift with the currents cycling the NeoPacific. They’re too big to be taken down by a military force, and no state has the balls to try. The last attempt was twenty years ago, when a Filipino armada tried to blockade a floating city and starve out the pirates supplying it. The retribution was ruthless. Pirates across the NeoPacific began wrecking any ship flying the flag of the Philippines, and their ocean trade is still struggling to put itself back together in the aftermath.
    It suits Swift to be from such a volatile place.
    â€œHow long have you been on the Minnow , then?” I ask. My gaze flicks to the ocean outside, and I’m relieved to see Bao continuing to keep pace.
    â€œCaptain took me on when I was thirteen, started me off as a deckhand. So, uh, five years?”
    Confirming that Swift is, indeed, about my age. I nod. “And when did you get appointed one of Santa Elena’s … trainees?”
    â€œChrist, is this a job interview? I’ve been in the running for a good year and a half now. My turn to ask a question.”
    I roll my eyes.
    â€œYou go by anything shorter than Cassandra?”
    I wasn’t expecting a question like that. I sit there blinking for several seconds. “Uh … I mean, most people call me Cas.”
    â€œOne syllable. Nice.”
    â€œOoh, syllable. Big word for a Flotilla kid.”
    The smile drops from Swift’s face, but her teeth remain, bared and ready to bite. “You’re a piece of shit, you know that?”
    I don’t dare say anything.
    Swift pushes off the counter, padding over to my side. She crouches until she’s nose to nose with me, her blue eyes unblinking as she leers into my face. “You think the SRC’s the peak of civilization, huh? You think the little bubble you live in is as good as the world gets, that the rest of us are just hanging onto the fringes.” She’s close enough that I can feel the soft push of her breath against my cheek. “You’ve thought it for so long that the idea’s just a joke for you to banter with. And then you get all hurt when we call you shoregirl, as if there aren’t a thousand worse assumptions rattling around inside that empty head of yours.”
    She doesn’t touch me, doesn’t scratch my still-healing scalp or shove me in the ribs. I have hundreds of vulnerable points right now, but Swift isn’t looking to hit me there. She wants me to feel guilty.
    But I don’t.
    Everyone on this boat is complicit in taking everything I hold dear from me. They’re killers and captors and thieves, and if I hurt their feelings, so be it. It’s not my aim to play polite with a girl who can’t hurt me any worse than the damage I’ve already taken.
    So I just keep still until she stands up straight and goes back to sulking on the counter.

    Bao homes to the ship for the rest of the afternoon, and by the time Hina puts out the all-call for dinner, I’m certain that he’s completely locked onto the Minnow . For the first time in weeks, I’m allowed off the trainer deck and into the main body of the ship. I follow Swift to the mess, realizing that I’ve already forgotten the twists and turns of the Minnow ’s halls.
    She doesn’t invite me to sit with the other lackeys when I get my tray, but I do it anyway. When I’m not on the trainer deck, the safest place on this boat is glued to Swift’s hip. I haven’t said a word since this afternoon; at this point, I think pretty much anything out of my mouth will offend her.
    The lackeys all seem too happy to see me. Even Lemon lights up a bit when she spots me tailing Swift over to their table.
    â€œWelcome back to the land of the living,” Varma says, grinning extra wide as I slide onto the bench next to